“I wouldn’t let you go, Sarah.” Zander finally said. Clearing his throat, he went on. “I’d rather have you hate me for a few centuries. I would have turned you if you hadn’t already been a vampire when we met. That first night, I’d have taken you. Then, once I knew that your anger had faded, I’d have asked forgiveness after.” He pulled his wife into his arms, and Tyler had to look away.
The pain was too much. He was jealous that his best friends had the happiness that he wanted more than anything. He was caught in the middle of all their he’d never have it.
“I just don’t understand,” he muttered to himself.
“It’s easy, man.” Jackson clapped him on the shoulder. “If you had turned her, it would have been selfish. It would have destroyed whatever was left of her that was fae. Instead, you let her go. You showed how much you loved her. Tyler, it’s been months. It’s time for you to remember that you love her. It doesn’t matter if you have one day together or a thousand. You let her have her space to find herself.”
“Now it’s time for her to come home to you,” Winter spoke from the doorway. “Everyone out.” When Sarah moved to leave in front of him, the witch motioned for her to stay and for Tyler to go.
Confused, he followed the men out but stopped when Jackson was standing right on the other side of the room.
Instead of stepping around his friend, Tyler nudged him. “What are you doing?”
Jackson finished muttering a spell and turned to look at the mirror hanging to his left on the wall. “I’m going to eavesdrop. Are you going to stick around?”
Raising an eyebrow at the ludicrous idea that he’d leave, Tyler just smiled. “Of course.” The two men watched what was happening in the other room.
After they were completely alone, Winter closed the door and locked it. “We don’t want to be disturbed now, do we?” She smiled, “I need to make this quick before we have company.”
Sarah looked at the door worriedly, “What’s going on, Winter?”
“Oh, nothing like that, cher. We have a guest coming soon. You need to know something, something important. The gift I gave you, I’m going to be giving it to another. I’m going to need you to hold her hand when it is all done.”
A dawning realization took over Sarah’s face. “You’re going to bring her into the folds?” She still looked worried, and Tyler glanced at Jackson, concerned. The other man just shook his head and turned back to the mirror.
With a resolved sigh, Winter said, “I don’t have a choice. Her power is returning, and without her fae immortality, she’ll be destroyed when it reaches its threshold.”
“The mother of all? Does she know?” Sarah was twining her fingers together, she knew something was wrong. But Tyler couldn’t figure out what.
“She’s the one who came to me originally and warned that this might happen. She told me to be prepared, so I am.” Shock at Winter’s words spread through his body. The mother of all was manipulating Mykah still?
“Winter, has it occurred to you that the mother is stacking her deck? She knows something bigger is coming, and she’s making sure that she has an army on her side.” Sarah looked down at her hands, “I know that I owe her for giving you the power that saved me and made me what I am, but I don’t think we’re all going to survive the fight she’s going to throw us into.”
“I know. But magic is fading. We don’t have a choice in this. Mykah still has the key, so that will help. I’ll make sure she’s wearing it when it happens. The power might not overwhelm her as much.”
“I’ll stay with her, but you should tell Tyler.” He felt a stronger sense of warmth for Sarah than he had in a long time when she came to his defense like that.
“Oh, he and Jackson are eavesdropping through the mirror.” Laughing at their idiocy, she followed it up with, “I don’t know why they bothered to leave at all if they weren’t going to respect our privacy. No doubt Zander isn’t with him because he expects you to tell him tonight in bed. These men are spoiled.” When neither Jackson or Tyler moved away from the mirror, Winter flicked her wrist, and their view went black.
“Well, she caught us.” Tyler couldn’t bring himself to answer Jackson, he was too caught up in what he had learned.
He’d be damned if Sarah was the one holding Mykah’s hand through her turning into a vampire.
Before he could say anything, the door to the other room opened at the same time that he felt the shift in the air. Honeysuckle, her scent. She couldn’t transport, could she? As Sarah and Winter stepped through the doorway to the library, Mykah appeared directly in front of him. Her hair seemed like a brighter shade of red and hung in loose waves to her hips, her eyes had more gold in their amber depths than he remembered. Even her freckles stood out against her pale skin more than they had before. He was captivated, and when she stepped forward, he was lost. Reaching for her, he was sure that there was nothing in the world that would make him happier than the kiss he was about to receive. He felt like everything was right in the world. Until she punched him in the face.
“That, you asshole, is for not showing up.” Then she was cradling her hand against her chest, a pained expression on her face. He almost smiled at the absurdity that she had tried to hurt him. Instead, he pulled her into his arms, gently stroking her hair where it was pressed against his chest, which was beating irrationally fast against her touch.
Reflexively he had grabbed his jaw, but he wasn’t in any pain. “What the hell, Mykah?” He now saw that the flashing light in her eyes was anger, and she was furious. With him.
She reached for him, but out of self–preservation, he took a step back. “You didn’t come. I waited for you in Gilcurry, and you didn’t come.”
He knew that if he didn’t turn the tables, she’d keep getting angrier. He definitely couldn’t have that. “You told me you were leaving.” He tried to reason back at her, but she just threw her hands up in frustration, ignoring their audience.
