We finally made it back to the car where Max had been parked waiting for us. As we approached the car, we saw that Max was surrounded by a group of girls who all looked to be flirting with him. Our faces must have shown that something had happened because he immediately excused himself and hurried over to open the car door for us.
"Everything okay ladies?" he asked warily.
"We need to get out of here," said Lexi tersely, all signs of her earlier flirtatious manner gone.
We didn't talk in the car on the way back to campus, both of us shaken from our encounter with the specter. Max drove us back to campus.
"Where am I dropping you off, ladies?" he asked.
"Eva's dorm is fine," said Lexi in the same clipped tone as before.
Max pulled up in front of my dorm, and Lexi and I got out. Before we could walk inside, Max pulled Lexi aside and started whispering urgently in her ear. She nodded and kissed him softly on the cheek before hurrying over to me, and pulling me by the arm in the direction of my dorm.
Once we got inside, Lexi started pacing frantically.
"We can't tell your guys about this," she finally said. "They will never let me hang out with you again."
I kind of agreed with her with how protective they tended to be.
"We don't have to tell anyone. But that means you're going to have to answer my million questions," I said.
She looked at me resigned and then walked over and sat next to me on the bed.
"Fire away," she said.
"First of all, how do you know about supernaturals?" Lexi fidgeted next to me.
"I know about them…because I am one," she said, grimacing and refusing to look at my face.
I sat there shocked. It couldn't be a coincidence that the four people I was closest to in my new life were not exactly normal.
"You're not a vampire right?" I asked, not sure what I would do if she said yes.
I had seen the hungry looks that the vampires in the club had been giving us, and I wasn't sure that I could deal with my best friend giving me those kinds of looks. Lexi giggled at the look on my face.
"No, I'm not a vampire," she answered. "I'm sort of…a witch."
"What does "sort of a witch" mean exactly?" I asked in an interested tone. Lexi sighed, settling next to me, her shoulder brushing against mine as she shifted her weight.
"Your majesty, the plague is getting worse. The Eastern region has reported that all of their crops have shriveled. The ground is covered in ash. There is panic everywhere."
I looked at my advisor and bodyguard. Alexina or "Lexi," had been by my side ever since I could remember. Her mother had been my mother's bodyguard and advisor for her entire reign. Lexi's family came from a long line of powerful witches that had served the crown for thousands of years. Lexi had never known anything other than these palace walls and service to my family. She was more than my servant though; she was my best friend. With the exception of Beckham, I trusted no one more than her.
"Have the seers come forward with anything?" I asked anxiously.
That flower dying in Mother's garden had been just the beginning. Within days, other portions of the land had begun to black and wither, a phenomenon unheard of in Tir Na Nog, especially considering my Mother was considered one of the strongest queens to ever rule.
"They haven't been able to see anything, your majesty. Mathias told me that all they can see is black fog when they try to see anything past your mother's death."
I choked back a sob. Mathias was the head seer of the palace. Earlier this week he had personally delivered the news to me that he had foreseen my mother's imminent death. That the ancient, hardened, seer had tears in his eyes when delivering the news was a testament to how loved my mother was. I had forbid him from mentioning the news to my mother. I'm sure she was well aware of what was happening to herself. I sent him back to the seer tower, begging him to try and see anything else.
Lexi's mother, Brianag, had been working round the clock, attempting to come up with some potion or spell to aid my mother. She believed that the plague upon the land was tied to my mother's illness, but I knew it wasn't. The power that had been seeping into my veins ever since my mother first became ill meant that our magic was still alive and well and passing on to the next heir as it always had since our people's creation. Whatever was causing this pestilence upon the land, and likely my mother's illness, was something we had never encountered.
I stood at one of the windows in my room, contemplating my next steps. I could see the edge of the blackness in the distance, soon it would spread all throughout the palace lands. I felt weary, as if I were thousands of years old. If I didn't find a solution soon, there would be no choice but to accept Lord Tiberius's offer.
Lexi walked up next to me, staring out the window as well. She took my hand in hers and squeezed.
"Whatever may come, I will always be here for you, your majesty. There is no cost too great, no request too burdensome. You will always be able to depend on me."
I smiled, a tear streaming down my cheek at her loyalty, as I continued to stare at the black in the distance as it slowly crept towards the palace. It was coming.
Lexi was explaining all about witches as my dorm came back into my consciousness. I couldn't focus on anything she was saying as I absorbed what I had just seen. I felt…mournful, mournful over a land I had never seen, and a queen I had never met. I cut Lexi off.
"Is it alright if we talk about all of this tomorrow?" I asked hesitantly. "I'm not feeling well all of a sudden."
Lexi's eyes flashed with hurt. She obviously thought that I was making up an excuse to get away from her. I wasn't, I just needed a second to go over everything I had seen lately. My mind whirled with images, images of another life and another time.
Lexi gathered her things and rigidly said goodbye. I smiled at her reassuringly, giving her a big hug before she left my room, promising that I would call her to hang out after my shift was over the next night. Her face brightened at my promise, and she looked relieved as she left.
After getting ready for bed I sent a text to Damon and Beckham, telling them that I was going to bed and needed some space tonight. My phone immediately began pinging with texts asking if I was alright. I turned off my phone, needing some peace and quiet to think.
I had been lying in bed for an hour, going over all of the scenes of a life that seemed so familiar to me, wondering what it all meant, when I heard a fluttering of wings outside of my window. I sighed and opened the window, moving aside so that Damon could step inside. I expected a million questions about the night, and settled into my bed resigned to the fact that I was going to be exhausted for my shift the next day. Damon surprised me though, climbing into bed with me and holding me close. My door opened, causing me to jump since I had locked it. I relaxed back into Damon's arms when I saw that it was Beckham.
Beckham stood there awkwardly for a moment.
"Fuck it," he muttered, taking his belt off and pulling his pants off so he was just in his boxers.
"Damn it," said Damon, moving to the other side of me to make room for Beckham.
I was awkward at first as Beckham slid in to my bed. I guess I was lucky that Damon had ordered a new queen bed to be installed in my room after the first night he had been forced to cuddle next to me in the twin bed that my room had come with. The queen bed felt tiny with all three of us in it though, especially considering Beckham and Damon were both extremely large men. I rolled onto my side, facing Damon and allowing Beckham to cuddle me from behind. I soaked in their warmth and love, ignoring the fact that they were both hard as a rock.
Weighed down by my latest vision, I began to cry silently into Damon's shoulder. Neither of them said a word, simply offering soundless comfort to me as the night wore on. I fell asleep, the feeling of protection and love finally pushing out my troubled thoughts.