“Okay.” I nodded. “Then I command you to use the crystal to view the moment I made the blood oath with Camelia.”
Geneva reached for the crystal again, and this time, she was able to touch it. She grinned and pulled the crystal onto her lap, her hands hovering above it as she gazed inside.
“Well?” I asked, leaning forward. “What do you see?”
She looked up at me and smiled. “I saw the moment you made the oath with Camelia,” she said. “She promised that if you gave her the sapphire ring, she would tell Queen Laila of your feat and do everything in her power to convince her to turn you into a vampire.”
“If,” I realized. “Not when.”
“Exactly.” Geneva smirked. “You’re under no oath to give my ring to this witch Camelia. In fact, I urge you not to do so. This witch never had your best intentions at heart.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “She swore that she would do everything in her power to turn me into a vampire.”
“She also told everyone in the palace that you were dead,” Geneva said simply. “Including your vampire prince Jacen.”
“No.” I shook my head, my heart dropping deep into my stomach. “She wouldn’t.”
“She would,” Geneva said.
“Even if she did, he wouldn’t believe it,” I insisted. “Not without seeing a body.”
“Your instincts are correct,” Geneva said. “While you were sedated, Camelia stole a strand of your hair and created a transformation potion. She gave the potion to your friend Tanya—the short blonde girl who worked at that bar with you. Once Tanya had taken on your form, Camelia had her killed. She showed the girl in your form as proof of your demise.”
I shook my head, unwilling to so easily accept that Tanya was gone. “That doesn’t make any sense.” I reached for the crystal, but Geneva pulled it away.
“Do not touch that.” She held it out of my reach, her eyes ablaze.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because as long as you wear my ring, it’s my duty to protect you,” she said. “And the dark crystals contain powerful magic that kills non-witches on contact.”
“Oh.” I flexed my fingers, shocked that I’d just been millimeters away from death—and grateful to Geneva for saving me. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me,” she said. “If a wearer of the ring dies on my watch, I’ll be trapped in its depths until the end of time. I will always save its wearer. Anything else would mean condemning myself to an eternity of imprisonment.”
I wanted to point out how selfish that sounded, but I kept my mouth shut. Because she was my only hope—and she was apparently bound to do as I said and keep me alive—so I had to make sure this relationship got off on the right footing.
“Tanya’s truly dead?” I asked instead, my voice cracking.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
I didn’t respond to her empty condolences. Geneva didn’t care about my grief. In fact, I had an instinctive feeling that all Geneva cared about was herself.
Luckily, Geneva’s self was tied to my self. And I wanted revenge. On Camelia, for killing Mike and Tanya. On Laila, for creating this kingdom that treated humans like animals. On all the vampire nobles who followed her blindly, enjoying their lives in the palace while we lived in poverty. And on the vampire guards who had killed my family, along with countless other innocent lives.
And I had the most powerful witch in the world at my disposal to help me do so.
I would not let this opportunity go to waste.
“I should go to Jacen,” I realized, running my hands through my hair. “He’ll help me figure out what to do from here.”
“Are you so sure about him?” Geneva asked with a knowing smile.
“Yes,” I said firmly. “He tried to save my life. He’ll help me. I know he will.”
She placed the crystal down between us, watching me carefully. “When I looked for the moment when you made the blood oath with Camelia, I saw something else as well,” she said. “Something that I think you’ll want to see.”
“Show me,” I told her. “I command it.”
Then she held her hands above the crystal and showed me Jacen’s heartless reaction when he’d learned of my death.
Annika
“No.” I shook my head, blinking away a tear as I watched his reaction for the second time. “He couldn’t have meant it.”
“Vampires are cold, selfish creatures,” Geneva said sharply. “Usually it takes over a century for them to lose touch with their humanity, but others give in more easily.” She gestured toward Jacen, as if referring to him.
I watched the scene once more, searching for a sign that Jacen cared. But I found none. Instead, my heart broke again as I watched him say that he cared nothing for me. That he was bored and I was a toy.
That it likely wouldn’t have been long until he tired of me and drained me dry.
He was so cold and emotionless. So unlike the person I’d believed him to be when we met in the village square.
“There’s still one thing that doesn’t make sense,” I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Why would Camelia make the oath to do everything possible to turn me into a vampire and then go to such measures to make everyone think I was dead?”
“There are many ways around a blood oath.” Geneva pressed the pads of her fingers together, appearing deep in thought. “Camelia never spoke her intentions out loud, and I cannot read her thoughts, but as a fellow witch I can tell you what I might do in her position if she truly wanted you dead.”
“Go on,” I said, needing to hear it.
“She could ask Laila to turn you into a vampire, and once the transformation was complete, she could kill you.”
“She wouldn’t.” I gasped.
“She would.” Geneva leaned forward, as if daring me to contradict her. “I saw a lot when I gazed into the crystal. I learned that Camelia is desperate for immortality—she wants to become a vampire. Laila promised she would turn her if she found a witch powerful enough to be her replacement.”
“Which was why she was so intent on finding your ring,” I realized. “And using me to get what she wanted.”
“Exactly,” Geneva said. “Perhaps you’re not as dimwitted as I initially thought.”
“I’m not dimwitted.” I crossed my arms and glared at her. “It’s just… this is a lot to take in at once.”
“For a human, I suppose it would be,” she said, brushing me off the same way all the supernaturals seemed to do. “And I assume you’re going to have many questions. So before we discuss what you want from me, I should explain my limitations.”
“I thought you were the most powerful witch in the world,” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Surely you have no limitations?”
“Everyone has limitations.” She rolled her eyes. “Even the angels themselves. Now, do you want to hear what mine are, or not?” She studied her nails, as if she had better places to be, and glanced back up at me, waiting.
“Of course I do.” I leaned back against the wall, making myself comfortable. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, straightening her shoulders. “First of all, I can’t communicate with or bring back the dead,” she started, and my heart dropped at the bomb that I couldn’t bring back my parents, my brother, Mike, or Tanya. “Don’t look so disappointed.” She sneered. “A million people would kill to wear that ring on your finger.”
I twisted the ring, gazing down at it sadly. She might be right, but it didn’t stop me from missing my family and friends.
Still, I got a hold of myself, refocusing on the conversation at hand.
“Is that your only limitation?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “But I don’t have many, so this won’t take much longer.”
I motioned for her to continue.
“Along with not being able to raise the dead, I also can’t kill anyone,” she said. “At least, not with magic.”