From: Ruby Moore

Subject: Invitation

Date: December 9th 11:13pm

To: Ivan Aleksandrov

Thank you for the invite. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

See you when I get there.

I added my number to the end of the email and clicked the send button with no hesitation. “And now I wait.”

THE DRIVE

Being back at Gerald Harbor sent shivers down my spine. I focused on rocks, sticks, birds—anything to get my mind off that horrible night. In the back of my mind, it was like I could still hear the fighting. Eli’s face as he neared death flashed through my mind, followed by my scream. I shuddered, sticking my pinkie finger in my ear and wiggling it around in an attempt to make the noisy memories go away—it helped a little.

I exhaled loudly and sat on the same rock I’d sat on when I told Eli I was leaving. Once again his face flickered through my mind. I remembered the way his eyes watched me as I said it—tense and angry. I felt nauseous. My nerves were overwhelming—they felt worn out. It was all too much. I pulled Eli’s guardian angel whistle from the side pocket of my bag and stroked it lightly. I hadn’t looked at it in a while, I couldn’t stand to. Every time I looked at it I saw his face as he watched me leave. I’d told him that I loved him and then I left. My actions spoke louder than my words, there was no way he’d believe me if I told him I still loved him. Not that I would, I hurt him too much. I wouldn’t put him through that again.

I told Mr Aleksandrov I’d be here at lunch time, it wasn’t very specific. That could mean eleven, twelve or one o’clock, those seem to be average lunch times. It’s a twelve hour car ride from Sage Sanctum to Gerald Harbor, so, if they left as soon as I replied to Aleksandrov’s email, they should be here within an hour or two.

“Or now...” I mumbled, disregarding my estimate and stuffing the whistle back into the side pocket. The sound of rocks and sticks cracking under tires filled my ears and I jumped to my feet.

Please don’t let Eli be the one Mr Aleksandrov sent to pick me up, I prayed silently. It wasn’t a shock to me when a guardian-issued black SUV rolled to a stop in front of me. As usual, everything about the car was black save for the rims and extra trimmings. I could feel a line of sweat bead on my forehead. My heart began to race as I felt the prickle of more sweat on the back of my neck. Nervously, I clenched my fists, only to discover they were damp. I wiped them quickly on my jeans. When the door opened and a big guardian boot hit the rocks, I almost brought up the sausage roll I had for breakfast. When I saw the short blond hair and unfamiliar face, I relaxed.

“Ruby Moore?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I’m Xavier. Are you ready?”

I had never seen Xavier before. He seemed young, around twenty-three, maybe. He drew a hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up. The tired lines he attempted to hide settled into deep crevices between his brows and on either side of his mouth. They aged him instantly, piling on at least ten years in a matter of seconds. I picked up my bag and walked toward the car as he ran his fingers through his fluffy hair.

“Would you like me to drive? I bet you’re tired?” I offered.

He laughed and the lines deepened and bags grew bigger. “No, I’m fine, thank you.”

I climbed into the passenger seat and placed my bag on the floor. I reached for my seatbelt and clicked it into place. He ran another hand over his face and took a few deep breaths. Suddenly, I was afraid Xavier was going to pass out behind the wheel and kill us both. He turned the key and the engine jumped to life with a vibrating hum.

“We’ll get back to Sage at midnight if we leave now.”

Slowly, he reversed his way out of the harbor and past the abandoned warehouse. I exhaled subtly. I hadn’t realized how badly I wanted to get out of this god-damn town.

“There is a lot of heated discussion about your return,” Xavier said as the tires hit the smooth highway.

“I can imagine. How have things been?”

He shrugged. “Same old.”

I paused, pondering whether or not it was too soon to ask how Eli was. I didn’t have to ponder for long. The words were out my mouth in seconds. Once I asked, I dropped my gaze to my hands. I was afraid that if I looked at him, my eyes would give away how much I actually cared.

“Eli is… Eli, I guess. He doesn’t seem to socialize with me, or anyone for that matter, and since Gerald Harbor he seems more… anti-social than usual.”

