The Luna held her ghostly pale hand out to me with the promise of letting my friends and the town of


    Mountainview survive so long as I agreed to be her puppet. I reached out to take it despite the


    fact that everything in me was telling me not to do it; but I had to try to save my friends. I couldn’t bear


    the screaming and agony that surrounded me; I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I hadn’t at least


    tried.


    But suddenly, I saw a sh of someone behind her. Dark hair, blue eyes, the silver glint of a knife in the


    moonlight. The Luna had forgotten someone when she cast her spell.


    I heard the sound of the knife piercing flesh. The Luna shrieked and whipped around, wing at her


    back where the knife protruded. She faced Selena, and in one swift movement, she thrust her hand out


    and made a motion that sted Selena backward, against the stairs with a thud.


    Everything that happened next happened all at once. The Luna ripped the knife out of her back with


    another shriek. Blood spurted everywhere and she fell to the ground. At the top of the stairs, Lori and


    Jessica fell, no longer suspended by the Luna’s magic. All around me, my friends started to move


    again. The rogues writhed in pain, in unison with the Luna as she died in agony at the base of the


    stairs.


    I leaped to my feet.


    “Selena!” I shouted. I ran to her; the Luna’s spell had bored a hole into her chest. It would only be a few


    moments before she bled out, and there was nothing that I could do. As I fell to my knees beside my


    twin sister and scooped her up into my arms, I could hear the sound of her chest squelching and a soft


    whimper escaping her lips.


    “N-Nina…” she whimpered. Her trembling hand reached up and touched my face. I held it there with


    my hand, feeling the sensation of my own hot tears streaking down my face. “I-I…”


    “Shh,” I whispered. “It’s okay.”


    Selena shook her head. She swallowed hard, and as she did, blood bubbled out of her mouth. It


    stained her teeth and ran down her chin, and her eyes started to turn ssy. “I’m sorry,” she croaked.


    “For everything… I’m sorry.”


    My vision became clouded with tears. “I’m sorry, Selena,” I replied as a choked sob caught in my


    throat. “I wish we could have had more time together.”


    Selena let out a tightugh that turned into a cough. “It’s my fault,” she whimpered. “I was such a bitch.”


    I shook my head. At that moment, I didn’t care anymore about what Selena had done. She had


    changed. It was clear to me now that the Luna was dead, now that I saw the rity on my sister’s face,


    that she had been under the Luna’s spell. And now, she was free. She had saved all of us by killing the


    Luna… I wished that I had time to tell her that.


    But she was already dead.


    As I held my sister, I started to rock back and forth. A sob escaped my lips, then another. My chest


    heaved as I watched her face rx, and her eyes stared lifelessly up at the full moon. Her hand, which


    I still held pressed up against my cheek, suddenly became incredibly heavy.


    “Nina!” I heard someone shout. I didn’t know who it was; everything sounded so distant, so foggy. I


    heard footsteps running toward me. Someone grabbed my shoulder and turned me so that I was


    looking up at them; it was Enzo. His face was full of fear as he looked back and forth frantically


    between me and my dead twin.


    Behind him, the battlefield was still and silent. The rogues were all lifeless, unmoving. The Luna’s white


    dress was turning red, and her white hair was matted with blood as shey in the dirt at the bottom of


    the stairs. I could see the recruits getting up and moving, although I couldn’t tell through my tears how


    many had survived. Had all of them survived, or only a few?


    I felt more hands on me and looked up to see Lori, Jessica, Matt, and Luke crouching over me, circling


    around me.


    Someone tried to pull me away from my sister, and that was when I snapped back to reality.


    “No!” I snarled, clutching Selena more tightly. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch her!”


    “Nina, you’re in shock,” Enzo said gently, holding me firmly by both shoulders. “We need to check you.


    Your sister… The twin bond… Remember?”


    I furrowed my brow, feeling confused. The twin bond… My mind felt too foggy toprehend what


    Enzo was talking about at first, but finally it began to dawn on me.


    The twin bond.


    If one dies, then so shall the other.


    Was I going to die now that Selena was dead? I didn’t feel any physical pain… I felt fine. But the


    prophecy said that it would happen. Surely it had to be any minute now.


    Enzo hauled me to my feet and began to inspect me, his blood-stained face wrought with worry. I felt


    limp as he turned me this way and that, like I was just a lifeless doll with bundles of straw stuffed in


    where my limbs would go, like a scarecrow. Empty inside… Just straw and dirt and muck.


    But I wasn’t. I was alive, somehow. I looked back down at my sister as Jessica hunched over her body,


    checking her vitals.


    “Is she alive?” I whispered.


    Jessica touched Selena’s neck with her forefinger and middle finger, feeling her pulse. She touched her


    wrist next and closed her eyes, counting. After a few moments, she looked up at me with horror and


    slowly shook her head.


    I felt even more numb than before. All I could do was turn around and stare wide-eyed at Enzo as tears


    streamed down my face. He pulled me in tightly, his arms wrapping around me like a nket. I buried


    my face in his chest and sobbed.


    I was going to die. That was what the prophecy said. One twin could not live without the other… It was


    what saved me from being assassinated by the Crescents when I was an infant, and it was what was


    going to kill me now.


    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    At least I could be happy that Selena had saved everyone. Even if I died… I was just happy that it was


    over. The Luna was dead; her gically engineered rogue army was dead right along with her. The


    Crescents were weakened, and my father…


    My father had to have been released from the Luna’s spell.


    I wanted to talk to him onest time. I wanted to have a chance to meet my father and talk to him, just


    once, but I didn’t know how much time I had left, and I didn’t want to leave Enzo’s embrace.


    But as Enzo held me, I still didn’t feel any pain. My heart continued beating, and my lungs continued to


    draw in air. Slowly, I tilted my head up and met Enzo’s gaze. I wasn’t dead.


    Why wasn’t I dead?