“Only if he knows we are in the mortal world.”
“Will you be safe?” I ask the witch. “If Vincent and his men come lurking around asking questions?”
She curls her wrinkled lips into an appreciative smile. “I will be fine. I am more powerful than anyone knows. You deserve happiness and peace. However, be forewarned. If you find each other, and one dies before the other, you must live out the rest of your life.”
“Don’t mortals sometimes take their own lives?” I ask. “That would bring us back together.”
The old woman looks at me sternly. “Life is a gift, not one to waste. It is frowned upon. I know you would be miserable without each other, but these mortal lives are not to be wasted. I only ask one thing in return.”
“Of course. Anything,” Casper says.
“Use these lives to find a way to stop the wars.”
Casper nods and looks to me as if asking my opinion. I agree and he turns back to the woman. “What do we have to do?”
“Drink this potion.” She hands us a clear liquid in a vial. “And say goodbye for now.”
My stomach drops. “But we just found each other.”
“I will give you a minute,” she says and leaves the room.
“Casper,” I say. My heart is racing and I’m clutching onto him.
He pulls me to him, cradling my head and peering into my eyes with a heated gaze. “This is the only way, Megan. We will see each other in the next life.” He wipes a tear from my cheek. “Don’t cry. Know that I will always love you.”
“But what if we don’t find each other? Then what?”
“I’d rather be without you for one lifetime than never have you at all. This is all we have, and I can’t be apart from you. I will find you.”
I search his eyes. He’s right. This is all we have.
We look at each other, potions in hand, and wanting more than anything for a way to be together without interference. It is crazy to think that in each life we’ll have to find each other and fall in love over and over. I fear us hating each other or never finding each other.
But the possibly of being with him without the Sprites hunting us down and trying to kill us is what encourages us to drink. After we down the drink, we embrace, clutching onto each other. We kiss like it is our last and then blackness.
Chapter Forty-Eight
My eyes flutter open and there’s an ache in my neck. I massage it and stand. I’m still stuck in Vincent’s basement and my body hurts from throwing myself against the door. I don’t know how many days it’s been since he locked me up. He seldom visits, and part of me wonders if he forgot about me.
I remember my dream.
Flashes of memories fill my head. I steady myself against the stair rail as the memories race forth. Everything makes sense now. The dreams. The visions. My whole immortal life with Casper. We found each other. In every single lifetime. Except one. The one with Vincent. The one where he took me back home, but I aged. Will that happen again if he takes me back?
How did Vincent find us? I have to find Casper before Vincent finds a way to take me back and erase my memory again. He will kill Casper and Casper will start a new life without me. The dreams would torture him. He would search endlessly for many lifetimes. I can’t let Vincent do this to us. I have to end this. Is he trying to kill Casper now? He said he had things to take care of. I have to get out of here.
Frantically searching through drawers of the vanity for anything, I dig inside and find matches. I pick up the box. I can set this whole house on fire. I wonder if this is considered suicide, but I have to end this. The war. The fighting. I can’t imagine how many more have died because of us.
I light the match and take a breath. I will find Casper in the next life. I drop the match and light another one and drop it on the bed. I empty the matchbox and stand back and watch the flames feed themselves across the room. Soon the room starts filling with smoke.
“Vincent,” I scream.
Seconds later I hear the door open and he clamors down the stairs. “Megan!”
“Help me.”
The flames grow, latching onto anything they can. He jumps through the flames and grabs my hands. But I tug him and knee him hard in the groin. I snatch a flaming pillow, burning my arms, and press it to his face. He lets out a cry and I dart up the stairs. It’s dark and my heart feels as if it’s going to burst through my chest. I shakily open the front door and charge for the woods. I can’t promise it’ll lead me someplace safe, but I don’t care. My bare feet step over dead pine straw and sticks. I feel cuts forming but I ignore them. I run as fast as I can. I don’t know how far Casper’s house is, but I know the way and I won’t stop running until I get there.
It seems like days that I run, but I finally reach a familiar street.
I finally arrive at his house and it’s dark inside and out. It looks like no one is there. I ring the doorbell and try to turn the knob but this time it’s locked.
“Casper,” I scream and I’m sure the neighbors welcome the sounds I’m making but I have to find him. I have to tell him everything. I hold myself as my body is shaking but I know it’s not only from the unusually cold
