PROLOGUE
Prologue – Damien
DECEMBER 21ST, 2012 - ONE YEAR AGO
The house smelled of roasted meat and spiced apples, full of laughter and conversation—the Solstice celebration well underway. My eyes drifted over the various items decorating Vincent and Anna’s home—the candles, the garland, the massive tree adorned with all sorts of ornaments.
When had I last put up a tree?
For a long while after Lucia passed, I’d continued the tradition, searching for trees just as I had every year with her, decorating them with the ornaments that had survived the decades. As the years went on, and she hadn’t returned...
Twenty years went by. Then thirty. Then fifty, and slowly, the magic—the joy—died out. I stopped searching the forest to pick the perfect tree, stopped unpacking the ornaments we’d collected and made over the centuries.
Then, I stopped decorating all together.
At some point, a tree began appearing in the living room each year, and decorations adorned the house. Barrett and Ethel had taken it upon themselves to decorate. I didn’t stop them.
I still participated in the festivities, still humored my brothers and their need to celebrate, and a part of me tried to find happiness in their joy.
“Barrett, don’t you dare touch that turkey!” Anna’s chastising voice caught my attention, and I looked up just as Barrett retracted his hand where she had smacked him.
“What? I just want a taste!” he whined.
What was I even doing here anymore? What was the point in all this?
Vincent leaned in to press a kiss to Anna’s forehead, and Ethel emerged from the kitchen with a platter full of roasted vegetables Anna had spent the past few months growing. Zephyr, Cole, James, and Thalia followed close behind her with platters of more side dishes.
I couldn’t do this anymore, couldn’t stand to face another Solstice without her.
I wouldn’t.
1
CASSIE
They say fall represents change, a time when nature and her children embrace the seasonal rest to reawaken with renewed life in the spring. Fall brought that very change in my life. My entire world.
Nearly two months ago, I’d been a normal human, attending college, trying to hold onto a secret, but it was one I no longer wanted to keep. It had been easier to hide when it was one friend, but now that I had so many people I cared for, it threatened to pull me under.
Now? Now, the world was far larger, filled with monsters lingering in the shadows and gods tugging invisible strings to plunge us into chaos whenever they chose.
Now, I was a demi-goddess trapped in a mortal form that couldn’t sustain my powers—the powers that should be the key to our salvation would put me in an early grave.
Now, I had a mate. One who’d been searching for me for over a century when all others had given up hope. One who’d saved me when I didn’t know I needed saving, given me hope that I might get to enjoy what time I have left in this life, and for the first time, I had a purpose, a reason to continue forward.
Fall was the season of change, yes, but what would winter, with its bitter, icy bite, bring?
Unease settled in the pit of my stomach as I stood on our front porch, staring out onto the dimly lit street. Guilt and dread clung to my very soul after what I’d done, beckoning me into the depths of a bottomless chasm—one I’d stared down into for the last two weeks.
My eyes fell to my hands, delicate, fractured crystals descending into my palms as I rested my elbows on the front porch railing. The snowflakes transformed, no longer the pleasant sight of ice and frost. No, they’d turned to ashes... Marcus’ ashes, every bit of life I’d burned away in a matter of seconds. Ashes collected and built, covering my skin until it was all I could see. I swallowed, blinking in hopes it might go away, but it never did.
There was no escaping the bruises, cuts, and burns marring my skin as a reminder of what I’d endured at his hands, no escaping the death that now markedmyhands.
Thank you.
I drew a deep, shaky breath, chasing Marcus’ final words from my mind before the bile—
My stomach turned, and I tried to focus on breathing, tried not to throw up, but it wasn’t enough. I hurried down the stairs, hand cupped over my mouth as I held it back before doubling over the snow-dusted grass and heaving.
