by Trina M. Lee
I owed Shya some serious payback for the hell he’d put Willow through by killing his lady love. Dragon or not, that wouldn’t change.
He stomped a foot in temper, and the ground rumbled beneath me. Never in my worst imaginings had I dreamed up a scenario like this.
Several shouts announced the arrival of the FPA swat team. What the hell were they thinking? They swarmed from around the building, aiming several types of weaponry at the black dragon. It seemed that they were packing silver tipped crossbow bolts and guns that more than likely held silver bullets.
I shook my head and watched their vain attempt at policing the darkness. Much to my relief Juliet was not among the small squad of people willing to die in order to satisfy Briggs’s curiosity. Of course the self-righteous Fed was safely inside, probably watching from an upstairs window.
There was nothing I could do. Not without putting myself in harm’s way. The agents swarmed Shya, shooting him full of bullets and bolts. It was pathetic, like watching children play superhero.
Smoke rose from the wounds in his thick hide, but otherwise Shya was unfazed. With a great roar he unleashed a stream of fire, engulfing the entire team of agents in one breath. The heat was unbearable, scorching despite the distance. The stench of burnt flesh quickly filled the air. I coughed and choked, trying not to be sick.
Hopefully that would keep Briggs from sending more people out. Those deaths were all on him. All he’d succeeded in doing was driving Shya into a greater frenzy.
He roared again and shot a fireball at the tree we huddled under. The top burst into flames, and I screamed. Jenner and I leaped out of the way before several burning branches came plummeting down.
“I will burn this entire place to the ground,” Shya boomed. “You will watch your sister burn before you die, Alexa.”
I groaned. Why did it always have to come back to Juliet? It was just too easy for her to be used against me. I was torn. If I gave in to Shya’s demands he would win by exploiting one of my most obvious weaknesses. However, if I resisted, he would do as he said. I knew that.
“Don’t do it,” Jenner whispered. “Don’t go to him.”
We were getting nowhere. I couldn’t keep hiding under trees until Shya roasted them all.
“I have an idea,” I said, laying a hand on Jenner’s arm. “If this works, then I’m sorry.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
I didn’t bother to answer. I was about to try something that might work or it might just make my head explode. Either way, it was all I had left to throw at the demon. I had to try.
Striding away from the pitiful coverage of the remaining trees, I tapped into the power I shared with Arys. It spilled over me like a dam breaking under the pressure of a flood. This would be the last time I would do this as a mortal. I wouldn’t survive it this time.
Shya was right in that our vampire power was rooted in darkness. But I wasn’t a vampire. I was a Hound of God, a creature of light with a natural ability to channel and manipulate energy. Any energy. Even dark energy.
The dark and light had existed together inside me for some time now. They had often been at war, battling for supremacy. Now I was going to make them work together for my purpose. Or die trying.
I reached for Arys, a metaphysical summons that he couldn’t help but answer. The power rose hard and fast, causing my nose to bleed before I’d even done anything. Talk about going out with a bang.
“You want me, Shya. Then come and get me.” My fingers crackled and sparked with swirls of gold and blue. I stopped short of walking right up to him. I wasn’t that brave or that stupid.
Arys came to stand next to me. His eyes were wild, full on wolf eyes. My eyes. I was certain mine reflected him as well.
With him so close, the force surging through us both was amplified, and I struggled to stay on my feet. My intent was to draw on the mass of dark power I had access to through Arys and Jenner while using the light within me to bend it to my will. If it worked the way I hoped, I would essentially be fighting Shya’s evil with my own dark power guided by the light.
“You won’t survive such a foolish attempt,” Shya said though he didn’t seem convinced.
“Probably not. But hey, I came here to die. Why prolong it?”
Without a word of warning, I reached out to every vampire connected to me, drawing on their power and harnessing it as my own. In my mind I could feel them. From Jenner and Kale so close to me to Sloane in Europe where she lounged in bed with a young human man. Even Hurst deep in the bowels of his hidden Las Vegas home.
