by Rye Brewer
To me and other vampires, however, it was majestic. When I finally drew close enough to stop coursing, I sat cross-legged on the ground to regain strength. I was just a little tired, a far cry from the exhaustion I’d experienced the first time I ever coursed.
Stopping for a quick rest gave me the excuse to study the grand, overwhelming structure. It was like something out of a story, large and imposing, standing stark against the night sky. I wondered how many decades, even centuries, it had taken to build something so impressive with the primitive tools available at the time.
It had originally been built by humans but soon after had been taken over by the vampires who had come to the New World. Like their human counterparts, my ancient ancestors fled in order to find tolerance and escape persecution from those who wished to do them harm. They moved far enough inland to ensure their safety then discovered the cathedral. Even then it had been falling apart, abandoned by villagers who had since moved into Canada.
When the league formed, using the cathedral as headquarters made all the sense in the world. It conveyed the importance the league had. I could understand why they’d picked it while I sat there, wide-eyed, taking it all in.
Walls which must have stretched hundreds of feet into the air. Spire upon spire, practically touching the stars. One big, round, stained glass window in the center of the front wall in the pattern of a rose. Multicolored beams of light shot out from it, almost hypnotizing me. I’d lived in New York all my life, in the middle of some of the grandest and most impressive skyscrapers in the world, and I’d still never seen anything like it.
It was five minutes to midnight, so I got up and scouted the area. I hadn’t yet seen another living creature around the cathedral, but it was best to be on the safe side. I had to be sure none of the staff was aware of me, and none of the league members. With the meeting only three days away, they’d all start gathering soon enough. Security would be tighter than ever. Still, everything looked peaceful enough. I let out a sigh of relief.
There was only one thing left to do, then. I saw the bell tower stretching into the heavens, high above the ground. I’d never felt so small, or so unsure of what I was about to do. Was it really wise to climb up there on my own? Should I have told somebody where I was going? It was too late for that. I didn’t dare miss midnight.
So, I squared my shoulders and started the long climb up hundreds and hundreds of stairs. How humans were expected to make such a climb, I had no idea. It didn’t tire me, of course, but I couldn’t imagine how much weaker humans managed it.
The closer I got to the top, the more apprehensive I became. Who would be waiting for me? Marcus? Or would he send his bumbling, ham-fisted henchmen for me? The breath caught in my throat as I climbed higher and higher, the air getting thinner as I did. Still, I didn’t want the climb to end. It would mean meeting whoever was waiting for me.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I found.
When I reached the top, it appeared empty except for the three huge bells. There wasn’t another soul there.
Or was there? I felt a presence, even if I couldn’t see it. The hairs at the nape of my neck stood straight up. Every nerve in my body was at attention, almost vibrating. Yes. Something, or someone, was there.
I’d felt this way before and realized where when I heard a voice I’d never expected to hear.
“We meet again.”
I turned in time to see Malory emerge from the darkness.
Terror swept through me. “You?”
“Who does it look like?” she sneered.
Yes, it was her, and her attitude hadn’t improved any. If anything, she was nastier than ever.
“What are you doing here?” I looked around, still expecting to see Marcus somewhere.
“Waiting for you, you little fool.” She glided toward me, floating above the stone surface of the floor as she had in her lair. I backed away, wondering briefly if it would kill me to jump from the tower. I doubted it—I’d only be injured. Injured enough that I couldn’t possibly get away. So, that wasn’t an option.
I didn’t have much time to think about my other options, either, since the witch lunged at me before I could see her coming. Her long, bony fingers hooked around my throat while she used the force of her motion to knock us both to the floor.
I struggled, kicking and clawing with all the strength in my body. I couldn’t swoop low to get my weapons. It was no use. She had ancient power, not to mention fury. I could see it in her eyes. She wanted my blood, but more than that, she wanted revenge.
She was too strong. Despair washed over me there on that cold, stone floor as I writhed and fought. I realized she wouldn’t stop at just feeding from me. She wouldn’t pace herself, as she had before. She wanted to kill me. Her hands tightened, enforcing that thought. Yes, she wanted me dead.
She was fast. Vampire fast and strong combined with witch-enhanced power. I was in a hell of a lot of trouble. There was no way I could overpower her, especially not after coursing.
Then she removed her hands from my throat to pull my head to the side and expose my throat. She didn’t wait. She didn’t tell me what she was about to do. She simply sank her teeth into me.
My sharp gasp in response to the pain echoed in the night as I arched my back, clawing at her, still desperate to make her stop draining me. I felt my life force leaving my body, felt myself fading, fading. She wouldn’t stop this time. She would empty me of my blood and leave nothing but a dry husk in my place.
I thought about Sara. What would she do without me? I thought about Jonah and the feel of his lips on mine. The way it felt to lock gazes. The certainty we were meant to find each other. It was no mistake. And I would never see him again. Would he know what happened to me? Would he ever understand I didn’t want to leave him?
