It was strange to step off the ferry with other students and their parents, guardians, or other associated adult figures. Just a month ago, Solene had wanted nothing more than to move on, to become who she was meant to be and leave the Anouir Institute behind. But now, when a proper goodbye had been ripped from her by the circumstances, with an unceremonious last look in the middle of the night as she followed Soleil to her car, she couldn't help but be sad.

As she'd promised, Soleil did take Solene through the drive-through at a fast food place run by werewolves to get a burger, shake, and some fries. Once they'd left the drive-thru, however, Soleil turned uncharacteristically serious.

"I heard that you had a run-in with some snot-nosed kid claiming to be with the Astarte," Soleil began as they left the neon lights and the smell of French fries behind.

"Rumor has it you faced him yourself."

"Kind of." Solene paused to take a bite of her burger. It was a little—okay, a lot— greasy, but in the best kind of way. The way that filled her with that warmth she so desired, the way that gave some stability and normalcy to what would have been her father's worst nightmare. "I was one of the only ones he didn't freeze, at first."

"Really?" Soleil raised an eyebrow, her gaze straight ahead at the road. "Why's that?"

"He said that Astarte wanted me to join them, that he had some kind of deal—I wasn't the only one he was after." She took a sip of her milkshake. The rush of the sugar and the cold helped her feel more awake, more alert. "He wanted Dorian to come with him too."

Her stomach lurched to say that out loud. She studied her aunt's expression for any reaction, any sign that Soleil had heard the news. But she was stoic, unchanging.

Solene couldn't bring herself to ask, to know if the rest of the world knew already what Dorian really was.

Seeing it for herself—that was something completely different than the secret whispered to her in the garden, than the legends recounted by Dr. Vasquez with her magical lights show. She shuddered to even recall the monstrous behemoth of a wolf that Dorian had shifted into. The terror had been like nothing she'd ever felt before. It almost had to be magical, part of the Badwolf's very nature.

Soleil turned at the next intersection, entering the residential area. They weren't too far from home now.

"Did he tell you what the Astarte wanted with you?" Soleil asked, her tone unusually low and serious.

"No, I didn't let him get that far," Solene said. "I just don't understand why they'd want me when they tried to kill Dad when he was at school."

Soleil laughed. "I see Luna hasn't filled you in on some things."

Solene frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Of course the Astarte Coven would be interested in you, sunshine." Soleil turned the car again, this time onto Solana Boulevard. "Our family made the Astarte, you know."

"What?"

"You don't pay much attention in history class, do you?" Soleil grew serious. "It started long ago, with one of our great-great grandfathers or so, and each generation grew it until the end of the Mage Wars, when Cyrus Danaan defeated Endymion Danaan II, his own twin brother, in battle."

Suddenly, Solene didn't want that burger, fries, or shake anymore. She lowered the burger back into the paper bag as her stomach revolted.

She knew the cycle of the curse. Twins as brilliant in magic as the sun and the moon, destined to be great good and great evil, always to kill the other in the natural battle that ensued from their conflicting natures. The Astarte name had appeared in history before, as the main antagonist, the great evil of the Mage Wars. Solene knew her ancestors had fought in those wars. She'd even pieced together that her ancestors had fought with the Astarte during the Mage Wars. But she'd never quite pieced together that her ancestors had led the Astarte.

"It's technically your birthright, to join Astarte," Soleil continued, oblivious to Solene's shock. "That's probably why—"

"You had no right!"

The scream of Solene's mother caused Soleil to slam on the brakes, despite still being in the street. Solene grabbed her milkshake just in time to keep it from toppling into the carpet of Soleil's convertible as her mother advanced from the front porch.

Never had Solene seen her mother so furious. Luckily, her ire wasn't directed at Solene. Rather, her gray eyes blazed with a cold fire at none other than Soleil.

"Relax, Luna, I brought her home, safe and sound and I even fed her, no harm done!"

"You and I both know what you're up to, and I've turned a blind eye for a long time, but this is a step too far!" Luna removed her wand from her updo, sending her silvery tresses over her shoulders. "Solene, get out of the car, now. It seems my sister and I have some talking to do."

"Mom, but what about my trunk—"

A look from her mother, and the words died in Solene's throat. She opened the door and glanced back once at Soleil. "Thanks for the ride. And the fast food."

"Any time, kid." Soleil smiled, but her eyes had already changed to match Luna's. Except her fury wasn't cold, no, it was like the inferno of the sun.

Solene scrambled past her mother and into the house, and didn't stop until she got up to her room.

