I wake up to a crashing headache.

Am I hungover? No—I wasn’t drinking last night. I was working at the diner.

The memories come flooding back. The man with the knowing eyes at the diner. The same man showing up at the playground near my trailer in the middle of the night, telling me that he’s my grandfather—Magnus Evenstar, he’d called himself.

My eyes focus on my surroundings, but I can’t make sense of it. I’m lying on a bed—not my cramped bed in the trailer, which is foster home number ten, but a huge ass bed with silk sheets and pillows that feel like clouds. If that isn’t enough to convince me that I must be dreaming, the white marble floor and onyx walls definitely are. I jolt out of the bed and feel a wave of dizziness as I stand at the center of the palatial room. As I gape at the large onyx fireplace and the plush purple velvet furniture dotting the room, my confusion only grows.

Where the hell am I?

The scene outside the floor to ceiling French windows is of an impossibly blue sky, meeting an even bluer ocean. It’s paradise. Am I dead?

A loud knocking at the large double doors makes me jump out of my skin. I look down at my attire to make sure I’m decent, only to find myself clothed in grey silk pajamas—sure as hell not mine. I don’t own anything silk.

The man from the diner steps into the room.

“Where the hell am I?” I demand instantly, feeling both disoriented and furious.

“I told you I wanted you to come with me,” Magnus replies simply in the infuriatingly calm tone.

“So you kidnapped me?” I’m shouting now and I don’t give a shit who hears.

“Calm down, Jazmine. I can explain. We have a lot to talk about.”

I stare at him in disbelief, I can feel my panic rising, but I stamp down on it, forcing my breaths to slow. I’ll need to stay calm, if I’m going to have any chance of getting the hell out of here.

“Explain,” I say through gritted teeth, although I have no interest in knowing. I just want to keep him distracted while I look for an escape route.

Magnus takes a deep breath then, before walking over to look out of one of the large windows. I keep my eyes trained on him the whole time, in case he tries to grab me again.

“In the beginning, there was Eden—I’m sure you’re familiar with the story, like most humans are. But what humans do not know, is that Eden is real and it isn’t just a garden, it’s an entire world. It sits alongside Earth in another realm, running parallel alongside Earth, but never touching.

“Its inhabitants are the Seraph—the first beings to ever be created. We are mortal just like humans but unlike humans, we have the power to influence the elements, to control them. Every season, every raindrop, every gust of wind, the rising of the sun each morning and the painting of the night sky each night—it is by the hand of the Seraphs. Adam was once a Seraph until he fell from grace, was stripped of his powers and banished to Earth. From him, the human race was birthed. Humans know nothing of our true existence, though they have told tales about us throughout the ages, worshipped us through many guises. We are their gods, angels, higher beings, apparitions, deities. These are all just human interpretations of the Seraph.

“So, to answer your first question—you are in Eden, the royal city of Arcadia, to be precise.”

Oh god, I’ve been kidnapped by a lunatic from a cult, and now he’s going to kill me.

I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but it sure as hell wasn’t this. All efforts at finding an exit fall away as my entire universe focuses on trying to process Magnus’s words.

“What the hell are you talking about? I can’t even …”

I’m shaking my head in utter shock and denial. My mind can’t even begin to fathom the meaning of his words. Because it’s crazy. Nonsense. It has to be.

“You don’t believe me,” Magnus says flatly.

“No shit. Did you hear the crazy shit that just came out of your mouth? A world called Eden in another realm? Another race—the Seraph or whatever they’re called that can influence nature? It sounds insane.”

He seems displeased by my profanity. I don’t give a shit.

What he does then, shuts me up entirely though. One minute he’s standing with the morning sun encasing his solitary figure, the next, the daylight around him disappears. There are actual shadows seeping out of him, swallowing the light.

I back up frantically, stumbling as I go, and nearly landing on my ass.

Then as quickly as they had appeared, the shadows vanish again. Leaving only the daylight in their wake.

“What—what the hell was that?” I almost shout.

He turns to me, those knowing grey eyes taking in my flabbergasted expression.

“A demonstration of the power of the Seraph. I forget that humans will only believe what they see,” he says.

“Except you’re not human, Jazmine. At least not fully—your father was a Seraph, so that makes you half Seraph.”

If I thought I was shocked before, it’s nothing compared to what I’m feeling now.

