“It is.” Mary nodded. “All citizens who live alone are provided a cabin of this size—including myself. Once your child is born, you’ll be moved into a cabin suited for two.”
“Oh.” I studied her, her answer taking me by surprise. “You live in the same size cabin as everyone else?”
“I do.” Her laugh was light and welcoming. “I’m sure it’s a lot to get used to after the Vale. While I haven’t been to the Vale myself, the witches who have gone there to fetch royals for diplomatic meetings have informed me of the splendor of your quarters. But splendor brings trouble as well—mainly, that many are given far less than what they need to balance it out. Here at the Haven, everyone is equal. But we look out for our own. So if there’s ever anything you need, just come to me and if the request is in reason, I’ll do my best to be of service.”
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it.
Living here was certainly going to be a lot to get used to. But I owed it to myself—and to my child—to try.
“There actually is one thing I need of help with, if you have time to listen,” I said.
“Of course.” She walked over to the couch, motioning for me to join her. “Come, sit.”
I sat, glad to find that the couch—while plain—was comfortable. “There’s more to my pregnancy than I initially told you,” I started, resting a hand on my stomach as I spoke.
“I had a feeling as much.” She gave me a small smile, waiting for me to continue.
I was ready to tell her the full truth. But I’d also made a blood oath with Laila that I wouldn’t tell anyone what she’d told me about how the original vampires went to the fae to become what they were. Blood oaths hold even past death.
I’d need to be cautious in my wording, but I could still tell Mary the most important part about how my child was conceived—the part that required her help.
“In order to locate Geneva’s sapphire ring, I went to the fae,” I began.
Mary frowned the moment I mentioned the word fae, but she made no judgements, simply waiting for me to continue.
“I called upon them and was met by a fae man named Prince Devyn,” I said. “As a price for his passage from the Otherworld, he requested my first born child once he or she came of age. I’d previously made a deal with Laila that if I retrieved Geneva’s sapphire ring for her, she’d turn me into a vampire. Since I wouldn’t be able to have children as a vampire, I thought nothing of Prince Devyn’s request. I agreed, thinking I’d been clever enough to get one over on the fae.
“From there, we made a deal that he would tell me who had Geneva’s sapphire ring if I gave him something I’d never given to anyone before,” I continued. “After a few questions, I agreed. He gave me the answers I wanted—he told me where to find Geneva’s sapphire ring—and then he told me what he wanted from me.”
“Your virginity,” Mary said, glancing at my stomach.
I sat back in surprise, feeling stupid for falling into his trap after her being able to figure it out so quickly. “How did you know?” I asked.
“I’ve heard of Prince Devyn,” Mary said. “All fae are blessed with a magical gift from birth, with some of those gifts being more powerful than others. He has one of the most powerful gifts in existence—omniscient sight.”
“He does,” I said, since he’d told me as much.
“The child growing in your womb is the result of your union with Prince Devyn,” she continued, and I nodded, since of course she was correct. “Half-witch, half-fae. And that child is bound to join his or her father in the Otherworld once he or she comes of age.”
“Yes.” I leaned forward, calmed by how easily she was taking this in. Surely that meant she had a solution to my problem? “Once my child is born, he or she will be a citizen of the Haven. You said you’ll do anything to give the citizens of the Haven what they need. My child needs to stay here where it’s safe—not to be taken to the Otherworld. Is there anything you can do to help us?”
Mary glanced out of the window, and then turned back to me. “I can provide a safe place for you and your child to live until he or she comes of age,” she said. “You’ll both be comfortable and out of danger in the Haven.”
“But what about after coming of age?” I asked. “I can’t let my child be taken to the Otherworld.”
“You made a deal with the fae.” Mary’s eyes were sad—I assumed she was thinking about her own deal she’d made with the fae to give up all her mortal memories in exchange for becoming a vampire. “You’re bound to that deal by magic more powerful than anyone in the Haven—by magic more powerful than anyone on Earth.”
“So there’s nothing you can do?” I sat back, stunned. Until now, I’d held onto hope that I could change my child’s fate.
That hope was disappearing with each passing minute.
“I can provide a safe place for you to enjoy the time you have with your child before he or she comes of age,” she said. “After that, the child belongs to the Otherworld.”
“We have a while before my child comes of age,” I said, not willing to give up that easily. “Surely we can find another—“
I was cut off by someone bursting into my cabin.
A vampire who’d been turned when she’d been a young teen stood in the doorframe, her milky eyes staring straight ahead.
She was blind.
“Rosella.” Mary stood, looking more offended by the intrusion than I felt. “What on Earth—”
“A Hell Gate has opened in the Vale.” The vampire—Rosella—spoke quickly and calmly. “Demons are escaping as we speak.”
“What?” I gazed at Rosella, then at Mary, and then back to Rosella again. “Where did you hear this? How do you know it’s true?”
“I’m a psychic.” Rosella looked in my direction, although her milky gaze didn’t focus on me. “What I say is true.”
I nodded, believing her.
Then I realized she couldn’t see me nod.
