A vampire? I blinked because that was all the physical reaction I could muster. I knew they’d taken my magic, but it hadn’t occurred to me that the loss would leave me fully Lilim. The irony was I’d spent so much of my life wishing to be a full-blooded vampire. Prayed so many nights to Lilith to take away the curse of my mage blood. But now that it was gone, I felt… hollow.
The golden doors opened behind me. Running footsteps echoed, but I couldn’t turn to look. I was barely able to hold myself upright. Adam came around and put his hands on my shoulders. His eyes searched my face for a moment and then he froze.
“Jesus, Red, what did they do to you?”
A male curse sounded behind me. Tristan. “Gods protect you.”
“What?” I rasped.
“Your hair,” Nyx whispered.
With effort, I raised my hands to my head. I don’t know what I expected to feel exactly, but it still felt like hair. But then it hit me. They’d removed all traces of magehood from me. “It’s all red now, isn’t it?”
Adam nodded, his eyes wide.
“You may pass through the gate,” the twins said.
Adam rounded on them. “What did you do?” he shouted.
I swallowed hard. “Adam… I’m okay.”
“Like hell you are,” Tristan said, coming closer. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks.” My tone, weak as it was, dripped with sarcasm.
“We did not harm her, Adam Lazarus,” the twins said. “She sacrificed her magic willingly.”
Adam turned slowly toward me. His face was pale and his eyes were frightened. “Sacrificed your magic?”
I nodded. “It was the only way.”
Ameritat and Orpheus joined us then, their movements hurried. “You must go!” my grandmother shouted.
Something in her voice told me this wasn’t an idle suggestion. “What’s wrong?”
“Asclepius opened his portal into Irkalla,” Orpheus said.
“What?” Adam said.
I’d totally forgotten to tell them about Hekate’s warning.
“He dares not enter the Infernal Lands himself, but he has granted entrance to a malevolent energy.”
“Cain?” Tristan asked, his tone dark.
Ameritat leveled her son with a withering glare. “Yes.”
“Shit!” Nyx gasped. She had just as much reason as me to be worried. After all, Asclepius only helped Cain to get to her. That meant Nyx was also on Cain’s hit list.
“Where is he?” Adam asked.
“Nearing the Adamantine Gate as we speak. Hurry and we will try to delay him as long as possible.”
“Wait, can’t you just close the portal behind us?”
Orpheus shook his head. “Not if you want to be able to escape later.”
I turned to the others. “Move!”
The twins chanted an incantation. The far wall of the temple shimmered and swirled, opening the gate into the Fae Realm. Adam put my arm over his shoulder and helped me run. At the opening, I stopped to make sure everyone got through. When I did, I saw Tristan speaking with his mother and friend. “Tristan, let’s go!”
He tried to hug Ameritat, but his arms moved through her spectral from.
“Good-bye, my son,” she said wistfully. “I hope we do not meet again for many years. Now, go!”
Tristan cast one last regretful glance at his mother and took off running. He grabbed my hand and together we jumped through the portal.
Chapter 34
The Fae Realm resembled the Blue Ridge Mountains area where Queen Maeve had established the Seelie Court in the earthly realm. We ran through lush forests filled with both conifers and hardwood trees, sparkling brooks and deep pools, medicinal plants and flowers of every variety and color. For a long time, we didn’t see any beings. But occasionally, a flash of wing would show behind a bracken-covered log, or the top of a blond head would peek around a giant toadstool.
Eventually, the forest gave way to a clearing with a pool in the center. The water sparkled with iridescent light and tiny sprites buzzed over the surface like dragonflies. Tall redwood trees circled the clearing and a thick carpet of moss covered the shore of the pool.
Reaching this spot, we all slowed. Even though losing my magic had temporarily weakened me, my vampire side had stepped up and renewed my strength quickly. But I was thirsty, thirstier than I’d ever been. I needed blood, but I knew I wouldn’t find any here and Adam needed all his strength, too, so feeding from him wasn’t an option. So I settled on approaching the pool. I knelt down and cupped my hands to lift the water to my lips. The water sparkled in my hands like liquid moonbeams.
“Red, I’m not sure that’s a good—” Adam began.
“Stop!” a female voice squeaked.
I looked up quickly. On the opposite side of the pool, a female in a green hooded robe stood. She was short—not a surprise since she was probably a fae—and two delicate hands jutted from the wide sleeves of the robe.
Behind me, Horus’s sword sang as it exited its scabbard. Calyx aimed her deadly bow at the intruder. Nyx, Adam, and Tristan fell in behind me protectively.
“Anyone who drinks from the sacred scrying pool will die instantly.”
The water trickled between my fingers. “Thanks,” I said. I wiped my hands on my jeans. “Who are you?”
Only her mouth was visible through the hood’s opening and it spread into a smile. “Have you forgotten me so soon, Sabina?” She pushed back the hood.
I gasped and stumbled back. Adam caught me and steadied me. “Vinca?” I whispered.
She dropped the dire tone and waggled her fingers at us. “Hey, guys!”
My heart clenched. The last time I’d seen the nymph was when Adam and I delivered her body to her family for burial. She’d died at the hands of a vampire named Frank back in the winery the Dominae used as a cover for a mage bloodletting operation. We’d won that night but had paid huge personal costs to gain the victory.
Vinca’s death had hit me hard. She was the first female friend I’d ever had and the first person whose death I gave a shit about. I suppose I should have expected that I might run into her spirit in Irkalla, but with all of Tristan’s talk about running into people who wanted me dead, it never occurred to me I’d see old friends, too.
Adam and I stood in shocked silence for a few moments. Vinca’s smile faltered the longer the silence drew out. “Guys?”
I shook myself. “I’m sorry. I just… didn’t expect to see you.”