The cut was so deep that he couldn’t even scream.
Guilt wracked my chest, but I only had to think Peter’s name to push the unwelcome feeling away. If this man had to die for Peter to live, then so be it.
“Don’t move,” I said with compulsion, reaching for the other item I’d purchased—a plastic Tupperware container.
I held it under the man’s neck, tipping him forward so the blood flowed into the container. I let it fill until there was no blood left to drain—far past the point when his heart stopped beating.
“Thank you.” I placed the lid on the container, sealing it to make sure it was tight. “I’ll make sure your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
Then I put the car in neutral and rolled it into the forest.
The man would be found, eventually.
By then, I’d be long gone—and Peter and I would finally be together again.
Karina
I followed the directions Mary had given me, and it wasn’t long until I arrived to the mystical garden of the fae.
Despite the majority of Ireland being dead and covered in snow in the height of winter, this garden was green and alive, with a sparkling pond in the center. It was like stepping into a bubble of summer. But that wasn’t what surprised me about it.
What surprised me was that I wasn’t the only one there.
A young girl in a short, green dress sat perched on a rock. She reminded me of Tinkerbell, but full sized—and without the wings.
Her lips turned up into a small smile when she saw me. “Hello, Karina” she said calmly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
I didn’t move toward her, not wanting to startle her. Also—while I hated to admit it—I was slightly spooked. The girl didn’t look older than ten, yet she spoke like an adult.
“Who are you?” I asked. “And how do you know my name?”
“My name is Fiona,” she said. “I know your name because a friend told me you would be here. I’ve been quite anxious for your arrival.” She paused, patting the rock next to her. “Sit down and join me. We have so much to discuss.”
I took a deep breath and did as she’d asked, since this was why I was here—to meet with the fae. I’d never met a fae before, but this girl seemed to fit all of the qualifications for being one. Still, it was better safe than sorry.
“Are you a fae?” I asked, doing my best to make myself comfortable on the rock. It was a bit difficult, since it was lumpy to sit on. I placed my pack and container of blood on the ground, but kept my knife in its place in my boot.
No matter what this girl was—a fae or some other type of supernatural—I couldn’t let my guard down.
“I am.” She giggled, sounding like a little girl for the first time since I’d arrived. “Although I understand why you’re wary. This is hardly the typical way my kind operate.”
“No,” I agreed. “I’d been told I needed to wait for the full moon, and then come here to call on you.”
“Yet the moon isn’t full,” she said.
“I know.” I glanced up at the silver crescent gleaming in the sky. “But I was going to try anyway, just in case it were possible to call on you during other times, too.”
“Interesting.” She tilted her head, studying me. “It’s true that we can only journey to Earth from the Otherworld on the nights of the full moon. However, a dear friend of mine has the ability of omniscient sight. He was called to Earth on the most recent full moon, and while here, he had a vision that you would come here before the next full moon—and that you would have something I desired. He owed me a favor, so he told me of his vision… and now I’m here.” She smiled and shrugged, as if it were as simple as that.
“Wow,” I said. “So you’ve been waiting here for me for days?”
“I have,” she said. “Although when you’re immortal, a few days hardly feel like much time, do they?”
I nodded, although I had a sneaking suspicion that she’d seen many more centuries than I.
“My friend also told me that if I waited until the next full moon to see you, it would be too late,” she added.
“What does that mean?” I shifted in place, not liking the sound of that.
“I don’t know.” She giggled again, and the hairs on my arms prickled. “But it hardly matters, because you’re here now. So let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“Okay,” I said. “I came here because—”
“You’re jumping ahead of yourself,” she interrupted, holding a hand in the hair to stop me. “We have yet to discuss your payment for my passage to Earth.”
“I never officially called you here.” I glanced at the container of blood, guilty that I’d ended up killing that man for no reason.
Although… maybe it hadn’t been for no reason.
I picked up the container and held it out to Fiona. “Will this human blood be sufficient payment?” I asked. “I brought it here specifically for you.”
She swatted it out of my hand, and it hit the ground with so much force that it split open, the blood leaking out and soaking into the ground.
“The fae do not crave blood as vampires do.” She scrunched her nose, as if vampires disgusted her. “I mean no offense, of course,” she added with an innocent smile.
“None taken.” I sat straighter, thinking of only one thing—Peter’s return. His coming back was worth keeping my cool with this petulant fae girl. “Since you don’t want the blood, what do you want?”
“As payment for my passage to Earth, I’d like the portrait you carry with you.” She looked to my bag and lit up gleefully. “The one of your true love.”
I jerked back, shocked by her request. “Why do you want a faded old portrait?” I asked, truly confused about her reasoning.
“That object is more than just a portrait.” She focused on me again, her eyes gleaming with desire. “I can feel its energy from here. You’ve carried it with you for so long that you’ve imprinted some of your most intense emotions upon it, making it quite valuable indeed. Surely it’s worth giving up?” She brushed off her skirt and moved forward on the rock, as if preparing to stand. “If not, I’ll be on my way.”
