“As I said earlier, I encourage you to stay here until the demons are defeated,” Mary said. “This hotel on our property was designed to keep humans safe within the Haven. As long as you stay within the hotel boundaries, you’ll be protected. But you also have two other choices.” She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself and us for what was coming next. “These choices are going to be shocking, so I ask you to bear with me as I explain. I—and all of the witches from the Haven—will be available to answer any of your questions immediately following this announcement. Are you ready to hear your options?”
I tilted my head, curious about what she was going to say. Many of the others did the same, some of them saying that yes, they wanted to know. Others looked small and terrified. Keith and Kara were huddled together, shaking.
Suzanne walked over to the twins and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. They both visibly relaxed under the influence of her gift of compassion. Suzanne walked around and continued to do this to the humans who appeared most scared, until they were ready for Mary to continue.
“Thank you.” Mary nodded at Suzanne in recognition.
Suzanne gave Mary a close-lipped, trusting smile. She clearly felt at ease around the leader of the Haven.
So why didn’t I? The question wouldn’t stop eating at me.
The more I looked at Mary, the more I felt like this wasn’t the first time I’d seen her. And I was deeply suspicious about why that might be.
“Firstly, you should know that when gifted humans are turned into vampires, their gifts are magnified,” Mary began. “Gifted vampires are highly valued in the Haven. They help protect our kingdom. So, one of your options is to be turned into a vampire. You’ll become immortal, and will have supernatural strength.”
“Will we have to drink blood?” Harry asked.
“Will the sun incinerate us?” another woman asked.
“Aren’t vampires monsters?”
Similar questions were echoed in the crowd until people were talking over one another. I didn’t blame them for being suspicious.
Turning into a vampire wasn’t a decision that should be made lightly.
“Vampires aren’t monsters.” Mary spoke strongly now, overpowering the questions. Everyone silenced and looked to her. “I’m a vampire. And I hope I’m not too scary.” She smiled and let out a chuckle. Some of the humans eased up, but only slightly. “I and the others will answer all of your questions in the upcoming days. But no, the sun doesn’t incinerate us, although its light does burn and feel draining. Yes, we drink blood. But at the Haven, we only drink animal blood. We’re the only vampire kingdom that survives on animal blood alone.” Her eyes flickered to me for a second, as if I should already know this.
I did. But only because Noah and Sage had taught me when they’d given me my “supernatural world lessons” during our long drives. I didn’t know it from her. Obviously. This was the first time I was meeting her.
She had no reason to think I knew more than the others.
“In exchange for this gift of strength and immortality, you’ll promise to remain in the Haven for ten years after being changed,” she continued. “After that you’re free to go wherever you like.”
“You said we had another option,” Valerie, who was gifted with the ability to sense ghosts, asked. “What is it?” She stared up at Mary hopefully, waiting for an answer.
From my conversations with Valerie in the bunker, I suspected she was hoping the other option would get rid of her gift. She hated sensing ghosts. She said they were bitter and angry.
Becoming a vampire and having that ability magnified must have sounded like a nightmare to her.
“There’s only one place in the world that’s safer than the Haven,” Mary said. “The island of Avalon.” She gazed over the crowd confidently, as if making sure we were hanging onto her every word. We were. “Avalon is protected by the angels themselves, and is ruled by the Earth Angel Annika. She’s the only angel who walks on Earth. On Avalon, she’s building an army that will be strong enough to defeat the demons for good. Supernaturals all over the world are journeying to Avalon to pledge themselves to her cause. Your second choice is to go there and do the same.”
“But we’re not supernatural,” Suzanne spoke up. “We might be gifted, but we’re still human.”
“Humans are welcome on Avalon, too,” Mary said. “They’re needed. Because only humans can drink from the Holy Grail to become Nephilim. And only Nephilim can kill greater demons. Without Nephilim, we cannot win this war.”
“Hold up.” Harry held a hand out, his eyes wide. “Did you just say the Holy Grail?”
“I did.” Mary smiled, her eyes lighting up. “The Holy Grail is with the Earth Angel on Avalon. Once on the island, you’ll enter the Angel Trials. None of us know what the trials entail, but they’ll determine if you’re strong enough to drink from the Grail to become a Nephilim.”
Chatter buzzed through the room once more. Questions, worries, and the like. But I, of course, had no questions and nothing to think about. I was going to Avalon.
I’d gone through so much to get to this point. Noah had gone through even more.
I couldn’t believe we’d get to Avalon so soon.
“It’s a lot to think about, as all of the choices have risk,” Mary said.
The muttering increased again. People said this wasn’t fair, and that they didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t blame them. When I’d been brought into all of this, I’d thought the same.
But Mary raised her hands and regained control of the room once more. “There’s a buffet waiting for you in the hotel restaurant,” she said. “The witches from the Haven—the ones who just helped you escape the bunker—will join you for dinner.” She motioned to the witches dressed in all white, as if emphasizing how the escape wouldn’t have been possible without their assistance. “I know you were rescued during a meal, so we won’t be offended if you’re not hungry. We simply want to sit down, break bread, and make ourselves available to answer your questions.”
