He laughed, “So, now you’re worried about my shirt? You amaze me,” said Danny, shaking his head.
I turned back to the lump on the ground that I knew was Isaac’s body. Not Isaac but Isaac’s body. Isaac was dead and I was never going to see him again. He was never going to smile, or sing, or say my name ever again. He never got the chance to live to find happiness all because he died fighting for me. I bent down and pulled back the tarp.
I gasped and put my hand to my mouth. Danny was right; I did not need to see this. This body on the ground, dead, lifeless, was not my Isaac. This was nothing but his shell. The real Isaac was gone. This lifeless being staring at me with cloudy blue eyes was not Isaac. I turned my head to see what his last sight had been and saw that it had indeed been me. I had thought he was looking at me as the life left his eyes and I had been correct. His gaze was fixed on the floor to ceiling windows in the sunroom where I had been standing. A small smile was on his dead lips. I brushed his hair back from his face.
“Oh, Isaac,” I sobbed, “You were always too good for me. I never deserved to have you as a friend. I don’t know what you ever saw in me,” I sobbed as my tears trickled from my face and fell onto his cold body like a waterfall. “How did everything turn out like this?” I said and felt Danny and Gabriel’s hands come down one on each of my shoulders.
Just when I thought that I had gotten everything that I wanted I lost it all. I had thought that I was finally going to have both Jonathon and Isaac in their rightful places. Jonathon my husband and Isaac my best friend but fate had other plans for us.
“I’m sorry, Isaac,” I said and kissed his forehead. “You’ll never know how much,” I sobbed. I covered him back up and Danny pulled me to my feet and hugged me to his chest.
“I’m sorry, Kylie, I know he was your friend,” said Danny.
I couldn’t say anything so I just clung to his chest and wept. I cried for Isaac, for me, Jonathon, all of the dead, everyone. I had never seen so much carnage before. I breathed deeply trying to get my emotions in check.
“Are you ready to see Selena?” asked Gabriel, softly.
I nodded my head, “Yes,” I said and my voice cracked.
They led me farther into the yard to a completely burnt cropping of trees. I internally braced myself for the unknown scene waiting for me.
Danny motioned and I sucked in my breath. There was Selena. Well, what was left of her, anyway. The sight before me was unbelievable. Selena’s body had burned and blackened but it was still unmistakably her body lying before us. All that was left was a black and crumbling skeleton, some lingering crispy shards of her clothing, and her long black hair. For some reason her long straight black hair had been left completely unblemished by the inferno. An antique looking locket lay against her skeletal chest. It hung on a long golden chain and was oval shaped. It had the name Dulac carved into its surface with what looked like a family crest. The crest was of two ravens and some other symbol that I couldn’t see. Their beady eyes stared at me as if they were mocking me. I couldn’t believe that the woman who had caused us all so many problems had been reduced to nothing but a pile of bones. Before my eyes her body slowly disintegrated into nothing but ashes.
“Danny?” I asked.
“Yeah?” he said stepping forward.
“What about her shield? I thought nothing could penetrate it?”
Danny sighed, “That’s what we all thought. We’ll have to ask Jonathon whenever he wakes up. Until then it’s just as much a mystery to us as it is to you.”
Hearing Jonathon’s name I felt the desperate need to see him. I needed to be with him. I had to be sure he was okay. I had to be there to comfort him when he woke up. I had to be there to feed him my blood when he woke up. It had been a while since we had done the bloodletting and that had been the only time besides the time Jonathon did it to save my life. We both had tried to control our urges so as not to become addicted but it has been difficult and to do it again, now, would only intensify the urge. But it had to be done. Jonathon would be extremely weak when he woke up and he would need my blood to stimulate him. I hoped that this would be the last time we would be forced to have to save each other by drinking our blood. I hoped this would be the last time we would ever have to face a life or death situation. I hoped we would be able to finally have our own little piece of happiness. We have been through so much in such a short amount of time. We have both faced so much death that I feel we deserved to be happy. All I want is to spend the rest of my life with Jonathon but sometimes I feel like I’m asking a lot in doing that. I’m starting to think that there are forces out there trying to tear us apart. But Selena was one vampire and we were able to defeat her and together I know we can do anything. We have proved that we are strong. Together we are unstoppable. Even if I am only a human I know that I am strong. Maybe not physically but mentally.
