Page 72 of The Vampire's Mercy
This was correct, a place I was meant to be.
Huh?
I tilted my head to the sky, closing my eyes against the sunlight. Taking it all in, connecting to the earth, my body one with the grass, the mud, the flowers, the air.
Everything.
I am here.
I am where I’m supposed to be.
What did that mean? Finally living in a forest like a proper elf? But how many elves actually lived in forests? Some did, some didn’t. There were so many decadent temptations beyond the trees, a whole big world out there to live in. Especially now in these glory days.
I snarled, opening my eyes. The sunlight flickered, the threat of darkness a crawling menace on my skin.
Hiss…
The flowers jiggled, the trees swaying in a warm breeze, speaking things I couldn’t hear. Holding secrets, longing to share them.
“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me what you know.”
A white rose bloomed at my feet, its petals falling the moment it stopped growing.
“What’s happening?” I asked it, crouching.
The sky darkened, the azure blue smothered by choking dark clouds.
“Please tell me,” I begged, raindrops landing on my cheeks.
But the rose and the other flowers withered, and the trees shed their leaves. Beneath me, the grass dried, turning to dust, nothing but a dead clearing in a dead forest.
I retched, my soul aching with grief.
“What’s going on?” I turned on the spot, the rain falling heavier.
Hiss…
“Tell me what I?—”
Silvanus appeared, drawn into the clearing within seconds. He was shirtless, wearing black leather trousers. Beautiful, menacing, making my skin crawl.
“You!” I spat, calling to my stakeblade on instinct.
It didn’t come because it wasn’t…it wasn’t here.
Huh?
“Fuck.” I cracked my knuckles, taking a few steps toward him. “What are you doing here?”
He mouthed something, no sound coming out of his pretty mouth.
He looked so sad.
“What did you say?” I demanded.
He collapsed into a pile of bone dust, the forest blinking away.
I found myself back at the tower, facing the door, the storm raging on. I noticed I was dry, wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Not the crop top like in the vision before.
