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“You mean I had to kill my daughter in order to become a vampire? Is that why she’s with your parents? What other atrocities did I do?”
“You struggled so much with the love you had for Athena. And you’ve done many good things with your powers. You became a fair king to your vampire kingdom in The Other Realm, you turned many people who needed it, you brought great wealth to your society, but most of all, you waited for me.”
“What happened to the other magical creatures in The Other Realm?”
“Vedoma had a hand in that too.”
Gabriel’s demeanor became more anguished by the second.
“Do not worry. When we met again, I felt loved just as much as now. You did everything possible so we could be together. I would never fault you for that.”
“What happened to my future self?”
I hesitate to answer.
“Tell me.”
I could feel his anger rising. “I killed him. Well, technically, he let me kill him, for he was immortal. He sacrificed his life for Athena and me.”
“He did at least one good thing. What happened to Vedoma?”
“I fought her in the time continuum with my friend and Athena. She succumbed to our teamwork. I also took her Eye of the Dragon stone. That’s how I was able to return to you.”
He caressed my cheek. “You are the bravest woman I have ever met. But you’ve been through so much. The anguish I felt in the cellar when I thought I lost you doesn’t compare to the agony you went through.”
I grasped his other hand. “The pain you suffered to reach me in time felt unbearable. It is why I am here. This time around, I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”
“Who said I am going to turn into a beast? If you are here, then we only have to find a way to bring Athena back.”
“You cannot,” I said. “Your fate is sealed.”
“Then we will find a way to unseal it.”
“Even Vedoma couldn’t escape the prophecy. And trust me, she tried. Because of her obsession, she now disappeared completely from the timeline as if she had never existed. As if her mother never birthed a daughter.”
“How come?” Gabriel asked in confusion.
“Vedoma conjured a spell to tie her life to the stone. So when I ripped it away from her, she didn’t have time to revert it. She disappeared as if she never existed.”
“If the sorceress helped turn me into a vampire, and she vanished off the face of the earth, who will turn me?”
“A great question I do not have an answer to,” I said.
“I’m sure Solomonarul might know. We should speak to him,” Gabriel said.
Upon hearing Gabriel mention Solomonarul, the joyous realization hit me. Solomonarul still lived, and Teodora, Anca, Lia, and Tiberiu. Soon, I would meet my dear friends once more. “I’ve missed our friends so much.”
“They will get the surprise of their life when they see us. I only wish you could’ve brought our daughter. I wish I could’ve seen her.”
“I can show you pictures. My phone is filled to the brim with them.” I took my phone and scrolled to the older photos from when Athena was a newborn.
Gabriel could barely contain his tears. “How old is she now?”
“Almost a year,” I said.
“I’ve lost a year of my daughter’s life,” he said, devastated.
The contrast between vampire Gabriel, who struggled to even hold our baby, and human Gabriel, who mourned the loss of Athena’s babyhood, stunned me.
