by Rye Brewer
“What was the right choice?” I breathed.
“Renouncing my place at the head of the clan. I gave it all up.”
I should have told him he was stupid, crazy, out of his mind for doing something like that. I should have wanted only what was best for him and the vampires who needed his leadership. I should have told him to go back in there and beg for his place back. I should even have let him blame it on me—I wouldn’t put it past Lucian and his League to believe I’d placed a spell or something on Jonah to make him act recklessly.
I should have done those things, standing there between the cathedral and the portal. It would have been the right thing to do. The responsible thing to do.
But I didn’t.
“You did that for me?” I whispered, still unable to believe what I’d heard. I searched his face for some sign that he was lying, but there was nothing but sincerity—and, still, more than a little surprise at himself.
“I did. Nothing else matters to me the way you do.”
“Wait a minute.” Gregor’s put his hand on my shoulder, pulling me away from Jonah. “This is insanity. You can’t leave your clan, Jonah. I can’t believe your almighty League would allow you to do something to reckless.”
Jonah looked at my father the way he’d look at a fly on his arm. Like he couldn’t have mattered less.
I found my voice again. “What will happen to the clan?”
Jonah shrugged, grinning. “They’ll work it out.”
“You’re really doing this with so little planning?” Gregor asked, shocked.
“I have two brothers and an extremely wise sister. The clan is in good hands without me.”
I could practically feel the incredulity coming off my father. It didn’t seem real to him. It hardly seemed real to me, either. I was just me. I wasn’t anything special. Certainly no one worth giving up power for. Yet there Jonah stood.
I looked up at Gregor, my mind made up. “I can’t go with you.”
His jaw dropped. His fae face showing his shock. “What?”
“I can’t. I have to go with Jonah.” It was all so sudden; I could hardly wrap my head around it. “If he can give up everything for me, I can do the same thing.”
“This is impossible,” Gregor sputtered, shaking his head. “It can’t be. You can’t both walk away from your duty this way.”
“I’m sorry. Please believe that I am. I wish there was a way for me to explain myself so you would understand.”
“Don’t you know what you’re throwing away right now?” he asked.
“It’s not something I ever wanted. You didn’t really think I would find out I’m your daughter one day, then hand my life to you days later. Did you?”
“I don’t think you have much of a choice,” he replied tersely.
“That’s the problem. I want to have a choice. I know I’m different, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have a say. Your choice was yours. You did what felt best to you. This is what feels best to me.”
He looked at the two of us, looking more frustrated by the minute. “Do you have any idea how vulnerable you’ll be out there? Where will you do? Neither of you has a clan, now.” He focused on Jonah. “You realize the sort of danger she’s in wherever she goes?”
Jonah nodded. “I understand she needs my protection.”
“But do you know what that entails? Or are you both so young that you think you’re invincible?”
We looked at each other, then back at Gregor.
“There’s risk involved in everything,” Jonah replied. “I would rather take a risk with someone worth taking risks for.”
I thought my heart might just burst right out of my chest.
When he smiled at me, I took his hand.
Gregor had had enough, I could tell. He turned away, looking disgusted. “So be it. Sign your death warrants. I’m disappointed in you both.” He didn’t turn back, either. He kept walking until he reached the portal, then stepped through.
“Where did he go?” Jonah stared at where Gregor had disappeared.
I realized he couldn’t see the portal. It must only be visible to fae.
“It’s a fae portal,” I told him, trusting that he wouldn’t tell anyone about the secret.
As the heady, thrilling moment of defiance had passed and Gregor was gone, uncertainty crept over me.
Jonah’s hand was still in mine, but reality forced itself between us.
I looked at him, suddenly afraid for us. “What did we just do?” I whispered.
“We made the right choice,” he assured me in a soft voice.
“Are you sure? Or did we just make a big mistake?”
He stepped away, frowning. “Second thoughts, already?”
“No, no. Not about you. Never about you. I would have gone with him if the thought of you hadn’t held me back,” I admitted. “I couldn’t leave you forever.”
“Even though earlier you told me to go back?”
“I know. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“So what’s bothering you now?”
I had to laugh. “How can you say that? It’s just you and me. Gregor had a point—we’re unprotected. It was bad enough when I didn’t have a clan to keep me safe. Now you don’t, either. What will we do?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course.” I didn’t have to think about it. I knew it in my soul. I trusted him more than anyone I’d ever known.
“Then trust that I know what’s best. We’ll find our way together.”
I had no choice but to nod and place my trust in him. “All right. Let’s go.”
Though I had no idea where we were going. Or if we even had anywhere to go to.
It didn’t matter. I’d be with him.
The End
Keep reading for the excerpt to Book Two.
Chapter One
Jonah
I couldn’t believe I’d gone so far. For so long, I’d fought to hold onto what my father left behind. Even when it came between me and my twin, I’d always been sure that my sitting at the head of the clan was what was right. It was meant to be. Who was I to go against tradition?