Gabriel too was affected. Part of our bloodline, he was now a link in the circuit. And I could feel that he was close. The power of several vampires slammed through me, and I released it in a well-focused attack on the smirking dragon.
It smashed Shya into the side of the hospital before throwing him to the ground. Rather than individual shots I projected a steady stream of power. Even in his outrageous form, it held him down, giving me a chance to reclaim the place in the grass where Lilah’s door lay.
Arys helped me to maintain the load. The pressure inside my head grew steadily, but it was manageable. I squinted through the throbbing in my skull and saw only the demon I needed to beat down.
Laughter filled the night. Shya found it funny that I was pouring so much into an attack. He couldn’t be killed, but he could be weakened and driven back to the other side.
I tasted honey and smelled perfume. The vampires I channeled were very much in my head. So when Gabriel stepped into view, I was ready for the black magic he threw.
It hit me like a splash of hot wax, quickly cooling and flaking away. The cross pendant around my neck felt cold in contrast. Judging by the surprise on Gabriel’s ashen face, he’d been expecting a different outcome.
Uttering something Latin, he tried a different tactic. The little heathen was disrupting my concentration enough that Shya was advancing on me.
Shaz was a blur of white as he leaped on Gabriel, taking the newbie vampire down. It was all I could do to keep my attention on Shya, even when I heard Shaz yelp.
I drew harder on my link to the vampires while grabbing hold of the spark of light that made me twin to Arys’s dark. It was all I had to fight with.
Blood didn’t just drip from my nose. It ran. Maintaining the flow of so much power was quickly taking its toll. Never before had I tried something so immense. It was breaking me fast.
Arys grabbed my hand and kept me on my feet. Together we channeled more power than any being should ever know. It kept Shya at bay though it didn’t appear to do much harm.
All we needed was a window of opportunity. Just enough time for Arys to bleed me. I would beat him into it if I had to. There would be no backing out. We had to see this through.
Shya’s laughter had stopped. The black mist clouded him once again, and I watched eagerly, hopeful it was a sign that he was weakening. Because I sure as hell was.
When the mist cleared he stood there in his human form with wings spread for balance. He had underestimated what a Hound could do. His outrage was written all over his face.
A surge of hope and renewal convinced me that I had him. If I could just keep it up a little longer, just maybe he would be forced to vacate.
“I can hold out longer than you can,” Shya called. “You’ll kill your vampires as well as yourself before you beat me.”
“Arys,” I tried to say, but my voice failed me.
Still he heard me. He squeezed my hand, trying to strengthen me. But it was no longer enough. Too many times, too much power, my mortal body was unable to take anymore.
Blood filled my eyes before sliding down my cheeks. Struggling for breath, I coughed, producing more blood. I’d killed several vampires like this. A forced power overload that results in the bursting of the heart. I supposed it was fitting that I would die the same way.
“Alexa, stop,” Arys pleaded. “You have to stop. Now.”
I wiped the blood from my
eyes and lips with the back of my hand, doing little more than smearing it around my face. “You have to finish this, Arys.”
Shya was on his knees when I collapsed face first into the dirt and dry grass. So close. I’d come so close to driving him off. I had called more power than ever before, and it still wasn’t enough.
My vision swam as I struggled to look around. Jenner had collapsed near the trees. I couldn’t see Kale, but Jez’s shouts at me to stop rang in my ears. The only one still standing was Gabriel who emanated an unholy power much darker than our bloodline alone.
He had left Shaz unconscious, a pile of white fur amidst the dark of night. Jez rushed to my fallen wolf with a silver dagger in each hand, ready to protect him from further damage.
My grip on the flow of power faltered, and I was forced to let go of my connection to the others. It was just as well. I didn’t want to take them with me.
Gabriel put himself between me and Shya. In a desperate move, I reached out to grab hold of his energy. If I’d been able to bind him to me during Shya’s party it would have been easy to manipulate him now.
