I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.
My impulse is to get as far away from the door as possible, but I don’t want to back myself against a wall or trap myself in a corner. I try to recall the barely retained self-defense lessons I took when the library did our safety week. Unfortunately, that was several years ago and none of the lessons covered fighting vampires . . . and I’m fresh out of wooden stakes. Where’s Buffy when you need her?
Still, I position myself in what I imagine to be a fighting stance, hot iron at the ready.
There’s a knock at the door, and my heart nearly stops, until I hear his voice.
"Ember, open up. It’s safe, for now."
I put the curling iron down and dash to the door. When it swings open I throw myself into his arms without thought. He holds me tightly and comforts me as I shake.
"It’s all right, love. You’re in shock. You need blood, food, and rest. But first, we have to get out of here."
I pull away enough to see around him. To see the bodies littering the expensive wood floors.
"They’re . . . dead?"
I look up into his eyes, but they show no remorse, just steely determination. "It was them or us. Would you rather I let them have us?"
My perspective shifts, and I glare at the bodies of the monsters who attacked us. "I hope you didn’t leave a tip!"
Sebastian laughs, and the sound is startling, even to him, judging by his expression. "I knew last night you were special. No one has ever made me laugh the way you do. You have such a unique way of looking at the world, Ember, and that’s saying something given how long I’ve been around."
I frown. His words are sincere, but . . .
"I wish I could remember. You’re a stranger to me, but I feel . . . something between us."
"Your body remembers what your mind does not. But your memories will start to come back as the transition completes. Be patient."
He cups my face and looks as if he’s about to kiss me, and I can feel a stirring in my belly that means I’ll likely let him. But then his head jerks up. "We have to go. Now. More are on the way."
I make a move to leave the bathroom but he stops me. "We can’t go that way. They’re already here. We need a safe house, and I know just the place. But I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
"Do I have a choice?"
He smiles. "You always have a choice."
I raise a skeptical eyebrow.
"Well, aside from last night, but those were extenuating circumstances. Would you rather be dead right now?"
Touché.
"No. No, I wouldn’t. If what you’ve said is true, then thank you for saving my life."
He cocks his head. "Okay then. Take my hand and hold on." He smiles at me. "There’s a reason vampires can’t see themselves in mirrors. For us, they are portals. All mirrors connect to each other like doors, and if you know where you’re going, you can travel through them. Like we’re going to do right now."
He reaches out for the mirror and places his hand on it. I try not to tense my muscles, as I assume this is like getting into a car crash. The more relaxed you are, the less injurious it is.
A tingling energy flows over my body, like being walked on by thousands of ants, and I shudder as the feeling begins to penetrate my skin. My vision darkens until all I can see is black, and then it’s as if I’m being sucked into a vortex of time and space, my very being undone by the physics of it all. Everything around me is spinning, or I’m spinning within everything. I clutch at Sebastian’s hand and feel relief that he is still here with me.
After some unfathomable amount of time, my body recovers its own mass and thuds heavily against Sebastian. He catches me in strong arms and helps me regain my balance. We are in a dimly lit hallway. The walls are draped with red silk that is embroidered with exotic patterns, and the only light source comes from candles perched in iron candelabras that have left a coating of wax along the marble floor.
On one end of the hall is a large mirror, the one we presumably came out of, and on the other end is a door that has writhing bodies carved into wood in a style reminiscent of Rodin’s Gates of Hell.
In the center of the door is a sculptured eye that appears to be watching us. I shiver and stand a bit closer to the large vampire next to me, clutching his hand more tightly. I haven’t quite made up my mind about him, but at the very least he’s proven he doesn’t want me dead just yet. Which is, admittedly, a remarkably low standard, but it’s the best I’ve got at the moment.
A booming voice coming from the door nearly gives me heart palpitations as we approach.
"Who dares enter The Black Lotus?"
Sebastian sounds resigned as he answers. "Tell your master Sebastian Kingston is here to ask a favor."
The eye on the door closes, and it goes silent. I shift closer to Sebastian. "So . . . I assume that door is magic?"
He looks down at me and then puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him. Despite my troubled mind, my body relishes the contact, craving the closeness even as I question my sanity in all this. But there’s no denying the pull that exists between us. I’m attuned to his moods, to the movement of his body, to his very orbit, and he seems to be responding the same way to me. It’s nothing I’ve ever felt or experienced before, and I’m a bit mind-blown by it all.
"You’re about to see more than you can possibly imagine," he says. "All the stories and fairy tales and legends? They’re all based in truth. There’s so much more to life than what humans believe to be true. There are creatures of myths, magicks that defy understanding, and other worlds. Vampires are only the beginning."
"Other worlds?" A new kind of excitement is bubbling up in me. After all, I am a librarian. I spend my days surrounded by portals to other worlds. In my most secret of hearts, I always imagined someday finding the wardrobe to Narnia or—yes, I will admit it—getting my letter to Hogwarts. Some part of my brain is trying to tell me I need to panic. That real life isn’t supposed to work this way. That, even if I can’t remember it, I’ve already almost died. But I can’t find it within me to be that scared. I’m too excited. Too amazed by the possibilities that exist now that I’m becoming something more than human. Now that I’m being ushered into the secrets of other worlds.
"Legends say there are nine worlds created by the dragons long ago, but I’ve only been to three. I’ve met others who have been to a few more, but some are said to be uninhabitable." He says this matter-of-factly, as if dragons are just a real thing he throws around in conversation willy-nilly like, and it’s easy to see the many years he’s lived despite his youthful appearance. What marvels must exist in his mind. What wonders he must have seen. What books he must have read! I have to give myself some credit for randomly picking quite a catch for an impromptu husband.
I look at the door again in wonder. "Are we . . . is this another world?"
He chuckles. "It will definitely feel like it, but no. This is its own place entirely. This is—"
"The Black Lotus!" says a man who is now standing where the door stood just moments ago. He is draped dramatically in robes the color of gemstones and has an aristocratic face with an equine nose, bushy eyebrows, and black hair that is slicked back to showcase a prominent widow’s peak.