“He is still in this realm?” I asked, my mouth falling open. “How long ago was it that you saw him?”
“About ten minutes ago,” she said. “I rushed straight here to see if you had left yet. I can take you to where I spotted him.”
“Yes,” I said, without even consulting the others. “Take us there.”
It wasn’t like we had any better ideas. We had hit rock bottom, and anything seemed better than standing here—even the prospect of meeting Rhys again.
We hurried with the female wolf to the spot where she had seen him. As soon as we arrived, we crouched down among the trees, making as little noise as possible as we peeked through the leaves at the nearby mountain.
“He was hanging around on one of those ridges,” she whispered, pointing upward. “It’s possible he is gone now.”
“There is only one way to find out,” I said. “I will go up there. The rest of you, stay down here.” I didn’t hang around long enough to give Kiev a chance to object.
I vanished myself as close as I could to where the wolf had indicated, keeping myself invisible in case the warlock was still up here. I was surprised to see a gaping hole in the wall. Before walking inside, I looked all around outside the cave—upward, sideways, downward—just in case Rhys was standing elsewhere. The last thing I needed was to get cornered by him.
When I was certain that he was nowhere in sight, I stepped inside the cave and looked around. It was empty, except for a long object at one end of the room. I approached it cautiously, and, nearing it, realized that it was some kind of casket. It was empty and lined with a thin sheet. I bent down closer, examining the ridges and then the interiors. I caught sight of something black and very thin within one of the folds of the sheet. I thought at first that it might be the leg of a spider, partially obscured by the fabric. But as I straightened the sheet, I realized that it was a black hair.
“I sense vampire in here.” A voice spoke behind me, causing me to almost jump out of my skin.
I breathed out in relief to see that it was just Micah.
“I figured that you might be able to make use of my sense of smell,” he said.
He approached and peered down over my shoulder. Clutching the hair in my hand, I walked toward the exit so that I could see better.
Micah, who had followed me, dipped his head down and sniffed the hair. We locked eyes, and he nodded. “That is the hair of a vampire.”
My heartbeat quickened as a theory came crashing down on me at once.
“Rhys hid Magnus in here,” I breathed.
I walked back over to the container and studied its edges more closely. I could tell in ways that an untrained eye couldn’t that this casket had once been sealed by a spell. I hurried back to the open wall, examining the edges of the entrance, and could see the same thing here—Rhys had secured this place.
“Why was Rhys looking for Magnus if he was supposed to be in here all along?”
“Magnus must have gotten out somehow.” I backed into a corner and slid down along the wall, thinking furiously.
If Rhys had imprisoned Magnus, it made total sense. He was valuable to Rhys—almost as valuable as Lilith herself. Because if something ever happened to Magnus, she would be at risk.
But then what happened to the vampire?
I knew how strong Rhys was—even if he had brought Magnus here many years ago when he wasn’t as developed in his powers, he had still been a powerful warlock. Powerful enough for a vampire to be unable to escape.
Micah tried to talk to me again, but I silenced him. Now more than ever, I needed to be lost in my own thoughts. It did not take me long to realize what must have happened.
Because there was only one way Magnus could have broken Rhys’ spell.
Someone more powerful than Rhys must have set Magnus free.
I shot to my feet.
I knew exactly where we had to go now.
The Sanctuary’s graveyard.
Where this journey started.
Where it must end.
Chapter 17: Isolde
What the hell is that man thinking?
If my nephew had told me that he would be gone this long, I never would have agreed to it.
Lilith had already woken up, and I was expecting her to ask to begin the ritual at any moment. I had been avoiding going inside her chambers, and I had told Julisse to do the same. We just made sure to make ourselves available if she called for us. Truth be told, I’d thought that she would have called us in long before now to say that she was ready.
She had needed some time to recover and adjust to her new body, but I was surprised that she didn’t feel prepared by now. As strange as it was, I didn’t pay it too much thought. I was just grateful that she was taking her time. We could only hope that Rhys would hurry up, and that nothing had happened to him.
I knew the value that Magnus’s presence could bring to the ritual—of course I did—but the fact was that we could still do it without the vampire. The chance of success would just be somewhat less.
I found myself unable to sit still and instead paced up and down the castle corridors, thinking over all the details of the ritual we were about to perform and ironing out everything in my mind until I felt confident that I hadn’t overlooked anything.
I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts and worries, I had not noticed someone approaching behind me. I jolted as a voice spoke my name. My voice caught in my throat when I saw that it was Lilith. Standing in all her youthfulness, she wore a dark dress trimmed with lace that clung tight to her shapely body. I still had not gotten used to seeing her like this—I still saw the skeletal form I had been around for too many years to count.
I was surprised to see her out of her room. Until now, she had always requested that we go in to see her.
“What can I do for you?” I asked, even as I anticipated her answer. She is ready for the ritual. What else would she have come out for?