Ache filled my heart at the thought of giving up my most treasured possession.
But that’s all the portrait was—a possession. I’d give it up ten fold to have Peter alive and well.
“Wait,” I said, and she smirked, situating herself again.
She tilted her head, clearly waiting.
My hands trembled as I unzipped the bag and pulled out Peter’s portrait, flipping it over to take one final look at his soulful eyes.
This is for you, Peter, I thought as I handed it to Fiona.
Karina
Fiona held the portrait to her heart and closed her eyes, a mask of calm transforming her features. “Lovely,” she said, opening her eyes again and placing the portrait in her pocket. “Now that that’s settled, we can move forward with our discussion. So tell me, Karina—why do you seek my help?”
“Peter—the man in the portrait—died many years ago,” I began, glancing toward where the portrait now lay in her pocket. “I want you to bring him back, just as he was before his death, but fully in tact and healed. I want his return to be permanent.”
I needed to be careful in my wording—the fae couldn’t lie, but they were notoriously tricky creatures when it came to making deals.
“I cannot provide him god-like immortality,” she said. “Every creature—even the fae—has an Achilles heel.”
“But you can bring him back?” I sat forward, more hopeful than ever.
“I can.” She nodded. “But first, I must ask—what do you know of the fae?”
“Not much,” I admitted. “Just that you’re immortal, you live in the Otherworld, and that you rarely come to Earth.”
“That’s correct,” she said. “Each of us also has a different magical ability—some more rare and powerful than others.”
“Interesting,” I said, since she was correc
t—I hadn’t known that. What she’d said earlier about her friend with omniscient sight now made more sense. “What’s your magical ability?”
“I’m glad you asked.” She straightened her shoulders and smiled, smoothing out her dress. “I’m a traveler fae. Traveler fae are extremely rare fae who can travel into the Beyond—the place where the creatures of all realms go when they die. Most traveler fae can only visit the Beyond, but my powers are far stronger than that. It takes a great amount of energy, but I’m also able to bring those in the Beyond back to the world of the living.”
“You’ll do that?” I was breathless, my heart pounding with the realization that this was more than just a dream—it was truly possible. “You’ll bring Peter back to me?”
“I will.” She smiled. “For a price.”
Of course—I’d expected as much. “What do you want?” I asked.
“Your memories,” she said simply.
I blinked, stunned by her request. “What?” I asked, despite having heard her loud and clear.
“I’d like your memories,” she repeated. “All of them.”
“I can’t give away all of my memories.” Horror filled my body at the thought of doing such a thing. “If I did, what would be left of me?”
“Others before you have traded as much,” she said. “But I agree—it’s a high price to pay, and I’m not so cruel as to strip you of all your memories. A portion of them will do just fine.”
“What portion of them?” I was on guard, my stomach twisting with the feeling that she had some kind of terrible trick up her sleeve.
“Just a small portion, in comparison to the time you’ve lived on Earth.” She widened her eyes in a chilling display of innocence. “The only memories of yours I want are the ones you have of Peter.”
Karina
“No.” I jolted back at her request. “That’s not fair.”
“The fae don’t operate on ‘fair.’” Fiona smiled again, but this time it radiated pure maliciousness. “I’m the only living fae able to bring souls from the Beyond back to the lands of the living. Now I’m offering to bring back your Peter in exchange for all your memories of him. That’s my final offer—do you want to take it or leave it?”
I wanted to tell her absolutely not.
But I held my tongue, giving myself time to think. This was my one chance to get Peter back—she’d said so herself, and the fae couldn’t lie.
If I said no, I would never see Peter again. At least, not until I died and passed into the Beyond—and who knew how long that would be?
I’d take my own life to join him in the Beyond, but I’d learned from a young age that those who took their own lives ended up in Hell.
If I woke up in Hell, then I’d never see Peter again.
“There’s nothing else you want?” I tried, although a sinking feeling told me it was hopeless.
“No,” she said. “That was my final offer. But if you don’t think you’ll fall in love with Peter again without your prior memories of him, then I suppose it’s not worth it for you to take me up on this deal, is it?”
I seethed at her implication that I wouldn’t love Peter if it weren’t for our memories together. Peter and I were soul mates. I’d known we were meant to be together when I’d first seen him on the deck of the Olympic, his coat flapping in the wind as he’d gazed out over the ocean.
Even if my memories of him were stripped away, I’d fall in love with him all over again the moment I saw him. I was absolutely sure of it.
“He’ll still have his memories of me,” I said. “Correct?”
“He’ll retain all his Earthly memories,” she said. “He made no deal with me, so they will remain as they were.”
I nodded, glad that if anything, we’d at least have that.
Once Peter and I were reunited, he’d fill me in on all I’d forgotten. Perhaps hearing of our memories from his lips would cause my memories of him to return.
