by L. Danvers
My throat suddenly felt dry. “Okay...” I wasn’t sure what I’d expected him to say, but it certainly hadn’t been that. Already, I had a thousand questions. But I kept my mouth shut. I could drill him for information after he told me what he knew. I wanted to hear his version—the way he told it.
“I didn’t meet you until three years later, so I don’t know what all happened to you while you were a blood slave. Same as what happened to the others, I presume. Blood slaves lived in the village and once a week would offer themselves up to the vampires on Donation Day. The vampires would take their fill of blood for the week, and they would return to their business while you returned to yours.”
Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to ask questions. But how could I not? The dude had just said I was a blood slave. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would I let them do that?”
“You were compelled,” he explained. “You didn’t have a choice in the matter. And before you ask, no, running away wasn’t an option. You would have been killed.”
I swallowed. “Oh.” I was in shock. Days ago, I had gone to Crescent Cape with Bellamy—on a date, no less. The very place where this guy was telling me I served as a blood bag for vampires. I felt sick to my stomach.
He continued his story. “So, a few years later, Julian concocted this hair-brained scheme to usurp power from Prince Aiden.”
“Wait—who’s Julian? And who’s Prince Aiden?”
Ben dragged his fingers along his unshaven face. “I’m sorry. I forget that there is so much to fill you in on... Bear with me, okay? Centuries ago, Queen Rosa and King Leopold, two humans who ruled over Crescent Cape, were struggling to produce an heir. They adopted a boy named Julian, but Queen Rosa desperately wanted a true blood heir to the Crown. So, she made a deal with a witch. She became pregnant with quadruplets: Aiden, Xander, Charlotte and Natalie. But unbeknownst to her, the witch had cursed the children. Twenty years later, the curse took hold. The four siblings were turned into vampires—true Blood Heirs to the throne. And their older brother Julian was transformed into a werewolf—a failsafe to the curse.”
My head was spinning. I’d heard one of those names before. “Wait... wait a second. Who were you speaking to upstairs?”
“Xander,” he answered truthfully.
I shook my head, trying to process this. I knew the name sounded familiar. Instinctively, I scooted back. “You’re not a... a... vampire, are you?”
“No. I assure you. I am very much a human.”
My throat bobbed as I swallowed. Part of me wanted to run, but some other demented part of me desperately wanted to hear what else he had to say.
Picking up on my cue, Ben continued. “Anyway, about four years ago, Julian came up with the Choosing Ceremony—a scheme to distract Aiden and keep him busy selecting a bride. That’s where you came in.”
I clasped my hand around the armrest to keep the room from spinning.
“You were summoned to compete for Aiden’s heart. While there, you befriended another blood slave—Danielle Parker. Aiden fell for her, but through a bizarre series of events that would take way too long to explain here, Danielle was turned into a hybrid and ended up falling for Julian instead.”
“Please tell me I’m not married to a vampire prince,” I said, hardly believing the ridiculousness of the words coming out of my mouth.
“No. But... there is something you should know about yourself.”
I swore, if this dude was about to tell me that I was a vampire, I was going to lose my mind.
“Around the same time, you came into your powers, Grace.”
“Powers?” I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t have any powers. Believe me, if I did, I would have used some woo-woo magic to spell me up a heck of a nicer life than the one I was living.
He nodded somberly. “You’re descended from a long line of powerful witches, Grace.”
I stood, knowing this was crazy talk. “I assure you that isn’t true. My parents are perfectly normal.”
His eyes caught mine, and the seriousness in them made my spine tingle. “I’m not talking about the Addingtons, Grace.”
He knew I was adopted then. Maybe he really was telling the truth. I sat back down.
“Your father was Reed Carlisle, the leader of the Carlisle coven. He was a terribly evil man. He was the one who dropped the boundary to Crescent Cape, setting off the series of events that led to the war.”
My mouth fell open. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I had made up a million versions of my birth parents, trying to rationalize why they had given me up and what they must have been like. Never in my wildest imagination had I expected that. “Did I ever get the chance to meet him?”
He gave me a look that suggested I did and that it didn’t go well. “You have a twin brother,” he added, trying to soften the blow.
I sat upright. “I have a brother?”
“His name’s Nick. A decent guy, from what you’ve told me. Surprising, considering Reed raised him.”
“And my mother?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid you never told me about what happened to her. Perhaps you never knew.”
My head was spinning. I had a twin brother? And my father was... the leader of a coven of witches? How was that even possible? I hugged my arms around myself, even though I wasn’t particularly cold. “I think I’ll take that drink now.”
Happy to oblige, Ben headed back into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator. “I bought this for your birthday,” he said, holding the bottle high in the air. “Happy twenty-first, by the way.”
I forced a smile. This was so weird. This guy knew my whole life story—or at least claimed he did. But I had no memory of him. Of any of this. You’d think I’d remember being food for vampires or having magical powers.
I glanced down out my hands, wiggling my fingers. I didn’t know what I expected to happen.
