by J. Meyers
“Would you have believed me if I had?”
“That’s not the point.”
“That’s totally the point, Luke.” She stood in front of him, placed her hands on his shoulders. “I could not tell you the whole story, for it was not mine to tell—not in its entirety. Your mother needed to tell you about your family first, and you needed to know from your own experiences that there is more to the world than you thought. If I’d simply told you, you and Sera would have thought I was crazy. It may have even jeopardized our relationship and I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t risk not being close to you. I am your guardian. I’ve been keeping you safe since you were born.”
Luke stared at her for a moment. “Why? Because of some prophecy? People really want to kill us just because of some idiotic prophecy?”
“Yes,” Fey said. “The prophecy speaks of a change coming to our worlds—yours and mine—and that there is a danger to mine. Those of the Dark do not believe in the good in people. Those of the Light do, and that’s why we protect you. We believe you will protect us.” She paused, gazing straight into his eyes. “I know you will.”
“What happened to my parents and brothers?” he asked, even though he was afraid he already knew the answer.
Fey sighed, sadness washed over her features. “The Dark Elves were trying to kill you and Sera. I was there and got the two of you out, but I couldn’t save your family. I’m so sorry, Luke.”
He turned away from Fey and sat down on the edge of the lake, stared out over Malletts Bay. They’d come out of the Realm and back into the Real world through a strange portal in the lake. Even though he knew it was right in front of him, he still couldn’t see it. If he hadn’t come through it just a few minutes ago he’d never have believed it was there. So Fey was right. He wouldn’t have believed her.
But now? His whole world had shifted in the last day and a half and he was just trying to keep sane, approach it logically.
What he needed to focus on was Marc. Getting him out of Lilith’s world and back here safe. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if they couldn’t.
And what was he going to tell Sera? Luke lowered his head into his hands. She’d never forgive him either. Thank goodness she hadn’t been there. She wouldn’t have Marc’s look of betrayal burned into her brain for the rest of her life. He was glad for that.
Luke’s head snapped up.
Sera hadn’t been there.
That was the place where she died in his vision. And she hadn’t been there. He looked at Fey and grinned huge. Her beautiful eyebrows knit together in a perfect frown. He could kiss her right there.
He’d done it! He’d changed the future. Sera hadn’t been there. She was safe at home with Jonas, waiting for them to get back. She hadn’t been there so she couldn’t die.
Luke felt suddenly giddy. He’d saved Sera’s life. He’d finally changed the future. Sure, he still had someone he needed to save, but he’d saved Sera’s life.
He stood up suddenly, and said, “Let’s go home, okay? I need to see Sera.”
Fey took hold of his arm, and he felt something buzzing, like he was suddenly in the middle of a swarm of cicadas. The lake disappeared, he saw flashing points of lights all around him, and then they were standing in front of Fey’s house. He stumbled forward a bit, as if from momentum, though he hadn’t actually moved his body.
“How—” Luke said.
Fey let go of him. “I’ll explain it all later, Luke. Come on.”
“Hold on.” Luke didn’t move. “You can do that—take me along with you—and you’ve let us get in trouble for being late to school?”
“Luke!”
“I’m just saying.”
Luke limped over to the front door, Fey opened it up and they both went inside. Fey strode directly to the living room where she’d left Sera.
“Sera?” she said.
Nothing.
Her eyes locked on Luke’s. He ran down the hall toward Fey’s room. “SERA?!”
No answer.
“I’ll try her cell,” Fey said, already dialing the phone. They heard Sera’s phone ringing in her bag by the front door.
Luke’s legs felt suddenly weak and he slid down to the floor. “She’s gone after me, hasn’t she? Of course. That’s what I would have done.” Then it hit him. He’d Seen it. Jonas arriving with Sera in Lilith’s lair. God, he’d Seen it. He should have known as soon as Fey had said Sera and Jonas were waiting. He should have known. They never should have left the Realm.
