Page 6 of Chosen, Eternally

“ O kay, so let me get this straight,” James begins his recap. “You’ve been a witch since before I even met you, but you only had a limited amount of powers then. It wasn’t until you became the Chosen Guardian and?—”

“ Protector . Chosen Protector,” I correct.

James waves a hand. “Protector, then. It wasn’t until you became a Chosen Protector that all these powers developed into something more, and you were sworn in to protect the city of Salem from vampires?”

“Right.” I nod. “But the swearing in ceremony kinda didn’t happen until after you… Well, until after we thought you died.”

He whistles once, shocked. “Okay, then. Well. I have… So many questions.”

“Right, I thought you might have a couple.”

“Okay, so, first one off the top of my head: I’m clearly not dead,” he says with a laugh.

“Not a question.”

He shoots me a frustrated look, and I sigh.

“We thought you were dead. Or rather, I did. But only because that’s what I was told after I woke up in the hospital the day after our encounter with those vamps.

I went to your funeral and everything, and it was—” Again, I struggle to breathe.

To push through the memories of other people grieving James in the small room of the funeral home.

Thinking that while they were entitled to be sad, none of them would ever know the true pain of his loss like I would.

It takes a second for me to be able to recover, and when I do, I know I have to be as clear and honest as possible.

“Someone lied. Tricked me and the Society into thinking you’d died.

Somehow convinced the authorities—the police and the morgue—to lie about the condition your body was left in, and say that it was mangled almost beyond recognition.

It’s why they told us the wake couldn’t be open casket. ”

James looks at me, devastated.

“I don’t know what happened, James. Maybe it was another vampire using their powers of Subjugation?

Though we supply city officials with antidotes to protect them from situations just like this.

So I’m at a loss. But I promise that we’ll go first thing tomorrow morning to The Society and try to sort this whole thing out.

Tell them how you were held in a cell for over a year, and just…

” I shiver. “I promise if I wasn’t already fueled by revenge before, I sure as hell am now. ”

He half-smiles. “Okay, so I get why you thought I was dead. But can we rewind to the genesis of it all? Like, what the hell are vampires doing in Salem? And why are witches the ones stopping them? Why doesn’t the rest of the world know?”

I sigh because this a tough one. “It’s kind of a long story.

But the TL;DR version of it is that vampire killings started happening around the same time as the Salem Witch Trials—yes, most of the witches executed were actual witches, though not all of them.

Now, the witches already knew of the existence of this species from their ancestors back in Europe, but the humans didn’t.

Supposedly, there were no vampires here, but somehow they managed to make it to Massachusetts.

We covered up every single vampire death by saying they were ‘animal-related,’” I say, recalling my mandatory history lessons from my teenage years.

“One night, there was a town hall meeting happening. Four of the strongest members of our coven were on trial and headed straight for the gallows. Almost a hundred people attended that meeting, which back then, was a lot. Suddenly, over a dozen vampires broke into the town hall and started attacking the humans, ripping their throats out right then and there. Now, for obvious reasons, we had never publicly used our powers in front of humans. The witches back then were adopting a ‘deny til you die’ philosophy, which they took quite literally, unfortunately. But the Four—Agnes, Mary, Emily, and Elizabeth—refused to stand idly by as people were massacred, even if these people were trying to execute them. So they used their collective powers to kill the vampires who attacked the meeting and ward the rest of them off.”

“Jesus,” James breathes. “And that’s the ‘too long; didn’t read version’?” He laughs, and the sound of it makes my heart soar despite it all.

“I know.” I sigh. “It’s a lot. In the end, only seven human lives were lost that night.

The rest were protected thanks to our fearless leaders.

After that, the city of Salem was so thankful that we reached an agreement with the officials: the witches would be allowed to live a calm and peaceful life in secrecy, unbothered by the humans so long as we vowed to protect them from the vampires.

However, putting all that pressure on our entire coven was a lot, so the Four decided to perform a spell that required they give up their lives and powers in order to create a Chosen Protector .

This witch would be the most powerful witch of them all, sworn to defend the city from the darkest of evils.

And there would always be One—as soon as she died, another would be called. ”

“But you haven’t been living in secrecy. This entire town’s thing is witches.”

“Well, duh. They couldn’t exactly erase history, so we just classified it under a mass murder which originated due to hysteria, Puritanical beliefs, and crazy paranoia.

No one actually believes they were real witches.

People just come here because they want to believe, even though they don’t. It’s a good time.”

I choose then to pause and let James absorb some of what I’ve just told him.

“That was… a lot of information,” he finally says.

I nod.

