Dried blood stuck me to the sheets when I woke up, and I pried myself away with a regretful moan. I was naked, we both were, and covered in the same blood and gore that covered most of everything else around us. Most of it Wounder’s, more than a little of it belonging to either me or him as far as I could remember.

  My hair felt matted with the blood, and I hoped washing it out would fix that quickly. Tara’s work didn’t deserve to be ruined like that, let alone for this. Even then, the clothes she’d lent me were probably a lost cause, and I wasn’t sure there was any amount of cleaning that would get the stains and smells of dried blood out from them.

  Hunter was already awake as I finally opened my eyes, laid on his side watching me sleep like it was a divine revelation. His rough and calloused hand rested gently on my bare shoulder, and I thought he almost looked worried even as his smile never broke and he told me, “about time you woke up.”

  I sat up in the bed with a sudden force, rubbing my forehead as I tried to take everything in. I felt sick, I felt empty, and I felt almost hungover as I asked, “what time is it?”

  “Three in the afternoon, long as your guy keeps the clock here right” Hunter answered, sitting up beside me, as he let out a small groan, “I didn’t sleep well last night, haven’t for a little while now. I was surprised I got as long as I did in, honestly.”

  “Surprised you didn’t leave,” I admitted, frowning as I looked down at him. He looked tired, weak, worried. I felt about the same. “We killed Wounder last night.”

  “We ate his heart.”

  “I enjoyed it.”

  That was the part that hurt the most.

  I’d killed a friend, I’d ate someone’s fucking heart, I’d fucked Hunter because of it, and the part that worried me was I enjoyed it. No bracelet, no thoughts from Hunter, no one fucking pressuring me to do it. I’d done what felt natural, and what felt natural was a massacre. Wounder was digesting in my stomach, his body was probably in a furnace or getting rolled into the woods or a lake somewhere.

  I didn’t feel bad about it.

  I hated I did it.

  He deserved more.

  He didn’t deserve this.

  He’d made it where my life was under threat, where my son’s life was under threat, and I wasn’t going to fucking let him live with that. I…I’d gone too far in what I did, but I wasn’t going to feel bad for it, that made it better. It was wrong to eat him, but under the circumstances it was probably understandable. I was sure The Lady would understand that it was a precautionary measure while carrying out her orders, and maybe the rest could be brushed off as a spur of the moment. I was sure a vampire had to understand my situation more than anyone, right?

  “Scout’s not going to like this,” Hunter said, probably the most obvious statement I’d received in the last few weeks.

  “I can take credit for it if you want,” I offered, resting my back against the headboard as I thought about it. There was a small chance she’d tried killing me for this, but I was going to be dead soon anyway and I could take her in a fight if I really felt like it. “I’d hate to fully break up the old pack.”

  “It’s going to be anyway, a pack of two doesn’t work, not when one killed another,” Hunter said, sighing as he seemed to think about that, “I’ll probably rejoin up with my mom’s pack again. I’m young enough I can still find my own pack again after a few years, if I want to. Scout came up from a pack farther south, so she can return there if she really wants. Chaser…I’ll let you take credit still, I don’t think Chaser could overlook me killing a member of my pack, not openly like this, but she won’t hate me too much.”

  I nodded, reaching out as I took the man’s hand within my own and I told him, “I’m sorry for everything. I should have just fucking rolled over and died days ago, you would still have a pack and-”

  He kissed me, and I paused in the kiss as I felt the man hold his weight over me. After a few seconds, he pulled away, and I met his eyes as he told me, “we’re going to solve this, Mary, together. I’m not losing you or Martin, alright?”

  I nodded, and I kissed him once more, and I said, “I love you,” as my hands ran through the sticky mess in his hair. The words leaving my lips too effortlessly, sending a jolt of pain through my chest even if they felt honest. I loved him, and by the wolf gods a part of me was wishing I didn’t, that I actually deserved something else.

  “I love you too,” the man said breathlessly, resting his forehead on mine as he muttered, “run away with me, come back to the Purists. We could be together again, it could be like old times again. You, me, get Martin down here when he’s old enough, or fucking right now if you really want. We’d have help this time, people who’d raised kids in the Purists living right there, we could do it.”

  I paused, the idea running through my mind a thousand miles an hour as the pain in my chest tightened. It was the last thing I wanted to hear, and yet the only thing that mattered as I laid against the bed. The Lady, Misha, Andrew, Tara, Knives, everyone would come after me, kill me if I joined the Purists.

  It was possible they’d kill me eventually anyway, and I’d die trying to blend in. I’d eaten someone’s heart, I’d given into the wolf, I’d caused so much trouble trying to be normal, and for what? Maybe it was just a matter of time before I gave in fully, got myself in too much trouble, fucked up everything for myself and others.

  Maybe the Purists were where I belonged.

  I didn’t deserve a second chance, I didn’t deserve to be happy and human, I fucking deserved to suffer. The Purists seemed a miserable place to live again, but I couldn’t exactly say I deserved to be perfectly happy. A life living like a wolf seemed better suited for me, as much pain as I caused and how much I had reveled in it. Wolves at least didn’t cry wondering if one day they wouldn’t hear so many deer crying for what they do.

