AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then I’ll go,” Caleb states flatly.
Maddy gasps. “You? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard today. It’s a worse idea than me going after her. You’re human now.” The pitch of her voice increases with each word, and she clears her throat when her voice cracks. “If it’s not a good idea for me to go, then I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go.”
“He should go,” Sylvan says, his voice a low rumble in the room. “Caleb is the only one who can.”
Maddy gasps. “He’s defenseless.”
Caleb shakes his head. “No, not defenseless. I have powers now.”
“That you can’t control. I won’t allow it. Together or not at all.”
Sylvan sighs and places his hand on Maddy’s shoulder. “He must go alone.”
“Why?” Maddy doesn’t want her voice to sound like a wail, but it does, and she bites back a whimper. “Why does he have to go alone?”
“You have vampire blood in you. Faerie magic will attack anything vampiric, so he must go alone.” Sylvan is certain, confident in his knowledge.
“He’s right, Maddy,” Blaise adds.
Maddy really does whimper then, and her heart twists. No matter how much she complained about being together again, she couldn’t fathom the thought of being apart, of sending Caleb into an unknown situation.Alone.
He drapes his arm around her shoulders and pulls her close. “I’ll be fine, Maddy. This is something I can do, so let me go.”
Maddy doesn’t speak. She doesn’t believe him, but she doesn’t argue. No matter what her feelings are about what they have to do, the truth is clear.
They don’t have a choice.
Chapter10
Caleb
Caleb smooths his sweaty palms over his jeans and swallows to wet his dry throat. He’ll be fine, surely. That’s what he’d told Maddy, but did he actually believe it? Now he’s not so sure. Maddy can’t go because she’s a vampire and a Fae portal would attack her. So, it’s up to him to find Nim.
And he must find her. No matter how much he doesn’t want to go.
Maddy’s speaking in low tones to Sylvan, Blaise, and Sierra, probably trying to get some kind of “he’ll be okay” promise out of those two and the mysterious Fae. But Caleb doesn’t think any of them know one way or the other whether he’ll be able to stay safe. His stomach churns, and he doubts his abilities. He has random bursts, sure, but how does that help him protect himself or anyone else?
Now he’s an ex-vampire, mostly human, with some kind of Fae magic stirring up powers in his blood. Bonus: he doesn’t know how to control any of it. But at least he’s not a vampire anymore and can attempt to portal to wherever Nim’s gone. He wipes his hands again. His safety doesn’t matter anymore. All he cares about is keeping Maddy safe, and he knows her. If he doesn’t go through the portal to find Nim, she’ll try, and Caleb isn’t willing to risk her safety.
How long has it been since he’s had nerves like this? He misses vampire confidence—the belief he’ll figure it out no matter what. Now it’s like he has a bunch of questions crashing over him almost all the time. Does he know what to do? Will it work? What if he’s wrong?
Yeah, being human couldn’t have come at a worse time. He glances at Maddy. If she can figure out the bloodlust, maybe she can pick up what he’s lost in confidence. She leaves Sylvan and approaches him.
She lays her hand on his chest and presses a kiss to his cheek. Her hand lingers over his heart as though wanting to feel his heartbeat, but is it Maddy the girlfriend or Maddy the vampire who’s interested in his heart?
Caleb grins and decides it doesn’t matter, so he takes her hand in his. “I’ll be fine.”
She takes a deep breath, and a tremble moves through her. “I know you will. You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he says, and Maddy’s hand falls away. He moves toward the volume, still open on the table in the center of the room. He stands in front of the book and focuses all his mental energy on Nim.
He lays his hand on the open page, unsure how this works even as he keeps his mind on Nim. For the first time, he wonders where she would choose to go—
Bright light bursts from the book, swallowing him, blinding him. It yanks at Caleb, making his stomach swoop to the floor.
He blinks, then blinks again. Gone is the room in Veritas with its stone walls and floors. Instead, he’s standing in a strange forest. Tall trees surround him, their shadows blending into each other, creating a brooding, oppressive atmosphere.
“Nim!” He spins in a slow circle, scanning the spaces between the large, dark trunks. “Nim! Are you here?”
