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 exactly 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.
I needed to know if there was a way I could fix the mess between us.
“Take me to see the prince.”
I followed Mary and Shivani out of the residential area and back to the main square. It was daytime, and while the canopy of trees provided shade from the sun, the only people still out were the occasional witches or shifters. The vampires were probably in their cabins, sleeping.
They led me into the main building. Unlike the simple cabins I’d seen so far, the common areas of the Haven were beautifully decorated with bright, uplifting colors and fabrics. Even the floors and walls were bursting with multitudes of colors. I felt like I’d entered the set of an elaborate Bollywood film.
“At the Haven, we believe wealth and beauty should be shared—not privately owned,” Mary explained as we walked. “While not working or sleeping, our citizens spend the majority of their time in the common areas.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
“You should see it during the night hours when everyone’s awake,” Shivani said. “There’s always much to do and learn, as we believe in constant growth of the spirit and mind. Our citizens fill the palace with their peaceful spirits and positive energy.”
I nodded and smiled, although my stomach flipped with the knowledge that each step we took was one step closer to Jacen.
We turned down a few halls, getting further and further away from the main area. Finally, Shivani stopped in front of an elaborate door surrounded by twisting columns.
“We’re here,” she told me, and then she reached for the door, pulling it open.
Annika
The meeting room looked like an Indian tearoom designed for a maharaja and his courtesans. Jacen waited inside, and he stood when we entered.
“Annika,” he said, taking a sharp breath inward when his eyes met mine.
He was wearing the same jeans and black shirt that he’d been wearing that morning. But unlike this morning, he wasn’t watching me with disdain.
He was looking at me like he’d waited for years to see me again.
My heart fluttered at the possibility that all wasn’t lost between us.
“Jacen.” My cheeks heated as I said his name. The moment felt so personal, and I shifted in place, highly aware of Mary and Shivani standing there watching.
Were they going to stay here the entire time?
“We’ll leave you to it,” Shivani said, nodding at each of us. “Remember—while we won’t be in the room with you, and we won’t be able to hear you, there are cameras watching you. One wrong move and I’ll transport here with the tigers before either of you can blink.”
“Understood.” Jacen’s eyes remained locked on mine, and the hairs rose on my arms at the intensity of his gaze. “Although I assure you that there’s nothing to worry about.”
“It’s always better to be safe than sorry,” Mary said, and then she and Shivani exited the room.
The door closed, and Jacen and I were left alone.
My instinct pulled me toward him, urging me to do only one thing—trust him.
But I stood there, unmoving, unsure where to begin. Because this was the first time I’d spoken to him as me—as Annika—since we’d fought the wolves together outside the Vale. So much had changed since then. I was a completely different person than I was then—a completely different species.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted out, desperate for him to believe me. “I should have trusted you from the beginning, when you risked everything to help me escape. I wish I had. Everything would have been so different if I had. I’m so, so sorry that I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you?” he asked, his expression hard and unreadable. “Since finding out you were alive, I’ve been thinking about it constantly, and I just don’t get it. So please, Annika. Help me understand what happened.”
He was willing to listen. Good. At least that was a start.
“Can we sit?” I asked, since telling him everything meant we would be here for a while.
“Of course.” He sat on the nearest bench—it was covered in colorful pillows that hardly matched the mood of this dark conversation. He sat straight and alert, clearly on guard around me.
His distrust in me hurt, but at the same time, I couldn’t blame him.
&n
bsp; I situated myself in the bench across from him. Between us was a coffee table with a pitcher and some snacks on it. Neither of us moved for the food or drink. I laid my stake down next to me—it was the only thing I had to protect myself, and even though I trusted Jacen, I didn’t intend on letting the weapon leave my side.
“You lied to me,” he started. “I thought I was bad for pretending to be human when I was a vampire. I felt like I’d taken advantage of you—the poor, innocent human who’d been left weak and alone and was just trying to have a fun night out with her friends. Meanwhile, you were getting the last laugh, since you weren’t exactly human, either. Was this all some giant plan of yours? I mean, since you’re a Nephilim, you must had known I was a vampire the moment we met. Right?”
“I didn’t know,” I told him. “I didn’t find out I was Nephilim until this morning. Before then, I was a human. At least, I felt like a human. My powers were only activated once I killed Laila.”
He tilted his head, as if out of everything he’d expected me to say, it certainly hadn’t been that. “How am I supposed to believe you?” he asked. “You’ve already lied to me about so much.”
“I’ll tell you everything from the beginning,” I said. “If you’re willing to listen.”
He crossed his arms and watched me expectantly, as if daring me to continue.
I swallowed, preparing myself to begin. This was it—Jacen’s trust hinged on me telling him every last bit of the truth.
I refused to mess this up.
“Everything I told you when I was Annika was true,” I told him. “But after we were caught trying to leave the Vale, everything changed. Because the vampires didn’t kill me. They brought me to the dungeons, and Camelia came to me with a deal—if I went to the Crystal Cavern and got her Geneva’s sapphire ring, she’d have me turned me into a vampire. She even made a blood oath on it. I couldn’t say no—since being kidnapped to a Vale, all I wanted was a way to protect myself so I wouldn’t be a victim to the supernaturals ever again. You knew that—I’d told you that—but you’d refused to turn me. Camelia was giving me that chance. I didn’t know if I’d ever get the opportunity again, so I took it.”
The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World) Page 52
