When I thought I was going to visit Fate, I didn’t expect to end up right back in the bleeding Land of Moonlight standing beside the massive oak tree. The glowing figure is still standing beneath the branches, patiently waiting for my return.

“How did I end up back here?” I peer around at the trees. “I was supposed to go to Fate.”

Great. Was I wrong to trust Kingsley and drink that powder?

No, my gut tells me. You weren’t.

“Then you’ve come to the right place,” the figure says. “Although, you’ve come in your true form. That was a bit unexpected, but we’ll have to make it work.”

“Wait… my true form…” I glance down at my hands. “But I look the same as I always do.”

“Do you?” The figure stretches out its arm toward me and its fingers curl around my shoulder.

A flash of blinding light pierces through the forest and my skin illuminates.

I jerk back. “What did you do to me?”

The figure steps closer. “I put you in your true form.”

“My true form isn’t light. I’m a vampire,” I protest, stepping back. “What is this place? What did you do to me?”

“Calm down, my child. All will be explained in time.” It plucks a rose from one of the oak trees branches. “If you wish to see the truth about yourself, your past, and what you need to do to become who you truly are, a sacrifice must be made.” It hands me the flower.

I take the flower. “How is this a sacrifice?”

“Because it is life.” It gestures around at the blooming trees, the flourishing bushes, and the grass sprouting from the dirt. “Everything is.”

“So you want me to kill a flower and then you’ll give me the answers?” I twirl the rose in my hand, my brows knitting. “Kingsley said if I talked to Fate, I wouldn’t die. That’s where I’m supposed to be—with Fate.”

“And like I’ve said before, you’ve come to the right place.”

I peer up at the figure and it clicks. “Wait… You’re Fate?”

The figure nods, glowing brighter. “Indeed, I am.”

“I’m so sorry I was so disrespectful.” I bow my head, unsure what else to do.

But seriously, I’m standing in front of Fate. Have been for a while. In fact, I came here before I drank the powder.

“Can I ask a question?” I ask, my gaze fastened to the ground.

“You may, just as long as you look at me,” Fate says. “There’s no need to bow.”

“Sorry.” I raise my head. “How is it I came here before I drank the powder?”

“You weren’t really here then,” Fate replies. “Your spirit was.”

I hold the rose delicately in my hand, unsure what I’m supposed to do with it. “So I was dead. Well, more dead than I already am?”

“No, creatures like you—like us—can never truly be dead.” Fate gestures at itself. “We just have different forms.”

“So what form are you in right now?”

“My true form.” Fate takes my hand, the one holding the flower. “I know you have a lot of questions and while I can answer some, it’s better if I show you most.”

“Okay, what do I need to do?”

“Eat the petals from the flower.” She urges the rose toward my lips.

I stare down at the black and silver rose. “That’s it?”

“Don’t take the death of nature lightly, my child,” Fate warns. “You will feel it—the flower’s pain.”

Just how much pain can a flower feel?

When I stuff the petals of the rose into my mouth, I quickly discover that even a flower can experience great agony, pain and heartache shredding at my throat and chest as I swallow it down.

“It hurts so much,” I whisper, tears dripping from my eyes. “Why did you make me do that?

“Because you need to learn that with everything you see, there is a price, but you will still have to see it.” Fate places a hand on top of my head. “Seeing is your gift, Raven.”

As if a light switch flips on in my mind, I suddenly see.

I see everything…

The day I was born, my mother holding me, staring down at me with such love in her eyes. “She’s special,” my father whispers as he stands beside the bed.

“That she is,” my mother agrees, rocking me back and forth.

The images shift, zipping forward a couple of years to me standing on a hill amongst a crowd of vampires, who are all laughing, dancing, and drinking. At first I don’t know why. Why would I need to see myself at a party? But then my skin begins to glow as I turn around and stare at a tree.

My mother rushes up to me, scoops me up in her arms, and zooms off somewhere.