“So you were just chosen out of a group of girls to be this kick-ass vampire hunter?”

“I mean, kinda? The Magicks chose me, so I’m not sure how they would’ve been able to pass those powers onto someone else without my death. It’s complicated, because the whole thing is supposed to be this great honor, but I hesitated to accept the role.”

“What would’ve happened if you’d refused?”

I shrug, unsure. “I don’t know. They kind of made it sound like I didn’t have a choice at first, to be honest. But I was prepared to run off to Asia with you. Though they probably would’ve come after us.”

James smiles, his eyes softening. “I would’ve run forever with you if we had to.”

I can’t help the goofy smile on my face. “And I would’ve loved every second of it.”

He reaches out to take my hand and places a kiss on the back of it, his eyes closing as he inhales the scent of my skin. When he lowers my hand, his fingers twine with mine, and he never lets go.

Not until the doorbell rings, at least, with our dinner.

“It’s your turn now,” I say as I pull out our food from the delivery bag (two double bacon cheeseburgers and a large Coke for him—he was ravenous , he said—and a regular cheeseburger and Diet Coke for me). “Tell me what happened.”

He exhales before unwrapping his burger, the smell of the beef and cheese filling my small loft. “I’m not sure, to be honest. Like I said, the last thing I remember is the fight that broke out after telling you I loved you. Love you.” He shoots me a grin, and I can’t help mine.

My heart does cartwheels in my chest, but I’m terrified. For the past year, it’s been my job to fight off monsters and demons every day—but no fight or interaction with them has been as terrifying as this moment right now. What if it all goes away? What if it isn’t even happening?

“After that, I have vague memories of being knocked unconscious. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in this musty, damp room.

No windows, no exit. No bathroom. They’d feed me every so often, but it was always under the door.

I never so much as spoke or saw anyone until tonight, when those three vampires pulled me from my cell and told me I had somewhere to be.

Then, right before you caught us, one of them said something like ‘We should do it here.’ Next thing I know, I’m being knocked on my ass by the edge of the trees.

That’s when one of them bit my throat. It was so fucking painful, Cate.

I tried to fight them off and, as you can see, got beaten to a pulp.

” I wince when he points to his busted lip, his slightly bruised eye.

James’s face does look like it’s been through a fight, but it doesn’t look as bad anymore.

Huh . The Healing potion works fast, but not that fast.

“After that, they kept trying to feed me something. It was so weird. A red liquid from a vial one of them pulled from their pocket, and?—”

A metaphorical record scratch sounds over his voice.

“I’m sorry, what? They fed you something?

” My heart takes off faster than I’ve ever felt it, the adrenaline speeding through my veins at an impossible speed.

It’s like my body knows what he’s going to confirm before my brain does and is making sure I have the strength and will to accept it. To endure it.

James’s nose scrunches in the most adorable way. “Yeah. And honestly? It tasted a little like blood.”

And there’s the other shoe dropping , I think. It lands like a damn anvil from the top of the Grand Canyon on my head, Wile E. Coyote style. For a second there, I very nearly pass out.

As soon as I can speak, I get to my feet, jelly-legged, and walk over to my loft window. The moon is high in the sky, the city is quiet, and no one knows just how badly I want to cry right now. To scream in frustration.

“Did you drink it?” I ask him, my eyes on my reflection in the window. I should win an Oscar for how calm I’m able to act, considering. “The blood, I mean?”

Mid-bite, James responds with a muffled “They forced it down my throat. Kinda had to.”

I suck in a breath and hold it in, feeling my lungs expand with every second that goes by. It won’t be long now before he changes. It happens over a period of twenty-four hours. Or at least that’s what The Society told me during training.

Almost in a trance, I wonder at what point in the transformation he will lose his soul. Wonder how much longer I have with my love before he’s not only gone, but I have to end his life hours after finding our way back to each other.

“Cate?” James says my name like it isn’t the first time he’s called me. “Cate, baby. What’s wrong?”

“How are you feeling?” I ask, finally turning to look at him.

To really look at him. I do my best to absorb every single detail of the man in front of me.

To remember these last few moments together.

The slightly overgrown haircut and beard, only natural after a year of isolation.

The same sparkling blue eyes where I imagined myself swimming so many times.

His broad shoulders, which I so yearned to run my hands over.

Feel the strength of his body and heart beneath my fingertips.

And now I won’t have that.

“I—I told you. Good. Surprisingly not as sore as I thought I would be,” he says with a rueful laugh. “To be honest, I’m not in as much pain anymore. I think—Whoa, hey. Why are you crying?”

I didn’t even realize that I was. But then, a sob.

“James. I think you’re a vampire.”