I nodded my head, afraid she might have laced her question with a truth spell. The spell bewitched a person so they could only speak the truth, but it would not influence body movements, so the nodding of my head was the only confirmation she would get from me.

Dorian smirked and slid me a knowing look. I focused all of my attention on chipping the nail polish from my nails. I had complained about training with Kye, but now he looked like a saint compared to my new teacher. I didn’t want anything to do with the dark angel.

“You will train with Dorian every other day. On days you are not with him, you will be training with us.” Holly walked over to the fireplace. She reached her hands towards the dying flames. They reared up and licked the sides of the hearth.

“When do you plan to strike?” I fisted my hands and tucked them under each armpit. My nails dug into my palms, but it helped channel my attention away from my rising anger.

“We strike in five days’ time when the sun is high, and the vampires are at their weakest. You, however, will strike once Mr. Hade teaches you what to do.” She walked back to her desk and sat in the large leather chair. Holly gave Dorian a threatening look that I didn’t understand.

“What exactly am I supposed to be doing?” I knew it wasn’t smart to question a council member, but I couldn’t help it, I had to know what would happen.

“You’ll raise the dead.” Two pairs of eyes watched me with uncertainty while my stomach dropped and a lump formed in my throat.

“Why—what—how does that help?” I stumbled over the words as a flood of questions bombarded my mind. “Like zombies?” My eyes volleyed between Dorian and Holly.

Holly laughed. “No, not zombies. I should rephrase. You’ll raise spirits. I have soldiers out collecting the blood of our targets and your job is to raise all of the people they’ve killed and direct them to attack their killers.” An evil smile spread across Holly’s lips.

My face scrunched up as I thought about what she had said. “You want me to send the ghost of people they’ve killed to haunt them?” That didn’t sound so bad. Ghosts were creepy sure, but they wouldn’t be able to cause too much damage.

“Yes. Dorian will teach you what to do. It’s late and training starts early tomorrow, you are dismissed, Gwen,” Holly said. I gave Holly and Dorian one last look and then stood and left the office.

When I came around the corner, soft purple light glowed from the ball room. Couples slow danced to a peaceful symphony. It had to be close to two in the morning, but the Midnight Magical was still in full swing. My feet hesitated on the steps as I watched my fellow witches and warlocks enjoying themselves. None of them seemed too upset about Holly’s plans and had gone about their business as if they wouldn’t be going to battle in a week.

“You should not envy them.” A male voice spoke behind me. I peeked over my shoulder to see Dorian Hade standing close to me.

“I don’t,” I protested. It was a lie of course, I envied how easy their lives were and how they could express their love without repercussions.

“They are simple witches, Gwen. You hold a power they could never possess, and when I’m done teaching you, you’ll be the one who’s envied.” Dorian walked so that he was facing me. I studied his eyes. Dark cloud-like grayness rolled within them and reminded me of a coming storm. There was only gray, no pupil to break up the churning gloominess. Long chocolate locks brushed his shoulders. His t-shirt clung tautly to his body and the black leather coat fit like a glove. There was something very bad boyish about him.

I realized I was staring entirely too long when my eyes fell to his lips and saw the smirk on them. Blood rushed to my cheeks and warmed my face. “I don’t want to be envied. All I want is to be left alone.” I said with frustration and then headed up to my bedroom.

“Gwen?” Dorian called from the bottom of the steps. I turned around and stared at his mischievous smirk with annoyance, “What?”

“Sweet Dreams.” He winked and then walked away.

6

The next morning a small cardboard box sat on my dresser. I hadn’t noticed it before I showered and dressed. Walking over to inspect it further, I saw a letter next to it. Gwen, do not open until your meeting with Dorian tonight—Holly.

I crumpled the letter and threw it away, not interested in whatever was in the box. My day was wide open; I wasn’t practicing with Kye anymore and the whole of Moon was training for battle so nothing was open except for a few restaurants.

I knocked on Fiona’s door and waited. When she didn’t answer, I headed downstairs and towards the kitchen. Yells and banging brought my attention away from my destination and towards the lower level of the castle. The further I walked down the winding stairway, the louder the sounds echoed.

When I rounded the corner, groups of witches and warlocks stood in pairs fighting. Blasts of colorful magic shot and bursts of bright light flew around the cavernous room. One witch constructed an invisible shield all around her and when the warlock attacked he was bounced back five feet. Another warlock was in the process of conjuring stakes in rapid succession and flinging them at a padded wall.

“Gwen!”

