Jacen stepped closer to me, and I stood straighter, relieved he was making it clear that he was taken.
“I take it that you all know each other?” Camelia asked, looking from me to the mages and back again.
“This is Dahlia, Violet, and Iris.” I pointed to each of them as I said their names. “They’re mages—they helped me and Jacen get to the Tree of Life.”
“Mages don’t exist.” Camelia crossed her arms and looked suspiciously at the three sisters. “They’re from storybooks—they aren’t real.”
“We heard that witches didn’t like to acknowledge our existence.” Iris twisted a strand of hair around her finger, looking amused. “However, it’s true. Humans and mages mated to create witches, which is how your kind came to be.”
“I don’t believe you.” Camelia curled her upper lip in distaste. “Prove it.”
“We don’t have time for that right now,” Dahlia chided. “We’re here on important business regarding Annika—not for you. If you have a problem with that, we’ll have no choice but to remove you from the island.” She snapped her fingers, and a nearby couch vanished—as if it had never been there in the first place.
Camelia’s face paled, and her hands rushed to her stomach. “I have no problem with that,” she said, sounding meeker than ever.
“I thought not,” Dahlia said, and with that, all three sisters turned their attention back to me.
“Come, join us at the table.” Violet motioned to the throne-like seats. There were thirteen of them in all, including the ones the mages currently occupied. “We’d offer tea, but as I’m sure you’ve seen, Avalon is lacking such basic necessities at the moment.”
I pulled out a chair to join them, and Jacen and Camelia followed my lead. I nodded respectfully at Camelia, glad that for once, the witch was keeping her mouth shut.
Once seated, the group of us only filled up half of the table. It was an awkward way to have a conversation, but the table and chairs were the only functional pieces of furniture in the castle, so we’d have to make do.
“I’d like to start by saying congratulations,” Dahlia said with a smile.
“Thank you.” I shrugged, looking down at the table. “But I’m not sure I deserve it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I failed.” I looked back up at her, my heart dropping as I said the words out loud. “I was supposed to stop Samael from opening the Hell Gate, but I couldn’t do it. The Hell Gate opened, and now all those demons are loose…” I paused, shivering at the thought of the red-eyed creatures wandering the Earth who were determined to kill all the supernaturals and take the humans as their slaves.
“You didn’t fail,” Violet said. “The Hell Gate was always supposed to open. If it hadn’t opened now, it would have opened at some point in the future. In fact, if it hadn’t opened now—if you’d killed Samael while he was possessing Marigold—then you would have failed.”
“What do you mean?” I tilted my head in confusion. “If I’d killed Samael while he’d been possessing Marigold, I would have stopped him from opening the Hell Gate.”
“Then you would have killed an innocent and not been worthy to be the leader of Avalon,” she said simply.
“And the Hell Gate still would have opened at some point in the future,” Iris added. “It would have been opened in a different way, and likely in a different place, but it still would have happened.”
“Hold up.” Jacen placed his hands on the table, and everyone looked to him. “Are you saying that this was some sort of test to see if Annika was a worthy leader of Avalon?”
“That’s precisely what we’re saying.” Dahlia’s eyes gleamed in approval—she looked at Jacen like he was her favorite student who’d just answered a question correctly in class. Then she turned to me, and continued, “You showed that you possessed the strength, determination, and the ability to make quick decisions in the heat of battle by finding the Grail. But after being turned into an Earth angel, you needed to prove that you had the empathy, mercy, and kindness required of the future leader of Avalon. A leader without those qualities turns into a tyrant, and after what happened to the previous generations of Nephilim, we couldn’t have that.”
I nodded, remembering what Mary had told me of the Nephilim of the past. Their prejudice against other supernaturals started the Great War, which they’d lost.
“So Emmanuel never wanted me to kill Samael while he possessed Marigold,” I realized.
“Yes,” Dahlia said. “Marigold was an innocent being used in a terrible way. You demonstrated empathy by being unable to kill her, despite the horrible things Samael was doing while possessing her body. Most others wouldn’t have done the same.”
“But she died anyway.” Tears filled my eyes at the memory of her slitting her own throat while Samael possessed her body.
“Samael was always going to either die in that body or kill it to perform the blood spell to open the Hell Gate,” Iris said. “There was nothing you could have done to save Marigold. I’m sorry.”
I swallowed down the tears, since it made sense. But it still didn’t make me feel better about the young witch’s death.
“Empathy toward Marigold was only one part of the test,” Dahlia said. “You were also tested on two other qualities—mercy and kindness.”
“Was kindness Camelia?” I asked, glancing at the witch. “Bringing her to Avalon despite all the awful things she’s done?”
“No.” Dahlia smiled. “The choice to allow Camelia to come to Avalon or not was a test of mercy. Camelia’s problem is not your own, and you had every right not to help her after all she did to you and to those you love. Yet, you showed her mercy. There aren’t many who would have done the same.”
“I almost didn’t,” I muttered. “She’s only here because of her child.”
