happening everywhere? From what I’d heard so far, they’d been led to believe that the anti-vampire protestors attacked again. How much longer will that excuse work? Did everyone really believe that?
Maybe it was time our regions stopped living separately and started uniting together. We probably just made ourselves easier targets living the way we had for the past few hundred years. If it weren’t for Nicolae kidnapping me, I’d have grown up in Naos. Would Baal have still attacked? If so, we might not have stood a chance. Right now, the only thing connecting our two regions was me. It didn’t make Nicolae’s actions justified, but it certainly made me think. Maybe everything did happen for a reason, even the bad things. Baal could have picked us off one by one and we would never have been the wiser. As soon as we got back to Naos, I knew what I had to do. If we were going to win this war we were going to have to start fighting together, and not just as allies in battle, but in life as well. We needed to start uniting our regions; living as one. Allowing people to travel back in forth if they wanted to, without fear of punishment.
The biggest thing though, was that vampires needed to stop hiding the truth from the humans. I’d learned so much since becoming a vampire that I didn’t even know existed when I was a human. That had to stop. I knew the vampires didn’t think humans would comprehend their traditions or beliefs, but humans deserved to know. Keeping them in the dark about what was really going on in the realm only put them in harm’s way. Humans weren’t just food to me. I was a human not long ago, and I cared what happened to them. It’s our duty to protect them, not just to defend the life-giving blood they provided, but because it’s the right thing to do. And if we don’t defend them from Baal, they don’t stand a chance.
“What are you thinking?” Arrick asked as we stepped out of the palace, and made our way across the expansive field that stretched between the palace and the nearby tree line.
“I was thinking things need to change.” I lifted my eyes to gauge his reaction, but his face remained placid.
“They definitely do.” He squeezed my hand tighter and I squeezed back.
Chapter 2
Dark figures dotted the landscape as we made our way toward the forest. My heart began to weep as we passed the giant tree that stood isolated on the barren, grassy hills. I remembered lying under it, cradled in its massive roots thinking I was going to die. Its leaves looked to be dipped in gold as the cool nights began to change their colors. I’d forgotten how beautiful fall could be.
The thick trees that stood before us swallowed up the procession as we stepped into the shadows of the leafy canopy. Moonlight cascaded down in fractured beams, slicing the darkness like daggers. We made our way silently, gradually forming a single line as we followed a small path through the dense foliage. Passing through a beam of moonlight, our cloaks twinkled like diamonds, reflecting light throughout the darkness.
I followed behind Arrick as the procession wound deeper and deeper into the forest. The vegetation grew thicker the farther we got. Moist leaves slapped against my bare legs, but I didn’t mind. I was too distracted by the beauty of the forest to care. Fireflies glimmered around us, dancing closer and closer, somehow mesmerized by our own sparkling cloaks each time we moved through a moonbeam.
My instincts told me we’d arrived before my eyes unveiled the truth. Silver light glowed powerfully before us, and I lifted my head, ready to cast my eyes toward a starry sky, but the canopy overhead was as thick as ever. Even the tree trunks grew wider. I peered around Arrick to find that the luminosity radiated not from the night sky or the vast moon, but from the ground. What was making the earth glow? I’d never seen anything like it, but I couldn’t mistake the sensation it gave me. Nyx definitely had a part in this. It was achingly beautiful, just like the moon was when the night began. I wanted to cry and smile at the same time.
Every step closer toward the exquisite light made my heart throb in pain. There was so much sorrow here. I could feel it in the air,