Even Geneva’s magic couldn’t possibly save me from an entire kingdom of supernaturals set on destroying me.
But then I smiled, remembering the rest of the conversation Jacen had had with Laila after telling her he would have drained me dry. Specifically the part where he’d said he was going to welcome vampires from across the world inside the palace.
That was my way inside the palace—as a contender for his hand in marriage.
It was the only way to get close enough to all of them and remain undetected so I could figure out a way to destroy them.
“You look like you have an idea.” Geneva rubbed her hands together, clearly ready to get started. “Please, do tell.”
“I want you to turn me into a vampire.” I stared her straight in the eyes, wanting her to have no doubt about my conviction. “And not just any vampire. I wish to be a vampire princess.”
The Vampire Prince
Dark World: The Vampire Wish 2
Annika
“I want you to turn me into a vampire.” I stared at Geneva straight in the eyes, wanting her to have no doubt about my conviction. “And not just any vampire. I wish to be a vampire princess.”
“An interesting wish,” she replied with a knowing smirk. “But one that I’m afraid I cannot grant.”
“How come?” I crossed my arms, frowning. “It doesn’t go against any of the limitations you told me about before.” I ran through the limitations in my mind again just to make sure—she couldn’t bring anyone back from the dead, she couldn’t travel through time, she couldn’t murder anyone, and she couldn’t make anyone fall in love. She definitely never said she couldn’t turn someone into a vampire.
“It does,” she said. “I can’t kill.”
“I didn’t ask you to kill me,” I said. “I asked you to turn me into a vampire.”
“Vampires aren’t alive.” She blew out a long breath and rolled her eyes, clearly frustrated. “They’re dead. To turn you into a vampire, I would have to kill you. So I cannot grant your wish. But I must ask, simply out of curiosity—why do you want to become a vampire? Specifically, a vampire princess?”
“Because I hate being human,” I said darkly. “Being a human means being weak. Helpless.”
“Bad experiences with supernaturals?” Geneva leaned back against the wall and watched me, clearly curious to hear more. I supposed I couldn’t blame her. According to her, she used to be the most powerful witch in the world. Another group of witches wanted to kill her because they feared her power, but they couldn’t kill her because she was so strong, so they’d stuck her inside of this ring instead. She’d been trapped inside of the ring for decades. I imagined she must have been bored to tears during all of that time.
I didn’t know much about how the witches had managed to trap her inside, but I did know that she was bound by the spell to do the bidding of whoever wore the ring. Since the ring was created, it had been locked inside of the Crystal Cavern—the cave I was in right now, which was where witches sent powerful objects so they wouldn’t get in the hands of the wrong people. No human or supernatural was supposed to be able to enter the cavern and survive.
But the witch Camelia had seen a vision that I would be able to enter the Crystal Cavern and retrieve the ring. I didn’t know what made me so special to be able to do this, but here I was, inside the Crystal Cavern and still alive. Unfortunately, the cavern had caved in the moment I’d touched one of the other objects in the cave—a fancy sword—and now I was stuck here.
Without any help, I would surely die here.
But now I wore Geneva’s ring. With her powers on my side, I could escape.
I could do more than escape… I could finally get revenge on the vampires who had taken everything from me that I’d ever loved.
“Last year, vampires murdered my family in front of me and kidnapped me to become a blood slave at the Vale,” I told her, trying as hard as possible to keep the emotion out of my voice when I spoke. The past was the past—there was no changing it now. “There was nothing I could do to stop them. I tried to attack one…” I chuckled, remembering how I’d tried to hit one of the vampires with my ski pole. It had bounced off his back without bothering him in the slightest. “You can imagine how that turned out.”
“It’s a miracle that you’re still alive,” Geneva agreed.
“It was right after Jacen was turned and went on his murder spree through the village.” I swallowed, barely able to say Jacen’s name without crying again. The vampire prince had tricked me into trusting him—into caring for him—and then he’d left me for dead. I felt like such an idiot for falling for his trick. But I’d been so desperate for a way to escape the Vale that I probably would have fallen for anything. At least I knew better now. I would never trust a vampire from the Vale again. “They needed to replenish their stock.”
I shuddered, hating that as a human, that’s what the supernaturals—especially the vampires—would always see me as. Food. No better than livestock to be consumed so that they could stay alive.
“Jacen,” Geneva repeated his name, glancing at the crystal on the ground between us. “Your prince with the silver eyes.”
“Not mine.” I forced my voice to remain steady and calm, despite the gaping hole in my chest that made it hurt to breathe. “He was never mine. He was using me. You heard him.”
I glared at the crystal, remembering the scene Geneva had shown me moments before. The one where Jacen had been presented with my dead body. The body hadn’t really been mine, of course, but my friend Tanya. She’d been tricked into consuming a transformation potion to make her look like me before being drained dry. But no one who had been there knew that. They all thought I was dead.
Now I carried the guilt of Tanya being murdered because of me. All at the hands of the vampires. Add her to the list of the things the vampires had stolen from me.
