I nodded, tasting him on my lips. It felt warm and loving and so real. “I really missed you, Jase. There's so much I've wanted to say—so many things I wanted to tell you. I just…” I cast my teary gaze to the wide field of grass, moving and dancing in the breeze, hiding the fluffy white dog chasing crows in the distance. “The thought of you being gone forever, I…now that you're here, alive, I'm sure I'm going to have nightmares about losing you again.”

He cupped my face and turned it to his. “I will never, ever leave you again. Not for anything. I promise.”

I nodded, placing his hand over my heart. “Thank you for coming back to me.”

“It would only have been a matter of time before I came back.” He looked at his hand, then slid it up to my shoulder and, in one move, swept me into him, spine to chest between his legs, his arms wrapped tightly around my ribs. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too.”

“I know. And you have no idea what those words mean to me.” He leaned in, pressing his cheek firmly against mine, and I could almost feel that his eyes were closed, holding in everything that wanted to burst out from his soul. And I held my breath, trapping all the chaotic emotions inside; the desire to cry, to laugh, to jump up and down and to hold onto him tighter than I’d ever held anything before. All the things I wanted to say, all the regrets I had after losing him, none of them mattered now, because I got that second chance. And I wouldn’t waste it. I wouldn’t ever let him go again. I would use this chance to make his life right—to see that he found happiness, even though that happiness couldn't be with me.

“Jase?” I rubbed his forearm. “You have to understand that what you're doing right now isn't right, though—holding me like this.”

“Why not?” He ran his nose down the side of my face, breathing me in.

“Because I'm married.” I laughed, working up the strength to believe my next words. “And, I mean, I know how things were before—in our dreams, but that was all due to the bind. That’s passed now. I don't love you that way anymore.”

He released me a little. “Ouch.”

“And, besides—” I turned around to look at him. “Your feelings for me aren’t real, either.”

“They’re not?”

“No.” I ignored that sarcastic grin of his. “See, there’s this curse—the Curse of Seduction, and—”

“You've got to be kidding me?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “It’s said to be passed down—”

“No, I mean, I can't believe you actually think my feelings are because of the curse.”

“You think they're not?”

“Ara—” He grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest. “Tell me what you feel.”

“Um, a chest.”

He chuckled once. “Precisely. No heartbeat, right?”

“No.”

“The curse only works on those with a heartbeat.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But, Morgaine told me—”

“Oh, right, I see now.” He sat back against the tree trunk, shaking his head. “Ara, that girl knows nothing. She is beginning to really piss me off.”

“So…she’s wrong?”

“Oh, she is wrong on so many levels it’s not even funny.” He leaned forward, his elbows over his knees as I moved to sit beside him again. “Take the prophecy, for example; she’s got the whole nation convinced this child’s gonna come in and cure vampires of immortality. She hasn’t checked her facts, and no one seems to care that she's misinterpreted the scrolls or that they, themselves, haven’t actually seen them. I’ve seen them, so I know it’s not all based on some bogus lie, but I don't interpret them the way she does.”

“Well, how do you interpret them?”

“I don't know. I read them a long time ago when I was at college—studying Lilithian History as a minor subject—”

“They study that at school?”

“Not human school. Vampires have, well, had universities as well.”

“Oh. So, you don't remember what the scrolls said?”

“Never had any real reason to commit them to memory, and all my assignments were tossed out decades ago. But I don't remember there being anything about a child that could cure vampires, or I’d have been hunting it down.”

“So, is that why no one else knew there was a prophecy until now—because there isn't one?”

“Yeah. Well, the scrolls are there—for all to see. She's just the only one who would’ve interpreted them to be a prophecy.”

“So, it might not be?”

He rubbed his forehead. “I don't know. The page she’s talking about—the one that mentions blood of Knight—was hidden. In truth, I came across it by accident, so, there is a possibility that it’s a prophecy. I’d need to take a look at it again to make any real conclusions.”

“It’s in the library, apparently. Maybe we can go down there once you're settled in.”

“I already planned to,” he said. “This prophecy thing has had me going around in circles. I've tried to believe Morgaine’s side of the story, but it doesn't really fit. I mean, there's no way Drake would leave a scroll, prophesising the coming of a pure blood that could end him, in the library. Locked up or not. No way. He’d have destroyed it.”

“So, you think it’s there because he wanted it to be found?”

“It’s likely.”

“And…the curse…Lilith’s curse…?”

He took my hand. “I will show you that book. Morgaine interprets things as she wants them to sound. She’s…I'm sorry, it’s not nice to say, but she’s an idiot.”

I laughed. “Okay, come on. Let’s go up to the manor. I want to find her and get to the bottom of all this.”

“Okay, but, I think you and I should go about this slowly.” We both stood up. “There’s a reason they kept the dagger from you. I don't think we should go in there unprepared. We need to play dumb for now—do some digging.”

“I’d rather go in there and strangle them all.”

Jason laughed, scratching Petey’s head as he came up beside us—all puffed out. “We can do that if you want, but, like I said, it seems everyone here has a different agenda. If we let them know we’re smarter than we look, they might be more careful around us—possibly cover it up with another lie.”

“Underdogs?” I looked at Petey; his ears pinned back as he cocked his head.

“Right,” Jason said. “Team Underdog. You and me. We’ll figure this out.” He hooked his fingertip under my chin and rolled my face upward. “Okay?”

“Okay—” I turned my body away but kept my arm around his waist. “What will we tell people about why you’re back?”

