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Chapter 1
Iopened my eyes to darkness. The only things I could hear were whimpers and shallow breaths. As I followed the path of sounds, I could barely see Gabriel’s outline. He crouched on the cellar floor as if in enormous physical pain. It had to be the exact moment after we parted. I walked slowly, unsure if he could hear me or see me. Once I got closer, I kneeled and touched him. Suddenly, a surge of pain flooded me. I could feel every bit of agony he endured, and it was unbearable. It scraped bloody wounds in my soul. Tears began flowing down my cheeks. He was the Gabriel I remembered. The love of my life. But what made him become what he was now?
“Gabriel, I’m here with you. Do you hear me?” I whispered. But he didn’t. I was truly a phantom. One that could feel what he felt and live through what he lived.
He remained motionless for hours. It seemed like he was sleeping, but my hand felt the waves of torment reverberating through him over and over. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and pleaded, “Please, Gabriel, you must get up. You must move on. Please.” I knew he couldn’t hear me, but to my surprise, he rose to his feet and left the cellar. Was he able to feel me? I ran toward him and touched him again. “Please go to the kitchen,” I said, testing my theory. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow my direction. Instead, he went to the stables, mounted his horse, bid farewell to Stan, and left. Based on the tone of his voice, something told me Gabriel didn’t plan on returning to the castle anytime soon.
Once he left through the gates, I looked around. The courtyard and the castle looked the same, except all was foggy and somewhat distorted. The only clue indicating I was indeed in a trance and my real body held hands with the seer in Bra?ov. I walked toward the gates, but after a blink, I wound up in a different place. More precisely, in the tavern where Solomonarul and Teodora celebrated their wedding. What in the magical teleportation was this?
I looked around, but I couldn’t recognize anyone sitting at the table except for the owner, who was still holding the wine pitcher and pouring from it to everyone. I’ve never seen her without one. I wondered if she went to sleep with it as well. Then I saw Solomonarul, and my heart leaped with joy. How I missed this red-headed man. He went to the pitcher lady and asked, “Has he been here today?”
“Uhm,” she said disgruntledly, aligning a fist to her hips. “You can find him at your favorite drinking spot.”
“The summer kitchen it is,” Solomonarul said and went inside.
I hastened my pace to see whom he was looking for. Once I followed Solomonarul into the kitchen, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Gabriel splayed on the ground, dead drunk. I had never seen him in such a deplorable state.
“Come,” said Solomonarul as he helped him stand. “Teodora made some porridge. You must eat.”
It broke my heart into million pieces seeing Gabriel so gaunt, so sorrowful, so hopeless. On instinct, I went to help Solomonarul, but when I touched Gabriel again, my spine prickled from the pain seeping through his body. If, in normal circumstances, I wished to distance myself from the torment, now I delved deeper, for I knew I would have suffered the same fate back in my time. Distanced by hundreds of years, with no answer in sight, it would’ve been easier to rip my heart out.
“Kill me, Solomonar,” said Gabriel. “Put me out of my misery.”
“Once you taste Teodora’s porridge, you’ll realize life is not as bad as her cooking. Her porridge gives a new will to live and a desire for new beginnings. The new kid was made just to avoid eating it. I wonder how many will be born for the same reason,” said Solomonarul as he propped Gabriel on his shoulder.
Gabriel smiled wryly.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about. Brothers in suffering. Let’s go,” said Solomonarul.
As much as it pained me to see Gabriel so devastated, it warmed my heart, knowing he wasn’t alone. Friends like Solomonarul stayed beside him. I wished to hug them both so much.
I blinked and found myself next to Tiberiu in the werewolf den. He handed a cup to Gabriel, who was propped next to a tree, pale as a ghost.
“There is no other way, my friend,” said Tiberiu appearing and disappearing behind the fog. “The only way to travel is with the help of the Eye of the Dragon stone. One is broken, one has been lost to time, and Vedoma has the third. Hers is the strongest of all, but it’s impossible to retrieve it as she put a spell on it. You must kill her to get the stone.”
I didn’t know there were power levels to these stones. I thought they were all guided by the comet. Then again, if Vedoma and present Gabriel dealt with illegal antiquated art, she must’ve been able to travel to any time period. Did Gabriel risk everything to fight Vedoma? I couldn’t understand how they got what they had now.
I blinked and found myself in my in-laws’ house. Lady Stoica hovered above an ill man. Was it Gabriel’s father? When I walked closer, I saw Gabriel in a feverish state, with pale lips and a yellow demeanor.
“Mother, why isn’t my soul leaving me?” asked Gabriel. “If I do not wish to live, why does my body not let me go?”
“Do not speak such nonsense. You are a young, strong man with a bright future ahead of you. Milady would want you to be happy. Don’t let your destiny waste away,” Lady Stoica said and touched his forehead. “You are burning. Let me bring you a wet cloth.” She left the room.
I kneeled next to the bed and looked at my husband. His eyes aimed at the ceiling, but it was clear he was looking beyond that. Somewhere far. I touched his hand, and a stream of thoughts flooded my mind. The moment we met for the first time, our swim in the river, our first kiss under the oak tree, our walk into the church about to get married, our first kiss as a married couple behind the church, our first dance, our first night, our chase up the Chindia Tower. Furtive glances, embraces, tickles, pecks on the cheek, snuggles under the quilt, and bittersweet snippets of our best moments together flowed into my mind. Gabriel relived them over and over in a torturous reel of memories. It wasn’t his body that he didn’t want to let go. It was him. He couldn’t let go of us. Of our life lived together. How I wished to soothe his pain. To tell him that it would be okay, that I could take some of the brunt. His pain was my pain.
I leaned on his chest and heard his heart beating erratically. “Gabriel, please let me help you,” I said. “I cannot take the pain. Please, please…”
But he didn’t hear me. The next thing I saw was the Celestial Forest and Gabriel dragging his feet through the fallen snow. He wore nothing more than a shirt and pants. The weather had to be frigid, but he didn’t even react to it. He ambled aimlessly and drank on occasion from a wine bottle. What was he doing in the woods? Especially in these parts wherestrigoilurked at every corner. I hoped he didn’t plan on getting himself killed by the monstrous creatures.
“Where are you, bloody beasts?” asked Gabriel. “Come at me.”
He did indeed plan to meet the undead beings. It didn’t take much time for the unusual sounds to resound across the grove.
“Finally.” Gabriel smiled wryly. He chugged the wine remnants from the bottle and threw it away. Then cracked his knuckles, preparing to fight. The first attack came from behind. Gabriel tossed the creature over his shoulder. Another attacked him from the side. Only then I noticed Gabriel didn’t have any weapons on him. He planned on fightingstrigoiibare-handed?
It didn’t take much to fling the other creature to the side. Even in his inebriated state, Gabriel had enormous power. The power of a man who didn’t have anything to lose. But as I already figured out,strigoiididn’t win battles with skill and intelligence. They won them with numbers. They were the definition of the more, the merrier.
But Gabriel stood relentless, blocking any attempt at hurting him. The adrenaline rushed through him, and for the first time, I saw some color on his cheeks.
