Table of Contents
Elementals: Chapter One
Elementals: Chapter Two
Elementals: Chapter Three
Elementals: Chapter Four
The Vampire War
Dark World: The Vampire Wish 5
Michelle Madow
Dreamscape Publishing
Annika
Icy water rushed at my feet, and I gasped at the contact, my eyes snapping open.
The sun barely peaked through the dark clouds above, and the water around me was tinted red with blood. With my blood.
I’d lost more blood than should be humanly possible. But I couldn’t worry about myself right now. Instead, I searched for Jacen.
He was where I remembered—passed out on the other side of the boat. The water hadn’t reached him yet. At least I hoped he was passed out.
The sea creature couldn’t have killed him, could it have? Jacen was a powerful vampire prince—rumored to be one of the strongest vampires ever turned. He couldn’t be gone.
I couldn’t live with myself if he were. He’d jumped in front of that monster to save me. And he was only here because I’d invited him on this quest.
The quest was supposedly my destiny to complete.
Surely destiny couldn’t be so cruel as to bring Jacen and me together again only to rip him from me right when it might be possible for us to finally be together?
I rushed to him, ignoring the pain that pounded through my head with every step. I’d been injured too—the sea creature had shredded my wrist when I’d thrown the stake up through the roof of its mouth to kill it—but I had to fight through the wooziness.
I had to verify that Jacen was alive.
I kneeled down next to him, my tears landing on his chest as I cupped a hand around his cheek. His skin was paler than usual—too pale, even for a vampire—and he didn’t open his eyes at my touch. But he was breathing. That was a good start.
His legs had been mangled when the sea creature caught him in its jaws. They were covered in blood, but his bones were moving themselves back into place, his muscles and skin weaving back together. The healing was slow—I suspected because he’d lost so much blood—but at least he was healing.
He was going to be okay.
And for the first time since rushing over to him, I realized that my own hand was healing as well.
It must be because of my Nephilim abilities. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I was Nephilim—possibly the last Nephilim on the planet—and I still didn’t know the extent of my abilities. But as far as abilities went, healing seemed like a useful one to have. Especially since supernaturals couldn’t drink vampire blood—which had healing abilities—without getting sick. The only people who could drink vampire blood for its healing properties were humans.
Now that I knew that both Jacen and I were recovering from our injuries, I looked out to the giant tree glowing on an island in the distance. It wasn’t just any old tree.
It was the Tree of Life.
The sight of the majestic Tree should have brought me peace. But while I was no sea captain, it seemed like at the rate that the water was flowing into the boat, we had no chance of making it to the island before sinking.
“Jacen.” I returned my hand to his face again. “Wake up.”
He didn’t wake.
Even if he did wake, what would we do? His legs still weren’t even halfway healed. Despite his having been a champion swimmer back when he’d been human, he was in no shape to swim to the island. And my strength still hadn’t fully returned.
How could I get the two of us to land safely?
A solution came to me quickly. When the boat’s engine had first stopped working, I’d gone into the supply room and grabbed two paddles—the paddles I’d eventually stuffed into the sea monster’s nostrils to force it to open its mouth and let Jacen free.
There’d been life preservers next to the paddles.
I didn’t want to leave Jacen’s side, but I forced myself away from him. Saving our lives was the most useful thing I could do right now.
I ran to the supply room and swung the door open, my eyes widening as I looked down the steps. The room was nearly filled with water.
Most of the objects inside appeared to be destroyed. But a few bright orange life vests floated on the other side.
I swam over to them, my head nearly brushing against the ceiling with each stroke. The icy water made my teeth chatter uncontrollably. But I kept moving, since moving would keep me from freezing to death.
It felt like it took forever, but I eventually reached the life vests. I laid one arm on top of one of the other on top of the second. The water was rising quickly—I had to angle my head upward to give myself room to breathe. I needed to get out of there. So I used my feet to push off from the wall and shoot straight to the other side like a torpedo. Once there, I pulled myself and the life vests out of the room.
Seconds after I was out of there, more water rushed through, filling the room completely.
I hurried back over to Jacen, somehow managing to get the life preserver on his unconscious body. Once making sure it was secure, I put mine on myself.
Suddenly, silver glinted off to the side—my sword. It had been thrust from my hand while I’d been fighting the sea creature, which was why I’d had to kill the monster by throwing my stake. But my stake was gone, and I needed a weapon. So I ran to the sword, taking it and shoving it into the sheath that was still attached to my back. I wasn’t sure if the life vest would keep both me and the sword afloat, or if I’d be able to swim with the sword at all, but didn’t want to risk reaching the island and not having a way to protect myself.
And so, I ran back over to Jacen, taking his hands in mine and praying to the angels as the water filled the boat, crashing over the deck and consuming it entirely.
Annika
The pull of the sinking boat yanked both of us under. The currents tried to rip us apart, but I tightened my grip around Jacen’s hands, holding on as hard as I could.