The images change again, but only to a handful of minutes later. We’re at the house I grew up in—in my first life. My mom and dad are talking in hushed whispers, huddled together, while I sit in the corner in a chair.

Moments later, a vampire strolls into the room, wearing a long, black dress, her cheek branded with a star—the mark of an Eternal Reader.

“You better not be wrong about this,” she warns my parents. “Fate will be upset if I disturb it for no reason.”

“We’re sure,” my dad says. “We just want confirmation.”

Nodding, the Eternal Reader lowers to her knees in front of me and stares into my eyes. Then she gasps.

“She has the light,” she whispers. “She has the light of Fate.”

“What does that mean?” My mom hugs her arms around herself, tears shining in her eyes.

The Eternal Reader rises to her feet and faces my mom. “I’m not sure.” She glances at me. “Usually new Fate isn’t born as a child, especially a vampire child. It’s unheard of. An abomination, if you ask me. And the risk of her existing here in our worlds where any creature can get ahold of her and change the fate of everything…” She trails off, rushing for the door. “I need to discuss this with the other Eternal Readers. She might need to be sent somewhere. Or destroyed.”

In the blink of an eye, my dad dashes toward her and grabs her by the throat. “You will do no such a thing.” He growls. “No one must know.”

“That’s not your call to make,” the Eternal Reader chokes out, her face turning red.

“It’s not yours either,” my dad snaps, his grip tightening.

My mom rushes up to me and shields my eyes. “Don’t look, sweetheart, okay?”

I nod and look away, my gaze traveling to the window where a tiny water faerie is flying near the glass. I’ve never seen one before, but I’ve always wanted to. It’s so pretty.

I wave and smile and she waves back, a smile twisting at her purple lips. Then she flutters off toward the sky…

The scene shifts again, only this time I’m not sure I’m me, just a spirit hovering in the corner of a large room with columns and a wooden throne. Perched in the seat of the throne is a woman wearing a dress spun of gold, and a glittering, jewel encrusted crown is balanced on her head. Fluttering in front of her is the water fey I waved to earlier.

“And you say you found it. That Fate is a vampire child?” The queen’s eyes shine bright with wicked delight. “And that she’s here in our worlds?”

The water fey bobs her head up and down. “She has great power, though, and others are protecting her.”

“Still, she’s just a child and children are easy to manipulate.” She drums her finger against her lips. “Imagine what I could do if I manipulated her power. I could change the Fate of the entire world—I could control everything…”

The images swirl into the day Rhyland and Kingsley made friends with me, only now I’m near the alcove where I saw the figure with glowing eyes. I can see it has wings and shimmering silver skin—a faerie.

It’s watching Nadine just as closely as it’s observing me. Well, the me that’s sitting in the cafeteria.

After Nadine rushes out of the cafeteria, the faerie hurries after her, cutting her off near the restrooms.

“What do you want, faerie,” Nadine spits out, the blood Kingsley dumped on her earlier still soaking her dress.

“I want to make all your wishes come true,” the faerie purrs. “Starting with making you the new queen.”

Nadine sneers. “Stupid faerie. Only Fate can do that.” She starts to swing around the faerie, but it sidesteps, cutting her off.

“Fate is weak right now,” the faerie explains with a sinister grin. “And with the right amount of magic, the fey queen can give you what your heart truly desires—a crown on your head and your sister’s suffering.”

“How do you know I want that?” Nadine questions, peering around the empty hallway. “And why are you even here?”

“I’m here to give you what you want,” the faerie purrs. “And I know what you want because I have the gift of seeing other’s desires.”

“You’re a Desire Faerie?” Nadine asks, more interested than she was before.

The faerie nods. “That I am. And I want to make all of your desires come true.”

Nadine eyes over the faerie. “And what do I have to do in return?”

“Nothing at all,” the faerie moves toward her, its wings curling out. “Just simply accept the gift and become friends with the fey queen.”

