“They need to picture where they want to go,” he said. “It’s more accurate if they’ve been there before, or if they’ve seen a picture.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’ve been to the Vale.” I took a deep breath, holding Jacen’s hand in mine.
Then I realized—by going to the Vale, we’d be near humans. Jacen had spilled a lot of his blood to distract the wyvern, and it had been hours since he’d fed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, tilting his head in concern.
“You should feed.” I brushed my hair to the side, bearing my neck to him. “To be at your full strength.”
“Annika…” He sounded like he was trying to resist, but his fangs emerged from his gums, showing me that I was right—he needed more blood.
I stood on my tiptoes to get closer to him, my stomach flipping in anticipation of his bite.
“You’re not a Nephilim anymore.” From the way his eyes were swirling with desire, I could tell it was taking everything he had not to bite me immediately. “You’re a full angel. We have no idea what your blood will do to me.”
“My Nephilim blood gave you more strength than human blood,” I said. “I imagine that angel blood will be even better.”
“Just a sip…” He pressed his lips to my neck, and a shudder rolled through my body as he sank his fangs into my skin.
Ecstasy poured through me, and I felt more connected to him than ever. But it was over too soon. He’d barely taken anything compared to last time before pulling away.
“That’s all?” I nuzzled into him, already feeling the bite marks on my neck healing.
“You were right.” His breathing was heavier, his pupils dilated as he stared down at me. “Angel blood was even more delicious than Nephilim blood.” He swooped down to kiss me, his tongue brushing mine. I tasted what I assumed was my blood. It was sweet, like honey.
But as much as I wanted to kiss him forever, I soon forced myself to pull away.
“In the future, you can have it whenever you want.” I smiled, feeling a certain power at knowing how tempting he found my blood. “But if we don’t get to the Vale, we might not have a future to look forward to. So… are you ready to get out of here?”
“You know it.” He reached down for my hands, watching me with confidence. “Let’s do this.”
Annika
I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of the Vale.
It didn’t feel like anything happened. But after giving it a few more seconds, I peeked to see if we’d teleported without realizing it.
We still stood in the center hall of the Tree of Life. Disappointment filled my chest. I’d been so confident a minute ago that I could get us to the Vale. Now, the Vale seemed as far away as ever.
“It didn’t work,” I told Jacen. “I pictured the Vale, but we’re still in the Tree.”
“Did you think about wanting to go there when you were picturing it?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “I just pictured the Vale.”
“Try again,” he said. “This time, think about how much you want to bring us there. Imagine us arriving into the picture in your mind.”
This time, when I pictured the Vale in my mind, I also thought about how badly I wanted Jacen and I to be there and imagined us appearing.
Suddenly, my stomach swooped—like on the drop of a roller coaster. It was the same thing I’d felt when Camelia had transported me to the Crystal Cavern. We didn’t really “land” as much as that I felt a subtle change in the texture of the floor beneath my feet, and the air became colder and drier.
I opened my eyes and smiled at my familiar surroundings.
We’d arrived in the attic of the Tavern. There was a blanket bunched up beneath the window, and all the books on the shelf were untouched, including the bookmarked one I’d left on top of it the night I’d first brought Jacen here.
“I did it!” I squealed. “Open your eyes.”
“Hell yeah you did it.” He swung me around in a celebratory circle and pulled me in for a kiss.
Despite wanting to fall down with him onto the blanket and forget about the rest of the world, I forced myself to pull away. After all, we had a lot to do, and no idea how much time we had to do it.
“Why’d you choose to bring us to the Tavern?” he asked.
“I didn’t,” I said. “I was picturing the Vale in general, and ended up here.”
He reached into his pockets, and it was impossible to miss the worry that crossed over his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“My phone’s still back at the Haven,” he said. “I have no way of contacting Noah.”
My heart plummeted—why hadn’t we thought of that? We’d been so determined to get to the Vale that we hadn’t thought through our plan.
“Maybe my angel instinct can help,” I said. “It should be stronger now that I’m a full angel.”
“It got us this far,” he said. “Give it a try.”
Noah, Noah, Noah, I thought, trying to hone in on the wolf I hadn’t met. How can we get to you?
I instinctively reached for the handle on the floor—the one that pulled open the hatch that led to the rooms above the Tavern.
“This is the way out,” I told Jacen. “Come on.”
“Can’t we just leave through the window?” he asked.
I was instantly reminded of the first night we’d met—when we’d sneaked our way inside through the very same window. It was crazy how long ago that felt—like an entire lifetime ago.
“We could,” I said. “But I feel like we should go this way.”
He glanced warily at the open door. “If the humans see us, they might report us to the vampires,” he said. “We can’t risk being stopped by Scott or Stephenie.”
“The humans here are my friends,” I said. “And anyway, look at us.” I motioned to our clothes, which were torn and bloodied from the creatures we’d fought on our journey to the Tree. “We have no chance of blending in. The humans here don’t have much, but I’m sure there’s something they can loan us.”
