Awakening, The

by Nicole R. Taylor

"He took a piece outta you?"

  "Don't worry, I got him back." He glanced at the entrance to the apartment and back to Maddox. "Haven't gone up yet?"

  "Nope."

  "Why not?"

  He shrugged and glanced over his shoulder.

  "Still undecided? Or still worried that you're pledging some kind of allegiance to the guy who kicked your ass?"

  "You beat me fair and square…that time."

  Zac laughed and shook his head.

  Maddox shifted uncomfortably. "You're not the most tactful of guys, but you're trying, which is more than most do. Giving up is easy. Going on is harder."

  Zac didn't have to ask to understand what Maddox meant. A respect had emerged between them since he'd beat the assassin's ass fair and square. Now he was the one people looked to as an example. Crazier shit had happened.

  "We better go upstairs and wait for the others," he said, pushing off the wall. "I take it you're in?"

  "I suppose I am. The others are already here."

  Zac raised an eyebrow. What was that about crazy shit?

  "I saw them go in a while ago," Maddox explained with a shrug.

  Zac looked the assassin over and wondered about his demeanor. Something had changed, but at a time like this, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maddox was in and he was going to take it. "Then you better come in for a beer before they drink them all. I know I need one."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Zac stared out at the dark London sky and sighed. He had a lot to be depressed about, but no time for it.

  "Cheer up, sad sack," Nye said behind him. "Does your neck still hurt from being a hybrid's chew toy?"

  "No. It's fine." That was last night's excitement. Tonight, they stood in the apartment that had once housed the Six and it already had a different feel about it. This place had been claimed for another purpose now. Hybrid Revolution HQ. He'd won the Three's trust and they were all finally together in the apartment below, brought up to speed and waiting for the next move. Whatever that would be.

  Truth was, he missed Aya. He wondered what she was doing, where she was. If she'd found it in herself to go home and face her past. He hoped so. Of course he missed the life he'd tried to forge back in Louisiana and his brother, Sam, but that was a dream still somewhere in the future…if they had a future.

  "You look like you need a beer," Nye said, opening the refrigerator. "And it's a Christmas miracle. There's still a six pack in here."

  They sat together at the kitchen table, drinking in silence. He gathered their next step would be tracking down Gabby. If anyone knew what to do next it would be her. She did have Alisandra's grimoire or at least he hoped Aya had gotten it to her.

  "Do you feel that?" Nye asked, breaking him out of his depression.

  "What?" As soon as he asked it, he felt someone coming up the stairs.

  "Someone's coming."

  Casting out his senses, it was unmistakable. There were only two people he was able to recognize by sense alone and one of them was coming up the stairs. When he left her he thought it was going to be years before he'd get the chance to touch her again, but he supposed their hybrid situation didn't factor that in. Nye went to stand and he grabbed the spy's arm, pulling him down. "It's Aya and Tristan."

  "How the hell do you know that?"

  "It's one of the great mysteries of the universe." Still, he wasn't prepared when she walked through the door, all blue eyes and back hair and his heart did this thing in his chest he wasn't expecting. When her eyes met his, he knew. He'd never let her out of his sight again.

  Standing abruptly, it didn't register when his beer bottle fell from the table and smashed on the floor. Nor did he notice when Nye gave him a look that said he was mad. He was across the room in two seconds flat.

  "Aya," he whispered, a hand caressing her cheek.

  "Hello, Zac," she said, smiling.

  He pulled her roughly towards him, his lips finding hers, drawing her desperately into his kiss. It didn't matter one iota that they were being watched. She kissed him back just as forcefully and he was alive again. She made him alive.

  "Get a room," Nye yelled.

  Zac felt Aya's lips curve into a smile at the cocky vampire's jibe. He pulled away and grinned.

  "I wouldn't mind that," she whispered, winking.

  "I'm so glad to see you, you have no idea."

  She placed a cool hand on his cheek, her eyes running over his features. "I can feel it."

  "What?"