“Give it up, Alexa,” Gabriel said. “You’ve got nothing on me.”
I screamed when, with a snap of his fingers, my body was racked with pain. It felt like I was slowly being torn apart. It was obvious that he was buying Shya time to recover. It wouldn’t take long.
Arys seemed reluctant to leave my side, but at the sound of my shriek he launched himself at Gabriel. The two of them became a mass of fists and fury. Though the fledgling vampire thrummed with black magic, Arys had centuries of experience and power. They were evenly matched, throwing one another violently about.
There was no one left standing between me and Shya. His red eyes gleamed with delight. Using the very last of my strength, I pushed to my feet. In my peripheral vision, I saw Willow do the same.
“I enjoy you,” Shya proclaimed. With a flap of wings, he was standing again. “Really, I do. No mortal has ever given me a fight this good. It feels…pretty damn great. What do you say, Alexa? Do you have one more round left in you?”
The fact that I was on my feet was nothing short of a miracle. Breathing was a feat in itself. There was no way I could go another round with the demon. I was done. It was over.
“Don’t die on me now,” he continued, each step bringing him closer. “Not until I have the scroll. How many times have I saved your pathetic life now? Soon the darkness will claim you, and then you will belong to me.”
I staggered like a drunk but didn’t fall. If only I would just die and rob him of his precious fucking scroll.
“Sorry to disappoint you.” Willow was just suddenly there, feeding Shya a series of punches clearly fueled by pure hatred. “You took Christina from me, but you will never have Alexa. I am taking her darkness.”
Surprise crossed Shya’s sharp features. “You would sacrifice yourself for the Hound?”
“That’s right.” Projecting his voice toward the sky, Willow shouted. “Do you hear me? I willingly take Alexa’s darkness.”
Whoever he was speaking to, it wasn’t Shya. There was a flash of bright, white light. It struck Willow in the chest, holding him frozen in place. It happened so fast.
An anguished cry tore from Willow. I watched in horror as the darkness meant for me filled him. One by one the feathers of his wings turned as black as sin.
“No,” I screamed, reaching for Willow as if I could stop what had already begun.
My name was a whisper on his lips when he looked at me with gold-flecked red eyes. Before I could touch him, he was gone, leaving behind only the stench of sulfur.
Tears streamed down my face. I shook with sobs. Not Willow. Dear God, not him. He didn’t deserve such a fate.
I didn’t feel like I’d been saved. Instead I felt very much condemned. Willow had sacrificed himself for me, and I didn’t even have the strength to finish what I’d come to do. I had failed him.
Shya reached for me, and I cringed. Anticipating his vile touch, I prayed it would all happen fast.
A sword burst through Shya’s chest, having been shoved through from behind. Falon stood behind the demon, holding tight to the hilt. Smoke rose from the silver blade.
Shya’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. He blinked several times as realization set in.
“Alexa, please,” he pleaded. “We can negotiate. Give me the scroll, and I’ll make you my queen. Anything you want, it’s yours.”
“Go to hell,” I said.
Gaping down at the blade protruding from his middle, Shya pitched forward, nearly crashing into me as he went down on his face.
In a sudden fluid motion, Falon jerked the sword free and swung. The blade whistled through the air before slicing through Shya’s neck, effectively severing his head. Before my very eyes, Shya’s body faded away, disappearing completely. I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.
Without so much as a word to me, Falon targeted Gabriel next. He slashed at the young vampire, driving him and Arys apart.
“Finish this now,” Falon shouted at Arys. “Shya will regroup fast on the other side. You don’t have much time.”
Arys wore several cuts and gashes, but otherwise he was all right. He caught me as I fell forward.
“Do it,” I said, my voice thin and shrill.
He shoved away from me, muttering something inaudible beneath his breath. Arys was battling with himself. It was a fight he would not win. “I don’t want to.”
In direct contrast to his words, he grabbed me again and shook me.