“I would like some more time alone before the ritual,” she said, her voice smooth and pleasing to the ear.
I barely believed my ears.
“Oh, of course,” I said, “you should take as much time as you need to prepare.”
She nodded slowly. “I… I shall be gone from this castle for a while—though I don’t anticipate being gone much more than a day.”
This was even more strange. I couldn’t imagine where she would want to go outside the castle. But I wasn’t about to ask. I was just relieved that she wasn’t ready to start the ritual yet. If she had said that she was, I would have no way to explain to her why Rhys wasn’t here. I wasn’t willing to tell her about Magnus—at least not yet. Nobody knew how she would react on learning that her order to stay away from Magnus had been disobeyed. We ought to wait until the very last minute before revealing him—once the ritual had already commenced and she was less likely to protest.
“Of course, your Grace,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “We will be here waiting for your return.”
It felt like a heavy weight lifting off my shoulders as she disappeared from sight… to whatever destination it was she had in mind.
Chapter 18: Lilith
I stood at the edge of the pool that had served as my resting place for centuries. I removed my shoes and placed them on the floor. Then I dipped into the liquid for the second-to-last time. Submerging myself, I pushed myself deeper and deeper, passing along my portal. When my head surfaced above the fluid, I wiped the thick substance from my eyes and looked around the familiar room. It was almost identical to the one I had just exited from, but this chamber… it was sacred to me. Only two people had ever set foot inside. It had been that way for centuries, and it would remain that way forevermore after tonight.
I lifted myself out of the pool. The chamber was bare and empty but for a raised platform in the center upon which stood a bed lined with pure white linen. Curtains hung around it—closed, as I always left them when leaving this place.
Climbing o
ut from the grime, I cast a charm to clean myself and changed into new clothes. A white gown that matched the bed linen.
My heart raced, as it did every time I approached this bed. I fingered the curtains nervously, as if doing this for the first time, and then pushed them aside all at once.
Even now an ache stirred within me on seeing the vampire lying there, eyes closed, breathing gently. He was in the same state now as he had been when I first took him in.
I moved closer, brushing my hand against his cool cheek. A part of me still felt guilt over keeping him here with me. When Rhys had come to me all those years ago, asking for permission to hunt down Magnus, I had refused to give it. But I had suspected at the time that Rhys would disobey me. I had been correct.
Once I’d discovered where Rhys had hidden Magnus, I had intended to wake and release the vampire immediately. I hadn’t planned to bring Magnus back to my sanctum. But on seeing him for the first time in so long, the thought of letting him go had been too much to bear, the idea of his presence so close to me too tempting. The pleasure I’d begun to derive from his company—albeit silent—had far outweighed the guilt I felt. So I’d kept him with me.
Of course, it wouldn’t be forever. I’d known that when I’d first laid him to rest down here and that had also made the guilt less crushing.
This would just be like one long dream in his immortal existence. A blip in time. And when the right moment arrived, he would wake up and continue the life he’d had before. Perhaps with a new lover.
I glanced back down at the black pool in disgust. Long thin handprints—from my wasted body—stained the edges of the pool as well as the ledge just beneath Magnus’ bed, from when I would prop myself up out of the liquid to watch him sleep.
There was no place for such darkness in here now. Not on our last night.
With a wave of my hand, I cleaned away any signs of grime from the floors and then transformed the black liquid in the pool into crystal-clear water. Discontented with the bare walls, I manifested hanging pots filled with luscious flowers and sweeping vines, and arranged them all around the room. I fixed softer lighting to the ceiling so that a haze of light emanated down, giving the illusion of early-morning sun trickling through nonexistent windows. Then I lined the floors with silk carpets and placed four pots of burning frankincense around the bed.
Once I was satisfied that the room was in a fit state for Magnus to wake up in, I approached the bed again and walked around it, stopping directly behind his head. I flattened my palms against his forehead, brushing back his dark hair and placing a kiss on his skin.
I moved my lips down the bridge of his nose, then reached his lips. My whole body shivered as I relished the feel of them. It was the first time that I had kissed him since the night I’d told him I could no longer be his. Although many things about my past blurred in my memory now, I would never forget that final meeting. The expression on his face, his anguish, and my helplessness to do anything about it still remained etched in my mind.
I kissed him harder.
I hadn’t had any choice then.
But tonight… Tonight would be different.
It would be my last night with Magnus, but in many ways also my first. The first night of my existence when I would not feel guilt for loving him. Because after the ritual, I would be no more anyway.
I placed my hands on his broad shoulders and ran them beneath his pale cotton shirt. The feel of his chest beneath my fingers made my body ache for him.
It’s time to wake up, my love.
Finally, it’s time to wake.
I dipped down again to kiss his lips and this time, I brought him to consciousness. His eyelids quivered, then shot wide open. My heart pounded as I stared down at him, deep into his blue eyes that I had not beheld for centuries. They had the same effect on me now as they’d had the first day I’d met him.
