Alluring Raven (Curse of the Vampire Queen Book 3)

Alluring Raven

Jessica Sorensen

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to

actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The

author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized

duplication is prohibited.

No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by

electronic or mechanical means including information storage

and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from

the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote

short excerpts in a review.

Any trademarks, service marks, product names or names

featured are assumed to be the property of their respective

owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied

endorsement if we use one of these terms.

For information:

jessicasorensen.com

Cover design by MaeIdesign

Created with Vellum

R A V E N

he Land of Moonlight is a frigid,
cold place, at least from what I’ve

seen so far. And considering I’m a vampire, part of
the  undead  species  that  always  runs  cold,  that’s
saying a lot. Perhaps, though, the constant blizzard
of  snow  pouring  down  on  us  is  simply  starting  to
wear on me. We’ve been in it for so long now, that
tiny,  crystallized  icicles  have  formed  on  my
eyelashes,  my  lips  are  numb,  and  my  skin  has  a
bluish  purple  tint  to  it.  I  even  have  on  Rhyland’s
shirt  over  my  own  and  still,  I’ve  never  been  this
cold in my undead life.

I’m uncertain if I should be worried, especially

since Rhyland, Kingsley, Dex, and even Harper, the
half  faerie,  half  pixie  that’s  leading  us  further  into
this  seemingly  endless  blizzard,  don’t  appear  to  be
bothered  by  the  cold.  Sure,  they  look  a  bit  chilly,

shivering ever so slightly and frost glazes their skin,
but  I’m  the  only  creature  chattering  like  a  sprite
that’s had a taste of sugar. And trust me, don’t ever
give sprites sugar unless you want to be up all night
listening to them chatter your ear off about flowers
and  curses  and  spying  on  people.  Which,  yes,
actually  happened  to  me  once.  Accidentally,  of
course.

All sugar crazy sprites aside, I’m silently

begging for the storm to let up or for us to reach our
destination so the aching chill in my body can thaw.
So far, though, our journey ending soon seems
pretty damn bleak.

All I can see in front of me is snow covered

mountains and that massive, silvery white sign that
reads:

Welcome to the Land of Moonlight.

Please enjoy your time here, but as a precaution,

stay within the walls of the mountains unless you

want to die a torturous death. Thank you.

I swear to all the Eternal Readers we’re

somehow  getting  further  away  from  the  sign,  even
though  we’ve  been  walking  toward  it  for  over  a
night  without  taking  any  breaks.  My  feet  are
actually  starting  to  ache,  but  that  might  be  the
heeled,  thigh-high  boots  I’m  wearing.  I’d  ask
everyone  to  slow  down  a  bit,  but  considering  an

army of created vampires might be headed our way
to  hunt  me  down  and  take  me  the  Faraelee,  the
Queen  of  the  fey,  I’m  thinking  my  feet  could  fall
off  and  I’d  find  a  way  to  hobble  feetless  at  this
pace.

Part of me wishes I could just turn back, but

only  to  search  for  my  parents  and  the  missing
guards.  Kingsley  and  Rhyland  keep  assuring  me
that  if  the  queen  hurt  them,  she  would’ve  left  the
bodies behind for me to see. But I wonder if they’re
telling  me  what  they  need  to  in  order  to  keep  me
fleeing with them. Maybe the queen didn’t hurt my
parents  and  the  guards  at  all.  Perhaps  Nadine  did
something  to  them  with  her  Wicca  powers  the
queen gave her. I hate to believe it, hate to believe
my  own  sister  would  harm  my  parents,  but  after
what Nadine did and said to me in the tent, it seems
possible. Plus, lets face it, in every single memory I
have  of  Nadine,  even  the  ones  belonging  to  my
original  life,  she  was  always  a  cruel  hearted,
straight  up  bitch,  who  once  threatened  to  behead
and punish anyone, even her very own sister. It was
why I was so afraid to love Rhyland in my original
life.

“You doing okay over there, sweetheart?”

Kingsley calls out over the howling of the wind and
snow flurries.

He’s stomping through the snow beside me with

a sword clutched in his hand. The sleeves of his

shirt are rolled up, and his short, dark hair is dotted
with snowflakes and some of the strands are glazed
with ice, yet he isn’t shivering at all. Not even a
little bit, despite the snowstorm hailing down on us.

“I’m fine.” I chatter while wrapping my arms

tighter  around  myself.  Aeribella,  my  lilywolf  tiger
pounces  through  the  snow  just  in  front  of  me,
unbothered by the snow too. That might be because
of  her  thick  coat  of  bluish  blue  fur  and  the  bit  of
magic  inside  her.  “How  can  you  stand  this  storm,
though?  I  feel  like  I’m  freezing  to  the  undead  and
you don’t even have your sleeves rolled down.”

The corners of his lips kick up into a cocky

smile.  “Because  I’m  absurdly  strong.  If  you  want,
though,  you  can  come  over  here  and  I’ll  keep  you
warm  with  my  body.  It’s  my  duty  as  your  Blood
Protector to make sure you’re safe, even if it’s just
from a storm.”

“Seriously, you’re as bad of a flirt as a faerie,” I

mutter  and  he  grins.  Shaking  my  head,  I  arch  a
brow.  “And  how  do  you  even  plan  to  keep  me
warm?  Your  body  temperature  is  probably  as  cold
as the ice frozen to my eyelashes.”

His gaze skims across my face and for a

flickering moment, concern flashes across his
expression. But then he returns to his normal, blasé
self, plastering on a smug smile.

“Well, I guess you won’t know until you try it.”

He spreads his arms open with a daring glint in his

eyes.

Even though I’ve remembered some of my old

life  and  know  that  him  and  I  were  once  good
vampire besties, it feels strange for him to be joking
around  with  me.  Sadly,  this  life  is  where  my
emotions are connected to, to the painful memories
of  him  torturing  me  with  Nadine  and  Rhyland,  all
the teasing and mocking they directed at me. I want
to  let  it  go,  but  it’s  difficult  to  when  I’m  not  even
certain  why  they  treated  me  so  poorly.  Sure,  we
were all living the same damn cursed lives over and
over again, but why did they have to treat me like a
goblin, one of the most despised species in all of the
worlds?

In my gut, though, part of me believes I can

trust Kingsley and Rhyland; otherwise, I wouldn’t
be out in the middle of one of the worst snowstorms
I’ve ever endured, wandering around in a land full
of powerful, dangerous creatures that are at war
with each other.

My lips part with a snarky comeback for

Kingsley when a set of cold fingers thread through
mine.  I  glance  to  my  other  side  and  find  Rhyland
hiking  in  the  snow,  closer  than  he  was  moments
ago.  Wisps  of  his  chin-length  blonde  hair  dance  in
the  wind  and  his  facial  piercings  are  glazed  with
ice. He doesn’t have a shirt on since he gave his to
me,  so  the  tattoos  inking  his  lean  arms  are  on  full
display, along with the faint markings of bite marks,

remnants  from  when  I  drank  from  his  vein  and
dragged  my  teeth  down  his  chest.  It’s  something
I’m  trying  not  to  think  too  much  about,  because  it
freaks  me  out  if  I  overanalyze  it  and  also  because
remembering about the way his blood tasted makes
my fangs ache to taste him again. The only reason I
even  drank  from  his  vein  to  begin  with  was  that  I
thought  it  might  break  the  curse,  but  apparently  it
was  only  the  first  step.  And  who  knows  what  the
rest  of  the  steps  are.  That  is  if  I  even  get  to
complete the steps. Since the queen is trying to end
the  curse  by  killing  me  and  everyone  else,  I  may
never even get that far.

“How are you holding up?” Rhyland plucks a

few icicles from my hair. “Are you doing okay?”
His hand falls to his side, near where his sword is
tucked into the leather holster around his waist.

Like Kingsley and Rhyland, I have a weapon

too;  a  knife  that’s  tucked  in  my  thigh  holster.
Honestly, I doubt I’d even be able to use it if I had
to.  I  haven’t  been  trained  at  all  in  the  art  of
fighting. I was supposed to be trained by Rhyland,
but  we  never  made  it  that  far  due  to  the  curse
trying  to  end  and  us  having  to  flee  to  the  Land  of
Moonlight.  And  considering  I  barely  became
capable  of  moving  as  swiftly  as  a  badass  vampire,
I’m pretty sure my knife fighting skills will be at the
level of a bat swinging around a… Well, bat.

“I’m just vampire peachy,” I lie with a shrug,

not wanting to seem weak.

In reality, I shouldn’t be weak. That is, if I

really am the new vampire queen, like Fate and the
Eternal  Reader  declared.  Finding  out  I’m
supposedly  royalty  changed  everything,  when  I
went  from  living  my  average  life  I  was  perfectly
okay with to being thrown into a world of lies and
danger.  I’m  not  totally  convinced  I’m  supposed  to
be the queen and wonder if maybe it simply has to
do  with  the  curse.  I  mean,  first  of  all,  I’m  far
nowhere  near  powerful,  even  after  drinking
Rhyland’s  blood  from  his  vein.  And  then,  from
what  little  I  can  recall  of  my  original  life,  right
before  the  curse  started,  Fate  chose  Nadine  as
queen. It was the catalyst to this curse, from what I
understand anyway. I don’t know, though, a part of
me  believes  there  may  be  more  to  the  curse  than
any of us realize. But only time will tell. That is, if I
continue  to  remember  my  past  memories  and  live
that  long.  So  far,  I  have  no  control  over
remembering—it just randomly happens. And as for
living that long… Well, I’m hoping I do. Hope that
this cursed life isn’t all I ever am.

Rhyland frowns at me. “Sweetheart, I can tell

when you’re lying.”

“That’s not true.” And I’m pretty sure I’m right

about that. He may have lived decades of lives with
me, but I don’t think we’ve gotten to know each
other in any of them, except for the very first life.

“And what is with you two calling me sweetheart? I
mean, I know you’re twins and everything, but why
do you insist on using the same silly pet name for
me?”

“I didn’t realize we both did.” His gaze briefly

travels to Kingsley. I don’t know what Kingsley is
doing, but Rhyland’s jaw ticks before his gaze
welds with mine again. “You’re right. Sweetheart is
a silly name. I’ll think of something better.”

“You could always just call me by my real

name,” My teeth clank together as I shiver. “I’ve
never been a fan of nicknames…” My lips spread
to a wicked grin. “Rhy Rhy.”

His eyes narrow, but it’s a teasing move. “Not

even funny. I’ve always hated your sister’s
nickname for me. Just like I’ve always despised
your sister.”

“I know you did in the first life,” I utter softly,

my voice nearly getting carried away in the wind.
“But all the others… You seemed to like her.”

His throat muscles work as he swallows.

“That’s  not  true.”  He  inches  closer  to  me  and
lowers his voice. “I understand why you’re having
a  hard  time  believing  me,  but  I  wasn’t  lying  about
hating  Nadine.  What  you  saw  over  the  years…
Nothing about that was real.”

“And yet you haven’t explained why,” I say.

Our shoulders brush as he moves closer, the snow
crunching underneath our boots. “All I’ve been told

is that it has to do with the curse, yet no one will
explain the reason.”

“Because we can’t,” he whispers remorsefully,

his hand tightening around mine. “It’s against the
rules of the curse.”

“Why, though?” I huff, well past frustrated. “I

mean, you’ve told me some things about the curse,
so why can’t you just tell me everything.”

He shakes his head and shrugs. “I’m not sure,

but trust me, I’ve tried.” He shrugs again, a frown
dipping at his lips. “Some rules we just can’t seem
to break.”

“Well, maybe you should just try harder,” I

suggest. “I mean, from what I remember, you used
to be quite the rule breaker. Maybe if you try hard
enough, you’ll figure out a way.”

He rubs his blue tinted lips together, struggling

not to smile.

Fog laces from my lips as I pinch his arm and

demand, “What’s so funny?”

He chuckles, his eyes crinkling around the

corners.  “It’s  nothing.  It’s  just  that  it’s  so  nice  to
hear  you  say  things  like  ‘from  what  I  remember.’”
Guilt  haunts  his  eyes.  “It’s  been  a  very,  very  long
time since that’s happened.”

“Yeah, I know.” I sigh heavily. “I just wish I

could remember everything.” I cast him a sidelong
glance. “Maybe if you tried to tell me stuff now,
it’d work.”

“Trust me, I’m always trying. All the time. For

decades and decades.” He huffs an exasperated
breath. “The original curse might not be in play but
the queen still has a lot of control over us
unfortunately.”

My teeth clank together as a spurt of shivers

overcomes me. “How much control exactly.”

“A lot.” He sets his free hand on my shoulder

and chants something underneath his breath.

Sparks of warmth abruptly rove across my

body, melting the ice coating my skin. A soft gasp
fumbles from my lips.

“You still have your magic,” I whisper as water

drips from my eyelashes.

He nods, tracing the pad of his thumb across my

cheeks  to  wipe  away  the  water.  “And  since  the
queen’s the one who gave me these powers, I know
she  still  has  a  lot  of  control  over  me.  I  have  a
feeling  that  once  she  loses  control  over  me—over
us—I won’t have them anymore.”

I smash my lips together as the warmth of his

magic evaporates from my body and a chill spreads
through my veins. “So how can you talk about her
now? You never could say her name before—say
she was the one who created the curse—yet now
you can. But still, you can’t tell me about my past
very much or what steps need to be done for me to
break the curse?”

“I…” He struggles to form words then

grimaces. “I have no idea. I really don’t. And that’s
not her controlling me.”

“I have a theory,” Kingsley interrupts. “That

maybe  it  has  something  to  do  with  her  not  being
able  to  enter  the  Land  of  Moonlight.  Perhaps  our
distance  and  us  being  here  is  limiting  her  powers
just enough that she can’t control us completely.”

“That’s a possibility.” Rhyland wavers, rubbing

his  jawline.  “What  I’d  really  like  to  know  is  why
she’s so dead set on getting ahold of Raven if she’s
ending  the  curse?  I  know  Nadine  said  it’s  because
the  queen  wanted  to  end  the  curse  by  killing  all
who are a part of it, but there’s been plenty of times
where the queen could’ve just killed Raven, like at
dinner the other night. It seems strange she waited
until now when Raven came into a world where the
queen  isn’t  permitted  to  enter.  Why  not  just  do  it
before we could take off?”

Abomination.
In one of my memories the queen called me a

moonlight abomination. It was right after the curse
started  and  she  said  that  the  more  I  suffered,  the
more  her  powers  grew.  Nadine  had  called  me  an
abomination  too.  I  wish  I  knew  why.  What  made
me an abomination? Because from what I can tell,
I’ve only ever been an average vampire.

I haven’t told anyone about being an

abomination yet. I’m not sure why, other than I’m
afraid how they’ll react. Afraid of what I could be.

One thing I do need to tell them is what really

happened  that  night  of  the  curse,  the  real  reason
Kingsley and I kissed each other and why I almost
bit  him,  which  led  to  Rhyland  running  into  the
woods  and  making  some  sort  of  deal  with  the
queen.  But  I  want  to  wait  until  we  can  have  that
conversation  in  private  without  Harper  and  Dex
around. Sure, I trust them for the most part, but I’m
not sure how much they know about the curse. And
Kingsley seems a little guarded around them. Plus,
Harper is half faerie.

“There’s probably more to what’s going on than

we know yet,” Kingsley states while examining the
blade of his sword. “There always seems to be with
the fey queen and this fucked up curse. And I’m
sure there’s more to why she’s building an army of
created vampires than her just wanting to start a
war. Nothing’s ever what it seems. We know that.”

“Why else would she need an army besides to

start  a  war?”  I  ask  with  a  shiver.  When  both  their
eyes  dance  with  amusement,  I  add,  somewhat
offended,  “That’s  usually  how  it  works  in  books
and  movies—the  bad  guy  or  girl  wants  to  start  a
war so they build an army.”

Their amusement magnifies, their smiles

breaking through.

“I forgot how entertaining she could be,”

Kingsley remarks, brushing some snow off the top
of my head.

“Adorably entertaining,” Rhyland agrees with a

smile.

I scowl at both of them, but a smile nearly

emerges at my lips.

This—the laughing and the teasing—is how

they  were  before  the  curse  started.  And  I  was
happy  back  then—that  much  I  know.  But  I  don’t
understand  what  happiness  is  anymore.  Not  truly,
anyway,  and  that  revelation  makes  me  as  sad  as  a
witch with no magic abilities.

“What’s with all the frowning, beautiful?”

Rhyland’s warm breath dusts against my ear.

Normally, I’d lean away from his nearness, but

I’ll take warmth from wherever I can get it.

“Oh for the love of all stupid bats, please don’t

tell me you’re going to start calling me that,” I
groan, bobbing my head back.

Rhyland’s eyes sparkle with delight. “I think it’s

a fitting name.”

“No, it’s not. At all.” I turn my head to look

away from him, because he’s doing that intense, I-
seriously-might-kiss-you thing with his eyes, but he
fixes his finger underneath my chin and forces me
to carry his gaze.

“You’re beautiful, Raven, inside and out,” he

promises. “You always have been and I’ve always
thought so.” I start to snort, but he cuts me off. “Do
you know how much it killed me inside to do and
say all those horrible things I’ve done to you? I just

wish you could understand that it wasn’t me. Not
the real me anyway.” His gaze sears into mine,
begging me to understand.

I swallow hard, unsure what to say. My hands

and legs feel a bit shaky and my lungs are feeling a
bit  breathless.  At  first,  I  think  the  reaction  is  from
the  words  he  just  uttered,  even  though  getting  all
swoony  over  a  few  sentences  a  cute  vampire
uttered  to  me  isn’t  really  my  style,  but  then  the
shakiness  begins  to  spread,  crackling  through  my
body like ice. When it reaches my chest, I yelp out
in pain, my legs buckling from underneath me.

Rhyland constricts his hold on my hand and his

other arm swings out to catch me from falling. Then
he draws me back to him and crouches down,
holding me in his arms.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. When I only cry out

in response, he scans me over with worry flooding
his eyes. “Kingsley.”

“I’m right here.” Kingsley sets his sword down

in the snow and kneels down beside us. “Where
does it hurt, sweetheart.”

“Everywhere?” I manage to gasp, my back

bowing upward as another crackling sensation
bursts through my limbs again.

The pain is unlike anything I’ve felt before, as if

my body has become an ice sculpture and is
splintering apart. And the chilling, deadly, coldness
sweeping through my insides only adds to the pain,

multiplies the pain times ten.

“What’s happening to her?” Rhyland’s voice

cracks.

From the horror on his face, I can tell

something is terribly wrong. When I lift my hand, I
realize why. My once pale, smooth skin is now
tinted a deep blue and is cracking and uneven, like
raised cliffs.

“My skin…” I gasp. “I’m breaking apart…”
“No, you’re not!” Rhyland growls, settting me

into Kingsley’s arms and then jumping to his feet.
He tips his head toward the iridescent clouds.
“Why are you doing this! Why can’t you just move
on, you fucking crazed, batshit, goblin of a faerie!”

The mountains quake against the echo of his

rage.

“Rhyland,” Kingsley says calmly while

examining me over. “As much as I agree with you
that Faraelee is a crazed batshit of a goblin, I don’t
think  this  is  the  way  to  help  Raven.  And  if  the
queen  hears  you  and  she  is  doing  this  to  Raven,
she’s  only  going  to  make  it  worse.  The  best  thing
we can do right now is calm down and try to figure
out what’s causing this.”

“Fuck,” Rhyland grits out then turns around, his

sorrowful gaze landing on me. “What do you think
it is? Part of the curse or something else?”

“I’m not sure.” Kingsley’s brows furrow as he

glances at Rhyland. “Can you still hear her in your

head? Faraelee, I mean?”

“You can hear Faraelee in your head?” I rasp as

another  spout  of  pain  tears  through  me.  “Since
when?”  Sweat  drips  down  my  brow  as  my  body
tightens  and  cracks—I  can’t  even  recall  the  last
time I sweat. Maybe never.

Rhyland drops to his knees, his face pained.

“Ever  since  the  curse  started,  she  occasionally
intrudes  my  mind.  And  I’ve  always  hated  it.”  He
places a shaky hand on my cheek. “Talking in each
other’s  minds  is  supposed  to  be  our  thing.”  He
offers  me  a  small  smile,  but  his  eyes  reveal  his
panic.

I want to ask him if we’ve always been able to

do it—if he’s always been able to speak to me
through my mind—or if the curse did that to us, but
pain rips through my body again and I scream out.

“What in the bats from hell is going on over

here?”  Dex  marches  up,  along  with  Harper.
Aeribella is just behind them and she runs up to me,
nuzzling  my  face,  a  glittering  teardrop  falling  from
her  eye.  Before  Rhyland  or  Kingsley  can  answer
him,  Dex’s  gaze  finds  mine  and  his  face  pales.
“What happened to her?”

“We’re not sure yet,” Kingsley traces his

fingers along the uneven edges of my face. “Raven,
is there anything that you can tell us that might help
us figure this out? Like maybe how you feel? Or
how you felt before this started happening?”

“Cold,” I manage to whisper. “I’ve felt—feel

very cold… There’s also pain… A lot…”

“I can help you with the pain,” Rhyland skims

his fingers along my cheekbones and jawline. “Try
to relax, okay?”

I bob my head up and down. "Okay.”
Rhyland carries my gaze as his lips move,

muttering a soft chant that I assume is a spell.
Usually I hate it when he puts spells on me, sleepy
spells seeming to be his favorite, but this time I’m
perfectly okay with it.

A few witches’ chants later, the pain slowly

dissipates from my body and warmth coils through
my icy veins. The sensation is so relaxing I nearly
drift to sleep. Well, either that or Rhyland did put a
sleepy spell on me.

“I’ve never felt this warm in my life,” I

whisper,  my  eyelashes  fluttering  against  the
snowflakes falling from the sky. “Do you think it’s
okay  for  a  vampire  to  be  this  warm?  Maybe  I’ll
melt  or  something.”  My  eyes  widen.  “Do  I  look
melty?”

Rhyland’s lips quirk into the saddest smile I’ve

ever seen. “You look beautiful.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re so full of pig’s blood. I

saw my hand. I know I’m cracky.”

“Well, you’re definitely cracky in the head,”

Kingsley teases with a smirk.

I’m not surprised he’s joking. From my

memories, he seemed like the kind of vampire to
crack a joke even during the uneasiness of times.

I smack his arm. “Not funny.” When he smiles

for reals, I shake my head and look at Rhyland.
“Can you maybe use magic to make me uncracky?”
I ask with hope.

He shakes his head. “I’m so sorry, but if my

magic could’ve healed you, the spell I just cast
would’ve.”

“Oh.” I crinkle my nose. “How bad is my

crackiness? I mean, like on a scale of one to ten.
One being like as smooth as all this snow and ten
being like… Like a Tree demon’s face.”

“You definitely don’t look like a tree demon,”

Kingsley assures me. “But we do need to get to this
hiding place so we can figure out a way to fixed
you before the cracks get bigger and you…”

“Crumble into dust,” I finish for him, knowing

if we can’t solve what’s going on soon, there’s
going to be nothing left of me to save.

R A V E N

fter I utter the painful truth, everyone gets
a second vampire blood boost of energy
and scrambles to get moving again.

Kingsley tries to carry me, but Rhyland insists he
needs to do it.

His reason: “I may have to put another spell on

her if this one wears off. Besides, you’re a better
fighter than me so you need to be armed. Plus,
she’s my queen.”

“Actually, I’m nobodies queen but myself…” I

replay the stupidity of my own words. “Well and an
entire  kingdom,  but  whatever.  I  don’t  technically
belong  to  anyone,  including  the  king.”  Instead  of
getting  my  point  across,  they’re  amused.  I  start  to
sit  up  to  climb  out  of  Kingsley’s  arms,  convinced
I’ll  just  walk,  but  the  edges  of  my  skin  grate
together and dust scatters across the air.

“Easy,” Kingsley warns, securing me against his

chest. “Don’t move quickly or else we’re going to
lose some pieces of you. And personally, I’m a fan
of all of those pieces.”

I stare at him, unimpressed, but hold still

because, yeah, I’m kind of a fan of all of my pieces
too, the imperfect ones and all.

As Kingsley slowly straightens to his feet,

Rhyland stands up too.

“Carefully give her to me,” he says, extending

his arms out.

Strangely, Kingsley hesitates. My guess, he’s

worried the transfer will cause pieces of me to
break off. But then he sighs and carefully hands me
to Rhyland.

Once I’m situated in Rhyland’s arms, Kingsley

steps back, meets my gaze for a melting snowdrop
of a second, then bends down to scoop up his
sword. Dusting the snow off the handle, he
approaches Harper with swift, determined strides.

“The quicker you can get us there the better,”

he tells her. “I’m serious, Harper. No messing
around, okay?”

Harper blinks, her eyes wide. “You think I’m

messing around?”

“I’m hoping you aren’t,” Kingsley says lowly.

“But sometimes you do it without even trying. Like
how you’ve been skipping for the last hour.”

Her lip curls, her liquid silver eyes swirling with

irritation,  a  foreign  look  since  usually  she’s  all
rainbows,  sunshine,  and  unicorns.  “Just  because  I
like to skip doesn’t mean I’m messing around. And
skipping  is  faster  than  your  brooding  vampire
walk.”  She  whirls  around,  her  flowing  white  hair
whipping him in the face.

“Wow, she’s feisty,” I remark with a small

smile.

“You two should get along just great then,”

Rhyland teases as he follows after Harper and Dex.

Kingsley hangs back near us with Aeribella

trotting at his side, her wings flittering against the
snow flurries. Kingsley’s body is stiff, his eyes
skimming the land, in full Blood Protector mode.

