“You were following Rosella because you wanted to turn her into a vampire,” I guessed. “To strengthen her psychic gift.”
“I started the Haven to take vampires in and offer them safety—not to turn them, and certainly not to turn them against their will,” Mary said. “The only exception is for psychics, as they have gifts that can help further our cause of peace. Once Rosella was fully-grown, I’d intended on giving her a choice. But when her people abandoned her, she was so close to death that not even vampire blood could heal her. Turning her should have killed her—she was too weak to realistically survive the change—but she was so near death that I tried anyway.”
“As you can see, I survived,” Rosella said with a smile. “My sight, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky.”
“Would you have chosen to become a vampire?” I asked her. “If you were given the choice?”
“I was never meant to have a choice,” she said calmly. “Being turned into a vampire and coming to the Haven was always my destiny.”
I was about to argue that we always had a choice, but I stopped myself. It seemed pointless to argue with a psychic.
Instead, I finished off my final piece of pizza. Mary had already finished, and had moved onto starting to clean up the dirty dishes. Rosella was right that we’d needed two pies—I’d eaten an entire one myself. I also felt strangely comfortable with Rosella. Perhaps she was right, and us meeting here today truly was fate.
“Now that we’ve shared a meal, are you comfortable speaking alone?” Rosella asked once I was done.
Unlike Mary, Rosella hadn’t made a blood oath that she wouldn’t attack me, and Nephilim weren’t protected in the Haven. But I trusted her.
It must have been that angel instinct Mary had mentioned earlier.
“I am,” I said.
“Good.” Mary smiled and cleared my plate, cleaning it before I had a chance to tell her that I could do it myself. “I’ll be waiting outside to escort you back to my cabin once you’re done.”
She finished washing my plate, and then she made her way out the door, leaving me and Rosella alone.
An awkward silence descended upon the cabin the moment Mary left. I just stared at Rosella—I didn’t feel bad about staring, since it wasn’t like she could see me to know I was doing it—unsure what to say. She looked so young that it was hard to believe she was hundreds of years old.
“So.” I poured myself another glass of soda to give myself something to do with my hands. “I guess you wanted to talk to me so you could read my fortune?”
“I already know your fate.” Rosella got up and made her way to the living room, and I followed her, since staying at the table would be rude. “I’ve known your fate since the moment you were born.” She turned to face me, her milky eyes staring eerily ahead. “The great destiny of the Nephilim who would kill the Queen.”
“Oh.” I took a sip of my soda, hoping it would calm my nerves. Because truthfully, whatever “great” destiny was in store for me—I didn’t want it. The only thing I wanted was my normal life back. I wanted to fill the gaping hole that had made a home in my chest since my parents and brother had been murdered in front of my eyes.
But I would never have what I wanted, because getting them back was impossible.
“I won’t tell you your fate against your will.” Rosella took a seat on the couch, never stumbling in the slightest. “You can choose if you want to learn your destiny or not. If you leave right now, I won’t force the knowledge upon you. But if you sit down and join me, I’ll tell you everything. It’s up to you. So show me, young Nephilim—what path do you choose?”
Annika
I glanced at the door, contemplating Rosella’s question.
What if I could go back to the way things used to be? I couldn’t have my family back, of course. But Geneva was a strong witch, and despite how much she hated me after I’d killed Laila, I still had command of the sapphire ring. I could command her to create memory potions for everyone who’d been in the throne room that morning and make them forget everything. No one would know I was a Nephilim—no one would even know I was alive.
I could move someplace new and start over.
I imagined myself living in small European town—maybe one in Italy or Greece—and getting a job at a restaurant. I’d take some online classes on the side to get my college degree. Perhaps I would even fall in love.
Life would be easy and simple. It would be normal.
But I would never be happy. There would always be that question lingering in the back of my mind—what if I’d stayed and listened to Rosella? What if I’d followed my so-called destiny and truly did end up doing something great—something that helped people all over the world?
Although, from what Mary had told me about Nephilim, when they’d roamed the Earth they’d done more harm than good.
“Before I choose, I have a question,” I said.
Rosella raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t seem surprised. “Go ahead,” she said with a small tilt of her head.
“From what Mary told me of the Nephilim, they sounded terrible,” I started. “They sounded evil. Are all Nephilim like that? Will I be like that, too?”
“No.” She smiled, as if my question amused her. “You can have a great destiny, but the future isn’t set in stone. You decide if you want to follow that destiny or if you want to walk away. Likewise, you choose the person you turn out to be. Good, or evil… it’s up to you.”
I nodded, taking in her words. Her answer was exactly what I’d needed to hear. Because ever since being taken as a blood slave in the Vale, I’d wanted to be able to defend myself. Since coming into my powers as a Nephilim, my angel instinct gave me that ability. Now, I wanted to do more.
I wanted to help the humans—like myself—who’d had their lives ripped away from them by the supernaturals. At the same time, I understood that not all supernaturals were bad, just as not all humans were good.
