by Zara Novak
Wraith closed his eyes in that final moment, accepting that he’d lost. The sound of metal spearing against flesh burst into the quiet morning air and Wraith lay there, waiting for the heat of fire as it consumed his body. Instead he felt nothing, but he did hear choking. He opened his eyes and saw the creature staring back down at him, his dagger still held in the air. A bright silver point speared his chest, stabbed through from the back. The point disappeared again. Wraith looked past the beast and saw Ellie standing there, an identical dagger held firmly in her hand.
The creature dropped its own dagger, stumbled back from Wraith and crawled back across the snow to the river’s edge. Ellie rushed to Jack, throwing her arms around him. “J-Jack! Are you okay?!”
He pushed himself back up to a sitting stance. “Everything hurts, but… I think I’m all right.” They both glanced back at the creature, who had now risen to its feet.
“Why isn’t he dead?!” she asked in panic. They both stood, holding each other, watching the beast warily. Wraith crouched down and picked up the other dagger from the snow. He looked over at the face of the imposter. It’s face twisted and shifted again, flickering into a dozen different profiles every second, before coming back to rest on that patchwork face.
“What did they do to you?” Wraith asked as he looked up at the stunned creature. Blood streamed from its mouth, pouring down its throat and chest. It stared back at Wraith with empty black eyes. All the hatred gone, all the fight dissolved.
“Cut me, stitched me. Took parts, added parts. I’m not sure I could—” It paused to cough up blood, before stumbling back into the water behind it. “—I’m not sure I could tell you.”
“You don’t have the heart of a vampire anymore,” Jack said. “Otherwise you’d be flame.”
The creature nodded. “All I know is pain. I don’t think I can die.”
Ellie turned to Wraith and addressed him in a shaking whisper. “Do we kill it? How do we kill it?”
“No worries,” the creature rasped back as it stumbled back into the current a little further. The strength of the water tugged at him, but he fought it momentarily. “I think I see my purpose now. It isn’t here. It isn’t with you… I’m sorry… I’m sorry for all the damage…” The current pulled him, and he fell back more, the water up to his waist now. “I think I know what I must do now… I have to… I have to kill my maker.”
Wraith and Ellie held each other as they watched. Kaleb opened his arms, closed his eyes, looked up into the sky and fell back into the water. The current took him, sweeping his body down the bank and into the distance. Their eyes followed him until he was gone. Wraith’s legs trembled underneath him and he sank to the floor slowly, holding Ellie all the while.
“Steady there,” she said with worry. She helped Wraith steady on his feet, her eyes marveling at the dark black wings folded neatly behind his back. “So… you have wings now?”
Wraith had to laugh. “I guess I’ve always had them, I just never knew until now. I’m a late bloomer it seems.”
“You’re just full of secrets Mr. Belmont. What on earth would I do without you Jack? I thought you were dead.”
“I’m fine,” he said, laughing slightly as he coughed up blood. “It’s Wraith by the way.”
Surprise flashed on her face. “Wraith! You came for me?”
He had to laugh again. Everything hurt, but he could only feel happiness now he was back beside her. “Don’t be so surprised darling. I love you just as much as Jack does. Bastard went and got himself a real bad case of amnesia after our last fight with Frankenstein.”
Tears welled in Ellie’s eyes, she surged forward and kissed him, planting a dozen kisses over his face and lips. “I love you too,” she said, choking on her tears, laughing to herself. “I guess I’ll have to start again with Jack. Refresh his memory.”
“Something tells me it won’t take long now you’re back darling. Just stay by my side, and I think I’ll be fine.”
She laughed again, wiping tears from her eyes. “You can blank on me every day for all I care. I’ll always be there for you.”
“That sounds good to me,” he said, wincing slightly as he smiled. They’d won. They had each other. The fight was over for now. “What do you say we get back inside and have a look around this place together? We’ve got forever ahead of us, and I don’t want to waste another second.”
38
In those coming weeks a lot happened. There was never a question of what they had to do next. Purpose just sort of fell into place, and Ellie and Jack went about their days with a sense of direction, fixing up the castle and reclaiming the lost stone as a home for the both of them. Some things had more urgency about them and were resolved in hours: Jack helped Ellie heal her arm by letting her drink from him again. There was only so much vampire blood could do, but her broken bones were better inside of week.
The first few days were a treasure trove of discovery. Each room in the castle held ancient memories for Ellie. There was the grand library, the great hall, a sprawling kitchen that had to have housed a dozen staff at one time. There were also the rooms that were visually distinctive, but didn’t have an immediate purpose, like the room which was lined with blue topaz walls.
As well as repairing the castle, there was also the case of journeying back to Skarvast to let the other vampires know that all was well. Their friends would obviously be worried about them, but also have no way to find them either. Driving back to the village was no longer an option, it would take several days and there wasn’t enough fuel left. There was however another way that had only made itself apparent more recently.
“I’m not sure about this Jack,” Ellie said with trepidation in Jack’s arms. “What if you get tired?”