“Are you saying I’m feisty?” I question,

cocking a brow at Rhyland.

He wavers. “In the first life, yes. Most, though,

you weren’t.” He grits out and then huffs a strained
exhale. “Holy shit, I can’t believe I actually got
those words to leave my lips.”

“Maybe that means we’re progressing in

completely breaking the curse?” I suggest as
snowflakes flutter from the sky and splatter against
my face.

I’d reach up to wipe them off but fear even the

slightest movement will make me lose a finger or
something.

He offers me a fake smile and I grimace.
Great. He’s back to not being able to tell me

things again.

And on top of that, running from the queen and

her  army,  finding  my  parents,  and  breaking  the
curse,  I  need  to  figure  out  a  way  to  get  rid  of  this
cracking  taking  over  my  body…  my  neck  starts  to
itch….  Oh  yeah,  and  I  also  need  to  get  this  stupid
dragon’s fire burn off my neck before it spreads.

“Rhyland,” I say quietly. “How are we

supposed to do everything without me falling apart
first?”

His gaze drops to me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we’re running from the queen and an

army  of  created  vampires,  we  need  to  find  my
parents  and  the  guards,  and  maybe  break  what’s
left of the curse all while trying to figure out what’s
cracking  me  apart  and  train  a  dragon  to  get  rid  of
these damn burns on my neck. That’s a lot of stuff
and  I  can’t  even  move  right  now  without  losing
pieces of my body.”

If he’s worried, he doesn’t reveal it. “Well,

we’re going to get you fixed first—that’s our top
priority.”

“But you don’t even know what’s causing the

cracking.”

“Yes, but we’re in a land full of very powerful

creatures, so if we can’t figure it out, some creature
should be able to. Although, I’m not sure if it’s wise
to involve an unknown creature.”

“We might have to.” Kingsley slows down to

hike beside us.

“It could be dangerous,” Rhyland warns. “We

don’t even know how far the queen’s power has
spread. What if she has created vampires here in
the Land of Moonlight?”

“But if she did, wouldn’t she have sent them

after me to begin with instead of sending Nadine
after me?” I point out.

“Maybe,” Rhyland says, but worry creases his

forehead.

“What we need is a Magical Reader.” Kingsley

spins his sword in his hand as he stares ahead at the
mountains, his face set in deep thought. “They
could figure out what sort of magic is doing this to
Raven.”

“But are we even sure it’s magic?” Rhyland

questions, adjusting me in his arms.

Kingsley glances at him with his brow arched.

“What else could it be?”

“I’m not sure,” Rhyland mutters. “But when I

used the spell on her, there was no traces of magic
in her besides mine.”

“You can tell that sort of shit?” Kingsley bows

his head as the wind picks up. “Since when?”

“Since this life,” Rhyland grimaces. “I think it’s

linked to my powers or something—”

An abrupt gust of wind sweeps across the land,

kicking up snow and nearly blowing us backwards.
As Rhyland ducks his head, little particles of my

skin begin to flake off and get carried away. I try to
curl inward, but as the wind hits my back and
pieces of it threaten to break apart.

“Shit. We need to get her shielded somehow,”

Rhyland hollers over the wind. “Kingsley, give me
your shirt.”

A few wind howls later, a shirt is draped over

my  head.  But  my  body  continues  to  struggle  to
remain  put  together,  the  pressure  of  the  wind
against  my  clothes  too  much.  Finally,  Rhyland
crouches down.

“What’re you doing?” Kingsley shouts. “We

need to keep moving.”

“I’m putting a freezing spell on her,” Rhyland

yells back, his fingers gently folding around my
arm. “It should hold her together until we can get
her to shelter.”

“You’re going to what?” I try to shout, but my

voice is nothing but a hoarse whisper as my lips
crack apart.

“Are you sure you’re strong enough?” Kingsley

asks. “You’re starting to look a bit weak. And I
know you haven’t fed in a while…”

“Neither have you and you’re fine,” Rhyland

says as warmth begins to spread through my body.

“But I’m not the one casting spells,” Kingsley

points out, sounding close.

“Do you really not want me to do this?”

Rhyland asks. When Kingsley doesn’t answer,

Rhyland says, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So stop
arguing. I’ll be fine. I just need her to be fine. And
so do you.”

“I know,” Kingsley whispers.
I feel fingers brush across the shirt covering my

face, right across my cheek. Then the effervescent
warmth consumes my body, my mind, my
surroundings.

Everything

stops.

maybe

everything freezes.

Whatever is happening, I feel exhausted. I let

my eyelids slip shut, allow the magic to pull me
under, hoping when I open my eyes again, they’ll
actually still be on my face.

R H Y L A N D

hat last spell took a lot out of me,
more than likely because I haven’t

fed  in  a  while.  I’m  weakening.  But  that  doesn’t
mean  I’m  going  to  stop  trying  to  protect  Raven.
Back  before  the  curse,  it  used  to  be  mine  and
Kingsley’s  job  to  protect  her.  Raven  was  always
doing  things  that’d  get  her  into  trouble—all  of  us
did—but when it all came down to it, Kingsley and
I did everything to make sure that, at the end of the
night, she was okay, even if we had to suffer for it.
Countless  times  Kingsley  and  I  took  the  fall  for
something  the  three  of  us  did.  Raven  being  her
sweet, kind, and caring self, tried to take the blame.
But  it  was  two  against  one  so  she  rarely  got  her
way, at least when it came to that. Everything else,
though—everything  she  wanted—we  tried  to  give
her. Except on that final night when the curse was

created. That night Kingsley and I were selfish.
That night not only did we not think about what
Raven wanted, we took away everything we’d ever
given her.

And to this night, I hate myself for it. Which is

why I’ll do—and keep doing—everything I can to
protect her. I just wish all of my choices were mine
so I could protect her better, but I can feel that the
queen still has a bit of control over me.

Blood drips down my nose as I finish the

freezing spell. I move to hurry and wipe it away
with my hand before Kingsley notices, but
apparently being weak means moving slower than I
normally do.

“You need to take it easy on the spells.” He

eyeballs the blood on my hand. “Well, either that or
feed.”

“Feed on who exactly?” I question as I scoop

Raven’s  frozen  body  up  in  my  arms.  “Because  we
don’t have any blood supply on us and Harper isn’t
an  option  unless  I  want  to  go  mad.”  Yeah,
unfortunately,  when  a  vampire  drinks  faerie  blood
there’s  a  risk  that  they  could  go  mad  due  to  the
type  of  magic  flowing  in  feys'  veins.  That  only
leaves Dex since vampires can’t feed off a vampire
from  their  own  bloodlines,  but…”  I  lower  my
voice.  “Dex  won’t  do  much  for  me—as  the  king,
you  know  I  need  more  powerful  blood.  And  Dex
is…  well,  Dex.  He’s  never  been  very  powerful.

Does he have a good eye for style? Absolutely. But
that’s about it.” I wipe the rest of the blood off my
nose then carefully stand up with Raven in my
arms.

“Yeah, I know. And honestly, what you need

is…” he trails off, glancing toward Raven.

I quickly shake my head. “There’s no way I

could ever feed off of her without her permission.
Plus, she’s weak right now. Drinking from her could
finish her off.”

“I know. And I’d rather you not drink from her

while  she’s  like  this,  but…”  He  pauses  as  we  start
hiking  through  the  snow  again,  which  is  now  so
deep it reaches the tops of my knees. “Eventually,
you’re going to have to either find a way to get her
to let you feed off her or find someone to feed off
of  like  an  Empress  or  another  creature  that’s
powerful, or else you’re never going to rebuild your
strength.  And  you  need  to  be  strong  if  we  want  to
keep  on  fighting  the  queen.  And  with  how  things
are  looking,  we’re  probably  going  to  also  have  to
fight a damn army of Created as well.”

“Created?”
“What else are we going to call them? No one

has ever taken the time to officially name them.”

“True.” I squint against the snow to keep my

gaze on Dex and Harper up ahead. “I guess Created
works.”

“Glad I have your approval, my king.” He bows

his head and shoots me a smirk.

“You should be glad,” I quip, adjusting my body

to the side to block the wind from directly hitting
Raven.

“Always am.”
We grow quiet after that, focusing on moving

forward,  fighting  our  way  against  the  blizzard.
Every  so  often,  I  peer  behind  us  to  see  if  we’re
being followed, but I can barely see and honestly, if
anything  is  behind  us,  I  won’t  realize  it  until  right
before  we’re  attacked.  Usually,  I  can  rely  on  my
other senses, like my hearing and sense of smell, to
detect  when  other  creatures  are  nearby.  But  the
wind  is  howling  too  loudly  and  the  smell  of  dust
and  snow  engulfs  my  nostrils.  We’re  basically
walking  around  blind  and  completely  vulnerable,
not  just  to  the  Created  but  to  the  moonlight
creatures as well.

Sure, not every creature in this world is evil, but

an  extremely  high  abundance  of  them  have  gone
insane  from  their  power.  And  somewhere  in  the
land, and I’m sure eventually we’ll discover where,
a  war  is  occurring.  I’m  not  sure  what’ll  happen
when we run into any of the creatures, good or evil.
Kingsley  seems  convinced  Raven  will  be  able  to
persuade them to fight for us, that her blood tie to
this  world  will  be  enough  to  convince  some  of  the
creatures to help us fight the queen. I hope so, but
I’m  worried.  Not  only  could  any  creature  be

working  for  the  queen,  but  Raven’s  father  is  also
banished  from  the  Land  of  Moonlight  for  reasons
that  are  unknown  to  almost  everyone  except  his
wife  and  my  parents.  The  fact  that  they  won’t  tell
us probably means it’s bad.

That is, unless Kingsley knows more than he’s

telling me, which wouldn’t be the first time.

“Wait

second…”

Kingsley

mumbles,

surveying the stretch of snowy field in front of us.
“I think I see something.”

I tense, reaching for my sword. “What?”
“I think I see…” He relaxes, straightening, his

grip on his sword loosening. “A forest.”

I track his gaze and sure enough, just ahead of

Harper and Dex, the snowy field fizzles out into
towering trees that rise toward the stormy sky.
“And that’s a good thing because?”

“Because it’s not the same damn field we’ve

been staring at for over a night now.” He quickens
his pace, taking long strides.

“But we don’t know what’s in there,” I warn as

I  rush  after  him.  “You  know  as  well  as  I  do  that
anything  can  be  hiding  in  a  forest.”  It’s  where  the
fey  queen  first  discovered  that  Raven  and  I,  the
soon-to-be  king,  were  more  than  friends.  And
where  the  curse  happened.  Where  Raven  forgot
everything.

Where I betrayed everyone I love.
“We’ll be on guard,” Kingsley poises his sword

in front of him. “But it’ll also give us shelter from
the storm and from being spotted.” He slows down
as he nears the line of the forest, while Harper and
Dex stroll right on in. “I hate that we’ve been out in
the open yet we can’t see a damn thing. For all we
know, we could be being watched right now.”

“I know. But that still doesn’t mean I’m thrilled

to be going into an unknown forest.” I pause. “Too
much bad shit has happened in forests.”

“Yeah, I know.” He throws a glance at me and

then at Raven. “A lot of good stuff has happened
there too, though.”

True. Back before the curse, Raven, Kingsley,

and  I  spent  a  lot  of  time  in  the  forest  near  our
houses,  hanging  out,  getting  into  trouble,  and
making  plans  of  our  futures.  Teasing  Raven  was
one  of  mine  and  Kingsley's  favorite  things  to  do.
Kingsley  was  usually  the  instigator,  but  I’d  play
along  too.  Fortunately,  Raven  would  too.  She  was
good  at  that—dealing  with  us,  our  occasional
moodiness,  and  our  constant  joking  around.  It’s
why  we  both  fell  in  love  with  her,  even  though
Kingsley  will  never  admit  it.  But  I  know  he  loves
her, has for a while, since before the curse.

“Are you guys coming in or what?” Harper calls

out from the trees. “Seriously, vampires are as slow
as fungus demons. And about as attractive as them
too.”

Kingsley’s lip curls. “Okay, I know it was my

idea to bring her into this mess, but she’s really
starting to get on my nerves.”

“Well, you did make fun of her skipping,” I

remind him. “Pixies pride themselves on their
skipping abilities. You should know better than to
go there.”

“She was moving too slow,” Kingsley grits

through his teeth. “Skipping is slow.”

“Skipping is awesome,” Harper snarls. “It’s

vampires who are slow… In the head.”

“That’s it.” He storms forward with his sword

positioned in front of him.

I bite back a laugh as I follow him into the

trees, my gaze scanning the area as snow falls from
the branches and onto my head. Nothing about this
is  really  funny,  but  Kingsley  rarely  gets  pissed  off.
Usually, he’s cheery even during times he shouldn’t
be, so seeing him like this, all because a half faerie,
half  pixie  called  him  slow  in  the  head,  is  pretty
fucking  amusing.  It  makes  me  wonder  why  she’s
able to get under Kingsley’s skin. Harper has been
part  of  the  curse  since  the  beginning,  and  for  the
most part, she’s been extremely friendly. So where
is  this  animosity  suddenly  coming  from?  From
Kingsley insulting her skipping? Or is there more to
it?

Shit, did he fuck her?
Fuck, I hope not, but that does kind of sound

like something my brother would do.

“Oh good, you managed to find your way

through the trees,” Harper sneers as Kingsley and I
approach her. Dex is off to the side, leaning against
a tree, his eyes half shut, as if he’s about to pass out
from exhaustion. “I was worried that maybe your
stupid vampire brains weren’t going to be able to
figure it out.”

Kingsley stalks up to her, only stopping when

he’s right in her face. “What’s your deal? Because
you’re starting to act as bitchy as Nadine.”

“My deal is you’re completely ungrateful.” She

pokes him in the chest then reels around and
marches further into the trees, muttering, “Insulting
my skipping, saying it’s slow, when I’m busting my
ass and risking my life to help you out. How dare
you, Kingsley, you ungrateful… Ogre.”

“Oh, she so did not go there.” Kingsley chases

after her, throwing down his sword.

That’s when it hits me, the realization that their

fighting might not be under their own freewill.
Because if there’s one thing I can be certain of, it’s
that Kingsley would never abandon his weapon if it
meant risking Raven getting hurt. And since we’re
currently being hunted by the Created…

Shit, something is going on.
Something I’m betting has to do with the queen.

K I N G S L E Y

arper is pissing me off. Like really, if I
could, I’d shapeshift into an ogre and
eat her, I would, kind of pissed off.

I’m not even positive why I’m so furious with her. I
know she insulted me, but typically when that
happens, I joke it off. Being calm is what I’m good
at. Joking in serious times is what I’m known for.

So why the hell demons has this little

pixie/faerie got me all worked up to the point where
I’m  considering  biting  her  and  not  in  a  pleasant,
drink-her-blood sort of way. No, I want to bite her
and  devour  her  blood  until  there’s  nothing  left.
Vampire  Rage  is  the  proper  term.  It  rarely  occurs
unless  a  vampire  has  drunk  too  much  blood  and
become  blood  crazed,  or  if  they’re  starved  and
hunger  consumes  them,  neither  of  which  has  ever
happened  to  me.  Sure,  I  haven’t  tasted  the

sweetness of blood on my tongue for a few nights
now, but it takes at least a week before that kind of
hunger takes over.

Besides, Harper isn’t acting like her normal

bouncy self either. If I didn’t know any better, I’d
think her body had been possessed by Nadine’s
mind…

Wait just a fucking second…
I slow to a stop. Or well, try to. But my legs

have  other  ideas  and  I  keep  trampling  through  the
snow  after  Harper  as  she  races  farther  into  the
shadows  of  the  trees  and  further  away  from
Rhyland, Raven, and Dex.

Shit, something or someone has control over my

body.

I reach for my holster and surprisingly, my

fingers cooperate. But I painfully realize why when
I find my holster empty. I must have dropped my
sword somewhere, something I’m not sure I’ve
ever done before, even during a duel.

“Harper!” The echo of my voice causes the

piles  of  snow  that  have  been  building  on  tree
branches  to  fall  to  the  ground.  I  dodge  out  of  the
way  as  one  just  about  lands  on  my  head,  but  my
movements  are  more  sluggish  than  normal.
“Harper,”  I  warn  as  I  endeavor  farther  into  the
forest, the only direction I can seem to move in. “If
you’re  messing  around  with  me,  you  need  to  stop
now. I need to go back.” When my only answer is

snow  piles  hitting  the  ground,  I  curse  underneath
my  breath.  “Look,  I’m  sorry  for  saying  your
skipping was slowing us down. You actually have a
very nice skip.” I resist an eye roll. “It’s beautiful,
in fact.” I manage to halt, but my feet won’t let me
backtrack.  “So  can  you  please,  please  just  forgive
me  and  continue  showing  us  the  way  to  this  safe
place.”

“For the love of all pathetic vampires, you must

be desperate.” Harper steps out from behind a tree
trunk.

I immediately sense something’s off by the lack

of  shimmer  on  her  skin,  the  dimness  in  her  eyes,
and  the  most  obvious,  the  cruel  smirk  twisting  at
her  lips.  Harper  is  normally  about  as  bubbly  as  a
witch  riding  a  magic  high  and  never  looks  or  acts
maliciously.

“My skip is beautiful? Seriously, that’s the best

you can come up with?” She struts toward me, yet
another warning something isn't right.

Harper doesn’t strut. She skips just about

everywhere.

“Who are you?” My fingers twitch at my sides,

longing to be wrapped around the handle of my
sword.

“Why Harper, of course.” Her smile magnifies.

“Did you hit your head or something? You seem
confused.”

“Don’t try to fuck with my mind,” I growl. “I

know you’re not Harper, so fess up and tell me who
you are.”

“Why? So you can shout to your little friends

and warn them?” She stops close enough that she
can touch me and splays her fingers across my
chest.

I want nothing more than to swat her hand

away,  but  until  I  can  regain  control  over  my  body,
I’m  doomed  to  endure  the  touch  of  this  unknown
creature.  Every  muscle  in  my  body  winds  tightly
with  my  repulsion.  I’m  not  a  fan  of  being  touched
by a creature I don’t know. I’m not a fan of being
touched  at  all,  except  for  maybe  by  Raven.  But
even then, I struggle and I hate that I do—hate the
reason  I  do.  No  one  knows  this  about  me,  though.
Knows  that  whenever  I  get  close  to  someone,  I
numb myself and turn my mind off. And everyone
thinks  I’m  a  fucking  vampire  slut.  But  that  isn’t
even close to the truth.

Cursed.
I’m cursed in more ways than one.
“Are you thinking about it?” Harper whispers

as her fingers trace a path up and down my chest,
her gaze tracking the movement.

“Thinking about what?” I grit out, managing to

fold my fingertips inward.

When my fingernails pierce my palms, the pain

wipes away the panic and sweet relief bites through
my veins.

Focus on the pain. Not her touching you.

There’s only pain. Physical pain. And you can
handle that, Kingsley. Don’t lose your shit right
now. Numb yourself. You’re good at it.

Don’t let her see it inside you. The darkness.

She might want a taste if she does.

“Don’t play dumb with me.” She stands on her

tiptoes until her lips are a sliver of an inch away
from mine. “I was there, remember?”

I play dumb. “I don’t know what you’re talking

about.”

“You don’t, huh? I guess I need to remind you.”

Her lips move toward my ear, her teeth grazing my
earlobe as she whispers, “Darkness lies where most
believe there is light.”

Vomit burns at the back of my throat as her

words pierce my chest. “Where did you hear that
from?”

“Think about it really hard,” she purrs. “I think

you should be able to figure it out.”

Flashes of those awful nights that forever

branded  me  scorch  through  my  mind  like  searing
embers  and  reality  gradually  starts  to  crush  down
on  me.  There  was  only  one  other  creature  that
knows about those nights, knows what happened to
me  the  few  nights  everyone  thinks  I  took  off
because  I  was  upset  with  my  parents.  When  I
returned, I let them believe that was the truth, but it
was far from it.

“Nadine,” I say in a flat tone. “So you’ve

learned how to possess bodies now, have you?
What a cute little trick.”

She slants back with a wicked grin playing on

her lips—or Harper’s lips anyway. “Took you long
enough to figure it out. I’m not sure why since only
a few creatures know what those words mean.”

“I’ve tried to block that time of my life out of

my mind,” I tell her calmly. But on the inside, I’m a
mess.  Nadine  is  here.  Nadine  is  fucking  here  and
Raven  is  just  over  there  and  there’s  nothing  I  can
do  about  it.  “In  fact,  I  barely  remember  anything
about it.”

“Liar.”
“Believe what you want, but it’s true.”
“Is that so.” The evil glint in her eye makes the

muscle in my jaw spasm. She scratches her
fingernails up and down my arm. “If that’s true,
then why do you cringe when I touch you?”

“Because you’re you,” I reply, loathing her

touch, how it makes my bones feel as if they’re
grinding together. It reminds me of those nights, of
when I was a prisoner…

No, stop thinking about that. What is wrong

with you? You’ve been doing so well at forgetting.

I must be fucking tired.
“There you go, lying again.” She increases the

pressure of the scratching until her nails split open
my flesh and the scent of rust and salt floods the

air. “You cringe when everyone touches you. No
one ever seems to notice, though. Or maybe they
just don’t care.”

“That’s not true at all.” I dig my fingernails

deeper into my palms. “I don’t cringe when your
sister touches me.”

My words elicit a roar from her lips and she

jerks back to strike me across the face. Not the
reaction I was aiming for, but at least she stopped
scratching the blood out of me.

“You know as well as I do that despite how you

and Rhy Rhy act once Raven,” she spits out her
name, “is chosen as queen, you do have feelings for
me.”

“Yeah, feelings of hatred.”
Her fingers curl into fists. “I know you’re lying.

There’s no way you can pretend to like me for all
those years and it not be true.”

“You do realize everything about our lives is

nothing  but  pretending  and  lying,  right?  Nothing
about  this  is  real  and  you  know  that.  Just  like  I
know  you  sided  with  the  fey  queen.  Just  like  I
know you’re a bitch. Just like we both know that all
that  light  and  darkness  crap  didn’t  bond  us—it
broke  us.  So  why  are  we  even  here  talking  about
any of this?”

She leans in, her eyes darkening. “Not

everything was a lie or pretend, no matter how hard
you try to pretend it was. And what happened those

nights to us… you won’t be able to forget them—
there will always be a creature who comes along,
sees, and reminds you. But the control, or lack of it,
can be gone with some help.”

I want to jerk back, but I can’t budge. “What in

the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I found a way to get help—to free

myself from those nights and the burden of the
mark.” A deliberate, malicious smile carves her
face as her hands ignite with sparkly light—magic.

Realization dawns on me. “You made a deal

with the queen to help hide your mark.”

“That’s part of why I made the deal.” She

shrugs.  “Honestly,  though,  I  knew  you  all  were
eventually  going  to  lose  this  curse  so  I  decided  I
wanted  to  be  on  the  winning  side  and  I  got  some
benefits  out  of  it.”  She  waggles  her  magic  kissed
fingers.

I shake my head in disgust. “You’re such a

piece  of  work.”  A  pleased  smile  touches  her  lips
until  I  add,  “That’s  not  a  compliment.  No  matter
what  you’ve  suffered  through,  what  you’ve  done
and  what  you’re  doing  isn’t  okay.  And  honestly,
even  before  all  those  nights  happened,  you  were
still a backstabbing bitch.”

Her smile falters. “You’re going to pay for

that.”

A tiny part of me wants to let her—let her

destroy me. But my need to protect Raven is much

greater than my self-inflicting misery. “What’re you
going to do? Curse me to death while I stand here
unable to move? Because I’ve got to say, that’s low,
even for you.”

She lifts a shoulder. “Like I really care.”
“You should.” Rhyland’s voice sails over my

shoulder. “But if you need more persuading, try to
think about if the roles were reversed. If we
attacked you when you were vulnerable.”

Her narrowed gaze zeroes in on something

behind  me—Rhyland,  I’m  sure.  I  want  to  twist
around  to  see  if  he  has  Raven,  hoping  to  all  the
vampire  Gods  he  doesn’t,  but  my  body  won’t
cooperate.

“That will never happen, though.” Her palms

spark with magic, her skin hissing and sizzling.
“Because I’m more powerful than you and
Kingsley and my stupidly pathetic sister—I’m more
powerful than almost any creature anymore.”

“Yeah, see here’s the thing,” Rhyland says as

the sound of boots crunching against the snow rises
from just behind me. “Most evil villains who say
that sort of shit are usually more fangs than bite.”

Her brows lift, along with the corners of her

mouth. “You want to find out?”

“Not really.” Rhyland sighs exhaustedly when

Nadine smirks. “You’re in Harper’s body and I’d
rather not hurt her.”

“Well, we don’t always get what we want, do

we?” She sidesteps away from me and turns to the
side, elevating her hands in front of her. “Some
come on, Rhy Rhy, lets see how much you’re
willing to do to protect your precious Raven,”

Rhyland appears in my peripheral vision as he

steps forward. Relief sweeps through me when I
see that he’s not holding Raven and that silver
sparks of magic hiss from his palms.

Rhyland’s gaze briefly flickers to me. “You

know, Raven was right. That nickname is fucking
stupid.”

A smile tugs at my lips and the movement

makes hope rise inside me. If I can smile at
Rhyland insulting Nadine, it means Nadine is losing
control over my body.

I try to move my hand and with a lot of effort,

manage to make a fist. After some more wiggling of
my muscles, I rotate toward my brother and the evil
bitch, whose back is turned toward me.

