The voice—it had been inside her.
She felt a presence in her mind, rifling through her thoughts.
Get out, please. Leave me alone. Stop torturing me.Luella let the words fill her mind. She felt the interloper dive deeper, seeing the things she didn’t want anyone to know.
Not real, not real. Help. Please. I’m so scared. I don’t like this.
Let me die.
None of it is real. Get out?—
Get. Out.
The thing in her mind seemed to vibrate with silent sobs.Luella, what happened to you? What has he done to you?she heard, rattling in her skull.
Footsteps smacked against the steps below her, and all at once, the illusion shattered. In her shock, she imagined a great wall slamming down in her mind, forcing the thief out. She pushed herself up, her right hand screaming in pain as she turned and saw Bastian, Graves, and Az storming up the steps toward her.
The Stella curled around them just like her, as if welcoming them into its home.
So, she fled up the last few steps, head tipping back as she stared at the tall doors, slamming open right before she could touch them.
The Lunar Temples were bathed in moonlit glow, which shone down through the prismatic glass ceilings. Moon crests decorated the space, the moon’s various phases carved into the pure white marble above the altar, right at the center. Beyond the marbled altar, set upon a raised dais, an arch stood, twined with gentle blue flowers and blanketed with a small roll of soft-looking carpet.
A mockery of a wedding ceremony.
And here she was—the bloodied, mad bride in her white cape, storming down the aisle as stardust flickered through the air and screams raged through the mountains outside.
The doors banged shut as her three hunters cornered her inside. She spun, facing them, holding a hand out to ward them away. It was her right hand. Her fingers twitched and spasmed,and their eyes dipped to it, as if a singular force pulled them to the injury.
"Luella, sweetheart, why are you running from us?" Graves took a step forward, but Bastian pulled him back with a hand on his shoulder.
"Don’t," the vampire whispered.
Az just shook his head, staring down at the blood on his palms. He wiped them on his bloodied trousers, then scrubbed harder as if to rid himself of the top layer of his skin. "Lu, what happened to you? Angel, you cannot?—"
Hisvoice—she nearly broke, nearly took a step forward, wanting to be folded into his arms.
She couldn’t.
"Leave me alone. You aren’t real. None of this is real," she said brokenly.
Az made a choked sound. "Lu, we’re real, this is real. What do you mean, angel? Of course, we’re real. Gods, what did he do to you? I’ll fucking kill him." The demon ran a hand through his hair, catching on his horns. Flakes of blood fell to the carpet.
"Don’t ask like you don’t know. He tried to b-break me. And he won."
A small piece of Stella curled down from its perch high above, settling in Luella’s hair like snow or ash. She saw the three of them tense, wanting to come to her, so she stepped back until she felt the altar press into her hips, brushing against her right wing. It trembled beneath the cape, sending shocks of pain through the stump of her left. She gasped, reaching for the collar at her throat, fingers tangling in the clasp of the cape. More wet warmth soaked her back.
"You’re hurt," Graves rasped. "Let us help you. There’s blood."
Bastian stopped him again with a pained shake of his head. "Don’t move."
"Don’t move? She’s hurting—she needs us," Az roared.
"She needs to feel safe first." Bastian licked his lips. "Leave her alone."
"And we’re not safe?" Luella heard Graves whisper lowly.
Bastian nodded in answer, eyes shuttering closed for a brief moment. When he focused his attention on Luella, the red was muted, as if even his bloodlust was dulled by the sight of her in pain, fearful of them.
