My mouth fell open in shock. "Are you serious?" "I'm dead serious." His smile vanished and he glared. Somehow, I found that less intimidating. "You've already befouled our realm with your presence. I will not allow you to corrupt the greatest chayot we've seen in centuries." Jesse uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "And if I don't agree?" I asked, unfazed. I didn't care what he said, I wasn't leaving here without Gabe. "You don't want me to cross that proverbial bridge, princess." Malice glinted in his eyes.His threats were only making me angry. "I want to see Gabe," I said. "Right now.""Sure." He waved his hand and an image of Gabe and a beautiful angel with downy brown wings appeared. They were in a kitchen. She was baking and Gabe was seated at an island watching her, a soft smile on his lips. "You see?" Jesse asked. "He belongs with his own kind. He's happy. Content."I knew at once that this had to be Delphina. She wasn't old and wrinkly like I imagined, but beauti
I tossed and turned and struggled to fight free of the haze. In my dream there had been an archangel and he and Gabe battled. I sat up, looking around the room frantically. It hadn't been a dream, but real. Jesse had beaten Gabe to shreds, but the Unknowns appeared before Jesse could kill him, and they'd put me to sleep and - My room in Sharra was just as I left it. My costume still hung over my closet door, but my spelled calendar revealed it was Tuesday. I'd been asleep nearly three days! I went to my bedroom door, desperate to find Gabe, and noticed I was in pajamas. "How the hell?" I ripped them off and threw on jeans and the first shirt I found before pulling on boots and rushing to the door. Before I could open it, someone pounded from the outside. "Cindy! Open up, it's me." I yanked the door open and threw myself into his arms. "Gabe," I said, burying my face in his neck. He growled, wrapping his arms around me as I clung to his hips with my legs. "How are you here?
"Are you ready?" I glanced at my mom in the mirror's reflection. "More than ready," I said, getting off the chair and adjusting my wedding dress. White with a straight collar that went off my shoulders, it was glorious in its simplicity. The bodice hugged my curves and an enormous train trailed gracefully behind me. My veil hung long from a small tiara Polly had placed around my head. My mom cleared her throat, pushing me away. "You don't want to wrinkle your dress and I don't want to have you redo my makeup," she said, her eyes misty. "Right." I glanced over her shoulder at Snow. It wasn't that long ago that we'd been preparing her for her wedding. Snow winked. "Alright, well, I'll meet you out there. If we're not careful, your grandma will make a fuss over something and use her magic to get in a fight with one of the vampires. We don't need a blood-sucking war on your wedding day." Mom made a face before closing the door, leaving Snow and me alone. "Can you believe it?" Sno
"You're mine," I whispered, tracking the hottest guy in all the realms with my eyes. He didn't attend the Seven Magics Academy. I knew that for sure because I knew everyone. Maybe he was new? "Say what, Jasmine?" Jennifer Flora had been giving me a play-by-play on how she turned rock into stardust during spells class when I saw him. "Nothing. Sorry." I cleared my throat, tucking some hair behind my ear as I clutched my hands together. "Why don't you go back to the dance? I'll meet you inside later," I said, taking off after the guy."Sure," she responded but I was already heading down the hall, hoping to catch sight of him again.As an original vampire, stalking was as easy as breathing, especially since the Seven Magics Academy was my home and had been from the beginning. Even when it was still just an expansive castle and not a school for the supernatural. I peered around the corner and he came into view. Thick blond hair, dazzling eyes, lean muscle for days and tall. Over si
Monday morning, I woke, climbed out of bed and stretched my wings, showered, dressed, and then flew out my window to explore Sharra with my best friend, Abrea. It was our usual ritual and my favorite time of day, like life stretched itself awake. All was peaceful and filled with possibilities. Abrea and I helped a fairy lift a particularly heavy caterpillar onto the branch it intended to use as a home for its chrysalis. We also assisted an elderly troll in his desperate quest to reach some juicy berries at the top of a rather large tree. Now we were seated on the stone ledge at the top of the turret closest to my room watching the sun finish its rise. "Jasmine. Come inside. We have a lot to do today." My mom stuck her head and shoulders out my window near the top of the castle, searching for me. I stifled a laugh as I watched her head turn from side to side. She wouldn't find me though, because I sat directly above her. I sighed heavily. "Fine." My mom gasped and cracked her he
My mom's stern expression softened as I watched her reflection. "Most importantly, I'm your mother." She leaned down, our heads side by side and she squeezed my shoulders. Her eyes sparkled with love. I studied the two of us together, once again astonished by our similarities. We both had black hair, though mine had a streak of teal in itThe shape of our faces were the same as well as our high cheekbones. Our lips had the same sort of thickness and we were the same height. There were differences too. Her eyes were an unusual color, reflecting the various hues within the spectrum of the seven magics while mine were always violet. My skin was naturally tanner than hers. And then, of course, there was the huge difference between us. I had wings, obnoxiously large wings that protruded from my back like those of a giant black bird. The worst part was they never went away. Like fairies' wings did. I had them on my back at all times - no matter what. Sometimes I longed to sleep on my
As I watched them, I thought about how things changed since my mom became the vampire queen. Originally, male vampires were all hunters or drones who travelled into the human realm to mark possible future bodies for the vampire queen. Sharra gave them a portion of her magic so they could walk in the sunlight. They could only be killed by removing the heart. With female vampires or workers, they could be killed more easily by either the sun or a stake through the heart. But since my mom came into power, she gave every vampire some of her blood. Now a portion of her magic flowed through each of them. Male and female. There were no more hunters, except Christopher. There haven't been for a long while. With that magic came some additional changes. Like the fact that killing a vampire now required their heart be ripped from their chest. It was gruesome, but fact. As an original, no one knows how to kill me or even if I can be killed. Like the old originals, I came right from the seven mag
"Breakfast. Five minutes," my dad said as he knocked on my door."Huh?" I forgot to set my alarm, but usually didn't need it. Pushing myself out of bed, I stumbled over to the window. I was late. Abrea probably wondered what happened to me. "Jasmine?" My dad knocked again. "I'm up. Thanks!" I needed to hurry but pushed open the window instead. As I stared aimlessly out at the landscape, I thought of the dream. Two entities had been speaking and their words filled my mind like they were within. Or, maybe I'd somehow traveled into their minds.*** "The vampire child is not performing as expected. She doesn't care about her destiny or the fate of her kind. She's a total disappointment." He slithered his body around the vast darkness that was everywhere and nowhere. The inkiness seemed to expand and contract, like breathing, around them. "There is always our first inclination." She glided beside him, producing an orb of light, just big enough so they could see each other. Not that it