He spun his baseball cap forward and hugged me closer. “Tell them I was returning your heart.”

Chapter Fourteen

Jason stayed by the wall, while I crept up the sandstone steps to the kitchen.

“How do you know she’s in there,” he whispered loudly.

“She always has coffee with Mike at eight.”

“Really?” his voice dipped on the ‘e’.

“Yeah. Shh.” I scowled at him, repairing it with a smile before peeking over the lower half of the split door. Sure enough, there was Morg and Mike, sitting face to face, chatting quietly in the calm of the country-style kitchen. If they were wearing old-fashioned clothes, they’d look like they were on set of a photo-shoot for ‘History Magazine’. I stood on my toes and reached a hand up, waving it a little.

Morg laughed at Mike, shaking her head, then said something that made him laugh, too.

“Morg?” I whispered, trying to make it loud enough for her to hear, but not the vampire directly across from her. She didn't hear it. “Psst,” I said louder and ducked down.

“What are you doing?” Jason asked.

“Hiding.”

“Get up. You can't psst someone then hide from them.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I stood a little taller and peeked over the door again. “Psst.”

Morgaine frowned then looked around, as if she wasn’t sure she heard that. I waved my hand and quickly pressed my finger to my lip when she opened her mouth.

“Here, I’ll take that,” she said to Mike and took his cup, then wandered over to the sink just near the door.

I squatted down when Mike stood, his chair scraping loudly against the stone floor.

“Yep, I’ll see you up there,” Morgaine said—not to me.

“Okay. I gotta go see Quaid before his shift change.”

Gulp. Crap, Quaid was about to be caught out with a missing queen.

A head popped over the door and Morgaine’s piercing gaze made me shudder as I stood up and stepped back. “What are you doing, Amara?”

My shoulders came up; I nodded down the steps to Jason, hiding flat against the wall.

“Oh, my God!” Her hand flew over her mouth.

“Shh.” I grabbed her and we hustled down the stairs to stand with Jason, concealed from the gardens by the steps.

“Ara! Are you crazy?” She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Jason. “How is he magically alive?”

“I'm not magically alive—” Jason placed his hand between us and gently pushed Morgaine aside. “I was never dead to begin with. I staged my death.”

“Staged? Why?”

“Because of the oath, Morgaine,” he said, like it was obvious. “Drake compelled me to hurt Ara. I wasn't free of that until she was crowned.”

“So…you've been alive? All this time. Just waiting to come back here and—”

“No!” Jason practically yelled. “Don't think like that and don't say it!”

Morgaine shrunk, folding her arms. “Sorry. I know.”

“You know what?” I cut in. “What did she think?”

Jason huffed and leaned on the wall, his head angled to the sky.

“Okay,” she said, both of them ignoring my question. “So why are you here?”

“Why do you think?” He sounded a bit defeated.

“Does Arthur know you’re not dead?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Does…”

Jason looked up and smiled, dropping the foot he had propped under him. “Morg, I know he’s alive. I knew about immunity all along.”

“You did?”

Both Jason and I nodded.

“Does…anyone else know?”

“You mean Drake?” he said, his brows high. “Yeah, he knows.”

“How do you know he knows? I mean, how can you be sure, Jason?”

“He’s still alive—that’s how. I was the one who gave that Warrior the venom-tipped sword, Morgaine. Drake should be dead. He either knows about immunity or is indestructible.” He shrugged. “You choose which one to believe.”

“Right.” She rubbed her brow. “So…you’re here to stay, then?”

“Yes,” both Jason and I said together.

“Okay.” She smiled—it was forced, though.

I looked carefully at Jason, knowing only too well that he was reading her mind and she was doing her best to think of other things.

“Ha!” Morgaine laughed, scaring me a little with the sudden noise. “Mike’s going to flip.”

“I know.” I spoke quieter. “That’s why I came to you. Can you tell him for me?”

“Tell Mike what?” Mike asked, leaning over the bottom half of the door.

“That I'm alive,” Jason said, stepping into Mike’s view.

“What the hell!” Mike jumped down from the top step, landing gracefully on the ground between Jason and I, as though Jason was some kind of threat.

“Mike?” I grabbed his arm. “He’s not here to hurt me.”

“I don't care.” He pushed me aside and grabbed Jason by the shirt. “I get a second chance at killing you now.”

“Back off, Mike,” Jason said calmly. “I don't want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” Mike laughed and slammed Jason into the wall. “I’ll rip your damn arms off.”

“Fine. You give me no choice.” Jason sighed then looked at me. “I'm sorry, Ara.”

“For wha—” My words slipped away as Mike’s grip loosened and he dropped to his knees, folding forward into an unconscious heap at Jason’s feet.

“What did you do to him?” Morgaine screeched, squatting beside Mike.

Jason just smiled, dusted off his shirt and stepped over Mike. “I put him to sleep—a deep sleep.”

“Jason?” I knelt beside Morg.

“Well, what did you expect? He wasn't willing to listen.”

My shoulders dropped with a breath. “Morg, go find Jason a room and get him settled in, please. I’ll deal with Mike.”

“Uh, sure thing, Your Majesty. Um—” She stood up and looked back at Mike. “When will he wake up?”

“Now.” Jason winked at me and disappeared.

“Ugh,” Mike groaned, rubbing his head. “What the hell happened?”

“Jason taught you a lesson in humility. You should have been more civil.” I helped him to his feet.