“And not just any Seraph. The Dynasties are the ruling class of Eden—the strongest Seraph bloodlines. In the beginning, there were eight Dynasties, but after the fall of Adam and his Adonis Dynasty, seven remain. Of those seven Dynasties, the two most powerful Dynasties are known as the sovereign Dynasties, the two royal bloodlines—the St. Tristan Dynasty and the Evenstar Dynasty. The rule of Eden has always fallen to one of these two sovereign Dynasties and before your father died, he was the King.”

He fixes his eyes on me.

“The blood that runs through your veins is the royal Evenstar blood which can be traced back to Eve herself. You are the heir of the Evenstar Dynasty, Jazmine. The last and only heir.”

I let out a loud laugh, that sounds manic, even to my own ears, but what other reaction could I possibly have to those words?

“You’re nuts,” I choke out, once the laughter subsides. But there is no humor in Magnus’s expression.

“You know what I’m saying is true.”

I sober up then.

“No. I don’t. What you’re saying is crazy. I live in a trailer, for god’s sake.

“You expect me to believe that my asshole of a father was a King and that I’m the heir to his royal Dynasty, next in line to the throne of a world which exists in an alternative realm?”

Magnus looks back at me calmly, although I feel like I’m losing my goddamn mind, no scratch that, I must have lost it already, because I’m still standing here, listening to this nonsense.

“When a King dies, the seven Dynasties rule together until the next sovereign heir comes of age to ascend to the throne. It is … expected that the next in line to the throne will be the heir of the St. Tristan Dynasty.”

“Oh, well thank god for that. Now, that we’re clear that I’m not about to be the next ruler of this alternative realm, you’re still expecting me to believe the rest of that bull? Well you’ve definitely got the wrong girl—because that thing that you just did? I can’t do anything even remotely close to that.”

“Oh, really? You’ve never looked up at the night sky and felt like you were connected to it somehow? Never felt like you could control the stars and moon with just a single sweep of your hand, if you just only reached out? You’ve never felt like you could touch the wind or feel the pulsing of the waves in the ocean?”

His words are like a punch to my gut. Because I can’t deny the truth in them. It’s as if he’s pried open my mind, read my deepest thoughts and is reciting them back to me. I have never been so unnerved in my entire life.

“You may not know how to use them yet, but you do have these powers within you—it runs in your blood,” he says.

“And if your foster home records are anything to go by, it would seem that you’re far more aware of your powers than you’d like to admit,” he adds.

My jaw drops, but at this stage, I don’t even know why I’m so surprised that he’s managed to get his hands on my foster home files. I shudder at the memories of my time at those first few foster homes. I’d been too young to make sense of the strange things stirring inside me. Too young to separate reality from what couldn’t possibly be real and in my innocence, I hadn’t yet learned how to hide those parts of myself that no one could ever accept, myself included. After the first few therapy sessions and foster home changes, I’d learned pretty damn quickly, though. I’d learned to accept that I didn’t belong, but that I should never again let anyone see exactly why.

“All your life you’ve felt like you don’t belong—not in any of your previous foster homes, not anywhere on Earth. You’ve always felt like there was something just waiting in the wings, dancing at the edge of your consciousness. Something that you can’t grasp in your waking hours, but you know it’s there.”

I don’t want to hear more, but with some kind of morbid fascination, I can’t stop myself from listening. Because I’d been right about him. Those eyes see things, know things that no one in this entire universe should know.

He steps towards me, and I know I have to get the hell out of here, although I have no idea where I am. But I can’t make my legs move.

“There’s a reason why you’ve always felt like you didn’t belong. It’s because you didn’t—you don’t belong on Earth, Jazmine. You never will,”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I manage, but my voice sounds as shaken as I feel because right now, the entire universe feels like it’s spinning—and everything I’ve ever thought I believed, everything I’ve ever thought I’d known, feels like it’s being swept away in the storm.

“You’ve always wanted more than your life on earth could ever offer you. It’s because you were made for something greater than a human life.”

I can only stare at him in silence, not a single coherent thought left in me as he approaches.

“I’m sorry for all you’ve been through, Jazmine, all the loss, the loneliness, the years you felt like you had nothing and no one. I can’t change that.

“Your father was sent to Earth on a mission and fell in love with a human while he was there—your mother, but he knew it couldn’t be, because the law forbids it and your father had his duty to his Dynasty, to his throne. He knew that he would be the King of Eden and his people needed him. He didn’t find out about you until just before his death. His dying wish was for you to be found and brought here to Eden, so that you can claim your rightful place as heir to the Evenstar Dynasty.”

