be.”
“On the contrary, I believe she should be.” The voice sounded from behind us, and I turned, my heart in my throat.
The air on the other side of the room shimmered, and the Oracle appeared out of thin air.
“Oracle?” Grey frowned. “Can’t you knock?”
“Not for this.”
“Have you learned something?”
I looked at him, eyebrows raised in question.
“I asked her to look into our Cursed Mate situation,” he explained.
The Oracle approached, her semi-transparent form shimmering in the light. She was beautiful, with delicate features and long hair. Her dress flowed around her like water, and her movements were as graceful as gentle waves on the shore.
She stopped in front of Grey, staring up at him with interest gleaming in her eyes. I moved around her to make sure I could see them both, unease prickling my skin.
“You are different,” the Oracle said.
“What?” he asked.
“I haven’t been able to see much regarding your issue, but you’ve changed recently. It’s unlocked something in my vision, and…”
She hesitated, and anticipation sparked across my skin. Speak! I wanted to scream.
She held her hand over his chest. “May I?”
He nodded.
When she laid her hand on his chest, magic glittered in the air, and an icy wind that forebode something terrible whipped around us.
Finally, she spoke. “You are mortal now.”
What the hell?
“Mortal?” Surprised flashed in his voice.
“You’ve felt different lately, correct?”
“I have.”
Her gaze flickered over him. “You have lost your healing ability.”
He nodded. “Yes. Anything else?”
She sighed heavily. “If I am right, time is going to catch up with you very, very soon. That is the nature of your curse.”
“Time?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“The Devil’s time is almost up. He’s been alive over five hundred years, but now that he has found his Cursed Mate, it has ignited a change in him. The immortality is seeping away, and he will pay the price of living for so many years.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Grey asked.
“Soon, you will cross over to an afterworld. I give it a few weeks, maybe a month. But do not fret—you might go to a nice place, if you are lucky.”
“After all the things I’ve done?” he scoffed. “It’ll be hell for me.”
She shrugged. “Maybe, though you’re a different man than you were when you committed those atrocities. Perhaps you’ve done enough good to earn a better afterlife.”
His lips twisted. “Doubtful.”
Panic threatened to suffocate me. They were talking about him going to hell. Casually, like he was going to the shop to pick up a loaf of bread.
We’d just found one another, and he was about to be torn away? Sent to an afterlife while I was left here on earth? I’d just realized I cared for him, and now we were going to be forced apart?
I moved into the Oracle’s line of sight. “Why did this happen?”
“Because of you, my dear. You’re his mate, decreed by fate. But he is a turned vampire, immortal and everlasting. Until he found you, at least. Until he bit you.”
“How do we fix it?” I demanded, anxiety screaming within me.
“That’s the cursed part of this entire situation, I’m afraid. You are the one who started the transition for him, and you will be the one to end it.”
“No,” Grey snapped, shocking me.
I stared at him. “Of course I’ll help end it.”
“You can’t, Carrow.” The expression in his eyes gentled as he looked at me. “You know what must be done to stop this. You’ve seen it.”
The dream flashed through my mind.
He’d drink me to death.
“That’s it,” he said, clearly seeing that I understood. He turned to the Oracle. “The only way to stop this is for me to drain her, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Her blood heals you. All of her blood will return your immortality.”
Fear scrabbled inside me like an animal in a cage. I desperately reached for solutions. “What if he just drinks a little, but more often? Daily or weekly? Would that work?”
11
Grey
My heartbeat thundered in my head as I stared at Carrow.
She was willing to let me drink from her at regular intervals to keep my miserable life. The beast inside me roared, wanting to claw its way to the surface.
Survive.
I swallowed hard, clenching my fists. If we tried that, the beast would win. I could still taste her blood on my tongue. Still feel the warmth of her beneath me, hear her moans in my ear. If we tried that again, I would never stop. The beast would rise. It wouldn’t stop at small amounts meant to keep me mortal. It