“Nonetheless, you did,” Dahlia said. “Showing her mercy was an act of kindness, but your test of kindness was something else. Do you remember the wolf shifter you encountered in the alley?”
“Of course,” I said, since that had only happened a few hours ago.
“She was your enemy,” Dahlia continued. “She was trying to kill you. But you made a blood oath with her and let her live.”
“Anyone would have done that,” I said.
“No.” She held her gaze with mine. “They wouldn’t have.”
I took a few seconds to absorb her words, unsure what to say. “How do you know all of this, anyway?” I asked. “You weren’t at the Vale during the battle.”
“We have our ways.” Iris smiled knowingly.
“We also have this.” Violet reached down into a bag by her feet, pulling out a piece of parchment with writing on it and a golden pen. The pen had one of those fancy tips meant for calligraphers.
She placed both items down on the table and looked at me expectantly.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“A contract,” Dahlia said. “For you to become the official leader of Avalon.”
Annika
“After you drank from the Grail, Emmanuel sent us this contract to give to you if you passed all three tests,” Dahlia continued. “All you have to do is read it and sign.”
She handed the contract to me and placed the pen on the table in front of me.
“Oh, and the pen has no ink of its own,” she added. “You’ll have to use your own blood.”
I ran a finger over the golden pen. A few months ago, using my blood as ink would have disgusted me, but now I wasn’t surprised at all. Supernaturals loved binding contracts and making promises with blood. Anyway, I healed quickly now, so it was no big deal.
I lifted the contract and read through it.
Once finished, I lowered it and looked back up, finding everyone watching me expectantly.
“Well?” Violet asked, glancing toward the pen.
“Can Jacen and I step outside to talk?” My voice shook as I spoke. “Alone?”
“Take all the time you need.”
Dahlia rolled her eyes—she was clearly anxious for me to sign the contract. “The door on the other side of the room leads out to the garden.”
I hadn’t noticed the door before. It was small and wooden, but thankfully still intact.
I stood up—taking the contract with me—and walked toward the door, glad when Jacen followed by my side. He pushed it open and held it out for me to walk through.
“Thanks,” I said once we’d stepped outside.
The garden was in a courtyard, and like everything else in Avalon, it was brown and dead. I wouldn’t have even known it was supposed to be a garden if Dahlia hadn’t referred to it as such beforehand.
“You know they can probably still listen in on us,” he said, glancing at the shut door. “Right?”
“I know.” I took a deep breath, feeling like I could finally breathe again now that we weren’t inside the musty, run-down castle. “I just needed some fresh air.”
“Because of what you read in the contract?”
“Yeah.” I sat down on a wrought-iron bench, glad when Jacen joined me.
That was when I remembered that even though it was cloudy out, it was still daytime.
“Is the sun bothering you?” I asked. “If it is, we can go back inside.” I started to stand up, but he reached for my hand, stopping me.
“It’s so cloudy that I can barely feel the sun at all,” he said, glancing up at the gray sky.
“This island is pretty depressing,” I agreed.
He put his arm around me, and I snuggled into him, reminded of when we’d sat like this in the boat as we’d watched the Northern Lights. Now that it was just the two of us, I felt so much more relaxed than when I’d been in there with the mages and Camelia hovering over my every word.
“Signing the contract will make me the official ruler of Avalon,” I said.
“This place is falling apart.” He looked around at the dead garden and the crumbling walls of the castle, his nose crinkling in distaste. “You’re going to make an incredible leader, but you deserve a kingdom better than this.”
“It says that after I sign, the island will be blessed by the angels,” I said. “Their blessing will apparently make Avalon the safest place on Earth. And once I sign the contract—if I sign the contract—I’m supposed to use the Holy Grail to create an army of Nephilim to defeat the demons on Earth.” I said the last part all in one breath, the weight of the responsibility still yet to sink in.
“And you’ll be the leader of that army.” Adoration shined in his eyes. “As the only angel to walk upon the Earth, you’ll be the perfect leader for it.”
“I’m an Earth angel,” I corrected him. “Not a born angel. It’s different.”
“You’re an angel,” he repeated. “The first one to walk on the Earth for thousands of years. It’s incredible.”
“Thanks.” My cheeks heated—I still didn’t feel like I deserved to be an actual angel. I doubted it would ever feel real. “But back to the contract—it says I can use the Holy Grail to turn humans into Nephilim, similar to the way that Emmanuel turned me into an Earth angel. I just have to pour some of my blood into the Grail, and they’ll drink it. If they’re strong enough, their blood will turn into the blood of a dormant Nephilim—like I was before I killed Laila and activated my powers.”
“And if they’re not strong enough?” he asked.
“They’ll die.”
He nodded, his eyes intense. “Then we’ll make sure they’re strong,” he said. “We’ll train them until they’re ready to drink from the Grail.”
“Their lives will be in my hands,” I said. “I’m not sure it’s a responsibility I want to have. And even after drinking from the Grail, their powers won’t be activated. They have to make a supernatural kill first.”
“That kill can be a demon?” he asked.