I refused to follow my ancestors’ paths of killing supernaturals simply because they belonged to a different race.
I wanted to create change. I wanted a world where supernaturals and humans lived in harmony. A world where supernaturals were forbidden to take advantage of humans’ natural weaknesses, but were always innocent until proven guilty.
Maybe it was an impossible dream, but I refused to turn down the chance to try.
“Okay.” I sat down on the sofa and looked straight at Rosella, confident in my choice. “I’m ready for you to tell me everything.”
Annika
“As I’ve already told you, a great destiny awaits you,” Rosella began. “You have an important journey to go on, and the existence of the world as we know it depends on your success. You see, a threat will soon be released, and you’re the key to defeating this threat. Without you, all other attempts to thwart this threat will fail. No matter what, we’ll end up with a different world—a dark world. But your decisions will determine how dark it’ll get.”
I sat there, stunned, absorbing what she’d said. It was so cryptic. I waited for her to tell me more—there had to be more—but she was silent.
“What kind of threat will I be facing?” I asked, since if I was going to be fighting something, I needed to know what I would be fighting.
“You’ll find out in time,” she said. “All you need to know right now is that to complete your journey, you’ll need to obtain the Holy Grail.”
“What?” I blinked, unsure if I’d heard her correctly. “Did you just say the Holy Grail?”
“I did,” she answered. “More Nephilim will be needed to defeat the darkness that’s rising. The Holy Grail is the key to creating more Nephilim. So, in order to defeat the threat, you need the Grail.”
I paused for a few seconds, taking this all in. She was seriously sending me on a quest to find the Holy Grail? I hadn’t thought life could get any crazier after learning about the existence of supernaturals… but apparently I’d been wrong.
“Where e
xactly do I find the Grail?” I finally asked.
“The Tree of Life,” she answered, as if it were common knowledge. “The Grail has been kept in the Tree of Life for over two millennia, where it’s been protected as it waits for you.”
A huge weight fell upon my chest at her words. This Tree had been protecting the Grail for two millennia because it was waiting for me?
This was insane.
But why would Rosella lie? I wanted to trust her—my angel instinct told me to trust her—but trusting supernaturals had gotten me into this mess in the first place.
Then I realized what I was doing—I was lumping all supernaturals together as if they were all bad. That was precisely what I didn’t want to do. If I wanted to create peace between the humans and the supernaturals, I had to accept that they weren’t all against me. After all, Jacen hadn’t been against me. He’d told me so himself.
If I’d trusted Jacen, I wouldn’t have had to lie to him about my identity in the first place. Maybe if I’d had my angel instinct back then, I would have made different choices. Better choices.
Now, my instinct was telling me to trust Rosella.
So that was exactly what I was going to do.
“Is there anything else you can tell me to help me get started?” I asked, desperate for another clue. If I was going to succeed, I had a feeling I’d need it.
“This quest will determine if you’re worthy to receive the Grail,” she told me. “You can choose one other to accompany you on the journey—only one, and no more—and you must choose wisely. The wrong choice means failure in your quest. The right one means you’ll get the Grail and will be on track to fulfilling your destiny.”
I nodded and glanced down at the sapphire ring on my hand. Geneva was the obvious choice, right? Sure, she hated me, but she was bound to obey my commands. If I was smart about what I commanded her to do, my potential could be limitless.
Except Geneva was conniving, and I had no doubt that I was the last person in the world she wanted to serve. One wrong word that allowed her even an inch of wiggle room, and she’d figure out a way to turn against me.
It couldn’t be Geneva. But Rosella had been specific—I could choose only one person to accompany me on my mission.
If I chose someone else, I would need to leave Geneva behind.
Which meant I would have to trust someone else with the sapphire ring.
Suddenly, the whites around Rosella’s eyes began to swirl. She sat straighter, her mouth forming into a surprised O.
“Pen and paper,” she told me. “In the kitchen. Bring them to me—now.”
I scrambled to the kitchen, my instinct pulling me toward the drawer closest to the refrigerator. I opened it, and sure enough, it was the “universal junk drawer.” Apparently even psychic vampires had one of those. There was a notepad and pen amidst the mess inside, and I grabbed them, hurrying them back over to Rosella.
Once she had the pen and paper, she immediately started writing—a string of numbers, with two letters thrown into the mix. After writing the second letter—an E—she placed the pen down and pushed the paper toward me.
“What’s this?” I studied the numbers and letters, clueless about what they could mean.
“That’s all you need to know to get started on your quest,” she said. “Your destiny awaits. And remember what I said—the world is counting on you to succeed.”
As if I could forget.
Camelia
I returned to my quarters, pleased with how the meeting had gone with the royal vampires. As long as Jacen did what he’d promised—which he would do, since he’d made a blood oath with Scott—we would have control of Geneva’s sapphire ring.
With that ring, I could command Geneva to bargain away her memories to the fae in return for providing me the spell that I could use to turn myself into an original vampire.
