Read Online Dark Moon Rising (The Revenant Book 2) by Kali Argent - Free Book Online

again. From what he knew about Thea, however, he should have known better. She wasn’t just stubborn, the female was relentless, but had their situations been reversed, he’d have wanted the truth as well.
    “Why won’t you tell me?”
    That part was easy. “Because I don’t want you to stop looking at me the way you are right now. I don’t want you to see me as a monster.”
    “Technically, you are a monster. We all are.” She didn’t smile, but her eyes gleamed, and she caressed his cheek with the pad of her thumb. “Tell me.”
    “Tomorrow night will be my seventh Gallows.”
    “Oh, Rhys.” Kind and gentle, she cradled his face and rose up on her toes to press their lips together. “I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through this alone, but you’re not a monster.”
    He wanted to believe her, but she only saw the surface. “You don’t know what I’ve done.”
    Feeling him tremble against her, Thea realized nothing he said could truly help her comprehend what he’d been through during the past seven months. He’d fought starving vampires and crazed Ravagers, all while battling not to become a Ravager himself.
    When humans had learned about the existence of the Gemini, they had immediately and unilaterally decided that they needed to rid the world of these monsters. In their fear and panic, they’d kidnapped countless Gemini, conducted cruel experiments, until eventually, they’d found a way to eradicate everything paranormal. The PN2 virus that targeted specific, “mutated” genes—supposedly harmless to humans—had been released into the air, but no one had expected what would come next.
    Untested and unpredictable, the virus altered, killing two-thirds of the human population within days. The Gemini, the intended targets, hadn’t escaped unscathed, though. The vampires became more sensitive to the sun, something that had only been myth before the Purge. Shifters could no longer transform without enduring agonizing pain. Each time Thea shifted, it felt like being ripped apart from the inside out, so she avoided it whenever she could.
    The werewolves had received the worst of it.
    Beyond claws and teeth and a flash of their eyes, they couldn’t shift at all. Their already aggressive natures had been amplified, and without a release, many of them descended in chaos. By the first full moon after the Purge, a significant number of wolves had gone feral, becoming what everyone now knew as the Ravagers.
    For months, Rhys had been forced to participate in archaic gladiator-type games and fight to the death on numerous occasions, and through all of it, he’d somehow managed to maintain his humanity.
    “You fought, and you survived.” Closing her eyes, she pressed her cheek to his and whispered, “I’m not going to hold that against you.”
    “I hope you still feel that way after tomorrow night.”
    “We’re going to get out of here,” she vowed, “and we’re going to make them pay.”
    “When you say it, I almost bel—” Rhys stiffened, a low growl rumbling through his chest. “Someone’s coming.”
    He moved swiftly, retreating to the other side of the deck to lean against the wood railing and stare out over the pond. Pressing herself deeper into the shadows, Thea breathed shallowly and focused on taming her erratic pulse. She couldn’t do anything about her scent, but she hoped the wind stayed in her favor, and that Rhys’ musk would be enough to mask her presence.
    “There you are, handsome,” a feminine voice trilled. “I’ve been looking for you.”
    “Kara.” Rhys’ tone held no inflection, but his shoulders tensed, and his right hand curled into a fist on his thigh.
    A she-wolf with fiery red hair and skin the color of milk stepped into Thea’s view, her long, blue dress glittering as she moved. “I thought maybe you were avoiding me.” Her thin, pale lips pressed together in an unconvincing pout. “Come dance with me.”
    “Not really in the mood to