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Four Days Earlier
“Let me die . . . as an Enchanted.”
I awoke with a gasp. The last words I spoke to Ruby flashed through my mind along with the sensation of lying in a warm pool of my own blood, of being on the verge of changing into a cold, soulless vampire. Though my thoughts were blurry and my head throbbing, that memory was as clear as day, along with the pain I’d felt when the creature’s fangs had pierced my skin.
Ruby Saunders, my friend and the fated mate of my cousin, Xavier, had been by my side as I pleaded for her to end my life to save me from transitioning. Though she was part-human, Ruby was the only being on Earth strong enough to save the world from being overrun by vampires, and the Goddess had charged me with the task of setting Ruby on her path and helping her understand and fulfill her destiny. Our chance meeting in our college library was no coincidence.
She’d also been bitten by one of those monsters. Thank the Goddess that she’d survived the nasty bloodsucker, and since I was awake, somehow I had also.
I slowly shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
What was my situation? I was someplace strange, but my breathing was steady, as was my heartbeat, and my flesh was warm. I was lying beneath a thick white blanket on a bed that wasn't mine, but I was so thankful to be alive at this point, it didn’t really matter.
How long had I been unconscious? I groaned and pressed a finger to my temple. Once my headache faded, I'd find the others. I needed them to tell me where I was now, how I’d survived being bitten, and how the war against the vampires was going. Queen Amythia’s army had to be stopped.
I sat up at the scent of an unfamiliar wolf, and my white hair fell onto my lap. I winced as pain blossomed across my forehead from moving too quickly. Was it this long before?
But now wasn’t the time to focus on my appearance. A woman sat beside my bed, a book in her hand. When she lifted her familiar green eyes to meet my blue ones, I gasped. I’d seen her before in “The History of the Damned,” the only book that contained knowledge about vampires from before their supposed extinction. She was the werewolf who had fallen in love with a vampire centuries ago, during the first vampire war.
“I know you.” I said under my breath, and her mouth curved with a slight smile. The fog in my mind was thick and fading far too slowly for my liking, so maybe I was hallucinating. Yeah, that had to be it.
But no matter how many times I blinked, she remained beside my bed, quietly watching me.
“Are you a ghost? You can’t be alive.” I accepted the cup of water she handed to me but refrained from drinking it. “You’re the wolf who fell in love with a vampire during the first war, right? Or are you someone else? A distant relative?”
“No,” she answered calmly. “I’m that wolf, Elinor Blackwood. May I?”
She pointed to the bed by my feet. When I nodded, she shuffled over and sat down.
"How are you still alive?” I asked. “And where is everyone? Is the war still raging? What have I missed?"
I couldn’t stop the questions once they started, and she frowned, then released a heavy sigh.
"Natalie"—the tone of her voice softened as she placed her hand on my shoulder—"I am indeed dead, and the war is over."
I stared at her blankly. “What? How are you here, then? And how could the war have ended so soon? How long have I been asleep?”
“I’m not on Earth, and neither are you. You’re in the God Realm.” She placed her hand flat on the bed beside me. “You died, Natalie. But before you did, you fulfilled the duty given to you by the Goddess. As a reward, you will now live an eternal life in this realm.”
Nice words. Too bad I was still stuck on the whole “you died” thing.
My headache faded away, and with it, the cloudy skies in my mind cleared, too. Suddenly, I remembered everything—the moment I’d died, the pain of being bitten. Ruby had been by my side when it happened.
My mind flashed back to those soulless red eyes, the razor sharp fangs piercing my flesh. Ruby had been by my side when it happened. I’d been foolish even to hope there was a way to reverse vampirism.
“I begged them to kill me. I couldn’t bear the thought of being a vampire.” I spoke under my breath as I remembered my last moments. I looked around the room once more, allowing Elinor’s words to truly sink in. The power in the air was much different here. I hadn’t noticed before. “I died. I—I’m dead.”
When Elinor said nothing, I pressed my palms to my eyes, trying to keep my tears at bay. My life hadn't been a bad one—I'd lived well, and I'd loved and been loved in return. Really, what else was important? I exhaled through my mouth before allowing my hands to fall onto my lap.
“The war ended, you said. So we won, right? Queen Amythia was killed?”
She nodded. “She was killed and the vampire species eradicated. But … your friends Ruby and Axel died as well." When she saw the look on my face, she held her hands up. "They are here. They are both here and asleep as you were. But since they both just arrived, they'll sleep for a while."
I didn’t care that they were in the God Realm, I cared that they were dead! Why had they died?
* * *
Natalie
