Fated

Chapter 6

I woke to the bedroom door creaking open, feeling as though I was suffering the world’s worse hangover. Every muscle ached as I forced myself into a sitting position, my swollen eyes protesting against the harsh light filling the room. Having trouble processing what I was looking at, I rubbed my eyes just to be sure I was seeing clearly.

Yes, that was Calyx standing in the doorway, balancing at least six plates of food.

I tried to speak, but—ah, I couldn’t open my mouth.

“So, we may have forgotten that you, like, need food and water, so you don’t, uh, die, and the king specifically asked for you alive. But I didn’t know what you liked, so I brought everything.”

He flashed a smile, the kind that in another life might have made my heart flutter. The entire gesture would have been sweet, even charming, if only he wasn’t a murdering psychopath.

He began arranging the plates around me on the bed, each one heaped with food—eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, pancakes, and more.

When he was done, he disappeared, only to return a moment later, arms so full of drinks, he even held one between his teeth. He mumbled something I couldn’t understand before placing nearly a dozen glasses down on the table beside me.

I became painfully aware of just how dry my throat was. God, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had anything to drink. Calyx took a step back as if admiring his handiwork and stared at me expectantly. When I didn’t move or speak, his face twisted into something contemplative. The entire production was almost comical, nearly making me snort until I remembered he was a real-life vampire who murdered people.

I sighed and pointed to my lips.

“Oh … ooooooooh.” Realization dawned on his face. “Ash, get in here!”

Moments later, he appeared in the doorway, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

He raised an eyebrow. He was shirtless, wearing those same black cargo pants with the waistband of his boxers peeking over. My eyes betrayed me, trailing over his defined stomach muscles and down to that infamous V shape leading below his navel.

Ash cleared his throat, and my gaze jerked away, cheeks burning with fire. It was loathsome that I was attracted to him.

“She can’t eat.” Calyx pointed to my mouth.

Ash smirked. “You can open your mouth now,” he mumbled around the toothbrush, then turned, disappearing again, leaving that same tug in the pit of my stomach when he walked away.

I took a steadying breath, fighting off the feeling.

“I’m not hungry,” I declared.

“Areya, eat, or I’m going to call Mr. Sexy Muscles back here to make you do it.”

My eyes widened with embarrassment.

Calyx grinned mischievously. “You want to fuck him, don’t you?” His bluntness caught me off guard, causing me to nearly choke. I swallowed hard, then scowled. He continued, “It’s ok, everyone wants to fuck Ash. Hell, even I want to fuck Ash sometimes.”

I quickly changed the subject and spat out my next words before I lost my nerve. “I’ll make you a deal.”

“This should be good.” Calyx smiled and crossed his arms.

“I’ll eat if you promise to answer my questions about your world.”

“ASH!” Calyx yelled.

I quickly snatched a grape off one of the plates and popped it into my mouth. “I’m eating.”

“Nice try.” Calyx pointed his finger at me as he backed out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, I grabbed the nearest glass and downed its contents in one gulp—apple juice. I didn’t really care what the drink was, only that it quenched the insatiable thirst in my throat. Reaching for another glass—orange juice this time—I drained that one too. The food was harder to stomach, but I’d need my strength to get through whatever today held.

I forced myself to eat a few pieces of fruit and then finished a glass of water.

Today was about one thing: getting as many answers as possible. If I had any chance of surviving—and finding a way to kill them—then it had to start now.

Me, killing someone. The thought was ridiculous, yet deep down, I knew, somehow, it had to be done.

“We leave in fifteen!”

Calyx’s voice had called from outside the room, snapping me from my thoughts.

Scrambling out of bed, I quickly shut the bedroom door, my body screaming at me as I forced my sore muscles to work. My eyes fell on the blue jail uniform on the ground. Shit. What was I supposed to wear? Scanning the room, my eyes found the black dress on the floor.

“No, no, no,” I muttered, rubbing my hands over my face.

Dirty jail clothes covered in blood and vomit or the dress of a dead woman. Fuck .

Feeling like the worst person in the world, I stepped into the black dress. It fit, at least. I tried to push my guilt aside, brushing my teeth with the hotel-provided toothbrush and attempting to wash my face while wearing those stupid black gloves.

I stared into the mirror, barely recognizing the person reflecting back. My skin was blotchy, and my eyes were puffy and bloodshot, evidence of the night’s emotional wreckage.

With yet another deep, steadying breath, I braced myself.

My world had fallen apart, leaving me dying inside, but I steeled myself, building an impenetrable wall around the pain. There was no choice, I needed to focus on what had to be done today. Whatever Mom had hidden from me, she must have had good reason, and I was determined to find out what that was.

As I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, Calyx and Ash were waiting, both dressed exactly as they had been yesterday in black cargo pants, t-shirts, and combat boots.

Apparently, this was some kind of vampire uniform.

Calyx took one look at me in the black dress and let out a low whistle.