I couldn’t lose him. I refused to lose him.
I was so turned around that I didn’t know which way was up, but the life vests pulled both of us back to the surface. Once there, I sucked in a deep breath, the icy air sharp as it filled my lungs.
I checked Jacen—he was still unconscious, but breathing. Thank God. I didn’t know what I would have done otherwise.
I swam to the shore, hauling Jacen and the sword along with me. As I swam, I stayed focused on the Tree. But the icy water was sapping my energy quickly.
To keep myself going, I reminded myself what the vampire seer Rosella had told me before sending me on this journey. According to Rosella, a dark force—darker than anything the world had seen in centuries—was coming. I, the only known Nephilim on the entire planet, was prophesied to retrieve the Grail from where it had been hidden inside the Tree of Life to stop this force.
I’d been shocked—I hadn’t thought the Holy Grail had existed until then—but I trusted the seer. Then she’d had another vision and wrote down the coordinates to the Tree of Life. She’d told me that I could select only one person to bring with me on my quest. Select the wrong person, and I’d die. Select the right one, and I’d live.
I knew in my heart that Jacen was the correct choice. I trusted him with my life, and after this, I assumed he would trust me with his. We weren’t going to sink into an icy grave together. We’d been through too much to have it end like that.
And so I paddled on, relief coursing through my veins as I pulled both Jacen and myself onto shore and collapsed into the warm, dry sand.
Annika
I woke to warm, strong arms encircling me.
“Jacen?” I whispered his name, glancing up at
him.
“Hey.” His voice was weak, but he managed a smile. “How do you feel?”
“I feel…” I paused, taking a moment to fully assess myself before answering. Given all the blood that I’d lost—and the fact that I’d swam through water in the arctic—I should have been dead.
No—a human should have been dead.
But I wasn’t a human.
I was Nephilim.
Neither of us were wearing our life vests anymore—he must have removed mine while I’d been sleeping. But he’d left my sword in the sheath on my back.
With Jacen’s arms around me and my sword strapped on my back, I felt safer than ever.
“I feel good,” I answered honestly. “Great, even. How long was I asleep?”
“A few hours,” he said.
“You’ve been up this whole time?” I gazed up at him, annoyed that he hadn’t woken me sooner. Waking naturally in his arms had been amazing—heavenly, even—but we had a quest to accomplish.
“Only for about ten minutes,” he said. “You were sleeping so peacefully that I wanted to give you a bit more time to rest.”
“Now isn’t the time to rest,” I reminded him. “We have to get the Grail.” I stood up and brushed sand off my clothes, realizing for the first time that they were no longer sopping wet. In fact, even though it was nighttime and we were in the arctic, the island itself was the perfect temperature.
“We do,” he agreed. “But first we need to find out if there are any animals on this island.”
“Why?” I asked. “Do you think they’ll be dangerous?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “But dangerous or not, they’ll have blood.”
I glanced down at his healed legs, remembering all the blood he’d lost earlier. “You need blood,” I realized. “And your supply drowned with the boat.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “But there are tons of shed antlers past the beach. And where there are antlers, there are stags.”
I looked to where the beach met the grass, seeing the antlers he was talking about. There were tons of them.
But they would hardly solve his problem.
I sat back down, realizing why he still wasn’t standing—he couldn’t afford to squander any more energy than necessary.
“Animal blood won’t give you your full strength back,” I said, since I’d learned as much when I’d lived in the Vale. “It’ll only give you half the strength as human blood would.”
“Half strength is better than nothing,” he said. “The vampires at the Haven survive on animal blood, and they’re just fine.”
“Because tiger shifters protect them.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but I continued before he could.
“We don’t know what we’ll find on this island,” I said. “We might need to fight another monster, or we might not.” I hoped not, given how our fight with the sea creature had turned out, but I didn’t want to say it and jinx us. “You should be at your full strength regardless.”
“I’m strong,” he reminded me. “The strength I’ll gain from the animal blood will be enough.”
“It won’t be as much as you would get from human blood.” I jutted my chin out stubbornly. “We need to be ready for anything.”
“So what are you suggesting?” he asked.
“Drink from me,” I said simply.
“But you’re not human.” He pulled back, narrowing his eyes. “You’re Nephilim.”
“When I appeared in the Haven, the vampires there were overcome with bloodlust.” I leaned forward, as if daring him to challenge me. “I assumed that meant that I smelled the same to them as a human.”
“You don’t,” he said.
“Oh.” I tilted my head, looking at him thoughtfully. “Does my blood smell better than human blood?”
If it did, it meant Jacen was fighting his instinct to feed from me even more than I’d realized—especially now that he was thirsty.
“It does,” he confirmed.
Despite the scent of my blood being clearly out of my control, I felt guilty for unknowingly tempting him. But I pushed the guilt aside. Because he needed my blood to be at full strength, so the temptation would be an advantage to me right now.
