Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The scent of roses mingled with the metallic tang of blood, exploding on my tongue as I knelt amidst the shards of crystal. I watched as Vito's newly formed scabs glimmered with an amber hue under the moonlight. When he turned, the Wolf Tooth Pendant brushed against the back of my hand, searing as if it were branding my skin.
Mira's staff struck the ground with a sharp sound, and twelve moonstone lamps flickered to life in response. In the bluish glow, Noah's silver armor reflected fragmented light, causing my eyelashes to flutter. Vito's fingertips glided over my collarbone, tracing the Lunar Birthmark, where remnants of his lips' warmth still lingered from last night.
"Polish Wildcat," he said, his Polish laced with an accent from the outskirts of Warsaw, his thumb pressing against my pulsing neck. "Come back with me to Darkmoon Forest."
A cold wind suddenly swept through the shattered stained glass windows of the council hall, rustling Mira's parchment scrolls. I stared at the winding bloodline script on the scroll and was abruptly reminded of the thirty-second glass pane I had scrubbed three days ago in Brooklyn—where one could overlook the entire East River, its waters turning to molten gold at dusk.
Noah's shield clanged against the stone steps. "Her perception is sharper than that of a night owl. If she hadn't discovered the silver powder last night..."
"But she is human!" Mira jabbed her staff into a crack in the ground, which immediately erupted with ice shards. "The miasma of Darkmoon Forest will corrode her organs, not to mention those who covet the throne..."
Vito's canine tooth suddenly pierced his lower lip, and as blood droplets fell, golden patterns flickered in his eyes. Instinctively, I pressed down on his throbbing temple, a motion so familiar it felt like second nature. The cedar pheromones emanating from his nape thickened, blending with the scent of orange blossom hand soap on my fingertips to create a dizzying cocktail.
The crystal chandelier swayed violently just as Victor burst through the window, carrying a scent of sulfur. I happened to count my twelfth heartbeat when he arrived. The mechanical eye in his left socket glowed red as it scanned my Lunar Birthmark, emitting a sharp beep.
"So the rumors are true!" His wolf claw tore through the air. "The Moon Goddess's bride is just a window washer..."
Vito transformed faster than I could blink. As the silver-black giant wolf shielded me beneath its belly, I distinctly heard the crack of his ribs breaking. Victor’s fangs were mere inches from my ankle when he was suddenly repelled by some invisible force—my Lunar Birthmark was glowing fiercely, hot enough to melt through my collarbone.
Mira's incantation caught in her throat. I watched as my nails swelled into a jade hue; a crescent-shaped blade of light formed in my palm and cleaved Victor’s mechanical eye in two. The winds of Darkmoon Forest howled in my ears, carrying a melody reminiscent of a lullaby sung by my Polish grandmother.
"Kowalski Family..." Victor retreated, clutching his bleeding eye socket. "The priestess bloodline of the Moon Goddess should have been extinguished a century ago..."
Vito's Wolf Howl shattered the last intact piece of stained glass. In the crystal rain, I saw countless fragments of memories—my mother pressing the Wolf Tooth Pendant into my hand before she passed, the yellowed Genealogy from the basement of the old house in Warsaw, and the White-Robed Woman praying to the full moon in my dream last night.
As Noah's shield blocked a fatal blow for me, I was tearing open an assailant's throat with my bare hands. When warm blood sprayed across my face, I tasted its honey-like sweetness. Vito's golden pupils suddenly constricted, his human form flickering in and out under the moonlight, the new skin beneath his tattered shirt glimmering like pearls.
"Marina!" His call, laced with the scent of blood, crashed into my eardrums. I turned to see Victor's claws piercing his left shoulder, Dark Purple Venom spreading through the wound.
The Lunar Birthmark erupted in a silvery blaze, and my fingertips instinctively traced ancient runes. As Victor turned to ashes in the holy fire, I heard myself reciting a eulogy in Ancient Wolf Language, a tongue I had never learned. Mira's staff clattered to the ground, and all the werewolves present knelt on one knee.
When Vito's bloodied palm pressed against my cheek, roses suddenly flourished wildly among the ruins. His body heat seeped through his hand, more intense than a moonstone lamp. "Now you understand?" he whispered against my forehead, "From the day you found the injured Young Wolf..."
I rose on my toes and bit down on his unfinished confession, tasting the blend of blood and honey. As his trembling fingertips grazed my nape, the night owls of the entire forest took flight simultaneously, their wings stirring up a wind that swept away my last hesitation.
"I want a bridal shop on Seventh Avenue, New York," I mumbled between his lips, feeling my canines sharpening. "And a Glass Dome overlooking the East River—as the new council hall for the Moonshadow Wolf Clan."
Noah's muffled laughter shook off dust from the beams above. Mira rolled her eyes as she added new clauses to the scroll, her quill nearly piercing through the parchment. Vito's kiss landed on my fangs, moonlight crystallizing on his lashes: "My queen, all of Manhattan will be your wardrobe."
The crystal chandelier suddenly regained its brilliance, illuminating cracks in the Family Crest on the wall. I touched the newly added Wolf Ear Shaped Gold Necklace and suddenly remembered that I was supposed to clean the Fifty-Sixth Floor office tomorrow—wondering if they would settle my final paycheck when they discovered a glass greenhouse had appeared on the top floor.
Vito's fingertips gently caressed my newly formed crescent-shaped tail ring as a Long Howl from a Young Wolf echoed in the distance. When the first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds, vast patches of Blood Roses bloomed beneath our feet, each petal stamped with the Dark Moon Crest.
Comment 0 Comment Count