Rhyland returns his gaze to Nadine. “You know

I’ll do anything to protect Raven, so if you’re here
to hurt her, I’ll hurt you, no matter whose body
you’re in.”

“Then hurt me, Rhy Rhy,” she sneers. “Or

should I say hurt Harper.”

Rhyland grinds his teeth as he lifts his hand up,

his palm facing Nadine. “I will if I have to.”

Nadine raises her hand with her palm aimed

toward Rhyland. “You can try, but I’m more

powerful than you.”

The more Rhyland distracts her, the more the

possession leaves my body. As I regain control, I
inch toward Nadine, taking measured steps.

“That might be true,” Rhyland says with a

shrug. “But you’re forgetting one thing.”

“I never forget anything.” Nadine grins

haughtily. “I’m the most brilliant witch that’s ever
walked this world—it’s what I requested when I
made the deal with the queen.”

Rhyland’s lips spasms and then he busts up

laughing, hunching over and clutching his side. I
have to bite my lip hard to keep my own laughter
down.

“Oh my stupid fucking vampires, are you really

that stupid,” Rhyland says, howling with laughter.

“Shut up,” she seethes, her hands balling into

fists, sparks cracking from her skin. “It’s true and
you should be very afraid of me right now.”

Rhyland shakes his head, laughter still biting at

his tongue. “You seriously think because you made
a deal with the fey queen to be the most powerful
witch in the worlds that it actually happened?”

“Yes,” Nadine says, but her confidence is

faltering, as she dazes off, as if her mind is
wandering back to a memory.

“Then you’re stupider than I thought.” Rhyland

takes a step toward her. “Considering you know
what happened when I made a deal with the fey

queen, you should know that she twists deals
around so in the end, nothing works out as she
originally said or how you wanted.”

“She didn’t… She wouldn’t do that to me

again… She promised she wouldn’t,” Nadine
growls, stomping her feet. “Shut up, Rhy Rhy! Just
shut up or I’m going to…” She elevates her hands
in front of her, flames bursting from her skin. “I’m
going to curse you even worse—”

I lunge at her, grabbing her by the shoulders and

twirling her around. Her magic sizzles against my
skin, burning my flesh, but I fight the pain as I wrap
my fingers around her neck.

“Release your possession of Harper,” I demand,

gripping her neck.

“Never,” she chokes out as she slams her palm

against my chest, right above my heart. Her lips
part and a magical chant starts to spill from her lips,
“Expel—”

Rhyland rushes up behind her, muttering

something under his breath, then a flaming ball of
light shoots from his palm and hits Nadine in the
back.

She gasps out, her face contorted in pain, and I

squeeze her neck tighter.

Come on, come on, come on, let go of your

possession over Harper. Please don’t make me do
this. Please don’t make me hurt someone again.

“Kingsley,” Nadine gasps as I lift her from the

ground. “If you hurt me, you hurt your precious
little disgusting half faerie/pixie abomination.”

“She’s not an abomination,” I growl out. “And

I’m not going to hurt Harper because you’re going
to let her go. If you don’t, you’ll end up getting hurt
too.”

“No, I won’t...” she gasps, stabbing her

fingernails into the backs of my hands. “I’m
stronger than that—”

Rhyland hits her with another ball of fire and

she screams out in pain. He moves to do it again,
but staggers to the side, blood dripping from his
nose as he collapses to the ground.

Shit, he’s too weak for this kind of magic. I

need to get Nadine to let go of Harper’s body. Need
to weaken her mind.

“Do you remember those nights we were

prisoners,  Nadine?”  I  whisper  lowly,  hoping
Rhyland  can’t  hear  me.  “Do  you  remember  what
they did to us? Do you remember how we bled? Do
you remember how they broke us, body, minds, and
souls?  Do  remember  how  since  we’ve  returned,
we’ve never really been free?”

“You said you didn’t remember,” she wheezes,

her face tinting red. “I knew you were lying.”

“Yes, I was.” I lean closer. “I remember

everything. Remember how they broke you…
What they did to you. And while you may say that
you found a way to get past it, I know you’re lying.

Because we’ll never get past it. Our souls and
minds are damned for all of eternity and maybe
even after that. We’re marked forever.”

“No, we’re not…” She struggles to speak, her

eyelids drifting shut.

Please just let go.
Her body goes slack and I quickly release my

grip, sliding my hands down Harper’s arms to hold
her up.

“Come on, Harper, open your eyes,” I beg.

“Don’t do this to me. Don’t give up—”

Her eyelids pop open and her skin shimmers

with light as she sucks in a huge breath. “Holy
crazy trolls, that was intense.”

I let out a relieved exhale. “Yeah, you could say

that again.”

“Holy crazy trolls, that was intense,” she

repeats, a small smile touching her lips.

I shake my head, on the verge of smiling. “Only

you would smile right after you almost died.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” She

shrugs. “Besides, you saved my life.”

“That’s not what happened.”
“Um, yeah it was.”
“I just strangled you,” I remind her, guilt

clutching at my chest.

“But only to get that crazy witch out of my

head,” she says as I slowly release ahold of her
arms. “And just so you know, she wasn’t ever going

to let me go. She was going to possess my body
until she stole Raven and took her to the queen.
Then she was going to release possession of me and
have me killed.”

My brows pull together. “How do you know all

of that?”

Her smile is as shimmery as the iridescent

clouds. “Because while she was in my mind, I saw
some of her thoughts.”

My confusion only deepens. “But that’s not

how possession works.”

“Maybe for you vampires.” Her eyes glitter

with amusement as she pats my shoulder. “But I’m
a strange breed of faerie/pixie and magic usually
works a bit wonky on me. I’m surprised she was
even able to possess me at all.”

I scratch my head. “About when did that

happen?

“When you insulted my skipping.” She sets her

hands on her hips. “Which for your vampire
information, I’m still mad about, so make sure to
make that up to me.”

My smile just about breaks through, but I fight

it back. “I’ll see what I can do.” I move toward
Rhyland, grab ahold of his arm, and help him to his
feet. “Where’s Raven?”

“I left her with Dex.” Even his voice sounds

weak, his is skin pale, and dark circles have formed
under his eyes. “We should hurry back. I don’t like

her being so unprotected.”

“We’ll head back now.” Worry claws inside me,

but my tone is even and composed. As he struggles
to stand upright, I shake my head. “So how bad are
is it? And don’t try to bullshit me. You just about
passed out.”

He wipes the blood from his nose. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You need to feed.” So do I.
“We already talked about this.” He jerks his

arms from my grip and staggers toward the stretch
of forest behind me, calling over his shoulder,
“There’s no one around for me to feed on.”

I jog after him. “Well, we need to figure

something out, especially if you keep insisting on
using your magic.”

“I can get you some blood if you need me to,”

Harper says as she skips up beside me. “Once I get
us  settled  into  this  place,  I  can  get  it.  It  won’t  be
fancy or anything—I know how you vampires love
your  powerful  blood,”  she  teases,  skipping
backwards  in  front  of  me,  “But  it  can  help  him
recharge a bit until we can find some better blood.”

Rhyland and I trade a look and he shakes his

head.

“Eventually you’re going to have to drink some

blood, unless you want to black out,” I tell him. “So
it might as well be sooner than later. At least that
way, you’ll be around to help with Raven.” If that
won’t persuade him, I don’t know what will.

“Fine,” he utters then quickens his pace,

stumbling through the snow.

“What are we going to do about Nadine?” I call

out after him. “She knows where we are now and
she can possess. That means no one and no place is
safe.”

“We can put up some anti-possession spells on

us,”  Harper  chimes  in.  “It’ll  take  quite  a  bit  of
magic,  but  if  we  can  succeed  with  the  spell,  it
should  make  it  so  the  five  of  us  are  safe  from  any
creature taking over our bodies. And as for Nadine
knowing where we’re going, that’s not going to be a
problem.”

I glance at her. “Why?”
She beams, her skin glimmering as she winks at

me. “You’ll see.”

I hope she’s right. About everything. But

there’s still one more problem. Well, one more
problem on top of a seemingly ever-growing list.

“Even after drinking blood, Rhyland’s not going

to be powerful enough to cast that big of a spell,” I
tell her, swatting tree branches out of my way. “He
needs  to  feed  off  Raven’s  blood  in  order  to  get
back  to  full  strength,  but  he  can’t  do  that  until
Raven  is  better  and  has  her  strength  back  and
also…”

The fucking curse. It’s taking hold of me again.

Not completely, but a little bit.

“I know how the curse works, Kingsley,”

Harper assures me. “I know what needs to be
done.”

I nod, relieved she understands what I’m getting

at. “Then you know it’s probably not going to
happen anytime soon, which means Rhyland won’t
have his full strength back for a while.”

“I know. And I wasn’t planning on him doing

the spell. I have a friend that could help. A witch
doctor of sorts, and she’s very powerful.”

“Is she trustworthy, though, because that’s

where we run into problems.”

She nods, growing serious, which is a rarity with

Harper. “She’s a bit different, but I would—and
have—trust her with my life.” I open my mouth to
ask more questions, but she places a finger against
my lips, shushing me. “You’ll just have to trust me
on this, okay?”

“I hardly trust anyone.”
“I know.” She offers me a comforting smile

then twirls around and skips ahead of me, calling
over her shoulder, “I can do a blood oath if you
need me to.”

That helps alleviate the tension from my

muscles a bit. But only when I spot Dex and Raven
through the trees do I relax.

From what I can tell, Raven appears in the

same condition as when we left her and is lying on
the snow in her frozen state, her raven black hair
contrasting with the snow. When I get closer to her,

though, I notice that a few more cracks have
webbed across her face.

“I hope we can fix it soon,” I mutter to myself.

“Or she’s going to fall apart.” The idea of that, of
losing her, makes my chest feel like it’s splintering
apart.

“I may have an idea for that too.” Harper pops

up beside me, startling the living bats out of me.

I press my hand to my chest. “For the love of

fucking bouncing pixies, you really do have a habit
of popping up out of nowhere, don’t you?’

She's all smiles and pride. “It’s a gift.”
“That it is.” I tug on a strand of her hair and her

smile  broadens.  “Are  you  sure  you’re  okay?”  My
gaze  travels  to  her  neck.  No  marks  are  visible  on
her  skin,  but  with  how  hard  I  grabbed  her  neck,  I
worry I may have hurt her.

A grin breaks across her face. “Aw, does the

moody vampire have a soft spot for the faerie
pixie?”

Instead of answering with the truth—that I do

—I throw her sarcasm back at her. “Did you just
refer to yourself in the third person?”

“Not quite.” She pats my cheek. “Relax

vampire. You didn’t hurt me. But you did hurt
Nadine, so that’s good.”

My head tilts to the side. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, before she left my body, I could tell

she was going to have a hard time recovering from

what you and Rhyland did to her.” She gives me yet
another reassuring smile.

It dawns on me then, like a stake to the chest,

that if Harper was mentally present while Nadine
and I were chatting, she heard everything we said.
If she did, she could very well take advantage of
that information.

I swallow down the vile burning in my throat.

“What else did you hear while she had control of
you?”

“Not too much.” Then, for the third damn time

in  the  last  few  minutes,  a  smile  graces  her  lips.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone your secret. My
pixie  side  is  very  good  at  that.”  Then  she  skips
away,  as  cheery  as  can  be,  leaving  me  no  choice
but  to  trust  her,  something  I  haven’t  done  with
anyone in a very long time.

In fact, the last time I fully and completely

trusted someone, led to what started the secret to
begin with.

R H Y L A N D

’m beyond weak, and everyone knows
it. I can’t even carry Raven anymore—
Kingsley had to do it. Watching him

hug  her  against  his  chest  like  she’s  the  most
precious thing in the worlds—which she is, but still
—is  nearly  shredding  me  up  from  the  inside  out.
It’s  also  weakening  me  even  more,  my  witch
powers barely a dim light inside my chest.

While I hate that my magic abilities came from

the  queen,  right  now,  I  need  them,  especially  if
we’re ambushed again. Although Harper insists that
won’t happen, that even though Nadine knows our
general  location,  no  creature  wishing  any  harm  to
us  will  be  able  to  find  us.  I  don’t  know,  though.  I
like  Harper  and  everything,  but  she’s  a  little  out
there  in  la  la,  what-the-hell-is-she-talking-about
land. And so far this safe place she’s leading us too

seems to be nonexistent as we journey further and
further into the trees.

“How much farther is it?” I brace my hand

against a frosted tree trunk to give my legs a rest.

“Only a few more steps actually,” Harper

replies, taking a few more skips before coming to a
halt. Then she turns in a circle, staring at the ground
while tapping her finger against her lip. “Let me
see… Where is it… Come on, don’t be shy.”

Okay then… I arch a brow at Kingsley.
He grimaces, warily eyeballing the pixie faerie

that I’m worried may have lost her marbles because
of the possession. It’s been known to happen
sometimes.

“Um, Harper,” Kingsley starts, but she shushes

him.

“Don’t talk or you’re going to scare it away,”

she hisses, holding up a finger. “And then we’ll
have to wait for another moon cycle before it
returns.”

Kingsley elevates his brows, like okay.
Sighing, Dex sinks to the ground and Aeribella

climbs onto his lap. “I have a feeling we might be
stuck here for a while.”

“That makes two of us,” Kingsley mumbles,

moving to sit down.

Harper raises a finger. ‘Would you three shut up

and be patient. These things take time.”

“We might be able to be more patient if we

knew what was going on,” Kingsley tells her,
standing back up again.

Rolling her eyes, she continues to turn in circles

with her eyes glued to the ground. “I’m getting us
to a safe place, like I promised.”

Then she keeps spinning and spinning,

searching for something in the snow. I’m about to
give up and tell Kingsley we should just keep
moving when something pops out from the ground.

“Greetings Land of Moonlight visitors.” A

shimmering  blob  of  what  appears  to  be  a  faceless,
iridescent,  six-inch  tall  winged  faerie  announces
while  throwing  glitter  into  the  air.  Then  it  rubs  its
chin  and  glances  toward  Raven.  “And  moonlight
creatures, apparently.”

“Yes, she’s of moonlight decent,” Harper

declares with a nod of her head.

“But she’s not the same creature you came here

with last time,” The blob says. It’s not a question.
Just a mere statement.

“Oh, Sparkles? Yeah, he went off the deep end

again,” Harper explains with a dismissive flick of
her wrist. “So we’re taking a little break from each
other. I mean, I like him and everything, but there’s
only so much crazy I can deal with, you know.”

The blob bobs its head up and down. “I

completely understand, sweetheart. Sometimes you
gotta focus on your own crazy, right?”

“Yep.” A smile lights up Harper’s face. “I do

need to still come in there, though. And we’re very
pressed for time so if you could make this a speedy
transport, that’d be super great.”

“Anything for you, beautiful,” the blob winks at

her. “One speedy transport coming right up.” Then
the blob dives back into the snow.

Silence stretches between us.
“Okay, then,” Dex finally says, jumping to his

feet and brushing the snow off his jeans. “Did
anyone else see a shimmering blob of goo hitting on
Harper?”

“Oh, Shiny wasn’t hitting on me. Trust me.”

Harper dismisses him with a wave of her hand.
“Shimmer Blobs are just natural flirts. They don’t
even mean to do it most of the time.”

“Shimmer blobs?” The snow crunches under

my thick boots as I step toward her. “What the hell
is that? Because I’ve been around for a really long
time and I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“That’s because you’re knowledge has mostly

been limited to the creatures of Mystic Willow Bay
and  Shimmer  blobs  originally  came  from  the  Land
of  Reflective  Light.  But  when  their  government
started to collapse because the king got a little too
handsy with all the wives and even some husbands,
a  lot  of  them  relocated  here,”  Harper  explains,
plopping  down  on  a  chunk  of  ice.  “It’s  not  your
fault,  though,  that  you  don’t  know  this.  The  curse
has  sort  of  limited  your  traveling  abilities  and

distracted you from a lot of what’s going on in the
worlds.”

True. But that still doesn’t mean I’m on board

with some odd sparkling, flirty by nature blob of
goo knowing Raven’s location.

“How do we know we can trust it?” I question.

“And what the hell does it even do?”

“It’s going to transport us to the safe place,”

she states matter of factly.

“I know, but how?” I bite back my annoyance

the best that I can, but she keeps talking in circles.
“And where are we even going? Because you’ve
never clarified that either.”

“You’ll see when we get there, because telling

you before we get there would mean that we might
not be able to go there.” She’s starting to speak in
riddles, a pixie trait.

I give up, turning to Kingsley. “What do you

think we should do?” I lower my voice. “I mean,
I’ve never heard of a shimmer blob before and this
whole thing seems weird.”

“I know.” Kingsley flicks a glance in Harper’s

direction. “But I think I trust her.”

“Really?” Doubt rings in my tone. “Because

usually you don’t trust anyone, except for her.” I
graze my fingers along the shirt covering Raven’s
face.

“I know.” That’s all he’s says before sinking

into silence.

Something’s bothering him—I can tell. I’m

about  to  press  when  the  ground  begins  to  rumble
and shake, the icicles dangling on the tree branches
above  us  clinking  together.  I  reach  for  my  sword,
but before I can withdraw, the ground lights up, and
a  large  iridescent  puddle  bleeds  through  the  snow
beneath our feet.

“What the hell is that?” I shout as I struggle to

keep balance.

Harper grins from ear to ear. “That, my friends,

is our speedy transportation.”

Before anyone can say anything else, the

ground opens up and I’m swallowed by iridescent
light.

R A V E N

hate school. I really do. Not because I
don’t like learning, but because all the
other vampires make fun of me.

They’re always saying I’m such a clumsy and slow
vampire,  which  I  guess  I  sort  of  am.  My  older
sister  Nadine  seems  to  be  the  main  instigator  of
the  ridicule.  She  must  be  as  charming  as  a  siren
because  she’s  managed  to  get  the  entire  school  to
call  me  Spazzy  Raven.  Honestly,  it’s  not  a  very
clever  name,  but  Nadine  isn’t  very  clever  either.
Still, as stupid as the name is, hearing it makes me
feel  terrible.  I  even  spent  yesterday  during  lunch
crying in the bathroom. I wish I could just be done
with  school  already,  but  since  it’s  my  first  year,  I
have a long ways to go.

I probably should’ve eaten lunch in the

bathroom today too, but I was trying to be brave.

Now I’m stuck sitting at a table all alone while the
rest of the vampires in my school throw food at my
back and chant, “Spazzy Raven. Spazzy Raven.
She’s such a spazz.”

I want to get up and leave—go hide somewhere

—but I’m too scared to lift my head and look at all
of their faces that I’m sure are filled with hate.

“Well, what do we have here?” Someone plops

down on the bench beside me.

I don’t dare look up, too afraid of what’s

coming next.

“Easy, Kingsley, she’s probably scared to the

undead.”

I know that voice. It belongs to my parents’

friends’  son  Rhyland.  Kingsley  is  his  twin  brother,
although  they  don’t  really  look  alike.  While
sometimes  they  talk  to  me  when  our  parents  hang
out,  they’ve  never  really  paid  too  much  attention
to me before. They mostly just go outside whenever
our  families  have  get-togethers  and  mess  around,
playing pranks on people and getting into trouble.
They rarely spend time with other vampires, living
in their own bubble.

I’ve heard Nadine talk about them, how she

thinks  they’re  cute  and  has  all  sorts  of  plans  on
how  she’s  going  to  be  friends  with  them.  So  far,
though,  they  pretty  much  just  ignore  her,  which
makes me like them, even if we’ve barely spoken.

“I’m not scared,” I lie, staring at my mushy

sandwich. It wasn’t mushy when I first took it out of
my lunchbox, but then someone dumped blood on it
and now the bread is all red and gooey.

“Then why are you talking to your mushy

sandwich?” Kingsley teases from beside me.

I’m so sick of being teased. And now they’re

joining in on it. I can’t take this anymore.

“I’m not.” I lift my gaze and glare at him. “I

was talking to you. Well, unless you’re a mushy
sandwich. But maybe you are. Your face does look
sort of mushy.”

Oh my vampires, did I seriously just say that!
His brow pops up with intrigue then his gaze

darts to Rhyland, who’s sitting across the table
from us. “Did you hear that, Rhyland? She just
said I have a mushy face.”

“I think she might be on to something,”

Rhyland remarks, smiling at me.

I don’t know what to do with that smile,

whether to run away or return it. Usually when
another vampire smiles at me, it’s right before they
call me Spazzy Raven. But his smile doesn’t look
mean. It just looks like a smile.

So I decide to smile back. “Of course I am. I’m

super clever and an expert on mushy faces, seeing
as how my sister has one.”

Rhyland glances at Kingsley. The two of them

trade an indecipherable look before Kingsley
presses his hand to his chest.

“The queen has wounded me so,” he teases

with a grin.

“Yes, she has,” Rhyland agrees. “Now all you

can do is beg for her to take it back. But you better
beg really good. She seems like a hard one to win
over.”

“I’ll do my best.” He stands up, drops down on

one  knee  in  front  of  me,  and  takes  my  hand.  It
might be the first time another vampire aside from
my parents has ever touched me without the intent
to  hurt  me.  “Raven,  fairest  queen  of  all,  will  you
please take back your cruel words about my mushy
face  and  fix  the  deep  wound  you  instilled  in  my
heart?”

I press my lips together, stifling a laugh. “I

don’t know. I’m not sure if your begging won me
over or not. I might need a little bit more.”

He ponders the idea with a clever smile. “How

about my hand in marriage? When we’re old
enough, of course.”

“Hmmm…” I thrum my fingers against my lips.

“I’m not sure if I can ever see myself getting
married.”

“Then how about I promise to be your sworn

Blood Protector.”

“Doesn’t only the queen have those?”
“But you are the queen,” he reminds me with a

grin.

I can’t help but laugh, partly because I sort of

think he’s funny and partly because, please, like I
could ever become queen. Still, it’s kinda of fun
joking around with him.

“Fine.” I pat his head. “You don’t have a

mushy face. In fact, your face is as hard as a
rock.”

“Thank you, my queen.” Grinning, he jumps to

his feet and moves to sit down beside me.

I’m still completely confused why they’re even

talking  to  me  to  begin  with  unless  maybe  my
parents found out about how badly I get teased at
school and asked them to make friends with me. If
they  did,  I  kind  of  feel  pathetic,  but  at  the  same
time,  feel  sort  of  grateful  because  I  get  really
lonely sometimes.

But me being me, I need to know the answer.
“Why are you guys talking to me?” I glance at

the two of them.

“Why not?” Kingsley quips, stealing a carrot

from my lunchbox.

“Um, because I’m Spazzy Raven,” I tell him.

“And you guys are far from spazzy.”

“You’re not spazzy,” Rhyland insists, stretching

his arms across the table to steal a carrot from my
lunchbox.

“And even if you were,” Kingsley says, stuffing

the carrot into his mouth. “We happen to like
spazzy.”

“Yeah, you say that now until I’m constantly

tripping  over  your  feet,  stomping  on  your  toes,
slowing  you  down,  getting  you  made  fun  of—”  A
hamburger  bun  hits  me  in  the  back  then  falls  off
and  lands  on  Kingsley’s  lap.  “And  getting  you  hit
by food.”

Kingsley’s lip twitches as he picks up the

hamburger bun. “First of all, no one ever dares
make fun of us. And second of all, soon they won’t
dare make fun of you.”

“Um, yeah, I don’t think…” I trail off as he

gets up and strides across the cafeteria toward my
sister’s table.

Worry whips through me. “He better be

careful. He’s walking right in to the witches’ den.”

“Relax. Kingsley can handle it.” Rhyland

reaches across the table, takes my hand, and tugs
me to my feet. “Now come sit down by me and
watch the show. I think you’re going to enjoy this.”

Nervously, I round the table, highly aware that

he continues to hold my hand even when I sit down.
I wonder how he can be okay with holding my hand
in public. Isn’t he embarrassed? He sure doesn’t
look like it.

As if he feels me staring at him, he meets my

gaze and smiles in amusement. Then he fixes his
finger underneath my chin and steers my attention
back toward Kingsley.

“You don’t want to miss the best part, do you?”

he asks.

I shake my head and focus on Kingsley as he

strolls across the cafeteria with the soggy
hamburger bun in his hand. Even though he’s only
ten years old, he looks scary as a demon as he
stops by Nadine’s table.

“All right, I’m going to ask this one time and

one time only.” He holds up the hamburger bun.
“Which one of you evil wenches threw this?”

“Hey,” a male vampire with blond hair and

blue eyes, who’s sitting next to Nadine, starts to
protest. “Male vampires aren’t wenches—”

Kingsley reaches across the table and stuffs the

hamburger bun into the vampire's mouth. Then he
props his boot up onto the bench and rests his arms
on his knees. “Now, like I was saying before I was
so rudely interrupted, which one of you evil
wenches threw the bun at my lovely little Raven
over there.”

“Hey,” I start to gripe. “I don’t belong to

anyone—”

Rhyland quiets me by placing his finger

against my lips. “Shh… Don’t worry, we can
belong to you too.”

I dramatically roll my eyes. “Who says I want

you to?”

His brow bows up. “You’re saying you don’t?”
“Um…” Part of me wants to nod, but the other

part really, really likes not being alone. Plus, they
seem nice and everything.

Rhyland grins at my silence. “That’s what I

thought.”  When  he  withdraws  his  finger  from  my
lips, I stick out my tongue. He laughs, then nods in
the  direction  of  Kingsley.  “Now  watch  your  new
friend  and  future  Blood  Protector  defend  your
honor.”