“What about the wolves’ Savior?” I asked. “I thought He was going to rise and save the Vale.”
“There was never any Savior,” Rosella said. “The greater demon Samael was tricking the wolves the entire time. Annika and Jacen set out to kill Samael, but they were too late. Annika killed him, but only after he succeeded in opening the Hell Gate.”
“We must go there.” Determination flashed across Mary’s eyes. “We need to close the Hell Gate.”
“How?” I stood as well, fear rolling through my body as I thought about the horrors that must be happening to my home. “My magic is strong, but not that strong. It takes an entire coven to close a Hell Gate. And even then…”
I didn’t continue, unable to bring myself to say it out loud. It had been over two millennia since a Hell Gate had been opened, but all supernaturals knew of the ultimate sacrifice given by the coven that had closed it.
To close the Hell Gate, they’d had to deplete their magic.
It had been their Final Spell.
Afterward, the angels had blessed the world with the only species capable of defeating the demons—the Nephilim. It took the Nephilim over a thousand years to kill all the escaped demons and send them back to Hell.
It was only after killing all the demons that the Nephilim had settled for new targets—vampires, witches, and shifters. That had ultimately led to the Great War and the destruction of all the known Nephilim on Earth.
“We won’t need a coven.” Mary sounded confident enough that I had a feeling she had a plan.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because I have this.”
She reached for a chain around her neck and pulled a pendant out from beneath her shirt—Geneva’s sapphire ring.
Camelia
“What?” I gasped. “You’ve had Geneva’s sapphire ring this entire time?”
“I have,” she said. “According to one of Rosella’s prophecies, Annika could only take one person with her on her quest if she hoped to succeed. Annika chose to bring Prince Jacen, and sh
e left Geneva in my indefinite care.”
“She chose to bring a young vampire prince instead of the most powerful witch in the world who would do anything she commanded?” I rolled my eyes, amazed that the girl could be so daft.
“Annika made the correct choice,” Rosella said. “Geneva didn’t have Annika’s best wishes at heart, and choosing Prince Jacen was instrumental in her success.”
“And yet, the Hell Gate is still open,” I said.
“Yes.” She nodded. “The future is never set in stone, but I’m afraid that after Annika’s powers were activated, the Hell Gate was always likely to open again soon. The question is—how long will it stay open?”
“So it can be closed?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “And we’ll all three want to go there to try. Specifically you, Camelia.”
“Why?” My hand instinctively went to my stomach again. “I’m pregnant, and the Vale is a war zone. I can’t risk losing the baby.”
“Trust me.” Rosella smiled. “You’ll want to be there.”
Before I could ask for more information, Mary rubbed the sapphire stone and Geneva materialized beside us. The witch looked the same as the first time I’d seen her in the Vale’s throne room—like Cleopatra in a flapper dress.
She looked around the cabin and yawned. “You called?” She crossed her arms and looked at Mary, tapping her foot as she waited for an answer.
“A Hell Gate has been opened at the Vale.” Mary was quick to get to the point. “Can you close it?”
“I don’t know.” Geneva sounded as blasé as ever—as if she were asked to close Hell Gates all the time. “As I’m sure you know, the most recent Hell Gate was closed long before I was born.”
“Right,” Mary said. “I should have known you’d be difficult. So, I command you to transport me, Rosella, Camelia, and two of my tiger shifters to the Vale, where you’ll do everything in your power to try and close the Hell Gate.”
Geneva
I did as Mary commanded—it wasn’t like I had a choice.
We landed in the main square in town… or at least what used to be the main square in town.
Right in the center of the square was a never-ending black pit, with darkness rising up from it and all the way up above the clouds. Wind howled from the pit as gray, spirit-like creatures rose from it—demons. Wolves gathered around the opening in their human forms, kneeling as if bowed down in prayer. The streets were littered with corpses—mostly vampires, but wolves as well. The buildings were cracked and lopsided, like they’d been through an earthquake.
Just looking at the darkness rising from the ground sent despair through my body. This felt more hopeless than when I’d been locked inside that wretched sapphire ring.
There was only one time in my life when I’d felt a horror worse than this—when I’d been called from my ring in the throne room and had seen the pile of ashes that had once been Laila.
Trusting that I’d see Laila again was all that had kept me sane when I’d been locked inside that sapphire prison. She’d been the only person who had ever understood and loved me, as I’d been the only person who had ever understood and truly loved her. We were meant to be.
When the witches had locked me in that ring, they hadn’t realized that they were giving me what I’d always wanted—immortality while being able to keep my powers.
Once Laila had command over the ring, we would have finally been able to be together forever.
With her gone, I had nothing.
Suddenly, two figures materialized across the way—Prince Jacen and Annika.
Hatred rushed through me at the sight of the girl who had killed my soul mate.
Annika held onto Jacen’s hand, and I hated her even more for having someone after she’d taken Laila from me. I curled my hands into fists, wanting to unleash all the darkest magic I could find straight at her and make her hurt even half as much as she’d hurt me.
But of course, I couldn’t.
I could only use my magic when my owner commanded me to do so.