Yet there I was, only minutes earlier, renouncing what had been mine since birth.
I was sure, as I left the site of the League of Vampires meeting with Anissa’s hand still in mine, that I’d never forget the looks on the faces of everyone around me when I stood up and announced that I was leaving. Scott, Philippa—they’d both looked ill. Philippa, especially. I’d been sure she’d jump at me, hold me down, fight to keep me there. But she hadn’t. Maybe she’d been too stunned to move. Or maybe she’d just known better than to think she could stop me. That was always possible. She did know me well.
For the briefest of brief moments, I was sure Marcus had thought he’d won. He couldn’t have been more wrong. The clan was still in the hands of the Bourkes, and I’d waited long enough to be sure the terms of our boundaries were firmly in place before stepping down. I wasn’t a fool, the way he thought I was. Though who knew? I had walked away, after all. Maybe I was a bigger fool than I wanted to admit.
No. I wasn’t. Because I had Anissa. I couldn’t imagine going the rest of my existence without her. Maybe it was looking at Lucian, the most ancient of our kind, that made up my mind for me. Knowing I could live as long as him, without her.
Unthinkable. So very unfathomable.
In the face of something like that, how could I have chosen otherwise?
“Where are we going?” Anissa asked as we sped away from the cathedral.
I didn’t want to course, that special means of travel we vampires had, that took us from one location to another, very far away, even. That traveling method which drained us to the point of needing time to recuperate, being unable to fight, or even course again, or even run. I didn’t want to course, because I wasn’t sure what we’d face on our way to our destination and didn’t want to tire us both out, but it was important for us to move in a hurry.
“
You’ll see,” I assured her. “Don’t worry about anything. I have it all under control.”
“You didn’t plan this out, did you?” She gave me her slight smile, the crooked one, the one that made me want to press my lips to hers.
“No, I didn’t,” I promised. “But it’s always good to have a Plan B. Part of being an effective leader and all.”
She only giggled as we moved on. It seemed so crazy, and I could tell she felt the same way. We had gone against tradition, both of us, and we’d lived to tell the tale. I hoped she wouldn’t regret it. I knew I never would, no matter what happened.
We stopped to rest for a minute at the border between New York and Vermont. From there, we would move further east. Anissa looked around with a smile on her face.
“What’s up?” I asked. All I could see was a forest—a beautiful one, granted, but one like any other. So why was she smiling like that.
“It’s gorgeous. I’ve always wanted to spend time exploring places like this,” she confessed. “I guess it’s in my blood. I never knew until now, but since I found out, so many things make sense. Ironic that I spent my life so far in a world of glass and concrete.”
“I wish we were here to explore,” I apologized, “but we have to keep moving.”
“Oh, I know. I’m just glad to see it with my own eyes instead of looking at pictures.” She gave me a brilliant smile, golden eyes glowing. I couldn’t help pulling her to me for a quick kiss when she smiled like that. I had to be close to her, just for a minute.
That minute was cut short by the sound of rustling not far from where we stood. We both froze, our instincts kicking into overdrive.
I held my breath while listening for more noise. Whatever made those sounds in the brush was bigger than a deer, for sure. I wondered if it was the time of year for bears to go exploring—not that I couldn’t take down a bear, but the surprise wasn’t welcome.
Only it wasn’t a bear. I could smell the blood flowing through the body of the humans not far from us.
Anissa’s eyes shifted up to mine, and I knew she could smell it, too. They were taking their time about showing themselves, which meant they weren’t out for a quiet stroll through the woods. They were stalking us.
“What are we going to do?” Anissa asked, only moving her mouth enough for me to read her words.
“Fight,” I replied. She nodded, her expression hardening. Her skills would come in handy, as would my strength.
We decided not a moment too soon, because in a flash, a group of Enforcers surrounded us. They weren’t like normal humans. They made taking down vampires their business.
I heard Anissa groan when she recognized them for who they were.
“Back off,” I said, glaring at them each in turn.
They looked like what humans referred to as hillbillies. Dirty clothing and grimy faces, clothing that looked like it had been around for about as long as I had. But Enforcers were deceptive. They couldn’t be judged on their looks alone. They were usually smart as whips, and fast. And strong. They trained in the art of killing vampires for years before being set loose on the population.
“You don’t get to tell us what to do, vampire boy.” The tallest one, who I figured was the leader, since he’d spoken up.
“There’s a treaty between the humans and the vampires that stretches back decades,” Anissa said.
I was proud when I heard the strength and confidence in her voice. She wouldn’t let them know she was terrified, even though I could feel terror coming off her in waves. She stood with her back to my front, pressing herself against me.
I liked her spunk, thinking she could protect me. That’s my job, I wanted to say.
“We don’t care about treaties,” another one of them spat. He held a crossbow in his hands. A crossbow, for the love of all that was good. They didn’t have the money for clean clothing, but they could afford weapons.
