A cry erupted in the streets and Erador ran toward it with Aminria. At the front gates, Yuni tugged on Hawth’s fang earring in his ear lobe, causing him to winch. Erador didn’t notice Baubie nearby trying to resolve the situation, he focused on Hawth as he charged forward.

  Erador slammed his fist into Hawth’s cheek and he fell, the earring ripping from his ear. With a moan, Hawth sat up as he gripped the bleeding flesh. Erador punched him down again.

  Baubie screamed and opened his han, blasting water at Erador's ribs. He recoiled from the sting as Baubie pulled Hawth away. Aminria grabbed Erador’s shoulder but he shoved her off.

  Yuni’s nostrils flared as she shook the fang earring. “Raun killed innocent people. What happened to saving those in need, like us?”

  “I don’t now what’s going on,” Baubie said, raising his hands. “I just came to help you and Raun. They told me they were going to kill him.”

  “He’s not going anywhere,” Erador snapped.

  “Stay out of this,” Baubie said, holding up his hand as his eyes glowed blue. “I’m warning you.”

  Erador couldn't use Shade with the orbid in his body. The other Paradins needed him. The fang earring was in Yuni’s grasp, black like her nail polish bottle; not the color of any animal fang he’d seen. Hawth had never been without it like Yuni’s brooch. Erador cursed.

  Vespers would die without their soul. Erador snatched the fang from Yuni and ran back through the streets. Baubie cast a blast of water, but Erador dodged around the corner and it hit the ground. He ran further and stopped to catch his breath, hiding near a house. He searched the empty street and opened his hand with the fang that was warm as if power surged inside.

  If killing Hawth was this easy, he would’ve done it already. Erador inched down the road, checking every street before he passed. He hid when feet shuffled nearby and looked out, catching a glimpse of Yuni. Erador gripped the earring and moved toward her.

  “I’m not going to hurt you even though you deserve it.” Yuni looked at the earring. “Taking it doesn’t kill him that fast. It’ll be days before he dies.

  Erador dropped his hand. It never was that easy. “It’s a soul?” he tried to say it steady, to sound like he believed it.

  “It’s…” Yuni shifted her gaze to Shade on the ground. “Like an element. Similar to yours. Shade feeds on your energy. A vesper’s trapped soul is like that.”

  “Why not get rid of it?”

  “I’ll die,” Yuni said. “Once the spell to become human is performed, energy constantly escapes our bodies. The vesper’s soul helps trap that energy, so we can replenish it when needed. I can’t ever get rid of it, unless I don’t want to be human anymore.”

  Erador stared at the fang. “It’s a cycle, but a flawed one.”

  Yuni touched her brooch and nodded. “It’s the only method.”

  Erador looked her over. “A vesper is a part of you, no matter which form you choose.”

  “We should remove that orbid,” Yuni said.

  She dug in her satchel and pulled out a brown glowing crystal, but Erador didn’t turn his back to her, skeptical that she might hurt him.

  Yuni noticed as her eyes narrowed. “If you want any chance to live, let me take it.”

  Erador sighed and turned as Yuni smacked the crystal agaisnt the wall until it broke and inhaled the vapor. Her fingers touched his back and he felt a slight prick on his skin.

  “There.” Yuni held the sparkling orbid pin. “You need to leave.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “If my brother gets his soul back, he’ll change and kill you.”

  “I’ll take that risk,” Erador said, looking at the fang. “After what he did to us… He’s not going to stop.”

  Yuni cocked her head. “I’ll take care of him, then.”

  “Alone?” Erador chuckled. “We’ll do better together.”

  “Fine,” she said under her breath.

  “How can he turn into a vesper?”

  “By breathing it, like a crystal,” Yuni said.

  “Then we hide it.”

  “He can sense it. It’s better to hold it.”

  Footsteps sounded down the street and Hawth rounded the corner.

  Yuni’s eyes widened. “Run!”

  Erador ran down the street and looked back but Yuni hadn’t followed. He cursed knowing she was trying to do this herself. Maybe she was distracting him. After making a few turns he stopped, finding himself in front of Sunflower Alley. If he made it back to the manor, he’d have a better chance against Hawth. A shadow shifted at the end and Erador’s heart raced. Baubie emerged, holding a knife to Aminria’s throat.

  “Let’s trade.” Baubie looked to Erador’s hand. “I want that earring.”

