“And you’re talking about bringing my cousin into that,” Amber said. “How do you know she can even get close enough without succumbing to your sister’s power?”
I looked at Tori. Her face went pale.
“You want me to—”
“Yes,” I answered. “If I can get close enough to push her power back, you can teleport in with Keyla and cancel hers out.”
“But,” Keyla started. I glanced at her, and she shook her head. “I want to help, Selena. I want to be there. But . . . I don’t think you should rely on my power. I don’t even know how to control it.”
“Exactly,” Amber piped up. “She doesn’t even know if she can do it. You could just be sending her in for no reason.”
“Make no mistake, Lily is planning to show up in full force. What she’s become . . . it’s terrifying.” I shuddered at the memories and how they flashed through my mind like a movie reel. “Keyla used her ability when Lily invaded the residence. It’s why some Shifters couldn’t shift. They were too close to her. On a battlefield where people are dying around her? It’ll happen again.”
“How do you know that?” Keyla asked, her voice quiet.
“I see things . . . when I sleep; things my sister does.”
“How do you—” she started to ask, but Amber cut her off.
“So you want to gamble that she’ll be scared enough to use it and shut Lily’s powers down?”
I hated myself for the answer I had to give. At the end of the day, it was our only real shot.
“Yes.”
“I think,” Johanna said, tugging at the sleeve of her long shirt, “that Keyla should get to choose. She knows the risks and what’s being asked of her.”
The young girl considered it. Her porcelain white teeth nibbling on her bottom lip as she stared at the table in great concentration.
“I want to do it—for Aaron.”
Amber stared at me stone-faced, and I knew in that moment, regardless of what did or didn’t happen to Keyla, she would never forgive me for this.
“Then it’s decided,” I said. “Tori will teleport Keyla in, getting as close as she can.”
“If she does this, you won’t have your powers either,” Blair said.
“I won’t need them,” I replied. “Lily may be undead, but I’m also a demon. If you take both our powers away, I will win in a hand-to-hand fight.”
“You don’t have to,” Johanna said. “I can fight as well as you. Let me deal the death blow—”
“No,” I said.
“But—” Alexandra started.
“No,” I repeated. “It has to be me.”
“That makes no sense,” my sister shot back. “Your issue this entire time is that you don’t want to kill her, and now you won’t let Johanna take the—”
“I said no.”
They didn’t understand, and they never would. Valda hung her head in sorrow alongside me because she was the only one who knew what was being asked.
Three deaths by my hand.
That was the price, and only I could pay it.
“I can’t believe you,” my sister said. I didn’t respond. At this point there was nothing I could say. It wasn’t like I could tell her about the prophecy.
“Moving away from the topic of who is killing Lily, where do the rest of us need to be for this?” Blair asked, re-anchoring the conversation.
“Someone needs to be guarding Keyla,” Amber said. “I’ll do it.”
“I can protect myself,” Keyla piped up.
“No,” I shook my head. “Amber’s right.”
“Finally, you see reason—”
“But she shouldn’t be the one guarding you.”
Amber slammed her fist down on the table. “What is your deal?” she demanded.
“When Keyla’s power turns on, you won’t have your speed or be able to keep up with the Vampires that go after her, and believe me—once someone realizes what’s happening, they will go after her—except vampires don’t have abilities. We all retain the strength and speed of what we are. Without your ability, you’ll no longer be faster than them.”
“Which is why she shouldn’t be there,” Amber chided. “If no one has abilities, then—”
“Blair should be guarding her,” I answered through gritted teeth.
“Blair?” Amber asked incredulously.
“Me?” my cousin asked.
“You,” I replied. “You don’t need your powers for this fight. An ice storm will only hurt our people as well as theirs.” Guilt flashed through her expression but was gone faster than I could comment. “You’re faster than anyone here, though, and fight just as well as I do. Your demon has been cooperating when still given the chance to fight. I know you haven’t merged yet, but Keyla and Tori will be safest with you protecting them.”
“She’s right,” Alec said, finally making himself known in the conversation. “Alexandra will be more useful using fire to burn away the bloodsuckers. Tori will be with Keyla, and while she can hold herself in a fight with her ability, she’s going to be at a disadvantage here. Blair’s the fastest and best equipped to protect them both.” I had a feeling he spoke up for Blair’s sake more than anything.
“You protect her with your life,” Amber said, ceding at that.
“Of course,” came my cousin’s cool reply.
“That doesn’t answer where you want me, Johanna, or Oliver,” Alec said.
“You and Oliver need to go on Victor. He’s going to want to stay close to Lily, but I need to get her alone.” Alec nodded, and while Oliver didn’t say anything, I could tell he had mixed thoughts. Whether it was because I was giving him an order or because he didn’t like the assignment, I wasn’t sure. In the end, it didn’t particularly matter.
“And me?” Jo asked.
“You’re coming with me,” I said.
“You just said—”
“If I fail, someone has to give them enough time to run.”
