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‘We leave tomorrow.’
Kian delegates orders with surgical precision. He moves through the rooms, checking weapons, packing supplies, sending Cora out to secure more gear from trusted contacts. Tara stands beside me, her jaw tight, fingers clenched around the strap of her bag.
I glance at Tara. Her eyes are sharp, fierce, but there’s something else under the surface. Fear maybe. Or doubt. Most likely both. Her heart beats loud in my ears, like a song that is playing on the radio and I can’t seem to lower the volume.
She swallows. ‘And if they’re expecting us? If this is a trap?’
Kian’s gaze cuts to hers. ‘Then we burn everything down if we have to.’
The weight in his voice settles over us. No one here wants a war, but none of us can afford peace on their terms anymore. They will never stop coming for us.
Cora returns, arms full of violent-looking weapons. Everything she carries is lethal.
Tonight, we will prepare.
Tomorrow, we will face everything we ran away from.
It’s time we end this. For good.
18
TARA
The Host
The air feels colder than usual.
I sit near the window, a blanket draped around my shoulders, attempting to ignore the faint ache blooming behind my eyes. It seems like the further and longer I’m away from Red Thorne, the worse I feel, but despite that, I’m dreading returning and facing all that I’ve run away from. There’s a weight in my chest when I think about going back, because returning means facing them. The witches who raised me. The ones who trained me, shaped me, whispered into my ear day after day who I was and who I wasn’t. What monsters looked like. What loyalty meant.
I draw the blanket tighter around me, like it might block the echo of their voices from crawling back into my skull.
You are one of us, Tara. You don’t belong anywhere else.
Vampires will use you. Twist your mind. Drain you dry.
They lie. Don’t let them fool you, their smiles hide the fangs.
I believed them, once. Every word that was whispered to me. I had to, there was no one else to believe, and why would I question them? They saved me, didn’t they?
None of their warnings sound like Theo. He hasn’t lied to me. Not that I know about, anyway. He could have let Lucy kill me. He didn’t need to save me or protect me, but he chose to, and he stuck to his word, even when I gave him no reason to do me any favours. He’s never tried to control me or manipulate what I think. He’s been supportive and helpful since the moment I met him. A calm reassurance that grounds me when it all gets too much. Each day he has proven that he is someone I can rely on and trust.
I never asked for any of this. I always followed their rules, I never challenged them, never did anything I wasn’t supposed to, and this is the treatment I get. That’s why I said what I said to that bounty hunter. I’m with him. Because I meant it. Even if I don’t know what comes next. Even if I’m still scared. Even if choosing Theo means stepping away from the only life I’ve ever known.
The door creaks behind me and I hear Theo’s quiet footsteps. He doesn’t say anything, just walks over and sits across from me, giving me space. He watches me for a moment before moving his face to the window.
He hasn’t said much since the witch’s visit. He seems troubled. There’s a faraway look in his gaze, his shoulders are stiff and jaw tense. I swallow, but my throat is dry, and my head feels a little too heavy for my neck.
‘Are you okay?’ I ask him. ‘I thought getting your memories back would be a good thing, but it seems as though they’re haunting you.’
‘They came back all at once. It felt like an invasion. A reminder of past mistakes and things I sort of wish I could forget.’
I wince. ‘Oh. I imagine that wouldn’t feel very good.’
‘No.’ He exhales, combing his fingers through his hair.
There’s a silence that settles between us for a moment and I chew my lip, studying his lost expression.
‘Do you ever feel like you’re always the one left out?’ he murmurs, and my heart squeezes at the sad look in his eyes. ‘Just a pawn in someone else’s game. Never the main priority.’
