“Silent Vigil”

Elvira

The Bloodmoon countryside stretched before me, a landscape of muted deep, sleepy greens. The wind whispered through the rolling fields, carrying the faint scent of late summer flowers. I gripped the car wheels tighter, my pulse quickening with every mile closer to Father’s house. I hadn’t been sure I would come. Not until I confirmed that Felen had no way of reaching him, that her venomous curiosity wouldn’t taint what little serenity remained in his days.

I remembered the chaos that had followed her disappearance, the rumors, the hunts, the betrayal, how close everything had been to slipping through our fingers. I had survived that storm with...