My brow furrowed. I’d never seen Eli as a loner who preferred to be on his own. In the beginning, when I was a vampire, he did come across a little reserved and hard, but that quickly melted away and we grew close. By leaving, did I deter him from socializing with his co-workers? Had I broken him down to the point where he felt the need to alienate himself? I swallowed hard. I couldn’t bear the thought. What if I saw him and he never wanted talks to me again? In a way, I guess I wouldn’t blame him.

“Well.” I cleared my throat. “Gerald Harbor was hard for everyone.”

Silence fell in the car. I bit my lip, fighting against my flood of questions.

“You have a guardian whistle?” Xavier asked, glancing sideways at the tip of the whistle sticking out of the side pocket of my bag. I pulled it out again and hung it in front of me, admiring it.

“Yeah, I, uh, I forgot to give it back when I left.”

Xavier’s face was stern, but the tiniest spark of sympathy flashed in his dark brown eyes. I stuffed the whistle back into my bag and folded my arms across my chest.

Xavier twisted his hands over the steering wheel nervously. “Permission to speak freely?”

I choked back an awkward chuckle. “Say whatever you want, I’m not a queen.”

That’s the thing with guardian angels; they always acted so professional around us. They worked for us, mostly, as protection against vampires and they risked their lives to protect us regularly. They always put us first—placing us up high on a pedestal, like they owed us something. They owe us nothing, if anything, we owe them.

“Some say that you and Eli…” He paused and a strange, nervous pang hit my stomach. “Were involved?”

I opened my mouth to speak but only an exasperated gust of air came out. I guess some of the guardians at Sage were aware of my and Eli’s previous situation.

“No, yes—I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

I shoved the whistle back into my bag, hoping he’d drop the subject.

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s okay. It’s just strange talking about it. It feels like so long ago.”

“Well, for the record, I think it’s a great thing that you guys stood up to the higher power. Who has the right to force you to love someone you don’t want to? You love who you love and that’s who you love. It’s not easy to just switch it off. Things have changed. The higher power was a vampire, for crying out loud. It’s about time everything else changes, too.”

I smiled to myself. Xavier spoke with such passion and understanding, like he was going through the same internal struggles that Eli and I had gone through.

“Who is she?” I pried.

“Who?”

“The goddess you so obviously have feelings for.”

Briefly, he glanced at me, wide eyed.

“C’mon,” I nudged him. “There was way too much emotion in your voice to pass it off as a random thought. You’re going through the same kind of thing, aren’t you?”

The corners of his lips twitched as he fought against a smirk. “Fine. Maybe there is a goddess I may have feelings for.”

I enjoyed playing along with this conversation. It kept my mind from obsessing over my upcoming personal battles.

“Who is it?”

I wondered if I could put a face to a name. He smacked his lips together and tapped the steering wheel.

“I don’t know if I should tell you. She’s kind of my boss’s daughter.”

“Ooh, doubly forbidden. If you’re worried I’m going to tell someone, don’t be. I’m not exactly the poster girl for following the rules. You can trust me, I won’t say a word.”

I did the cheesy ‘cross my heart’ gesture and he chuckled.

“Her name is Mila Aleksandrov. She’s Ivan’s niece.”

Oh. My excited smile faltered and he glanced at me nervously.

“Well, this is awkward.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“What is?”

I tapped my fingers against my knee. “Mila is my best friend.”

Xavier ran a hand through his hair, clearly irritated. “It seems that information about you is on a need-to-know basis. Look, you’re not going to tell her, are you? What if she tells her dad and he fires me, or worse, banishes me?”

His voice was fast and a bead of sweat ran down his forehead. I was confused. What did he mean by Aleksandrov banishing him?

“Aleksandrov can’t banish you,” I muttered.