Ash smirked, his gaze lingering just a moment too long.

My eyes rolled, and I flipped them both the middle finger, only making Ash’s smirk deepen.

***

We had been driving for at least fifteen minutes, every second of it spent with me bouncing my leg nervously, trying to summon the courage to speak.

Finally, I sucked in a breath and cleared my throat.

Calyx’s eyes flicked to me in the rearview mirror, looking mildly curious.

“So—um—since it sounds like your king is going to kill me anyway, I figured it couldn’t hurt to answer a few questions?”

My voice wavered slightly despite the attempt to sound casual.

Silence.

Calyx glanced at Ash, who didn’t so much as flinch.

Determined not to be ignored, I tried again. “So, you guys are vampires—very cool.”

This time, I injected as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster.

That earned a snort from Calyx and a head shake from Ash. Calyx’s eyes found mine again in the mirror, searing into me. I could feel it—he was dying to talk. “It’s so crazy that you guys can be out in the daylight. I always thought vampires exploded in the sun or something,” I baited him.

“We aren’t vampires. Vampires are just myths made up in your world,” Calyx said, sounding mildly agitated.

Internally, I smiled. Got him.

“Our species is relatively new,” he added.

“New?”

“We were created about sixteen years ago,” Calyx said.

My eyes widened, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. “You guys are sixteen?”

It came out more as a shout than a question. This time, Ash let out a low snort, and Calyx burst into raucous laughter.

“No, Areya. Do we look sixteen to you?”

Ash turned and shot me a devilish grin, catching me blushing despite myself.

Calyx chuckled again. “Our king turned our entire kingdom sixteen years ago. Before that, we were probably just pathetic humans living equally pathetic human lives.”

“You don’t remember anything before sixteen years ago?” I was genuinely curious.

“Nope.”

“You don’t remember your parents?”

“Nope.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

This time, Ash answered. “We aren’t human, Areya, so we aren’t bothered by petty human emotions.” He spat the word human as if it were something foul on his tongue.

“We’re gods among humans,” Calyx chimed in. “We were gifted power, immortality, a wicked set of wings …” Calyx wagged his eyebrows, earning a curious look from Ash.

“Why did your king make you?”

“He was super powerful and wanted a loyal army,” Calyx said and shrugged. “When we woke up, we remembered our names and nothing else about our past lives. Everyone of age was rounded up and trained into warriors for the king’s army. Ash and I, being the badasses we are, were selected by the king to be his second and third in command. We have privileges the rest of our people can only dream of.”

He grinned smugly.

“You said everyone of age. What about the children?”

“The ones deemed strong enough are trained from the time they can walk,” Calyx answered.

“And the rest?” I cringed, knowing what was coming.

“They’re killed,” he stated matter-of-factly.

A wave of nausea hit me, bringing the urge to be sick.

“No more questions?” Calyx asked, noticing my silence.

Forcing down the revulsion rising in me, I knew I needed to keep asking questions if I had any chance of understanding what was coming. So, I shoved down my rising emotion and kept talking. “Why can Ash do that mind control thing?”

“He had the gift before he was turned; becoming a ripper just amplified it.”

Rippers. That was what they called themselves.

I swallowed hard, next asking the one thing I really wanted to know. “Why am I a threat to your kind?”

Calyx looked to Ash as if seeking permission to answer. Ash nodded.

“You are a healer, possessing a rare magic. Our king found out early on that your kind could cure us … or kill us.”

My eyes fell to the black gloves on my hands.

“What happened to them, the others like me?” I was fairly sure of the answer already.

“The king hunted them down and killed them,” Calyx said.

It shouldn’t have been possible for my heart to break any more, but it did. It crumpled for my people, ones I’d never met or hadn’t even known existed before now.

Had Everleigh ever really been sick or had the king murdered her, too? My legs began to tremble, but I clenched my fists hard, fighting to keep control.

“How did you find me?”

“Someone went to great lengths to hide you in the human world. As a child, you would have been invisible among them, but as you neared your settling, Ash was able to track you down.”

Calyx nodded his head toward Ash. “Ash has many tricks up his sleeve, and one of them is the ability to track down certain types of people. Before he turned, my boy here was known as the huntsman.” He clapped Ash on the shoulder, but Ash ignored him. “And the king knew he could use him to hunt you down.”

A shiver ran down my spine, and I desperately tried to think of something else to ask, but my brain felt assaulted by all this new and horrific information. My throat tightened, and there again was the sting of tears threatening to fall. I inhaled deeply, willing my body to calm, begging my emotions to stay in check. “Would it be so bad?” I whispered, before realizing what I was saying.

“What?” Calyx furrowed his forehead.

“To be cured?”

Both of them stiffened. “A fate worse than death,” Ash muttered.

“Why did you guys even bother answering my questions?”

Calyx met my eyes in the mirror, his expression serious now. “Because you won’t live to see your twenty-first birthday.”

