Bloody Moonlight 4 — Becca Fanning

Stranded on a boat with my two vampire companions, Eddie and Vic, the tension is palpable. We're returning to a Chicago that is now...different. The city's silhouette looms ominously through the mist. Vic is frantically trying to conjure a spell, a magic we desperately need but that stubbornly eludes him. His frustration echoes my own fears. Eddie, usually more vocal, is unusually quiet, drained from a recent fight that has left both him and Vic barely standing. Amid the creaking of the boat and the looming crisis, I can't help but feel a gnawing sense of dread for what awaits us onshore.In a desperate measure to strengthen them for the impending battle, I offer myself to the vampires. The act is deeply personal, unsettling, stirring a primal nature within them that terrifies me. As they accept my offer, I feel an eerie sense of being both necessary and dangerously exposed. The pain and fear mingle with a strange emptiness; have I awoke some dark instinct within them?Alone on the deck, I'm confronted by the stark reality of our situation. The streets of Chicago, now teeming with unknown horrors, are just moments away. John Steeley, one of the few other humans on board, offers me a semblance of comfort, a shared understanding of loving someone who lives in the darkness. But his words only deepen my turmoil. As we approach the shore, I'm torn between fear and determination, between the safety of the known and the terror of the unknown. What awaits us in Chicago? Will my relationship with Eddie and Vic survive the horrors we are about to face? And most importantly, what role do I play in a battle where I feel more like a liability than an asset? The answers lie in the heart of a city that is no longer what it used to be.