“Lilith?” He stared at me in shock.
My name coming from his lips was nectar to my ears.
“Yes,” I breathed. “It’s me.”
“Where am I?” he whispered.
“In a dream.”
Gripping his head, he sat up in bed. I walked around to the foot of the mattress, content with just watching him.
“A dream,” he muttered, still gazing at me as though he expected me to vanish at any moment. “This doesn’t feel like a dream.”
I bit my lip, wondering whether to tell him the truth. If he believed that it was a dream all along, once I was finished saying goodbye to him I would put him to sleep and take him away to someplace safe, and he would wake up believing that it had indeed been a dream. But if I told him the truth, it would make parting all the more painful.
I decided not to respond to his comment and let him believe what he would.
“We don’t have long,” I said softly. “There’s something that I would like to tell you… something I never got a chance to say before.”
He frowned, then, swinging his legs off the bed, stood up and walked over to me. His eyes blazed down into mine.
“What?”
I detected hurt in his gaze as he asked the question. I was sure that he too was remembering the last time we had seen each other.
“I love you,” I said before my voice could choke up. “I always have.”
His frown deepened, his voice hoarse as he replied: “Then why did you leave me?”
His words were like a dagger through my heart.
“I-I told you. I had no choice.”
“You could have run away with me,” he said. “We could have escaped, traveled far away and started our lives over. Nobody would’ve had to find out about us.”
My shoulders sagged. Magnus didn’t understand. He never did. Perhaps if I had belonged to a lesser family I could have escaped. But I couldn’t have gotten away with it with my family.
“You didn’t love me enough,” he concluded from my silence.
You don’t know how much I love you. You never will know, was what I wanted to say.
“Perhaps… Perhaps I did not love you enough,” I managed. “But now it’s different. Tonight… I’m free.”
I swallowed back the lump in my throat as he reached up to my face, his thumb brushing against my cheek as he scrutinized every part of my face.
“I just wonder,” I said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “Do you still love me?”
His eyes narrowed. My stomach clenched as he broke eye contact for the first time since he had woken up. His gaze settled on a spot on the floor. But it was only for a moment. When he raised his eyes to me again, fire had ignited behind them.
He answered my question by backing me up against the bedpost and claiming my lips. He kneaded his against mine as his hands began to roam freely along my body. My heart felt so light, I barely knew how to handle such joy. I kissed him back with as much passion as my black soul could muster, hoping that it would be enough to satisfy him. When I began to unbutton his shirt, the action triggered a spiral that soon found me lying flat on my back against the mattress. Magnus crouched down over me, kissing me with more hunger than I knew how to respond to.
It felt as though every touch we exchanged, every kiss, every embrace, only added to the bonfire that now blazed between us. All the pain, the guilt, the frustration that I had harbored within me for so long melted away and all that was left was an all-consuming heat. Magnus’ strong body brushed against mine. Our bare forms were entwined as close to each other as we could possibly be. And for once, it felt like he held my heart too—not just a part of it… but all of it. My heart beat only with love for him.
“Magnus,” I panted through his kisses, “you’re the reason I’m still alive.”
He raised his face to look at me, his lips flushed with the little blood he had in his veins.
“What do you mean?”
“If I didn’t love you, I would not be here with you now. My love for you was strong enough to keep me alive centuries past my natural lifespan.”
&
nbsp; “What are you—?”
I raised a finger to his lips, wrapping my legs tighter around his waist.
“I don’t want to waste our precious time telling you the whole story. Please… just promise me that whatever happens to us after tonight… you won’t ever doubt that I loved you.”
There was a pause, his passion still pulsing deep within me.
A heavy burden lifted from my chest as he moved his mouth next to my ear and whispered:
“I promise.”
Chapter 19: Rose
Kiev looked like he was about to go climbing up the mountain after Mona and Micah by the time they finally reappeared next to us.
“What happened?” my father and Kiev asked at once.
“We need to head to The Sanctuary’s graveyard,” Mona replied.
“Why?” Corrine asked.
“I believe that is where we will find Magnus.”
“Huh?”
“Rhys imprisoned Magnus in a cave up in this mountain. But somehow the vampire got out, otherwise Rhys wouldn’t have been going to such lengths to look for him. The person who let Magnus out had to be more powerful than Rhys. And I believe that person was Lilith. Isolde is powerful, but I don’t see what reason she would have for letting Magnus out.”
“Lilith,” Kiev said.
“I know how much she loved him,” Mona continued. “I experienced it through her memories. If she indeed did take him, there is a chance that she has kept him with her.”
“In The Sanctuary’s graveyard?”
Mona nodded. “I know that he is not being kept in her chamber on the island Isolde and Rhys arranged for her… Look, you just need to trust me on this. We have no time to lose. For all we know, Rhys could be heading there right now.”
We all huddled around, not daring to ask any more questions even though my mind was burning with dozens more. And before I knew it, we had all vanished.