Ben brought a flute of champagne over to me. He had a flute for himself in his other one. “I know this probably seems like a weird thing to celebrate, Grace, but you have no idea how good it is to see you again. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He raised his glass to me.
I took a long sip, savoring the bubbles as they tingled down my throat. “I still don’t understand how we met, though. Where do you come in?”
“I forgot that part, didn’t I?” he said to himself. “The Blood Heirs and Julian are my ancestors. They refer to me as their uncle now to keep up appearances. When chaos ensued after Julian’s Choosing Ceremony backfired, he brought you and Danielle here so that I could keep you safe. Because of your friendship with Danielle, you found yourself entangled in my family’s drama.”
I set my flute down on the coffee table. “Where are all of these people now, anyway?”
He sighed. “Natalie is dead. Aiden is happily married. And then, when the boundary fell, you used your powers to burn the castle down to the ground. But Julian’s photograph was discovered in the ashes. You helped him, Danielle and Charlotte escape through a portal to a faerie realm, which was sealed behind them. And as soon as the war was over, you dedicated every second of your life to figuring out a way to unseal the portal.”
I blinked. What was I supposed to say to that?
“You and Xander became good friends over the years. Weeks ago, you’d gotten a lead on a woman who might have access to faerie dust—an ingredient you need to open that portal. The two of you went to investigate, and that’s when Sofia Albright attacked the two of you. We can only assume that she found some way to wipe your memory clean. She knocked Xander out cold and brought him back to her coven, where he spent weeks strapped to a hospital bed while they did who-knew-what to him. And until recently, Aiden had been enjoying his new human life with his wife Victoria. I called him when I realized you and Xander weren’t coming back. Together, we rescued Xander. And then, the three of us split up to look for you.”
There was so much to take in.
I didn’t even know where to begin. “I don’t understand. Why would this Sofia woman erase my memories?”
“Maybe because she’s from your father’s rival coven. Maybe because she is afraid you’ll become like him. Who knows?”
The doorbell gave an ominous ring, and Ben’s eyes flicked toward the door. “That’s either Xander or Aiden.”
Great. Wonder who it will be? My vampire BFF or the monster who ruled over me?
“Well, Grace,” Ben said as he went to open the door, “I hope you’re ready to face your past...”
Grace
I followed Ben to the door, and when he opened it, the handsome man from the photographs locked his eyes with mine. I let out a gasp and then immediately felt a rush of heat pooling in my cheeks. I swallowed hard, unnerved by the look he was giving me. He marched in, brushing past Ben, and wrapped me in his arms. His hold was protective and strong, and I found my heart racing.
And then I remembered that he was a vampire and that a racing heart was probably a really bad thing to have around him.
His fingers tangled in my hair as he pulled me in close. I tried to steady my nerves, but a dizzying explosion of sensations took over. “I, uh,” I stumbled, unsure of what to say—scared to say the wrong thing. I didn’t care what Ben told me about me and my past. It didn’t make the idea of being hugged by a vampire any less terrifying.
“I’m so sorry, Grace,” he whispered, his breath tickling my ear.
Cautiously, carefully, I pulled away and looked up at the man, or being, or whatever he was, standing before me. He looked like a perfectly ordinary person. I mean, devastatingly good-looking with a chiseled physique and a one-sided smile that had probably made countless girls swoon. But he didn’t have freakishly pale skin like the vampires in movies. And he certainly wasn’t sparkling.
And he was hugging me. Apologizing to me.
Weird.
“Xander, I presume?” I asked, lashes fluttering like I was some ditzy schoolgirl. I did not like the effect this guy had on me.
His deep brown eyes clouded with sadness, and he looked over his shoulder at Ben. Like he’d expected me to be thrilled to see him.
But he was a stranger to me.
He removed his hands from me and slid them into the pockets of his leather jacket. “I... I’m sorry,” he said, clearly regretting ever touching me.
“It’s okay,” I said, because what else was there to say?
Ben cleared his throat, the tension in the room palpable. “Aiden should be here soon, too. Xander, why don’t you show Grace upstairs?” I looked at him quizzically, so he added, “I told you, all the best stuff is up there.”
With a nod, Xander strode toward the staircase, motioning for me to follow. When we were halfway up the stairs, he asked over his shoulder, “How much did Ben fill you in on?”
“Oh, just that I’m a witch, I have a twin brother and psychopathic father. And that my best friend and your family are trapped inside some sealed portal. You know. Totally normal stuff.”
He smirked. “I see you still have your sense of humor.”
I pressed my lips together and tried to smile. I wasn’t sure what to say. This whole situation was so confusing. And overwhelming. And bizarre. “Does that about cover it?” I asked.
“Yep. Pretty much sums it up.”
Once upstairs, I followed him into one of the bedrooms. Well, perhaps bedroom wasn’t the right word. Sure, there was a bed in there. But there were also weird trinkets—shrunken heads, clunky jewelry, glass orbs. And books. Tons and tons of musty, old books. It was like Ben had raided some Halloween-themed gift shop.
For such a normal-looking guy, he had some pretty strange stuff.
“Did Uncle Ben happen to mention he’s a Collector?”