  “No.”

  Footsteps pounded behind Erador as a fist hit his jaw and he stumbled. He turned as Hawth threw a punch but he dodged. Hawth grabbed Erador and slammed him into the wall, the air escaping his lungs.

  Yuni ran down the street and clenched a fist. Cobblestones lifted from the ground and pounded into Hawth’s back and he let go, falling to his knees. Erador drove a kick into his ribs and he fell as Baubie yelled.

  “None of them deserved to die.” Yuni stomped up to Hawth who writhed on the ground, her eyes glowing brown. “None of them!”

  “I did it for us,” Hawth said, holding up his hands. “For our parents. Judgment is going to free the vespers when he’s better. Those Paradins were going to betray Judgment in the end.”

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  Yuni’s chest heaved. “You think Judgment has the power to stop everyone from experimenting on us?”

  Experimenting? Was this what Pia had read? It’s why vespers wanted to be human. Why they sacrificed their life source to be taken by a vesper soul.

  “They were our family.” Erador narrowed his eyes at Hawth.

  “They would’ve killed your father,” Hawth said, pushing himself up to sit. “So they wouldn’t have to worry about the life-binding contracts. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  Erador looked to Aminria. He thought people like Emera were after his father, not his friends.

  “Is this true?”

  “Breck coined the idea.” Aminria glared at Hawth. “He’s trying to turn you against me. Who’s really the guilty one here?”

  Erador’s gaze shifted to Hawth’s ear with crusty blood, to the flat sunflower earring beside it.

  Erador shook his head. “You’re the other bat.”

  “What?” Aminria said. “He’s a Paradin?”

  Judgment intentionally hid him. Now it made sense. He wouldn’t just let anyone feed the Raven, his absolute favorite. His father didn’t want anyone to know. Who knows how many more secret Paradins he had?

  “Did my father order you to do this?” Erador said.

  Hawth looked down.

  “Answer me,” Erador said, raising his voice.

  Hawth nodded.

  Judgment lied or was Hawth?

  “Why?” Erador said. “You never had to agree. What could my father do to you in his condition? Nothing. Yet you took innocent lives.”

  Hawth shut his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re not sorry,” Yuni spat, pulling out a knife from her satchel and pressing the tip in Hawth’s neck until it bled.

  Baubie gasped. “Don’t!”

  “I wish I left you to die when we were children because then I’d at least have a brother I would miss when he was dead.”

  “What changed you?” Baubie’s voice broke. “What did that woman do to you?”

  “She taught me to only trust myself.” Yuni cocked her head at Hawth. “This only makes it more clear.”

  “Don’t.” Baubie’s desperate gaze shifted to Erador. “I’ll let her go.”

  Erador wanted to see that knife planted in Hawth’s throat, but the seconds dragged and Yuni’s hand shook. She didn’t want it enough. She wouldn't do it. He wanted to push it in, but Aminria’s cries for help prevented him from doing so.

  He grabbed Yuni’s hand and guided her away from Hawth’s neck and took the knife. Baubie let Aminria go and she ran toward Erador, hiding behind him. Hawth got up, backing away, but Erador still had his soul. It wasn’t over.

  “Now the earring,” Baubie said, holding out his hand. “I’ll make sure he won’t come here again.”

  Erador lifted the fang. “This doesn’t just go away.”

  “It can be forgotten.” Baubie cocked his head in a serious fashion that ran a chill down his back.

  “You’re going to make him forget?”

  “If it’ll save him.”

  Chills rippled to Erador’s core knowing how much Baubie was willing to keep his son alive. Judgment would do the same. He did it for the Raven. It’s why he wasn’t killed. Erador realized what Eli said about the Raven losing his fire, losing parts of him. It’s why the Raven never came to kill them, he wasn’t the same anymore. Hawth wouldn’t be either.

  Yuni shook her head. “I used to think you were ethical, Baubie.”

  “And killing him is ethical?” Baubie said. “There aren’t many vespers left, not after the north has been using them for experiments and eradicating them. Your parents were victims of their atrocities. I saved both of you, and I’m not going to let you kill each other.” Baubie reached in his pocket. “Put the knife down, Erador.”

  Erador didn’t let go. He stared at Hawth who seemed like nothing months ago. A guard who fed the Raven, who played Warden Tower, and smoked keid. He wouldn't stop killing until he got what he wanted.

