Page 69 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

I did as he asked, and my hand flew to my mouth. I was floating three feet off the floor. My physical body was slumped over in my chair, still holding Tobias’s hand over Annie’s unconscious form.

How?

I told you, he replied. I linked our essence with my spell. It allows us to share our thoughts, emotions, and gifts with each other. You’re experiencing my power right along with me.

You can just do this at will? I couldn’t disguise the wonder that carried through our mental link along with my words.

Yes. Tobias replied, smiling. You want to see the world? We could go anywhere we wanted, any time. Just say the words, and I’ll take you there.

Cheesy, I admonished him. But my wide grin probably softened it.

I looked around the room. It was dimmer, somehow, than it was in the physical world. Like all the light that should have been there was filtered by a sheer curtain or an invisible veil of some sort. Apart from that, the room looked exactly like it did before I left my body. Except, I noticed, as I looked toward the door, there was a symbol hovering there, glowing with a pulsing blue-white light.

Huh. You can see that? Tobias’s mental voice sounded mildly surprised. It took me years of practice to be able to see magic in this state.

Maybe because you can do it, so can I?

Maybe. Or maybe you were a bit psychic before you were turned, and it lets you see things here more clearly. It will make the next part much easier, though. He pointed at Annie’s physical body. Do you see the silver cord connected to her?

I looked in the direction he pointed and saw immediately what he was talking about. There was a gossamer-thin cord of pale light protruding from Annie’s solar plexus. It stretched almost the entire length of the room until it went up and out of the ceiling at an angle.

It’s the connection between Annie’s soul and her body. We need to follow it. Once we do, we’ll find Annie. Then we can convince her to come back.

Tobias held his hand out to me, an offer. I knew I could refuse it. That what was beyond these walls might be a bit frightening for me. Or at least unsettling. That I could become disoriented. I knew these things because Tobias knew them and they were filtering through our mental connection. I knew that, in order for this to work, I had to trust Tobias.

After hesitating for only a moment, I slipped my palm into his.

Tobias locked eyes with me and I felt his fierce gladness through the mental connection. Then he took hold of the silver cord with his other hand and guided us out of the room.

Traveling in spirit form was… strange. It was less like walking or even flying and more like teleportation. As though Tobias simply willed us to be next to Annie.

Her spirit was much like Tobias’s. It was made of pale golden light. And it radiated a sense of calm and peace. When we arrived, she was in a pink bedroom, standing with her back to us, beside a bed that was covered by a Disney princess comforter. The bed was piled high with stuffed animals.

I felt mildly surprised by the location, but I could sense that Tobias wasn’t. The reason why filtered through to me a moment later: it was normal, apparently, for souls to recreate places that had been sources of deep comfort for them in life, once they entered the spirit world. This must have been her childhood bedroom or something.

Hi Annie, Tobias greeted her.

She turned to face us. Based on the expression she wore, she seemed only mildly surprised to find us there, only a few feet from her.

Oh, hi, she said, speaking to us silently. It was similar to the mental voice I could hear from Tobias, except quieter somehow, more muted. And with no emotional content at all connected to her words.

I expected to see a family member or something, she told us. Or a tunnel of light. Or maybe even a grim reaper or something.

We’re not here to take you to what comes next. We’re here to guide you back home.

That did surprise her. She took a step back, away from us. I can’t go back there. There’s so much suffering. Going back isn’t worth it.

I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I stepped forward. I felt an abrupt sense of overwhelming compassion for her. Because I understood just how she felt. I hadn’t realized until this very moment that on some level I had checked out of living my own life, because I was scared of all the suffering that would come along with it. And because, deep down, I didn’t feel like I deserved to be happy.

But here, weightless and free, I knew those were lies I was telling myself. Those were merely my fears talking, preventing me from happiness. Here, facing Annie’s spirit, I knew that I was wrong.

There will be some suffering when you go back, I admitted. Because that’s life—there’s suffering. And it’s okay to be a little afraid of it sometimes. But there’s also joy and there’s excitement. And there’s so much left to do, isn’t there? There are people to fall in love with. There are places to see. There are new experiences to have. There are people out there who need you, Annie. Even if they don’t know it yet.

Something went softer in Annie’s face. Are you an angel?

I smiled at that. I’m about as far from being an angel as it gets. I’m just a person, like you. But I can promise you, it is worth it to live, even if it hurts sometimes.

I realized, even as I spoke the words, that they were true. I really believed what I was saying. I wanted to try to live again.

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