The sweet, cloying scent of roses filled the air, but it did little to soothe the sting of thorns on my skin. “How can something so lovely dish out so much pain?” I grumbled, pulling another sharp barb from my calf. Gwendoline, my mentor and soon-to-be mother-in-law, stood by, hands on hips, a playful smirk dancing on her lips. “Ye could always fly over them,” she suggested, a glint in her eye.

“Good grief,” I sighed, stepping free of the thorny patch, “it never occurred to me to do that.” A heavy weariness settled over me. “I wonder if I’ll ever get my act together with being a vampire and a witch.”

“Not to mention a mother and a queen,” Gwendoline added, her voice light.

Just then, Geo, my fiancé, appeared as if from nowhere, wrapping his strong arms around me. “Let’s not forget you’re soon to be a wife,” he contributed, kissing my forehead. My skin tingled as the small scratches from the thorns began to fade.

“You two aren’t helping,” I giggled, leaning into his embrace. But as their familiar warmth surrounded me, a strange sensation washed over me, a feeling of unreality. “I’m not feeling all that well,” I confessed, the world around me seeming to shimmer at the edges. “The world seems… surreal.”