Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

VENITA POV~

Blinding light pierces my eyes, making them burn with tears. I forced them back closed as I struggled to get my bearings. What the hell was going on? Was I not supposed to be dead?

After a heartbeat of asking questions in my head and knowing that I didn’t have the answers, I pried my eyes open again, slower this time. It took a while but they finally adjusted to the brightness of my surroundings.

I looked around said surroundings, the place was… odd. Beautiful but odd. Wisps of smoke floated around in the air, the smell of flowers drifting alongside them. Tall trees lined the space, each long branch full with leaves and swaying to the song of the wind.

Where the hell was I? Was I hear to meet with the moon goddess?

“Hello,” I called out, wincing my voice echoed back. “Is anyone there?”

Silence.

My heart was thumping in my chest and I dragged in a deep breath before I called out again. “Hello? Where am I? Is this some kind of prank?”

Again, there was no response.

Exasperation mixed with fear and started a journey down my bloodstreams. “Am I dreaming?” I asked in a whisper.

“You’re not.” A masculine voice responded from behind me, startling me into a shriek.

I jumped away and spun around to face the man, my hand clutching my chest like it could stop the racing of my heart.

“Who… who are you?” My question came out in a stammer.

The man looked at me like I was stupid. “You were the one who summoned me.”

“Me?” I shrieked again. “No. You must be mistaken. I don’t remember doing that.”

His long, muscular arms folded over an impressively broad chest as he studied me, one brow quirked and his mouth drawn in a  hard line. He was angry, but he was also… hot.

His hair was a mass of dark curls that fell in strands down the sides of his head and even his forehead, eyes the brightest jade ever. His eyebrows were high and defined, jaws the perfect masculine structure, and his cheekbones were high and strong.

Definitely eye candy.

I shook my head. Why was I ogling a man I didn’t know in a strange place? Had I learned nothing after my experience with Jerome?

At the reminder of the name, terrible memories made their way back into my mind like a flood. The look of absolute disdain on his face when I had told him I was pregnant.

“You really think I’m ready to be a father? Come over yourself, Venita. This was always meant to be just fun, nothing more.”

My chest constricted, pain slicing through me like a hot knife.

“Are you going to keep staring into space like that?” The angry stranger in front of me asked, drawing me back into the present.

“Who are you?” I asked again, shaking my head for the second  time since I woke up in wherever this place is. “Where am I?”

“Again, you summoned me. And this,” he gestured at the amazing garden we were standing in. “This is the pass.”

My forehead scrunched. “The pass? What do you mean?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he stared at me for a long time before he shook his head and turned away from me.

“You must have made a mistake. You shouldn’t be here. Leave.”

I ran after the man – his steps were surprisingly long. “Wait. Hold up. Shouldn’t you be the one telling me how to leave?”

“You summoned me yourself. You can leave whenever you want to.” He didn’t stop walking, and boy was he fast.

This was the third time he was saying that, and… My mind pinged with a new thought. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the red coin that kind driver had given me before.

I rubbed the tiny thing in my palm and called out in a small voice. “Cassian.”

The man paused, turning to me with wide eyes. “You…”

He marched back to me and stopped just a few inches away, grabbing my hand and pulling my sleeve up my arm. Right there was the birthmark I shared only with my late mother, a star-shaped mark with tiny rings of starlight around it.

“It is you.” He said, his voice low and dripping with reverence.

I had no idea what any of that meant. I dragged my arm away from his. “Are you going to tell me who you are now?”

His eyes met mine. “You really have no idea?”

I shook my head. I honestly didn’t.

He nodded and stood to his full height, an air of darkness hovering around him as he spoke, his voice shaking with undercurrents of power.

“You, Venita Lockley, have accessed the pass. You get two options. Do you wish to return to the land of the mortals to recover all that was stolen from you and avenge the disaster that claimed your life? Or do you want to take your rightful place beside me as the queen of the night?”

Shock had me rooted to the spot. Did he just…? Did he really just say that?

“Queen of the night?” I asked, somehow only focusing on that bit of information.

Only a small nod greeted my question.

I shook my head. No. That wouldn’t do. Lilith was a manipulative liar, and her last words were still ringing in my mind.

“I knew that if you got wind of what I was involved in, he will take your side.”

She was planning something against my brother and against my pack. I needed to stop her.

“I want to go back,” I said in a hurry. “I want a second chance.”

Something blazed in the depth of his eyes and he nodded. Then…

My eyes cracked open in a snap.

“Venita?” Rogen asked, concern in his voice. “Are you okay?”

I looked at him, then allowed my eyes to roam the expanse of the room. I knew what day this was. I really got a second chance.