  Her face split into a grin and she grabbed his hands. Zac knew Aya had a sense for emotions, but his state of mind? That was new. She'd forever be surprising him. She pulled him towards the table where Nye now sat with Tristan, and his hands tingled with her touch.

  "I gather you lot are here because of the mental fairy," Nye said, handing Tristan a beer.

  "How much do you know?" the knight asked.

  "Enough to know he's a few sandwiches short of a picnic and a homicidal maniac."

  Aya glanced at Zac and he grimaced. Clutching his hand she asked, "What aren't you saying?"

  "I had a run in with the local mental case," Zac said.

  "Aed?" Tristan asked. "He's here?"

  Shrugging, Zac said, "Was, is…perhaps. He accosted me in the street yesterday. Said I stunk like the Celestine with the dark hair." He glanced at Aya.

  "You stink like me?" She cocked her head to the side.

  "So he said."

  "I hope it's a nice stink."

  "Like rose petals."

  "Ugh," Nye said. "Give us a break, mate."

  "He bit my neck..."

  Aya turned sharply and pulled at his shirt.

  "It healed," Zac said, pulling her hands away. "He seemed to be able to read me like a book from a drop, though."

  "What did he learn?" Tristan asked, glancing toward Aya.

  Zac was suddenly glad that he'd stopped her from telling him how she could be killed. If Aed had learned that… "He knows I love Aya. That's all he seemed to be interested in. If he saw anything else, I don't know."

  "He wants me anyway," Aya said, the way she held herself betraying her doubt. She didn't need to doubt his love. "If he knows about your feelings, then I don't see any different consequences."

  "We saw him a few days ago," Tristan said.

  "Where?" Nye asked.

  "We went to Grasmere," Aya began, "I went home and when I came back, he was waiting for me."

  "Tore the locals to shreds in seconds," Tristan said with a shiver.

  "My power was useless," Aya said with a sigh. "I tried to stop his heart, like I did with the other founders, but he just came back."

  "What's his game plan?" Nye asked. "He can't be wandering around having a grand old time for the hell of it. If I was locked in a magical fairy dust slumber for three thousand years I'd want to crack someone's skull open."

  "Yeah," Tristan said, "but who's? Arrow's the only Celestine left. The war between their kinds ended a long time ago."

  "He's after revenge, that much I could glean from Grasmere," Aya butted in. "He had a good time showing us his power, but he wandered off after that."

  "He is a little insane," Tristan added. "Seemed with it one minute and off with the fairies the next."

  Nye almost choked on his beer and slapped the table, bellowing with laughter. "He is a fucking fairy, mate."

  Aya shook her head at the spy. "Point is, he could do anything. We know he has a motive for revenge, but that's all we know about him."

  "And he could do absolutely anything," Zac finished her thought.

  "He has the power of resurgence. That's worrying enough."

  "Zombies?" Nye exclaimed.

  "I wouldn't go that far." Aya snorted.

  "He's looking for his sisters," Tristan added. "He only mentioned it once before focusing on something else."

  "Sisters?" Zac asked. "There's more of them?"

  "They were called the Children of Lir. There was Aed, his older sister a
nd twin girls. It's a story still told in Ireland today," Tristan explained.

  "Do you think the spell woke them all up?" Nye asked, his expression falling. "One's bad enough."

  "I don't think so," Aya replied. "I wouldn't know how to find them even if they were still bound. That's a power that died the day I was turned. Besides, I think Regulus was hunting them. Aed said that the only way he was going to be killed was by an Original's hand."

  "Fuck," Zac said. "That must've been why he was so intent on getting into the Coven."

  "Why would've he bothered?" Nye asked.

  "The all powerful Regulus would've been threatened by the reemergence of a family of founding hybrids."

  They sat in silence for a while, letting everything sink in.

  "Have you heard from Gabby?" Aya asked.

  "Not recently," Zac replied, his brow furrowing. "I got a message from her a few days ago. All it said was 'hybrid'. Then nothing but radio silence."

