The Rules of the Red - 2nd Edition |✓|

Epilogue - Days Ahead

It was the perfect day for a funeral in Harbor Village, but then again, so was every other day. A cold wind picked up the leaves, whipping them about the grave beds and head stones. September had finally arrived, and a deep chill along with it, reminding Addy that death always seemed to come with the cold. Her grandfather had died on a cold day, and so had her aunt.

"I can't believe this happened," said Adelle. She stood beside Ethan as they looked down at the freshly turned earth above the new grave. There had been a service here not long ago, but the other funeral-goers had since come and gone, deterred from staying any longer by grief and the rain.

"I'm really sorry, Addy." Ethan stooped to lay his flowers at the grave. "I know how hard this is for you. I feel it too."

"I just wish we could've done more for her...." Addy looked away, fighting back tears. "She was a bitch, but I actually really liked her. It was part of her charm..."

"Hey, if anyone's gonna takes the blame for this, it's me," I said, finally stepping forward. "I should've given the sacrifices more attention, but I was too worried about my own problems. The Hunters said they would take care of the Witches, and they did--but I never stopped to think Claire might need protection." Ethan once told me that he just wanted me to know what it was like in his world, and now I did. Harbor was a dark and dangerous place where no one was safe. Especially those who were innocent.

Claire Briton, thirty-one, and mother of two, was found in her home by her own kids–tortured to death and missing her heart. It was a grisly, devastating, but not completely shocking event for the town, and it had come with more costs than just the obvious. Leadership members had held several emergency meetings since, and dozens of parlays with the Garou in order to assure our Pack that they were safe. I was up to my ears in Red Bull and concealer to hide my stress and lack of sleep.

Claire's death had come just one day before her family planned to leave for Hasting; the moving truck was still in the driveway when the Human police arrived. The Order's wrath had finally spilled onto Harbor soil, and Claire was their last, target before the Hunters closed in on the Witches involved in the sacrifices. The small circle of killers refused to give up the High Priestess, Claudia's grandmother, but that didn't matter. The wave of sacrifices had been put to an end, the Witches found responsible had been put to justice, and Lillian Dimiwitz had officially been warned by the Hunters–no more sacrifices, or she would be next. A feeling in my heart whispered that Lillian, along with my grandfather, had played a part in the tragic deaths incurred during the magical flu that had taken the lives of so many all those years ago. I wanted a concrete answer to this question, but I knew I would have to wait. My grandfather had officially stepped down from the Leadership and all was quiet with the Witches. For now, peace was at hand. Or so it seemed.

"I've made sure Claire's kids will be taken care of," I said, running my hand along the smooth, white, marble stone I had chosen for Claire's burial. "They don't even have to worry about college... They're already on their way to Hasting to be with their grandmother. She'll take care of them."

"That's good." Addy sniffed, smudging her makeup as she wiped her eyes. "And Mimi, I know I've said this a million times but I'm so fucking happy that you're okay, and that you and Tidus survived what happened back at Claudia's-- even though I'm still not exactly sure what happened."

I shook my head slowly. "Magic happened. Somehow, it's in me. It saved Tidus and it brought me back to life. That's all I know."

Ethan raised his chin. "So... what happens next?"

"We protect this Pack..." I pulled out my shades as the rain finally began to fall. "And we take Lillian down. If it's war she wants, its war she'll get." I looked up at the grey sky and felt the water on my skin, as gentle and steady as the red river of Magic that flowed through my veins. "And we track down anyone else responsible for what happened to Claire. They're already dead. They just don't know it." I walked across the cemetery and the others fell into line behind me. There would be many more days ahead for dressing in black.

And I was ready for them.

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