  Still, none of these thoughts were said, and instead I told him, “you should join me. I can get you a pardon, the same deal I got, we could have a chance to have a normal life. You want to raise Martin? We can get settled, have normal jobs, I don’t know, a fucking house one day. I mean, he deserves that sort of thing, right? Normal life, no Purists or hunters to look up to?”

  Hunter recoiled at the words, I couldn’t blame him, and I watched as he slowly swung off the bed, rising to his feet as he stared off into space. He was silent, not making a sound as he stood there until he announced, “we should probably get this blood off us before we leave.”

  I nodded, and I led him into the guest room’s bathroom where we took a quick shower together. We avoided touching like it was the plague, and barely spoke to each other except to point out spots we missed or to pick chunks of viscera from our hair. In the end, relatively clean even if we both still had a faint smell of blood to our skin, Hunter stepped back into the main bedroom and I went to the sink.

  Vergil kept four brands of toothpaste and dozens of single-wrapped toothbrushes stocked in the guest room, alongside varying other hygienic supplies. I took one of them and, with a bit of heavy brushing and thorough cleaning, scrubbed my teeth until they hurt and the tinges of blood were removed. When that was finished, I took a floss stick to the pieces of stringy meat I could feel stuck between my teeth, and then brushed my teeth a second time.

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  I felt a little better after that, and was following it up with some mouthwash as I saw a familiar figure come through the wall behind me.

  Calliope looked weirdly happy for the scene in the next room, and with her arms folded behind her she floated beside me as she asked, “so, who’s the guy?”

  “Little complicated right now,” I said, giving a small sigh at the thought, “what, were you watching us?”

  “I was going to, but it got a little weird for me, after…well, pretty much before it started, but I saw a bit,” the woman admitted, suddenly having a brief look of disgust that she forcibly hid, “either way, I’m happy for you. I’ve been telling you you deserved to get some, girl. He’s also not half bad looking — a little weird and made of more red flags than a USSR parade, but you know — good looking.”

  I nodded, my smile turning a bit sad as I told her, “yeah, I know. Thank you though for all the help with this, getting those tickets… well, it helped.”

  “Ain’t a problem, Mary Cherry, what friends are for,” the ghost admitted, leaning against the wall as she looked me over appreciatively, “Vergil’s in his office, wanted to talk to you a bit before you left. He also hung some clothes outside your door, just some spares we had lying around that looked your size. We’ll handle cleaning the clothes you leave here, The Lady is sending a…well, she said it’s a cleaning team, but I think we might just need to get rid of everything that’s cloth in there, and maybe some of the hardwood.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” I admitted, feeling a bit of a flush to my cheeks. We had gone a little bit overboard, it wasn’t like me. “Is The Lady mad at me? I think I might need to ask her for a favor soon, so I’m hoping not.”

  “She sounded more concerned, if I’m telling the truth,” the ghost said, once more surprising me as I quickly rinsed my mouth out another time, just to be safe, “I think you give her a migraine, and that means she finds you hot. People like her? They’re always going for the girls who annoy them, I’ve read enough romance novels to know that.”

  I spat the mouthwash out, holding back a chuckle, and I told her, “not sure that applies here, but I’ll keep it in mind. I…Calliope, I can’t overstate this, thank you for helping me. This has been a rough couple weeks, and I just…we’re friends, aren’t we?”

  “Of course we’re friends, Mary Cherry,” she said, moving forward in concern, her ice cold hands resting on my shoulders, “Do you need something?”

  “No, no, it’s just…” I paused, the words catching in my throat, and with a bit of stress I told her, “I’m not used to having friends like you, like some of the people at the Covenant. I had a single long term friend my age growing up, who didn’t look down at me, and we really couldn’t rely on each other for much more than just being there and letting us bitch. I’m still getting used to it, still trying to like it, to believe I can actually rely on other people for help.”

  “Anything you need, Mary Cherry.”

  I smiled, and regretting it almost immediately I told her, “my birthday’s Friday, I’m turning twenty-one. I have a thing I need to do that night, but like…if I’m still alive Saturday, and you wanted to do something small here, we could try it. I don’t want a lot of people though, maybe just a few people from Knives’ pack, Misha, you and Vergil, I don’t even know really. That’s a lot of people isn’t it? Just…fuck it, I’m gonna leave it up to you, know it’s short notice you don’t need to just-”

  The ghost hugged me, her ghostly arms wrapping around my body as I let out a noise of surprise, my entire torso feeling submerged in ice. She let out an excited giggle I might have mistaken for a chipmunks, and she told me, “I already have everything planned, I just need to get it in motion. This is going to be the best birthday party you’ve ever had, everything is going to be perfect!”

  I laughed, and hesitantly pushed her away once more as I jokingly told her, “look, if you’re telling the truth, you can borrow my body for a bit too, just make sure I have it back for Sunday night.”

