by Lyons, Rene
Turning her attention back to Sebastian, her head spun from the fog of weakness. Still, she saw Daniel keeping pace with him. For every hammering blow of Sebastian’s sword, Daniel managed to dance out of the way. He swiped at Sebastian, who easily knocked the blade away, countering with blow of his own.
At the second explosion of ash, Allie didn’t need to look to know Constantine ended the second vampire.
Dragon came at her, was reaching for her, when Sebastian’s foot hit the corner of the mattress. He stumbled and that was all the advantage Daniel needed.
Or so Allie thought.
In her unfocused and confused state, all she could think was that Daniel was going to kill Sebastian. When Constantine’s arms came at her, she found the strength to throw herself in front of Sebastian. Coming between him and Daniel’s sword, she saw Constantine dive for her, heard Sebastian’s grunt when she hit into him. Spinning around, she saw Daniel’s smirking face as his blade came down.
She heard Sebastian roar only a heartbeat before she felt something cold pass across her neck.
Cold as ice.
Chapter Twenty-Six
As if in slow motion, Allie watched Daniel jump back. She saw blood on the blade of his sword.
She turned back to Sebastian, an odd sensation of biting cold across her neck. He wore a look of stark horror. Her hands went to her throat. She felt no pain, only an odd sensation she couldn’t readily identify.
When she took her hands away they were covered with blood.
Swaying, Allie almost fell over. Sebastian made a move to get to her but Daniel’s sword stopped him, slicing across his chest, keeping them separated as Sebastian was forced to continue the battle.
Her arms outstretched, all Allie wanted to do was go to Sebastian, but someone came from behind her and wrapped their arms around her. She was snatched away from Sebastian and out of the room.
Constantine was hauling ass down the stairs when the pain came.
The agony was intense, bringing with it the realization of what happened. When she threw herself in front of Sebastian, Daniel’s blade caught her instead of him. Her throat had been slit and that was why Sebastian let out that God-awful battle cry.
Thank God.
If one of them had to die she was glad it was going to be her. At least she was going to Heaven. If it had been Sebastian… Allie couldn’t even bear the thought of where he’d be if Daniel ended him instead if her.
This was as it should be. This was right. Her life to save his soul was a sacrifice that had been worth making.
As Constantine sprinted down the steps, all Allie could think was that when she died, she’d get to see the angels. True, she wouldn’t see Sebastian again, but she was okay with that as long as knew she died saving him from Hell. That knowledge alone would sustain her as her life bled out and she was delivered to wherever it was she was headed once it was done and she was gone.
“Don’t you leave us, Allie.”
Constantine put that in her mind as her body went numb. She liked numb. Numb meant no more pain. She didn’t even feel Constantine holding her anymore, like she was no longer part of anything happening around her.
Wanting to answer him but unable to, Allie gave up and relaxed in Constantine’s arms as he carried her out of the house. She didn’t want to leave Sebastian, but she knew there was nothing more she could do for him. She’d already done all she could.
She gave her life for him.
She wanted Sebastian with her in these last moments. She wanted to take the sight of him with her when she looked last at life. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not with Constantine rushing her out of the house, pushing past Raphael, who stood sentinel in the doorway.
Allie saw Rogue’s eyes go wide with horror. “Oh my God…”
He sheathed his sword and ran after them, asking after Sebastian. Constantine came to stop in the middle of the front yard and answered that Sebastian was still upstairs fighting Daniel Parsons. Allie thought she heard Raphael mutter out a curse, but she couldn’t be sure. Her vision was dimming and her body getting so cold she felt as if her hands and feet were nothing more than blocks of ice.
And the wetness—it was everywhere, sticky and warm. She knew it was her blood.
Constantine crouched down and carefully laid her on the grass. It afforded Allie the chance to see his face and it broke her heart. This was the first time she ever saw him show real emotion.
God, he looked so sad.
She brought her hand to his cheek, wishing she could take the grief from him. He curled his hand around hers, giving it a hard squeeze. He looked away, that mysterious silver gaze lighting on Raphael. They were talking to each other through telepathy. If she could have, she would have demanded they stop and say whatever it was aloud. After all, whatever was being said between them, she had every right to hear.
And then Constantine and Raphael simply went away. They were there one second, talking amongst themselves, and then they were simply gone.
She turned her head to where Raphael should have been but all she saw was dark. Everywhere, surrounding her, overtaking the vast mountain range, the dark blocked out everything, including the clear night sky.
Yet the dark didn’t conceal everything.
In it came her brother.
At first Christian was out of focus. Gradually however, the image of him sharpened, until she saw him standing beside her, as real as he’d been in life.
“Christian—my God…”
The broken whimper was torn, not from her throat, but from her heart, still aching with grief.
Her gaze greedily devoured every nuance of him, from the top of his dark brown hair right down to the faded blue denim of his jeans. He looked exactly as he did the night he died.
And then he smiled and Allie shattered into a million pieces.
All traces of his heroin addiction were stripped away. Even after being clean for a year, that hadn’t been enough time to fully flesh him out. But now, he didn’t carry that erosion. His body was no longer gaunt. He glowed with life. He looked so handsome. Peaceful.
