Chapter 49 Boom
Luna sat cross-legged on the bed, Lily curled against her left side and Leo pressed against her right. Kane had left them to pack and get some rest. Outside, she could hear the guards having a conversation.
“Tell me about your dream, baby,” Luna said softly, stroking Lily’s hair.
Lily's face scrunched up seriously. "There was a bad man with scary eyes.”
“What was the bad man doing?”
“He was… in a room. A big room.” Lily’s voice got smaller. “And wolves in boxes.”
Luna’s chest tightened. “What kind of boxes?”
“Like… like when we saw the puppies at the pet store,” Leo said, trying to help his sister explain.
“But the wolves were big. And sick.”
"And then what happened?" Luna asked softly.
"A silver lady came," Lily said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "She was bright like the moon. The bad man tried to take her light, but it burned him."
Leo jumped up, acting out the scene. "BURN! CRASH! BOOM!" He fell dramatically to the floor.
Despite her fear, Luna smiled at her son's theatrics.
That’s what she gets for letting them watch action films with explosions.
"That sounds like quite a dream. Were you scared of the bad man in the dream?”
“No,” Lily said. “But I got scared when he saw me yesterday.”
“I saw him too,” Leo said. “He looks mean.”
Luna’s blood went cold. Alexander had been watching them. “Where did you see him?”
“In the big room downstairs,”Leo said.
“The lobby?” Luna’s voice came out sharper than she intended.
Both twins nodded.
“He was watching us,” Lily said simply. “I don’t like him, Mama. He scares me.”
Leo made an explosion sound with his mouth. “Boom! We should go boom on him, Mama!”
Despite everything, Luna almost smiled. “We don’t go boom on people, Leo.”
“Why not? He’s mean.”
“Because we’re better than that.”
“Oh.” Leo considered this. Then he made a smaller explosion sound. “Little boom?”
This time she laughed, “No booms.”
“Okay, Mama.”
Luna pulled them both closer. “Listen to me. Both of you. That man can’t hurt you. I won’t let him. Do you understand?”
“You promise?” Lily asked, her voice small and sleepy.
“I promise.”
Leo looked up at her. His eyes were too knowing for a three-year-old. “But Mama, your heart goes really fast. I can hear it. Are you afraid of the bad man too?”
Children. They saw too much.
“I am scared,” Luna admitted. “But being scared doesn’t mean we run. It means we’re careful. It means we protect what matters.”
Leo nodded solemnly, as if she’d just explained something very important. Then he made another explosion sound and rolled across the floor, apparently satisfied with her answer.
She would keep them safe. No matter what it took.
That night, Luna didn’t sleep.
She lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling. Every creak of the building made her tense. Every footstep in the hallway outside had her reaching for the knife she’d placed under her pillow.
Alexander’s words played on repeat. “I’ll always be one step ahead.”
He knew about the twins. He’d been close enough to see them, to let Lily and Leo see him. She knew it was a warning. A reminder that he could reach them whenever he wanted.
She could run. Take Leo and Lily and disappear. Change their names. Move to a territory so remote that Alexander would never find them.
She had done it before. That’s how she became Luna Sage.
But he would find them. Men like Alexander always did.
And if she ran, what kind of life would that be for her children? Always looking over their shoulders. Always afraid. Never belonging anywhere.
No.
She wouldn’t do that to them.
The moon was setting when Luna finally closed her eyes. She didn’t dream. She couldn’t afford to.
Kane arrived before dawn broke.
Luna heard the knock and was at the door before the second one came. She checked the peephole out of habit, then opened it.
Kane looked like he hadn’t slept either. His hair was disheveled, his jaw tight. He held two cups of coffee.
“Thought you might need this,” he said, handing her one.
Luna took it. The warmth felt good against her palms. “We need to talk.”
“The car’s ready. We can talk on the way to…”
"I'm not going anywhere." Luna squared her shoulders. "Neither are my kids."
Kane stopped mid-sentence. “What? Luna, they are not safe here. We need to…"
"What? Run? Hide? For how long, Kane?" She stepped back, letting him in as she set the coffee down on the small table by the door. "If I run now, it'll be just like always. Always looking over my shoulder. Always afraid."
“Luna, Alexander threatened them.”
“Alexander will always threaten them. Today, tomorrow, ten years from now. Running doesn’t change that.”
Kane closed the door behind him. "This isn't about pride. It's about keeping Leo and Lily safe."
"It's about standing up to him. My pups shouldn't have to run for something they didn't even do. For being born." Her voice cracked. "They deserve better than a life in hiding."
Kane’s jaw clenched. “So what do you suggest? We wait here for him to make his move?”
“We fight him.”
“With what? He has seven territories worth of soldiers. We have…”
“We have me,” Luna interrupted. “And we have you. We face him. Head on.”
“Luna, he will kill you. He will take your blood and leave you and the twins for dead.”
“Not if we kill him first.”
The words hung in the air between them. Kane stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
“You’re serious.”
“I won’t give him my blood. I won’t run.”
Before Kane could respond, Elder Morgana’s door opened. She stood in the threshold, wrapped in a thick robe, her silver hair loose around her shoulders.
“Good,” she said. “You’re both here.”
Luna had spent the majority of the previous night catching Elder Morgana up on recent events. “Elder Morgana, Did we wake you? I was…”
“Sit down. Both of you.”
They sat. Elder Morgana moved to the kitchen, putting on a kettle. The sound of water filling the pot seemed too loud in the quiet apartment.
“Alexander won’t stop,” Elder Morgana said, her back to them. “You both know this.”
“We were just discussing that,” Kane said.
“And what did you conclude?”
“That we need to fight,” Luna said.
Elder Morgana turned. “Then you need to understand what you’re fighting for. And what you’re fighting with.”
“Seven territories,” Kane said. “He has the numbers.”
“Numbers mean nothing without the right weapon.” Elder Morgana’s eyes fixed on Luna. “Think, child. How did Alexander get those seven territories?”
Luna’s mind raced. “He conquered them.”
“How?”
“Through force. Through…” Luna stopped. Her blood went cold. “Through moon fever.”
“Exactly.” Elder Morgana poured the boiling water into three cups. “He didn’t win through superior strategy or larger armies. He won because he had a weapon no one else possessed.”
“My blood,” Luna whispered.