“It can be a regular demon—not a greater demon,” I repeated what I’d read in the contract. “Only a full Nephilim can kill a greater demon.”
“Okay.” He paused, glancing out into the dead garden before returning his attention to me. “So we’ll have them kill regular demons. There are also plenty of rogue supernaturals—ones who aren’t a part of any of the kingdoms—who harm humans.”
“So you want to find those rogues and have the Nephilim kill them to ignite their powers?”
“It’s an option,” he said. “And the kingdoms will need our help, too—they won’t want the demons on the Earth any more than we do. They might even give us any dangerous rogues they find so one of our dormant Nephilim can kill it to activate their powers. It would help us build our army.”
Our army. A ball of anxiety formed in my throat at the words.
“You’re assuming the supernaturals would welcome a new generation of Nephilim,” I said. “But what if they don’t? They fought a war to get rid of the Nephilim. Why would they want the Nephilim to return?”
“Because like you said, only Nephilim can kill greater demons,” he answered quickly. “Out of the hundreds of demons that escaped, I don’t know how many are greater demons, but we’re more likely to beat them if you don’t have to fight each one alone. We need more Nephilim.”
“We do,” I agreed, although I doubted the supernaturals would accept the return of the Nephilim so easily. “But where are we going to find humans who want to do this?” I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them, trying to make sense of all the questions racing through my mind. “I won’t take them by force.”
“You won’t have to,” he said. “There are billions of humans in the world. Surely we’ll be able to find some who want to join us. And don’t forget—we’ll have the support of the Haven, and likely the other supernatural kingdoms as well. I’d place my bet on Alexander and the Vale helping us. They all want the demons gone as badly as we do.”
I glanced at the contract, still doubtful. “I’m just not sure I’m ready for this,” I admitted. “I only recently came into my powers myself. How am I supposed to lead an army?”
“The angels wouldn’t have chosen you if they didn’t think you could succeed,” he said.
“Or maybe I was the only choice they had, so taking a chance on me was better than nothing.”
“This is your decision.” Jacen sat straighter, determination shining in his gaze. “After everything we’ve been through, I know you can do it. And you won’t have to do it alone. If you accept, I’ll be by your side helping you every step of the way. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, but we can do it. Together. You won’t be able to get rid of me even if you tried.”
“That’s a pretty big statement to make.” I smiled for the first time since we’d come out to the garden. “Especially given that we’re both immortal now.”
“It’s an easy statement to make,” he said. “Because I love you, Annika.”
He said it so easily, as if loving me were as natural as breathing.
The words took my breath away. They also made me realize what I’d known from the first time I’d laid eyes on him at the Christmas Eve festival in the village—before I knew he was a vampire prince, back when I thought he was another human blood slave of the Vale.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you.” It was easy for me to say, because it was true. “Why else would I have been crazy enough to sneak you into the Tavern’s attic when those vampire guards were after you?”
“It was pretty reckless,” he agreed.
“I guess people do crazy, reckless things when they’re in love.” My cheeks heated at the word, although now that it was finally said, I felt closer to Jacen than ever.
“Crazy things like trying to sneak a wanted blood slave that I’d just met out of the Vale to save her life?” He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
“Yes.” I laughed. “Just like that.”
He leaned forward and kissed me, neither of us needing to say any more. We loved each other. And he was right—we could do this. As long as I had Jacen by my side, I felt like I could do anything I se
t my mind to.
Recruiting humans to turn into an army of Nephilim to eventually defeat the demons that had been unleashed upon the Earth was an incredibly daunting task, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.
“Thank you,” I said, once the kiss was eventually broken.
“For what?” he asked.
“For believing in me, and more importantly, for helping me learn to believe in myself.”
With that, I reached for the contract and the pen.
Annika
Energy raced through my veins as I stared down at the contract.
Once I went through with this, nothing would ever be the same.
“You’re sure about this?” Jacen asked. “If you sign, it needs to be because it’s what you want, and not because it’s what others expect of you.”
“A moment ago you were trying to convince me I could do this, and now you’re having second thoughts?” I tilted my head playfully, smiling up at him.
“No seconds thoughts here,” he said. “You’re going to make an incredible queen of Avalon.”
“Not a queen,” I said. “I don’t know what I’ll call myself, but after the Vale I’ve had enough of royalty for the rest of my life.”
“Understandable,” he said.
Then I held out my wrist and looked at him expectantly. “I need to use my blood as ink,” I reminded him. “I was hoping you would do the honors?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
He lowered his mouth to my wrist, kissing it gently before his fangs punctured my skin.
Golden blood released, and ecstasy rolled through my body as his venom entered my system. But he barely took a sip before pulling away.
His eyes were dark and dilated—he clearly wanted more—and my cheeks heated under his tantalizing gaze.
“Focus, Annika.” His voice was silky smooth, like music to my ears. “Or you’ll heal before you can sign the contract.”
He was right—despite how distracting he was, I needed to hurry. So I pressed on my wound to release more blood. It was so strange to bleed gold instead of red—yet one more thing in my life that I doubted I would get used to.
The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World) Page 71