“Oh fine.” I pretend to grimace as I return my

attention  to  Kingsley,  but  secretly,  I  smile  to
myself.  “So,  if  Kingsley  is  my  future  sworn  Blood
Protector,”  I  say  as  I  watch  Kingsley  continue  to
toy  with  Nadine  and  her  friends  like  a  vampire
playing with his dinner, “Then what does that make
you?  Because  all  you’re  pretty  much  doing  is
sitting here beside me, watching the show.”

“Doesn’t that make the answer obvious?” he

whispers in my ear. “I’m your king.”

“So gross,” I gag, eliciting a chuckle from him.
“You know what?” he says. “I think the three

of us are going to be really good friends.”

I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I’ve never

had a friend before and I can’t help but get
excited. And the excitement only grows as
Kingsley’s voice rises across the cafeteria.

“And if you or any of your little minion

wenches even so much as look at Raven again,
this’ll be mild in comparison to what’ll happen to
you.” Then he dumps a cup of blood all over
Nadine’s head.

She screeches like a wild banshee as she jumps

to  her  feet.  “You’re  going  to  pay  for  that,
Kingsley!”  she  screams  with  her  hands  balled  at
her  sides.  “One  day,  you  and  your  stupid  brother
are  going  to  get  cursed  and  there’s  nothing  you’ll
be able to do about it!” Then she spins around and
stomps out of the cafeteria.

Kingsley turns around and strolls back to our

table, grinning. “Did you hear that? She’s going to
curse me.”

A beat of silence trickles by and then the two of

them erupt in laughter.

I, however, don’t find it very funny. “Maybe

you guys shouldn’t have upset her like that.”

Kingsley lifts a brow as he steals another

carrot from my lunchbox. “Do you feel sorry for
her?”

“No.” I feel bad for saying so, but Nadine has

done  way  worse  to  me  over  the  years,  everything
from getting a witch to cast a wart spell on me to
tricking me into drinking troll blood. I was sick for
over  a  month  after  that  and  temporarily  sprouted
horns  from  my  head.  “But  Nadine  can  be  really
cruel, and I’m worried she might come after you.”

Kingsley and Rhyland exchange another

unreadable look.

“We can handle Nadine,” Kingsley assures me

with a smirk. “And if you stick with us, from now
on, you’ll be completely protected from her.”

Again, I want to ask them why they’re suddenly

being friends with me. But then I decide that
maybe I don’t want to know the truth. That maybe
it’s better if I just accept their friendship.

“All right, I guess we can hang out or

whatever,” I say with a shrug.

Again, they assess me with amusement. I’m

unsure why, so I flash them a smirk and they grin.

I start to grin too but then the strangest feeling

someone is watching me trickles up the back of my
neck.

When I peer around, I spot a figure lurking in

one  of  the  alcoves,  their  face  hidden  in  the
shadows.  For  a  faltering  moment,  they’re  eyes
flicker  and  for  some  odd  reason,  Nadine’s  words
echo in my head:

One day, you and your stupid brother are going

to get cursed and there’s nothing you’ll be able to
do.

But when I blink, the figure is gone. Still,

worry crawls through me.

“What if she really does try to curse you,” I

whisper, chewing on my thumbnail.

“There’s no way she could,” Kingsley

promises. “Curses take too much power—more
power than anyone in Mystic Willow Bay has.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” But my stomach remains

raveling in knots.

“Quit worrying,” Rhyland nudges me with his

elbow. “We’re gonna take care of you from now

on.”

I raise my chin defiantly. “I want to take care

of myself.”

“You can do that too.” Kingsley winks at me.

“Just as long as we get to help.”

I can’t help but smile, my worries momentarily

drifting away…

R A V E N

y eyelids flutter open, my body
aching like it’s been split in two. As
the events of what occurred before

I passed out emerge, I start to worry that’s exactly
what’s going on. That the cracking overtook my
body until it split me apart.

“Oh my vampires, please don’t say I’m like two

halves  now,”  I  groan  as  light  stings  my  eyeballs.
“How  am  I  supposed  to  walk  if  that  happens?  Or
eat?  Or  wear  clothes…  Wait,  please  say  I’m  not
like  naked  right  now.”  I  cringe  at  the  idea,
especially since I have no freakin’ clue where I am
or if I’m alone.

A soft chuckle touches my eardrums as a finger

lightly grazes my hairline, brushing my hair away
from my face. “I think you might be okay.”

I cringe again. “Great, you’re here. Please don’t

tell me I’m naked.”

“Now, now, sweetheart, don’t pretend like you

don’t want me here while you’re naked.”
Kingsley’s smirk is evident in his tone.

I roll my eyes, my mind briefly flickering back

to the memory I had right before I woke up. If I had
to  guess,  it  was  a  real  memory  from  my  first  life,
back  when  Kingsley  and  Rhyland  first  became
friends  with  me.  Our  relationship  had  felt  so  light,
so  real.  It  felt—still  does—sort  of  nice.  But  then
my  mind  floats  back  to  the  memories  of  this  life
when  we  were  the  same  age,  only  Kingsley  and
Rhyland were sitting beside Nadine in the cafeteria,
mocking and tormenting me right along beside her.

My emotions get all wonky, dancing between

liking Kingsley and loathing him.

Seriously, all these contradicting memories are

so confusing.

And what’s even more confusing was the whole

scene in the cafeteria, when Kingsley swore he was
going  to  be  my  Blood  Protector  and  how  Rhyland
said  we  were  going  to  be  king  and  queen.  Then
Nadine said they’d end up cursed. And somehow it
all  actually  happened,  yet  that  memory  was  from
my  first  life.  So  how  did  we  know  what  we  would
end  up  becoming?  And  what  was  that  thing  hiding
in the alcove?

“What’s the matter?” Kingsley’s face comes

into focus. Worry is creasing his brow as he slants

forward in the chair he’s sitting in that’s beside the
bed I’m lying in. “You look upset.”

My gaze drags across his face. His hair is askew

and he has a strange red handprint shaped mark on
his cheek. He’s also shirtless, but I think I
remember him taking that off to give to me.

“What happened to your face?” I lift my hand

and graze my fingers along his red tinted cheek.
“It’s red and feels puffy.” My lips quirk. “And
mushy.”

His eyes light up. “Did someone remember

something?”

“Yeah, how mushy your face is.” I pat his

cheek then gasp. “My hand! It’s not cracky!” I bolt
upright so swiftly, I smack my forehead against his.
“But apparently my spazziness still exists.” I wince
as I press my hand to my throbbing forehead. “I’m
so sorry. Is your head okay?”

“Maybe. You may have cracked my skull a bit.

Might have to kiss it better,” he says with a wink.

I lower my hand to my neck to check to see if

perhaps the dragon fire burns are gone too, but
nope, my skin is still all flakey. “Not funny.”

He tugs on a strand of my hair. “Then why’re

you smiling?”

I roll my tongue in my mouth, the edge scraping

against my fangs. “That’s what my evil villain smile
looks like.”

His lips threaten to turn upward. “And why

exactly do you have on your an evil villain smile?”

“Because…” I search my mind for an excuse

and then decide to just pinch his chest. “Because of
that.”

A laugh bursts from his lips. “That’s the best

you can come up with?” He shakes his head. “You
just might be the most adorable vampire I’ve ever
seen, even when you’re trying to be an evil villain.”

I pinch his chest again, this time a bit harder,

but  all  he  does  is  laugh  again.  Giving  up,  I  take  a
look  around  at  the  room  and  discover  that  we’re
not in a room at all. “Are we inside a tree?” I line
my  palm  to  the  rough  edged  wall  beside  me.
“Because this looks an awful lot like bark.”

“Actually, we are.” His laughter fizzles, the

glitteriness in his eyes dimming. “How much do
you remember about after we left camp?”

“Well, I remember walking for a while. A lot of

snow.  I  remember  getting  really  cold  and  my  feet
hurting.  Then  I  started  cracking  apart  so  Rhyland
put a freezing spell on me.” I rest back against the
headboard  of  the  bed  that’s  made  of  bark.  “After
that, everything becomes hazy.”

He rests his arms on the bed. “I figured you

probably wouldn’t remember much. Freezing spells
have a tendency to freeze the mind as well.”

I scrunch my nose. “Well that sounds lovely.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s thawed by now,” he

says, brushing his fingertip along my temple.

“Is everything always a joke to you?”
“You tell me. You’re the one remembering

things. So tell me sweetheart, am I always the
lovely jokester I am now?”

“No. From what I can remember, you’re usually

cruel, at least to me.”

“Raven,” he starts, his eyes softening.
I dazzle him with a sassy smirk. “And there you

go. You’re not joking now.”

“Well, aren’t you just a little brat.” He dives

forward, his fingers finding my sides.

I let out a squeal as he starts tickling me. I’m

not even sure I’ve ever been tickled before, at least
in this life. And here I am in a tree bed, inside a
freakin’ tree, getting tickled by, of all vampires,
Kingsley.

Seriously, what the crazy trolls is happening?

How  did  I  go  from  hating  him  and  his  brother  to
letting  them  carry  me  around  and  tickle  me?  It
almost  feels  wrong,  yet  at  the  same  time,  right.  I
blame the latter on the surfacing memories. They’re
confusing me.

“Kingsley, stop!” I beg through my laughter as I

roll to my side. “You’re going to make me crack
apart again.”

“Actually, that won’t happen for a while.” He

slides onto the bed as he continues to torture my
sides with his fingertips. “And, with the help of the
witch doctor, we might be able to put a stop to it

altogether.”

“A witch doctor,” I manage to say as I curl onto

my side. “But I thought Rhyland said it wasn’t
magic causing it?”

“Witch doctor’s don’t just deal with magic.” He

ceases  the  tickling,  but  his  fingers  remain  on  my
sides.  His  chest  is  pressed  against  my  back,  his
breaths  coming  out  uneven,  which  is  super  weird
since  technically,  he  doesn’t  need  oxygen.  “They
deal  with  strange,  foreign  diseases  as  well,  along
with a lot of other things.”

“You guys think I have a disease?” I shudder.

“Yuck.”

“If you did, it’d be a lot better than it being

from magic,” he promises. “Diseases are way more
curable.”

“True…” I tense as his fingers gently trace

circles on my side. “Um, is this part of your Blood
Protector duties?”

“Is what?” Puzzlement etches his tone.
“Tickling me. Tracing circles on my side.”
His fingers pause then he sketches another

circle on my hip. “Didn’t realize I was doing it.” He
pushes away from me. “Sorry about that, my
queen.”

I roll onto my side and give him a dirty look.

“Please don’t call me that.”

He retaliates with an innocent look. “Call you

what?”

“My queen. I mean, first of all, from what I’ve

seen, I’m not even sure I’m supposed to be the real
queen. And second of all, at the rate I’m going,
even if I am the real queen, I’m probably going to
fall apart before the crown ever makes it on my
head.”

Any of his humor evaporates as he cups my

face between the palms of his hands. “No one’s
going to let that pretty head of yours fall apart. As
your Blood Protector, I can promise you that.”

My Blood Protector, just like he vowed all

those decades ago.

“How did you know?” I whisper, shaking my

head, so, so confused. “How did you know you
were going to be my Blood Protector? And that
Rhyland and I were going to be king and queen?"

“I didn’t.” A pucker forms between his brows.

“I know why you asked that, though. I remember.
And Rhyland and I have discussed it before, but we
haven’t…” He growls in frustration, withdrawing
his hands from my face and rolling onto his back.

I roll to my side and prop up onto my arm. “You

look upset.”

He rakes his fingers through his hair. “That’s

because I am.” His gaze skates to mine, his lips
tugging into a forced smile. “I guess you’re right.
I’m not always a jokester.”

“But why are you upset now?” I wonder. “Is it

because you know something you can’t tell me?”

“Not really. What I was trying to say… about

that night in the cafeteria… It’s not really
important…”

dazes

off,

his

hands

absentmindedly  drifting  toward  my  hair  and  his
fingers  start  playing  with  the  strands.  “Our  words
constantly  being  censored  just  gets  frustrating.  I
thought  maybe  because  things  were  different  this
time  around,  that  the  curse  seemed  to  be  breaking
—or  at  least  changing—that  maybe  for  the  first
time  since  our  first  life,  we’d  be  able  to  have  a
normal  conversation.”  His  gaze  finds  mine  and  a
drop  of  sadness  resides  in  his  eyes.  It’s  a  strange,
unfamiliar  look  for  him  and  makes  me  swallow
hard. “You know, like how we used to.”

“I don’t remember everything yet,” I remind

him. “But yeah, I guess from what I’ve seen, the
time we spent together wasn’t too awful.”

A smile quirks at his lips. “Too awful? Try not

awful at all.”

“Maybe that’s not how I felt,” I say with a

straight  face.  But  deep  down  in  my  cold  vampire
heart,  I’m  only  messing  with  him.  Deep  down,  I
know  Kingsley,  Rhyland,  and  I  used  to  be  besties,
kind of like how Effie, Anders, and I are in this life,
although Kingsley, Rhyland, and mine’s connection
was much deeper. I can feel the link between them
and  me  every  time  I  recall  something  about  my
original  life.  If  only  that  were  the  case  in  this  life.
Maybe things would be easier, not just between us,

but with figuring out what I need to do to make
everything go back to the way it was.

That is, if that even happens when the curse is

completely broken.

“What happens when I break the curse?” I ask,

even though he probably can’t answer me. “Does
everything just go back to the way it was?”

“If I could tell you, I would. But unfortunately,

I can’t.” He ravels a strand of my hair around his
finger. “I’d tell you a lot of things if I could.”

“Maybe you should just try—”
A door carved into the tree wall just across

from  the  bed  swings  open  and  Rhyland  steps
through  the  doorway,  looking  a  bit  pale,  and
shadows  reside  underneath  his  eyes.  He  takes  one
look at Kingsley and I lying side by side on the bed
with  Kingsley’s  fingers  tangled  in  my  hair,  and  he
freezes.

Kingsley stiffens. Then just as quickly, he

shakes off his tension, untangles his fingers from
my hair, and sits up on the bed, lowering his feet to
the floor.

“I was wondering when you were going to show

up.” He stands up, stretching his arms above his
head.

“I’m sure you were.” Rhyland’s gaze is cold,

his body rigid.

Tension grasps the air, which seems odd at first

—I mean, they’ve always seemed close, even in

our

original

lives—but

then

remember

something…

“Um, guys.” I scoot to the side of the bed,

planting  my  feet  onto  the  hardwood  floor  that’s
webbed  with  leafy  vines.  The  ceiling  is  weaved  of
tree  branches  mapped  with  leaves  and  blooming
midnight  flowers.  Who  would’ve  thought  that  the
inside  of  a  tree  could  be  so  pretty?  Then  again,
maybe  this  is  all  a  magical  illusion.  “I  have  to  tell
you something important.”

Kingsley and Rhyland tear their gazes off each

other and focus on me.

“What

it,

sweetheart?”

They

say

simultaneously.

I elevate my hands in front of me. “Okay, that

was some really weird twin in sync thingy there.”

Kingsley grins. “Is it freaking you out?”
I shrug. “It was a little weird.”
His gaze skates to Rhyland and Rhyland cracks

a tiny smile.

“Okay, can you guys talk telepathically or

something?”  My  gaze  bounces  between  the  two
smiling  idiot  vampires.  All  right,  they’re  not  really
idiots, but they’re driving me mad with their secret
looks.  “Or  is  those  cryptic  looks  you’re  always
giving each other something else?”

“What cryptic looks?” Kingsley asks then gives

Rhyland the exact look I was just talking about.

“Oh fine, whatever. Keep teasing me, because

apparently,  that’s  what  you  guys  do.”  I  stand  up.
“But  just  so  you  know,  you  when  you  give  each
other  those  cryptic  looks,  it  makes  you  look  super
constipated.”

Rhyland slants back, his brows rising in shock

while Kingsley gives me an unimpressed stare.

I smile innocently. “What? You can hand it out

but you can’t take it?”

“Oh, we can take it,” Kingsley assures me. “It’s

just been a while since you handed it out.” As a
wicked smile tugs at his lips, I brace myself for his
comeback. “And just so you know, our little Raven,
when you try to tease us, you’re utterly adorable.”

I scrunch my nose. “What sort of comeback is

that?”

He gives a half shrug. “Who said I was trying to

get you back?”

I shrug, sinking back onto the bed. “No one, I

guess. But you sure looked like you were going to.
You had on your playfully mean face.”

“Playfully mean face.” He rubs his scruffy

jawline. “Didn’t realize I had one of those.”

“Oh, you do,” I tell him. “And you wear it a

lot.”

Rhyland unexpectedly lets out a sharp cough as

he enters the room and shuts the door behind him.
“You said you had something to tell us,” he
interrupts, crossing the room and taking a seat
beside me on the bed.

“Oh yeah, I was going to say before Kingsley so

rudely interrupted me,” I toss him a smirk and he
retaliates with a grin. “That…” I suddenly grow
nervous. After all, that kiss between Kingsley and I
played a huge part in the curse. And now I have to
tell them that the queen was behind that too. “Well,
the thing is that…” I scratch the back of my neck.
“Remember how Kingsley and I… kissed that night
the curse happened?”

Kingsley smashes his lips together forcefully

while Rhyland’s eyes widen.

“You remember that?” Rhyland asks.
I nod, rubbing my neck, right on the spot where

he bit me that night on the balcony. “I do… I
remember a lot about that night.”

Rhyland’s gaze strays to where my hand is

resting and then he rubs his pierced lips together,
his gaze searching mine. “Just how much?”

“Well, the memory starts of us on the

balcony…”  I  quickly  clear  my  throat  as  desire
flashes  in  his  eyes.  “And  it  ends  with  me  walking
into  the  forest  and  the  queen  saying  some  stuff  to
me. Then my mind goes blank.”

A crease forms between his brows. “The queen

said something to you then?”

I nod. “She did.”
“What was it?” they both ask, Kingsley

plopping down on the bed on the other side of me.

Memories press at the back of my mind.

“You’re cursed,” the queen whispers in my ear.

“And no matter what your lover thinks, you’ll
never get close to breaking it. Because the moment
you do, I’ll kill you.”

I stare down at my hands. “That no matter what

my lover thinks, I’ll never get close to breaking the
curse. Because the moment I do, she’ll kill me…
And I guess she wasn’t lying since she’s trying to
do that right now.”

Silence encases us for a sluggish vampire of a

minute. Then Rhyland breaks the silence, quietly
asking, “Did she say anything else?”

I lift a shoulder. “Maybe.”
The queen’s words replay through my head:

“Because the more you suffer, the more my powers
grow, my little moonlight abomination.”

I swallow back the words, too afraid to say

them aloud.

“Raven.” Rhyland places a hand over mine. “If

you tell us, it could help us figure out what’s going
on with you. Why everything’s different this time
around. Why you were cracking apart.”

“Why am I not cracking apart anymore

anyway?” I purposefully change the subject.

“Because the transport to here pulled us all

apart  and  then  put  us  back  together  again.  And
when it put you back together, the cracks healed,”
Rhyland  explains,  softly  stroking  the  back  of  my
hand.  “But  we’re  all  pretty  certain  it’s  going  to

happen again, so we need to figure out what’s
causing it.”

“Kingsley said it might be a disease?” I glance

up at Rhyland and find him staring at our
interlocked hands as he traces the folds between
my fingers.

“Maybe.” Rhyland sucks on his lip ring,

contemplating something. “Honestly, it could be a
lot of things so hopefully the witch doctor can give
us some answers. I just hope we’re making the right
decision in trusting her.”

“It’ll be fine,” Kingsley mutters. “Harper has

assured me that this witch doctor is completely
trustworthy and I trust her, so…”

When I look at him, he’s staring down at mine

and Rhyland’s interlocked hands with a pained
expression.

“I hope you’re right.” Rhyland glances at

Kingsley, his expression hardening. “Because a lot
is riding on it.”

Kingsley mimics Rhyland’s hard look. “I

understand that, my king.” His tone is carved with
an edge.

“Where are we even?” I interrupt before they

end  up  throwing  fists  at  each  other  and  snapping
their  fangs.  Seriously,  it’s  so  tense  inside  this  tree
that  even  I  feel  wound  up  as  tightly  as  the  vines
above my head and below my feet.

“I already told you, in a tree.” In the snap of a

vampire fang, Kingsley goes from uptight to
playful, tugging on a strand of my hair. “Maybe we
should check your head again if you’ve already
forgotten.”

I roll my eyes. “I meant where is this tree

exactly? And are we safe?”

He nods, serious once again. “Of course we’re

safe. We wouldn’t settle for anything less.”

“So then where’s the tree?” I ask again and

when they don’t answer right away, uneasiness stirs
inside me. “All right, what’re you two not telling
me?”

“A lot of things?” Kingsley shrugs when I scowl

at him. “What? You already knew that.”

“I know, but I meant about where we are right

now,” I say. “And that you can tell me.”

“We know that.” Rhyland laces his fingers

through mine, drawing my attention to him. “But
we don’t want to freak you out.”

I glance between the both of them. “Why

would it freak me out?”

“Because it freaked us out when we first found

out,” Rhyland replies warily. “It’s a little hard to
take in.”

“But you’re going to have to tell me

eventually,” I point out. “And since you guys have
spent a lot of time not telling me a lot of things, I’m
hoping you’ll just tell me instead of dragging it out.
In fact, you kind of owe it to me.”

Rhyland’s lips pull to a small smile then he

glances at Kingsley. “We do sort of owe it to her,
don’t we?”

“I think we do.” Kingsley stands up and crosses

the small tree room to where a sheer green curtain
is hanging. “Don’t say we didn’t try to warn you,
though.” He tosses me a smirk before drawing back
the curtain.

Blinding colorful light pierces the room and I

immediately lift my hands to shield my eyes.

“What the shimmering pixies is that?” I squint

to find out the answer, but I can’t see past the light.

“That is a shimmer blob,” Rhyland places a

hand on my cheek and angles my head toward him
as I shut my eyes.

“A shimmer blob?” I crack open one eye and

lift  a  brow.  “I’ve  never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  Are
you  sure  you  aren’t  making  up  words  to  confuse
me?  I  know  it’s  one  of  your  guys’  favorite  past
times.” I give him an accusing look.

Rhyland appears positively pleased for who the

hell  bats  knows  why.  “That  might  be  true,  but  I
promise  we’re  not  making  this  up.  Kingsley  and  I
didn’t  know  what  one  was  either  until  a  couple  of
nights ago—”

“Wait, I’ve been out for a couple of nights?”

My jaw drops as he reluctantly nods. “Why?
Because of the spell you put on me?”

Rhyland shakes his head. “Coming here took a

lot out of all of us and it took us some time to
recover. Since you were already weakened by the
cracking, it took you a little bit longer.”

My lips form an o, the light fizzling out as

Kingsley lets the curtain go. “So then what is this
shimmer blob thingy that made me lose a couple of
days just so I could get here?”

“It’s…” Rhyland wavers. “Kind of like a faerie,

I guess.”

“We’re inside a faerie?” I pull a disgusted face.

“First of all, ew. And second of all, how is that
safe?”

“Well, we’re not really in a faerie.” Rhyland

looks to Kingsley for help.

“It’s a type of pixie, not faerie, made entirely of

light.  In  it’s  forced  form,  it  looks  like  a  six-inch
blob  of  shimmer.  But  in  it’s  natural  form,  it’s  an
entire  world  created  of  light  that  can  travel
anywhere and also carry passengers. It’s practically
one of the safest places we can be since no one can
just  walk  in.  You  have  to  be  permitted.”  Kingsley
shrugs  when  Rhyland  gives  him  a  strange  look.
“What? That’s how Harper explained it.”

“That was very detailed,” Rhyland says

suspiciously. “You must have been paying very
close attention to Harper.”

“I always pay close attention to everyone,”

Kingsley insists, reclining against the wall and
crossing his arms.

A blood drop of a beat drips by and then they

both bust up laughing.

“I take it Kingsley doesn’t always pay

attention,” I say, strangely feeling left out.

When Kingsley’s gaze lands on me, his laughter

fades into a smile. “Aw, does someone feel left out?

“No,” I lie, crossing my arms. “Because that’d

mean I’d want to be included in your silly joking
world and I don’t.”

“Liar,” he accuses, crossing the room toward

me, his gaze growing intense. “You want to be part
of our world. Now that you can remember some of
it, you miss it. Admit it.”

My eyes narrow to slits. “I may be able to

remember some of our original lives, but that
doesn’t mean I’ve forgot this life. And I never want
to be part of that.”

He stops in front of me and I angle my head

back to look at him, keeping my scowl in place
despite the intensity blazing from his eyes.

“Deep down, you know nothing about this life

is real.” His low tone causes a shiver to coil down
my spine, not necessarily in a bad way. “You know
the truth, Raven, of how we used to be and you
want to be part of it again.”

A wave of frustration rolls over me. Sure, most

of what I’ve seen from our original life is all laughs
and jokes and smiles. But towards the end, there
was so much distrust; me distrusting Rhyland and

questioning if he wanted to be with Nadine,
Rhyland distrusting Kingsley and I about the kiss.
Then Rhyland stabbed us all in the back by making
a deal with the queen, at least from what I’ve seen.

“Want to be part of what exactly?” I question,

rising  to  my  feet  and  completely  invading  his
personal  space,  but  he  doesn’t  step  back.  “The
distrust. The backstabbing. The hurting each other.”
I poke him in the chest and surprisingly, he winces.
“Because  toward  the  end,  that’s  all  we  really
were.”

“Raven.” Rhyland’s voice is soft as he stands

up  and  guides  my  hand  away  before  I  can  poke
Kingsley  again.  “That’s  not  all  we  were.  We  were
way  more  than  that.  We  just  made  some  bad
choices.”