People’s eyes immediately went to where she’d motioned the restaurant was located. Mine did, too.
“Does the food have more flavor than oatmeal, boiled chicken, and steamed rice?” a man asked from the back of the crowd.
People fidgeted and glanced behind at him, chuckling nervously at the mention of the bland food we’d been forced to eat in the bunker.
“We eat a lot of the local fair from Southwest India,” Mary said with a kind smile. “Indian food is made with many tasteful spices. But we had American food made as well, since we know you were all recruited from there and are more familiar with it. We prepared quite the wide variety. I’m sure you’ll find something at the buffet to fit your pallet.”
It was like she’d spoken the magic words.
All talk of vampires and Avalon was pushed aside, and everyone hurried toward the restaurant.
4
Raven
Tasty food sounded amazing after the bland food at the bunker.
But I reached for Noah’s arm, motioning for him to stay behind.
“You’re not hungry?” he asked.
“It’s not that.” I pulled him into a corner, not wanting anyone to overhear. He leaned closer, curious, waiting for me to continue. “I recognize Mary. I haven’t met her before, but I feel like I have. And she keeps looking at me like she knows me, too.” It sounded silly, but I knew what I saw and felt.
I watched Noah closely, waiting for his reaction.
“You think she knows something about your missing memories.” He was quick to figure out exactly what was on my mind. Thank you, imprint bond.
“Yes,” I said. “Do you think there’s any way we can talk with her without so many people around?”
“You got it.” He took my hand, and together, we walked to where Mary and Shivani were ushering everyone into the restaurant.
I had to nearly run to keep up with his long strides. I also got my first whiff o
f the food, and my mouth watered at the delicious scents.
But we’d been midway through lunch when Noah had rescued us. I could eat later. First, I had to figure out what Mary knew about my missing memories.
“Noah.” Mary focused on him, barely glancing at me. “It’s good to see you again. I’m glad your plan was a success.”
“It’s good to see you again, too.” He stepped closer to me, so we were standing shoulder to shoulder. We were like a barricade in front of her. “But aren’t you glad to see Raven again as well?”
She paused, although she didn’t miss more than a beat as she focused on me and held out a hand. “The first human to imprint on a shifter,” she said. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Apparently Noah had caught her up on our history when they’d planned the breakout from the bunker
“This isn’t the first time we’re meeting.” I took her hand and shook it, not letting my gaze leave hers. “We met last winter.”
Sure, I wasn’t totally confident in what I was saying. I was going on feelings, not facts. But she didn’t need to know that.
If she did, she might be less likely to tell me what she knew.
“That’s not possible.” She looked back and forth between Noah and me, looking truly confused for the first time today.
“Come on.” I huffed and shook my hair over my shoulder, taking on the haughty attitude I’d seen from Princess Ana in the recordings Thomas had shown me. “You might have known me by a different name, but I know I’m not that forgettable.”
“No.” Mary paled and drew back into herself. “You’re certainly not.”
My heart felt like it was about to beat right out of my chest. I was right. I couldn’t believe it. Well, I could believe it, since I was the one who had suspected it in the first place. But I couldn’t believe Mary had basically admitted it.
“The three of us should speak alone.” Noah glanced at where Shivani and another witch had taken over leading the group into the restaurant. Everyone was almost inside. “Surely your witches can take everything over from here.”
“They can.” Mary walked over to Shivani and rested her fingers on her arm to get her attention. “I need to speak to Noah and Raven alone,” she said. “You’re in charge until I get back. Make sure the witches take care of the humans and answer all of their questions.”
“Will do.” Shivani closed the door to the restaurant, leaving me, Noah, and Mary the only three left outside.
“I’ll get you situated in your rooms, and we can speak there,” Mary said. “Unless you intend on sharing a room?” She looked back and forth between the two of us in question.
I froze, caught completely off-guard.
“That’s up to Raven.” Noah looked at me with a mischievous smirk. “Would you like to share a room?”
My stomach jumped with a mix of excitement and anxiety. Back at the pool house at the Montgomery compound, he’d given me the bed and taken the couch in the living room. In the hotels while we’d been out on the demon hunt, he’d taken the sofa beds in the living rooms and let Sage and I share the king beds in the bedrooms. Even at Thomas’s penthouse in the Bettencourt, he’d given me the third bedroom and stayed in the media room.
We’d yet to sleep in the same room together. And we certainly hadn’t slept together. The most we’d done so far was kissed.
What would he expect if we stayed in the same room? Because I was beyond inexperienced. I hadn’t ever had sex before. I’d come close with an ex-boyfriend from high school, but it never felt right. He’d said he was in love with me, but I couldn’t say it back.
He’d broken up with me a few weeks afterward. He’d claimed if I wasn’t in love with him by then, I wasn’t ever going to fall in love with him.
At the time, I’d thought he was being unfair.
Now I realized he’d been right.
Because my heart had always belonged to Noah—even before we’d met.