I stood and turned away from Selena’s body with a new resolve. I wiped my face only smearing more dirt and ash across it. The fire in the yard was still burning and I saw Diana trying to douse it with her magical water.
Danny and Gabriel looked at me. I straightened my spine and strode through the yard towards the house. I could hear Danny and Gabriel’s feet crunching on the ashes that once were grass. I held my head high and walked into the house with the remaining dignity that I possessed.
I would not look back at the death littering the yard. I would move forward. I had to. I couldn’t dwell on death and sadness anymore. I had had enough of that to last me a lifetime. I needed to find my happiness, and I had in Jonathon, in order to move on. I would give myself time to grieve, yes, but after that I had to go on with my life. In order to honor those that died for me I have to live every day to the fullest potential. I can’t cower in a corner somewhere and cry, no, I have to embrace every day like the gift that it is. I have to leave the past where it belongs, in the past, and look forward towards the future.
Inside vampires and humans sat huddled together. I never thought I would ever see so much camaraderie from the Coven members and vampires. Isobel was lying on one of the couches in the living room. Her eyes were closed and her parents were standing over her crying. I thought she was dead until I saw Amelia kneel down and start to tend to her head wound.
Balthazar was sitting by the fireplace. His hand had knitted itself back together but I saw that his normally pale, unblemished, skin was an angry red. He kept flexing his hand and wincing.
A Coven member held a bag of ice to his head. He was covered in blood and scrapes. His left eye was swollen shut and I saw that he had a few teeth missing.
It was amazing how one person, one vampire, had caused so many injuries. But I guessed it wasn’t really her but her power that had caused the damages. The fight would have been so much easier had she not been a shield. And to think that Aleksei had turned against his own people, his Coven, was unbelievable.
I turned away from all the injuries and sadness and began the trek upstairs. I could see Danny and Gabriel following me out of my peripheral vision. I stopped and turned to face them.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to check on me. I’m not going to fall over from shock. I’m stronger than that.”
Danny shook his head, “Kylie, you’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you want people to look after you? We only want to help.”
I motioned to the room around us, “Danny, all of these people need your help more than me. I just want to go sit with Jonathon until he wakes up. I want to be there for him for a change. I’m fine, really. If I need something I’ll let you know, okay?”
“Kylie-,” started Danny before Gabriel grabbed his arm.
“Look, she’s fine and she’s right. There are a lot of people here who need our help more. Come on let’s go,” said Gabriel motioning back to the living room.
Danny shrugged, “Fine,” he said and the looked at me and raised a finger, “but if you need anything come get me.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said.
&n
bsp; They went back to the living room to lend a helping hand to those injured while I went to check on Jonathon. I didn’t entirely trust that he was okay. I had to see it with my own eyes. The upstairs was empty but I knew he had to be in his room. I normally loved the walk up to Jonathon’s room but right now the tight spiral staircase made me feel claustrophobic. After what felt like an eternity I felt my hand grasp the door knob to his room. I held my breath and thrust the door open.
Jonathon lay on his bed and he looked comatose. His chest moved slightly with labored breathing. I thought it a small miracle that he didn’t necessarily have to breathe in order to live. Patrick and Joseph stood by the bed. They both looked exhausted. Patrick looked immensely worried which made my heart start to race. If he was worried then there had to be something seriously wrong. Joseph had his arms crossed over his chest and he kept rubbing his face.
“Is he going to be okay?” I squeaked. Tears were starting to come to my eyes again and I fought with all the energy I had left to push them back. I could not lose Jonathon. He was all I had left.
