Eternal Ever After Read Online Free PDF

reverently, the woman in white chanted:
    “Goddess of moon, love, and desire,
    Bring me your passion’s fire.
    Enrich her life with health and love,
    Protect this child from below and above.
    In your name she walks the earth,
    Instead of death give her rebirth.”
     
    She turned her clear blue gaze to me, unconcerned by my nakedness. I wrapped my arms around my exposed body, shivering despite the sunlight streaming through the trees. In all my life I had never seen a more ethereal being or felt more in awe of her willowy stature.
    “Do not feel ashamed, my child.”
    “Who are you? Where am I?”
    “I am the Lady of the Woods, and you are descended from the Sacred Grove. This is the inner world and it is safe here.”
    “But I don’t understand.”
    The Lady of the Woods smiled kindly.
    “No, but you will. There is little time before I must go. You are here for a purpose.”
    “What purpose?”
    “You are one of the last Children of the Woods. I have come to awaken you—to warn you of a great danger.”
    “Danger? What danger, and how do I stop it?”
    “You must take care when you go to where pain and blood are games for pleasure.”
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “The only way to stop the threat is to let light wrap around you and surround yourself in its love. The way to the light is found through darkness.”
    The woman turned slowly back toward the forest from whence she came.
    “ Wait! You have to help me! ”
    She turned and smiled at me.
    “I must go, but all will be revealed at the ball.”
    “What ball?”
    With that the ethereal figure vanished into the forest, leaving me alone in the glade. The birds that had stopped chirping and the movement of animals that had ceased slowly began to stir again. Everything felt fuzzy. Birdsong turned into a loud purr and I awoke to green eyes looking down at me, with Mystic curled next to my head. His presence felt comforting after such an odd dream.
    Note to self. No more late-night pizza before bed.
    Raindrops pattered on the fire escape outside my window. I didn’t want to get out of bed. Stroking Mystic down his back, I rolled to curl on my side with an inward smile from my dinner with Arie. It felt like nothing exciting ever happened to me, and now I was eating pizza with a gorgeous vampire. I rubbed my temples. A headache throbbed behind my eyes as I tried to remember the details from the night before.
    Last night Arie had leaned against a wall eating a slice of pizza while I ate mine in front of the coffee table, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Remembering the smell of his leather jacket and his breath on my ear as he leaned in to whisper from behind drew heat to my stomach. I could feel a flush rise to my cheeks just thinking about it. I had this inexplicable urge to turn, wrap my arms around his neck, and run my fingers through the short dark waves of his hair. Except I froze. I could curse myself for being too damn chicken-shit to do anything about it. He was a vampire, and even though I wanted him, I didn’t know if we could be together. It was a lot to consider. Relationships within the same species are hard enough, for fuck’s sake.
    And asking him a ton of questions didn’t get me as many answers as I had hoped. He’d been evasive, but promised that he would tell me eventually. Just finding out was enough for one night and he didn’t want to overwhelm me. At least that’s what he said; I supposed he was right, but that didn’t curb my curiosity.
    I’d had plenty of relationships, but it had always been difficult to really be with anyone—to let them in. The barrier of the Sight created an impenetrable wall that ruined every relationship I’d ever had . How could anyone accept something so unnatural? Perhaps that was why Arie being a vampire didn’t make me want him any less. We were both unnatural—different, but the same. There were so many things I wanted to find out. Maybe I could put my gift to good use with Arie. I’d