I dragged my eyes away from the fighting to see Fiona running towards me with Ethan in tow. I pasted a fake smile on my face instead of scowling like I wanted to. I didn’t understand how I was the only one who had problems with going to war with the vampires.

“Are you going to train with us? Ethan needs a partner,” Fiona exclaimed with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

I eyed Ethan and then Fiona. He didn’t look too thrilled to have me as a sparring partner which made me more interested in doing it.

“She’s not going to be on the front lines, Fiona. There’s no point in her sparring.” Ethan gave me a dirty look that vanished as soon as Fiona turned to face him.

“It doesn’t matter you can still practice with her.” Fiona turned back to me and asked, “Will you help out?” I smiled. Ethan didn’t want to fight me, so I couldn’t resist. “Sure.”

Fiona clapped her hands while Ethan and I walked onto the practice mats. I rolled up my sleeves and kicked off my high heeled boots. I hadn’t had a lot of practice in fighting with magic, but I had taken a couple classes at the dojo in Flora— mainly to stay in shape.

“Make your move, Ethan.” I taunted with a sly smile. His eyes squinted with anger, and he conjured a plastic stake with a flat bottom, so that it wouldn’t hurt if he got close enough to use it. Ethan stepped forward faster than I anticipated and knocked me backwards. I landed on my back hard and groaned when the air was jarred from my lungs. He didn’t waste any time and tried to get into a position on top of me, but before he could, I rolled backwards and regained my footing. A smile crept onto his lips as we watched each other. My feet moved in sync with his as we circled each other.

I conjured a large net that hovered just above him, and when he took a step forward, I let it drop. His hands got tangled in the holes. I took the opportunity to swipe his feet out from underneath him. Ethan fell back with a thud and worked feverishly to untangle himself. Clapping brought my attention away from Ethan. Standing beside Fiona was Dorian Hade. He leaned against the wall and was dressed in jeans, a tight fitting t-shirt, and black boots. Sunglasses hid his eyes from everyone and a smiled crept onto his lips when I scowled at him. It was only ten in the morning and my training with him wasn’t supposed to start until nightfall.

“What are you doing here?” My voice sounded harsh, even to me. Before Dorian could answer, Ethan attacked. His arms went around my body and held me so tight breathing became difficult. Bending backwards, I flung him over the top of me and to the mat. He growled with frustration, but before he could scramble to his feet, I conjured my own prop stake and flung it towards his chest. It hovered over his heart which would be a kill shot to a vampire.

“I win,” I announced happily. Ethan sneered, but I ignored his attitude and walked over to Fiona and Dorian. “I don’t think your boyfriend likes being beat by a girl,” I told Fiona with a smile. She bit her bottom lip as her eyes shot between Ethan and me. She laughed nervously and rushed to aid Ethan. I disregarded the annoyance of her worry over the sore loser and turned my attention towards the Angel of Death.

A wicked smile bent his mouth upwards. “You’re pretty good.” Dorian smiled in Ethan’s direction, and I heard the warlock scoff and walk away. Fighting had revved up my energy, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. “Thanks.” I smiled. “What are you doing here?”

Dorian crooked his index finger and motioned for me to follow him out of the gym. When we reached the top of the staircase, I leaned against the wall and waited for his explanation.

“Did you get the package Holly left for you?”

I nodded my head. “What floor is your room on?” Dorian watched the people coming and going and then looked at me.

Why did he want to know where my room was? The Angel of Death put me on edge, but I wasn’t sure if it was fear or attraction that raised my awareness.

“Second floor, why?” My eyes watched him with confusion.

“Because we have work to do,” he answered and headed for the stone steps. It took me a moment to move from the space I was occupying. I didn’t want Dorian in my bedroom. By the time I found my footing, he was waiting outside my door. My hand clasped the knob, and I pushed the door open. I grabbed the box, fully intending on leaving my room, yet he strolled into the space and lifted his sunglasses to the top of his head as he observed everything.

“What are you doing?” My eyes watched him with unease as he walked over to my bed and sat on the edge.

“It’ll be much quieter up here. Why—are you afraid of me, Gwen?” Dimples formed in his sculpted cheeks as his mouth lifted into a devilish grin. The grayness of his eyes seemed to darken as he stared at me.

“No,” I answered too quickly and my voice rose in pitch. I was definitely afraid of him and he knew it. Dorian laughed and patted my mattress. My heart thumped heavily with each step towards him. Instead of sitting on the bed, I stood next to it. “What’s in the box?” My eyes focused on the cardboard square in my hands. I couldn’t stand to be close to him and look into those gloomy eyes.