Patrick sighed, “I don’t want to lie to you.”
“Then don’t. Please, tell me the truth,” I said and came closer.
Patrick put his hand on my arm in a comforting gesture, “I will always tell you the truth, Kylie, even when I don’t want to. The honest truth is, I don’t know, I really don’t know if he’ll be okay. I’ve never in all my years seen anything remotely close to what he did out there. I don’t know the lasting effects something like that might have.” I couldn’t stop the tears any longer. Patrick hugged me tight against his chest. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry. I really am. We just have to hope that he’ll be okay.”
“He has to be okay,” I sobbed, “He has to. I need him. I can’t lose him. I love him too much.”
“I know,” he said, “I know.”
I began to control my sobs and pulled away from him. “I’m okay now,” I said pulling away.
“Are you?” he asked looking at me like a nurturing worried father.
“Yeah,” I said wiping my face. “You guys can go. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? We can stay with you,” said Joseph.
I gave him a small smile. “I’ll be fine. Really. There are plenty of people downstairs that need your help. Go, I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Okay. But if-,” Patrick began.
“I need you come get you. I know. I just went through this with Danny and Gabriel.”
Patrick chuckled. “Don’t hesitate.”
“I’ll be okay. I can handle this on my own,” I said with a steely resolve.
“I know you can,” he said and kissed me on top of my head like I was his own child.
I watched them leave and then I went to stand by Jonathon. “Oh, Jonathon,” I sobbed, “This is my fault. I did this to you,” I said as I ran my fingers gently through his golden halo of hair. He looked like some kind of sleeping angel. He looked so at peace. I put my hand against his cheek. “Please, wake up. Come back to me,” I begged. There was no movement from him. He was just like a block of stone. Unchanging. Unmovable. I went around the bed and climbed in beside him. I put my head on his chest and said as tears rolled out of my eyes, “I love you, Jonathon.”
I finally cried myself to sleep while I laid my head on his chest.
* * *
A shudder rocked through my body. Only, it wasn’t my body. I woke up startled thinking that maybe I was having one of my scary realistic dreams but found that it wasn’t the case. The bed was shaking as Jonathon’s body convulsed. It looked like he was having some kind of seizure. I placed my hands firmly on his chest. His eyes darted rapidly back and forth unseeing.
“Jonathon,” I said, hoping that speaking to him might bring him back. I wanted to scream but I knew I had to keep my head. No one knew what might be the repercussions of Jonathon’s act. I knew no more than anyone else. I had to think.
His body kept convulsing violently. I thought I might get thrown from the bed. His body was clammy with sweat. I didn’t even know that vampires could sweat. He kept shaking violently and my strength was no match for his. He rolled over and threw up over the side of the bed. I had no idea that a vampire could possibly throw up and I wasn’t about to look to see what Jonathon had thrown up. I didn’t need to get sick too; I needed to keep my head. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of his mouth.
“Jonathon? Oh, Jonathon! Please stop,” I cried hysterically. I couldn’t believe that no one had come up yet but figured that being in the attic we must be out of ear shot with all the chaos that was going on downstairs. I was going to have to do this on my own.
I sat on his chest to minimize the movements. I looked around frantically for some sort of sharp object that I could use to cut myself. There was a picture of the two of us at my home in California on his bedside table. I grabbed it and smashed it on the floor. I held on tightly to the bed as I leaned down to grab a piece of shattered glass. The convulsions seemed to be lessening but I didn’t want to risk it.
“Help! Help! Someone!” I yelled as I sliced the edge of the glass across the tender skin of my wrist. I put it too his lips.
Suddenly the movements stopped and he came to. He grabbed my wrist and held it greedily to his lips. I could feel the blood being pulled from my body but I felt no pain. His eyes had turned black and his grip was tight but the high from the bite was taking affect. Now that we had had made love I could see why bloodletting led to sex. It was very sensual. I felt extremely connected to him but now was not the time. He finally pulled away. I expected him to be awake but as soon as his lips left my wrist he was asleep again.