But I didn’t want to rush things between us. Not with so many other worries weighing on my mind.
Noah must have felt my rush of emotions through the imprint bond, because he smiled down at me, like he was amused. He took my hand in his and turned to Mary. “We’ll have two rooms,” he told her. “Next to each other. Do you have the kind with a connecting door?”
“We do.” She gave him a closed lipped smile, looking back and forth between the two of us like she knew something we didn’t. “Follow me and I’ll get you situated.”
5
Raven
Mary brought us up the elevator to the fifth floor, which was the highest in the hotel. She said it would give us the best view of the surrounding mountains. She led us down the hall and stopped at room 405.
“Here we are.” She reached for the doorknob and opened it, motioning for us to walk inside.
“No lock?” I looked at the door in question.
“The Haven is a safe kingdom,” she explained. “There’s no crime here. We have no need for locks.”
“Oh,” I said. “Okay.”
It really wasn’t okay. Not having a lock on my door weirded me out.
But I knew better than to argue with a centuries old vampire queen who was keeping me and the other humans safe when she didn’t have to. Especially when I wanted information from her about my missing memories.
So I followed Noah inside the room. It was surprisingly plain. The lobby was so colorful and elaborate that I’d expected the rooms to be the same. There was nothing to complain about—the room was functional and clean. It just lacked the unique, warm, welcoming feel of the rest of the hotel.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Because there was a balcony with floor to ceiling windows, and the lush mountains outside were divine and exotic. We had mountains in LA, but the mountains I was looking at right now had deep shades of green in them that I’d never seen in my life. They were downright magical.
Noah opened a door along the wall (it didn’t have a lock, since that apparently wasn’t something they did here), and it led to another room that looked exactly like mine. Connecting rooms, as promised.
“We should get started.” Mary shut the main door and walked to the center of the room. “The sooner I can get back down to the restaurant, the better. So tell me—how do you remember me? Your memories were erased. I oversaw it myself.”
“You’re the one who erased my memories?” I stared back at her, shocked. “Why would you do that?”
“It was the Earth Angel’s decision,” she said. “Not mine.”
“You know the Earth Angel?” I was getting more confused by the second.
Mary’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What exactly do you remember?” she asked. “Because it doesn’t sound like much.”
I deflated, since she was right. Might as well come clean now. “I know my memories were erased and replaced this winter,” I said. “And I know the Earth Angel transformed into my form to disguise herself as Princess Ana. Other than that, I have no idea what happened to me. Which is why I came to you. For answers.”
She was silent for a few seconds, studying me. “Yet you know we’ve met before,” she finally said. “You’re either lying or not making sense.”
“I’m not lying,” I said, standing my ground. “I’ve known for months that something about my memories was off.” From there, I told her everything about my missing memories and the blanks I’d filled in so far. “When I saw you, I felt that we’d met before,” I finished. “The only explanation could be that we met during the time when my memories were erased.”
“You shouldn’t have noticed that your memories were off at all.” Mary watched me closely, still looking suspicious. “It’s happened occasionally, when less powerful witches create the memory potion. But the memory potion we gave you was brewed by Geneva. The most powerful witch who’s ever lived.”
Noah cursed from where he was standing next to me. He’d been relatively quiet this entire time, letting me tell Mary my story myself. So at
this sudden outburst, I turned to him in alarm.
“What?” I asked.
“Geneva’s dead,” he said. “She used her Final Spell at the Battle at the Vale to close the Hell Gate. She saved us all… but in doing so, she sacrificed herself.”
The weight of what he was saying fell on me like a ton of bricks. “If she’s dead, she can’t create an antidote pill,” I realized. “Unless she created one at the same time she brewed the memory potion she gave me?” I turned back to Mary, hoping she had an antidote pill created by Geneva somewhere in the Haven.
Without an antidote pill, getting my memories back would be impossible.
“There’s no antidote pill,” Mary said. “I’m sorry.”
All the hope whooshed out of me at once. Until now, I’d held onto the possibility that there’d be a way to get my memories back. I’d thought we would find the witch who had brewed the potion and get her to create an antidote pill.
“Maybe there’s another way to reverse the potion.” I looked back and forth between Mary and Noah, hoping one of them would have an answer. “There has to be another way. Right?”
“There is no other way,” Mary said sadly. “You shouldn’t have been able to break through Geneva’s memory potion to begin with. Your ability to fight past the potion has something to do with your gift, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” I glanced to Noah for assurance, since he’d only just guessed what my gift might be when we were reunited in the bunker. He gave me a nod, and I refocused on Mary. “But we—Noah and I—suspect my gift is my stubbornness.”
Mary did something entirely unexpected—she laughed. “That’s a new one,” she said. “What made you think that?”
I told her everything. Knowing there was something wrong with my memories, resisting the demon that had tried entrancing me at the Pier, surviving after using a heavenly weapon, convincing the demon in the bunker to turn away while I changed, and lastly, reaching Noah through the imprint bond when we were states apart.
The Angel Trials- The Complete Series Page 63