  “Oh, Oh I will be gone planning,” Calliope declared, and the ghost vanished dropping straight through the floor and left me with the vague sense I had made a mistake. Perhaps not the thing I should have joked about, even if it might not have been the worst thing to do.

  I went back into the room, where Hunter was changing into a pair of sweats and a black t-shirt I assumed had come from the door. Looking for myself, I found a simple looking sundress there I slipped on without issue.

  My phone and borrowed purse were still in the main room, or had been when I left it, and my locket was still around my neck. That left nothing left to grab in the room except shoes, and my boots were filled with enough blood that Hunter and I left the room barefoot.

  The room was mostly back to its old state, though empty and with a few puppy training pads sat outside our door. I let out a small chuckle for the fact, and even more so when I realized baby wipes had been set out for us to wipe the blood off our feet. The shower had done a lot, though the carpet soaked as it was had still bloodied my soles, and I cleaned them off before leaving the rags on top of the pad.

  Hunter did the same, mostly at my order, and I led him to the elevator where he rested a hand on my shoulder.

  He looked up to me, and I felt my heart drop at the gaze as he declared, “I’ll leave the Purists, but only one condition.”

  “Anything,” I said.

  Hunter smiled, and he leaned forward, kissing my chin as he in an almost fearful whisper said, “marry me.”

  My head swam, and I wasn’t sure what to say for a long moment as the question settled in. He looked at me hopeful, and I shook my head unsure I heard right, “what?”

  “Marry me,” he repeated, frowning as he explained, “you’re asking me to give up everything I’ve ever known, Bloodhound. I’ve never been outside the Purists, I’m not fucking like you, they raised me there. If I need to give up everything, then I want to know I always have you to come back to at the end of the day. I don’t care how we do it; like the Purists, in a court, a backyard, a church, a temple, whatever the fuck you want. I just want to be able to say we’re married and not have it be because we did a mate binding.”

  I nodded, my mind swirling, and I shook my head as I admitted, “I…I need to think about it.”

  He nodded, kissing my cheek as he told me in his tender tone, “give it a few days, you know how to reach me when you decide.”

  I nodded, the man left, and I was left there dumbfounded for a long time not exactly sure what I was supposed to think. Eventually, my head still swimming, I turned and went to Vergil’s office, hoping he could give me something to focus on.

  My knuckles had barely tapped against the door before it opened, and Vergil smiled at me as I stepped past him. The man held a chair for me that I sat at, and he moved behind his desk as I tried focusing on him.

  I felt like I was going to throw up, like my head was swirling, like every part of me just wanted to shut down.

  I didn’t, and Vergil smiled as he announced, “you know, I was thinking of redoing the guest room anyway. Hasn’t been redone since the early 2000s, it was starting to look a little tacky.” I nodded, figuring that apologizing would be a bit overboard, and he shook his head as he held up a black cord and asked me, “do you know what this is?”

  “A wire?”

  “Yes, well, it is,” he said, frowning as he turned it over, “but it’s also a wire…it’s also a bug — a surveillance microphone. It was hidden in your friend’s suit yesterday, I noticed it while helping with disposal. Someone was listening in on your conversation, and I wonder if it was purposeful.”

  I nodded, frowning a moment as I said, “that could explain why this guy told me what Wounder did, and told me where to find him. He was trying to figure something out, hoping one of us said something.”

  “Any idea what?”

  “No,” I admitted, furrowing my brow even as I had a vague idea, “he’s been calling pretty regularly, maybe I can confront him then.”

  Vergil nodded, and the man reached into his drawer, pulling out two envelopes, one large and one thin, which he placed in front of me. I took the larger one, opening it to reveal several bills, and Vergil explained, “your share of the winnings. twenty five hundred, that’s minus the amount I lent you and your cut of the fees. I am still confused how you two fucking did that well, but I felt generous.”

  “Just, good at Poker,” I muttered, looking at the envelope in shock. That was literally more than my yearly allowance…how much was The Lady underpaying me now that I thought about it? “This is too much, I can’t accept this. Are you sure this is right?”

  “It was a fundraiser event, they work with large amounts of money. Consider it a late apology for the fact I’m the reason this all happened,” Vergil said, frowning as he additionally pulled out my phone and the borrowed purse. “I cleaned both of these off, took a bit to get the blood cleaned. As for the second envelope, that showed up on my doorstep late last night. It had your name on it. I figured I’d leave it for you, though I think we both know who it must be from. Only reason I didn’t open it was courtesy, but you let me know if it’s another threat and I’ll deal with them.”

  I nodded, my fingers fumbling with the envelope as I ripped it open, finding a Polaroid inside. It was a cabin, abandoned with broken windows, graffiti sprayed across it, old police tape laying about the mud. A cross now sat out front, at the head of a freshly dug mound of dirt, and a fireplace’s light came from inside. My heart dropped, and with shaking hands I turned it over in my hands, looking at the back where Alpha’s dad had written Meet me here. This is the last Midnight.

  “Anything I should be concerned about?” Vergil asked, even as I rose to my feet and took up my purse and phone.

  “No,” I lied, fumbling to unlock my phone, “I need to make a phone call though. It seems like things are almost over.”