“You wanted to turn me, a freaking fae princess, into a vampire. Why couldn’t you just love me as I am, regardless of my immortality?” She looked into his eyes, pleading for an answer.
So he gave her the truth, unfiltered. “Because I’m selfish. That’s why. I didn’t want to give up forever with you.” Then he waited, waited for her rejection.
She didn’t say anything, but he saw the anger filter out of her eyes, slowly. Finally, she said the words that unknotted his chest. “You’ve wasted months, you idiot.”
Before she could insult him again, he kissed her. Hard. Putting all of the love, the hate he had felt over the last few months, every emotion he had into it. He kissed her with all of his years behind him and all of the days ahead of them. He promised her forever, in that kiss. If they could just meet in the middle. She returned it with a fervor. He could feel her passion on his tongue. She met him there, in that kiss. He grabbed her hips and lifted her into the air, never letting their lips part. Leaving the others, he made his way back to his room. Even when he had stopped kissing her, he still held her ass against his chest, carrying her with him.
He swatted her as they approached his room. “You’re not getting away from me, Mykah.”
“Oh, please.” She gasped as his palm smacked onto her jean–clad bottom. “I came to you. You’re the one who’s not getting away, you stupid marshmallow.” She poked him, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Only you, princess. Only you.” Slamming the door to his room open, he strode in and tossed her onto his bed, turning away only to close and lock the door. When he turned back around, she was already stripping her clothes off. “Good girl.”
Expecting retaliation, he wasn’t surprised when her jeans hit him in the head. “Shut up and fuck me, Tyler.”
“Yes, ma’am.” So he did.
He took his time, showing her how much she had missed in the time they had spent apart. He brought her to the peak of ecstasy with his hands, his mouth, and when he was sure that she wouldn’t be able to take any mo
re. That is when he finally slid into her warm and welcoming sheath. Filling her completely, he waited until she came down from her peak before he started moving. As he did, he refused to finish without her going one more time. So he coaxed it from her, but she didn’t come quickly. He had worn her body down to the point that she was putty in his hands.
It gave him a primal sense of accomplishment, to have driven the strong woman in his arms to the point that she couldn’t control her body. He loved that about her, hell he loved everything about her. When the moment came that Tyler reached his peak and he spilled himself inside her, he felt more complete than he ever had before. He took care of her, tenderly cleaning their mess while she curled in on herself and purred in contentment.
When he was done he pulled her into his arms, and she had her eyes closed to the rest of the world, Tyler felt her breathing even out. Knowing she was asleep and wouldn’t remember what he said, he poured his heart out to her. Told her everything he had kept a secret for the past months, and swore that no matter what came that he would stay by her side.
Because he was holding her back to his chest, he couldn’t see the smile on her face. He couldn’t see the silent tears of happiness that had streaked down onto her pillow. If he had seen any of that, he might not have promised to let her go if that’s what she really wanted. As it was, he didn’t see any of that.
Mykah forgave him for telling her that he would let her go, without him ever having to ask. Because regardless of anything else, she knew that she loved him. Finally, she could accept it with her whole heart. As his snores filled the air, she let herself slip into oblivion.
CHAPTER TWENTY–ONE
“You’re giving them the night?” Sarah asked the witch, knowing that Winter had given Tyler the time with Mykah in case she didn’t survive the transition.
“Are you going to tell her?” Bringing another person into the folds of eternity was a big choice, regardless of what the mother of all felt about it.
Winter considered her words carefully, and Sarah knew that the witch was making the best decision that she could. “Not all of it. Just that I can restore her immortality. If she knows about the pain, she might reconsider.”
“It hurts. So much.” Sarah still remembered the pain, how she felt like she was being shredded into a million pieces.
Winter grasped the vampire queen’s hand in her own and whispered, “I know, cher. I still have dreams about my time in the fire. She has to do this, or it won’t work.”
Sarah knew that they had to figure out what to do with the warrior. “Tyler is going to try and stay by her side.” They would have to stop him; he couldn’t protect her from this.
No one could walk this path with her so they would do the only thing they could. They’d take Mykah away. As they both came to the same conclusion, Sarah knew that telling Jonathon or Zander would result in one or both of them trying to interfere. They weren’t trying to keep them away from all of it. Winter just needed enough time to get everything started, then there would be no stopping it.
Instead, they waited for Tyler to drift off, with the help of a spell from Winter, and they took the fae princess.
“Oh come on. This is getting ridiculous.” Tyler wanted to scream and punch something as he walked into the throne room after he woke up, yet again, to Mykah being gone.
Zander and Jonathon were both already there, matching looks of concern on their faces.
“Both Winter and Sarah are gone,” Zander said by way of greeting. “from the sounds of it, Mykah is gone too.”
“Yeah, well they’re probably all together, so there’s nothing to worry about,” Jonathon spoke a little too quickly, and both Tyler and Zander descended on him.
“Spill it, old man. Before I send you back to oblivion.” Zander could get away with speaking to the former Blood King like that, he was Jonathon’s son after all.
“Ask Tyler. He spied on their conversation last night.” Jonathon pointed at Tyler like he was a schoolchild telling on a bully.