“Usually supernatural blood is only slightly more appealing than animal blood, which means it’s not tempting at all,” he said. “That’s how vampires at the Haven live with witches and shifters without the urge to feed from them. But your blood…” He trailed off and pressed his lips together, as if hesitant to continue.
“What about my blood?” I crawled closer, wanting him to think about it. For him to want it.
His eyes dilated at how close I was, but he didn’t move away. “It smells sweeter and purer than a human’s ever could,” he murmured, his eyes traveling to my neck with so much precision that I could practically feel it.
“My blood will give you strength.” My breathing slowed under the intensity of his gaze. “Drink. Your being at full strength could save both of our lives.”
“Or I could kill you.” He backed away, shaking his head as if pulling himself out of a daze.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” he said. “You only met me once I’d gotten control of my bloodlust. Before, when I was newly turned…”
“You lost control, went on a rampage, and killed dozens of humans in the Vale,” I said bluntly. “I know this. But I also know you. You threw yourself into the jaws of a sea monster to save me. You didn’t risk your life back there to just kill me now.”
“I’ve never tasted Nephilim blood before.” His gaze was hot as he looked down at me. “Neither of us know what will happen if I do.”
“You’ll be able to stop yourself from killing me.” I spoke strongly, as if that could force him to believe me. “Yes, trying might be dangerous. But if you drink animal blood instead, you won’t be at full strength, which could put us both in danger. How do you think that fight with the sea monster would have gone if you’d only had animal blood beforehand instead of human blood?”
“You would have fought it off yourself,” he said after a short pause. “You’re strong, Annika. Stronger than you even realize.”
My lips parted—his belief in me had caught me off guard—but I forced myself to focus. “I needed your help in that fight,” I said. “I needed your help at full strength. Without you, we both would have died, and you know it.”
He said nothing, which I assumed meant he agreed with me.
“I’d drain some of my blood into a cup for you, but we lost our dishware with the boat.” I pulled my hair away from my neck, leaning closer to him. “So we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”
He ran a finger slowly down my cheek, his eyes not leaving mine. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
It hadn’t been where I’d expected them to go, but I sunk into his kiss anyway.
When he pulled away, his eyes were fierce with desire—and with determination. “If I kill you, I’ll never be able to live with myself,” he said. “I’ll take one of those antlers and drive it straight through my heart.”
“No you won’t.” I took his hand and squeezed it with mine. “Because you won’t kill me. I trust you, Jacen. Plus, I’m a Nephilim now. I’m strong. If you take too much, I’m pretty sure I can fight you off.” I smiled, although he was too solemn to return it.
He simply nodded before pressing his lips to mine again. But instead of deepening the kiss like he had last time, he trailed the kisses down my chin, all the way down to my neck.
He lingered there for a few seconds, and then I gasped as his fangs pierced my skin.
Karina
I sat in one of the hard chairs at the Dublin airport, waiting for my flight back to Canada to board. There had been no more first class seats left on the plane, and compelling the airline attendant to bump someone out of first class so I could take their place would cause too much of a scene, so I was stuck in coach—again.
> But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting back to the Vale so I could tell Noah how I felt about him.
It was unheard of for a vampire to feel this way about a shifter, but I didn’t care. Because the entire time I’d been a vampire, I’d been empty and floundering. Noah was the first person who made me feel grounded and alive. He was my anchor.
He deserved to know that.
Hopefully he could also tell me why I’d gone to the fae. I couldn’t remember, which made me think I must have made a deal with the fae that involved them tampering with my memories. Perhaps it had been something to foster peace between the wolves and the vampires of the Vale? After all, I didn’t want the vampires—my own species—to die. But I also understood why the wolves wanted them gone. The wolves had suffered centuries of poverty and war amongst their packs, and their Savior was finally ready to rise. He’d given many wolves visions of his upcoming arrival.
But there was a catch with His rising—it could only happen if there were no more vampires left in the Vale. But centuries ago, the wolves had signed away the portion of their land in a peace treaty with the vampires. So if the wolves wanted their land back, it meant declaring war by breaking the treaty.
Given the promises of their Savior, they were preparing to do just that.
It was one massive mess, and I had no idea who was right and who was wrong anymore. All I knew was that I couldn’t wait to return to Noah so he could help me work through exactly what had happened with the fae.
In the meantime, I was too anxious to focus on reading a book while I waited for the plane, so I stared at the television ahead.
“In a unique development, a man has been arrested after biting multiple people in a public park overnight,” the generically pretty blonde newscaster announced. “He ran from the scene of the crime, but several onlookers caught pictures of him on their phones, so he was later found and detained. He claims to be a vampire from the 1920s who believes he’s wrongly ended up ‘in the future.’ He’s demanding to be taken to Romania to speak with a ‘King Nicolae’ to sort everything out. We’ll keep you updated with an official picture of the man on the hour.”
The Vampire War Page 1
