Blood moon festival

Blood moon festival
Astrid POV

The courtyard still smelled of ash and iron from that raven’s arrival. Its words—The Little Star belongs to us—echoed in my head like they’d been branded there. My palm still burned faintly, the mark flaring when I’d touched Killian and Jason earlier. I flexed my fingers, hoping the sensation would fade, but it didn’t.

Killian’s outburst still rang in the air, his fury thrumming in every step he paced across the stone. Jason stood like a tether, calm but strained, his jaw tight as if holding back his own storm.

And me? I felt caught in the middle, tugged between their rage and the ache in my hand, wondering how much more of this “bonded destiny” I could carry before it split me in two.

“Alright,” Dove’s voice cut through the tension, brisk and steady like she’d made up her mind. “Enough glaring and growling. She will train.”

Both brothers turned toward her in unison, and the look on their faces was…priceless. Twin expressions of disbelief, like Dove had just volunteered to fight a dragon barehanded.

“You?” Killian’s brows furrowed, suspicion clear in his tone.

Jason didn’t speak, but the way his mouth pressed into a thin line made his answer just as obvious.

Dove huffed, throwing her hands in the air. “Oh, come on! Don’t give me those looks. I’m not saying I’ll teach her how to throw you both across the field, I’m saying—fine.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, then crossed her arms. “If you want someone who can do that, then Hera and Damon will train her. You trust them, don’t you?”

The brothers exchanged a glance, silent words passing between them. Killian finally growled under his breath, but gave the faintest nod. Jason’s jaw slackened, then he sighed. “That…sounds reasonable.”

“Good,” Dove said, sharp satisfaction in her voice. “Because Astrid doesn’t have the luxury of waiting until this bond nonsense untangles itself. She needs to fight now.”

My throat tightened. I wanted to agree, but guilt sank heavy in my chest. My gaze fell to the ground, shame pooling there. “I just…” I swallowed hard. “I feel like I’m pushing you all away. Like I’m failing the very people I should be standing beside. My mates, my friends. And now Hera, Damon… I don’t want to drag anyone else into this.”

Dove’s hand slipped into mine, squeezing tight, firm, grounding. “Astrid, stop. Listen to me.” Her eyes caught mine, unflinching, unwavering. “This isn’t failure. It’s survival. That message?” She jerked her chin toward where the raven had vanished into smoke. “It’s just a scare tactic. He wants you shaken. Wants us divided.”

I tried to believe her. I really did. But even as she spoke, the air seemed to close in around us, heavy and tight, like a noose pulling smaller and smaller.

“I’m not stupid, Dove.” My voice cracked on her name, low and shaky. “Something’s coming. I feel it. I feel it every time my hand burns. Every time I close my eyes.”

The brothers were silent, but I felt their gaze on me, sharp and weighted.

Dove squeezed my hand again, her smile soft but fierce. “Then we’ll be ready. With Hera, with Damon, with me. You’re not alone in this, Astrid. And you never will be.”

Her certainty anchored me, even as the dread coiled tighter in my chest.

Because deep down, under all the promises and brave words, I couldn’t shake the truth that the Vampire Lord wasn’t bluffing. He was coming for me. And the bond that tied me to Killian and Jason was the one thing he meant to tear apart.

The courtyard still hummed with the tension of the raven’s message, but the sharp sound of approaching footsteps drew my attention. Odin, sleek as ever in his dark coat, and Damon with that easy alpha stride, emerged from the east archway.

“Oh good, you’re all gathered,” Odin said, his voice smooth, lips curling into that faintly smug smile. “Saves me from running around looking for you.”

Killian’s growl simmered low in his throat, but Jason folded his arms, waiting. Dove tilted her head, sharp grin tugging at her mouth.

Astrid—me—pinched the bridge of my nose. “What now?” The last thing I needed was another ‘urgent announcement.’

Dove’s grin widened as she turned, gaze locking on Damon. “Well, isn’t this perfect timing. Damon, glad you’re here—we were just talking about you.”

Damon froze mid-step, brows lifting as his eyes flicked between me and Dove. “Oh? Should I be flattered or worried?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks, but before Dove could open her mouth to say something reckless, Odin stepped smoothly in front of him, voice cutting the moment like a blade.

“Before this devolves into side chatter, let me deliver the announcement first,” he said, raising his hand for silence. “Even though you’ll all hear it over the intercoms later.”

We exchanged a look—me, the brothers, Dove, even Archie hovering at the edge. That collective ‘fine, go ahead’ look.

Odin’s smile widened as he clasped his hands behind his back. “Tomorrow marks the Blood Moon Festival.”

Groans erupted almost instantly.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Archie muttered, dragging a hand down his face. “This school always has something to celebrate.”

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. Killian muttered a curse under his breath. Even Dove sighed dramatically, tossing her head back.

And then, like clockwork, Hera appeared from the opposite end of the courtyard, a book tucked under her arm and her expression already unimpressed. She must’ve caught enough of Odin’s announcement because she groaned louder than any of us.

“Seriously?” she drawled, rolling her eyes as she came to stand by Damon. “When are they ever going to go even two weeks without shoving a celebration down our throats? Last time it was the that competition, before that some event I have even forgotten what it was called, before that some kind of Feast. What’s next? ‘Oh, look, the sun rose today, let’s throw a parade!’”

A burst of laughter scattered through the group. Even Killian’s lips twitched, though he fought to smother it.

Odin raised a brow at Hera, clearly amused by her sass. “Not everything has to be dramatic, Hera. It’s tradition.”

“Tradition,” she scoffed, tossing her hair back. “That’s just another word for exhausting.”

“Come now,” Damon said with a chuckle, clearly enjoying himself more than he should. “It’s a festival. Dancing, feasting, maybe even some brawls if we’re lucky. What’s so bad about that?”

“Dancing shoes,” Hera replied dryly, “that’s what’s bad. Every time I wear heels to these things, I swear I lose at least two years off my life expectancy.”

More laughter rippled through the group, the tension lifting for a heartbeat.

As if summoned by the growing noise, Elsie and Zora wandered in, Zora’s hand looped through Dove’s arm, her soft smile a contrast to Hera’s dramatic exasperation.

“What’s so funny?” Elsie asked, blinking at us.

“The Headmaster’s latest excuse for another party,” Archie grumbled.

“Festival,” Odin corrected smoothly, ever the precise one.

“Blood Moon Festival,” Damon supplied, smirking.

Elsie gasped, clapping her hands together. “Oh, that’s tomorrow, isn’t it? How exciting!”

Zora leaned into Dove, shaking her head fondly. “You’re the only one who sounds thrilled, Elsie.”

“Because she actually likes fun,” Dove teased.

Before we could spiral deeper into laughter, the sharp crackle of the academy intercoms broke through the courtyard. Every head tilted upward as the Headmaster’s voice boomed overhead, deep and commanding.

“Students of This wonderful Academy,” Donovan’s voice carried clear across the campus. “Tomorrow night, under the rare lunar eclipse, we celebrate the Blood Moon Festival. A tradition that honors our unity beneath the veil of the moon’s shadow. Prepare yourselves—for dancing, for music, for feasting. Wear your finest, and let the blood moon mark our strength together.”

The message ended with the familiar chime. Silence held for half a beat before Hera muttered, “And don’t forget to polish your dancing shoes and bring your patience, because spirits forbid anyone actually gets to rest around here.”

That broke the group again—Zora snorted into her hand, Dove cackled, Archie slapped his knee.

And despite everything—the raven’s threat, the burning mark in my palm—I found myself laughing too.

Because for that moment, surrounded by them all, it almost felt like the world outside couldn’t touch us.