  “They died for nothing,” Erador said, pointing the blade at Hawth. “You think I’m going to let you fuck with his memories so it’s like he never committed a crime?”

  Baubie’s lips flattened as he lifted a pink glowing crystal from his pocket. “This is what you want?”

  Baubie broke it and breathed in pink crystal vapor. Shade darted across the ground below Hawth, but Baubie pushed him out of the way. He raised his fist and pain shot through Erador’s chest and he screamed as his body felt like it was breaking inside. Shade slipped toward Hawth but he jumped over the shadow toward Erador.

  Aminria ripped the fang from him and ran and Hawth chased her. Yuni aimed her fist at the ground and shot rocks at Baubie's stomach. He stumbled, breaking his focus and the pain in Erador's body vanished.

  As Yuni handled Baubie, Erador grabbed the knight and chased after Hawth who tackled Aminria part way down the street. Erador ripped him off and drove a punch to his face. Hawth stumbled and fell to the ground. He laughed as he got up and wiped the blood from his lip.

  “You lose.” Hawth held up the fang and ripped the top off inhaling the greenish vapor through his nose.

  His body shifted, bones stretching and breaking as his clothing ripped. Tall ears extended from the black hair that grew all over his body. Long claws stretched from his fingers. It happened within seconds as Erador grabbed Aminria’s hand and ran. Hawth jumped up and chased them through the streets. He was faster than he anticipated, catching up to them. Erador shoved Aminria aside and she hit the ground as Hawth slammed him into the wall. The knife dropped as Hawth's dug his claws into his arms.

  Screaming, Erador struggled as Hawth bared his fang. Aminria stabbed the knife into his back. Roaring, Hawth smacked her aside and reached for her. Shade slipped underneath them all and pulled them through, ejecting them up the from the ground. As they tumbled, Hawth let go and Erador rolled onto his side away from him. Aminria helped him up and they ran down the street, losing Hawth.

  “What do we do?” she yelled.

  The reddish sun neared the horizon. The migration hour had passed, which meant encountering lurkers was rare but Slen could be waiting. If they left Hawth here, he could still find them and attack them without them seeing him. He didn't answer Animria. He couldn't. He didn't know what to do and he wasn't sure if any Paradin training would've helped him for something like this.

  Hawth’s roar echoed through the village. Erador pulled Aminria into a window of a dark home and they ducked below it. Footsteps shifted in the street, as Erador held his breath, gripping tightly on Aminria’s arm.

  Footsteps passed and became distant.

  Erador let out a breath. “There’s no way I’m fighting him. He’s too strong.”

  “That’s a vesper?” Aminria whispered.

  “Guess you have something real to be scared of now.”

  Aminria glared at him. “Don’t act like you’re not.”

  “I almost pissed myself.” Erador cracked a smile. “Is that scared enough for you?”

  Aminria frowned. “It’s not funny. What do we do?”

  What could they do? Hawth was already going to kill the Paradins who wanted to leave, but now that he’d been exposed as a vesper, he might want to kill them all.

  Screeching erupted in the forest outside Lucrethia. Erador’s hairs stood on end as his scars burned. He shifted further into the darkness and Aminria followed him, gripping his arm.

  “Slen will find us,” Erador said. “I can’t hide from him.”

  Erador looked at her charm bracelet and reached for it but she pulled away.

  “What are you doing?” she said.

  “I need it. It’ll help me control Slen.”

  “My bracelet?” she said, flatly.

  “It’s not just any bracelet. Your father gave it to you.”

  “You don’t know that,” she snapped.

  “I know that he loved you and your brother more than anything. He liked taking you to the beach and not just any beach.” Erador frowned and looked at Aminria with compassion. He didn’t let her uncomfortable look stop him as he let Slen’s sad emotions flood him. “Please, believe me."

  She hugged herself and walked across the room as she held her bracelet. “What do you need this for?”

  “It’ll help distract him and remind him of his past. That way I can help him feel accepted again.”

  Aminria turned toward him, tears dripping down her cheeks. “She misses me.”

  Erador nodded as he scratched his head. “She... does. She thinks about you all the time.”

  “Really?” She looked up at him as tears slipped down her cheeks.

  Erador nodded.

  Aminria held her bracelet to him. “Her name is Plum.”

  Erador smiled and took it from her. “I’ll remember that.”