Alina sat on the bed next to Bre. “Rest for now, Sweetheart. Tomorrow you will wake and we can begin your eighteenth birthday celebration.”
Tears soaked into her pillow as Breanna’s whole body shook. “I don’t want to fall asleep. I am scared, Mother. Where are Brian and Eoghan? They promised a new spell this time,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“I know, sweetheart,” Alina said as she choked back tears. “I don’t know why they’ve been delayed, but you will be ok. You have gone through this without the spells before and you will make it through this time as well.”
Alina kissed her daughter’s head then tore herself from the bed. She walked as if every step she took from her crying child shot pain through her body.
Breanna curled into a ball, still shaking from fear of what would happen under the Blood-Moon.
Alina pulled a key from her pocket. A handmaiden gently withdrew the key from Alina’s trembling hand then guided the Queen out of the bedroom.
Bre’s stomach sank with the sharp click of the lock. Moments later, the clouds parted in the night sky and filled Breanna’s bedroom with an orangish-red light. With a sudden gasp, the orangish-red light carried Breanna’s mind away into another memory…