“What was his name?” I find myself asking, although every fiber in my being doesn’t want to care.

“Arwen—your father’s name was Arwen Evenstar.”

There is another question echoing through my mind and again, I don’t want to care. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from speaking, but the words come out anyway, although I am sure I don’t want to know the answer.

“How did he die?”

Magnus is silent for a long moment and the sadness that I glimpse in the depths of those grey eyes in that moment is so unending, that it makes it difficult to breathe.

“He committed suicide.”

The words floor me and I want to know more, but something about Magnus’s closed off expression tells me he already knows the questions I’m about to ask and the answers are not for me to know.

“Your father was a brave man, Jazmine. A good King,” he says after a moment.

“I can’t change the past, Jazmine. But I can change your future—you’re an Evenstar now. You always have been and from now on, things are going to change. I promise you that.”

I’m silent for what seems like an eternity.

“Let’s say I believe you—do I get a choice in any of this? What if I don’t want to live here in Eden. What if I don’t want to be a Seraph, an Evenstar heir or whatever? What if I just want my life back?”

I feel the lie in those last words, because he’d been right earlier—I’ve always wanted more than my old life was able to give me. I was always searching for that more, although I never knew what it was—and now it’s being revealed to me … I feel like someone’s placed the entire universe in the palm of my hand, and I have no clue what to do with it.

“You don’t have a choice, Jazmine,” came his simple reply, but before I can speak, he continues.

“It’s not safe for you on Earth anymore.”

I remember that he had spoken those same words to me in the playground.

“What do you mean, it’s not safe for me on Earth?” I demand.

He only shakes his head and turns back to look out at the morning sky.

“There is so much that you don’t know. So much that I can’t tell you. Even the other Dynasties don’t yet know about this threat and it must stay that way for now. But just know that I’m telling the truth.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I feel my anger rising again.

He turns back to me.

“I know that after all you’ve been through, it’s hard for you to trust people. But you can trust me, Jazmine. I’m your family, your blood. So, trust me when I tell you that Eden is the only place where you will be safe now.”

He’s right. It’s not easy for me to trust people—and I sure as hell don’t trust this total stranger who is claiming to be my long lost grandfather from another realm.

“Sorry, no deal,” I snap back. The words feel harsh on my tongue, but I swat the misplaced guilt away. Seventeen years without a single word and now he shows up and wants to play happy family? Granted, he didn’t know I even existed until a few months ago, but still. Then there’s the fact that this man has, effectively, kidnapped me. He’s telling me it’s because it’s not safe for me on Earth anymore, which in itself sounds insane, but added to that, he won’t tell me why. Yeah, we aren’t off to a great start here.

The image of the shadowed figure in the woods flashes through my mind. For a split second, I consider telling Magnus. But I sweep the thought away. In light of everything that’s followed, the strange encounter seems even more surreal. From imagined threats to imagined worlds, I clearly haven’t been thinking straight since I left the diner. I expect to wake up from this surreal nightmare any minute now.

“I’ll take my chances on Earth. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back,” I say instead.

Those eyes look sad again, but determination is mixed in with it.

“Well I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible, Jazmine—you remember the way you came? That is also the only way back and this …” he says, holding up what looks like a key made of burnished gold, “is the only way a portal can be summoned.

“There are only seven keys—one for each Dynasty and the Dynasty heads are the only keepers.”

I notice the symbol of a crescent moon engraved into the bow and I wonder what it means.

For a moment, I consider snatching the key and making a run for it. But after witnessing the shadows that Magnus seems to have on tap, I’m not that foolish. In any case, even if I am successful in my snatch and grab, I still have no idea how to use the damn key. A feeling of helplessness washes over me as I look out at the sweeping expanse of sea and sky.

I feel the irony of it all. Only a few hours ago, I’d been standing on the beach in Rockford Cape, thinking that today my life was about to change—and it has.

Ten years ago, on this day, my life was turned upside down when my mom was ripped from my world, and on the same day, ten years later, my life is being turned upside down again.

But this time, as much as I want to deny it, it feels like something is being given to me, given back to me, and I can only hope, but it feels like life is done taking things from me and maybe, just maybe, I can let myself live again.