“Are you ready to face your parents and Mona?” he asked.
“What?”
“They’ve just arrived,” he replied, nodding his head in the direction of the valley.
We made our way out of the passage, coming face to face with Mona and my mom and dad, waiting by our bull-horse. They’d obviously heard us coming, as I could see the relief on all of their faces.
“Ugh! Thank God you’re okay!” My mom enveloped me in a fierce embrace, and then moved to let my dad do the same. “And you, Ash—how are you feeling?” my mom asked with concern, her eyes darting over his miraculously healed wound.
“Better than I’ve ever felt, to be honest.”
“The water worked then?” my dad asked, also staring at Ash’s unblemished chest.
“Impressive,” Mona murmured.
My mom turned to Ash, clearly shocked at his swift recovery. “I guess there’s no need to turn you then.”
Mom!
Ash instinctively took a step back, his expression horrified. I rolled my eyes.
“That wasn’t really an option,” I reassured him hastily.
Ash nodded mutely, his gaze zoning in on my mom and dad’s teeth.
“Let’s get going,” I sighed.
Ash
A vampire?
Was that what Ruby’s mother meant?
I didn’t really understand the logistics of it, but I’d heard Ruby mention the phrase ‘to turn’ when she was explaining GASP to me, and the supernatural nature of her family. Partly, I was flattered—I’d wanted Ruby’s family to accept me, and I supposed you couldn’t ask for more acceptance than an offer that loosely translated into, ‘Hey, come and be part of the family for eternity.’ But I didn’t know how sold I was on vampirism. Obviously, there were benefits—the speed, the strength and the immortality—I guessed that was a double-edged sword, and one that I might just have been gifted anyway, if the Impartial Ministers were to be believed…I wasn’t entirely convinced that they were.
The concept of ‘turning’ was a lot to digest. I still didn’t understand the transformation process, and wasn’t even sure that sentries could be turned—though the GASP organization certainly contained a lot of supernatural cross-breeds like the half-Hawks and human-fae. I supposed I would have time later to consider this, and it would be something that Ruby would have to decide as well. She’d made no secret of her ambition to eventually join her vampire clan, and I didn’t want to dissuade her…but I’d never for a moment considered joining her in the transformation.
I shoved the thought aside and tried to compose myself. I didn’t want Ruby thinking that the idea shocked me too badly, and I didn’t want to cause her family offense. Plus, we had more pressing matters to attend to.
“What happened in the battle?” I asked as we prepared to depart.
Claudia sighed and Yuri and the witch looked downcast. Whatever the news was, it wasn’t good. I’d thought because all three of them had taken the time to come and find us, everything might have gone well. Clearly not.
“There were quite a few casualties,” Yuri replied. “We couldn’t defeat the shadow—or the entity. We’ve retreated back to the palace.”
“The only good news is the barrier,” Claudia interjected. “Something that Hazel and Tejus made—none of us know how. But it was powerful enough to repel the shadow, and escape the entity.”
I nodded, jumping up on the bull-horse with a heavy heart.
“How are they?” Ruby asked.
“Hazel and Tejus? They’re fine. So are the rest of GASP.”
Ruby nodded, still looking as despondent as I felt. I was glad that none of our friends had been injured, but a retreat wasn’t good—and neither were the deaths of Nevertide’s people.
“Let’s go, Ruby.” I held out my hand to pull her on to the bull-horse, and she clambered on in front of me.
“We can take the bull-horse too, if you want to come with us,” Mona informed us. “But if you are going to ride, Tejus said to avoid the forests, stick to the main roads.”
I nodded. There was no danger of me going anywhere near a forest.
I looked at Ruby, wondering which method of transport she’d prefer.
“Let’s go with Mona. I want to get back as soon as possible.”
I nodded, and we all formed a circle with the witch.
“Can we stop for a moment at the cove?” I asked. “Only if it’s safe. I want to check the state of the portal.”
The witch nodded, and a split-second later, we appeared on the main road, at a safe distance from the cove. Above the trees that blocked the shore from view, I could see the shadow. It remained in one spot—swaying in the breeze, but very determinedly hovering over the ocean.