Vale's POV
The shadow-hands burned my skin as they pulled me deeper into darkness.
"Stop fighting," shadow-Papa whispered. "You belong here with us."
"No!" I screamed, thrashing against the pulling hands. "You're not real!"
"We're as real as your failures," shadow-Dante said, his twisted face inches from mine. "You chose power over love. Now we're all dead."
I could hear screaming somewhere in the distance. My real friends were trapped in their own nightmares, facing their own worst fears.
The shadow ground swallowed me up to my waist now. Soon it would cover my head, and then...
"This is your fault," shadow-Luna said, her empty eye sockets weeping blood. "We trusted you to protect us."
"I tried!" I sobbed. "I did everything I could!"
"You chose being queen over being human," shadow-Adrian accused, his vampire fangs dripping darkness. "You let the prophecy consume you."
