Page 7 of Chosen, Eternally
The whole thing happens so quickly, they barely even notice their own deaths. Part of me almost wishes I’d made it slow, as revenge.
James, who was already semi-conscious, falls to the ground, narrowly avoiding getting burned by the flames beside him.With a swoop of my hand, I stifle the fire to protect him and run to his side.
“James! Is it really you?” I take his hands in mine and gasp. They’re cold and paler than usual, but it’s him. It’sJames. He’s here and he’s not dead.
But he’s hurt.
His face has nearly been nearly beaten to a pulp, his upper lip broken, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. I gasp when I see the two teeth marks just over his jugular, my heart sinking in my chest. He isn’t dead—somehow hasn’t been this entire time—but he could’ve been if I hadn’t been here to save him. His body has been drained of blood, though not in its entirety.
With effort, he opens his blue eyes—beautiful as ever—and whispers, “Cate. Cate, I love you.”
James passes out in my arms, and I nearly die of heartbreak.
It takes some serious Invisibility and Levitation charms, but I manage to get James back to my apartment without anyone seeing us. There, I lay him down on the couch and pray to the gods for him to wake.
As I do, I get to work, cooking up a Healing potion for quick recovery. It’s something my aunt taught me when I first found my powers—a recipe I’ve tweaked over the past year to help get me back to 100% after a big fight. It doesn’t take long to brew in my pink Dutch oven (cauldrons aresoseventeenth century), and thankfully revives James seconds after the concoction hits his lips.
“Cate, baby,” he whispers, his voice unusually scratchy. Being attacked by a vampire will do that to you, it seems.
“I never thought I’d hear you say my name again,” I confess. I have to swallow a hard lump in my throat before I’m able to speak another word. “Please, finish the potion. You’ll feel better. And it’ll heal your wound.”
“My wound?” His brows pull together in an adorable, and oh-so-familiar way.
“Your neck.” I point to the bite mark in question.
He brings his hand to the wound, gasping when it comes back with blood.
“I’ll get you something to clean that up,” I murmur, before getting to my feet to get a first aid kit.
“What happened?” he asks as I dress his wound. Thanks to the potion I gave him, it’ll be gone in less than 48 hours. Still, better safe than sorry.
“I should be asking you that.” I sniffle, realizing too late that I’m crying. I haven’t cried since his funeral.
Hisfuneral.
If he’s alive, then who the hell were we all mourning in that coffin? Who did we bury in that grave?
I wipe my eyes with the heels of my hands and sit beside him, trembling.
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head, eyes downcast. “The last thing I remember before being taken is… Well, the conversation we had.” He looks up at me, and I want to die. I want to die because he’s been alive this entire time and I didn’t know. And I could’ve come and saved him. “Then, I remember a bunch of vampires got to us—which, like, who knew they existed, by the way? Well, I guess you did—and you got knocked out. Then they knockedmeout, and the next thing I know I’m in some dark basement getting fed under a door. It was like… like something out of a horror movie.”
James’s eyes are glassy, brimming with tears, but I can’t breathe. Because I didn’tknow. I thought he was dead. And all this time he’s been suffering, kept in a cage like an animal. The best person I’ve ever known had to endure that torture for over a year.
I can’t even imagine what they did to him.
“Then, out of nowhere, they pulled me from my cell. They didn’t say why, but they brought me here for some reason.”
“Gods, James,” I say with a sob, dropping my face in my hands. “I thought you were dead. You’vebeendead. And now you’re telling me you’ve been alive this entire time? That you’ve been trapped in hell for over a year?”
“Over a year?” He gasps. “Are you serious?”
I nod.
“Jesus-fucking-Christ. I didn’t—” he stutters. “It was so dark in there, I couldn’t keep track of time.”
“I’m s-so s-sorry.” Nothing I do or say will ever be enough. It will never make up for the fact that I abandoned my best friend and the so-called love of my life to fend for himself for over a year with a bunch of vampires. I mean, I’m the godsdamn Chosen Protector! Shouldn’t something inside of me have told me he was still here?
“Stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault.”
