The central figure, a female with black and red hair streaming behind her, soared with her face upturned toward some light source—maybe a moon—just off the edge of the canvas. In her right hand she held a golden lotus and in her left, something that looked like an egg. Her body glowed against a dark background of swirling blacks, blues, and purple. Far below, a flower garden spread out like scattered jewels. The entire thing had a dark, dreamy quality. But beyond that, I felt this odd sense of déjà vu, as if I’d seen this image before.
“Pretty,” I murmured, moving closer. Now I could see faces in the churning colors of the night sky. “What does it mean?”
Maisie nodded. “The vision came to me right after the mages started disappearing. It was a dark time, and I’d been praying to Hekate for guidance. I’d promised our grandmother I wouldn’t look for you until after she passed. She’d been the one to enter into the agreement with the Dominae after we were born to keep our existences a secret from each other, so it made sense. She passed a year ago, and then mages started disappearing and the council came to me, hoping I could help them locate those missing.” She motioned to the painting. “When this came to me, I knew it was time to find you, and that somehow you’d be instrumental in helping us find those who went missing. So I asked Adam to go to California.”
I looked at the female in the painting again. Even though her face was obscured, I had to admit the hair was a dead giveaway for her identity. Or was it? “But how did you know this was me? After all, it could just as easily be you.”
Maisie shook her head. “Look closely. She has the eight-pointed star on her right shoulder.”
I squinted and leaned in. Sure enough, a tiny star lay exactly where mine was in real life. “Wait, I met the faery who was the midwife at our birth. She said you have the same birthmark.”
“I do.” Maisie turned her left shoulder and pulled down the fabric of her shirt. “But mine is on the opposite side.”
“That’s weird.” Seeing my birthmark on Maisie’s shoulder made me feel disoriented. For so many years I’d hid the mark, since my grandmother believed it was a reminder of my shameful beginnings. And here was a person who shared the same mark but felt no shame whatsoever about it.
“Do you think it means something that our marks are mirror images?” I asked.
Maisie smiled. “Sabina, I’m an oracle. I believe everything involving symbols is significant. But I have no idea what it means. I’m sure it will reveal itself in time, though. But even if the birthmark wasn’t a clue, there are others. For example, the fact it’s clearly night could speak to the fact you live like a vampire, active only at night. Plus, I don’t just read the symbols. I also have to trust my visceral instincts, and in this case, I know it’s you because it feels like you.”
Clearly, I was out of my depth with all this talk of symbols and prophecies and feelings, but I nodded anyway. “So you said this told you to look for me to help find the mages, but there’s obviously more to it, right?”
“Yes, the timing of the vision was what told me you’d be involved in finding the mages. But the image itself told me you had a far larger role to play. The golden lotus is a major symbol for Lilith. And the scene itself re-creates the flight of Lilith from the Garden of Eden after she was spurned by Adam.”
I cocked my head. Now that she mentioned it, I realized that’s why the image felt so familiar. Every vampire is taught the dark-race version of the creation story. Lilith was the first wife in Eden, created from dust just like Adam. They were supposed to be equals, but when she demanded Adam lay beneath her during sex, he balked. Tired of his heavy-handed ways, she invoked the forbidden name of God and flew from the garden.
“I remember the story,” I said. “But I don’t get what it has to do with me.”
Rhea came forward then. “Remember what we said about the Chosen uniting the dark races? The prophecy as we know it predicts Lilith’s return. Call me crazy, but I think a vision where you’re literally re-creating Lilith’s emancipation from Eden is a pretty clear sign you’re this new Lilith.”
I had no response to that bombshell. I was literally speechless. Not because I felt overwhelmed with honor or anything. But because the idea was so freakin’ ridiculous my mind exploded.
Maisie watched me closely, allowing me to process her revelation. Rhea, however, misinterpreted my silence as awe. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but with the war looming we don’t have time to waste. We need to get your training started immediately so you’ll be prepared.”
I waved my hands in the air and shook my head, as if trying to shake off the crazy. “Hold on just a damned minute. Prepared for what?”
“Haven’t you been listening?” Rhea said. “Your destiny is to unite all the dark races. In order to do that, you have to learn to harness your magic.”
“And by unite the dark races, you mean what exactly?”
“Overcome centuries of hostility among the races, bring us all together peacefully, and lead us.”
A bark of laughter escaped my lips. “Riiight. I’ll get right on that.”
“Sarcasm is the weak mind’s crutch, Sabina,” Rhea said. “You can do better than that.”
I crossed my arms. “How about this: You’re both insane! I’m not a leader.”
“Not yet, but you will be,” Rhea countered.
“Look, lady, I get that you believe all this woo-woo bullshit.” I motioned wide to indicate the painting, the prophecy, the vision quest, everything they’d told me. The females frowned at me. “But I’m a realist. I don’t believe in destiny. I don’t believe in prophecies. And I sure as hell don’t believe in being some foretold Chosen.”
“Why not?” Maisie said.
“Because I believe in free will. Choice. And I choose not to be the Chosen.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Sabina,” Rhea said. “The universe has a plan for you. You can insulate yourself from the truth by believing in the illusion of choice. But one way or the other, your choices will eventually take you exactly where the universe wants you to go.”
Seeing we weren’t ever going to agree on the issue of fate, I decided to try another tactic. “What if you’re wrong about all this?”
Maisie and Rhea frowned. “What do you mean?”