“Ragon!” she screamed, banging against the wall.
Her voice was high pitched and scared, and it bounced cruelly off the walls of her cell, bringing wave after wave of misery, like a sirens song.
“Ragon!” she screamed again, when finally the echo had died down.
But Ragon did not look up, nor stir.
A second later and the door of her cell opened. Ari watched in horror as all three of the Triad members filed into her cage, quickly closing the door and locking it behind them.
“Last chance,” one of them said.
“Go to hell,” she spat, wiping the tears away from her eyes as she stood, prepared to fight.
From behind her a single stream of sunlight bounced off the glass window. For a moment Ari was hopeful, until she saw the look of indifference on each of the Triad member’s faces; the glass of her prison was lined with UV protection. This was where the vampires could sit and watch as those who had broken the Final Death Laws paid for their crimes.
It was then that Ragon’s screams reverberated through her cell; Ari spun around to the window and watched, horrified, as he began to writhe on the floor. Bright rays of sunshine splashed across his body, cutting deep into his bare chest and singeing his normally perfect skin. Ari cried, the tears welling in her eyes so furiously that it blanked out her view temporarily.
Then from the corner of her room she saw movement. Suddenly the Triad was in front of her. For a moment she toyed with the idea of trying to stop time, but what would be the point? Even if she did somehow manage to get out of her chains, she would not be able to save Ragon.
This was it, she thought, and one of her eyes turned green while the other remained blue. She was going to die.
The Triad’s eyes were black and hollow, but as they inched closer, the reflection from the sun burned in their irises, giving them a devilish red colour, so that it appeared as if three demons were advancing on her. Ari heard Ragon’s scream grow louder, more desperate, just as her heart raced.
“NO!” she screamed, and for one perfectly peaceful moment her scream outcompeted Ragon’s, and she was afforded a second of not having to hear him suffer.
All she wanted was to die, to no longer suffer having to hear Ragon’s agony, but before the Triad could grant her wish, something strange happened. Just when she was about to beg the Triad to kill her, she felt her face begin to burn. It was an odd sensation, almost mimicking that of sunburn, but soon it morphed into a scorching pain, spreading throughout her entire body until it felt as if she were ablaze. Her palms were sweaty and she felt perspiration bead on her forehead and lower lip.
This must be what it feels like to die of a broken heart, she thought, and she closed her eyes, welcoming death.
“What’s happening?” screamed Lace.
But Ari had no thoughts for the Triad or the Ancients; Ragon was no longer screaming. He’s gone, she thought to herself, her head now pressed against the glass window, her eyes still closed, too afraid to look down and see the burnt and blackened body from her premonition. All the while her body burned with heat, though it was no longer uncomfortable, rather soothing, as if she were wrapped in a warm and safe blanket.
“Do it now!” screamed Lace. “Kill her.”
Ari felt the Triad members blur towards her, her hair rushing across her face, and then suddenly a syntony of screams met her ears, but they were not coming from Ragon; it was the Triad who was screaming. Unsure of what was happening, Ari’s eyes opened and she saw that Ragon’s prison was no longer filled with sunshine but was becoming increasingly darker, just as her prison cell glowed brighter and brighter. Looking around for the source of the light, Ari gaped; the rays of sunlight were coming from her. Racing back to check on Ragon, she saw that his room was now entirely dark, while she continued to glow, until the light was so blinding that it burned white hot against her eyes.
It was as if there had been a solar eclipse and somehow she had taken on the sun’s power, sucking the light from the sky where it had filled Ragon’s prison and projecting it onto the Triad. Ari watched as the Triad members fell to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain, just as their bodies slowly burned red and then blacked, like paper held against fire.
A moment later and her prison door burst open as many vampires poured in, hoping to save their fallen Triad, but it was too late; Ari was too powerful, the sun too strong, and they burnt in seconds, joining the Triad in flames and ash.
“NO!” someone above her screamed, and Ari knew that it was the Ancients who made these screams, having just watched their beloved Triad die.
Looking around wildly, Ari watched as the Triad became less human shaped, until they finally resembled carbon forms of themselves, completely blackened and slightly red around the edges. A slight breeze blew through her cell, bringing with it wave after wave of screams from the Ancients, just as all three of the Triad members crumbled; soon there was nothing but piles of ash all around her. Among one of these piles was a large wooden and silver key. Reaching out for it, she quickly unlocked her binds and raced from the room.