“Made some bad choices.” I look at him,

shaking my head. “Tell me this then, if we were
such great, trusting friends then how the hell did the
queen manage to turn us all against each other in a
single night?” I wiggle my hand out of his and walk
away from them. “Because that’s what she did. She
played us all against each other, from interrupting
us on the balcony to making Kingsley and I kiss.” I
yank my fingers through my hair as my head begins
to spin. I feel dizzy, like I’m spinning out of control,
like nothing makes sense.

“Making you and Kingsley kiss,” Rhyland

mumbles. Then a hand touches my shoulder and

Rhyland steers me toward him, his eyes wild with
uncertainty. “What did you mean by that?”

I shrug, my hands falling to my side. “It’s what

I was going to tell you.” My gaze flits to Kingsley,
who’s staring at me with an unreadable expression.

I wonder if he has an idea of what I’m about to

say. I mean, at some point he had to wonder why
him and I had a sudden desire to kiss each other,
especially right after he found out that Rhyland and
I had kissed and bit each other that night.

Ripping my gaze off Kingsley, I focus on

Rhyland. “After you walked in on Kingsley and I…
Well,  you  know...  But  anyway,”  I  clear  my  throat.
“Kingsley  immediately  took  off  to  find  you  and  I
headed  to  find  you  too,  but  then  I  noticed  this
wing-shaped  barrette  right  beside  the  blood
Kingsley  and  I  drank  minutes  earlier.  It  was  the
barrette  the  fey  queen  tried  to  give  me  when  you
left  me  on  the  balcony  and  I  ran  into  her.  Only
when  she  tried  to  give  it  to  me,  it  had  this  vial
attached  to  it  that  was  filled  with  pale  purple,
glittering liquid.”

“Euphoric faerie dust,” Rhyland mumbles.
I can see the wheels in his head turning, the

truth starting to click.

“That’s what it was—I sniffed the vial to be

sure,” I tell him. “But the vial was empty when I
found it, which means—”

“Someone put it into the blood that you and

Kingsley drank.” Rhyland drags his fingers through
his hair and breathes out, “Holy fucking shit.”

“Yep, that about summed up my thoughts when

I saw the memory,” I say.

Rhyland lowers his arm to his side. “When did

you remember this?”

“Back in the tent, when I…” My gaze skims

around  his  neck  and  his  chest  and  the  memory  of
the  taste  of  his  blood  floods  my  body,  causing
hunger  to  burn  inside  me.  It’s  been  so  long  since
I’ve  had  any  blood…  “Well,  you  know.  And  then
Nadine  knocked  me  out.  That’s  when  I
remembered.”  I  yank  my  gaze  off  his  neck  and
stare at the space of wall just over his shoulder, too
afraid to look at him, too afraid that I’ll lose control
of  my  hunger.  “I  would’ve  told  you  guys  sooner,
but  we  haven’t  been  alone  since  it  happened,  and
I’m  not  sure  how  much  Harper  and  Dex  know
about all of this, so I thought it’d be better to wait
until we were alone.”

“It’s good that you did,” Rhyland says. I can

feel his gaze burning into me, but I refuse to look at
him. “Dex and Harper know a lot about the curse,
but it’s good to keep some of the information
between just the three of us. When we tell others,
we risk it getting back to the queen.”

“That makes sense.” I dare return my gaze to

Rhyland, but he’s no longer looking at me.

No, he’s staring at Kingsley, his face contorted

in perplexity.

“Why didn’t you tell me that maybe you two

were drugged when you kissed?” Accusation
simmers in Rhyland’s voice. “I know you might not
have known about the vial itself, but you did know
what getting high of euphoric faerie dust felt like.
You had to know something wasn’t right.”

“Maybe I did.” Kingsley’s calculated gaze is

fastened on Rhyland. “Maybe I just never wanted
to say it.”

My walls instantly go up. “Is there something

you guys aren’t telling me about this? Is there more
to it than I remember?”

“Not that I know of.” Rhyland stares his

brother down hard. “But maybe you should direct
your question to my brother, because I’m quite
curious about the answer myself.”

“Even if I knew more, who says I can even tell

you.” He pushes to his feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse
me,  I’m  going  to  go  do  my  duty  as  the  queen’s
Blood  Protector  and  make  sure  everything  is  okay
in  the  outside  perimeters.”  He  strides  past  me
without  so  much  as  making  eye  contact  and  slips
out  the  door,  leaving  me  to  wonder  if  perhaps  he
knows more.

If perhaps in knew the vial was there all along.

R A V E N

hyland  and  I  silently  stare  at  the  door
that  Kingsley  stormed  out  of  for  a
lengthy  amount  of  time  until  finally  I

can’t take the maddening silence anymore.

“He’s acting offish,” I comment confusedly.

Between him and Rhyland, Rhyland always seemed
like the offish of the two. Kingsley seemed more
blunt, even in past memories. “Kingsley, I mean.”

“Yes, he is,” Rhyland mumbles, his gaze

practically burrowing a hole into the door.

“Do you want to go check on him?” I brush

strands of my hair out of my face, noting how
tangled my hair is. How long has it been since I
showered?

The fact that I have to ask myself that question

makes me cringe.

He shakes his head. “It won’t do any good.” He

finally looks at me. “I’m not sure how much you
remember about my brother, but he’s not the kind
of vampire to tell you stuff unless he wants to.”

“So then what? We just wait around until he

feels  like  telling  us  whatever  he  knows  about  that
night?  Because  what  if  it’s  something  important?
That  could  maybe  even  help  me  figure  how  to
break  the  curse  completely  before  the  queen
decides to end it by killing me? Because personally,
I don’t want that to happen”

“That won’t happen,” he vows fiercely. “And if

what Kingsley knew would help you break the
curse, he’d tell you if he could.” He looks away.
“He cares about you too much.”

“If you say so.” But lack of not knowing

everything unsettles me and has me question just
how much I even know about the curse and my
relationship between Rhyland and Kingsley.

I thought because my memories were returning

that it meant I wasn’t in the dark anymore. But now
I  feel  like  I’m  drifting  in  an  unknown  sea  of
darkness,  which  I  guess  doesn’t  make  any  sense
since,  according  to  Rhyland  and  Kingsley,  I’m
currently  floating  around  in  a  creature  made  of
light.

“Am I really inside a creature?” I ask as reality

washes over me.

Rhyland offers me a tiny smile but worry

haunts his eyes. “Yeah, I guess you sort of are.”

“It seems sort of disgusting, although its light is

very pretty.” I sink down on the bed with a sigh.
“How long do we have to stay in here?”

He sits down beside me, so close that the sides

of our legs touch. Instinctively, I start to scoot
away, like I would’ve only weeks ago, but my body
doesn’t seem to want to cooperate anymore.

Damn traitor body.
“We haven’t decided yet.” He tucks a strand of

my hair behind my ear, and I sort of feel sorry for
him, since my hair is like a bats’ nest and has got to
be pretty yucky. “I’m not sure how much Kingsley
told you about what happened before we came into
the shimmer blob or how much you remember…”

“I remember up until you put the freezing spell

was put me. And Kingsley didn’t tell me much
about what happened after that.”

“Then what were you guys doing in here after

you woke up?” He shakes his head, his jaw set
tight. “Never mind. I’d rather not know.”

I start to tell him we weren’t doing much of

anything except talking, not that I owe him an
explanation, but he speaks first.

“Nadine possessed Harper’s body for a bit and

got control over Kingsley’s too,” he says with a
weighted sigh.

“What?” Tension ravels through my body as my

gaze zips to the door. “Is everyone unpossessed
now?

“Of course and we had a witch doctor do a

spell  that  will  protect  everyone  here  from  getting
possessed  again.”  He  takes  my  hands  in  his.  “If
everyone  wasn’t  safe  from  possession,  they
wouldn’t be near you right now.”

I chill down a blood drop. “It’s still so unsettling

that  Nadine  can  do  that…  Has  she  always  been
able  to  do  that?”  I  don’t  expect  him  to  be  able  to
answer,  so  when  he  nods,  a  bit  of  shock  whips
through me.

His eyes enlarge. “I didn’t think I was going to

be able to tell you that.”

“Maybe you should try to tell me some more,” I

suggest. “Maybe something’s happening that’s
making it so you can tell me stuff now.”

“I….” He shakes his head in discouragement.

“No, I don’t think so.” He absentmindedly combs a
strand of my hair out my face. “Although, the curse
must be weakening since certain things keep
slipping out.”

“That’s good, right? I mean, it’s got to mean

that we can break it completely?”

“I would say yes, but….” His face shadows

with pain. “I’ve known the queen for decades now
and there’s no way she’s going to just let this curse
break without a fight. Not if she gets something out
of it.”

“Which she does,” I mumble unintentionally.
When I realize my mistake, I want to slap my

hand over my mouth, but that will only make me
appear more suspicious.

“What do you mean by that?” he asks. When

my  lips  remain  sealed  and  my  gaze  on  my  lap,  he
fixes  his  finger  under  my  chin  and  forces  me  to
look  at  him.  “Sweetheart,  you  need  to  tell  me
everything  you  know.  It  might  be  able  to  help  me
figure  out  what’s  going  on—why  the  curse  is
suddenly  changing  when  we’ve  been  stuck  on
repeat for so long.”

I hesitate. Can I do it? Can I trust him? I’m not

sure.  I’m  never  sure  about  anything.  But  at  this
point,  what  choice  do  I  have,  other  than  to  keep
walking through all of this and just hoping that my
next  memory  will  reveal  more  of  the  truth.  I’m
starting  to  painfully  realize  that.  That  I  don’t  have
any  choice  but  to  trust  Rhyland  and  Kingsley,  like
my  mom  told  me  to,  or  just  hope  that  I  can  figure
everything  out  on  my  own.  Considering  I’ve  been
stuck in this curse for a very, very long time and as
far  as  I  know  have  never  trusted  anyone  to  help
me,  I’m  wondering  if  it’s  time.  Time  to  try
something different.

“She called me an abomination,” I mumble.

“The fey queen, I mean. She called me it right
before the curse wiped out my memories.”

His brows dip. “Do you remember her exact

words?”

“ ‘Because the more you suffer, the more my

powers grow, my little moonlight abomination.’ ” I
hold my breath, waiting for him to… Well, I’m not
sure. But it’s going to be bad. After all, nothing
about being a moonlight abomination can be good,
right?

“Moonlight abomination,” he finally mumbles.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“But you’ve heard of abominations before,” I

say quietly. “And that’s not a good thing. And if
what the queen said has some truth to it—about my
suffering giving her power—it means she’s gained a
lot of power.”

“I don’t want you to worry.” His palm molds

around my cheek, his gaze boring into mine. “No
one’s going to let anything happen to you.”

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about

everyone  else  out  there  who  doesn’t  have  a  weird
shimmer  blob  to  hide  in.  I’m  worried  about  the
people  in  Mystic  Willow  Bay.  About  Anders  and
Effie. About my parents. About your parents.” My
tone  trembles  as  my  eyes  burn  with  tears.  “We
don’t even know where they are.”

His thumb skims my cheekbone. “I know.”
“And Nadine is evil. Or well, more evil than

anyone realizes.” I flop down on the bed and drape
my arm across my forehead. “My head feels
spinny.”

“Spinny… You and your words.” He slants over

me, resting his elbow beside my head and using his

free hand to direct my arm away from my forehead.
“I know you’re freaking out and I know it’s got to
be  pretty  damn  frustrating  knowing  stuff  yet  not
knowing  everything.  And  I  know  I  can’t  tell  you
much—I wish I could—but I promise you that this
time around we’re going to get through this. We’re
going  to  break  the  curse  and  free  ourselves  from
the queen’s grasp—we’re going to free all of us”

“That seems like an awfully big promise,” I

grumble with a sigh.

“And it’s a promise I intend to keep.” He leans

closer, the chill of his body seeping into me. “I may
have  had  little  control  in  the  past,  but  this  time  is
different.  We’ve  never  been  able  to  flee  from  the
queen  before.  And  I’m  going  to  latch  onto  that
leeway and get us out of this mess.”

“But how are you supposed to when you don’t

even know what this mess is?” I question. “Well,
unless you knew I’m an abomination and that the
queen has been gaining power over my suffering.”

“No matter what you are, you’re not an

abomination,”  he  states  firmly.  “And  as  for  the
queen  gaining  power  from  the  curse,  we  already
sort  of  assumed  that.  We  just  weren’t  exactly  sure
how.”

“We still aren’t exactly sure how. You guys

assumed it had something to do with the Created,
but you weren’t positive.”

“I still think it does have something to do with

that.”

“But it also has something to do with me.” I

chew  on  my  bottom  lip  as  I  mentally  go  over
everything  I’ve  learned  from  my  memories.  “You
know, it doesn’t make sense why the fey queen was
even  spying  on  us  to  begin  with.  Like  that  day  in
the forest, right after Nadine and you were chosen
as  king  and  queen.  Why  was  she  even  there?  And
why did  she show  up  at the  castle  the night  of  the
crowning  ceremony?  And  how  did  she  know
exactly how to make us all turn on each other? She
had to be watching us for a while and learning our
weaknesses. But again, why? Why was a fey queen
interested  in  what  a  bunch  of  teenage  vampires
were doing?”

“Kingsley and I figured out a while ago that

she’d  been  watching  us  for  a  while.  We  just  never
knew  why.  Maybe  if  we  can  figure  out  why  she
referred  to  you  as  an  abomination,  we  can  learn
more about the true purpose of the curse—because
we still don’t know that. I mean, in the beginning, I
thought  it  was  for  my  benefit  but…”  He  sighs,
brushing  his  thumb  along  my  cheek.  “I’m  thinking
that maybe we can ask the witch doctor to look into
what you are. That is, if you’re okay with that.”

I nod, even though I’m not. But it’s not about

what  I  want  anymore.  It  never  really  has  been,  I
guess.  Everything  about  my  life  has  been  planned
and  controlled,  maybe  even  from  my  first  life,

depending on how long the queen was watching
me.

“There is one more thing… I’ve already sort of

talked to Kingsley this and he didn’t seem to know
the  answer.  Or  he  just  couldn’t  tell  me—maybe  a
bit  if  both.  But  I’m  hoping  maybe  you  can  tell  me
about it. Maybe fight past the curse or something…
It’s  about  that  day  in  the  cafeteria,  when  we  first
sort of became friends…”

The most genuine smile illuminates across his

face. “You remember that day?” he asks and I nod.
He sketches his fingertip along my jawline. “I’m so
glad.”

“Why?” My eyelashes flutter against his touch,

despite my internal protest. “Is it important?”

He nods. “It was one of the most genuine times

in  our  lives.  You  should  hold  onto  that.  What  we
really  were  once.  What  we  should’ve  been.”
Sadness  overtakes  his  happiness  and  it  makes  my
cold heart ache in the strangest way.

“I’ll try to remember that,” I promise him. “But

that’s not the reason I mentioned the memory. It’s
what was said that day that I want to know more
about.”

“I know what you’re referring to and… We…

We… Don’t really know what that was…” He
curses in frustration.

“Did you know I saw a shadowy figure standing

in the alcove right after Nadine threatened us?” I

ask and when his brows rise to his hairline, I have
my answer. “It had glowing eyes and I could sense
that it was watching me. But it was gone before I
even took my next blink.”

“But you never said anything about it.” His

expression is a mask of confusion.

“I probably thought I was just seeing things. I

was so young and edgy all the time. I think I may
have thought either I didn’t really see it or if I said
anything, you guys would make fun of me.”

His confusion morphs into sincerity. “We never

would’ve made fun of you back then. If we could,
we would’ve never made fun of you ever.” The pad
of his thumb traces along my lip. “You meant, and
still do, mean the worlds to me.” His features
harden ever so slightly. “And my brother.”

The urge to tell him that he once meant the

worlds to me bites at my tongue. I’m not even sure
where the compulsion is stemming from and part of
me is having a silent battle not to give in to it.

But then my lips part. “You guys meant—”
The tree abruptly jolts, launching us sideways.

Luckily, we’re on the bed so when we roll to a stop,
the landing is soft. However, Rhyland ends up lying
on top of me, our legs a tangled mess, our chest
pressed together, and my lips end up smashed
against the side of his neck, right beside his pulse.

My mouth salivates as I breathe in the scent of

him, of the blood underneath his skin, and my fangs

twitch to be released.

Get control over yourself, Raven. You’ve been

fine without his blood before. The only reason you
ever tasted it was to see if it broke the curse and it
didn’t.

“You can if you want to,” Rhyland groans out,

his lips moving against my forehead, his fingers
tangling through my hair.

“I’m fine,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut.
He breathes in and out, not moving back, as if

silently begging me to do it, which might be exactly
what he’s doing. But that doesn’t mean I’m just
going to get into the habit of drinking from his vein.

As I start to lean back, though, my hunger takes

over and I slant forward, sinking my veins into his
neck.

Rhyland moans, tugging on the roots of my hair.

“Gods, that feels so good.”

I suck harder, basking in the taste of his blood

as  it  spills  down  my  throat,  feeding  my  hunger,
feeding  my  power.  Powerful.  I  can  feel  it,  a  surge
of energy flickering deep within in. And the more I
drink,  the  more  the  energy  ignites  until  a  fire  of
desire bursts through me.

Before I can even process what I’m doing, I

shove Rhyland back onto the bed, kind of roughly.
Then I sit up and climb on top of him, straddling his
waist. Blood is dripping from his neck and his eyes
are wide in surprise.

“I’m sorry… That was probably too rough,

right?” Blood trickles from my lips.

A soft laugh escapes him then he cups the back

of my head and guides my mouth toward his. “Not
even close.”

Our lips crash together, his tongue parting my

lips  and  grazing  my  fangs.  The  potent,  powerful
taste  of  his  blood  floods  my  mouth,  making  me
crave  more.  I  jerk  back,  completely  out  of  control
and  tear  open  his  shirt.  Not  waiting  to  see  his
reaction,  I  dip  my  head  and  graze  my  teeth  along
his  chest,  down  his  stomach,  then  back  upward.
When  I  reach  his  neck,  I  prepare  to  devour  his
blood  again.  But  then  pause,  realizing  he’s  gone
very still.

When I lift my head, worry overpowers my

hunger as I catch sight of him; his eyes shut, his lips
parted, his skin pale.

“Rhyland?” I place my palm to his cheek and

his eyelids weakly open. “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head from side to side, strands of

his hair falling across his forehead. “It’s nothing…
Keep feeding… Take as much blood as you need.”

“You look sick. Do you have an ice fever or

something?”  I  line  my  palm  to  his  forehead.  “You
don’t  feel  cold,  but…  Maybe  I  should  go  get
Kingsley.”  I  start  to  get  up,  but  his  hands  find  my
waist, securing me in place.

“Raven.” He chuckles weakly. “I promise I’m

okay. I’m just a little weaker than I normally am
because I’ve been using my magic a lot lately.”

I remember him and Kingsley arguing about

that, but still… “You seem extra tired all of a
sudden.”

“I know.” His thumbs slip underneath the hem

of  my  shirt,  brushing  my  sides,  and  it  takes  all  of
my  self-control  not  to  shiver.  “When  you  feed  on
me, you take some of my energy, which normally is
fine,  but  since  I  haven’t  had  much  in  the  line  of
blood for quite a while and with my magic draining
so  much  energy  from  me…”  He  wavers.  “It  just
makes things a bit more complicated. But I’m fine.
I swear I am and I want you to feed from me.” He
skims his thumb along my hipbone, a smile playing
at his lips. “In case you haven’t noticed, I do enjoy
it. A lot.”

I’m more than aware of that, by the way he

groans every time my fangs graze his skin, how he
begs for more, and how his hardness is currently
pressing against me.

Still…
“Maybe I should just drink normal blood until

you can regain your strength.”

He swiftly shakes his head. “No, please don’t

do  that.  You  don’t  know  how  long  I’ve  waited…
How  much…”  He  grimaces.  “Besides,  the  blood
Harper  can  get  here  sucks.  It’s  why  it’s  taking  me
forever to regain my strength.”

“Oh.” I bite down on my bottom lip. Don’t ask.

Don’t you dare ask. “Who have you been drinking
from?” Why can’t I just keep my mouth shut.

“I’m not. I’m drinking from the bottle.” He

bites back an arrogant smile. “It’s nice to know you
care, though.”

I glower at him, but my lips itch to turn upward.

“I don’t care. I was just curious.”

He chuckles, his grip on my hips loosening, his

eyelids  drifting  shut  again.  He’s  so  weak  and  it’s
partly  my  fault  for  not  being  okay  with  him
drinking  from  my  vein.  And  with  everything  going
on, he definitely needs his strength.

But I don’t think I can go there with him yet—

allow him to bite me. Even thinking about it makes
my stomach coil with nervousness. And there’s so
much I’m in the dark about still. But maybe there’s
a way for me to help…

“If…” I start, chewing on my bottom lip.
When his eyes roll open, his gaze meeting mine,

I look away, my cheeks flushing. Gods, if I can’t
even look at him when I say this, how am I
supposed to go through with it?

Sucking in a breath, I force myself to carry his

gaze. “If I let you drink my blood—not from the
vein,” I quickly add. “But just drink it like how I
used to do with you… Will it help you?”

He twirls a strand of my hair around his

fingertip. “It will, but I don’t want you to do that

unless you want to.”

“I want to help you. And I know you need your

strength.”

His pierced lips tilt into a sad smile. “I

appreciate the offer, but I could never ask that of
you until you’re ready.”

His words make a growl tickle at the back of

my throat. All this tiptoeing around the truth is
getting on my nerves. Kingsley was right. Them
being censored is beyond irritating.

“Well, you’re not really asking me, are you?

I’m offering.” Then before I can scaredy cat out, I
bring  my  forearm  to  my  fangs  and  cut  the  skin
open,  just  like  Rhyland  has  done  to  his  own  arm
almost  every  time  I  fed  off  him  without  drinking
from his vein.

His nostrils flare as I position my wrist above

his  mouth,  blood  trickling  from  the  wound.  I’m
putting  a  lot  of  trust  in  him  right  now  not  to  lose
control  and  sink  his  fangs  into  my  flesh,  which
might be a stupid thing to do, considering he’s spent
decades  and  decades  lying  to  me.  But  I’m  not
backing  out.  He  needs  this.  And  we—I  need  him,
no matter how hard that is to admit.

As the first blood droplet drips from the wound

and  falls  onto  his  lips,  he  lets  out  the  most  needy
whimper.  Then  his  lips  part  and  he  licks  the  blood
from  his  lip,  his  eyes  shutting  as  he  releases  a
savoring moan.

“You taste so good… It’s been so long… I’ve

forgotten  how  amazing  you  taste.”  With  his  eyes
remaining  shut,  he  elevates  his  head,  seals  his  lips
to  my  forearm,  and  slowly  starts  sucking  out  the
blood while gently holding onto my wrist.

His tastes are gentle, calculated, careful, and I

might like him a little bit in that moment, for not
taking advantage of my trust.

I allow him to drink for a while, wanting him to

get all the power he needs, until I become so
relaxed, I decide I need to lie down.

Lowering my head to his chest, I keep my arm

above  my  head  so  he  can  feed  more.  Keeping  one
hand  on  my  wrist,  he  places  his  other  hand  on  my
back and traces a path up and down my spine. My
eyelids  grow  heavy,  my  muscles  unwinding  to  the
point  where  I  feel  blood  high.  I  just  about  fall
asleep, and may have, if Rhyland didn’t remove his
lips from my arm.

“Are you okay?” He brushes his knuckles

across my cheek.

I bob my head up and down. “I’m okay… I just

feel like…” I raise my head to look at him. “Well,
like when I had that blood boost.” My brows knit.
“Gods, that feels like ages ago, doesn’t it?”

“Not for me, but probably because I think

about it often.” He licks a drop of blood from his
lips.

“Why? Because of that whole I-was-supposed-

to-feed-off-of-you-first-thing? Because I’ve fed off
you now so it doesn’t seem like it should bother
you that much anymore.”

He takes hold of my hand, turns my palm up,

and  traces  the  lines  with  his  fingertip,  his  gaze
tracking  his  finger.  “I  wish  I  could  say  all  the
reasons  why,  but  I  can’t.  Just  know  that  you
drinking  that  blood  boost  will  forever  bother  me.
But it’s my own damn fault….” He sighs.

“I’m sorry.” No other words come to me, and

he seems so miserable right now that I decide a
subject change might be good. “On a more positive
note, though, you do look better.”

“Just better?” He pretends to be deeply

wounded.

I hold up my hand, my thumb and my finger a

sliver apart. “Yep, just a tiny bit.”

“You’re a tease.” He places a savoring kiss to

my palm. “That’s okay, though. I like you this
way.”

“Like what way?”
“Like how you used to be.”
“Hey, you managed to say something about our

past.”

“I know.” A pucker forms between his brows as

he strokes my palm. “Sometimes it’s easier to do it
and sometimes it’s completely impossible.”

“I wonder why that—” A sharp pain sears up

my throat and I cough, blood splattering across

Rhyland’s face.

He jolts up, gripping onto me, his skin paling

again. “Raven, sweetheart, tell me what…”

His lips continue to move, but I can’t hear him

over the ringing in my ears. I reach to touch his
face, to grab onto something, but everything bleeds
red.

It’s all I see.
Blood. Blood. Everywhere. Splattered all over

him, all over me, all over the Land of Moonlight.

All over every single world and creature.

R H Y L A N D

anic is whipping through me as I scoop
Raven up in my arms and hurry out of
the room. While blood has stopped

spewing from her mouth, she’s unconscious and her
skin is ice cold. Again, like with the cracking, I’m
unsure what’s going on with her.