I leaned back into my seat, pressing my head against the window, unsure of what I’d been hoping to learn, what kind of answers I had expected to find.

“I would have taken them off,” I said. “If it meant keeping my mom alive, I would have taken off the bracelets and willingly followed you to hell. All you had to do was ask.”

I closed my eyes, searching deep inside for any hint of magic—any spark of power. But there was nothing.

At least it would all be over soon.

The rest of the car ride passed in silence. We must have been driving for hours but the time blurred. My head rested against the window, my eyes shut tight. I didn’t really feel anything.

Eventually, we turned down a deserted road and pulled into the parking lot of a shabby white building with a sign reading Veterinarian Clinic . The lot was empty, and a closed sign hung on the door. There weren’t any other buildings in sight.

It wasn’t until Ash opened my door and motioned for me to get out that I snapped out of whatever trance I’d been in. Was this really happening?

Was I really about to walk through a magical door to another world, or would they suddenly laugh and reveal this had all been some terrible joke, then take me home to my mom?

Ash raised a brow, as if asking if I was going to get out of the car sometime today. With legs threatening to give out at any moment, I forced myself to crawl out of the vehicle.

Dread weighed heavily in my stomach, each step feeling as though it could be my last.

For a foolish moment, I contemplated running, though I was certain I wouldn’t make it far before Ash grabbed me or commanded me to return.

Ash and Calyx began walking toward the forest behind the building, so I followed.

We moved along an unmarked path, my nerves so frayed that I barely noticed the sting of the branches and rocks under my bare feet.

The forest was alive with sound, each one amplifying my anxiety. The snap of a twig underfoot, the caw of a crow in the distance, even the soft chirp of birds seemed deafening.

But it was the sound of my breathing, erratic and uneven, thundering the loudest in my ears.

After what felt like an eternity, Ash and Calyx slowed their pace, stopping in front of a massive rock formation. I stood there, half-expecting Calyx to pull out a wand and cast some elaborate spell. Instead, Ash simply waved his hand over the boulder.

To my shock, the solid rock shimmered and shifted, revealing a stone door embedded in it.

It was real; every horrible thing I had learned was true.

And now, I stood at the door between worlds, staring down my own fate. Suddenly, without warning, a crushing weight settled on my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs. Each breath was a struggle, shallow and frantic as panic clawed its way in. The forest around blurred and spun, the world distorting as wretched thoughts attacked from every angle. Despair and terror consumed my mind, dragging me toward the edge of something dark and unrelenting.

Then, just as abruptly as the panic had come, it vanished.

My chaotic thoughts snapped back into focus, and the spinning world stilled.

Ash’s hand, I realized, was pressed lightly against my back and with it, the crushing weight eased. Was this another magical ability he was using on me or just another side effect of the magic compelling me to stay close to him? I didn’t care. All that mattered was the fragile sense of comfort his presence offered, and I clung to it with everything I had.

Savoring the relief of oxygen bathing my lungs, my eyes shifted toward Calyx’s puzzled look.

“We are going to stay at an outpost tonight, where we will contact Agidius. Tomorrow, it will be a two-hour trip to the castle,” Ash said, his voice soothing, almost soft.

“Agidius?” I asked.

“The king,” Ash clarified.

With that, the weight lifted from my back entirely, and my trembling eased. So, death wasn’t waiting for me on the other side of that door, at least not tonight.

Calyx reached for the door, casting another curious glance our way.

He shoved it open, stepping into the darkness beyond. I followed, Ash’s hand still resting on my back, guiding me forward. As I took a step inside, it felt as though my body was being stretched, as if passing through a vacuum of space. There was an unnatural silence, and I was unsure how to explain it, but it felt as though time didn’t exist here, in this place.

A warm, fuzzy sensation flowed through my body, rendering me as if weightless and floating. I took another step and felt the vacuum expel me, sound and time coming rushing back.

We were still somewhere very dark, but ahead, the darkness gave birth to a warm golden light from the palm of Calyx’s hand; it was in the shape of an orb. Ash stepped away from me to join Calyx, and the moment he left my side, my body recoiled from the sudden absence of his touch.

The glowing orb in Calyx’s palm rose above us, casting light on the surrounding space, while Ash and Calyx worked together to move a stone, revealing an entrance.

Once they had it open, I stepped out of the small cave and into a much larger one where the lovely glow of moonlight filtered in through an opening above.

It had only been midday where we had just come from, and now it was some time at night.

The air here felt different, crisp, cool, almost purer than I was used to—cleaner.

I took a large breath, letting it fill my lungs, and my mind felt sharpened, my body energized, almost as if I had just awoken from the longest, deepest sleep.

With that single breath of air, every nerve ending in my body exploded with life. A surge of something like adrenaline rushed through my bloodstream. I caught both Ash and Calyx observing me, studying my reaction closely.

“Feels like coming home, doesn’t it?” Ash said.

I couldn’t help but feel sad as I realized it did indeed feel like coming home.