A World of New (A Shade of Vampire, #26)

We entered the galley, which was currently empty, and moved to the far end of the room. I realized now how hard my heart was pounding. What does he want to tell me?

His navy-blue eyes locked with mine. “First, I want to say that it’s been great getting to know you better recently.” He hesitated, glancing furtively at the door. “I’m, uh, also aware of… how should I put it… certain rumors going around.”

I winced internally.

“Back in The Woodlands, when Brock made that comment about me asking you out, it got me thinking that I should be straight with you.”

I was hardly breathing at this point. “Straight with me about what?”

“Grace… I’ve sworn myself to a path of celibacy until I am twenty-three.”

Oh, wow.

I stared at him, speechless.

I never could have seen that coming. Although now that I thought about it, I’d actually never seen him with a girlfriend. It had been an assumption in my mind due to his, well, godlike good looks and swoon-worthy countenance.

“Um,” I stammered, “do you mind telling me why?”

He smiled. “Of course not. It’s been a tradition for the men in my father’s family for centuries. It strengthens a dragon’s character. But also, I will be leaving for The Hearthlands next year to pursue the occupation of a priest in the king’s court. Again, this was how my father spent his formative years.”

Oh, my. “Will you ever return?”

“Until I am twenty-three, I may come back to visit occasionally. After that, I may return to live on the island full-time, or I may remain in The Hearthlands. I can’t say for certain. I should also tell you that you’re the first person I’ve told. I planned to wait until next year before telling my friends… You seem upset,” he remarked.

“No, not upset! I, uh, just had no idea.” His words were still sinking in. I thought back over all the times I’d pined for him over the last year. My thoughts and hopes regarding him. My fantasies… But spurred by Heath’s confession, I felt an unexpected surge of confidence. Like I could tell him anything now. Like I no longer had to feel awkward around him.

“I’m going to be totally honest with you,” I said. “I’ve had an embarrassingly huge crush on you for, like, at least a year.”

Heath chuckled, then nodded. “Yeah, I know. Benedict has made it hard for anyone under the age of twenty on this island to not know. He’d make a great newscaster.”

I smiled more broadly, feeling rather touched that Heath had chosen to tell me first of all people. I appreciated the gesture.

Before either of us could say anything more, my great-grandfather Aiden strolled into the galley and began helping himself to some juice. Heath and I took that as our cue to leave.

As we returned to our seats, I wasn’t sure if I would ever fully stop crushing on Heath. It was hard to not admire a man so fine. But I wasn’t stupid enough to not read the hint he was giving me: move on. Get on with my life. Find someone else.

Stop being a lovesick puppy.

I felt strangely liberated throughout the rest of the journey. We spent it talking animatedly. Even Arwen and Brock broke their vow to ignore us and gazed at us over their seats. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Heath—the person beneath his intimidating, breathtaking exterior. He had a sharp sense of humor and struck me as an intelligent, collected person who thought much about the world and his future in it. I hoped that, even if we’d never be more than friends, this could be a friendship that would last.





Derek





We descended in the field bordering the township and touched down. As the hatch opened and we piled out, I already knew something was wrong.

Where the gaping circular hole in the ground had been was simply a circle of dirt.

“Someone’s closed it off,” Ibrahim said, staring at the soil.

“Without a doubt, they have witches working for them,” Mona said darkly.

“Or some other supernatural creature with the ability to wield this kind of magic.” I looked to Aisha and Horatio. “Can jinn close off gates?”

They looked at each other before shrugging. “I’ve never been aware of a jinni doing that,” Aisha replied. “Possible I s’pose.”

I let out a slow breath. These hunters were not stupid. They weren’t stupid at all. When they had stormed the mountain, they must’ve discovered the portal and then closed the damn thing off. This was unfortunate because, at least from what Victoria had told us, they had closed off all the other known gates in the Woodlands too, except for the one right inside their compound.

Although we had witches and some jinn with us, I still did not feel comfortable about leading everyone back to that portal. The security would be battened down now more than ever, but more importantly, our arrival there could alert them of our plans. Even if we shot through while invisible, they had sensor technology to detect the presence of witches, vampires, and others. It would not take much guesswork to suspect that it’d been us.