I felt a little light headed so I laid my head down on top of him and entwined my legs with his. His breathing was better than it had been before but not perfect.
The door burst open. Patrick, Gabriel, and Joseph stood there frozen for a moment.
“What happened?” asked Patrick.
I sat up and slid off of Jonathon onto the other side of the bed. I realized my wrist was still bleeding. It had left a horrid looking stain on Jonathon’s shirt and my blood and was slowly leaking onto the sheets. Jonathon hadn’t used his saliva to stitch up my wound like he had the other times; I guessed he had been too far gone to remember.
I held my still bleeding wrist to my chest and looked from Jonathon’s motionless body to the vampires standing in the doorway. Joseph and Patrick’s faces were tense while Gabriel looked perfectly at ease.
Looking at Jonathon’s body I said, “He just, I don’t know, started having a seizure or something. I- I gave him my blood and that seemed to help. I just- I’m scared,” I said.
Patrick started over and looked at the mess on the floor with a question in his silver eyes, “Oh, I forgot. He threw up. If that’s even possible?” I asked.
Patrick inspected the mess on the ground with a critical eye.
Gabriel came over and took my wrist and studied it intently. “Come on,” he said, “let’s get you a bandage. I don’t think that you’ll need stitches. It doesn’t look very deep.” He helped me stand and kept an arm around me as I shook unsteadily.
He led me down the attic stairs to one of the many bathrooms on the second floor hallway.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You seem a little shaken.”
“I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
“I don’t think anybody expected something like that to happen. We knew there would be repercussions for what he did we just didn’t know what,” said Gabriel.
“He will be okay, right?” I asked panicky.
“In time he’ll be fine. But I think it will be a while before he’s back to his normal vampire self. In fact he’ll probably have a lot of human tendencies for the next little while. I can’t be sure though what will happen. In all my years I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s a guessing game for all of us so I can only tell you what I think wil
l happen.”
He ran some water in the sink and added some rubbing alcohol to a cloth. I jumped when he put the burning liquid to my skin. “Sorry,” he said, “just a precaution.” He finished wiping the wound added some antibacterial ointment and taped a piece of white gauze to the tender pink skin.
“I forgot to ask you last time. Doesn’t the smell of my blood bother you? I know it doesn’t bother Jonathon since I’m his soul mate but you’re not and you don’t seem to mind it.”
He chuckled, “To me your blood stinks. The smell of your blood repulses all vampires except for your soul mate. It’s a defense mechanism so other vampires know that you’re taken.”
“Really?” I asked. I had thought my blood still smelled the same to them. “How come my mom attacked me after she was turned?”
“The young ones haven’t learned to differentiate between scents. Human blood all smells the same to them. As they mature they begin to smell the individual scents instead of the whole,” he explained. He helped me stand. “How’s it feel?” he asked.
“Better,” I said and gave him a small smile.
“And how’s your head?” He asked with a small smile.
“It’s good. Still tender but better,” I said trying to return his smile but it turned into a grimace.
“We’ll plan on taking the stitches out tomorrow,” he said.
“I’ll look forward to it,” I said a rolled my eyes.
He laughed. “I promise it won’t hurt that bad,” he grinned.
“Oh, sure. That’s what everyone tells me before something really painful,” I said.
He laughed again. It was weird seeing Gabriel laugh. I still had the picture of the brooding arrogant Gabriel in my head. It would be a while before I got used to this new and improved Gabriel.
“You have to be hungry. Let’s get you something to eat,” he said towing me out of the bathroom. I realized that I was indeed hungry. I followed him down the stairs to the kitchen mechanically.
He sat down at the island while I rummaged through the cabinets for something that I could eat and not get sick. I finally settled on some crackers. I sat down next to Gabriel and he eyed my package of crackers warily.
Forbidden (Fallen Series Book 2) Page 25