The plan was truly perfect. Because once Geneva had no more memories, she’d be a fresh mound of clay, free for us to mold however we saw fit.
I’d be an original vampire, I’d have control of Geneva’s sapphire ring, and I’d rule the Vale.
It was everything I’d ever wanted.
Except for one small matter.
I wrapped my arms around my stomach and walked over to my bar. On top of it sat the potion that I’d created before being called away—the one that would destroy any potential baby that might be growing inside of me.
I couldn’t turn into a vampire with a baby growing inside of me. It had been tried before, and it was physically impossible. A human needed to be strong to survive the change, and a pregnant body was weakened by the stress of taking care of not just itself, but the life growing inside its womb.
Every single pregnant woman who’d started the process of changing into a vampire had died before the change could complete. It didn’t matter how far along they were in the pregnancy—anywhere from days to months. They always died.
I wouldn’t survive the change if I were pregnant. And who knew if the royal vampires of the Vale would be patient enough to wait nine months for me to deliver the baby? With war looming on the horizon, they’d never wait. I couldn’t know what they would do instead, but a pregnancy would put a huge wedge in my plans.
I reached for the vial, ready to down the potion. But I stopped before the glass touched my lips.
Could I truly make such a rash decision? I had no more blood family left. My mother had died when I’d been a young teen from using up all of her magic, and I’d never known my father. He’d been brought to the Vale to impregnate my mother and sent back to his coven once his job was complete.
According to Laila, he’d been paid quite handsomely.
As for siblings, I had none. The more powerful a witch, the harder it was for her to get pregnant. It was the same for men—the ones with the strongest magic were the least fertile.
That’s why powerful witches like myself were so rare.
That was also why I’d paused before drinking the potion.
Because if I were pregnant—and while it was a rare chance, there was still a chance—it might be the only chance I would ever get to have a child of my own. Especially if I became a vampire—then I’d certainly never have a child.
I didn’t think I could live with the knowledge that I may have destroyed the one chance I had of becoming a mother.
Of course, there was the problem that I’d promised Prince Devyn that he could have the child once he or she came of age, but I had time to deal with that—likely years. Surely a solution could be found that would allow me to keep my child. The fae loved to bargain—there had to be something Prince Devyn wanted more than a half-blood child.
But I was getting ahead of myself. As it was, I didn’t even know if I was pregnant yet. How long did it take before it was possible to find out?
I placed the vial down and looked it up on my phone.
The answer popped up quickly. Two weeks after conception—that was when I’d be able to tell if I was pregnant.
I could wait two weeks before drinking the potion.
I capped it and placed it inside my refrigerator, where it would stay fresh for at least a month. I took one last look at it before closing the door.
This was for the best. This way, I could make an informed decision. The most likely situation would be that I wasn’t actually pregnant at all—besides the fact that my strong magic made pregnancy difficult, I’d only even had sex one time. I was probably beating myself up over a decision that I didn’t even need to make.
I’d wait two weeks.
Then I’d find out that I’m not pregnant, and I’d no longer be burdened with such a hefty choice to make.
Annika
I exited the cabin and found Mary speaking with a woman who exuded the floral smell of a witch. Dressed in the white outfit of the Haven, she had dark hair and dark skin, and she was short, her head barely coming up to Mary’s shoulders.
“Hello,” the woman said, giving me a small bow of respect
. “You must be Annika.”
“I am,” I answered. “Who are you?”
“Shivani,” she said. “I’m one of the witches of the Haven.”
I already knew she was a witch, of course—I could smell it—but I nodded anyway to be polite. Hopefully she didn’t want to chat with me as well. The paper Rosella had given me with the numbers and letters was burning a hole in my pocket. I was eager to ask Mary if she had any idea what the clue might mean, but wanted to wait until we were alone.
“I brought someone here who wants to speak with you,” Shivani continued. “He’s waiting in the meeting room.”
“Who?” My eyes narrowed, suspicion rising in my chest. It had been hours since I’d killed Queen Laila, and everyone who’d been in the throne room had heard me command Geneva to bring me to the Haven.
By now, I expected that every vampire of the Vale was looking to kill me. Maybe vampires from other kingdoms, too.
“Prince Jacen,” she said, and my suspicion disappeared, replaced with something else—anxiety.
I’d lied to Jacen so much. Surely he wouldn’t be able to forgive me? I’m not sure I would be able to, if I were in his position.
“You don’t have to speak with the prince if you don’t want to,” Shivani continued. “But remember that everyone within the Haven—including visitors—is forbidden from causing any violence while here. As long as our rules are followed, no harm comes to anyone on our lands.”
It only took one glance at the tiger sauntering in the distance to remind myself about what happened to those who didn’t follow the rules of the Haven.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath, although I didn’t think anything could prepare me for this. Because despite doubting that Jacen still cared for me after all my lies, but I couldn’t walk away.
The Vampire Fate (Dark World: The Vampire Wish Book 4) Page 8