Jacen had just gazed upon the body emptily, not caring in the slightest that I was gone. After everything we’d been through together—after he’d tried to help me escape the Vale and made me believe he’d actually cared about me—he’d just shrugged off my “death” and said that he would have eventually tired of me and drained me dry anyway.
I hated vampires. They’d destroyed everything I loved. My family was dead because of them. My freedom had been snatched away the moment I’d been made a blood slave in the Vale. Just the knowledge of their existence had destroyed my life as I’d known it. I could never go back to being the person I’d been before that fateful day when they’d murdered my family and taken me as a slave.
“He was using you,” Geneva confirmed. “Typical behavior for a vampire. They’re cold and heartless. Dead both outside and in.”
“They are.” I clenched my fists, her words further fueling my anger.
“So why do you wish to become one?” she asked. “Why do you want to become the creature you despise?”
“Easy,” I said, and the vengeance filled my body, making me feel strong and powerful. “Because as long as I’m a human, I’m weak. And I need to be on equal footing with them in order to get my revenge.”
Annika
“You want to destroy the entire vampire race?” Geneva asked in disbelief. “You do know that the Nephilim tried to do that once, don’t you? And you know how that ended up?”
“Of course I do,” I said, since the vampires loved to tell humans the story to remind us how powerful they were. “The vampires teamed up with the witches, and together, they killed every last Nephilim on Earth.”
“You know your history.” Geneva nodded. “So what makes you think that one human girl—even a human girl who wears my ring—can destroy one of the strongest supernatural races on Earth?”
“I don’t want to destroy the entire vampire race,” I said, since that would be ridiculous. “I just want to take down the Vale.”
“Just take down the Vale.” Geneva rolled her eyes. “And how exactly do you intend to do that?”
“By slay
ing their queen,” I answered, glad that I’d already thought of the answer to her question. “Laila’s been queen of the Vale since creating it centuries ago. The kingdom would be nothing without her. And you heard what Jacen said—he’s inviting vampire princesses from around the world to come live in the palace so he can choose a bride. Becoming a vampire princess—and thus a contender to his hand—would have been my way inside of the palace. Once inside, I could have learned my way around, gained their trust, and eventually run a stake straight through Laila’s heart when she least expected it.”
“A poorly thought out plan,” Geneva said. “But the general idea could be a decent starting point.”
“Not that it matters,” I reminded her. “Since you can’t turn me into a vampire.”
“True,” Geneva said. “But let’s pretend for a moment that I could.”
“Okay.” I stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
“And—for the sake of it—let’s pretend that you managed to get close enough to Laila to kill her,” she said. “You’ve given no thought to what would happen after her death.”
“The Vale would no longer have a queen,” I said.
“And what of your fate?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, realizing that she was right—I hadn’t thought out this plan thoroughly.
“You would die,” Geneva said simply. “The vampire guards would stake you in a second.”
I said nothing, since she was right. And while I knew what the martyr thing would be to say—that dying would be worth taking down the queen of the Vale—I couldn’t say it. Because I didn’t want to die.
I wanted to live. That’s what I’d always wanted. I remembered the way I’d felt when those vampires had killed my family in front of me—when I’d thought they were going to kill me, too. In that moment, I’d thought I was going to die. It had been terrifying. Because there was so much in life that I still had yet to experience. And despite all the horrible things that had happened to me in this past year, I refused to give up. I would live my life, and someday, somehow, I would find happiness. I would find freedom. Maybe I would even find love.
That was what I was fighting for.
“You don’t want to die,” Geneva observed.
“Of course not,” I said. “But the Vale needs to be brought down. All of the humans living there as slaves… it isn’t fair. It isn’t right. They—we—deserve a life. A real life.”
“And you’re going to be the one to free them?” she asked.
“I would like to,” I said.
“Yet you want to be a vampire.”
“I do.” I nodded. “I hardly have the strength to help them as a human.”
“A vampire who fights for humans.” She chuckled. “You do realize the irony in your statement, do you not?”
I pressed my lips together and glared at her—this witch was truly infuriating.
“If you were a vampire, you would no longer be on the side of the humans,” she continued. “You would need their blood to survive, as all vampires do.”
“I could survive on animal blood,” I said. “It is possible for vampires to survive on animal blood, right?”
“It’s possible,” she said. “The vampires of the Haven do just that.”
“The Haven?” I asked, since I had no idea what she meant.
She eyed me up curiously. “What do you know of the vampire kingdoms beyond the Vale?”
“Nothing.” I glanced down at my hands, embarrassed by my own ignorance. “None of the humans in the Vale know about much of anything beyond the Vale.”
“Then let me enlighten you,” Geneva said. “There are six vampire kingdoms, including the Vale. They’re spread out throughout the world. The Haven is the vampire kingdom located in India. They survive off the blood of animals instead of humans. But this has a side effect—it makes them weak. They only have about half the strength of a vampire who survives off of human blood.”