“Hey, don’t pin this shit on me. All I know is that Winter was talking about Mykah having to be brought into the folds, whatever that means.” The look that crossed not only Zander but Jonathon’s face as well told him that something bad was going on. “What?” He asked them both, expecting one of them to let him in on the secret.
“Winter, she’s going to make Mykah truly immortal,” Jonathon whispered. “I can’t believe she’s doing it again.”
“I thought she swore not to after Sarah unless it was a necessity,” Zander said, bewilderment clear on his face.
“What is going on, Zander?” Tyler felt his heart rate pick up, and he began to panic when his friend didn’t answer immediately.
“Um, it’s a spell. Winter’s a true immortal. She turned Sarah, in the days before the battle with Alex and Mara, to help keep Jack safe. It’s dangerous. Sarah almost died. There’s no guarantee it will work, and Sarah’s the only one who’s survived the journey, besides Winter.” He looked away, but not before Tyler saw the fear that filled his eyes. “I don’t know why she’d do this.”
“Because Mykah is dying. That’s the only reason she’d do it.” Jonathon spoke with the knowledge of the man who had known Winter for eons, and who had loved her even in her darkest periods. “She’d bend heaven or hell into a pretzel if it meant that she could keep her family together.”
“But I could lose her.” He felt a tightening in his chest and tried to rub it out by pressing a palm against his heart, but it didn’t work. “Right when I got her back.” Tyler didn’t know where they would be. He didn’t know what to do. “I’d rather have what little time we’re guaranteed than lose her to this now.”
“You’re not going to lose her, she’s stronger than that. Let’s go.” Jonathon was moving before Tyler could register what was happening. Luckily, Zander grabbed his arm and dragged him along. “I know where they’d go.”
When he finally came back to himself, the warrior side of his personality kicked in. “Where?” He practically demanded; then caught himself growling at Jonathon’s response.
“The temple.” It was almost enough to stop Tyler in his tracks, but thankfully Zander kept him moving.
“It’s her sanctuary. Winter wouldn’t wait for it to be found.” The unspoken word was that Winter would prevent them from getting there.
“Winter just wanted a head start. If she actually wanted you gone, she’d have put us all to sleep until it was over.” Zander had a point. “Sarah loves you more than she loves me some days. She wouldn’t take the woman you love away without you being able to say goodbye.”
Once they were in the courtyard, which Tyler assumed was where Jonathon wanted to go because he stopped suddenly, the older man started to cast a spell. One moment they were staring at the grassy fields surrounding their home, and the next they were standing in the center of Winter’s temple.
White marble, pristine although it was older than any modern architecture, covered all of the walls. There were several columns as well, each holding the glowing orb of a soul that was locked forever in the confines surrounding it. They were all that remained of Winter’s original coven, and one had saved Zander’s life after his brother had torn out his heart.
At the head of the room stood Winter, with Sarah at her side. Mykah was nowhere to be found, at first. It wasn’t until they had made their way across the marble room that he noticed a circle of magic behind the throne. He could make out a body inside the circle, and he sprang into action. Before he had even made it a half–dozen steps, He was suspended in mid–air, with both Sarah and Winter holding their hands out, casting a spell to keep him away.
“You can’t, Tyler,” Sarah said, “If you try and break the circle or try and touch her at all, she will die.”
“Let her go, Sarah. I don’t care if she’s mortal. I’ll stay with her until her dying breath.”
“It’s not your decision to make. Nor was it the witch’s decision.” A calm voice said fr
om behind them.
The mother of all.
The pain. Mykah knew that even if she survived, she would carry that pain with her forever. The fire had coursed through her veins and burnt the screams from her throat. Power, the likes of which she had never felt before, coursed over her skin and into the air around her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, and couldn’t think about what would happen next.
Sarah had stood next to Winter as the witch had unleashed a maelstrom of magic the likes of which no fae had ever seen before. They had explained what they were doing, and why they had taken her in the middle of the night. She knew they had been holding back, afraid to tell her everything. Now with the pain eating her body from the inside out, she knew why.
Getting her immortality back would come at a cost, and she needed to be strong enough to take it. There was nothing but the pain. She was being electrocuted, frozen, burnt, and pulled apart all at the same time. Her soul was exploding, and there was nothing she could do. She had accepted whatever they were going to do to her. She needed to so that she could have everything she never knew she wanted.
In her mind’s eye, Mykah remembered the one thing that Sarah had said before Winter started. “If you survive, you’ll live for an eternity. You will have Tyler by your side, and you won’t lose your magic.”
She hadn’t known just how much she wanted that future until the Blood Queen had said it for her. She had blocked out the thought of ever having a future with the vampire warrior, her marshmallow, but if she could survive this, they might have a chance.
The key pulsed around her neck, power pouring into it from the spell Winter had cast. She could feel it replenishing itself. The pain started to diminish, and the necklace kept pulsing. It wasn’t until it had absorbed all of the excess power that Mykah’s pain subsided. She could breathe again. Hesitantly, she moved her hand and was relieved when she didn’t feel needles pressing through her skin.
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