blood Match

Chapter 42: Arne

🎄✨🌙 Author’s Note: The Yule Gala Unfolds 🌙✨🎄

Tonight, the Yule Gala opens with grandeur and revelation. This evening’s story will arrive in three parts, each hour drawing us deeper into the mystery:

🔑 7pm — The Opening of Don Fernando’s Vault
🌌 8pm — Entering the Vault of Destiny
👑 9pm — The Welcoming of the Queen of the Turning Night
🎶 with the debut of her song “Queen of the Turning Night”

Step with care. Tonight is more than celebration — it is the turning of fate itself.

Leo took a breath and stilled, grounding himself in the moment. Then, like a whisper from memory, he recalled Don Fernando's letter.

"I regret not having the opportunity to meet this lamb who has tamed my little lion."

LAMB. Four letters. His fingers trembled as he turned the wheels on the cryptex, spelling it out.

There was a soft click... and then—nothing.

Liam’s hand came to rest gently on his shoulder.

“Try ARNE,” he said quietly.

Leo nodded, adjusted the dials. A low hum sounded... followed by three sharp clicks.

The vault door slid open.

Soft lights flickered on, one by one, casting a golden haze across the chamber. A lectern stood in the center of the room, its polished wood cradling a massive book. Shelves lined the walls, filled with leather-bound volumes, scrolls, and fragile parchment manuscripts.

Liam stepped forward, drawn to the book resting on the lectern. Its cover was embossed with a radiant sun and a crescent moon set against a field of stars.

As he approached, the sun on the cover began to glow—soft and golden, like first light on the horizon.

Leo came to stand beside him. The moment he arrived, the moon too flared to life in brilliant silver.

Then the stars surrounding both symbols began to shimmer, one by one, until the whole cover pulsed with quiet radiance. It was as if the book itself had awakened—not to reveal its secrets, but as if it recognized Leo and Liam.

As the book continued to glow, words in ancient Greek flared to life around the book’s edge. Leo and Liam knew immediately and spoke them softly.

"When Justice and Mercy meet, in flesh and desire — then will be revealed the true Crown of Fire."

Then the book went quiet, the glow fading away and the words disappearing from the cover.

They exchanged a glance and then together they reached forward and opened the book.

Harrison sat alone in his suite, mind looping through every moment with Gideon—the command, the disdain, the way he stripped him of dignity and made him beg. Gideon had treated him like a dog... and he had reveled in it.

The phone rang, interrupting his reverie.

“Excellent. Any trouble while you were there? No? Good. You placed it near the formal gardens, just like we discussed? Perfect. And the tracker—signal’s stable? Good. Any complications with the other assets? No? Then be ready. Once I give the signal, you move.”

Harrison disconnected the call, set the phone down, and closed his eyes. A slow smile curved his lips as he returned to more satisfying thoughts.

Marlowe was inspecting several gowns draped across a bed when Gideon flopped onto it like a bored child.

“Gideon!” She snapped, swatting his knee—more habit than punishment.

“Oh come on, sis. This is going to be a night to remember. Who cares if your dress has a wrinkle or two? With luck...” He grinned, teeth flashing. “...you might be wearing it to a funeral.”

“Alright, if you’re done congratulating yourself on orchestrating this little dance with Harrison, maybe you could actually be useful.”

She held up two gowns, one in each hand. “Emerald green or indigo?”

“Emerald green—it’ll look killer with your hair, me darling,” Gideon said, gesturing to the floor-length, off-the-shoulder gown.

“Emerald it is,” Marlowe replied smoothly. “And what will you be wearing tonight? Something black and brooding?”

“Not at all. I’m changing it up. Silver tuxedo, Cucinelli. Your gown will be the perfect foil for me.”

“Did Harrison hear from his contact? Are things in motion?” Marlowe asked, her tone casual as she hung the emerald gown on the dressing rack.

Gideon swung his legs off the bed and straightened. “I was just about to tell you. The package has been delivered and placed exactly where we planned. Harrison says it’s ready for retrieval—whenever we decide the time is right.”

“Excellent. This party may not be a total bore after all. Did you send Gabby his outfit for tonight? He has a very important role to play—he’ll be our distraction. While everyone is busy tending to him and showing off their enlightened sensibilities, we’ll be setting the trap... to catch a lion.”

Gabriel stared at the Michael Kors tuxedo the hotel staff had delivered earlier. It had arrived with a crisp note of instructions: he was to wear it, look his most presentable, and be ready to escort Marlowe to the celebration. He would be mingling with Leo and Liam’s guests tonight—and every thread of the suit felt like a leash.

But Marlowe didn’t realize how close he was to snapping that leash. Something was going to happen tonight—he could feel it. She’d never cared before what he wore, never bothered to make him look “presentable.” To her, he was just a thermos with a heartbeat.

The tuxedo meant something. It meant she was planning a show. A spectacle.

He didn’t know what was coming—but he would make damn sure Leo and Liam were on their guard.

He took the burner phone out from its hiding place and dialed.

Leo and Liam opened the book.

Inside the front cover, they found a folded note tucked into the binding—written in a familiar hand.

Two there were,
One dark, One light,
One Day, One Night.
Eternal Love,
Eternal Bliss,
They meet together
In a Sacred Kiss.

Leo stared at it, his breath catching. “This is Don Fernando’s handwriting.”

He looked at the note again, frowning.

What was this book? Why was it here? Why had it reacted to them?

Liam turned the page, revealing a title panel. The Sun and Moon motif appeared again—this time engraved in shining ink above words written in elegant, archaic script.

Grimoire de la Llum i Ombra

The Grimoire of Light and Shadow.

Leo read it aloud. “Ancient Catalan. This text must be at least six hundred years old.”

He ran his fingers across the edge of the page, reverent.

“It’s a witch’s book—Catalan witches. A grimoire of knowledge and power. It is a miracle it survived the Inquisition. And Don Fernando preserved it... all this time.”

Maria knocked gently on Kara’s door and waited. A moment later, it opened.

“Maria, come in.”

She stepped inside, a dress bag draped over one arm.

“Hello, darling. This is your gown for tonight—Leo asked me to bring it. He also asked me to deliver a message asking a small favor.”

Kara raised a brow, amused. “You know he only has to ask. What does he need?”

Maria settled onto the loveseat near the fire while Kara took the opposite chair.

“Well,” Maria began, “the Longest Night is a celebration in honor of the goddess Hecate and her creation of the Children of the Night. There’s a long tradition—one person is chosen to represent her, to embody the goddess from sunset to dawn. Leo would like that person to be you.”

Kara blinked. “Me?”

“It has always been a mortal,” Maria said gently. “You would be Queen of the Night for the hours of darkness. And one more thing...”

“I knew there was a catch.”

Maria smiled and handed her a sheet of music. “You’ll need to sing the invocation.”

Kara looked down at the music, then back up with a dry laugh. “Well. I guess all those drama classes and school musicals are finally paying off.”