I watched as the words sunk in. A shudder ran through her, but she didn’t dispute it. A quiet hush settled over the room as the reality of our situation really set in. This plan was risky. Dangerous. Wrought with errors and too high a chance of failing. Amber was right about that, but I was also right. It was our only real plan, but in the end—it might not work.
I might still fail.
The darkness might still come.
The world may still fall.
“Is everyone clear on what our roles are tomorrow?” I asked. One by one I looked around the table as they nodded. “Alright, then. That’s all I got. Get some rest.” With that, the room began to filter out. First Alexandra, storming past me with Tori hot on her heels. Blair went next, squeezing my shoulder before she left. Alec followed after her at a distance, and I wondered if tonight was the night he’d approach her or if they’d both let things rest where they may. It wasn’t my place to ask.
Amber and Keyla left next, speaking loudly. When it was only Jo and Oliver, I turned to leave. “Can I have a minute with you, Selena?” Johanna asked.
I paused and looked over my shoulder. “Okay.”
Oliver looked at her, and she waved him off. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit, Oli.” He looked at me and then her. His lips quirked downward, and I could tell his opinion of me hadn’t changed much over the months. Still, he stepped out, closing the door behind him. I walked back toward the table and cocked my hip, resting against its edge.
Johanna waited a few moments, her head tilted to the side as she listened to Oliver’s retreat. When we were as alone as we could be in a residence full of Shifters, she took a step forward and mimicked my motion.
What she said was the last thing I expected to hear.
“You don’t want to kill your sister, but you have no choice because the ancient’s demanded it.”
My lips parted, my jaw hanging ajar. “How-how do you know?” I spluttered.
“You hold the soul of the Mother, whose ordained duty is to kill the heirs of the
monster that Livina created a thousand years ago. I can’t imagine any world in which you want to deal the death blow to your own sister. Not with how you’ve tried to protect her. Your insistence that she needs to be dealt with and that you have to do it leads me to suspect that she is indeed one of the heirs.” Her eyes flashed a shade brighter. “Which means you are too.”
I floundered for a moment, unable to find any words. What could I even say to all of this? She’d managed to figure out the exact prophecy I’d been spending my days trying to prevent.
I opened and closed my mouth twice before saying, “You figured it out.”
She came to the conclusion on her own, which allowed me to finally speak.
“You’re part-demon. Something that’s never been. A monster in itself. Your sisters are too, which leads me to think there’s more to the tale than what I’ve been told. How high is the price they’re asking of you?”
I tried to speak, but once again found myself unable to talk.
She knew of Lily, but not the rest of it and the damned curse prevented it.
Johanna pressed her lips together in a sad smile.
“There’s a block on you. That explains a lot.”
“If you don’t know already, I can’t say.” I could sense it was testing the boundaries, but as she’d already figured it out, the curse allowed it. I just confirmed it. Jo nodded.
“I have a feeling what it asks, knowing what I do now.” She sighed and looked away. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“No.” She shook her head, blowing out a breath. “It’s not. Not really. The legend says the mother is to hunt and kill all of the monster’s descendants. I don’t know if the exact wording I’ve been told is accurate, but I can glean enough from your behavior. Milla said a sacrifice is not payment without a choice. They’re asking you to kill yourself.”
“They are.” I nodded. “I’ve known that for a while now, though. I hate it, but I can’t change it either. I have the Mother’s soul, and the ancients want me to choose to pay the price. I have to kill her.”
“And if you fail?” Johanna asked. I twisted my lips around.
“Alexandra has to.”
“But you haven’t told her,” Jo surmised. “This is a difficult situation, Selena.”
I laughed bitterly. “You have no idea.” I paused. “Well, you have some. More than the others.”
“Do you want me to tell them?”
I weighed that. For long enough, I’d wanted them to know the truth. To give them their answers so that I was unburdened. The end was basically upon us, and in truth there wasn’t enough time.
“No,” I said. “If you tell them now, Alexandra will try to stop me. This is already a small enough window I don’t even know if I’ll succeed.” Johanna nodded.
“I suspected as much. That explains why you don’t want her near in the end.”
“Yeah . . .” The word trailed off as my thoughts turned down that winding path of despair. My end wouldn’t be a pretty one.
“Will you tell them when it’s all over? Tell them why I did it. Why I had to go?” My voice broke. Emotion clogged my throat, making it hard to talk. My eyes watered, but I refused to cry.
“I will,” Jo said earnestly. “I’ll tell them the truth, and I’ll make them understand.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. Johanna leaned forward and took my hand in hers, squeezing tightly.
“Anything you need me to do, I will do it. For all that you’re giving, you’ve earned that much.”
I nodded. “There is one more thing.”
“Name it.”
“You have to promise me you won’t tell them, and you won’t stop me,” I said solemnly. Her lips quirked up in a rueful if not tired smirk.
“Tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
I nodded, taking a deep breath. “I’m going to need your help for some logistics when I’m gone.”
The mansion was quiet, but not silent. It was well past midnight, but the Shifters knew what was coming. The entire paranormal community did at this point. Tam had done his job and word spread like wildfire that any able-bodied paranormal that wished to prevent the Vampire invasion be in Central Park.
