Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star(17)

Everything is quiet. Too quiet. As if the whole world has disappeared and I am the only one left.

My hand burns. I try to pull it toward me, but it's stuck. My ring tightens. The stone grows larger. It's so heavy it tears at my finger.

Then my vision goes black, and I can no longer feel anything but weightlessness.

I float in a sea of stars.

There is no gravity. My dress drifts around me as if in water. I can't see anything but the bright points of light around me. I hear nothing. No.

There is something. The swishing of air. Movement.

The darkness takes shape. Small at first, then larger. It grows legs, claws, a tail, spikes. Wings sprout from its back, spanning into eternity. The darkness turns to me, its face reptilian in feature, but with a consciousness much deeper than any lizard. It stares at me with eyes like stars.

"You are mine," a voice whispers in the darkness. "You are the chosen." It is loud, all consuming, layered like a chorus. It is soft and hard at the same time. It is gentle and furious. Not female or male. Something else. It surrounds me. It embraces and engulfs me.

"You are the Midnight Star."

My head fills with visions of life and death, visions that flash like fire before my eyes, and my ears feel pulled, stretched, torn from my head. I spin in space, and white light explodes from within me.

Fire and ice fill my veins, remaking me into something new, unlocking ancient secrets stored deep inside my cells.

"Go now, child of midnight," the voice says inside me. "Awaken the wilds."







The ground is hard beneath me, and my body buzzes with a new energy. Heady. Unsettling. A hand reaches for me, helping me to my feet. Asher. He stares at me, his eyes wide, his jaw slack.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "Did I fail?"

My head throbs, and I can't take in all the people staring at me just yet, so I focus on Asher's eyes, on his hands holding mine.

"You most certainly did not fail, Princess," he says with awe in his voice. "On the contrary, I fear you've succeeded."

Madrid steps toward me, a secret smile on her lips. She nods her head and one of the guards brings over a tall silver mirror, placing it before me. "See for yourself," she says.

It takes a moment to realize I'm looking at myself. Before me stands a Fae with black hair tinged with blue sparkles. Her ears are pointed. I am no longer Arianna, the human girl from earth. I'm something else entirely.

I study the rest of my reflection. A black dragon armband coils around my right arm. It's warm on my skin, and when I reach out to touch it, the band moves, uncoiling its long tail and raising its head.

I gasp, staring at the band, first through the mirror, then directly as it leaps into my hand, its small wings fluttering in the sky. It's the color of my new hair, dark blue—almost black, with bright stars moving through its scales. It's the size of a kitten. A baby dragon. The color of midnight.

I glance down at my finger, where my mother's ring once rested. The silver band is still there, but the stone is broken, cracked open like…

An egg.

I look into the creature's eyes, and it makes warbling sound, "You're Yami," I say.

His lips curl, like he's smiling, and he hops on my hand, chirping.

Asher and Madrid stare at me, frowning. I hold the baby dragon up to them. "Was this supposed to happen?" I ask.

Asher squints "I'm not sure…"

Madrid shakes her head. "Princess, we do not see what you are seeing."

I look down at Yami and back up again. "This dragon. It hatched from my ring."

Madrid's eyes widen, and she bows. "The Midnight Star has been reborn." Other Fae fall to their knees, bowing, but most look on as skeptically as Asher. Lucian scowls from beside the tree.

Madrid's words trigger my memory, of my transformation in the dark starry night. "Midnight Star. Yes. The voice said I was the Midnight Star. But why can't you see Yami?"

The Fae looks at my head, her eyes focusing until she smiles. "He is an ancient spirit of our people, and only reveals himself to those he chooses. I believe, yes, I saw him, for a moment, but he is gone again. He has just been reborn, and you are like his mother. It will take time for him to grow accustomed to others, to grow strong again, just as it will take time for you to master your own magic."

Asher grimaces and looks back at the glowing silver tree. It looks more alive now than it did when we arrived. My blood seems to have revitalized it.

"Is something more meant to happen?" Everyone still seems to be waiting for something, as if me turning into Fae and hatching a dragon from my ring wasn't enough of a show.

Madrid's words are low, meant only for Asher and me. "Now that Yami has returned, the other Druids will awaken. Within this tree sleeps the Air Druid and his spirit. We are waiting for his slumber to end."