Rejected His Miracle Luna (Dorothy and Ignatius)

Chapter 125

-Angie

I crept along the outskirts of Belile territory, taking care not to wander too close to the cloaked shifters

who gathered around the clearing. Their numbers had grown since Fae and I had last spied them.

They were joined by a legion of vampires who reclined around the fires, feasting on the bloody

carcusses of fallen Belile soldiers. I wanted to wretch, staring into the empty eyes of people I had

fought alongside,

Now lifeless and broken, bloodbanks for the parasites to gorge on as they saw fit

Following Ignatius public retirement, I had slipped off unseen and made my way back to the scene of

the battle. When I made it to Stonespoke a few hours earlier, the ground was still wet with blood.

1 traced the vampires scent from there, eventually catching and following the putrid odor that Johan

gave off. It had led me back to Belile, where the battle had started, where we had to leave our dead in

the urgency of the light.

Fac stayed behind to calm the flailing Bielke. The thought of my mate alone with a crowd of desparate,

terrified soldiers had me uneasy. But they were soldiers I’d trained myself, and I had to have faith in

their loyalty to me. They wouldn’t hurt one of their own,

Although, they weren’t the only danger out there. Without an alpha to guide them, the Bielke was

vulnerable. Prime candadites for a spontaneous attack.

Focus, you idiot” I pressed my fist to my temple, unwilling to let the dire situation dissuade me from my

task.

This imposter needed to be unveiled, our people needed to see Johan’ for what he truly was before he

could ascend to alplia.

I peeked through the trees at the gathering, eyeing the small white tent on the far end. If Johan was

anywhere, it would be there. It was time to expose this imposter for the blood-sucking parasite he was,

I wasn’t sure how exactly I planned to do that, but I pressed on anyway, circling the gathering as I

slinked closer to the mysterious white tent. Staying out of sight was far from easy, with both shifters and

vampires standing guard nearby

But my secent was masked and my step was light, and I eventually saw an opening.

Crouching on the balls of my feet and clawing my nails into the dirt. I moved closer to the tent. The light

breeze worked in my favor, rustling around me as I crawled on. The grass was long enough to hide my

creeping form an environtent that was part of my nature – and I knew intinctivly how to use it to my

advantage.

I crept as close as I could to the singular tent, unil there was nothing but a bare patch of dirt between

me and my end goal. I eyed the shifter who stood guard nearby, bolting toward the flapping canvas the

moment he had his head turned.

I crawled under the the folds of the tent, wriggling on my belly and scrambling to my feet with my

blades drawn.

Inside it was dark Pitch black, in fact. My stomach turned at the overwhelming stench of death that hit

me in the face.

I braced myself for an attack, peering into the shadows of the tent. I had no idea if vampires could see

in the dark, and I wasn’t willing to take any chances. I listened intently, but the tent was silent as the

grave. If the imposter vampire was int here, he didn’t make a sound.

After a few moments of tense waiting, I ventured to speak. “I know you’re in here?

I was quietly relieved that my voice retained an air of control. I hoped the imposter could not see how

violently my hands.

The darkness gave no answers, and I wondered if I had been wrong in my assumptions. It could have

been a trap, some elaborate plan to lure me into their clutches.

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But nothing leapt at me-from the shadows, and outside I could hear the cloaked fanatics talking among

themselves. None of them suspected anything,

The tent could have been empty. Perhaps the fake Johan had left before I’d arrived. But then again,

that overpowering scent. The ungodly sensation of rot that denotated the presence of a corpse.

The vile odor was strongest in here, as if the enigmatic man was standing right in front of me.

I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. My voice, when I spoke was a small croak, “Show yourself.”

Still, the shadows gave up none of their secrets and I shifted on the balls of my feet. Sweat broke out

on my brow and 1 sucked in a deep breath.

Transferring both my blades to one hand, I reached into my back pocket for my cell. Flicking it on, I

shone the blueish light at the ground before me. The meager light illuminated nothing more than my

dirty boot.

I took a small step forward, and then another. My heart hammered in my chest and I fought to keep my

breathing even. I took another step and froze.

The weak circle of light now included more than my feet. There was a pair of pale, bare feet of another,

a mere inches from

me

Sitting a shrick. I jumped back, lifting my blades in one hand and my feeble lightsource in the other.

With that close proximity, the vampire could have torn out my throat in a heartbeat

“Who are you?!” I shouted in a whisper.

But the figure in the darkness gave no reply.

I bared my teeth, swallowing my fear, and stepped forward again. The man in the shadows made no

movement, no sound at all Gritting my teeth. I lifted my cell, shining the light in front of me to face my

silent opponent.

All at once I understood why the nun before me was unresponsive. The murky light of my cell reflected

off broad shoulders, a bare chest covered in strange runes and deep scars, ruthlessly carved into the

skin with a dull blade.