They were perched on the edge of the castle roof, looking over the hidden valley meadow. Jack’s broad black wings were spread out behind his back, and Ellie was wrapped safely in his arms. She’d watched him practice his newfound talent many times since his rediscovery, but never actually gone up into the air with him.
“I can’t see fatigue being a problem,” he said with reassurance. Driving up here might have taken days, but Jack reckoned his wings could get them back to Skarvast in a few hours. With his arms held tight around Ellie he jumped from the roof and they soared up into the cold valley air.
The first few minutes of that journey were the most terrifying for Ellie, holding on for dear life, screaming through excited laughter. They arrived only a few hours later, touching down on top of the temple roof, only to see the elder Kara stood there, already waiting for them.
“I see you discovered your secret,” the Elder said with sparkling eyes as Jack set Ellie down. “And I assume you found Snowstone?”
They brought the elder vampire up to speed on the last few days, including the mysterious departure of her tortured grandson, Kaleb. They reunited with Rourke and Natalie also, with Ellie and Natalie taking much joy in seeing each other once again.
“Oh, but we’ll have to come visit some time!” Natalie said excitedly that night over drinks in the Royal Oak. “I can’t believe you found the lost castle!”
“Heck of a trip getting up there though,” Rourke said. “I can’t imagine Jack can fly all of us on his back.” The group had a good laugh at the joke, and Jack had to admit he agreed with Rourke.
“There might be another way,” Kara pointed out. “Snowstone used to be on the portal network before it was lost. Each great settlement had a room made of topaz, the channeling stone. If it wasn’t damaged in the attack it could be activated once more. Snowstone was the hub for the network, and none of the portals have worked since then. There is a room like that here, and one at the Castle Belmont too, but they have not worked since Snowstone was lost. Have you seen such a room in your time there?”
Ellie was more than excited to recall that she had, thinking of the mysterious blue room on the top floor. With that, the garish prospect of being separated from their friends in the village was dim
inished, and Kara made the trip up north several weeks later to help restore the portal room. After some difficulty she re-established the connection and the lost castle of Snowstone was finally connected with the world once more.
“Watch in amazement!” the old woman boasted as she demonstrated her handy work. Jack and Ellie stood in the blue portal room, watching as the Elder danced between the portal door on the wall. “One second I’m in Snowstone, the next I’m back at Skarvast! It will take me some time to re-forge the connection with Castle Belmont, as I’ll have to travel down there in person, but this will definitely serve a purpose for now!”
The connection with the outside world was a comforting bonus for Ellie and Jack. By this point nearly a month had passed since they’d reclaimed the castle from the wild, and every day their restoration work was bringing the old castle back to its former glory. It would be many months until the lost home resembled the shining beacon of its past, but every day they got closer.
And with each new day their love seemed to grow tenfold, just as their lust did.
“I think you’ve worked hard enough,” Jack said one day, sneaking up behind Ellie and hugging from her behind while she painted walls in the grand hall. He smothered her with kisses. She burst into giggles, turning in his arms to face him.
“Stop! What if someone comes in?”
“Everyone’s gone back to the village. It’s just the lord and lady in the house now. And you know what that means.”
She certainly did. He leaned forward and kissed her, making her world turn with dizzying euphoria. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around him, finding herself quickly embroiled in the heat of their endless passion.
They somehow made their way to the bedroom, stripping off clothes and kissing every inch of one another’s bodies. She fell onto the mattress on all fours, smiling and biting her lower lip while he fell in place behind her. His hands curled around her hips and he slid inside, gliding all the way in.
Sex was a daily thing for them now, beginning and ending their days almost ritualistically. Their mutual appetite for each other was insatiable and lust was always a pin drop away, spurred on by a silent look or a mere teasing sentence. In the halls, on the tables, up against walls, every conceivable position on the bed.
He took her everywhere he could, and she more than welcomed it.
“Jack, yes, Jack!” Ellie pushed back onto his cock, scrunching up bedding in her hands as she did so. He rallied into her hard, spanking her ass and burying his cock deep. They came together, rolled about between the sheets like teenage lovers and did it all again, with her riding him from the top. Each time was a maddening crescendo of passion, but there was one time in particular that was different from the rest.
It was nearly two months after they’d found the castle. They lay in the dark on the bed, with Ellie on top of Jack. Their love was slow and tender this time, her hands planted firmly on his chest, both groaning their mutual satisfaction as she rolled her hips up and down his shaft.
There was something different this time, though neither of them could say what it was. There was a heat in the room, and a fire in their bodies that was alien and insatiable. She rode him with her head dropped against the nook of his shoulder. He thrust up into her with powerful strokes, his hands on her hips. It was then she felt the brush of something soft over her back, and she opened her eyes to see his wings were spread from his back, curving around behind her back, holding her against him in a cocoon of love.
“Jack, what’s—” Happening is what she wanted to say, but she simply paused and went with it. His wings cradled her against his body, and she found it incredibly arousing. It was completely new to them both, but it almost felt as if they knew what was happening.
It had something to do with breeding.
They’d had sex daily for nearly two months now without any protection, but there was no sign of pregnancy. Neither Ellie or Jack were overly concerned, but they had asked the elder at one point. “It will happen in time, do not worry. You will know it when you see it.”
