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30
Mina managed to sleep for a few moments, at least that’s what it felt like. When she opened her eyes again, the stars were just as bright as they had been before. The only sign time had even passed was the moon sitting higher in the sky.
Beside her, Erik laid on his back still as a statue. His chest rising and falling in the even rhythm of sleep. He’d looked so tired sitting in that chair. He needed rest just as much as she did. Between questioning whether or not she was his reincarnated wife, and actually ruling his kingdom…she was sure that had to be exhausting. It certainly was on her side of the story.
Mentally tracing the planes of his face, she couldn’t help but ask herself the same question that had been going around and around in her mind since he’d found her in the garden.
Could he really love her? Could he really just forget years of hunting for his Evangeline in the blink of an eye? Did she really want to be loved by someone who could be so easily changed?
Shaking her head, she rolled onto her back, and exhaled a long breath. Of course she wanted to be loved by him. He was kind, passionate, and brave. His people loved him. They trusted him.Shetrusted him. A fact that was getting harder and harder to ignore.
She trusted a vampire. Aria was right. Her father would’ve been horrified to see it, but he would’ve eventually seen the truth of it all. Aria, however, was as stubborn as a brick wall.
Suppressing the urge to groan, Mina sat up and raked her fingers through her hair. She needed to talk to Aria, to hash things out with her. She’d come all this way to save her. Not that Mina needed saving.
She got to her feet and slowly padded toward the door to her bedroom. Erik didn’t stir, even as she shut the door and moved away from him.
Her own bedroom sat dark, cold, and quiet. There was no sign of Aria. Grabbing her robes, and slippers, Mina dressed, and then ducked out into the hall. She’d been to Aria’s chambers once since she’d arrived, but in the darkened halls she couldn’t help but hesitate as she wandered down the hall towards the stairs that would take her to the other side of the second floor. The castle was never completely empty, but at such a late hour it was the darkest and quietest it had ever been.
She ascended to the next floor and turned to the left down a dark hall lined with windows on one side and portraits on the other. Her eyes scanned over the sickly old faces staring down at her and she shuddered.
Mina hadn’t noticed them on her path to Aria’s room before, and as a sudden storm roared outside making her jump she began to realize she’d made a wrong turn. Thunder clashed again, and the doors to her right burst inward, banging against the inner walls of a great room. A phantom wind whipped around her, blowing her hair into her face and she heard a faint whisper.
“Mina, my little songbird. Come….find me,”called a familiar voice.
“Mother?” Mina’s eyes instantly watered, and she walked forward into the darkness. As she walked in, the doors swung closed and candles lit around her on the floor. Mina winced.
“You’re not my mother,” she said. “Who are you? Show yourself.”
The wind whipped around the room again and a deep chuckle echoed from the far side of the room as Maggie stepped into view. “Hello Princess.”
“What is this?” Mina snarled through her teeth.
The witch arched an eyebrow at her. “You don’t know?”
“You dare use my mother’s voice to torment me?”
Clenching her hands into fists, Mina knew there was more going on, but she had no real power to make the witch bend to her will. Not on this side of the mountains.
“We are not in your kingdom anymore, Princess. Witches don’t have to bow down here,” she said, flashing a wicked smile. “Here we have agency, and once my teacher’s spell is finished, we will reign supreme.”
“What?” A cold weight lodged itself in Mina’s chest. Reign? Teacher?
“Oh I wouldn’t worry your little head about it too much, Mina. You’ll learn the truth soon. For now…all you need to do is…” Maggie circled around behind her and waved a hand in her peripheral vision. “Open your eyes.”
A wisp of faint green light blew past her face and what Mina had mistaken for a cabinet on the wall across from her opened. Two halves moving wide to reveal a three-fold set of portraits. Three pictures, all of the same familiar face. Her face…Mina’s face….
“No.” She shook her head slowly as the realization hit her. “Evangeline.”
Maggie reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Indeed. I thought you’d like to see it. See this place…It is after all a shrine in honor of Evangeline. The one and only love of Erik Vladislav Dracul.”