“I guess you’re on a need-to-know basis as well,” Xavier replied flatly. “Ivan Aleksandrov is the new higher power. Tomorrow night is a celebration in his honour. Mr Aleksandrov informed the council that the previous higher power had been corrupted, that he was no longer pure and was a vampire.”

“The council?”

He glanced at me sideways, as if questioning if I was even a goddess. “The four gods and four goddesses that run the show. You have heard of them, haven’t you?”

Of course I should know these things, but I didn’t, and I was okay with that. In my experience, knowing things made your life more stressful, perhaps ignorance is actually bliss.

I frowned. “I thought the higher power ran the show?”

“The higher power is more or less a figurehead. There’s always a bigger fish.”

In my seat, I crossed my legs and stared out into the blurry forest.

“How was Lucian able to hide the fact he was a vampire? If they’re so mighty, they should have known.”

“According to Eli, Lucian has various estates across the world, the most recent one being on top of Mount Kuuce. He likes his privacy and he was doing his job, so the council didn’t feel the need to interfere. So, now you can see that Aleksandrov can banish me if he finds out about my feelings for Mila.”

“He won’t banish you. He’s on our side. He wants us to be with who we love, or at least, that was the impression he gave me when I saw him last.”

Xavier shrugged. “I’m not going to risk it.”

His statement saddened me, if not for love, then what else? I was willing to risk everything for Eli except one thing, and that was his life. Leaving him was the most selfless and selfish thing I’d ever done, but I didn’t regret it.

When eight p.m. rolled up on us, I forced Xavier to pull over. I was already nauseous, I didn’t need the cars swerving and jerking to make it worse.

“This is my first real mission. I just want to impress them,” he admitted, brushing a hand roughly over his face.

He glanced at me, his brown eyes no longer wide and semi-alert, but two tired slits.

“If I die before I get there, I don’t think they’ll be too impressed.”

I unclipped my seatbelt and wrapped my fingers around the door handle. “Let me drive for the next few hours and we can switch back before we get to Sage. They don’t need to know that I drove while you slept.”

Xavier exhaled, deep in thought. Realistically, I was giving him an ultimatum not an option, and I think he knew that. There was no way I was going to let him drive another centimeter and if he didn’t get out of the driver’s seat now, I was ready to put on my toddler pants and throw a tantrum. I’m good at those.

“Fine, but wake me when we get to the Sage forest line.”

I nodded and slid out of the passenger seat. Xavier laid down on the back seat and immediately fell asleep. I didn’t have to adjust the driver’s seat like I had to when I took over from Eli once. Xavier was my height, so the seat was perfect.

The highway was empty at night, which made the drive that much more relaxing. The road was only visible in the long patch of brightness from the headlights. The white lines that separated the lanes blurred into one. The forest along both sides of the road was like a black wall that grew thicker the further I drove. Afraid of hitting an animal, I flicked my high beams on.

My knuckles turned white as I squeezed the steering wheel tightly. I was antsy and running out of things to take my mind of Eli. I propped my elbow on the window and rested my head on my hand. I can’t believe I’m going back. I told myself that even if Lucian and Hunter were gone, I still wouldn’t go back. Not after all the pain my disappearing would’ve put Mila and Eli through.

“No turning back now,” I whispered.

I hit the gas pedal hard as I drove down the highway. The quicker I got there, the quicker I could get this over and done with.

LONG-TIME NO SEE

Like I promised Xavier, I pulled over at the beginning of the Sage forest line and woke him. He was still tired, a few hours’ sleep wasn’t enough to satisfy his fatigue, but it was enough to get us to Sage. I was feeling tired now, and as a result, neither of us spoke the rest of the way.

Sage Sanctum was as I remembered it except for the new, huge wrought iron gates that now replaced the boom gates at the entrance. If this was the only safety measure they took, it was pointless. Let’s just hope those charms were enough because I’m sure any vampire could scale the fence without breaking a sweat. It was midnight, and the bright lights that shone down onto the car park blinded any natural light from the moon. The car park was a sea of black Audi Q5s. After much searching, we finally found a space right at the back.