Everything in the room suddenly intensified—colors were brighter, sounds distinct, he could smell every food in the refrigerator, and feel air brushing over the skin of his hands. No, he thought, not impending doom. Not now. He just hoped it would last a long time before—
Luke was in the Realm, back in Lilith’s cavern. He looked around—the place was practically empty. Lilith sat up on her throne, a vicious smile on her face, triumph in her eyes.
He searched the remaining people standing around. Where was Sera? She should be here somewhere—unless, of course, he had actually changed the future and was seeing it revised.
The longer he looked, the more excited he became at not finding her amongst the people. Fey and Jonas were both there and neither looked happy, but he didn’t really care as long as he didn’t see Sera there.
Then Fey knelt down by someone lying on the ground and Luke’s heart froze. No. Oh god, no.
As much as he didn’t want to walk over to her, he couldn’t stop himself. She lay in an ever expanding pool of blood, the light gone from her open eyes, the life gone from her crumpled body.
With a gasp Luke was back.
No. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t happen.
But he knew with absolute certainty that it was about to.
He had just run out of time.
THIRTY-THREE
Sera felt a little dizzy as the buzzing stopped and the light whizzing by became the quiet late afternoon sky. She and Jonas stood on an outcropping of a mountain.
A mountain?
“What—how—” Sera’s head whipped around. “How did you do that? How did I do that?”
Jonas shrugged. “Many of those who are of the Realm can teleport. Those with stronger powers can bring others along with them.”
“Where are we?”
“Mt. Aeolus. Outside the Bat Cave, to be exact. It’s the other local gateway to the Realm.”
“The Bat Cave?” Sera’s eyebrows shot up, she bit her bottom lip. “Seriously?”
“What?”
“Vampires go in and out of the Bat Cave? You don’t think that’s kind of funny?”
Jonas raised one eyebrow at her. “All inhabitants of the Realm go through here. This is our entryway between the Realm and the Real world. The bats are drawn to the warm winds from the Realm. They make this cave their winter hibernation home, and the warmth from my world helps keep them warm enough to survive the New England winter.”
Sera stifled her smile and looked at the mouth of the cave. “There’s a gate. How are we supposed to get in?”
Jonas pulled a key out of his pocket, and went over to the padlock on the gate. “Locals put up the gate to keep people out during the winter because they were killing the bats while they hibernated.”
“Why would they do that?”
Jonas worked on the lock. “People are stupid.”
“And mean.” Sera looked up at the wide mouth of the cave. To the west she could see the sun starting to go down, coloring the sky with the pale warmth of amber. “Can you hurry?” she said. “Why waste time on the lock? Why don’t we teleport inside?”
Jonas stood up and tugged the gate open, then turned to Sera before he went in. “Can’t. It disturbs the bats when they’re hibernating. You also have to be quiet in here—no more than a whisper. Sound disturbs them as well, and they won’t live through the winter if we wake them.”
Sera nodded, and followed Jonas through the gate. He closed the gate after he
r, and secured the lock once more, then motioned for her to follow him.
It stank. Sera’s nose was assaulted with the scent of rancid ammonia, and she could see piles and piles of guano littering the floor of the cave. She carefully picked her way through, wishing she’d worn boots instead of her sneakers—her high tops were going to be thoroughly disgusting by the time she got home.
If she got home.
Lilith wanted her dead. Luke had a vision that she died. It didn’t take a genius to put those two together. She was fairly certain she was headed to her death.
And if she had to die—okay, there was nothing she could do about that. But she wasn’t about to let Luke die. Or Marc. Not if she could save them. Not after she’d failed to save her father. She refused to fail anyone else.
Water dripped off the ceiling, and Sera looked up but it was too dark for her to make out any bats. “Are there many in here?” she said in a whisper.
Jonas looked up, narrowed his eyes. “Not as many as there once were,” he said, and kept going.