  "What's she doing then?" Nye asked.

  "Hopefully trying to find a way to kill Aed before he kills us all."

  "Then that should be our next move," the spy said. "Find Gabby and then figure out how to kill the psycho fairy, or at least trap him again if there isn't a way."

  "I agree," Aya said, deep in thought. "We can't go after him without knowing more. He and I are evenly matched strength wise, at least I think we are."

  "Even with your mystical blue power?" Nye asked. "I mean, he can raise the dead, but your power is different right?"

  "Yes, it's different. But Aed was created. I was turned. That fight is over before it's even begun. Together is the only way we have a chance. We have no Original vampire. There has to be another way."

  "Your power is cancelled out," Zac said. "You cancel out each other's power to zero when used against each other."

  "Yes, it seemed like it."

  "Well," Zac said with a snort. "No use worrying about it tonight. Tomorrow I will try and contact Gabby. One step at a time."

  "Aye," Tristan said with a sigh. "In the mornin'."

  As the vampires began to disperse for the evening, Zac took Aya's hand. There were too many questions left to be answered between them and he was dying to touch her again. Without a word, he led her back towards the room that he'd taken when he first got here, back when he was under Regulus' thumb. There would be no sleep tonight, not for them.

  Zac closed the bedroom door behind them as Aya wandered around the room, looking out the window, over the tiny balcony and across the low-lying urban sprawl that was Camden. His hands slid over her waist from behind, pulling her body against his.

  Aya knew that their relationship had started out all wrong. She'd tried to possess him and he in return. They were both the kind of people who could never belong to anyone else, but when they were together it just fit. Whatever happened next, it would be as equals.

  "I didn't expect to see you again so soon," he murmured, pressing his lips against her neck.

  "I wanted to," she replied. "I wanted to find you the moment you left, but I understand. I hope you're not mad with me for showing up unannounced."

  "It's understandable, considering."

  Closing her eyes, she breathed in his scent, letting it wash over her until there was nothing else. He was different since the last time she'd seen him. Just a week ago, he'd still been a tangled mess of emotions. Now, he seemed…together.

  He turned her around to face him, his eyes searching hers like he was trying to find the answer to some unasked question. She knew the one she wanted to say aloud, but was still too wary of letting it be heard.

  "Helping them, helped me," Zac whispered, seeming to understand what was in her heart. "I know what I need to do now. I know who I'm meant to be."

  "Who you always were underneath that asshole of an exterior."

  "Ouch."

  "Still could have done without the Three."

  "We need them if we're going up against Aed. We're not enough even with them."

  "I still don't trust them."

  "The Three have agreed to help us," he shrugged. "They needed something to work towards. They're not Regulus' lackeys anymore."

  "What about Regulus' network?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You killed him, couldn't you take it over?"

  "I suppose I could," he said. "But, I'm not a puppet master. I'm a lone shark."

  "Hey," she nudged him.

  "Okay, okay, we're Bonnie and Clyde."

  "Bonnie and who?"

  He frowned, shaking his head. "Never mind."

  She pressed her lips to his and her circled his arms around her, closing the gap between them. They stood and kissed for what felt like an age before parting. Undressing each other, they fell back onto the bed, thoroughly reuniting again and again. Afterward, they lay together, limbs tangled, listening to each other's heartbeats.

  "Do you want to talk about it?" Zac asked, fingers combing through her hair.

  "Do you want to know about it?" she asked, knowing exactly what he was getting at.

  "It doesn't matter if I do or not. I'd rather you share it if you want to, not because you feel obligated."

  Sighing, she shifted against him, running her hand across his stomach. "You know what my home looks like. You saw it from my blood. It was the same, but different."

  "How, so?"

  "It was dead. Empty. The Coven had been there and any trace of my family was removed. Their belongings…memories…even their bodies. Nothing remained in the physical world but an empty shell."

  "Physical world?" Zac asked.

  Feeling tears begin to prickle her eyes, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "I saw them. I saw them and they saw me."