“This is all your fault.” I snarled at Annika. If looks could kill, she’d be dead right now. “If Laila were alive, this never would have happened.”
“That’s not true,” someone said from next to me—the blind vampire prophet, Rosella. “This was all going to happen whether Laila was alive or not. In fact, when Annika killed Laila and ignited her Nephilim powers, she made everything better, not worse.”
“Shut up,” I snapped, not wanting to hear it. I should have left her back at the Haven so I wouldn’t have to listen to her prattling on about Annika’s virtues.
Except of course I couldn’t, because I’d been commanded by Mary to bring her here.
“Stop bickering.” Mary stepped between us, although she remained focused on me. “Every moment the Hell Gate remains open, more demons escape. I command you to close it. Now.”
I stepped forward and peered down into the void, watching the gray demon souls shoot out of the opening.
Looking into the Hell Gate, I knew what I’d known since learning of its opening—my magic wasn’t strong enough to fix this. My magic was as close to infinite as any witch’s that had ever lived, but I was no god. Even I had my limits.
There was only one way I could close the Hell Gate—by depleting my magic.
Closing the Hell Gate would be my Final Spell.
The power of a Final Spell was that it was a sacrifice a witch chose to give. Not even the witches who had locked me inside the sapphire ring could take that choice away from me.
That choice had always existed—I’d simply never wanted to use it until now.
It was ironic, really. I’d longed for immortality the entire time I’d been mortal, as it was the only way Laila and I could be together forever without me becoming a vampire. Now I finally had immortality. But with Laila gone, immortality was a curse—not a gift.
I didn’t want to live in a world without Laila.
She was in the Beyond, and the one thing I wished for above all else was to be there with her. No one knew what waited in the Beyond, but both Laila and I had done enough horrible things during our years that I doubted what waited for us would be anything good.
Maybe if my Final Spell saved the world, my sins would be forgiven. Maybe it would negate every awful thing I’d done and I’d get my wish to be with Laila forever.
With that hope in mind, I held my hands out, pressing my palms against the edge of the darkness that rose from Hell. Despair filled me upon touching it, but I gathered my magic within myself and focused on my goal. The magic grew and grew until it filled up my entire body so much that I felt like I was glowing with it.
When I touched the darkness, it started to dissolve. Not a lot—not enough to dissolve completely—but enough that I knew that my magic was affecting it.
The darkness pushed back at me. It wanted me to stop. People called out around me, but their words were lost in the wind.
All I knew was that I couldn’t stop now.
If I stopped now, all would be lost.
I reached deep into my soul, digging until I found the root of my magic—the core where it began. It was like I was holding it in the palms of my hands.
Laila, my love, I’ll see you soon, I thought.
Then I thrust every bit of my magic into the darkness, screaming as the last of it ripped out of my body and exploded into a bright, blinding light.
Annika
The light around Geneva consumed the Hell Gate.
It was sucked into the open chasm, eventually dimming and going out as the last bit of it disappeared inside. The opening closed back up, stitching back together until it healed completely.
All that remained was Geneva, sprawled in a heap of dust with her eyes closed. She looked more at peace than ever before.
The sky was bright and blue, the air still. No one said a word. They just stared at the land that had once been the Hell Gate in shock. If it hadn’t been for the ruined building
s and bloodied corpses littering the ground, no one would have known that a supernatural battle had just occurred.
We didn’t have a total number of casualties, but I had a sinking feeling that it was a lot.
Jacen took my hand, and I looked gratefully at him, his touch giving me strength. We would get through this—together. After all, I was the Earth angel. I still wasn’t completely sure what that meant, but I had a feeling I was supposed to take the lead.
“She’s gone, isn’t she?” I asked Mary. “Geneva sacrificed herself to close the Hell Gate.”
Mary pulled the sapphire ring out from under her shirt. The once gleaming gem was now dull—it had lost its sparkle completely.
“Geneva performed her Final Spell to save us all.” She approached Geneva’s corpse and clasped the ring inside one of Geneva’s hands, bowing her head respectfully. “She—along with all the others who sacrificed their lives here today—will be given the heroic funeral they deserve.”
Suddenly, two forms ran out of an alley and into the square—Princess Karina and a shifter in wolf form. The princess wielded a sword, her eyes wide in terror. The wolf’s lips were pulled back, ready to fight.
My first thought was that the wolf was trying to attack her. The wolves that had witnessed the closing of the Hell Gate had stopped fighting, but what about the others who had been on the outskirt? However, it quickly became clear that they were running alongside each other—with each other.
Karina spun around, staring down the alley with her sword readied. “A monster is chasing us from the palace,” she said through labored breaths. “No matter what we do, nothing kills her. She’s unstoppable.”
The wolf by her side shifted into an attractive man. Of course, in my mind he couldn’t hold a candle to Jacen—no one could—but it was impossible not to appreciate his rugged good looks. “There’s no use fighting her,” he said, his strong voice echoing across the square. “We’ll do our best to keep holding her off so you can get to safety. But if you want to live, you need to run.”
The Vampire War Page 11