If she had more energy in her, she might have wept at the beautiful sight of him.
Her brother. He came for her, her angel to take her home to God.
“No, Allie. This is your home. You have to fight now.”
She didn’t want to fight. Tired of fighting and of being strong, she wanted to sleep now.
“Please, Allie. Fight for him.”
Thoughts of Sebastian drifted in and out of her mind as that sweet oblivion pulled at her. Promising her peace and love waiting for her in the dark all around her.
“No,” Christian said to her. “Not yet. Lex needs you here. He needs you here. Hold on for them.”
“I miss you so much. I should have told you I love you more, but I was so angry with you, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”
His smile made her cry inside her mind. “You did save me.” He knelt down and touched her, so warm and comforting. “You were with me when I left, you and Lex both. I felt your love all around me and I wasn’t scared.”
Allie had so much to tell him, much that needed to be said, but words were beyond her as the pain slowly began to come back to her.
“I know, Allie. I can hear you.” He squeezed her hand. “You don’t belong where I am. You have to love him enough to fight for him.”
Sebastian. The “he” Christian was referring to was Sebastian. He needed her and the truth was, Allie needed him just as much. She couldn’t give up on him. What good was Heaven if he wasn’t there to share it with her? She might as well be condemned to Hell.
Christian nodded, knowing her thoughts. “Don’t be scared and never forget that I love you and Lex. God may have my soul, but my sisters will always have my heart.”
He began to fade, leaving her, and this time Allie knew she wouldn’t see him again for lifetimes.
She let her brother go and began to fight for life.
&nb
sp; Or was it her death?
When did the planes of existence get so complicated? When did the lines of what constituted life and what was death become so blurred?
The dark became the night again. The moon hung in the sky. Raphael and Constantine were back.
Constantine had her hand, staring down at her in a way that made her know he was waiting for something from her.
The pain was getting worse. Her bones felt like ice. She could actually feel death’s breath blowing over her and it scared her. Christian was right. Now wasn’t the time for her to go, she still had too much here. She couldn’t give in to the warmth that waited beyond the cold.
Violent tremors wracked her. She tried to tell Constantine to turn her. That she wasn’t ready to die. That she wasn’t ready to leave Sebastian. When she couldn’t form words, she screamed it over and over in her mind. He heard her and held fast to her hand. He pulled his gaze from her and looked to Raphael, giving him a slight nod.
Raphael was saying something to Constantine. She could vaguely hear them over the roar of her blood as it raced to her throat, spilling out of her too quickly for her to last much longer. Her slowing heartbeat was a sickening feeling. Her vision was going black. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on to the life she had left.
Oh God, she thought frantically, Sebastian’s face flashing in her mind. Please don’t let me die.
*
“I can’t do it.” Constantine felt the life spilling from Allie, staining the ground red.
They were losing her. With every passing moment she was slipping further away from life, inching toward what lay beyond. Still, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t bring himself to turn her, not even to save her.
“You have to hurry, C. She’s fading fast.” Raphael urged him desperately. “Don’t let her go.”
“Don’t let me die…” Allie’s voice echoed in his mind. “Please…”
Constantine pinned Raphael with a powerful stare. “Fuck,” he ground out roughly. “I can’t. I can’t do this to her.”
Raphael went to push him away. “Then get the hell out of the way and I will.”
Constantine roared out a violent warning. Raphael backed off. “Stay away from her.”
“She can’t hold on much longer. She’s lost too much blood. We don’t have time for this. Do it now or she’s going to die on us.”
“Please, Constantine, don’t let me die. I’m not ready to go. I can’t leave Sebastian.”
Agonized over what he was about to do, Constantine grabbed Allie and lifted her cold, limp body off the grass. He held her gently against him, praying for the fortitude to do what needed to be done.
When her head fell back, he saw the deep gash running across her throat. It spanned ear to ear, her blood now pouring out of it, onto him, as the bloodlust rose in him like a phoenix rising from the flames, a monster overtaking him.
She was so close to death even he felt its cold breath at his neck. He had to close his eyes, to block out who it was he was doing this do, who he was damning to an eternity of darkness.
The sounds of Allie’s rasping breaths, the furious clash of Sebastian and Daniel’s blades, Raphael’s tormented thoughts, they all filled Constantine’s head. But above all those sounds, he could hear her heartbeat ebbing, slowing near to a dead stop.
“Now, Constantine. Please…”
Allie was trying desperately to hold onto her last bit of life, but it was fading fast. He knew not one more moment could be lost or else she’d be too far for him to bring back.
“This is it, Red.”
Constantine lowered his head to her throat. All he had to do was open his mouth. Her blood immediately flowed into him. It slipped down his throat, the sweet metallic warmth of it empowering him. Even dying, Allie’s lifeforce was strong enough to send a violent shock to his system.
As he took in her blood, Constantine felt like he was stealing from her. He had no right to do this, to take her life and give her immortality. Sebastian should be the one. He should be the one to share this bond with Allie.
When he pulled out enough of Allie’s blood, her body went completely limp. Her silent cries were a thousand blades in him. Stabbing at him as he took her life, listening to her heartbeat slowing. It was gently thundering down to a stop as she wept with fear.