It was almost over. My struggles were growing weaker, weaker. It would only be moments. Malory would win, and I would die. I didn’t have enough time…
Then, a bright flash of light.
22
Anissa
I was dead. I was dead and this was the afterlife.
I didn’t know vampires experienced an afterlife—then again, how would I have known? I had never died before, not really. I’d died to human life, of course, the day I’d been changed to a vampire. It wasn’t the same as dying for good, forever.
If I was in the afterlife, it was very comfortable. It reminded me of what I’d always assumed heaven would be like, if there was such a place. I felt soft cushions beneath me. I felt a heavy blanket on top of me, too. It was warm. Why was I so weak if I were dead? I tried to move, to feel around me, but I couldn’t. It was too much to manage.
Then, as my consciousness cleared, I noticed a bright light on the other side of my closed eyelids. The white light of heaven? Did vampires go to heaven? Had I been wrong for so long when I’d assumed it didn’t exist? Was I a fool for not believing? Feeling was believing. Sensing was, too.
I dared open my eyes. Then I flinched, half closing them again. The light was so bright, bright enough it hurt my eyes. I knew if I were fully vampire, I wouldn’t be able to see at all. Knowing of my fae blood made a lot of things easier to understand.
Then I remembered seeing a bright light just before my final moments. I tried to sit up, shocked, horrified, wanting more than anything to get out of here. I needed to. I was in danger, terrible danger. But I could barely move. The exhaustion I felt reminded me of the exhaustion of coursing years earlier for the first time.
“Rest. It’s important for you to rest now.”
I glanced around, my eyes still fighting to adjust to the bright light. “Who’s there?”
“Give yourself a moment to see better. And rest. It’s imperative you rest.”
The voice was to my right, almost by my hand. I flinched away from it, staring at a figure standing by my side. Moments later, the figure began to come into focus. Small, slim, with pale skin. I could make out long hair then saw that it was white.
>
White?
I blinked again, and once I did, I could make out the creature’s eyes. They were golden, just like mine. And they studied me with compassion and concern.
I soon realized we weren’t alone. While she had been the first to speak, there were others. Many others, all around us. And all of them had the same white hair, the same strangely golden eyes, the same slight bodies. For the first time in my existence, I didn’t feel different. I didn’t even know how different I’d always felt until I found myself surrounded by others like me.
“Are you…? Are you all of the fae?” And why was my voice so weak, barely a whisper? I pulled myself up to a sitting position.
No matter. They understood, and nodded in almost perfect unison.
“We are,” said the female standing beside me. Her voice was sweet, like honey, almost hypnotic.
“I don’t understand. It’s all a blur.” I rested against the cushions, the extreme fatigue making it impossible for me to sit up for long. “How did you know I would be there?”
I saw a few exchanged glances, a few furrowed brows. The light was easier to see in by then, and I didn’t have to squint anymore. Dozens of them! And they were all like me. The family I had never known, in a sense.
The woman with the long, white-blonde hair sat beside me. I was reminded of the way I’d sat with Sara at Jonah’s penthouse. Except I was the one resting under a pile of blankets this time. I wondered if she was the leader of the fae—she seemed to speak for them, at any rate.
“You see,” she said, her eyes staring deep into mine, “you act as a sort of beacon right now.”
“I do?”
She nodded. “You send out… well, sort of a signal. It isn’t difficult to sense your presence. When we sensed you, we knew you needed our help.” Her expression shifted slightly. “It seems as though we arrived just in time.”
“I was about to die, wasn’t I?”
She nodded again. “I’m afraid so. Another few moments, and who knows how this would have turned out? He would be furious with us if he knew we let you go.”
He? I decided to overlook that for the time being. There were already so many questions to ask. I thought of the next one almost immediately. “Where is she? Where’s Malory?”
I could imagine how fiercely they’d had to fight just to get her away from me. She’d been like a creature possessed. I could still feel her hands around my throat, the way she’d sucked the blood from me like she’d been starving for years.
Another exchange of glances from one of them to the other.
“She won’t bother you again.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said, she won’t bother you again.” The fae woman’s voice was cold, flat.
That meant one thing, and one alone. “Do you mean she’s dead? You killed her?”
A single shake of her white-blonde head. “She’s as good as dead. You don’t need to worry about her anymore.”
When was the last time I thought that? Yeah, right after Jonah and his clan helped us out. And look how that turned out, I was back under her fangs not soon after.
It all seemed too good to be true. I shivered a little when I remembered how close I’d come. Another few moments, as my savior had said. Just another few moments and I’d be dead.
I took in my surroundings once I knew the immediate threat had passed.
“What is this place?” I asked.
It couldn’t be vastly far from the cathedral, or else the fae wouldn’t have found me. I wasn’t sure what they meant by the signal I sent out, but it couldn’t be all that strong. I was only, well, me. I wasn’t anything special. I didn’t have special powers. I didn’t even know about my fae blood until recently.
Smiles all around. “It’s a world just beyond the world you’ve known the duration of your existence.”