“You’re breaking your own laws,” she continued, her head going back and forth as mine did, sizing up the group.
They closed in on us one step at a time. I saw bloodlust in their eyes.
“Just let us go on our way, and there won’t be any trouble.” I turned with a start when I sensed one of them advancing on me from behind.
A woman holding a spear. She jumped back.
“Sorry, you soulless blood sucker. We don’t take orders from the likes of you.”
Then, it happened. They charged us.
Everything went by in a flash. I kicked out at the woman with the spear, hitting her in the sternum and sending her into a tree where she landed in a motionless heap. Then, a smaller man with a rope ran at me, swinging the rope over his head like a lasso. I grabbed for the lasso, using it to pull him to me, instead. He screamed in terror when I bared my fangs. I threw him away from me with both hands, hitting another Enforcer with his body. They landed on their backs and were smart enough to stay on the ground.
Meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye I saw Anissa duck a swing from a man twice her size. She was quick as lightning, ducking, dodging, then somehow ending up on the man’s back with her arms over his face. He was blind, flailing himself around with his arms waving. I didn’t see what she did to him, but I heard the thump as he hit the ground.
I threw myself over Anissa, protecting her before barreling into the smallest of the group. He went head over heels, sprawled out to the side, and I ran for it. I heard them screaming behind me, then the sound of something zipping past my head. An arrow lodged itself in the trunk of a tree not a foot away from me.
“We have to course!” I shouted, ducking behind a thick tree. “Are you ready?”
“If it means getting out of here, yes!” she screamed back.
“Follow me!”
And we were off, leaving the Enforcers and the woods behind us. I had gotten away with nothing more than a few scratches, while Anissa looked completely unharmed. I would have to ask her to teach me a thing or two about fighting if we ever got the time. It seemed like we were always too busy facing down enemies to do things like that.
I headed east, through the woods and into the mountains.
There was only one place I could take us.
We would be safe there, I knew it. I’d chosen the location on purpose. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I knew as we fled from our would-be murderers and who only knew what other threats that it was the right one.
Chapter Two
Anissa
Anissa
I hardly had time to catch my breath and get my thoughts together before we were narrowly avoiding death. At least we were safe enough while tracing, or so I told myself. Nothing could catch up to us. At least nothing that could harm us.
Then, just as suddenly as we’d started, we stopped. I caught myself just before colliding with Jonah, who’d stopped so suddenly I almost didn’t have the chance to stop in time.
“Sorry,” he said, catching me by the arms before I slammed into him. “I should have let you know. Only I almost missed the spot.”
“What spot?” I looked around and saw nothing but mountains. Granted, it was beautiful, but there was nothing nearby that stood out as a landmark. I turned in a slow circle, trying to understand what he was talking about.
“You won’t see it,” he said with a chuckle. “Trust me. I almost missed it and I know what to look for. You could stay out here for a year and not find it—but once you know what you’re looking at, you can’t un-see it.”
Must be like the fae portal was for him, impossible to see.
But what would that be? What could it be? Frustration mounted in me. “Stop with all the riddles and just tell me what we’re doing here,” I said, slightly exasperated.
I still trusted him, but I was hardly in the mood for games. I had just killed a human back there, something I didn’t normally do. And we’d had a close call, no matter how one-sided the fight had seemed. Was that what we had to look forward to together? Nonstop fighting for our lives?
I looked dow
n at myself, groaning at what Philippa’s pretty dress looked like after the fight. “At least I wore flats,” I muttered, brushing what dirt I could off myself.
“Come on. I’m sure you can change into something more comfortable.” He took me by the hand, leading me to a small brook.
“Change where?” I asked, still missing the big secret. “I don’t see anything.”
Then, to my surprise, he kept walking. He led me into the water. No, not into the water. Over the water. It only looked like there was no bridge there, because it was nearly invisible.
“It’s enchanted!” I breathed, gaping in surprise as I watched the world pass beneath my feet.
It wasn’t a long bridge or a very tall one, but it spanned the brook and led through a grove of trees to a sheer rock face. The sight of Jonah pressing his palm against the smooth rock, then through it, took my breath away completely.
“What did you just do?” I asked. Then it came to me. The rock wall was an optical illusion. It was actually the entrance to a cave. We were only walking through the entrance, but the way the rock had been carved out, it looked solid to the unknowing eye. I could understand what Jonah meant about never being able to un-see it after that.
“All right. Where are we?” I asked.
“You’re one of the few of your kind who’ve ever stepped foot inside our territory,” someone else said.
I jumped when I heard the voice to my right.
A tall, robbed figure stepped out of the shadows. I couldn’t make out a face thanks to the hood which concealed everything about the creature who’d just spoken.
“Steward,” Jonah said, and I heard the smile in his voice. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“I wish I could say the same,” Steward said. “I guess things didn’t go well out there.”
“Your guess is right.” Jonah turned to me. “Like I said, this was always Plan B. But nobody wants to fall back on Plan B unless they can help it.”