I seriously can’t take this anymore. It’s as if the

moment things get slightly calm between us,
another obstacle is thrown our way and every damn
one affects Raven.

“Kingsley!” I call out as I rush outside the

room.

When we were transported into the shimmer

blob, we had each been assigned a tree room, but
I’ve spent most of my time sleeping in the hallway
just outside of Raven’s room. I nearly trip over the
makeshift bed I set up there, but catch my balance

and  rush  down  the  hollowed  out  hallway.  I’m
usually  not  clumsy  at  all,  but  I’m  distracted  and
panicking.  I  need  to  calm  the  fuck  down  because
losing my shit isn’t going to help anyone. But every
time my gaze drops to Raven, slack in my arms, my
anxiety soars through the roof.

“Kingsley.” When I reach his shut door, I storm

into his room, the door hitting the wall so hard the
bark cracks.

He’s lying in his bed , staring up at the ceiling,

which seems odd—usually he’s always doing
something. What’s even more fucking weird is that
his eyes are red, as if he’s been crying.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him cry before.
“What the hell?” Kingsley grumbles, bolting

upright, his bloodshot eyes narrow on me. But then
he takes one look at Raven, limp in my arms, blood
staining her face and shirt, and he springs to his
feet. “What the fuck happened?”

“I’m not sure.” I kick the door shut, then gently

set Raven down on the bed. “One minute we were
talking and the next, she started spitting out blood.”
I trace my finger across her cheek. “She’s so cold
and still and I can’t wake her up.”

Kingsley nudges me out of the way, then leans

in to examine Raven, his fingers tracing a path
along the healing cut on her forearm, the spot I
drank her blood from. “What’s the cut from?”

Part of me doesn’t want to tell him, not because

I’m ashamed—no, I’m not even close—but
because he’ll get distracted.

“If you don’t tell me everything, I might not be

able to figure out what’s going on.” He doesn’t look
at me, his gaze fixed on her.

He’s right and I know it.
“Fine. It’s from where I fed from her.”
His head snaps in my direction, jealousy

simmering in his eyes. For a demon of a moment, I
want  him  to  feel  it,  so  he’ll  know  what  it  felt  like
that  night  I  saw  him  kiss  Raven.  But  Raven  was
right.  Our  distrust,  backstabbing,  and  hurting  each
other  is  what  gave  the  queen  an  opening  to  curse
us.  If  we  want  to  win  against  her,  we  need  to  ban
together  and  get  over  the  petty  shit  that  keeps
pushing  us  apart,  even  though  I  do  question  if
Kingsley knew about the vial of euphoric dust that
night.  But  that’s  not  important  right  now.  Raven  is
—she always is.

“Not from her vein,” I clarify.
He gazes skims across my torn shirt and the

fresh bite marks on my chest and neck. “And then
she fed off of you?”

I shake my head. “She did that first, then let me

drink  some  blood  from  her.”  I  kneel  down  on  the
floor  beside  the  bed  and  brush  my  fingers  across
her forehead. “She seemed a little tired after she let
me  do  it,  but  coherent.  Then  one  minute  we  were
talking  and  the  next…”  I  swallow  hard.  “She  was

spitting out blood and couldn’t talk. Then she
passed out and I can’t get her to wake up.” I glance
at him. “What do you think is wrong with her?”

Kingsley shrugs, his brows pulling together.

“The only thing that matches her symptoms is that
she might’ve had a bad reaction to you drinking her
blood. Or it could just be from the cracking.”

“How can it be a ad reaction? We’re king and

queen. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“Are you? Because in reality, you—she—

wasn’t supposed to be.”

I grind my teeth. “We don’t know that for sure.

We’ve always known that perhaps Fate choosing
Nadine was a mistake.”

“But that doesn’t mean that Raven was

supposed  to  take  her  place.  It  only  ever  happened
because  of  the  curse.  And  she’s  never  made  it  to
the  part  where  she  actually  gets  crowned  as  the
queen.” He studies Raven with his brows furrowed.
“Maybe there’s a reason for that.”

“That still wouldn’t explain why she had a bad

reaction to me drinking her blood,” I bite out. “I’ve
drank it before, in our first life. From the vein.”

“I know.” He casts me a sidelong glance. “I ran

into her right after you did it—right after you left
her with the fey queen to go dance with Nadine.”

“Don’t say it like that—like I did it on purpose.

I didn’t know the fey queen was there. And I had to
dance with Nadine or else everyone would’ve

grown suspicious.” I push to my feet, rage burning
underneath  my  skin.  “And  why  are  you  even
bringing  this  up?  We’ve  had  this  stupid
conversation  a  hundred  times  and  it  never  gets  us
anywhere.” I start pacing the room. “Right now we
should be focusing on her.” I give a pressing look at
Raven.

“I am.” Kingsley returns his gaze to Raven. “I

always am. Because it’s my job as her Blood
Protector.”

“Is that the only reason?” I accuse.
“Of course.” He won’t meet my gaze.
I swallow down my anger the best that I can

and focus on Raven. “You remember in the tent
when I said that perhaps this curse wasn’t supposed
to end with me and her.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you’re right.”
“Even when this happened right after I drank

from her?” I give an insinuating look in Raven’s
direction.

He drags his teeth across his lip. “It could have

nothing to do with you feeding from her. I already
saidit might be the same thing as what caused her to
crack apart.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I sketch my finger along

Raven’s  temple.  Only  moments  ago,  things  had
been perfect. Well, as perfect as things can be when
you’re  hiding  in  a  shimmer  blob  from  an  army  of
Created.  Now  everything  feels  broken  and  painful

and confusing. I want to go back, want to taste her
blood, want to feel her fangs in my skin. But deep
down, I know Kingsley might be right. That
Raven’s current condition might be because of a
bad reaction from me drinking her blood. “How do
we find out for sure what’s going on with her?”

“We wait until—”
Knocking at the door cuts him off.
Confused, he crosses the room and throws the

door open, his fingers hovering near his holster.
When he sees it’s just Harper, he visibly unstiffens.

“What’s up?” he asks her.
“I have some good news.” Her gaze glides to

Raven and she frowns. “And it might be just in
time.” She grows quiet, mulling over something.

Kingsley motions for her to spit it out. “So what

is it?”

“Oh.” She blinks back at him. “The witch

doctor is ready to examine Raven.”

“Thank the fucking vampires.” Kingsley moves

back to the bed and scoops Raven up in his arms.

I start to protest, but then hesitate. If my

feeding from her hurt her, then I need to back off.

Even though it nearly re-kills me, I let him carry

her out of the room, hoping to all the vampire Gods
that the witch doctor can help her.

That whatever happened to her won’t be

permitted. Because even if I can’t feed off her
blood, I can never lose her.

Kingsley slips out the door and I start to follow

him when an eerie rumble in my chest suddenly
rises.

My chest tautens. “What the hell is that?”
The most potent rage starts to burn in my veins

and for a brief instant, I see red.

After a few breaths, though, I get the rumble

under control. But the feel of it has me unsettled.
What if the queen is doing something else to me?
Something terrible?

It’s hard to say for sure, but with everything

else happening, I’m worried that yet another
obstacle might be coming our way.

K I N G S L E Y

hyland seems a bit off as we make our
way down the hallway toward the main
floor located in the trunk of the tree.

He’s probably freaking out about Raven. He even
let me carry her without an argument, so yeah, he’s
got to be pretty damn distracted.

As he trails at my heels, he remains silent as we

weave back and forth down hallways. This tree is
one of the most strangest places I’ve ever been in,
which is saying a lot since I once got stuck inside
an ogre—it’s a long story.

The tree is located in the center of the shimmer

blob  and  has  different  floors  built  inside  it.  The
bedrooms  are  located  in  the  branches  while  the
kitchen and living room are on the main floor in the
trunk.  Slanted  hallways  create  paths  to  and  from
each room and branches, vines, and leafs cover just

about  everything.  Most  of  the  furniture  is  made  of
wood, along with the doors and walls. And outside?
Well,  from  what  I’ve  seen,  there’s  nothing  but  a
world  of  light,  but  Harper  assures  me  that  just
beyond  the  light  are  fields,  trees,  mountains,
waterfalls,  and  a  sparkly  sky.  But  I’ll  have  to  take
her  word  for  it  since  I  haven’t  had  a  chance  to
scope out the land yet.

“Where is she?” I ask Harper as we turn down

yet another hallway. “Because I feel like we’ve
done a full circle through this tree by now.”

“Well, technically you can’t do a full circle in

the inside of a tree since it’s shaped like a tree. But
you can do a full tree.” She tosses me a grin from
then quickens her skipping. “And as for the witch
doctor, she’s waiting in the basement.”

“There’s a basement in this place?” I ask

astounded. “Wouldn’t that be in the roots?”

“Yep. All the best tree homes have them. And

magic lacing the dirt wall makes the room
soundproof and also so that no magic can penetrate
it.”

“So if we do get ambushed while we’re here we

should go there.” I make a mental note of that.

She nods. “But we won’t get ambushed. Shiny

would never allow anyone else in here without
talking to me about it first.”

I hope so or else we might not be as safe as we

thought. My gaze descends to Raven, lying limply

in  my  arms.  Then  again,  are  we  even  safe  now?
Because it seems like every time we eliminate one
problem  another  rises,  as  if  the  queen’s  magic  can
reach  us  here.  Maybe  that’s  exactly  what’s
happening  too.  I’m  not  positive,  though.  And  I
wasn’t  lying  when  I  said  that  Raven’s  current
condition might have been caused by a bad reaction
to  Rhyland  drinking  her  blood.  But  I  have  no  idea
why. I’m hoping the witch doctor can give us some
insight to that.

“Here we go,” Harper announces, coming to a

stop in front of a set of wooden doors. Then,
clearing her throat, she lifts her hand and knocks.
“Breezy, are you decent?”

“Why would she not be decent?” I ask, trading

a questioning look with Rhyland.

But he’s staring in the opposite direction,

frowning, and the dark circles underneath his eyes
have become more prominent.

“You okay over there?” I ask, shifting Raven’s

weight in my arms.

He blinks at me, his eyes glazed over. “Huh?”
My lips plummet to a frown. He’s acting very

strange.

“Maybe you should take a walk and let me

handle this,” I suggest. “You’re getting a weird look
in your eyes and I’m worried you’re… Well, I’m
not sure.”

“I’m fine.” He blinks a couple of times and the

dazed look fades. “I’m just stressed out about her.”
He glances at Raven and swallows hard. “I want to
be in there for this. I actually need to ask some
questions for Raven, if she doesn’t wake up in
time.”

“What questions?” I ask. When his worried

gaze flicks to Harper, I inch closer and lower my
voice. “You might as well tell me now so I’m not
surprised when we get in there. And Harper’s going
to hear anyway.”

He dithers, appearing torn. “Raven mentioned

just a bit earlier that right before the curse was put
on  us,  the  queen  told  her  that  the  more  Raven
suffers,  the  more  she  gains  power.”  He  gives  a
hesitant  pause.  “Then  she  referred  to  Raven  as  a
moonlight abomination.”

“Really? I wonder why?” I sound about as

surprised  as  a  vampire  when  they  walk  into  their
surprise  birthday  party,  which  isn’t  very  surprised
at  all—vampires  get  very  unenthusiastic  when  it
comes to surprise parties.

He narrows his eyes accusingly. “Did you

already know that?”

I shrug. “Don’t we all already know some

things that most of us don’t know?”

Frustration bites at his tongue as he says, “So

the queen told you already?”

I shake my head. Then, glancing over my

shoulder to make sure Harper isn’t paying

attention,  I  lean  in  and  lower  my  voice.  “Actually,
Raven’s  father  did.  A  long,  long  time  ago,  back
before all of this happened. He didn’t use the term
abomination,  though.  Just  told  me  that  she  was  a
very powerful and unique moonlight creature.”

“Then why in the hell didn’t you tell me?” he

hisses.

“Because her father made me take a Blood

Oath to keep it a secret.”

“But that was life cycles ago.”
“I know, but the Blood Oath still held. Now that

you’ve figured it out on your own, though, we
should be able to talk about it.”

“But why didn’t her dad want anyone to find

out?” His jaw ticks. “Well, except for you
apparently.”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t get your panties in a

bunch.  It  was  completely  by  accident  that  I  found
out. I was actually spying on him and dad one day
when they went back to have a drink in the office,
like  you  and  I  did  sometimes,  and  they  said
something about her being this unique and powerful
moonlight creature and that no one could ever find
that  out  or  else  her  life  could  be  in  danger  and
maybe even all the worlds if her power was used in
the  wrong  way.  I  gasped  when  I  heard  and  they
realized  I  had  been  spying  and  made  me  take  a
blood oath never to talk about it with anyone who
didn’t know what Raven is.”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe

all this time I didn’t know.”

“I’m sorry. If I could’ve told you, I would’ve.”
He stares down at Raven worriedly. “If the

queen  called  her  an  abomination  back  when  the
curse  first  started,  then  it  means  she’s  known  all
along  that  Raven  is  powerful.  Which  means  the
curse was probably a set up.”

“Yeah, but we already knew that.”
“But what we don’t know is how the queen has

been channeling power from Raven’s suffering and
what she plans on doing with it.”

“Maybe it’s how she’s making the Created,”

Harper suggests, popping up at my side and
startling the shit out of Rhyland me.

I throw a quick, skeptical look at Harper. Yeah,

I trust her with my secrets, but this isn’t my secret.
It’s Raven’s, the one creature in this world beside
my brother that I’d do anything to protect.

“I’m sorry,” Harper quickly apologizes when

she  notes  my  uneasiness.  “I  know  you  guys  were
trying to have a private conversation, but I couldn’t
help  but  accidentally  overhear  while  I  was
eavesdropping  and  I  thought  I’d  tell  you  my
theory.”

“Okay.” Wariness laces my tone.
“Well,” she starts, tucking a strand of her hair

behind her ear. “I can’t help but wonder if perhaps
the queen is channeling Raven’s power and making

it her own so she can create the Created from the
energy by transferring the powers of one creature
into another.”

“But I thought the Created were created from

mixing different species blood. I mean, how else
are faeries getting Wicca powers and vampires
possessing dragon fire? They’d have to possess the
blood of a witch and a faerie.”

Harper shakes her head. “That’d make them

more like me, and I’m not the same as the
Created.”

“True,” Rhyland agrees, reclining against the

wall behind us. “And the Created, they’re not
really half of something and half of something else.
Like Nadine. She doesn’t have witch blood inside
her—that much I could tell when I blasted her with
a curse. She can just channel Wicca energy.”

I can feel a blood headache coming on. “But

how is that possible when she doesn’t have witch
blood running in her veins?”

“Maybe because the queen’s extra power she’s

stealing from Raven has somehow given her the
ability to siphon powers from one creature and put
them into another,” Harper suggests with a casually
shrug.

Nothing about what she said is casual, though.

In fact, it’s fucking terrifying.

“Siphoning? But that’d mean that she could

actually create any creature she wanted, even rare,

nearly impossible ones to find,” I say. “And she
could create them whenever she wanted. Well,
unless she can’t always channel Raven’s power.”

“Do you know how dangerous it could be if she

created  certain  creatures,”  Rhyland  whispers.  “I
mean,  think  about  if  she  put  a  giant  and  a  dragon
together.  Then  there’d  be  a  damn  giant  dragon
flying  around  big  enough  to  probably  wipe  out  an
entire land.”

“There’s even worse creatures hiding in our

worlds than dragons and giants,” Harper utters
worriedly. “A lot, lot worse. And who knows what
she’s created already. And how many.”

“I know. And every time the curse resets, the

population of the Created grows,” I remind all of
them.

“But then why is she trying to kill Raven now?”

Rhyland pushes away from the wall and brushes
the back of his hand across Raven’s cheek. “If she
gains power from Raven through the curse—
through her suffering—then why try to end it?”

“That’s another thing we need to figure out,” I

mumble,  staring  down  at  Raven  passed  out  in  my
arms, the fire burns flaking at her skin on the base
of  her  neck.  “Our  To  Do  List  is  getting  pretty
fucking  long.  We  really  need  to  start  working  on
getting stuff scratched off.”

“After we talk to the witch doctor, I’ll set out to

find a dragon,” Rhyland offers, his fingers linger on

Raven’s cheek. “That is, if everything turns out
okay with her. I can’t leave until I know she’s safe
and healthy.”

“And I can go gather everything we need to do

an anti-possession spell,” Harper offers. “I’ll
probably have to transport to another shimmer
blob, but that usually isn’t too complicated.”

“And I can go scope out the Land of

Moonlight,” I say. “See if I can find the army of the
Created. Maybe spy on the queen a bit. I’ve always
been good at that.”

Rhyland swiftly shakes his head. “No, you need

to stay here.”

“Like I’m just going to sit here and do nothing,”

I argue. “Do you not know me at all?”

“I know that you’re her Blood Protector and

I’m  not  going  to  just  leave  her  here  alone
unprotected.”  His  gaze  is  firm,  his  voice  stern.  “I
also  know  that  despite  all  this  madness  going  on,
I’m  still  the  king,  which  means  you  take  orders
from me.”

“Fine,” I say flatly. “My king. But you’ll have

to leave us some of your blood for her to drink.”

He nods, looking dazed again. “Good idea.”
Honestly, I’m unsure if I’m pissed off or

impressed with him offering to leave and making
me stay here. Doesn’t really matter, though. In the
end, I want to protect Raven, so I’ll do what I have
to.

“Oh, I think she’s ready,” Harper announces

with a clap of her hands as the set of doors finally
creak open. “Is everyone ready?” She doesn’t wait
for us to answer, skipping inside the room.

“Why does she act like we’re going to a party

or something?” Rhyland whispers as we inch
toward the doorway.

“Who the hell knows,” I mutter. “But I wish I

could share her enthusiasm.”

“Me too,” he agrees, sounding as worried as

me.

While Harper may be able to bounce around

and be cheery, Rhyland and I understand that a lot
is riding on if this witch doctor can help us.

Lives are riding on it, in fact.
Maybe even all of the worlds.

R H Y L A N D

’m worried. Not just about what
Kingsley and I discussed, but because
something is stirring inside me. It’s part

of why I suggested I go search for a dragon to cure
Raven’s  burns  once  we  were  finished  with  the
witch  doctor.  That  will  get  me  out  of  this
shimmering  blob  for  a  while  and  far  away  from
Raven  until  I  can  figure  out  what  hell  is  going  on
with me.

I hate the idea of leaving Raven, but I’ll do

anything  to  protect  her,  even  leave  her.  I  need  to
make  sure  I  leave  some  of  my  blood  behind,
though,  for  her  to  drink.  I’m  unsure  whose  blood
I’m  supposed  to  drink,  though,  if  it  turns  out  she’s
having a bad reaction to me drinking her blood.

I swallow hard at the idea that maybe I won’t

ever be able to feed from her.

Before I enter the room, I discard my torn shirt

and hurry and clean some of the blood off my
chest, trying to make my appearance as less
alarming as I can.

“Good evening Harper.” The witch doctor

greets as the three of us enter the room.

She’s sitting in the center of the dark room

made up of dirt and mud. Large, winding roots of
the tree snake around the area and faint flickers of
light creep in from somewhere.

“I know we’re creatures of the undead,” I

whisper under my breath to Kingsley. “But this
place gives me the creeps.”

“That makes two of us.” He shifts Raven in his

arms as he surveys the area.

“Gentlemen, have a seat,” the witch doctor

instructs, patting the spot on the ground beside her
and offering us a smile.

I eye her over warily. She’s probably only a

couple  of  years  older  than  Kingsley  and  I  with
blood  red  hair  that  matches  her  lips.  Her  eyes  are
like  liquid  fire,  her  skin  inked  with  tattoos,  and
she’s wearing a white, flow length dress that has to
be getting stains from sitting in the dirt. She’s in no
way, shape, or shapeshifter form, what I expected a
witch doctor to look like. I expected someone much
older and dressed in rags. I’m not sure why.

Kingsley casts a glance in my direction. Sensing

what he wants, I take a seat beside the witch

doctor. Then he sits down beside me while
continuing to hold Raven in his arms. Harper
lowers herself to the ground on the other side of the
witch doctor.

As silence takes over the room, I decide to ask

the witch doctor if she knows what’s wrong with
Raven, but she holds up her hand before I can even
get my lips parted.

“The girl is very sick,” the witch doctor

mumbles, her tattooed brows pulling together as she
assesses Raven. “But, she is curable.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Kingsley asks,

shifting so Raven’s head is resting in the crook of
his arm.

The witch doctor—I think Harper called her

Breezy—slants  forward  to  get  a  better  look  at
Raven.  “Many  things  are  eating  the  girl  from  the
inside.” She closes her eyes and places the heel of
her  hand  against  Raven’s  forehead.  Then  her  face
instantly bunches in pain. “There’s so many cracks
inside.  So  much  pain  eating  her  away.  Little  webs
of poison gnawing at her insides and her mind.”

I force down the lump welling in my throat.

“How much pain is she in?”

“Surprisingly not much,” Breezy answers with

her eyes shut. “She will be when she wakes up,
though, unless we can find a temporary fix.”

“Can you do it?” I ask, hoping to the Gods she

can. “Heal whatever’s making her like this?”

Breezy smiles, but it’s not the kind of smile that

leads to a cheerful answer. No, I’ve seen this kind
of smile before.

She wants to make a deal.
“Heal her from what exactly, though?” Kingsley

demands, growing impatient. “Because you haven’t
even told us what was wrong yet. Just that she has
cracks inside, which we already knew, and that you
want us to give you something to heal her, but how
do we know you know what you’re talking about.
Maybe you’re just fucking with us.”

I shoot him a look. Calm down, I mouth.
The last thing we need is for him to lose his

temper and piss her off before she helps us.

Breezy’s eyes pop open, her gaze locking on

Kingsley. “Such impatience.”

“Vampires aren’t known for their patience,”

Kingsley states unapologetically. “We are known
for our ability to kill with a single bite, if we need
to.”

Her brow meticulously arches. “Is that a

threat?”

“Not at all.” Kingsley holds her gaze. “Just a

simple reminder.”

“I see.” She studies him with a curious

expression, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips.
“Fine. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with her. But just
know that I have the only temporary cure and that
comes with a price.”

“What about a permanent cure?” I ask. “Do

you have one of those?”

She shakes her head. “But I do know of one.

Only she can get it, though.” She nods her head at
Raven. Then she slants forward, the liquid fire in
her eyes flickering. “To break the poison feeding
off the girl’s body, she has to break the curse.”

“Why is everything always caused by the

fucking curse?” Kingsley growls, a vein in his neck
bulging.

“Don’t misunderstand me, vampire,” Breezy’s

tells  him.  “The  curse  isn’t  causing  the  girls  illness.
The  illness  is  the  curse,  running  inside  her,  like  a
web.  And  the  more  the  curse  is  broken,  the  more
the  illness  grows  and  breaks  the  girl.  If  one
crumbles, they both do.”

So does that mean she’s not having a bad

reaction to me feeding her? I’m not sure and she’s
really not making much sense.

Pain throbs against my temple. “So let me get

this  straight,  if  Raven  breaks  the  curse,  then  the
curse breaks her? Yet the cure for the poison inside
her  is  to  break  the  curse?”  I  ask  and  Breezy  nods.
My  fingers  curl  inward—I’m  on  the  verge  of
exploding.  “So  that  fucking  means  that  she  never
could’ve  broken  the  curse.  That  all  this  time,  all
these  stupid  lifecycles  of  trying  to  free  Raven—to
free all of us from this hell—was for nothing. That
she’s going to die no matter what.”

I realize that’s exactly what Nadine told Raven,

that her—that all of us who were part of the curse
—were going to die.

“Not quite.” Breezy rises to her feet, the

beaded bracelets on her wrists clanking together as
she turns around and walks toward the back wall of
the room. “The curse she has inside her is made up
of a very ancient magic. Even more ancient than
me and I’m older than the trees themselves.”

“Really?” I question. “You sure as hell don’t

look like it.”

She grins at me from over her shoulder.

“Coming from an old vampire, I’ll take that as a
compliment.”

I should probably be polite and smile back,

considering she might have knowledge that will
save Raven, but I’m too pissed off and frustrated to
do so.

“Always so sad,” she remarks. “I guess that

makes sense, though. You did curse your love to
this painful demise.”

“You said she wasn’t in pain,’ I grit out,

clenching my fists.

Kingsley shoots me the same look I gave him

earlier, warning me to chill the hell out.

“I meant she wasn’t in any physical pain,” she

elaborates. “Her emotional and mental pain,
however, is so heavy even I can feel the weight of
enduring it.” She twists around, facing us again.

“But the pain to come will be so heavy none of us
may be able to breathe through it.”

“Okay, now you’re starting to sound like

Harper, talking in riddles,” Kingsley snaps then
glances at Harper. “Sorry, no offense.”

“None taken,” Harper smiles at him. “To say

that the witch doctor is like me is a great
compliment, although, completely not true. I’ll
never be anything like Breezy, unfortunately.”

Yeah, I’m not so sure I agree with Harper. Sure,

the half pixie, half faerie, might be skipping to the
beat of her own drum, but at least she wouldn’t
demand a fee to save a creature’s life.

“So how do we get rid of the pain?” I ask. “And

how do we save her? Because I’m not accepting
the answer you gave me.”

“But I never gave you an answer.” The smile

playing at Breezy’s lips makes me question if she’s
toying with us.

Maybe Harper was wrong about her being

trustworthy.

“Then what’s the answer?” Kingsley asks, his

voice controlled, even, but firm. “How do we cure
her without killing her?”

He may appear composed on the inside, but I

know him almost as well as I know myself and
inside, he’s struggling to remain calm.