All around her there was screams, as vampires sought to run and hide, but none escaped her glow. Momentarily she glanced up towards the landing where the Ancients had stood, scanning the banisters for any trace of them, but they were gone; burnt to ash or having retreated into the darkness, she didn’t know.
As soon as Ari flew the door open to Ragon’s chamber, she stopped glowing. Likewise the solar eclipse began to abate, and Ragon instantly began screaming as the sun from the sky lashed out at his skin again. Not thinking she raced to him, pulling him out of the cell and back into the darkness, slamming the door of his cell shut so that no rays of sunshine could get through.
Now cradling Ragon on the floor, Ari looked around wildly but no one was there; all the vampires had fled. She stared down at his unconscious form then grimaced as she tore at the wound in her palm. Soon fresh blood poured from the cut and she held her hand over Ragon’s mouth.
“Drink,” she screamed.
Ragon did not move.
“Don’t you leave me,” she sobbed, banging her hands against his hard chest.
For one terrifying moment she was certain that she had been too late, but then his eyes flicked open. Ariana smiled, brushing away tears of pain and joy, as she lied down next to him. But this joy was quickly replaced with horror; Ragon, staring up at her in admiration was shaking his head, using all his energy to push away her offered wrist.
“What are you doing?” she screamed, trying to force her bleeding hand into his mouth. “You need blood; you’re… you’re dying.”
“No, not yours,” he whispered, his lips cracked and bleeding.
“What?”
“I can’t,” he said, still fighting her off. “What if I can’t stop myself?”
His eyes were blood shot and he began shaking violently; Ari knew that he didn’t have long, but she wouldn’t let him die, she couldn’t. But how could she make him drink her blood; how could she explain that if he died, she might as well be dead too?
Ari pulled Ragon’s head so that it was an inch away from hers; she was breathing hard against his face, her words desperate as she locked eyes with him and said, “You won’t kill me. You’re not a monster; you’re the man that I love.”
Ragon’s eyes widened just as tears slipped from his eyes and slid down his face.
“Please,” Ari begged, forcing her hand closer, “I can’t… I can’t live without you in my life. You’re not a monster! You’re Ragon Young!”
She felt Ragon’s fangs puncture through her skin like hot knives carving through butter. She bit down hard on her lip and tasted blood, trying to force herself not to cry out in pain. She had never imagined that his desire not to drink from her was so strong, that he would rather die than bite her. But her words had not been an empty threat; she couldn’t live without him.
“Thank you,” she felt herself whisper, just as everything became dizzy.
Closing her eyes, Ari allowed herself to be drawn away from the Ancients dark cold prison, and to a place where she felt warm and safe. In her mind she could feel the numbness spreading up her arms and legs but she didn’t mind; Ragon would be ok.
Chapter 15 – The Monster is Gone
Ari woke to a gentle humming. Her eyes were closed and for a moment she wondered if she really wanted to open them. The warm darkness encasing her was soothing, and she was afraid that if she opened her eyes she would be back in the Ancients castle, bound in her prison cell.
“Ari? Ari are you alright? Can you hear me?”
She heard her name whispered and stirred. She could tell that it was Ragon who spoke, and that he was hovering just above her.
“Ragon,” she breathed, letting her eyelids flutter open.
Bright swirls of colour blurred in front of her, as if she were looking through a kaleidoscope. Instinctively her eyes narrowed, as she tried to focus on the moving objects in her field of vision. A man’s face was staring down at her, beautiful and yet sad. Blinking a few times, Ari smiled; it was Ragon, no longer deathly pale and bleeding, but shiny and new, his marble skin flawless and his emerald eyes sparkling. God he was gorgeous.
“Ari thank God,” he said.
All of her extremities were numb, and with a pang of horror she realised that she couldn’t feel her toes or fingers.
“Why… why can’t I…” she began to say, but stopped when she looked around and realised that she was lying in a bed. “What’s going on? It feels as if I have pins and needles, but-”
“Shh,” said Ragon, his voice calm. “You’re safe now. We’re on my jet; we’re heading back to England; Bert picked us up a few hours ago from the Latvian airport. The Ancients must have used that wraith to teleport us to their castle. After… after you passed out, I took you to a hospital and they gave you a blood transfusion. The doctors said that you would feel faint for a little while; that’s why you have pins and needles… you lost a lot of blood.”