I fought him, hoping to slap some sanity back into him. My hand cracked across his face, and he bared fangs at me. Fear clawed its way up my throat, and I choked on it. This was really happening.
Arys froze, staring into me and seeing something that freed the hunger he had carried for over a century.
“You know you have to do it,” I murmured. “It’s ok. I’m ready.”
Bloodlust burned in Arys. He jerked me closer, and with no hesitation, plunged fangs deep into my neck. Targeting my artery, he bit with the intent to kill. Blood gushed from the wound. Arys was ravenous, biting a second time.
The power of our bond soared between us, much like it had the night we had first slept together, when our twin flame union had united us. We were inside each other. Random thoughts and feelings flitted through my mind, all of them Arys’s.
As he consumed my blood and the power within it, I very clearly saw how much he loved it. Finally, after waiting for so long, after craving my death for decades, it was his at last.
There wasn’t a single piece of him that didn’t find absolute pleasure in this moment. He held me close, lovingly stroking a hand through my hair as he stole my life. Arys exuded genuine emotion. He loved me. I felt it. However, that didn’t change the elation he felt at making me his in every way.
Something buried deep within me began to writhe and squirm. Lilah’s key responded to my fading life, resisting the pull as I took it with me.
My surroundings began to fade. No longer could I smell the acrid odor of burnt flesh. The sound of Jez’s shouts were muffled and far away. There was a sharp pain in my abdomen, which echoed throughout my mind. The dark, twin-flame forged key shuddered and seized before shattering like a burst bubble. I felt cold and then, only numb.
The last thing I saw was Falon standing over Gabriel’s prone form. He watched us with a disaffected stare. Then my vision grew dark, and I succumbed to death.
* * * *
Everything was so white. I found myself in a plain room with no door, no windows, only a table with two chairs. A man sat in one of the chairs. His back was to me, but I knew who it was.
“Veryl? What are you doing here?”
Feeling strange and loaded with questions, I rounded the table and slid into the chair opposite him. A long off-white robe clothed me. Veryl wore a suit and tie in the same color. The absence of sound and smell bothered me, but I paid it little attention on
ce I sat across from the vampire I’d killed not so long ago.
He looked the same as I remembered. Middle aged but handsome with eyes that reflected an inner knowledge I could only imagine.
“You don’t have much time,” he said. “I’m here to see you before you go back.”
“Back?”
“To the other side. To the living. You’re in between now but not for long.” Veryl sat back in his chair and pressed his fingers into a steeple. “I warned you about Shya, did I not?”
I felt ashamed, knowing without a doubt that I’d been wrong to murder this man. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. There were just too many secrets.”
“There were,” he agreed with a slight head nod. “I too am sorry. I wish things had been different between us. It was my intention to protect you, not too harm you.”
I surveyed the small, simple white room. It felt safe and warm despite there being no obvious way in or out. “I suppose none of that matters now.”
“You’ve done well,” he said with a smile, revealing straight white teeth. There were no fangs. “I couldn’t be happier with how you’ve grown into your abilities.”
“So where is everyone?” I asked, feeling very disembodied. “Don’t I get some big welcome or something? Do I have to face everyone I’ve killed? Or just you?”
Veryl chuckled, and it was a sound of carefree happiness. “Just me. Everyone else is on the other side. You don’t get to join them yet. You’re going back, very soon. So let me make this brief. You must be prepared, Alexa. The evil you’ve faced, it’s not over. It is never really over.”
“What are you talking about?” There was a pang of disappointment that I wouldn’t see Raoul. Or Lena. I missed them both.
Veryl reached across the table and captured my hand in his. It felt warm and soft. “You’re not going to feel like yourself when you return. The turn will dominate you, making you a monster. But you must embrace your light. You’re going to need it.”
“You’re scaring me.” Though I said the words, I didn’t feel afraid. I felt detached, as if this entire thing were a dream that I couldn’t take too seriously.