We made our way down the ladder and into the girls’ dorm—the place I’d slept when I’d lived here. I didn’t bother to be too quiet. Since it was night, no one would be in the dorms. The Vale kept a nocturnal schedule, so night was when most humans were working. They wouldn’t come up here to start getting ready for bed until sunrise.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw three girls huddled in the corner.
They stared right back at me, looking like they’d seen a ghost. I knew them from my time working in the Tavern—Jill, Rachel, and Laura—although I hadn’t been close to any of them. They’d been born in the Vale and had lived there for their entire lives. They knew nothing of freedom.
When Jacen jumped down behind me, sheer terror crossed their faces.
“Your Highness,” Jill sputtered, glancing back and forth between the two of us. “And Annika. You’re not dead?” She stepped in front of the other girls, as if trying to protect them.
“No.” I couldn’t help but laugh, but I forced myself to be serious. I couldn’t blame them for being confused. “Too much has happened to explain, but we’re here to help you. What’re the three of you doing up here now? Don’t you need to be working?”
“Everything’s been crazy since we found out that Queen Laila died,” she said.
“What?” My eyes bulged—I hadn’t expected them to know that Laila was dead. From what Jacen had told me, Scott and Stephenie were determined to keep Laila’s death quiet for as long as they could.
“Who’s leading the Vale now?” Jacen asked.
“Prince Scott,” Jill said. “Well, I guess he’s King Scott now. But that’s not the craziest part. A few hours ago, Prince Alexander gathered everyone in the village and told us the most unbelievable story.”
From there, she detailed everything that Prince Alexander had told them—the entire truth, or at least what he knew of it. Which meant everything except the reality of who the
“Savior” truly was.
I listened closely, proud of Alexander for going against his siblings and telling the citizens of the Vale the truth. I didn’t know much about the prince, but he sounded like he would be a much better leader than Scott or Stephenie.
“Prince Alexander gave us a choice,” Jill finished. “Follow him to start a new kingdom in America, or stay here and face the wolves.”
“Why didn’t you leave?” I asked, unable to fathom why anyone would stay.
“Who’s to say the prince is telling the truth?” Laura spoke up, her voice soft.
“Exactly.” Jill nodded at Laura, backing up her friend. “Plus, everything we have is here. We can’t just leave with no idea where we’re going. Who’s to say we’ll be better off there than here?”
“You would be,” Jacen said. “Alexander was correct when he said that the wolves far outnumber the vampires.”
“But the vampires keep us safe,” the youngest girl, Rachel, said. “They’re the most powerful creatures in the world. They’ll protect us, like they always do.”
“They’ve never kept you safe,” I shot back. “They kept you here unwillingly, as slaves.”
“They keep us housed, clothed, and fed.” Jill placed her hands protectively on Rachel’s shoulders. “We need to be thankful for what we have.”
“They’ve taken away your freedom!” I dropped my arms to my sides, unable to stay calm for a moment longer. “You’re nothing more than cattle to them. All they care about is your blood. How have you not realized that yet?”
“The human world isn’t any better.” She crossed her arms, jutting her chin out stubbornly. “It’s worse. In the human world, they don’t care if you live or die. Terrible things happen to people on a regular basis there. Society will leave you hungry and homeless. Here, I’ll always have food, and I’ll always have a roof over my head. I won’t get overlooked like I would if I lived out there.”
I pressed my lips together in frustration. This was the type of propaganda the vampires of the Vale fed to the humans who lived here on a regular basis. The ones who had been born and raised here—like Jill, Laura, and Rachel—tended to easily buy into it.
“What about Martha?” I glanced to the bed where the girl had always slept—she was the youngest and smallest at the Tavern. I used to sneak her candy bars on the days we were forced to donate blood. “Did she go with Alexander?”
“She did.” Jill frowned. “Alexander promised the humans who went with him that they would be treated as equals to the vampires—that they would even eat the same food. That was what convinced Martha. We all know how much she loved food. Most of the Vale-born stayed.”
“You should have gone,” I repeated, even though I had a feeling that getting through to them would be impossible. They were far too brainwashed for me to change their minds now.
“There’s nothing for us out there,” Jill said. “Alexander doesn’t even know exactly where he’s leading the people who followed him. They’ll probably all end up dead.”
“You’re wrong.” Jacen stepped forward and snarled. “Staying was the stupidest thing you could have done. You have no idea what’s coming. The ones who will end up dead are the ones who stayed here. The ones like you.”
Terror washed over the girls’ faces, and I placed a hand on Jacen’s arm in the hint that he needed to back down.
He sucked in a deep breath, but then he moved closer to me, managing to get control over his temper.
“We know what’s coming.” Jill spoke calmly and surely. “The wolves want our land, and they’re going to try to fight for it. But the vampires can beat them. The vampires have held this land for centuries. That isn’t going to change now.”
“This is different,” I said, and then as quickly as possible, I told them about Samael and his plan to use the wolves to open the Hell Gate.