“So how does the kingdom still exist?” I asked. “Wouldn’t they be overpowered by the stronger vampires who feed on humans?”
“They’re protected,” she said with a smile. “By tiger shifters.”
“Tiger shifters?” I repeated, my eyes wide. “Those truly exist?”
“They’re the strongest shifters on Earth,” she said. “They greatly respect the vampires of the Haven for their choice to not prey on humans, and in turn give them their protection. The Haven is a place of peace and refuge for all vampires who are willing to give up human blood.”
“It sounds lovely,” I said.
“It is not without its faults,” Geneva said. “But enough about the Haven. Because like I told you before, your previous idea wasn’t a terrible starting point. And if you’re willing to listen, I believe I have a solution for how you can accomplish your mission.”
Annika
“I’m listening,” I told her, since I really had no other choice. I was trapped in this cave until I figured out where I wanted her to bring me, and if she’d thought of a way I could improve my plan, then I was all ears.
“Before we get into the details of the plan, you should know that while I can’t actually turn you into a vampire princess, I can make you appear to be a vampire princess,” she started. “No one in the Vale will ever know the difference.”
“Really?” I asked, since it sounded too good to be true. “How would you do that?”
“I can provide you with a vial of royal vampire blood once a day,” she told me. “The blood will give you all of the abilities of a vampire princess for twenty-four hours, while not actually making you a vampire. No vampire will know the difference.”
I nodded, because I knew first hand about the benefits of vampire blood. I knew because when Jacen had tried to help me escape the Vale, he’d given me a taste of his blood. While it had been in my system, I’d exhibited all of the abilities of a vampire—enhanced strength, speed, and senses. I’d have been able to drink blood as well, although I hadn’t tried it. I also would have been able to compel, since Jacen was a vampire prince.
“But humans aren’t meant to drink vampire blood,” I reminded Geneva. “Once it’s out of my system, I’ll crash. And the toll on my body will make me age faster.” I only knew all of this because the witch Camelia had told me, but I didn’t imagine that she’d been lying about that.
Then again, what did I know? Apparently I was terrible at knowing who was lying to me and who wasn’t.
“I’ll give you a new vial each morning so you never have to experience the crash,” she told me. “And as for the aging… that process takes a long time. I’ve actually witnessed the process in a human myself. Drinking the blood of a vampire every day for a year will age you approximately five years. And I doubt that you’ll be undercover for anywhere close to a year. But it’s up to you. Do you think it’s worth the risk?”
“I suppose it would work, as long as we don’t come into contact with any wolves,” I said, remembering how the wolves had been able to smell through my disguise when they’d found Jacen and me in the woods. They’d known from a single sniff of my scent that I wasn’t truly a vampire. “But Jacen and Camelia know me. They’ll recognize me the second I step into the palace, whether I have the abilities of a vampire or not.”
“Which is why I’ll mix the vampire blood with a transformation potion.” Geneva smirked, giving me the impression that she was multiple steps ahead of me. “You’ll look like someone else entirely. The vampires would never be the wiser.”
“What would I look like?” I asked her, touching my face with my hands. The idea of not looking like myself was strange. I’d always considered myself to be pretty average looking—brown hair, pale skin, and frail for a gymnast—but I was me. I’d never been the type to worry about things I couldn’t change. And I was comfortable in my own skin.
“I have good taste,” Geneva assured me with a wink. “I’ll choose a beautiful human—one who would be a knockout even amongst the vampires. If you don�
��t like who I choose, I’ll find someone else. But I have a feeling you’ll be more than satisfied. Now, for the plan…”
“Taking down Queen Laila?” I sat up straighter, eager to discuss this part of the plan.
“Not quite.” Geneva pressed a finger to her chin. “I had something else in mind.”
“Something that would bring justice to the human blood slaves?” I asked. “Because that’s what I care about the most. The way the vampires treat us… it’s terrible. No one should have their freedom taken away like that. All of the humans living in the village deserve better. They deserve choices. I want to give them that.”
“Killing Laila wouldn’t give the blood slaves choices. It would just bring chaos to the kingdom,” Geneva pointed out. “And freeing the current blood slaves would just result in the vampires kidnapping and enslaving a new batch of them.”
“So it’s helpless.” I deflated at the realization that this task might be too big for me to take on myself.
“Not necessary,” she said. “What you want to do is create real change. To do that, you need to be in a position of influence. A position of power.”
“How could I do that?” I asked. “I’m just a human. Even if I disguise myself as a vampire, I would still be a guest in the Vale. I would have no real power.”
“Unless you won the hand of the prince,” Geneva said. “Then you would marry him and become a princess of the Vale.”
“And as a true princess of the Vale, I would have political influence,” I realized. “I would be able to create change.”
“Precisely.” Geneva smiled. “Creating change from the inside would do a lot more good than a kamikaze mission to murder the queen.”
“But there’s no way Laila would listen to me,” I said. “She’s been queen of the Vale for centuries. Why would she give the opinions of a new princess the time of day?”
The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World) Page 16