Tomorrow we would know if it was enough.
But today, I had one last thing to do.
One last person to speak to before it was time.
I knocked quietly.
The floorboards creaked as footsteps approached the door. The knob turned. A man peeked out through the crack and then did a double take when he saw it was me. The door opened completely.
“Alpha,” he said and bowed his head respectfully. I nodded, not comfortable with the title because it reminded me of what I’d cost them. Still, I didn’t correct him. For this task, it paid to be the Alpha.
“I’m taking over here. Take the night off to be with your family.” He moved away, taken aback.
“Are you certain . . .”
“Yes,” I nodded, stepping aside. He walked out of the room, murmuring a gruff thank you, and disappeared down the hall.
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
The chair was exactly as I’d left it, and he looked nearly as dejected as the last time I saw him.
“Come to spend your last night with me, Selena?” he asked. It was meant to be mocking, but the hint of desperation underneath was unmistakable.
“Hello, Lucas,” I said quietly. I went behind him and pulled the knife from my side. His body didn’t even tense at the zing as the metal blade scraped its sheath softly.
“Ah, so this is it. You really will be the end of me.” He was scared, but there was also a faint note of relief. I shook my head. Before, I’d been so angry, and now there was only pity. I cut through the rope binding his hands behind his back.
It was only then that he tensed.
I walked around his side and took a seat in front of him.
“Let’s have a chat.”
Chapter 26
The sun was shining, and the winter air kissed my skin as I sat on a balcony overlooking the city, my legs strung through the bars so they could dangle over the edge. For a day in New York this time of year, it was almost perfect. Bright blue without a cloud in the sky. I couldn’t believe it.
Today was either the day the world ended, or the day it was saved.
You wouldn’t know that by just looking.
I hummed my childhood bedtime lullaby under my breath, the haunting melody soothing me. Inside, Tam was on the phone, speaking as quietly as he could to give orders over the phone. In the span of three days he’d rented out rooms all around Central Park to set up as havens for paranormals coming to fight. We were in one of those rooms now as the sun steadily rose and started to fall. It was early afternoon, but this far north darkness fell well before six o’clock in the evening.
We had hours at most.
I swallowed, trying and failing not to think of it.
The sliding door opened behind me. Booted feet walked up to my side. I didn’t look as Alexandra plopped down beside me. She stuck her long legs through the gaps in the metal poles and leaned back, putting her hands palm down behind her.
I stopped humming, waiting for her to speak.
“Do you ever wonder what happened to the people at Daizlei?” she asked. “How they died? The way it felt?”
“No.”
“Why not?” she said, sounding surprised by that answer. I sighed.
“Because I’m too busy worrying about the people here,” I answered. It was only a partial lie. I thought about it sometimes. The sins I’d committed had grown so great that the deaths of those that perished when the building collapsed were eclipsed by the earthquake, and now the residence. “What do you want, Alexandra?”
“To talk,” she said without looking at me. “I’ve been hard on you.”
“You’re not wrong for it,” I said. “Well, not completely.”
She snorted. “No,” she said. “I
am. It’s not like it was before. You’re not like you were. I’m angry because of what happened to the Shifters. I’m avoiding what will happen if we fail. I’ve been displacing my anger on you, and that’s not right.”
I sighed. “I get it though. I knew what and why you were doing it. It’s okay.”
She let out a shaky breath. “While you haven’t gotten to know them much since you came back, I lived with those people for two months. I made friends with them. I trained with them. I ate with them. I drank with them . . .” She took a stuttering breath. “And now some of them are just gone and that’s hard. It’s really hard. Especially when I know more of them will die tonight.”
She stopped talking before her voice broke, but I understood what she was getting at. “Living is hard, I think. Harder than dying. When you die you go somewhere out there,” I waved my hand at the empty air before us. “But it’s the people you leave behind who suffer most.”
“Was it quick?” she asked hesitantly. “When she killed them?”
“It was,” I said. “Seconds at most.”
She nodded and let out a puff of white as she exhaled. “I’m happy it was quick.”
“Me too.” I meant it. Every single death that happened as a result of my actions weighed on me. We lapsed into comfortable silence for a while until Alexandra asked, “What is dying like?”
I lifted both eyebrows and squinted over at her.
“Are you asking me?”
“Well, yeah,” she frowned a little. “You died at Daizlei, technically. That first time after the demon attack. It was only after the telekinesis exploded out of you that your heart started to beat again.”
I nodded slowly. “Well, it was a bit . . . odd.”
“Odd?” Alexandra asked, questioning my word choice.
“I’d been hearing voices long enough that I just assumed it was worse at first. Our parents were talking to me, calling me from the other side. I remember wanting to go and then . . .” My words trailed off as I recalled Lucas’ face.
“And then?”
“Lucas called me back, or at least what I thought was Lucas at the time. It was actually Ash. He reminded me that I have something to live for.”
Vessel of Destruction (Daizlei Academy Book 4) Page 20
