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 correct—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 any man I’d ever 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.
But wherever I was, the sun was rising and there was no sign of any humans nearby for me to drink from.
I was too weak to tolerate direct sunlight for long. So I situated myself under a tree—a comfortable spot where I could wait for the day to pass.
Once night fell, I would leave this place and go home to the Carpathian Kingdom, which was where I would find the home of my heart—Karina.
The Vampire War
Dark World: The Vampire Wish 5
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 and 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.
The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World) Page 58