“I already told you, by breaking the curse.”

Breezy turns her back to us again and I start to

jump to my feet, any amount of my patience gone,
but she holds up a hand. “Be patient. I’m not done
yet.” She waits for me to finish sitting down before
continuing. “There is a creature that is older than
any magic. If you want to save the girl without
killing her, you need to go to it. It should be able to
help you.”

“Okay, what is this creature?” I cross my arms.

“And how do we find it?”

She spins around, the same unsettling smile she

had on when we entered the room emerging on her
lips. “Before I tell you what it is and how to find it,
I want something in return.”

Kingsley glares at her. “Of course you do.”
“Oh Kingsley Midnitegale, one day that fanged

mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.”
She pauses, squinting at him, and her eyes light up.
“Or maybe it already has. Tell me vampire, have
you tasted the darkness that lies in the light?”

I confusedly glance at Kingsley. “What is she

talking about?”

His blazing gaze sears into Breezy. “I have no

idea.”

Breezy smirks. “So he doesn’t know?”
“There’s nothing to know,” Kingsley bites out,

his fangs twitching in his mouth. “So why don’t you
shut the hell up and tell us your price before I
decide to let my hunger take over.”

I tense and hiss, “Easy. She might be our only

way to save Raven.”

“She’s going to help us,” Kingsley says, his gaze

never wavering from Breezy. “Because whatever
she’s about to ask for, she wants it too much.”

Breezy steadily holds Kingsley’s gaze. “You’re

right. I do.”

“Then just ask for it,” he challenges. “Or are

you too afraid?”

“Not at all.” She steps toward him. “I think you

already know what I want, though.”

“Nope. You’re going to have to clarify it.” His

tone is like ice, his body stiff, but anger burns from
his eyes.

“Fine.” She moves in front of him then

crouches down, slanting so close that, at first, I
think she’s going to kiss him. “I want to borrow you
for a little bit.”

“Of course you do.” Kingsley slides Raven onto

my lap without removing his gaze from Breezy.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Then he stands up
and follows Breezy out of the room, leaving me and
Harper alone with our jaws hanging to our knees.

“What was that about?” I ask when the door

shuts.

Harper gives a shrug, frowning as she picks at

her fingernails. “I think maybe they went to have
sex.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it.” That’s a lie. That

could be exactly what they’re doing. When the lie

leaves my lips, though, she perks up a little bit. The
realization that Harper might like Kingsley as more
than a friend dawns on me. Considering Kingsley is
in love with Raven, that might lead to a lot of
drama in the future, but I’ll worry about that later,
when I don’t have an endless list of other problems
to deal with. “What do you think all that light and
darkness stuff was about?”

“I’m not sure.” Harper tilts her head to the side

contemplatively. “It reminds me of an old nursery
rhyme my mother used to tell me.”

“A pixie nursery rhyme?” I ask, examining

Raven over, trying to tell if her condition is getting
worse or better. She appears the same, still pale and
unconscious. “Or was your mom a faerie?”

“She was a faerie,” Harper says. “But it’s not a

pixie nursery rhyme. It’s the Hell Gods’.”

My gaze darts up to her. “Your mother use to

tell you a Hell Gods’ nursery rhyme?” Why would
Breezy quote that to Kingsley? And better yet, why
did it make Kingsley so tense?

She nods with a heart-wrenching smile on her

face. “She wasn’t always a kind mother, but I think
in a way, she thought she was helping me.”

“By scaring the shit out of you before you went

to sleep?”

“By making me stronger.” She shrugs, smiling

sadly. “Pixies aren’t always the bravest creatures
and from what I understand, my father was a

coward.  I  think  by  making  me  frightened  she
believed  eventually  she’d  make  me  less  easy  to
scare.  Unfortunately,  I  think  I  have  more  pixie
blood they fey blood in my veins.”

I feel sorry for her. While I’ve had to deal with

torture every night of my life for several decades,
my parents have always been kind to me, helping
me even after I sealed us to this doomed fate.

“You’re not weak or afraid, Harper,” I assure

her,  but  she  shakes  her  head  in  doubt.  “I  mean  it.
You don’t need to be here, but you are. Even when
we  found  out  a  whole  army  of  Created  were  after
us.  Even  when  Nadine  possessed  your  body.
Through all of that, every lifecycle, you’ve always
been here to help.”

“Well, what else am I going to do?” A tiny smile

turns at her lips. “If I run away, eventually I’ll just
end up right back where I started.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. The only reason

you’re part of this curse is because you were at the
crowning  ceremony  that  night.  And  most  of  the
creatures  that  attended  the  party  pretend  like  the
curse  doesn’t  happen  over  and  over  again.  You’re
one  of  the  few  creatures  that  has  stuck  around  to
help.”

“Well, it’s not like I could ever walk away.”

The playful glint in her eyes returns. “You guys
would be lost without me.”

“That we would,” I agree, meaning my words.

Her gaze travels to the door. “Do you think one

of us should go check on Kingsley and make sure
he’s okay?”

I shake my head. After just rebuilding her

confidence, the last thing I need is for her to walk
in and see Kingsley fucking her witch doctor friend.

“We should probably just wait,” I say. “I’m sure

they’ll be back soon.”

Because the longer they’re gone, the more time

we waste and the more Raven wastes away too.

But maybe that’s what you really want. A voice

whispers through my mind.

Fear lashes through me so potently I nearly fall

over.

Who the hell are you?
Laughter echoes inside my head.
I panic, trying to move, but my body won’t

budge.

There’s no running from me, it says. I’m going

to stay right where I am after I take you over.

“S

K I N G S L E Y

o what is it you want, witch?” I say
after Breezy leads me to a room on the
lower floor.

Inside is a made bed, a dresser, and a curtained

window. Nothing else. The word empty comes to
mind.

Empty like my soul and heart.
“Is this really about what I want?” She circles

me, tracing her fingernails along my arm, leaving
red marks across my flesh. “Because if I’m correct
about what you are, then you should want what I
want too.”

Great, she’s a Hell groupie. I’ve occasionally

ran into them when certain creatures are able to see
the real me; the hidden, tainted, shadow inside me.
The mark of Hell is what some refer to it as. I call it
missing a soul, because that’s how I see it. Soulless.

My soul was ruined the day I was taken to Hell and
tortured until I could scream no more, until I could
bleed no more. It’ll never be the same again—I’ll
never be the same again.

“I never do,” I utter numbly. “And you should

know before you go there that when I was taken to
Hell, it was against my will. I didn’t want to go.”

Her fingernails scratch the back of my neck and

my fingers fold inward, my nails cutting open the
flesh on my palms.

“But you still went there?” she asks, her fingers

traveling down my back.

“Obviously, you can tell that,” I snap rigidly. “I

don’t know how, but I can tell you do.”

“It’s part of my gift—to see the light and the

darkness  in  everyone  and  everything—which  also
lets me see the mark of Hell.” She stops in front of
me  and  cups  my  face  between  her  hands,  her
fingernails biting into my flesh. “You have darkness
webbed  into  you  and  it’s  shadowing  the  light,  but
the  mark  is  still  there.  It  means  only  half  of  your
soul was left in Hell. Did you know that?”

I smash my lips together so forcefully my jaw

aches.  I’ve  often  wondered  after  I  returned  if  my
soul  was  completely  destroyed.  From  what  I
understand  about  the  creatures  who  step  foot  into
Hell, my soul should be long gone by now.

She lowers her hands, studying me with her

head angled to the side. “You didn’t know that, did

you? That you still have a soul.”

“Is this your price?” I ask, not wanting to talk

about this with her—with anyone. “To hear me talk
about my broken soul.”

“Oh, it’s not broken. Just shadowed.” Her lips

span to a smirk as the muscle in my jaw pulsates.
“You don’t know what that means, do you?”

I shove back the vomit burning at the back of

my  throat.  “What  does  it  matter  if  I  do  or  don’t?
We’ll  still  be  standing  here  and  you’ll  still  want
what  we  both  know  you  want.  Me  talking  about
what  I  think  I  am  and  how  I  feel  isn’t  going  to
change that.”

“But it could be liberating to let it all out. To

talk about what happened to you while you were in
Hell.”

I lean forward and whisper snidely, “Not with

you.”

“Fine.” She shoves me back and I stumble,

falling onto the bed. “I guess I’ll just have to get
something out of this deal another way.”

“I guess you will.” I stare up at the ceiling,

allowing my self-made numbness to wash over me
as she straddles my waist.

Even if Raven’s life wasn’t on the line, I

couldn’t  stop  her.  I  can’t  stop  any  creature  who
figures  out  I’m  marked  by  Hell.  It’s  part  of  the
curse that the Hell demons put on me. If a creature
has  the  will  and  desire  to  see  the  mark,  they  can

gain control over me for an entire day and I have to
do  what  they  command.  Only  when  they  twenty-
four hours are up am I freed. Well, that is until the
next  creature  spots  the  darkness  in  me.  But  that
doesn’t  even  matter.  I’ll  never  truly  be  free
anyway. Not when I’m haunted by everything that
has ever been done to me.

“Relax, I’m not going to bite.” Breezy lines her

body over mine, but when our gazes lock, she
pauses. “You don’t have a demon inside you.”

“Why would I?” I choke out, wishing she’d just

get this over with instead of dragging it out.

She slants back, her hands resting on my chest.

“Every creature that has been marked by Hell and
returns  to  the  upper  worlds  has  a  demon  living
inside  them.  There’s  no  exception  to  this.  It’s  a
form  of  transportation  for  demons  and  Hell  makes
no exceptions.”

“There’s never an exception until there is one.”
She shakes her head, strands of her red hair

brushing against my face. “Not with Hell. Hell
makes no mistakes.” She scrutinizes me while
nibbling on her bottom lip. “I wonder…” She twists
around, glancing at the door, then back at me. “You
and Rhyland are twins.”

“Yeah, so what?” I shrug with indifference, but

the curious look on her face has me on edge. “How
did you know that anyway?”

“Harper told me about you a long time ago.”

The flames in her eyes dance with amusement.
“She actually talks about you often.”

“Okay… Why does that matter?”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re completely clueless,

aren’t you?”

I flash her a smirk, but it’s all bravado.

“Actually, I’ve been told the opposite.”

“Well, you were lied to. You’re clueless about a

lot  of  things.”  She  places  her  hands  on  my
shoulders,  pinning  me  down.  “I  guess  I  could  let
you in on one little secret. An interesting fact about
your  brother.”  She  dips  her  head,  putting  her  lips
beside my ear. “Did you know that when a demon
comes back from Hell inside a creature’s body, they
sometimes  transfer  bodies  when  they  reach  the
upper worlds. It doesn’t happen very often because
the creatures that the demon transfers to and from
have  to  have  very  similar  blood  types  and
structures. In fact, they have to be so similar that it
rarely happens except occasionally with twins.”

I laugh darkly. “Do you think I’m stupid?

Rhyland doesn’t have a demon living inside him.”

She pushes back with her brows lifted. “Are

you sure about that?”

“Yes.” There’s no way Rhyland could be

carrying a demon around inside him. I’d know.

“All right, believe what you want. Doubt the

powerful witch doctor trying to help you.”

“Help me?” I gape at her. “All you’ve done so

far is blackmail me.”

“And save your girl.”
“She’s not my girl.”
“But you want her to be.” It’s not a question.
“She’s not mine to want,” I say dismissively,

but my blood burns under my skin, longing to be
tasted by Raven’s fangs.

“But that doesn’t make you want her any less.”

She strokes my cheek with her fingertip and smiles
when I flinch. “Such a sad thing to be in love with a
creature who loves another. I feel sorry for you
Kingsley. I really do.”

I laugh hollowly. “I highly doubt that.”
“I’m not as cruel as you think.”
“Yeah, that’s why you brought me in here so

you could control me for the next twenty-four
hours.”

“I wasn’t planning on controlling you,” she

clarifies. “I was planning on liberating you. You just
didn’t want it.”

“All I want is for whatever this is,” I gesture

between us, “To be over.”

The flames in her eyes flame wildly. “Fine. If

that’s what you want then you’re debt is paid to
me.”

“Just like that?” I question with doubt.
She shrugs. “I already told you I just wanted to

liberate you, but since you don’t want my help,
we’ll move on.”

“Yeah, I’m not buying into that.” I prop up on

my elbows. “Is it because I don’t have a demon in
me?”

“No.” Her words are thick though and I have to

question if she’s lying.

She wanted the demon she thought was inside

me, but why?

“Are you still planning on helping Raven?” I

ask, assessing her reaction carefully.

“Of course. I said your debt was paid, didn’t I?”

She  sits  back,  rubbing  her  lips  together.  “I  should
probably  tell  you,  though,  that  one  of  my  many
gifts  includes  being  able  to  smell  the  scent  of  an
unleashed  demon.  It’s  sort  of  like  a  mixture  of
sewer  water  and  sugar  plum.  I  know,  it’s
contradicting, but it’s how they smell. And I smell it
right now.”

I instinctively sniff then my gut churns at the

disgusting yet sweet aroma dousing the air. “You’re
lying.”

“Am I?”
“Fuck.” I shove her off and race out of the

room.

Not that I fully believe her, but I’m not about to

risk the small chance that perhaps she’s telling the
truth.

“Rhyland,” I call out as I jog down the narrow

hallway toward the basement.

When silence is my only response, I quicken

the pace.

“Rhyland!” I shout, my boots thudding against

the floor as I sprint toward the double doors.
“Please be okay. Please be okay.” I shove the doors
open and barrel inside the basement.

Then my stomach plummets.
Harper is kneeling in the middle of the room

with her head bowed over Raven, who’s sprawled
out on the floor with her eyes shut, just like she was
when I left.

“What happened?” I scan the area, searching

for a sign of my brother, my hand hovering near the
handle of my sword.

Harper blinks up at me, her eyes huge. “Did

you know about it?”

I sink to my knees beside Raven and frantically

examine her over for injuries. “Did I know about
what?”

“That your brother has a demon inside him,”

she asks, her tone a bit shaky. “I’m not sure what
kind it is, but it was awful and said such mean
things to me.”

I draw my sword. “I didn’t know until just

barely. Breezy just informed me.”

Gods, I can’t believe this is happening. How did

I not realize this… All this time he has been
carrying around a demon inside him.

And I did it to him.
“How did it happen? I mean, I thought a

creature had to touch the fire pits of Hell for a
demon to latch onto them. But Rhyland’s never
been to Hell.” She glances at me. “Has he?”

I shake my head, guilt gripping at my chest, my

heart, my soul. “No, he hasn’t.”

“Then how did he get one inside him?”
“I have no idea.” The lie singes against my

tongue, but my scars aren’t ready for the world to
see them yet. I’m not ready for the world to see me
yet. The real me. “Where did my brother—the
demon go?”

Harper points to the door. “He ran out there

after he asked me how to get out of the shimmer
blob. Or well, demanded. He was pretty upset, but I
think Rhyland was still partly himself when he took
off.”

“Wait? He left the shimmer blob?” Worry whips

through me. If Rhyland took off suddenly, that
means things were really bad. And he didn’t leave
any blood behind for Raven to drink.

Shit.
She nods. “When the demon started possessing

him, he said he had to leave or else no one would
be safe. I kind of agree with him. It’s probably for
the best until he can regain control. And I already
told Shiny not to let Rhyland back in unless he was
him again.”

“That’s good.” I slant back as shock and guilt

weighs down on my shoulders. How can this be

real? How can my brother have suffered all this
time and I never knew it?

Then again, I was sort of suffering too in my

own way and he never knew it.

How did we become this distant? We used to be

so close. But even before the curse, we started
drifting apart.

My gaze descends to Raven.
When we both started falling in love with the

same girl. It’s when our relationship started to
crumble. When lies formed between us. When I
stabbed him in the back.

“Don’t worry, the demon will eventually release

him from the possession.” Breezy strolls into the
room, not appearing bitter at all.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess that

somehow she got exactly what she wanted. I just
hope that’s not a bad thing…

Something dawns on me then. Nadine was with

me in Hell.

Does Nadine have a demon inside her?
I shake the though of Nadine out of my head.

I’ve got bigger problems to worry about right now.

“So now what do we do?” Harper looks to

Breezy for help with complete trust in her eyes.

I, however, greatly distrust the witch doctor and

vow to keep my eye on her. If at any time she
shows any signs of hurting any of us, I’ll kill her. I
don’t care if that taints my soul more. Up until a

few minutes ago, I thought I was soulless anyway.

Breezy gathers her dress and drops to her knees

in the dirt. “Now, we temporarily fix the girl and
then send her on her journey to Fate.”

My head whips in her direction. “Send her to

Fate?  Are  you  fucking  kidding  me?  That’s  too
dangerous. And only Eternal Readers are supposed
to  communicate  with  Fate.  Plus,  that  seems  like  it
might take a lot of time and we don’t have time. In
fact,  we’ve  been  running  on  borrowed  time  for  a
while.”

“I never said any of this would be easy.”

Breezy  unclasps  her  necklace  and  removes  it.  “If
the  girl  wants  to  break  the  curse  and  live,  she’s
going to have to be willing to risk losing everything.
And the journey to Fate isn’t hard or long. It’s just
risky  because  if  Fate  doesn’t  accept  her  visit,  she
won’t return.”

My chest tightens, my fists clenching.
Why does everything have to involve Raven?
“But she’s already lost so much.” I smooth my

hand over the top of Raven’s head. “How much
more can this curse take from her?”

“Let’s hope you never have to find that out,”

Breezy says. Attached to the end of the necklace is
a vial filled with a powdery silver substance. “Now,
I’m going to need everyone to be quiet for this. One
wrong word or movement and the girl could remain
like this forever.”

I gulp down a shaky breath. “Will she become

conscious before you send her to Fate?”

Breezy nods. “But just long enough for her to

agree to go. You’ll only have seconds to explain it
to her. If she doesn’t agree in time, the chance will
be gone. And we only have one chance.”

I swallow shakily. I used to be so strong. So

stable.  But  the  last  few  days  I  feel  as  though  I’m
walking  on  a  frayed  tightrope.  A  part  of  me  just
wants to fall, for this to be over with. But I vowed a
long, long time ago that I’d protect Raven—that I’d
be  her  sworn  Blood  Protector.  And  if  there’s  one
thing in these lives that I’ll get right, it will be that. I
owe her that.

I owe her so much more.
Not just because I love her, but for accepting

that  damn  vial  the  queen  gave  to  me  the  night  of
the curse. And for dumping it in Raven’s drink. If I
could,  I’d  take  the  decision  back.  Make  the  right
one.  But  back  then  I  was  naively  stupid  and  truly
believed that if I could kiss Raven, she’d realize she
was  in  love  with  me  and  the  whole  thing  with
Rhyland  and  her  wouldn’t  be  a  problem  anymore.
That  because  I  wasn’t  king,  things  could  work  out
between  us.  That  she  could’ve  been  with  me
without  risking  getting  beheaded.  That  she  could
love me like I love her.

But I never should’ve done what I did. It was

beyond wrong and stupid and the worst sort of

R A V E N

lood  weeps  from  the  field,  the  trees  in
the  distance  withering.  The  sky  is  a
shadow  of  darkness,  not  cloudy,  but

tainted with smog. Despite the unfamiliar eeriness,
I somehow know that this was once the Land of
Moonlight.

“Why is there so much blood everywhere?” I

whisper as I make a path across the land, my bare
feet sinking into the blood.

The ground feels lumpy and uneven and the

stench of the air is foul, even more potent than the
rusty scent of blood kissing the air. Normally, this
place would be a vampire’s dream—so much blood
to feast on. But the air feels rotten and tainted.

What happened here? What happened to the

once sparkling world? Is this from the war that’s
supposedly going on?

I’m not sure. I’m not even sure why I’m here or

how I got here. All I can do is keep moving forward
until I find a creature who may be able to answer
that for me. But so far, I haven’t seen another
creature anywhere.

The clouds in the sky begin to rain down,

raindrop splattering against the ground and
washing away some of the blood. That’s when I see
them—the bodies. They’re everywhere, covering
almost every speck of the field. I open my mouth to
scream, but no sound leaves my lips. I want to run,
but there’s a body in every direction I turn in.

“Help me,” I whisper. “I don’t want to see

this…” My gaze falls to the bodies below my feet
and tears drip from my eyes.

The pain they must of felt before they died has

been frozen onto their faces.

So much pain. I can feel it. Feel myself

bleeding.

I don’t want to see this anymore.
I open and shut my eyes, trying to make the

images fade, but instead they become more
prominent.

“Look closer.” The wind picks up, carrying a

whisper with it.

“Who’s there?” I whisper, goose bumps

sprouting across my flesh.

“Look closer, my child,” the wind whispers to

me again. “You need to see it. See the Fate of the

world.”

I stare up at the sky, refusing to look at the

bodies again. “I don’t want to see it—I can’t look
at it.”

“You must. It’s what you are. It’s part of you.”
“I did this?” I whisper in horror.
“No, you misunderstand me.” The wind blows

my hair out of my face. “These images, this place,
they're part of you. The gift of seeing this—it’s
what you are.”

Icy tears roll down my cheeks. “You’re not

making any sense.”

“In time, I will.” Then just as quickly as the

wind picked up, it fades, the rotten air returning.

Swallowing hard, I force my gaze down to look

for… Well, I’m unsure.

As my gaze collides with the ground, the blood

begins  to  drain  from  the  land,  giving  me  a  good
view  of  the  faces  of  the  bodies.  And  what  I  see
makes  me  vomit  all  over  the  ground.  Because
amongst the bodies, are my parents, Rhyland’s and
Kingsley’s parents, and Rhyland and Kingsley.

“No!” A scream tears from my lips, tears

pouring from my eyes. “This can’t be happening.
They’re not dead! Tell me they’re not dead!”

My only response is the echoing of my own

voice. Panicking, I turn in a circle and scan the
field, searching for an answer to why I’m here.
That’s when I spot a figure standing near a cluster

of trees in the distance. It’s far enough away that I
can’t tell  who it  is,  but every  part  of me  shouts  to
go  to  it.  I  obey,  moving  forward  and  carefully
stepping over the bodies. I try not to look at their
faces, but every so often my gaze lowers. And each
time,  the  pain  in  my  chest  increases.  But  I  keep
going, keep moving toward the figure who seems to
be waiting for me near the trees.

It feels like I walk for hours, pass hundreds of

bodies, the stench of death biting at my senses.
Finally, when I think I can’t take it anymore, the
bodies covering the ground begin to thin out until
all I can feel underneath my feet is grass. By then,
I’ve arrived at the trees and the figure is there.

Now that I’m closer, I can see it better, see that

it has no face or skin, just light.

“What are you?” I whisper as I dare another

step closer.

“Patience, my child.” The figure’s voice

encompasses me. “Answers will come in time.” It
offers me its hand and with reluctance, I take it.

Its fingers are surprisingly warm and solid and

calmness sweeps over me.

“See, no need to be afraid.” the figure says as

it guides me into the trees.

“I’m not afraid anymore. Why is that? Because

it seems like I’m always afraid.”

“Those that are cursed with the gift usually

are.” It steers us further into the forest.

“Why is it always about the curse?” I ask,

glancing up as light flickers through the tree
branches.

“Again, you misunderstand me.” It comes to a

stop near a massive oak tree, the branches spun of
leafy vines and black and silver-tipped roses. “I’m
not talking about the curse of the fey queen. I’m
talking about the curse of your existence.”

“Gee thanks.” I eye the tree, feeling drawn to

it.

“It’s nothing to be upset about,” it calmly

explains to me. “All of our kind have to go through
it.”

“Our kind.” An abomination. “Do you know

what I am?”

Before it can answer, I’m jerked back.
Then everything goes black.

R A V E N

hen my eyes pop open, Kingsley is
leaning over me and he instantly lets

out a breath of relief.

“You’re okay.” Panic rushes across his face.

“Raven, you need to listen to me because we don’t
have a lot of time.” He threads his fingers through
mine and I realize I’m lying on his lap, which is odd
since the last thing I can recall is straddling
Rhyland’s waist. “We found out what’s wrong with
you and I’m not going to lie. It’s bad. Really, really
fucking bad.”

“I figured as much,” I whisper, clutching onto

his hand. “Am I going to die?”

Is everyone going to die?
What I saw before I awoke pierces through my

mind and I suck in a sharp breath. What was that
place? And why do I feel as if part of me is still

there?

“No, you’re not going to die,” he swears with

intensity flaming in his eyes. “I won’t let that
happen. But you need to agree to something
quickly. That’s the only way you’ll be okay.”

“Tell me what it is then,” I demand in a rush.
He squeezes my hand. “In order to save you

from the curse’s poison that’s eating you from the
inside, you need to talk to Fate and find out how to
save yourself.”

“But only Eternal Readers can communicate

with Fate,” I point out, so damn confused.

“That’s mostly true, but Breezy—the witch

doctor—knows  another  way.  You  have  to  agree  to
do  it,  though,  right  now.  And  you  need  to
understand  that  it’s  dangerous,  especially  if  Fate
rejects your visit.”

I smash my lips together as his words sink in. “I

worry it might. I mean, I’m me and…” I shrug
because… Well, I don’t even know what I am.

Nervousness creeps into Kingsley’s expression.

“I know you’re scared—I am too—but this might
be the only way to stop you from… from dying.”

I’m going to die.
Everyone is going to die.
The images rush back to me again; how the

Land of Moonlight was stained with blood and the
bodies of everyone I care about.

“Did you just admit you’re scared?” I crack a

joke. “The world really must be coming to an end.”

He smiles nervously and it looks all sorts of

wrong. “I’m a little off my game right now, but I
promise once you’re better, I’ll go back to how I
was.”

