“I love you.” He waved his hand, and the tunnel wall opened. “Now go get the page. I’ve done my waiting, I’m ready for you to come home.”

“What if I get stuck again?”

“Just get in the tunnel and I will find you.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “I will always find you. Now go.”

I pressed a kiss to his lips, then leapt out the tunnel opening before I had time to fight it. Every single part of me pleaded for me to just go home to him. It was killing me to know how much this had to be hurting him. Eight centuries of waiting.

As my feet crunched into icy snow, I knew I’d finally made it to the right place. I looked up, expecting to see the castle of Avolire yet found only a snow-covered forest. The trees towered high into the night sky, yet the moonlight managed to stream down in little pockets. There wasn’t much visibility because of the trees but there wasn’t much breeze either. So, I had to take the good with the bad. Everest must have known better than to drop me suddenly at Sweyn’s doorstep. This definitely wasn’t the Land of the Lore though, so I had no reason to panic. Yet. Everest just told me he knew what happened, which meant he knew exactly how I found my way there. I just needed to find my way to the castle⁠—

Sharp pain stung my arm. I looked down expecting to find a bug or a demon when I realized it was my left arm. Right beneath my Mark. Hope flared. I pushed my sleeve up and sighed with relief. Valathame had sent more guidance. I read the words on my arm slowly and carefully—-and silently.

In thy bag I placed a gift, drink it now for change is swift.

My eyes widened. It was a potion, that much was clear. But I wasn’t sure what change it was going to cause . . . but questioning Valathame was not an option. Ever. So, I let my sleeve drop back to cover her words then reached into my magic bag with this special potion in mind. I’d just wrapped my fingers around a cold glass vial when something grabbed my elbow from behind and yanked.

I gasped as my face slammed into a wall of fur. My other elbow was grabbed then my feet were lifted off the ground. I looked up and found a pair of brown eyes with a ring of shimmering red around the iris. A vampire. My pulse quickened. There were no fancy white cloaks here, just a cloak made of brown fur.

“What do we have here?” His upper lip snarled, and a long white fang slid down into his bottom lip. “A little feast just for me.”