If it didn’t, we’d form new memories—together.
“All right.” I met Fiona’s hollow eyes, resolved in my decision. “I accept your deal.”
Karina
“Perfect.” Fiona rubbed her hands together in excitement. “It’ll take me a few hours to travel to the Beyond, retrieve your Peter, and bring him back here. But first—we must finalize our deal.”
She placed her fingers on my temples, and a pleasant buzz tore through my body, followed by a surprising feeling of emptiness.
“All done,” she said, and then she vanished into thin air.
My head felt light and heavy at the same time—like I’d had too many glasses of champagne—and I gazed around the faerie garden, confused about what had just happened.
I’d been talking with the fae named Fiona—I’d made some kind of deal with her. Then she’d done something to me. I could feel it… although I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was.
What deal had I made? Why had I come here at all?
I pressed my hand to my forehead and contemplated the past few weeks, willing it to make sense.
King Nicolae and I had made a deal. I’d go to the Vale under the pretense of seeking Prince Jacen’s hand in marriage—but that wasn’t truly why I’d gone.
The king had wanted the Vale to fall because he wanted Queen Laila to be his. In return, he’d promised me Geneva’s sapphire ring.
I’d wanted the ring—who didn’t want a ring that contained the most powerful witch in the world, who could grant you any wish your heart desired? Of course I’d said yes.
To help the Vale fall, I’d worked with the wolves.
I’d met Noah.
My heart fluttered at the thought of his name.
It was hard to believe that I’d been so disgusted by wolves before meeting him. In our time working together, Noah had trusted me more than ever man I’d never known. I’d trusted him, too.
I’d trusted Noah so much that once the Nephilim girl had revealed herself and killed the queen, I’d left the palace and run straight to him. Just the memory of the way his kind eyes had watched me every time we were together made my heart warm.
I was falling in love with Noah—I was likely already there.
But my time with him had been too short. After running to the camp, I’d gone straight to the Haven to retrieve Geneva’s sapphire ring.
The ring was the only thing that could get me what I wanted.
What had I wanted?
I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated that the answer wasn’t there. It was at the tip of my tongue, but at the same time, it was gone. Out of reach and impossible to touch.
I must have wanted to help the wolves of the Vale. Their Savior was rising soon—He was going to bring them peace and prosperity. Noah and all the other wolves in the Vale deserved peace after all the years the packs had been at war.
Now that Laila was dead, King Nicolae would surely banish me from the Carpathian Kingdom forever.
Which meant Noah—and the pack—was the closest thing to family I would have left.
I must have made some kind of deal with the fae to help the wolves. I just wished I could remember what deal I’d made.
I paced around, frustrated when the answer continued to evade me.
Finally, I dropped my arms to my sides, giving up. Noah would help me. I knew he would help me. And next time I saw him, I wasn’t going to hide from my feelings anymore. Time was too precious—with war on the horizon, we had no idea how much of it we had left.
And so, I picked up my pack of cash and left the faerie garden behind, eager to return to the Vale and tell Noah my true feelings for him once and for all.
Peter
I sucked in a deep breath, the air burning my lungs as if I hadn’t breathed in decades.
The sky was dark, although the first rays of light were starting to stream through the clouds. I was laying on something soft, squishy, and covered in dew—grass. The air smelled fresh and clean. Forest animals chirped nearby, and I heard a light splashing of
water.
I sat up and looked around the strange garden blooming in the midst of winter, my mind muddled in confusion.
The last thing I remembered were the wolves storming the castle, and the other vampires of the Carpathian Kingdom and I uniting to stop them from entering. The Nephilim had gotten the wolves to do their dirty work of breaking into the castle, and if the wolves won, the Nephilim would follow in their wake.
We’d had to hold them off.
I remembered fighting with Karina by my side—she was so beautiful in battle. Delicate, graceful, and lethal, like a snake. I was always glad I was fighting with her and not against her.
We’d always fight together. We were soul mates—two parts of a single whole.
But that fight had been different than the others—it had been more frantic… more desperate. I’d glanced at Karina to make sure she was all right, and then there’d been an explosive pain in my chest.
After that, I remembered nothing.
Had Karina survived? Did the wolves beat us? Where was I now? How did I get here?
I had so many questions, and I knew the answers to none. But if I were alive, that had to be a good thing. The Nephilim must not have won.
If they’d won, they would have killed every last vampire in the castle.
A soft breeze blew through the clearing, and I was overtaken with the sudden scent of blood. The blood smelled dead—like it had been sitting out for hours—but I was so starving that even stale blood made my fangs emerge.
I hurried to the scent and grabbed strange plastic container, pouring the blood that was left of it into my mouth and licking the inside clean. The blood was tainted with alcohol, but I was too hungry to be picky.
I felt like I hadn’t had a drink in forever. And that small bit hadn’t been enough—I needed more.
The Vampire Fate (Dark World: The Vampire Wish Book 4) Page 14
