“I’m not asking you. I’m not asking anyone. I can do this. I didn’t realize it before but now that I know, I have to do this. I need to do this for Veronique and for myself. Because I want to, not because I’m cursed to.”
Caden turned away from me. I ignored him, instead turning to Amelie. “How are we going to get there?”
With a dismissive wave of her hand, she simply said, “Easy.”
Wraith spoke up then, unruffled by anything. “Where will we be going?”
I felt my pulse quicken. Back to the start of it all. “Back to New York.”
13. Playing Games—Sofie
Soothing, rhythmic waves lapped around me as I regained consciousness. I lay on my back, my body rising and falling as if floating over waves, my body enveloped in a tropical warmth. Such peace. I allowed myself a moment to relish the calm, gazing up at a mass of blue sky. A seagull squawked in the distance. Its mate immediately responded, bringing to life memories of a childhood on the beach in southern France, baking under the sun without a care. I sighed …
The Fates.
Awareness ripped through me. I was on my feet in an instant, suspicious eyes scanning surroundings for the immediate threat. I saw none. I was alone in an ocean—crystal blue water stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, barren except for the sheets of ice floating by at unnatural speeds. Sheets of ice in balmy temperatures. My first clue that something was off.
On sheer instinct, I looked down at my feet to find soft ripples of water and my own disheveled reflection staring back at me. I was standing on water! I pawed the back of my shirt. Bone-dry. Not one inch of me touched by water, though I had just floated on top of it. Hesitating briefly, I took a step forward. Then another. Tiny circular waves formed around my feet as I walked but the water’s surface held. A tiny awed smile crept over my lips.
Just below the water’s surface, rapid swirling movement caught my attention. I leaned down to catch a flurry of fins moving past. Sharks. More sharks than I had ever seen in one place, schooling together in a circular whirl as if preparing for a feeding frenzy. Circling below me. I chuckled. The Fates were testing my fear of oversized fish? Did they forget I’m not human?
A crackling sound drew my attention back up above the surface. Wisps of lead-colored smoke materialized off the sheets of ice, quickly forming into a dense, noxious fog. Up, up it rose, stretching to cloak the peaceful blue sky, turning the atmosphere hostile.
Where the wisps of smoke had materialized on the ice, sparks of green and blue now flickered. I watched as they swiftly matured into a wild inferno of colorful flames, skittering over the surface of the ice. It reminded me of a choreographed fireworks spectacle and I smiled, half expecting an ensemble of violins to join in the display.
The dark haze vanished, taking with it the ocean and the ice formations. Instead, a vast, dusty wasteland of withered plants and arid ochre soil stretched without bounds. The sky hung in an unappealing reddish hue. Nothing flew by. Nothing crawled. Nothing lived. Even the cacti—made to withstand the most barren environment—were brown and shriveled.
I began to walk through the desert, waiting for the next oddity to take shape. But nothing came. And so I walked, feeling the atmosphere leeching moisture out of my body. Soon, my tongue began to work against the roof of my mouth. For a human, this was the beginning of dehydration, requiring vats of water. For a vampire, this meant only one thing. Blood thirst. A dangerous phase to be in should a human suddenly appear …
The air grew denser and drier, until it was compressing my lungs, making it hard to … breathe? I opened my mouth and felt the draw of the atmosphere pour into those useless masses in my chest that once kept my mortal self alive. I was breathing! For the first time in a hundred and twenty years, I was desperate for air! In … out … in … out … Large, long drags through my nose, into my lungs.
I continued on, my footsteps lighter, bouncier. A few strands of hair flew up to tickle my nose as the beginnings of a welcome breeze took shape, carrying with it a tranquil sensation. It was so calming, so soft, caressing my cheek, reminding me of meadows and children’s laughter …
The tranquility vanished in a heartbeat as a wall of sand and grit slammed into my side, forcing me down to my knees. I cowered with my head buried in my arms, flinching as grit whipped at my skin, like a thousand wasp stings. Out of nothing rose a deafening screech, a loud, high-pitched engine sound. At first I ignored it, content to hide my face. But it only grew louder, angrier, until I couldn’t ignore it, convinced that I was about to be pulverized by a speeding freight train.