As I spoke, their faces grew paler and paler.
“We’re going to try to stop Samael before he can open the Hell Gate,” I said once I’d told them everything. “But it’s not a given that we’ll succeed. And if the demons get out, you need to be as far away from here as possible.”
“But there’s no way out anymore.” Jill shook her head and took Laura and Rachel’s hands in hers. She finally looked as scared as she should have felt this entire time. “The last plane has already left.”
Stephenie
I paced around my quarters as I sipped a fine red vintage mixed with blood, unable to get rid of the sense of despair crawling over my skin.
I couldn’t stop thinking about everything Alexander had told the citizens of the Vale. At the time, I’d stood proudly with Scott to the side, unwilling to give up my home so easily.
Vampires had ruled the Vale for centuries. This land was ours. The wolves had willingly given it to us in the treaty.
Why should we run away the moment they tried to rebel and take it back? If we did that, we would always be seen as cowards. As weaklings.
But Alexander’s words continued to tear through my mind without relent. War was coming. The wolves outnumbered us—not only that, but they were fighting for a cause they believed in with their hearts and souls.
They were going to destroy us.
And here I was, waiting for death because I couldn’t give up my pride.
I’d never been a particularly emotional person. But as I looked around my elegant quarters and out the window as the sun peaked above the snow-capped mountains, it hit me that this beautiful place that I’d called home since being turned into a vampire decades ago was about to be destroyed.
Everything I owned would be torn to shreds.
Not like it would matter, since I would most likely be dead.
But I wasn’t dead yet. And I didn’t want to die.
And so, I placed my glass down, left my quarters, and hurried down the hall toward the wing of the palace where the witches lived. Guards watched me pass, but no one stopped me.
There were only six rooms in the witches’ wing. Camelia had the largest quarters—the only ones with a double door entrance.
I sneered at those doors, furious at the witch for abandoning us when we needed her most.
The other five doors were plain and simple—they were where the other five witches lived. The ones who were currently upholding the boundary around the Vale. The sun was rising, which meant they should be in their rooms getting ready for bed.
I didn’t know which of them lived in which room. I just stepped up to the closest door and knocked.
There was no answer.
I knocked again, figuring she might not have heard me. Still, nothing. So I moved on to the next door. Same thing.
I knocked on all five doors, but got no answer at any of them.
This was ridiculous. Normally, I would ask a guard in the palace to find out where the witches had gone, but I didn’t want anyone to know that I was looking for a witch. They might start asking questions, and questions were the last thing I needed.
So I removed a pin from my hair, stuck it inside the lock, and started to fiddle. I’d initially learned how to pick locks because it was the best way to spy on any of the guys I was dating who might be cheating—but the skill had proven itself handy in other situations too.
The locked clicked into place and I swung the door open.
As suspected, no one was inside. But hangers and clothes were strewn everywhere, as if whoever lived here had haphazardly packed for a trip at the last minute. One peak in the bathroom showed that all the essentials—toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoos, and such—were gone too. And the room still smelled like perfume. Whoever had left had left recently.
The departure was perfectly timed with Alexander encouraging citizens to follow him out of the Vale.
I picked up the closest hanger and threw it across the room with so much force that it dented the wall. But then I took a few deep breaths and looked in the mirror, trying to relax. After all, I was trying to leave the Vale, too. I couldn’t blame the wit
ch for doing the same thing that I was doing myself.
Luckily, there were still four more witches left. But I went from room to room, finding the same thing in each one—a whirlwind mess that signified a quick departure.
They were gone. All of them.
My conniving brother must have convinced them to go with him. He must have sneaked them onto that last flight without warning Scott or me.
There wasn’t a witch left to transport me to the Haven.
More importantly, there were no more witches here to uphold the boundary. The Vale was exposed. There was no way out. I was trapped, surrounded by bloodthirsty wolves who were going to destroy my home and kill us all.
There was nowhere for me to go.
I dropped down to the floor and screamed.
Karina
The sun rose in glorious pinks and yellows above the palace of the Vale.
I marched behind rows upon rows of wolves, with a bag full of necessary materials on my back and my sword strapped to my side. Noah walked on one side of me and Marigold on the other.
The wolves were still in their human forms—they were careful to shift only when necessary, to help them hold onto their humanity. The longer they remained in wolf form, the more their animalistic tendencies took over.
I should have been excited—this was the moment we’d been waiting for. However, each step I took toward the Vale filled me with dread.
I wanted to call out to the wolves to stop. But who was I to do that? I was a stranger among their kind—I owed them everything for accepting me into the pack so easily. And even if I did try to stop this, they wouldn’t listen to me.
“Are you okay?” Noah asked from beside me. His eyes were kind and full of worry—my feelings must have been splattered all over my face.
“I’m fine.” I forced a small smile. “Just worried, that’s all.”
“Rumors say you’re an incredibly lethal fighter,” he said. “You honor my people by siding with the pack. And… your support means a lot to me, too.”
The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World) Page 65