His neck curved upward in a delicate arc, and stopped abruptly at a gruesome stump. That stump was

a gaping hole, clotted with viscous fluid that had dried hard.

The man, the b*dy, had no hend.

Breathing rapidly in through my nose and out through my mouth to calm myself the way Rita had taught

me – I examined the b*dy in the dim light. It was propped up against a large wooden pole, hanging like

a disjointed ragdoll with arms outstretched.

Along with the head, the left hand was missing

Stooping to the ground, I found the missing parts scattered in the dirt. My fingers brushed a severed

hand, cold ligaments frozen in a state of rigor mortis. Shuffling around, my hand finally closed on the

severed head.

1 gingerly touched the cool skin, lifting it to the light to get a better look. When vacant, empty eyes

stared back at me, my b*dy reacted involuntarily. Thrusting the head out of my hands, I choked back a

whimper and scrambled away.

There was a thump as the head it the ground and rolled, coming to a stop at the foot of the corpse.

I didn’t need to take another look. Those dead brown eyes had confirmed it. This was the b*dy of Johan

the real Johan, in the Blesh.

My mind raced to explain it, how this lifeless corpse had walked upright, talked so eloquently. How this

b*dy had cut off it’s owin head and put it back on again. I thought back to the Tally army, to Moiraly’s

puppets.

The vengeful she wolf had dabbled in necromancy, coaxing her fallen victims to rise again with the

power of witchcraft and black magic. But those corpses were not as convincing as this one had been.

G

Moirah’s dead soldiers couldn’t speak, couldn’t move in a way that looked remotely human. Whatever

puppeteer controlled the corpse of Johan, he was a master of the art.

I flung my mind back to the day Fae and I had stalked the gathering, the way this b*dy had fallen apart

on the pedestal when. Fae had bit down on a certain vampire’s hand. The man’s face emerged from

my memory, dark almond eyes, a cascade of jet-black hair down his back.

That same vampire had retreated from battle, disappearing moments before Johan and his army

arrived at Stonespoke. The vampire who seemed hellbent on sinking his teeth into me, who very nearly

hit Far before he was called away.

The j pupper anaster.

Sudden movement at my back had me whirling around, blades at the ready. Firelight poured in through

the flap in the tent where a vicious-looking shifter had entered,

The slathering man eyed me with cruel intention, dirty claws elongating as he stalked closer.

“Spying are we?”

“Actually. I was just leaving. It stinks in here.” I lifted my blades, curves glinting in the orange glow. “Or

maybe that’s just you,”

The shifter chuckled, a husky gruff sound, as he dropped the flap of the tent behind him. We were both

instantly swallowed up by the darkness.

A sudden, searing pain as claws raked across my skin, slashing into my forearm. I yelped quietly and

turned on my heel, listening for the shifter’s heavy footsteps as he circled me.

When he attacked again, I blocked him, and his claws glanced of the flat side of my blade. I responded

with a swipe of my own, grinning as I sliced off what I think was an ear.

The shifter’s furious roar was suddenly cut short. It gurgled in his throat before it could rise to a

crescendo and I retreated: further away into the tent. Then, abruptly, the man fell silent, and I heard his

b*dy thump to the ground.

A fierce bright light clicked on, shining into my eyes and burning my retina.

I lifted a hand to shade my face, blade pointed forward in warning. “Take another step and I’ll gut you.”

“That’s no way to greet your mate, you feral bitch.”

Relief flooded my b*dy and I rushed forward into my lover’s arms.

“What are you doing here?!”

Fae hugged me back, nuzzling her face against my heaving chest “Call it intuition. I followed you after I

felt something was

wrong

-1 found Johan, I muttered grimly, and had to clamp a hand over Fae’s mouth when she shone her

torch at the macabre puppet.

Her cry came out as a muffled squeak,

Alarmed voices outside told us it was time to leave. We crawled out the back of the tent, hightailing it

into the forest with wreckless abandon. Behind us, the gathering discovered their murdered comrade.

Far had butchered him from behind, and their furious howling echoed through the trees.

“We need to get back to Bielke!” I wheezed, carreering over gnarled roots and kicking up dirt as I ran.

“We need to tell them the truth:

Far ran beside me, clicking off her torch so no one could track us in the dark

“I don’t think that will work pow,” she huffed. “I have a bad feeling about this. Something happened

while we were out fighting

“What do you mean?” I slipped in a puddle of mud, my mate hauling me upright again before I could hit

the ground.

Fae’s tone was grim. “If vampires can control Johan’s corpse and speak through Plato on a whim, who

knows the extent of their abilities?”

Her next words left me feeling cold and so very alone.

“I don’t think the Bielke are on our sule anymore,” she said.