“If I didn’t love you, I would not be here with you now. My love for you was strong enough to keep me alive centuries past my natural lifespan.”

“What are you—?”

I raised a finger to his lips, wrapping my legs tighter around his waist.

“I don’t want to waste our precious time telling you the whole story. Please… just promise me that whatever happens to us after tonight… you won’t ever doubt that I loved you.”

There was a pause, his passion still pulsing deep within me.

A heavy burden lifted from my chest as he moved his mouth next to my ear and whispered:

“I promise.”

Chapter 19: Rose

Kiev looked like he was about to go climbing up the mountain after Mona and Micah by the time they finally reappeared next to us.

“What happened?” my father and Kiev asked at once.

“We need to head to The Sanctuary’s graveyard,” Mona replied.

“Why?” Corrine asked.

“I believe that is where we will find Magnus.”

“Huh?”

“Rhys imprisoned Magnus in a cave up in this mountain. But somehow the vampire got out, otherwise Rhys wouldn’t have been going to such lengths to look for him. The person who let Magnus out had to be more powerful than Rhys. And I believe that person was Lilith. Isolde is powerful, but I don’t see what reason she would have for letting Magnus out.”

“Lilith,” Kiev said.

“I know how much she loved him,” Mona continued. “I experienced it through her memories. If she indeed did take him, there is a chance that she has kept him with her.”

“In The Sanctuary’s graveyard?”

Mona nodded. “I know that he is not being kept in her chamber on the island Isolde and Rhys arranged for her… Look, you just need to trust me on this. We have no time to lose. For all we know, Rhys could be heading there right now.”

We all huddled around, not daring to ask any more questions even though my mind was burning with dozens more. And before I knew it, we had all vanished.

Opening my eyes again, I found us standing on a beautiful beach. We faced the wide-open ocean. Behind us were tall trees lining the shore, and to our left were rock formations.

Mona headed straight for the line of trees and we followed her. As she was about to enter the woods, she jolted back, as though she had just bumped into something.

“They have extended the boundary,” she said, rubbing her head. “Let me try to break through this. I was able to last time I was here…”

We all stood back to give her some space as she began trying to break through. When she still hadn’t managed to after five minutes, we all knew that something was wrong. She turned around to look at us, her face ashen. “Ibrahim, Corrine. You can try to help me. But something has changed since we last visited here. Stronger reinforcements have been put up around this place.”

Ibrahim and Corrine walked forward to help her, but even with their efforts combined, they were no more successful.

I jumped as a sudden banging filled the air. It almost sounded like a gunshot and it seemed to have come from about a mile away.

Mona, Corrine and Ibrahim cast an invisibility spell over all of us again as we looked toward the sound. We began clambering over the rocks for a better view.

“Oh,” Mona said softly a few feet in front of me. I hurried forward to see what she had spotted. And then I gasped myself.

Standing in the middle of the beach beyond the rocks was the warlock we had just left behind in the werewolf realm. His wavy hair tucked behind his ears, he was hurling powerful-looking curses toward the boundary. It seemed that he had not noticed us yet. And we needed it to stay that way for as long as possible.

We needed to get inside the boundary quickly, and now it seemed that neither Mona, nor Corrine, nor Ibrahim would be able to pull it off.

Only I could.

We backed away from watching Rhys and leaned against the rocks in a row.

I stood up. “Corrine, can you remove the invisibility spell, please.”

“Why?” my mother and Corrine asked at once.

“Please just trust me that I’m asking for good reason.”

I was pleased when it was removed a moment later.

“You guys wait here and keep watch on Rhys’ movements,” I said. “I’m the only one who can get us inside. Give me about half an hour. I’ll do my best to return within that time.”

“But where are you going?” my mother asked.

“I need to try to attract someone’s attention on the inside of the boundary. I think it’s better if I just go alone. I’ll be heading along this beach—just try to keep Rhys away.”

With that, I began racing away before anyone could try to hold me back.

The truth was, I had no idea where to start. At least this side of the island was bordered by forests, but I couldn’t start yelling out in case Rhys heard me. No, I had to travel further away from here where I could raise my voice without fearing being overheard. Rhys was not a vampire or a werewolf, so I hoped that his hearing would not be sharp enough to pick up on me from miles away.

The sand whipped against my heels as I raced forward across the beach. I kept my eyes on the lines of trees, hoping that they would start thinning the further I ran. But they were showing no signs of disappearing. Heck, if anything, it appeared that they were growing thicker. My heart sank as the sand gave way to piles of rocks. I could still climb over them, but it would not be as fast as running across flat sand. Heaving myself up, I began clambering along, careful not to slip and injure myself in the process. At least there are no giant crabs.