“What’s your name? It feels funny, not knowing your name.”
She smiled radiantly. “My apologies. I am Felicity.”
“Are you the, well…?” It sounded stupid, but I had to ask. “Are you the leader? The Queen?”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. Those behind her laughed, too, but not unkindly. “Would that I were,” she replied, still smiling. “My blood is not the blood of a ruler. I was asked to greet you and ensure your safety and comfort.”
“Thank you, Felicity. I’m very comfortable.” I looked around again at the friendly faces. “This is a world beyond my world? What does that mean?”
“Think of this realm as a sort of shadow realm,” she said, and I could tell from the slow cadence of her voice she chose her words carefully. Probably to make sure I understood.
“I thought shadow realms were, well, shadowy.”
I’d heard of them before, of course. We all had. There were countless worlds parallel to ours, all of them a sort of mirror image, all of them somewhat bleak. They missed the brightness of the real world, the vitality that made it real in the first place. At least, that’s what I and everybody else in school had been taught.
The world I was in appeared to be anything but bleak. It was bright, colorful. There were tapestries hanging from the walls, gold and silver threads woven intricately through the silky fabric. The light came from crystal orbs hanging everywhere, suspended from vines, all different sizes. It was beautiful, enchanted.
“A popular misconception,” Felicity assured me. “We are the fae of the light. No matter where we go, there is light—shadow land or no.”
“Where are we, exactly? I mean, how did you get to me?”
“There is a portal near the cathedral. We were able to spirit you through without garnering attention. Don’t worry. You’re perfectly safe.”
“It’s not me that I’m concerned with.” I tried to get my thoughts together, but I still felt so tired and more than a little foggy. “It’s just a surprise. I know about the presence of the parallel worlds, shadow worlds, what have you. It’s another thing to actually be in one.”
“You would be surprised by how many portals there are, then, and how easy it is to slip from one world to another.” She patted my hand. “Rest assured, you’re in good hands here. Now, it’s time for you to get your strength back.”
Get my strength back. Yes. I had things to do. I couldn’t forget the reason I’d coursed to the cathedral. “Gage,” I whispered. “I can’t stay. I have to find Gage!” I tried to stand, but Felicity’s hands on my shoulders stopped me. I wasn’t sure if she was very strong or if I was just very weak. Maybe a little bit of both.
“You have no business doing anything but recovering at the moment,” she insisted. A quick look over her shoulder and three more of the fae surrounded me—two males and a female, all of them as beautiful as Felicity.
“Please, don’t make us restrain you.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you restrain me? Why won’t you let me go? I have to find Gage! It’s very important. He’s being tortured!”
“Gage? Who is this Gage?”
“He’s a vampire,” I explained. “Somebody is holding him, torturing him. That’s why I left home. Don’t you see? I can’t forget him. He needs my help.”
“Gage. A vampire.” Felicity exchanged looks with some of the others. “Is he red-headed? Insolent?”
I gasped. “You know him? You’ve seen him? Where?”
“We let him go,” she said. “With the other vampire.”
My mouth dropped open as I tried to process this. “What other vampire?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t there. I only heard of his release. There were two vampires.”
“So he was released? He’s free?”
“I’m sorry, Anissa, but he wasn’t our concern. You were. I don’t know what happened to him after we freed him.” She didn’t care. How was that possible?
“Who am I that you care so much about me? Is it just because I’m like you—partly, anyway? It’s not fair.”
“That’s not entirely it,” she assured me with a soft smile. “
But it does have to do with your fae blood. You’re vulnerable, running around the world, attracting attention. Why do you think the witch wanted your blood? Did she ever tell you?”
“Yes, she told me.” I shuddered when I remembered how cold her eyes were when she shackled me and Sara in her dungeon. How she’d seemed to grow younger after first feeding from me.
“It isn’t just witches who want your blood. It’s any magical creature, any non-human. Fae blood has immeasurable power. And like I said, you’re a beacon. You attract those who want the power of your blood.”
She spread her hands to indicate our surroundings. “Why do you think we are here, in our parallel world? We cannot leave ourselves vulnerable to those who wish us harm. We use enchantments to hide our presence when we venture into other worlds, but enchantments do not last forever. And there are some who have figured out how to bypass our enchantments and find us. Which is how Malory found you.”
“But… I’ve been roaming freely for years, right? This has never been a problem before. Why now?” It was surreal, hearing about my life and my supposed power as though I had nothing to do with it.
“The enchantment is wearing off,” she explained. As though it were that simple.
“What enchantment?” I looked around, desperate to understand. “What’s so special about me?” I knew I was babbling, but I couldn’t help it. This was a lot to absorb.
She sighed lightly, the sigh of someone given a difficult job, who felt put-upon as a result.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but this is all so new to me. I didn’t know I was of the fae until just a few days ago. It’s a lot to take in all at once.”
“I understand,” Felicity replied. “I realize this must be difficult. I’ve been instructed to tell you what you want to know, but only up to a point.”