I am standing at the edge of the Light fields. This time the sky is dark, so dark that not even the stars or moon are shining. Yet I can see clearly, as though it were daylight. I feel different. Strong. There is a clarity within me, a certain kind of power. It feels familiar and alien all at the same time.

I sense Clover before I see her. Her light footsteps are loud to my ears. Her earthy smell is comfortingly familiar now.

“The darkness is getting stronger, Accacia. It’s up to us to stop it,” she says as she walks up beside me.

I don’t look at her, my attention is drawn to something gathering in the distance. Something infinitely darker than the night. A chill runs over my skin.

“Do you see it?”

I nod. “Yes, I see it.”

“Queen Adrielle is gaining power. Time is running out for all of us.”

“I feel it too,” I say, and I do. A coiling, splintering, dark magic is gaining momentum. It is coming for us.

“Devin cannot be lost to the dark. His soul, your soul, they are fated to one another. Rhain has Claimed your body, Ezra your mind. To complete the circle, you must bind permanently with Devin, but this you know already.”

“Yes.”

“He doesn’t have long before the light disappears for good. You cannot wait a moment longer. It will take a great sacrifice to save Devin from the darkness, to save us all. Are you prepared to make that sacrifice, Accacia?”

This time I turn to look at my friend. The woman I once knew has gone and in her place, someone far more powerful stands before me. I feel that power, just like I can smell her scent and hear her heart beat in the pulse at her neck. Her long, red hair blows in the breeze, entwined within it the same ivy that is tattooed around the length of her arm.

“I am willing to do whatever it takes to save the man I love. Just like I did with Rhain and Ezra.”

“I knew you would.” A smile appears, a little of the old Clover shining through.

“Did you make the change, Clover? Are you okay?” I am referring, of course, to the fact she chose to become fae.

“What do you think?” Her face lights up, the light behind her eyes illuminating the iridescent green within.

“I think I am going to miss you,” I say, knowing that I won’t be seeing her any time soon, and not at all should we fail to break the curse.

She steps closer and pulls me into her arms. “And I you. But with the others, we can save them all.”

“Be safe, Clover,” I whisper into her hair.

“You too,” she replies. Her voice is carried by the wind as she disappears from my arms. Beyond, the darkness gathers and pulls at the horizon, building momentum. I shudder, just as the vision slips from my grasp.

* * *

I sit up in bed. It’s pitch black, and unlike my dream I am unable to see in the dark. I hear the soft breath of Ezra beside me. He is as familiar to me now as I am to him. I reach down, feeling the firm muscle of his arm and the warmth of his skin beneath my fingertips. He turns over.

“Accacia, are you okay?” he asks, the pull of sleep softening his voice.

“I am now.”

“I hear your heart thundering. Are those nightmares plaguing you again?”

“Not strictly, no. I don’t think it was a dream, more like a vision. Except I was different…” I bite my lip, not sure how to explain. “Clover came to me.”

Ezra sits up, placing an arm around my shoulders. He pulls me towards him. “Like before, you mean?”

“Yes. She is fae now.” I press my cheek against the bare skin of his chest. His heartbeat is sure and loud. At least I have him and Rhain, but my heart aches for Devin. For the danger he is in, that we are all in.

“I see.”

“There’s more, Ezra.”

“Tell me.” He draws me closer, his fingertips trailing up and down my arm. He does it to comfort me, knowing instinctively that comfort is what I need in this moment more than anything else.

A crack of light emerges as the door to my bedroom opens. Rhain walks in. He sees Ezra holding onto me. His eyes flick to mine.

“What is it?” he asks. He has a tray filled with food. Even though it is night-time, this is my breakfast, the start of my day. Just like the vampires I’d read about and the movies I’d watched as a teenager, we sleep during the day and awake at night.

Rhain places the tray down on the small table in the corner of the room and approaches the bed. He is wearing a pair of slacks, and nothing else. The bare skin of his chest and the dark smattering of hair has my heart beating faster for another reason altogether. Ezra presses a kiss into my hair, noticing the change and reassuring me he is okay with it.

“She has seen Clover in her dreams, brother. The Changing has occurred, Clover is fae now.”

Rhain settles himself beside me, and places his hand on my bare thigh. “There is more to it than Clover becoming fae, isn’t there?”

“Yes,” I say, pulling away from Ezra. He releases his hold on me so I can sit more comfortably between them both. “Devin is running out of time…” My voice wavers over the possibility of losing him but I swallow the panic I feel, trying to shake off the after-effects of the dream and the coiling darkness that lingers over me still.

“I have to Bind with him permanently, before it is too late for him, for all of us. There is a dark magic coming, the Queen is gaining power. We have to play our part, so the other sisters can play theirs.” I grab both their hands, pulling them into my lap. “I understand your need to protect me, but you must understand my need to protect you all. Devin needs me. I will not wait a moment longer.”

Rhain squeezes my hand. “Then it is just as well, because Lissandra has arrived. She has news, Cia. News of Devin. You may wish to get dressed.” His eyes meet mine, then his gaze trails downwards to the bare skin of my chest before lighting with the usual desire that sparks between us always.

Ezra slides off the bed and stands. “Then let us greet her, together.”