As his wings cradled her there against him, they both silently seemed to know that this was it. They picked up their speed together, their intensity building as they stared into each other’s eyes. Ellie felt the urge to present her neck to him, and she did so without fear.
His cock speared her over and over, his wings sheathed around her back, she lowered down to those fangs and gasped through a smile, panting as his teeth touched her throat. He bit down gently and drank, his hands squeezing her ass tight, spreading her legs wide while they fucked.
Just enough to form a bond, his mind told her.
I know, she answered back. She understood somehow. Intuitively, they both did. Their bodies were joining as one as they always did, but this time they were forming the connection. Human and vampire were becoming one. Making love to Jack, making love to Wraith, making love to both halves of the vampire that was her lover.
Wings cradling her, cock filling her, teeth drinking just enough to entwine their blood forever. He burst inside of her, filling her with the warmth of life, prompting a reaction inside her body that would turn into something unique and beautiful many months down the line.
She held herself deep against him, knowing a miracle had just occurred.
Alive, in love, a life growing inside of her.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.”
She was the vampire’s captive, and she always would be.
Epilogue
“Are you nervous?” Ellie said to Jack. “I thought I would be more nervous.” She looked over at her vampire lover and squeezed his hand. The blue topaz room around them shimmered in expectation. On the wall in front of them the portal would open very shortly, connecting Snowstone and Belmont together for the first time in decades.
“I guess I’m not that nervous,” he said with a reassuring smile. “I imagine it’s worse for you… meeting your sister for the first time.”
“I just hope everything looks okay,” she said anxiously. The castle was in a much better state than it was when they found it all those months ago, but they were about to meet Belmonts. They were as high up as it got in the vampire world.
The wall in front of them flickered with light and Ellie jumped on her heels. “It’s happening!”
Light pulsed from the doorway for a few seconds and then the image of another blue room appeared in the open wall. There Kara stood with Eric, Claire and several other vampires. “I told you it would work!” the old woman bawled, shoving her way through the door to acknowledge Ellie and Jack with a sour look. “There. I fixed your portal. Thank me later. Let’s get this party started. Where is the food? I need food!”
Jack and Ellie both looked at each other in amusement as Kara pushed her way out of the portal room and into the castle. Looking back to the portal, they saw Claire and Eric enter.
“Ignore the crazy old broad,” Eric said with a warm smile. “She’s been in a bad mood ever since she arrived at Castle Belmont.”
Ellie locked eyes with Claire instantly. The sister that had been lost to her for a lifetime. They both came together at once and embraced. Tears were shed, laughs were had, latent disbelief and shock was felt by all. Eric and Jack’s reunion certainly seemed less emotional, coming together briefly for one of those stereotypical man hugs. They patted each other’s backs and Claire and Ellie shared a silent look of amusement, rolling their eyes in unison as they did so.
After the couple, more vampires entered through the portal. It was hard to remember their names, but Ellie tried her hardest. There was Ansel, a handsome vampire with sharp red eyes and ink black hair. He was accompanied by a tall and rakish blonde named Kat. Then entered Edmund, a huge silhouette of a man that looked as if he’d just finished chopping trees. He was accompanied by Sophia, Eric’s younger vampire sister, who was petite and full of life.
“And I hope this doesn’t disturb your party,” Eric said as he disappeared back throug
h the portal room briefly. He emerged a moment later, pushing three babies in a stroller. “Meet Vrako, Isla, and Isaac.”
“They’re adorable!” Ellie shouted, immediately melting at the sight of the triplets. She turned to Claire. “Can I—”
“Go right ahead!” Claire laughed. “You’re their aunt after all!”
Ellie dropped to her knees and pulled the baby girl, Isla, up and into her arms. The tiny girl had a stunning crop of jet-black hair, and white skin like a winter meadow. She looked up at Ellie and smiled. “She’s beautiful,” Ellie said with much adoration, love threatening to burst from her chest. “They all are.”
Jack also dropped to his knee and brushed his finger gently down the face of the baby boy with bright red eyes. “It is most amazing brother. I feel honored to finally meet my beautiful niece and nephews.”
“Come on already!” a voice shouted from the hall outside. Everyone gathered in the small topaz room turned at the sound of the voice and smirked.
“I think we better hurry on through before Kara goes crazy,” Ellie said with a laugh. “Follow me everyone, I’ll show you to the food and drink.”
It was a great night for friendships old and new. Love, laughter and high spirits were in the air. The party stretched on into the night. The sounds of their voices and laughter filling the old hallways with a warmth that had long been forgotten. When everyone had settled down later and had their fill, Jack and Ellie brought everyone’s attention to the focus of their evening. Jack led the announcement.
“I was a different vampire the last time a lot of you saw me. For some of you… this is the first time we have met. If that’s the case, then you will never meet Wraith Belmont. The old vampire that… earned his fair share of enemies.” They all laughed. “To say I’m a new man would be an understatement, and it’s all thanks to Ellie here. I might never escape the Shadow Curse that haunts me, but with her, I feel as if I can finally bring that darkness under control.”