Nadine considers her offer then a grin spreads across her face. “All right, make me queen and make it so my sister suffers. That’s what I want. For her to feel how I’ve felt for years. To know what it’s like to have parents who barely acknowledge your existence. Ever since she was born, it’s been Raven this and Raven that. And now Kingsley and Rhyland are doing it too.” Her lip twitches, her eyes flowing with anger. “She always gets what I want, so I want to take everything from her.”

“And you will in time. I promise.” The faerie places a kiss on her forehead and vanishes into a cloud of smoke…

After that, the images move swiftly, showing me how the queen had her minions watch me for years to learn my weaknesses. Nadine helped her too, spying on us and reporting back to the queen. Then the images alter again, replaying the night of the curse, most of the stuff I’ve already seen. But when it arrives at the end, when the curse is about to be set, I manage to move up to where Rhyland is. In his hand is a contract, along with a list of the things I must do in order to break the curse and what will happen when the curse is broken. But the words are blurry and unreadable. I reach for the piece of paper, but I’m jerked back—

I gasp as the scene fades, and I’m pushed back to the forest where Fate is waiting for me.

“No!” I cry out. “I need to see it! Need to know what to do to break this awful curse!” Pain and anguish claw at my chest as I crumble to my knees, tears streaming from my eyes.

Nadine was part of it. Part of the curse because she was jealous of me. It’s hard to take in. I mean, I know we never had a good relationship and she didn’t fully understand what she was getting into, but she handed over my suffering to the fey queen so easily.

“Relax, my child, in time, it will all come to you.” Fate pats my head.

I straighten, glaring up at her. “How can that be possible when I’m dying?”

“You won’t die.” Its hand lowers to her side. “But saving yourself isn’t going to be easy. Nothing about what you face is going to be easy.”

“Because I’m… I’m Fate.” I can’t believe this is happening, can’t believe what I saw.

“Believe it,” Fate says as if reading my mind and maybe it can. “Fate never sees anything that doesn’t carry some partial truth to it.”

“But…” I peer over my shoulder at the bleeding land just outside the trees. “But what about that? Because I’m seeing that and if I’m Fate…” I look to her for a answer, but her light is fizzling.

“I don’t have much time.” She sets her hand on my head again. “Just know that after you break the curse—after you’ve completed all the tasks—there is one final sacrifice you must make to survive. You must kill a creature that was part of the original curse, a creature who was there that night, a creature that you love. If you don’t, the curse will win—it will consume you--which means the queen will gain all the power she’s ever craved. And that power will channel to the Created. Then no creature or worlds will be safe from bloodshed.”

“What?” I cry out, shaking my head. “No, I could never do that. I could never kill anyone.”

“You must. Or else you’ll die… Taking another life is the only other exception to the end of the curse, which was supposed to be your death. And the worlds need you, Raven. You’re the next Fate and without your existence, no one will be there to guide the creatures, and Chaos will take over. Blood will weep across the land, just like the field behind you.”

“But I can’t kill anyone,” I whisper hoarsely.

“I’m sorry, my child. But it’s the only way to put the balance back into the worlds.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It will in time.”

“And then what happens?” Tears cascade from my eyes. “I mean, if I manage to do everything? Will my parents be okay? Where are they even? Will I end up queen? Will Rhyland end up king?” Questions rush from my lips.

“Then everything goes back to what it was supposed to be,” Fate simply says.

“But I’m not even sure how things were supposed to be…” An image sears through my mind, branding my soul.

It’s the first task I must complete in order to break the curse. And it’s more awful than I ever could’ve imagined.

“And Raven?” Fate whispers some final words. “You are one of the most powerful Fates to ever step foot in the worlds. You need to be careful and only trust those who are truly trustworthy. The fey queen isn’t the only creature who wishes to steal your power. And while she may not currently be able to step foot into the Land of Moonlight where our powers flow from, there are plenty of other creatures who can—and will, if they get the chance—to kill you or use your powers for their own gain.”

“If it’s such a risk of me being in the worlds then why can’t I just stay here...” I’m dragged back before Fate can answer, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t have anyway.