Better? Will I ever be better?
I guess there’s only one way to find out.
“All right, I’ll go to Fate.” I start to sit up.

“How do I get there?”

He gently pushes on my shoulders, guiding me

back to his lap. “You just need to drink this.” Then
he hands me a vial filled with a powdery silver
substance.

I glance around the room to see who gave him

the vial, but all of my surroundings, besides him,
are blurry.

I take the vial from him and eye the substance

inside. “Where did you get this? And what is it?”

“All explain all of that when we have more

time,” he promises. “But right now, you need to
drink it before it’s too late.”

I remember the last time I drank something

from a vial. Unintentionally of course, but I still did
it. Then Kingsley and I kissed and the curse soon
followed.

Kingsley must sense my distrust because he

whispers, “I promise I won’t ever hurt you again.
You can trust me.”

Can I?

Do I?
I’m not fully certain, but a part of me must trust

him enough because I put the vial to my lips and
drink the powder.

“It tastes like glitter from a faerie’s ass,” I crack

a joke as the foul taste of whatever I just drank
burns at my throat.

He chuckles, but pain crams his eyes. “I’m so

sorry you have to do this.”

“Why? It’s not your fault.” I can feel myself

fading.

“But it is,” he chokes out.
I’m not sure what overcomes me, whether the

fear  that  I  might  die  soon  scares  my  rationality
away,  or  if  I’m  just  a  little  out  of  it.  But  whatever
the  reason,  I  find  myself  reaching  up  and  stroking
his cheek.

“It’s going to be okay,” I say.
He leans into my touch. “I’m supposed to be

the one reassuring you.”

“You always do,” I utter. “Now it’s my turn…”
My eyelids slip shut as I get dragged away.

R A V E N

hen I thought I was going to visit
Fate, I didn’t expect to end up right

back  in  the  bleeding  Land  of  Moonlight  standing
beside  the  massive  oak  tree.  The  glowing  figure  is
still  standing  beneath  the  branches,  patiently
waiting for my return.

“How did I end up back here?” I peer around at

the trees. “I was supposed to go to Fate.”

Great. Was I wrong to trust Kingsley and drink

that powder?

No, my gut tells me. You weren’t.
“Then you’ve come to the right place,” the

figure says. “Although, you’ve come in your true
form. That was a bit unexpected, but we’ll have to
make it work.”

“Wait… my true form…” I glance down at my

hands. “But I look the same as I always do.”

“Do you?” The figure stretches out its arm

toward me and its fingers curl around my shoulder.

A flash of blinding light pierces through the

forest and my skin illuminates.

I jerk back. “What did you do to me?”
The figure steps closer. “I put you in your true

form.”

“My true form isn’t light. I’m a vampire,” I

protest, stepping back. “What is this place? What
did you do to me?”

“Calm down, my child. All will be explained in

time.”  It  plucks  a  rose  from  one  of  the  oak  trees
branches.  “If  you  wish  to  see  the  truth  about
yourself,  your  past,  and  what  you  need  to  do  to
become  who  you  truly  are,  a  sacrifice  must  be
made.” It hands me the flower.

I take the flower. “How is this a sacrifice?”
“Because it is life.” It gestures around at the

blooming trees, the flourishing bushes, and the
grass sprouting from the dirt. “Everything is.”

“So you want me to kill a flower and then

you’ll give me the answers?” I twirl the rose in my
hand, my brows knitting. “Kingsley said if I talked
to Fate, I wouldn’t die. That’s where I’m supposed
to be—with Fate.”

“And like I’ve said before, you’ve come to the

right place.”

I peer up at the figure and it clicks. “Wait…

You’re Fate?”

The figure nods, glowing brighter. “Indeed, I

am.”

“I’m so sorry I was so disrespectful.” I bow my

head, unsure what else to do.

But seriously, I’m standing in front of Fate.

Have been for a while. In fact, I came here before I
drank the powder.

“Can I ask a question?” I ask, my gaze fastened

to the ground.

“You may, just as long as you look at me,” Fate

says. “There’s no need to bow.”

“Sorry.” I raise my head. “How is it I came here

before I drank the powder?”

“You weren’t really here then,” Fate replies.

“Your spirit was.”

I hold the rose delicately in my hand, unsure

what I’m supposed to do with it. “So I was dead.
Well, more dead than I already am?”

“No, creatures like you—like us—can never

truly be dead.” Fate gestures at itself. “We just
have different forms.”

“So what form are you in right now?”
“My true form.” Fate takes my hand, the one

holding the flower. “I know you have a lot of
questions and while I can answer some, it’s better if
I show you most.”

“Okay, what do I need to do?”
“Eat the petals from the flower.” She urges the

rose toward my lips.

I stare down at the black and silver rose.

“That’s it?”

“Don’t take the death of nature lightly, my

child,” Fate warns. “You will feel it—the flower’s
pain.”

Just how much pain can a flower feel?
When I stuff the petals of the rose into my

mouth,  I  quickly  discover  that  even  a  flower  can
experience  great  agony,  pain  and  heartache
shredding  at  my  throat  and  chest  as  I  swallow  it
down.

“It hurts so much,” I whisper, tears dripping

from my eyes. “Why did you make me do that?

“Because you need to learn that with

everything you see, there is a price, but you will
still have to see it.” Fate places a hand on top of my
head. “Seeing is your gift, Raven.”

As if a light switch flips on in my mind, I

suddenly see.

I see everything…
The day I was born, my mother holding me,

staring down at me with such love in her eyes.
“She’s special,” my father whispers as he stands
beside the bed.

“That she is,” my mother agrees, rocking me

back and forth.

The images shift, zipping forward a couple of

years to me standing on a hill amongst a crowd of
vampires, who are all laughing, dancing, and

drinking. At first I don’t know why. Why would I
need to see myself at a party? But then my skin
begins to glow as I turn around and stare at a tree.

My mother rushes up to me, scoops me up in

her arms, and zooms off somewhere.

The images change again, but only to a handful

of minutes later. We’re at the house I grew up in—
in my first life. My mom and dad are talking in
hushed whispers, huddled together, while I sit in
the corner in a chair.

Moments later, a vampire strolls into the room,

wearing a long, black dress, her cheek branded
with a star—the mark of an Eternal Reader.

“You better not be wrong about this,” she

warns my parents. “Fate will be upset if I disturb it
for no reason.”

“We’re sure,” my dad says. “We just want

confirmation.”

Nodding, the Eternal Reader lowers to her

knees in front of me and stares into my eyes. Then
she gasps.

“She has the light,” she whispers. “She has the

light of Fate.”

“What does that mean?” My mom hugs her

arms around herself, tears shining in her eyes.

The Eternal Reader rises to her feet and faces

my mom. “I’m not sure.” She glances at me.
“Usually new Fate isn’t born as a child, especially
a vampire child. It’s unheard of. An abomination, if

you ask me. And the risk of her existing here in our
worlds  where  any  creature  can  get  ahold  of  her
and  change  the  fate  of  everything…”  She  trails
off,  rushing  for  the  door.  “I  need  to  discuss  this
with the other Eternal Readers. She might need to
be sent somewhere. Or destroyed.”

In the blink of an eye, my dad dashes toward

her and grabs her by the throat. “You will do no
such a thing.” He growls. “No one must know.”

“That’s not your call to make,” the Eternal

Reader chokes out, her face turning red.

“It’s not yours either,” my dad snaps, his grip

tightening.

My mom rushes up to me and shields my eyes.

“Don’t look, sweetheart, okay?”

I nod and look away, my gaze traveling to the

window where a tiny water faerie is flying near the
glass. I’ve never seen one before, but I’ve always
wanted to. It’s so pretty.

I wave and smile and she waves back, a smile

twisting at her purple lips. Then she flutters off
toward the sky…

The scene shifts again, only this time I’m not

sure I’m me, just a spirit hovering in the corner of
a  large  room  with  columns  and  a  wooden  throne.
Perched  in  the  seat  of  the  throne  is  a  woman
wearing  a  dress  spun  of  gold,  and  a  glittering,
jewel  encrusted  crown  is  balanced  on  her  head.
Fluttering in front of her is the water fey I waved

to earlier.

“And you say you found it. That Fate is a

vampire child?” The queen’s eyes shine bright with
wicked delight. “And that she’s here in our
worlds?”

The water fey bobs her head up and down.

“She has great power, though, and others are
protecting her.”

“Still, she’s just a child and children are easy

to manipulate.” She drums her finger against her
lips. “Imagine what I could do if I manipulated her
power. I could change the Fate of the entire world
—I could control everything…”

The images swirl into the day Rhyland and

Kingsley made friends with me, only now I’m near
the alcove where I saw the figure with glowing
eyes. I can see it has wings and shimmering silver
skin—a faerie.

It’s watching Nadine just as closely as it’s

observing me. Well, the me that’s sitting in the
cafeteria.

After Nadine rushes out of the cafeteria, the

faerie hurries after her, cutting her off near the
restrooms.

“What do you want, faerie,” Nadine spits out,

the blood Kingsley dumped on her earlier still
soaking her dress.

“I want to make all your wishes come true,”

the faerie purrs. “Starting with making you the

new queen.”

Nadine sneers. “Stupid faerie. Only Fate can

do that.” She starts to swing around the faerie, but
it sidesteps, cutting her off.

“Fate is weak right now,” the faerie explains

with a sinister grin. “And with the right amount of
magic, the fey queen can give you what your heart
truly desires—a crown on your head and your
sister’s suffering.”

“How do you know I want that?” Nadine

questions, peering around the empty hallway. “And
why are you even here?”

“I’m here to give you what you want,” the

faerie purrs. “And I know what you want because I
have the gift of seeing other’s desires.”

“You’re a Desire Faerie?” Nadine asks, more

interested than she was before.

The faerie nods. “That I am. And I want to

make all of your desires come true.”

Nadine eyes over the faerie. “And what do I

have to do in return?”

“Nothing at all,” the faerie moves toward her,

its wings curling out. “Just simply accept the gift
and become friends with the fey queen.”

Nadine considers her offer then a grin spreads

across  her  face.  “All  right,  make  me  queen  and
make  it  so  my  sister  suffers.  That’s  what  I  want.
For  her  to  feel  how  I’ve  felt  for  years.  To  know
what  it’s  like  to  have  parents  who  barely

acknowledge your existence. Ever since she was
born, it’s been Raven this and Raven that. And now
Kingsley and Rhyland are doing it too.” Her lip
twitches, her eyes flowing with anger. “She always
gets what I want, so I want to take everything from
her.”

“And you will in time. I promise.” The faerie

places a kiss on her forehead and vanishes into a
cloud of smoke…

After that, the images move swiftly, showing me

how the queen had her minions watch me for years
to  learn  my  weaknesses.  Nadine  helped  her  too,
spying on us and reporting back to the queen. Then
the  images  alter  again,  replaying  the  night  of  the
curse, most of the stuff I’ve already seen. But when
it arrives at the end, when the curse is about to be
set,  I  manage  to  move  up  to  where  Rhyland  is.  In
his  hand  is  a  contract,  along  with  a  list  of  the
things  I  must  do  in  order  to  break  the  curse  and
what will happen when the curse is broken. But the
words  are  blurry  and  unreadable.  I  reach  for  the
piece of paper, but I’m jerked back—

I gasp as the scene fades, and I’m pushed back

to the forest where Fate is waiting for me.

“No!” I cry out. “I need to see it! Need to know

what to do to break this awful curse!” Pain and
anguish claw at my chest as I crumble to my knees,
tears streaming from my eyes.

Nadine was part of it. Part of the curse because

she was jealous of me. It’s hard to take in. I mean, I
know we never had a good relationship and she
didn’t fully understand what she was getting into,
but she handed over my suffering to the fey queen
so easily.

“Relax, my child, in time, it will all come to

you.” Fate pats my head.

I straighten, glaring up at her. “How can that be

possible when I’m dying?”

“You won’t die.” Its hand lowers to her side.

“But saving yourself isn’t going to be easy. Nothing
about what you face is going to be easy.”

“Because I’m… I’m Fate.” I can’t believe this

is happening, can’t believe what I saw.

“Believe it,” Fate says as if reading my mind

and maybe it can. “Fate never sees anything that
doesn’t carry some partial truth to it.”

“But…” I peer over my shoulder at the

bleeding  land  just  outside  the  trees.  “But  what
about  that?  Because  I’m  seeing  that  and  if  I’m
Fate…” I  look to  her  for a  answer,  but her  light  is
fizzling.

“I don’t have much time.” She sets her hand on

my head again. “Just know that after you break the
curse—after you’ve completed all the tasks—there
is one final sacrifice you must make to survive. You
must  kill  a  creature  that  was  part  of  the  original
curse,  a  creature  who  was  there  that  night,  a
creature  that  you  love.  If  you  don’t,  the  curse  will

win—it will consume you--which means the queen
will gain all the power she’s ever craved. And that
power will channel to the Created. Then no
creature or worlds will be safe from bloodshed.”

“What?” I cry out, shaking my head. “No, I

could never do that. I could never kill anyone.”

“You must. Or else you’ll die… Taking another

life  is  the  only  other  exception  to  the  end  of  the
curse,  which  was  supposed  to  be  your  death.  And
the  worlds  need  you,  Raven.  You’re  the  next  Fate
and without your existence, no one will be there to
guide  the  creatures,  and  Chaos  will  take  over.
Blood  will  weep  across  the  land,  just  like  the  field
behind you.”

“But I can’t kill anyone,” I whisper hoarsely.
“I’m sorry, my child. But it’s the only way to

put the balance back into the worlds.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It will in time.”
“And then what happens?” Tears cascade from

my  eyes.  “I  mean,  if  I  manage  to  do  everything?
Will  my  parents  be  okay?  Where  are  they  even?
Will  I  end  up  queen?  Will  Rhyland  end  up  king?”
Questions rush from my lips.

“Then everything goes back to what it was

supposed to be,” Fate simply says.

“But I’m not even sure how things were

supposed to be…” An image sears through my
mind, branding my soul.

It’s the first task I must complete in order to

break the curse. And it’s more awful than I ever
could’ve imagined.

“And Raven?” Fate whispers some final words.

“You  are  one  of  the  most  powerful  Fates  to  ever
step foot in the worlds. You need to be careful and
only trust those who are truly trustworthy. The fey
queen  isn’t  the  only  creature  who  wishes  to  steal
your  power.  And  while  she  may  not  currently  be
able to step foot into the Land of Moonlight where
our  powers  flow  from,  there  are  plenty  of  other
creatures who can—and will, if they get the chance
—to  kill  you  or  use  your  powers  for  their  own
gain.”

“If it’s such a risk of me being in the worlds

then why can’t I just stay here...” I’m dragged back
before Fate can answer, but I have a feeling it
wouldn’t have anyway.

R A V E N

hen I open my eyes again, I’m lying
in a wooden bed inside a tree room,

just  like  the  time  I  woke  up  from  Rhyland’s
freezing  spell.  Kingsley  is  sitting  beside  the  bed
with  his  head  lowered,  his  clothes  are  a  little
wrinkled,  and  his  shoulders  are  hunched  over.  The
only  difference  this  time  is  that  Aeribella  is  curled
up in a ball, sleeping beside my feet.

For a hopeful moment, I wonder if all that stuff

with Fate was just a dream. But the final image I
saw before I left Fate flickers in my mind and I
know…

It’s real.
All of this is real.
I’m the next Fate and I’m cursed. And if I want

to uncurse myself, I’m going to have to complete
an awful task and probably even more than one.

And then I’m going to have to kill someone.
I don’t understand why, what the purpose of the

death is, and the idea of doing it, of taking
someone’s life, makes me feel ill and disgusted
inside.

I groan and Kingsley’s head jerks up.
“You’re awake?” He blinks his bloodshot eyes.
“I am.” My voice sounds hollow. “Why are

your eyes red?”

“Don’t worry about that.” He rests his arms on

the bed. “How are you feeling?”

I shrug. “Not cracky.”
“That’s good, right?” Hope reflects from his

eyes. “It means Fate healed you?”

I shake my head. “Not exactly.”
A crease forms between his brows as he

examines me over. “You look fine.” He brushes his
fingers along the base of my throat. “Even the
dragon fire burns aren’t as bad as they were.”

I scratch at my neck. “That’s probably because

I drank some of Rhyland’s blood earlier.”

A flash of pain crosses his expression when I

mention Rhyland.

“Something happened,” I say, eyeing him over

closely. “Where’s Rhyland?”

Guilt takes over his expression. “Something

happened while you were out… Another obstacle.”

I sit up and slide to the edge of the bed. “Tell

me what it is.”

He stares down at his hands. “Apparently, my

brother has been… Has been unknowingly
harboring a demon in him. And it took over his
body.”

Fear lashes through me. “Is he okay?”
He shrugs, elevating his gaze to mine. “I’m not

sure… He took off before I could talk to him.”

“So how do you know he’s being controlled by

a demon?”

“Harper saw him before he left the shimmer

blob.”

I shake my head in shock. “I bet the queen had

something to do with this.”

“Maybe…” He rubs his lips together, dazing

off.

“Is it something else?” I question, because he’s

acting like a squirrely vampire right now.

“I’m not sure,” he mumbles.
“Well, shouldn’t we be out searching for him.” I

start to get to my feet.

He blinks the dazed look away and snags hold

of my hand. “You can’t leave the shimmer blob,
sweetheart. You know this.”

“But Rhyland could be hurt.” I try to jerk my

hand from his, but he only constricts his grip.

“I know you’re worried, but you can’t go

looking for him.” He tugs on my hand, his eyes
silently begging for me to sit back down. “Harper
and Dex have offered to go search for him. I think,

while they might not be the best option, it’s our
only option right now.”

“But I can’t just sit here.” Shock seeps through

me as I sink back onto the bed. So much is
happening and so much still needs to be done. “We
need to help him… And I… I need to break the
curse.”

He promptly shakes his head. “No, Breezy—

the witch doctor—said that would kill you.”

“It won’t if I do it the right way.” If I listen to

Fate and kill someone at the end.

Someone I love.
Tears well in my eyes as I think about what I’m

going to have to do.

“Hey.” Kingsley wraps his arms around me and

pulls me against his chest. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.
We’re going to get through this.”

“It’s not really a we thing.” My tears soak his

shirt.

He smooths his hand up and down my back. “I

don’t give a shit. I’ll make it a we thing.”

My lips begin to turn upward, but then I

remember what I’m going to have to face.

“I have to steal a soul,” I whisper, clutching

onto the bottom of his shirt. “That’s the first task I
have to complete.” As I utter the words aloud,
reality crashes against me, about what I must do,
about what’s been done to me, about what I am.

I break, a sob tearing from my chest. I may

have cracked apart completely and shattered to the
floor if Kingsley didn’t wrap his arms tighter
around me and held me up, protecting me like he
vowed all those decades ago.

I just hope I can trust him. But maybe it’s time.

Time to let go of the past, move on from the
distrust, and focus on the future.

Focus on freeing me and everyone else from

this curse.

I just hope I can do it—complete every task.

Because if I don’t, Chaos is going to take over the
world and the land will bleed. I’ve seen it with my
very own eyes. And what about my parents? And
Rhyland? Gods, it hurts deep inside my chest to
know he’s out there, wandering around somewhere,
being controlled by a demon.

I’ll be fine, sweetheart. Rhyland’s voice rises in

my mind so suddenly I gasp.

Kingsley pulls back. “What’s wrong?”
I blink confusedly. “I think I just heard Rhyland

inside my head.”

Kingsley goes rigid. “Are you sure it’s him and

not the demon?”

I hold up a finger. “Just a second.”
If this is really you, I think, Prove it.
It’s me, sweetheart. We were best friends up

until I cursed you. Up until then, I knew everything
about you, like your fear of being made fun of, like
how you secretly think bats are creepy. I know

you’re blood taste like sugar and magic and power.
And I know how much it hurt when I betrayed you
that night of the curse… Guilt creeps into his tone
—it has to be him.

“It’s him,” I tell Kingsley. “I can tell.”
Kingsley slides forward in the chair. “Ask him

where he is?”

Where are you? When Rhyland doesn’t

respond, I ask again, Where are you? Please tell
me so we can help you.

Raven, you need to listen to me. You need to

get out of the shimmer blob right now. Go
somewhere else that’s safe because you’re not safe
there anymore.

Why?
No answer. I try again. And again. And again.

But all I receive is silence.

“He says we need to leave the shimmer blob,” I

inform Kingsley. “He wouldn’t say why and I can’t
reach him again. But he said we’re not safe here.”

Silence trickles by as Kingsley considers

something then he quickly pulls me to my feet.

“Then we’ll leave,” he says, towing me toward

the door.

I stumble after him. “Where will we go?”
“I’m not sure yet, but we’ll figure something

out.” He yanks open the door and Aeribella lets out
a yap as she leaps off the bed and chases after us.
“We need to grab some supplies first.” He pulls me

out the door and I struggle to keep up with him as
we rush down the hallway, tears pooling in my
eyes.

Kingsley slows to a stop when he notices my

waterworks. Then he sets his hands on my
shoulders, leveling his gaze with mine. “Sweetheart,
I told you we’ll get through this and I meant it.”

“But is everyone else going to get through

this?” I whisper as icy tears flow down my cheeks.

He nods, but I can see it in his eyes—the doubt.

He doesn’t believe we’re all going to survive and if
I do what Fate told me to do, I know for certain
someone won’t.

T H E D E MO N

he vampire’s body that I gained
control of is a bit weaker than I’d

hoped, but his mind is filled with delicious secrets.
Secrets I’m feeding off of. Secrets I’d like to use to
my advantage.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” The fey

queen’s shimmery lips tilt upward into a delighted
smile as I enter her garden just outside of her
palace. “You’re definitely one of the last vampires I
expected to show up here.” She plucks a rose from
a bush and twirls it between her fingers, spinning it
to ash. “Tell me, Rhyland, what in the worlds made
you so stupid as to believe you could walk into my
garden and walk away alive?”

I circle her, bearing my fangs. “Maybe you’re

the one who’s not going to walk out of here alive.”

She tracks my movements, the ash from the

rose falling from her fingertips. “You’re different.”

I stop in front of her. “Am I?”
She nods, gathering her dress and stepping

closer. “You’re eyes are shadowed over.”

“Are they now?” I’m toying with her. It’s been

a long time since I’ve been this free and I have no
plans of giving up my freedom anytime soon, even
if the vampire’s soul is fighting to take over his
body again. But I’m going to fight it. I’m going to
win. It’s part of why I came to the fey queen.

She reaches up and scratches the side of my

face with her fingernail. I hiss, ready to strangle her
when she wipes up a drop of my blood and licks it
off her fingertip.

Her eyes radiate with glee. “You’re not

Rhyland at all, are you?”

I smile wickedly. “I’m not. But I know all of his

secrets, including where that vampire is that you so
desperately want.” I inch toward her. “How about
we make a deal? You let me keep this body and I’ll
tell you everything the vampire knows.”

Her lips broaden into a devious smile. “All

right, demon, you have yourself a deal with the fey
queen.”

A L S O B Y J E S S I C A S O R E NS E N

Other books by Jessica Sorensen:

Curse of the Vampire Queen:

Tempting Raven

Enchanting Raven

Alluring Raven

Untitled (coming soon)

Chasing the Harlyton Sister:

Chasing Hadley (coming soon)

Falling for Hadley (coming soon)

Capturing Magic:

Chasing Magic

Untitled (coming soon)

Tangled Realms:

Forever Violet

Untitled (coming soon)

Unraveling You Series:

Unraveling You

Raveling You

Awakening You

Inspiring You

Fated by Darkness

Untitled (coming soon)

Unexpected Series:

The Unexpected Way of Falling

The Unpredictable Way of Falling

Untitled (coming soon)

Shadow Cove Series:

What Lies in the Darkness

What Lies in the Dark (coming soon)

Mystic Willow Bay Series:

The Secret Life of a Witch

Broken Magic

Untitled (coming soon)

Standalones:

The Forgotten Girl

Honeyton Series:

The Illusion of Annabella

Rebels & Misfits:

Confessions of a Kleptomaniac

Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl

The Secrets We Carry (coming soon)

The Heartbreaker Series:

The Opposite of Ordinary

Broken City Series:

Nameless

Forsaken

Oblivion

Forbidden (coming soon)

Guardian Academy Series:

Entranced

Entangled

Enchanted

Entice (coming soon)

Sunnyvale Series:

The Year I Became Isabella Anders

The Year of Falling in Love

The Year of Second Chances

The Year of Us (coming soon)

The Coincidence Series:

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

The Redemption of Callie and Kayden

The Destiny of Violet and Luke

The Probability of Violet and Luke

The Certainty of Violet and Luke

The Resolution of Callie and Kayden

Seth & Greyson

The Evermore of Callie & Kayden (coming soon)

The Secret Series:

The Prelude of Ella and Micha

The Secret of Ella and Micha

The Forever of Ella and Micha

The Temptation of Lila and Ethan

The Ever After of Ella and Micha

Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always

Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always

The Shattered Promises Series:

Shattered Promises

Fractured Souls

Unbroken

Broken Visions

Scattered Ashes

Breaking Nova Series:

Breaking Nova

Saving Quinton

Delilah: The Making of Red

Nova and Quinton: No Regrets

Tristan: Finding Hope

Wreck Me

Ruin Me

The Fallen Star Series:

The Fallen Star

The Underworld

The Vision

The Promise

The Fallen Souls Series (spin-off from The Fallen Star):

The Lost Soul

The Evanescence

The Darkness Falls Series:

Darkness Falls

Darkness Breaks

Darkness Fades

The Death Collectors Series (NA and YA):

Document Outline