Raphael put a hand on her head, smoothing her bloodied hair away from her face before taking her hand in his. “You aren’t alone, Red. We’re here with you.”
She whimpered, unable to cry out, as her body began to convulse. Constantine held onto her, taking in the last flow of blood. Her heart was barely beating when he finally pulled away. Raphael sat back on his heels but wouldn’t let go of her hand. Nor did he stop whispering words of comfort to her as the last moments of her life were upon her.
Constantine bit his wrist and pressed the wound to Allie’s mouth. Her eyes slid closed as her lips parted. His blood spilled into her mouth. She choked it down as her heart beat for the last time.
This being the first time blood was ever taken from him, the only time he ever dared to turn a human; Constantine wasn’t prepared for the barrage of Allie’s memories invading his mind. Like lightening strikes he saw flashes of her life play out. From her birth right to this moment of her death, he saw it all.
More than that, he felt her being push inside of his mind. They were becoming one, until he couldn’t distinguish one of his own thoughts from one of hers.
The visions went as quickly as they came, her life now a part of his death. Her pain hit him like a sword to his throat and he knew Allie’s death was dragging him down into the abyss of blackness. He wrested his wrist away from her mouth, praying to God she took enough of his blood into herself.
Allie’s head slumped to the side and her heart beat one last time. She was dead. Now, all they could do was wait.
*
Constantine dragged his sleeve across his mouth, wiping away Allie’s blood. Her spirit was strong, lending him life as it warmed him from the inside out.
It seemed an eternity passed as he and Raphael waited and watched, their gazes locked on Allie. They searched for any signs of life and were about to give up hope when her body jerked violently. Her back arched and her head fell back as a guttural scream was pulled from deep within her.
Raphael fell backwards when she pulled her hand from his grasp. He sat watching her transformation, eyes wide and filled with awe.
Constantine knelt beside her, as close to her as possible as she writhed on the floor, her body dying a mortal death. He felt it then, a bonding between them which came from him turning her, a bond no time or space could break. They were now one person divided into two separate bodies.
He didn’t feel alone for the first time since he took his first breath of life.
She may be Sebastian’s mate, but she was his Blood-Kin. Neither would ever feel alone again.
*
Allie felt as if her body was literally being torn apart. Lightning strikes of pain blinded her, deafening her. Robbing her of the ability to think or move. The agony seemed to slice her to shreds, tearing her insides apart. Ripping her soul from her.
Visions flashed in her head in furious succession, too quick to distinguish one from another. As she caught fragmented images of her parents, her and Lex laughing as little girls, and Christian full of life and promise, she realized she was seeing her life play out.
Yet of these myriad visions, the one that stood out clearly was of Sebastian.
She saw her proud warrior astride a giant black destrier, he and his horse both draped in the white Templar mantle, the blood red cross standing out sharply against the pristine white. Sword in hand, he held it high, thundering across a desert, sand kicked up in his wake, the brutal sun blazing overhead in a cloudless sky.
Buried beneath layers of civility, hidden behind the mask of a modern man, this was who Sebastian was. This was the man he was born and bred to be.
A Knight Templar in all his glor
y, he was an amazing sight to behold.
She saw other things. Terrible things, all happening to a beautiful boy with bright blue eyes—a boy too young to have to endure such suffering.
Constantine. She was seeing Constantine. Somehow, his life was playing out behind her eyes in all its brutal vivacity and she wanted it to stop. She didn’t want to have to see the things she was forced to watch.
Oh God, no wonder he grew to become a dragon.
That Constantine survived at all was a miracle.
Then it was all gone and she was left with pain—intense enough to pierce her soul.
She jerked upward so forcefully her spine should have snapped, yet didn’t. She tried to scream but her ruined throat prevented it. She tried to see but saw only black. She tried to hear, but the only sound she heard was of her own silent cries that echoed in her mind past the beats of her heart.
And then it was over.
A strange peace came over her and she went limp.
She died.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Jesus Christ. We waited too long, C. She’s gone.”
Constantine ignored the note of panic in Raphael’s voice. Constantine shook his head. “No she’s not.”
“How do you know?”
Constantine never took his eyes from Allie when he answered. “I just do.”
Raphael looked horrified “Holy shit, Dragon, tell me you didn’t take her soul.”
Constantine ripped his gaze from Allie and leveled Raphael with a hard glare. “Fuck you.”
Raphael leaned over Allie and grabbed Constantine by the front of his bloody shirt. “Then how do you know she’s not dead? What if it didn’t work?”
Lifting a single brow, Constantine shot Raphael a cold look. “We’re bonded, that’s how I know she’s still in there.”
Raphael’s jaw went slack. “Does this mean…”
Constantine shook his head curtly. “I told you, I left her soul.”
“But…”
“Leave it alone, Rogue.”
Thankfully Raphael knew better than to press the matter right then. Constantine, always a powder keg waiting for the flame to ignite him, was dancing close to the fire as Allie’s pain and death still coursed through him. To push him now would be suicide, even for a fellow Templar.