I blinked, having no clue what that meant.
“I take that as a no,” Xander said, picking up various items and examining them before putting them back. “He and his line of the family have spent centuries collecting magical objects. Mostly to keep them out of the hands of people like me.” He winked.
I instinctively hugged my arms across my chest.
“I’m joking,” he added. “Well, kind of. But you don’t have to worry about me, Grace. I would never hurt you.”
“Ben said I used to be a blood slave,” I pointed out.
He cocked his head to the side. “A lot has happened since then. And anyway, you’re a witch. Once a witch comes into her powers, any vampire stupid enough to feed from her will be rendered violently ill.”
“Oh,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “That’s, uh, good to know.”
Xander stood there for a moment, making heat blossom in my chest as he gave me a once over. His nostril twitched, and his eyes fell on my leg. “You’re bleeding,” he pointed out.
I brushed my hair away from my face. “Well, it’s a good thing you can’t drink from me then, huh?” I joked, my voice rising higher than I meant for it to.
“Oh, I could. But I won’t. Do you want something for that?”
“Ben already gave me some antibiotic cream for it.”
“I meant my blood.”
Was that some sort of sick joke? By the way that he was holding out his wrist, exposing his veins, I didn’t think so. I thought I was going to puke. “Excuse me?”
“I take it you aren’t aware that vampire blood can heal wounds?” he asked. I shook my head. If that was true, how did more people not know about this? “We look out for each other,” he continued. “You’ve saved my life more than once, and I’ve saved yours, too. It’s kind of our thing.”
Great. The handsome vampire and I have a thing.
He pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to me. “Look familiar?”
I shook my head. “Should it?”
Xander chuckled. “You’ve only read it cover-to-cover a thousand times.”
Curious, I took the heavy, leather-bound book from his hand and opened it. The pages were old and worn and filled with frantic scribbles and intricate drawings. “What is this?”
“A grimoire.” Realizing that word meant nothing to me, he added, “It’s like a reference book for spells.”
I pursed my lips and flipped through it. Tracking spells, levitation spells, reanimation spells, body-jumping spells. None of it looked familiar to me. And honestly, looking through a book filled with spells gave me the heebie-jeebies.
This was all getting to be too much.
Needing to get some air, I shoved the book back at Xander, eyes pleading for him to take it, and whirled around, heading for the door. I hurried down the staircase, clomping with each step, but came to an abrupt stop when I saw another man downstairs deep in conversation with Ben.
The recognition in his ocean-blue eyes gave him away. He was the other vampire from the photos Ben showed me. The one who had reigned over Crescent Cape. The one who I could have been forced to marry if what Ben told me about the Choosing Ceremony was true.
“Grace,” he said, his tone a mix of relief and sadness.
I lifted my chin. “Aiden.”
Grace
Before I had the opportunity to get some fresh air, Aiden cut me off, stepping in front of me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden trinket. He handed it to me.
“What is it?” I asked, cradling the object in my hands.
He frowned, having expected me to recognize it. “Uncle Ben told you about the portal, right?”
I nodded warily, unsure of where he was going this.
“Before the portal was sealed, you used magic to enchant two matching compact mirrors. You gave one to your friend Danielle, and you kept the other. Thanks to your magic, we can use these compacts to communicate with Danielle, Julian and Charlotte.”
I examined the compact while Aiden spoke, trailing my fingers along the swirly design on top. Curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it. When I did, I felt a surge of power thrumming from the case. As I studied my reflection, the mirror rippled, replacing m
y image with that of a young woman about my age. She had deep brown hair that flowed past her shoulders and a wide grin. She seemed happy—genuinely happy to see me. “Grace! Where have you been? Is everything okay? I’ve been trying to reach you for weeks. I was worried something happened to you.”
“I... uh... Danielle, right?”
“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”
Ben reached for the compact. “May I?” he asked.
I handed it over, feeling completely weirded out at this point.
“Hey, Danielle,” he said. His voice trailed off as he headed for a room down the hall to speak with her in private.
“Okay,” I said, clasping my hands together. “I guess magic mirrors are a thing, too. Cool, cool.”
“I found it when I was looking for you in New York,” Aiden explained. “The witches must not have noticed you dropped it. You have no idea how important that compact is to you.”
“No kidding.” Feeling like I was going to be sick, I walked past the vampire, trusting that he wasn’t going to attack me when I turned my back on him, and headed out the door.
“Grace?” he and Xander called out simultaneously.
“I’m not leaving,” I said over my shoulder. “I just need a minute to think.”
I stepped outside, shutting the door behind me before leaning the back of my head against it. Wanting to crumple into a ball, I did basically just that, sliding my back down the door until I was in a sitting position. I bent my knees and kicked my legs out to the side since I was still wearing my waitress uniform, which was covered in dust, dirt and a little blood, too. I cradled my head in my hands—not crying. Processing. Or, trying to anyway.
Everything I heard today sounded crazy. Like this was some sort of new nightmare or like I was hallucinating somehow. But I knew it was real. I didn’t know how. But I knew. And I believed what they were saying was true.