Toward the back of the cave it was so dark that Sera couldn’t see anything in front of her. She reached out and grabbed hold of the back of Jonas’s long black coat, the supple leather bunching easily in her hand. He seemed to understand that she couldn’t see, so he reached his hand back and grasped hers. His hand felt solid, strong, but the skin was silky soft and cool.
“Almost there,” he whispered, and gave her hand a squeeze.
Sera was suddenly glad for the darkness because her face was a mask of surprise. He was touching her—this vampire who was afraid of her touch was holding her hand to help guide her through. And he was being so kind. Almost sweet.
It was very strange.
She felt warmth flood her arm and flow into Jonas and could see her ring start to glow as the healing energy filled him. Oh, that wasn’t good. She didn’t want to transform him accidentally and she had no idea how to turn off the healing energy. Or even if she could turn it off. The only way she knew to stop it was to not touch someone.
She pulled her hand out of his with a jerk. He stopped, turned to her.
“What’s wrong?”
“You were starting to glow—the healing energy was going into you. I just, I didn’t want to—”
“Oh,” he whispered, and was silent for a moment in the dark. “Thanks.”
She felt him turn to look in front of them—at what, Sera couldn’t guess because it was pitch black.
“Why don’t you hold on to my sleeve, then,” Jonas whispered right next to her ear, and Sera jumped. She hadn’t realized he’d moved closer. “We’re about to go through, and I don’t want to lose you.”
Her heart jumped at the thought. She had no idea what to expect. She was about to step into a whole other world that, until yesterday, she hadn’t realized existed. That if she told anyone about, they wouldn’t believe her, would think she was crazy.
Sera felt down the length of Jonas’s arm and grasped his cuff as tightly as she could. She didn’t want to lose him either.
“Step down,” he said, his whisper close and warm in her ear. She stepped and realized she was walking down a set of stairs.
A few steps down and everything was brightening ahead, as if an image was fading in. Several more steps and Sera could see clearly the world that was opening up before her. She and Jonas strode forward on flat ground and they were there.
Inside the Realm.
“Oh,” Sera said, her hand rested over her heart as her eyes roamed the panorama. It was stunning. The most beautiful place she’d ever seen. The colors of the Realm were intense, rich, like the pure colors of pastels. It looked so much like her world, what Jonas had called the Real world, but also nothing like it. The Realm was more.
More colorful, more beautiful, more intense. More everything.
From the side of the mountain where they stood, she could see rolling green hills meet huge blue mountains off in the distance, capped by a perfect, clear blue sky. The air was just the right temperature, and Sera unzipped her sweater and tied it around her waist. Trees covered the hills, and gave way to lovely fields of grasses and wildflowers of purple, red, and orange. Sera took a deep breath—the air felt clean and alive, and smelled like grass, flower, and wood.
“Sera?” Jonas was still standing next to her.
Sera turned to him and her mouth fell open. Jonas was more, too. More striking, more stunning, more intense. He seemed taller somehow, darker. He fairly gleamed.
She reached out to him and stroked his cheek. His skin was like velvet as he leaned his face into her hand and closed his eyes. He breathed a sigh and her eyes drifted to his lips. Soft, luscious. Her lips ached to take the kiss there. She leaned in toward Jonas, but he opened his eyes and placed two fingers on her lips to stop her.
“Sera,” he said. “Focus. Look at me.”
She gathered her mind, and he was Jonas again. Still in all his magnified glory, but the pull she’d felt toward him had faded. She breathed.
“What was that?” She could feel her face grow warm as she realized she’d almost kissed him. She couldn’t even begin to fathom what she had been thinking.
“That is the Realm. It intensifies everything. It can be overwhelming sometimes.”
She took him in again. He was beautiful.
“I can see that,” she said.
“Sera?” he said. She nodded. “We must go.”
She gasped. Luke. And immediately turned to follow Jonas.
But he hadn’t moved yet. He looked into her eyes, causing her heart to speed up again. “I’ll bring you back here another time, for you to see it all. Okay?”
