TWISTED FATES BOOK 1: THE FIRST TWIST by Jacklyn Rogers (read after TXT) 📕

I continued. "I believe that we have not exhausted all our avenues.  Now while I do have faith in your capabilities, I must insist that we not give up hope just yet. It would still be worth the effort to seek the assistance of Maleyna. She is an ancient witch and therefore may be able to provide us with a solution that may be unknown to us." I paused and studied Shay and Astrid, trying to discern whether or not my suggestion seemed palpable to them.

An air of pensiveness surrounded them. It was Shay that finally broke the silence. "I think maybe it's worth a try, Astrid." She sighed deeply and glanced over at her companion before continuing. "I mean, we've already exhausted our own capabilities and are already prepared for the worst, so maybe, for Samantha's sake, we can seek some guidance from Maleyna..."

Astrid eyed me warily but finally conceded with my request. "Fine." She retorted. "But I want to make this quick, Shay. In all honesty, I don't feel like it will make any difference and am hesitant to leave Samantha's side. That being said," she continued, "it won't hurt to try."

The two women gave one last glance at Samantha's frail body and nodded knowingly at each other. They intertwined their hands and spoke a silent incantation. Within seconds, they had vanished.

I knew I would only have literal moments before they returned with Maleyna, so I dashed over to Samantha's body and whispered in her ear. "I'm so sorry, my love. If there were any other way to save you, I would ..."

I allowed my true nature to emerge.

I extended my fangs and pierced the tender flesh on the side of Samantha's neck. I slowly suckled the warm viscous fluid as it seeped into my welcoming mouth while my fangs emitted their venom. Once I had consumed enough of Sammie's blood and was sure that my vampiric venom had been dispersed through my bite, I immediately used my extended fang to slice a deep gash into my wrist. Carefully cradling her head, I parted her pale lips and allowed my viscous warm blood to trickle into her breathless mouth.

Seconds later, I was propelled away by an invisible force. Shay, Astrid, and Maleyna had suddenly appeared before me. The three witches seemed to be quite livid as Shay glared at me and shrieked.

"What the FUCK did you just do, Jareth?!"

Chapter 16

Sammie's POV

It felt like I was soaring for a while. Then almost as quickly as it happened, the flying sensation stopped. I tried to open my eyes to see where I was, but my body wouldn't let me for some reason.

What happened to me?

I remember being with Jareth and then colliding with someone. After that, everything else converged into a blur of noise and colors. Nothing tangible appeared for me to shed some light on what the fuck was going on at the moment.

"Sammie ..."

I heard a voice calling me far off in the distance. It sounded like Jay. Unexpectedly, I was no longer in a vast ocean of nothingness but was now standing in an endless corridor. I was surrounded by several white closed doors on either side.

"Sammie ..."

Jay's voice was closer now. I spun around and was suddenly face to face with my beautiful BFF, Jay. How could this be?

I reached my hand over to him cautiously, to touch him, and decipher whether or not my mind was playing some fucked-up game with me. To my amazement, he didn't disappear like some made up apparition concocted by my ridiculous imagination. I let out a short gasp.

Jay seemed amused at my confusion and let out a melodic laugh.

"It's really me bitch." He chirped. "I'm here to help you, my little gem. It seems you got yourself in a seriously fucked up sitch, babe."

I was still not quite sure of what exactly was taking place at the moment, but I was sure of one thing; despite his being dead for over three years, the person in front of me was Jay.

"Jay? "I scrunched my brows and gazed at his cherubic smile. "How are you even here? What the hell's going on?"

"I know this may seem like seriously insane," he began, "but I don't have a lot of time, hon. So that being said, I really need you to listen to me. Okay?"

I slowly nodded my head, allowing Jay to continue.

"I know this is pretty fucked up, Sammie, but I'll try and spill the tea as clearly as possible. Someone tried to kill you, and right now, you are teetering between the realm of the living and the realm of death."

Yeah, let's just keep spiraling down this rabbit hole, shall we ...

Jay clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I know you think this doesn't make any sense, Sammie, but trust me, you have to pay attention to what I'm telling you. If not, then she will still be able to get to you."

"Who? Jay, who is after me?"

I could see that Jay wanted to answer my question, but something was holding him back. Something was preventing his words from escaping his lips.

I sensed Jay's frustration, as he appeared to be searching for a way to divulge the identity of whoever was responsible for my attack. With a sigh, he finally spoke again. "I'm so sorry, Sammie. I can only tell you that the person that is responsible for doing this is extremely powerful. So much so that they are somehow preventing me from being able to reveal their identity. I can tell you that you know this person, so you have to be very careful. Somehow they know you are still alive, and now they don't just want you dead, Sammie. They want you entirely devastated."

"Then what am I doing here with you, Jay?" I snapped back at him