  A strong hand cupped her face, drawing her eyes back down to his. "You got a chance to say goodbye."

  "I didn't deserve it."

  "Whose place is it for anyone to decide who deserves what. Even for ourselves."

  His gaze flickered down to her lips and she rolled over, her hand trailing downwards. "I love you, Zac Degaud."

  "I love you, Aeriaya," he whispered, the sound of her true name coming from him reverberating straight through her soul.

  Zac pushed open the door to the rooftop, icy air blowing inwards. The morning was overcast and the sky looked heavy with the promise of snow. He was going to call Gabby without the audience downstairs, but his eyes focused on a dark form sitting on the edge of the roof, feet dangling over the edge.

  "Tristan," he said gruffly, the door closing heavily behind him. Once, Zac would have loved to put a fist right in the knight's face, but not any more. The thousand year old vampire had proven himself and had come to realize that Aya's heart would never be his. A tentative truce had formed between them, but things could still go either way.

  "You and Arrow are on good terms again?" he asked, without looking up.

  "Yes."

  Nodding, the knight looked at his cell and back out across the grey sprawl of the city.

  "I know we never got along," Zac said, sitting beside him, "but I think we ought to."

  "For Arrow's sake?"

  "For no one's sake."

  Tristan grunted, looking the younger vampire over. "We're more alike that you realize, Zac. Perhaps if we'd been better acquainted in the beginnin' I could have imparted some wisdom on you and saved all the angst."

  "You know I seriously doubt that. You're so well put together like the chivalrous knight you're supposed to be."

  The knight laughed. "I can see this recurrin' thing with us. I take a jab and you take one in return."

  "Rinse, repeat."

  "Did Arrow ever tell you how I was turned?"

  That was the last thing Zac was expecting to hear. "No," he replied. "The day you turned up in Louisiana looking for her, she told me it wasn't her place. She did mention that it wasn't pretty, but nothing more."

  "I think you ought to hear it. I understand you've gained some wisdom in the past week, but n
o one changes over night. Especially not the immortal."

  The old Zac probably would've pushed the knight off the edge of the roof, but this one just shrugged. He had a point. Everyone was a work in progress that was never completed. "If you think it's necessary."

  "I was born in Ireland in the eleven hundreds to a poor Lord outside of Dublin. When I was twelve, I was sent to London to squire for a man who would turn out to be one of the first Knights Templar. The soldiers of God. It was a great honor and I soon became one of the only men to be knighted that wasn't a Lord in his own right. My blood was good enough for them and so it was. I was happy for a time and then word came that the Crusades were to be resurrected."

  Zac just let him go. This was a time he couldn't possibly understand, not like Tristan. Humans fought different kinds of wars then, no less brutal, but for beliefs and ideology that were beyond him.

  "I left a wife and baby daughter behind in London and marched with not one but two Crusades to the Holy Land. It was my duty as a Christian and a Knights Templar to follow the orders of the Church and Crown and so it was. On what history knows as the Fourth Crusade, it was I who turned the tide and allowed the city of Constantinople to be taken. When I saw the horror my brothers inflicted upon its people, I was horrified…disappointed…betrayed. This was not God's will. Rape and murder in his name was not what I was fightin' for. I went with a detail of soldiers through the sewers lookin' for any of the enemy that had not been accounted for. Anythin' to get away from the accolades that were bein' showered over me." Tristan shook his head, his jaw stiffening.

  "They lived in the sewers?"

  "Yes. I didn't find any sign of the enemy, at least not the enemy I was expectin'. The vampires that lived underneath the city were rabid, foul things. Monsters with no sense of humanity left in them. They mauled me within an inch of my life, but not before I fought back. Their blood and mine coated everythin'. That was the only way I could've ingested it. I managed to scare them away and by the time I was brought to the surface, my wounds were too great. The healers could only make me comfortable and so it was that I died in the night as was reborn into somethin' that I didn't understand."

  "But Aya said she found you?"