She searched his deep, dark eyes.
“I’d like that.” If she lived long enough for that to happen.
Then he turned and strode down the mountain without looking back. He didn’t have to. Sera was right behind him. Nothing was going to stop her.
She was going after Luke.
A stone arch was carved into the mountainside at the base. Jonas paused when they got there and turned to Sera.
“Do what you need to do to protect yourself,” he said, a quick glance at her hands. “You still have the blade?”
She pulled it out of her pocket, gripped it tight.
Jonas nodded. “Go for the throat,” he said. “Ready?”
Sera took a deep shaky breath. She had to get Luke back. No matter how scared she was, she had to get him back. She could do this. Whatever it was. Whatever it would take. She could do it. For Luke. Her death may be a given, but his was not.
Wide eyed and pale, she looked up at Jonas. “Let’s go.”
He stepped through the arch ahead of her and started slowly down the tunnel. It sloped downward taking them farther underground. The walls were carved red rock, and she reached out to touch it, letting her hand trail along the wall as she walked. The steady rhythm of their steps helped focus her mind, let her keep her breath in check. Her heart was flying around inside her chest, and all she really wanted to do was turn and run the other way, but she kept thinking Luke. Luke. Every step she took was Luke.
Jonas raised his right arm up and glanced behind to be sure she stopped. Her breaths came quicker and shorter, and she tried again to slow them down. It wouldn’t help Luke if she hyperventilated. She leaned one arm against the wall and took a couple of deep, slow breaths, waiting for Jonas to signal it was okay to continue.
She heard a voice call out from inside a room she couldn’t yet see. “Jonas. Ah, Jonas! You’ve brought me a gift! I can smell her from here.” Sera sniffed at herself—she didn’t smell anything. “Bring her in, Jonas. Bring her in. I’ve a feeling you’ve brought me exactly what I wanted.”
Sera watched Jonas’s shoulders tighten. He waved Sera forward and stepped through a doorway ahead of her. She followed him in, stood next to him. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for Luke.
And stopped. Her. That woman. She was beautiful. Red hair like fire that Sera ached to touch. Skin glo
wing in ivory perfection. She breathed in and smiled. She’d never wanted anything more than to make this woman happy, right here, right now, whoever she was.
She took a step toward the woman and Jonas’s hand shot out and gripped her arm painfully tight.
“No,” she said, “I want to go to her.” She struggled to get out of his grasp, twisting and turning her arm to no avail.
In fact her struggles only caused him to grab hold of her whole body and trap her inside his arms. He whispered fiercely into her ear. “Look at her, Sera. Focus your mind and look beneath what you think you see.” She shook her head, twisted to get away. “Stop for a moment and look at the real Lilith. DO IT.”
Sera wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and try, and then she could go to Lilith. She took a breath and looked at her the same way she looked at her painting wall when she was trying to figure out whether she’d painted something right. She unfocused her eyes a bit then let them come into focus again.
And gasped.
She—it—was horrible. Sera’d never seen anything so utterly terrifying and disgusting before. The woman, if you could call her that, was skin and bones. Her pale skin had no color at all, and she looked like a walking corpse.
How in the world had she appeared so beautiful a moment ago? Sera turned her head to look up at Jonas, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around her.
He was watching her face. “I had a feeling you’d be able to see her.”
“That’s Lilith?” she said.
“That’s Lilith.”
Sera was suddenly very aware that she was in Jonas’s arms, and pushed away from him. He kept a hand on her arm for a moment.
“I’m okay,” she said, and he let go.
Luke. Her eyes whipped around the room searching for him.
He wasn’t there. Was he already dead?
“Where’s Luke?” she said to Jonas. “I don’t see him anywhere.”
Her eyes skimmed over the vampires gathered here and there, a couple of cages to one side of the room, the dais from where Lilith stared at them. He was nowhere.