Chapter 9: Dangerous Games

POV: Aria

The screaming from the swamp stops so suddenly that the quiet feels like a scream itself.

I'm still looking at the broken window where Emma disappeared when my phone buzzes. Then Kael's phone. Then Vincent's. All at the same time.

"What the hell?" Vincent mutters, looking at his screen.

I grab my phone with shaking hands. The message is from an unknown number, but somehow I know it's Emma: "The real fun starts now. Check the news."

Kael is already moving, turning on the TV that sits in the corner of the room. The emergency broadcast signal fills the screen, then cuts to a reporter who looks totally terrified.

"...three people found dead in the French Quarter. Police are calling it the most brutal attack in New Orleans history. The victims appear to have been... drained of blood."

My stomach drops. "No. She wouldn't."

"She already has," Kael says quietly, his face pale. "I can feel her through the pack link. She's not just killing randomly. She's hunting specific people."

"What people?" Vincent demands.

The reporter's voice continues: "The victims have been named as Thomas Ricci, Maria Santos, and Detective James Murphy. All three were involved in the investigation of the Castellano family's recent problems..."

I sink into a chair. Those names mean nothing to me, but I can see from Vincent's face that they mean everything to him.

"Those are my people," Vincent whispers. "Thomas was my accountant. Maria ran protection for my clubs. And Murphy..." He looks at me with horror in his eyes. "Murphy was the cop I paid to keep quiet about your disappearance."

"She's targeting anyone connected to both our families," Kael realizes. "Anyone who knew about the war, the secrets, the things we've all tried to hide."

My phone buzzes again. This time it's a picture message. Emma is standing in what looks like an expensive office, blood on her clothes and a known man's body at her feet.

"Oh God," I breathe. "That's the mayor's office."

The TV screen changes to show breaking news pictures. Police cars and ambulances circle City Hall. The reporter's voice is shaking now: "Mayor Davidson has been found dead in his office. Sources say the scene is... unlike anything detectives have ever seen."

"She's sending a message," Vincent says, his voice cold with fear. "She's showing us that nowhere is safe. No one is protected."

But I'm not listening to him anymore. I'm looking at my phone because another message just came through. This one isn't from Emma.

It's from Detective Martinez: "Aria, if this is really you, meet me at St. Louis Cathedral in one hour. Come alone. I know what you really are."

My blood turns to ice. "Guys," I say quietly. "We have a bigger problem."

I show them the message. Kael reads it and goes very still.

"How does she know you're alive?" Vincent asks. "I told everyone you were still missing."

"Because someone told her," Kael says, his voice dangerous. "Someone who knows exactly where Aria has been and what's been happening."

We all look at each other, and I can see the same terrible thought in everyone's eyes. There's a spy. Someone has been feeding information to Detective Martinez, and possibly to Emma too.

"It could be anyone," I whisper. "Any of the people here. Any of Vincent's people. Anyone who's seen me in the past few weeks."

"Or," says a familiar voice from the hallway, "it could be someone much closer than that."

We all turn to see Luna Torres standing there. But she's not alone. Behind her are three men I don't know, all carrying guns.

"Hello, everyone," Luna says with a cold smile. "Miss me?"

Vincent immediately goes for his weapon, but one of Luna's men is faster. The gunshot is loud in the small room, and Vincent goes down holding his shoulder.

"Papa!" I scream, running toward him.

"Stay where you are, little princess," Luna says. "We have so much to talk about."

Kael starts to shift, his body starting to change, but Luna pulls out a silver knife and holds it to my throat before he can finish the transformation.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she says sweetly. "Silver cuts through human skin just as well as werewolf skin."

"What do you want, Luna?" Kael asks, his voice deadly calm even though his eyes are burning with fury.

"What I've always wanted. You. The pack. The power that should have been mine." She presses the knife a little deeper, and I feel a thin line of blood run down my neck. "But first, I want to watch you suffer."

"You're working with Emma," I realize suddenly. "You've been helping her."

Luna smiles. "Working with her? Oh, honey, I made her. Do you think it was an accident that the witch who saved her life just happened to be there that night? Do you think the regeneration spell just happened to go wrong?"

My mind spins. "You planned this. All of it."

"Five years of planning," Luna says. "I needed Emma to be angry enough to destroy both your families. I needed her to be powerful enough to actually do it. And I needed her to be crazy enough to not care who got hurt along the way."

"But why?" Kael asks desperately. "Luna, we grew up together. You know me. You know I would never hurt you intentionally."

"Because you picked her!" Luna screams, her control finally cracking. "You picked a weak little person over me! Over your own kind! Over everything we were supposed to be together!"

The knife shakes in her hand, and I can see tears in her eyes. She's not just angry. She's heartbroken.

"Luna," I say softly. "Let me help you. We can fix this."

"Fix this?" Luna laughs, but it sounds more like crying. "The only way to fix this is to remove it. To go back to the way things should have been."

She pulls out her phone with her free hand and dials a number. After a few rings, someone picks up.

"It's time," Luna says into the phone. "Yes, they're all here. No, don't leave any witnesses."

She hangs up and smiles at us. "Emma will be here in ten minutes. And when she comes, she's going to kill everyone in this room except for Kael. Then Kael and I are going to leave together, and he's going to learn to love me the way he should have from the beginning."

"I'll never love you," Kael says definitely. "Not after this."

"You will," Luna says firmly. "Because I'm going to make sure you forget her just like she forgot you. There are spells for that, you know. Magic that can erase memories, change feelings, make you into exactly who I need you to be."

Vincent tries to sit up, still bleeding from his shoulder wound. "You're insane."

"No," Luna says quietly. "I'm in love. And love makes people do crazy things."

That's when I hear it. A sound that makes my blood freeze in my veins.

Howling.