It was then that she set the paper bag down on her vanity and glanced out her window. Luckily, it seemed that Luna and Soleil had not come to a duel. At least, not yet. But also, they weren't shouting loudly enough for her to make out what they were saying. A dead end, Solene supposed.

She sat on her bed. The walls of the room seemed too small now, too enclosing with all that had happened. It was only an illusion of safety. Nowhere was safe, not now.

She thought of the corrupted grove, of the ice-covered ballroom. Now that the Anouir Institute was closed, it was even more of a waste to stay here in suburbia, when she had the ability to change things, to turn the tide of corruption.

"You have a gift."

When she closed her eyes, she could still see the way Dorian looked at her when he said that, so full of admiration and longing for what could not be his.

It was the way he had looked at her when he told her his secret.

A secret that Solene had finally seen in its full horror, beyond the terror of what she could have imagined. Pure dread had radiated off of the wolf, the innate fear of winter and death that had been forgotten in centuries of endless summer.

She hoped Dorian would be alright.

She fell back onto her bed. A wave of fatigue washed over her. It hardly seemed fair—hadn't she spent so much time sleeping already under the effects of the ice?

All her thoughts danced together like the wolves in the northern lights, until Solene was falling, falling, falling. . .

...

It seemed like no time at all had passed by the time she woke up. Within the blink of an eye, the morning light streamed through her curtains and the cry of the gulls and the dull roar of the waves greeted her. But there was a quiet to it all that belied the gravity of what had happened just the previous night.

Despite how heavy her body still felt, Solene forced herself to get up. She'd have to face her mother sooner or later. And Solene picked sooner.

Downstairs, Solene was greeted by the smell of an extravagant breakfast. Pastries, bacon, and cheese wafted toward her as she entered the kitchen, where Luna was listening to music by the witch band Hekate and using small spells to clean spills and lift the muffin pan out of the oven.

"Ah, there you are, moon child." Luna smiled as she turned to Solene. "Honor gave me quite the report."

That was right—Solene had forgotten that the Chancellor of the Anouir Institute was also among her mother's many prestigious friends. Solene didn't know what to even say to that.

Luckily, Luna seemed not to expect an answer, as she instead levitated a heaping plate with a cup of orange juice to the small kitchen table, where the third chair sat empty in missing formation.

"Ice magic can sap your strength." Luna sounded casual as she turned to the dishwasher and flicked her fingers, causing the pans to leap in as eagerly as lemmings off a cliff. "You should eat as much as you can."

Solene reluctantly sat down, but did not eat, instead watching her mother as she tried to gauge how much Luna knew, and tried to scan for clues as to what exactly had happened between Soleil and Luna last night.

Luna betrayed none of this. She seemed as happy as she usually was, almost care-free. The only hint of anything else was a cloudiness in her gray eyes, the promise of an incoming storm and the grim determination to survive it.

"Is everything alright?" Luna joined Solene at the table. "You aren't eating, sunshine."

"Oh." Solene pushed around her scrambled eggs sprinkled with spinach and homemade pico on her plate with her fork. "I guess—"

She stopped and met her mother's eyes directly. "I don't understand what happened last night. With Aunt Soleil."

A shadow of grief passed her mother's face. She turned to look out the window as she toyed with her moon amulet. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"She didn't hurt me, you know."

"I know." Luna hesitated, her lips parted. "I—I never should have allowed her to be around you in the first place."

"Why?" Solene frowned and leaned forward. "Is she dangerous?"

"Very." Luna moved to twisting her wedding ring with a certain agitation.

"I don't understand."

Luna pressed her lips together. "I thought she would get better. She was getting better. But she's gone down a road I can't follow again."

"Again?"

This word brought Luna back, and her eyes snapped back to Solene in a flash.

"I'm sorry." Luna spoke slowly and deliberately. "She loves you. She loves me. She loves the whole world, even. But that doesn't mean what she's doing is right." 

"What is she doing?" Solene felt almost dizzy, her head was whirling.

Her mother's expression grew more guarded, she withdrew. "Now isn't the time. The Covenant called a meeting. I'm to attend, as are all members, and I have reason to believe it will go well into the night."

Luna stood. "Horus is picking me up. I wish I didn't have to go, but I promise, I will tell you everything when this is done."

"Is this about what happened at Anouir?" Solene rose with her mother.

"Among other things." Tendrils of Luna's silvery-blonde hair fell into her face, forming a curtain between them. She started towards the hallway, only to stop and turn back to Solene. "Promise me this—stay here, and don't let anyone in. Especially your aunt."

Solene folded her arms over her chest. "If I do, will you tell me what's going on?"

"When I get back." Luna nodded, and Solene thought she saw tears gathering in her eyes. "I promise."