Looking around, Ari realised that they were indeed on Ragon’s jet. She was lying in one of the lush leather armchairs; the chair was vertical, and there was a thick white blanket covering her body. Ari’s memory stretched back to the last moments she could remember, when she had forced Ragon to drink her blood, but everything after that was a blur. For a moment she dared to wonder how long she had been unconscious for, but before she could ask this, Ragon spoke.
“You shouldn’t have done it,” he said quietly. “You shouldn’t have saved me.”
“What, why?” she struggled to whisper, realising just how tired she felt, as if at any moment she might drift back into unconsciousness.
Ragon shook his head.
“Look at me,” she said, and perhaps Ragon was shocked, because immediately his eyes locked onto hers. “What’s wrong? Why are you saying that? We’re alive!”
Ari’s thoughts drifted back to the horrible things Ragon had said to her; that he didn’t love her; that he didn’t want to spend eternity with her, but that couldn’t be true. He had just said that because he didn’t want her to die… hadn’t he?
Ragon didn’t answer right away; their eyes had remained fixed onto each other’s and Ari stared up hopefully at him, desperate for him to tell her that he loved her.
“You don’t understand,” he said, and his voice was icy and cold, devoid of all emotion; just as it had been when they first met.
“Well maybe if you explain it to me. Ragon you’re starting to scare me.”
“You wouldn’t-” Ragon began to say, but Ari sat bolt upright, her eyes ablaze when she yelled, “-don’t tell me I wouldn’t understand.”
Immediately she regretted her action. Her head spun and she clasped a hand to her face, as if hoping to steady herself but couldn’t. Her centre of gravity felt wrong, as if it had been altered, and soon Ari felt herself falling; whether this was from being 20 000 feet up in the air, or her recent loss of blood, she didn’t know. Ragon was at her side in an instant, gently laying her back against the make shift bed. It was then, as she stared up dreamily at Ragon, that she realised how retched he look, almost self-loathing.
“Please,” she said, “just tell me what you mean.”
“You shouldn’t have to fear the person you love,” he said slowly, placing a wayward lock of her dark hair behind her ear.
“Fear you? I don’t fear you.”
“When we were back in Australia and the sun stole my resolve and I bit you, I watched the way your eyes changed. For twenty years I remained close by to keep you safe, promising myself that it was ok as long as no harm came to you, and after only a single night in my care, it was me who hurt you. All that time… I didn’t want to push you away, but I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing myself as a monster in your eyes.”
“You really think that?” she said, and she was glad that finally she understood; Ragon was afraid that because he had bitten her, because he had chosen to do it, that she would think he was a monster. “Nothing would ever-”
“-don’t lie to me Ariana,” he said, his hand jerking away from her.
“Why are you being so stupid? Do you honestly expect me to believe that if I were dying, you wouldn’t do everything in your power to keep me alive? That’s why you said what you did, when you were trying to get me to join the Ancients… isn’t it? That why you told me that you didn’t love me.”
Ragon looked down at her sharply, as if her words angered him and said, “I had to.”
“Exactly! I know how much it would have hurt you to say that, knowing that it would be the last thing you would say to me. You were prepared to let me think that everything we have shared meant nothing to you. So why shouldn’t I be expected to do the same? Do you think that your love is stronger than mine? That’s not fair; just because you have lived longer. You lied about your feelings to try and get me to stay with the Ancients and live, and I let you bite me because you were dying; it doesn’t matter what it is… you do what you have to for the people you love.”
“You really don’t see anything different when you look at me?” he asked, almost desperate for Ari to look past his eyes and into his soul, as if her assurance might save him from damnation.
“You want to know what I see?” she said, her trembling hand reaching out to cup Ragon’s face. “I see the man that I’m in love with; the man who has risked everything to keep me safe.”
Ragon’s eyes widened. He was searching Ari’s eyes, looking into them so deeply, almost desperately, as he checked to make sure there was no deceit in her words. But Ari simply smiled up at him. She was not lying; she felt no fear. She loved him too much for any of that nonsense.
“And,” she went on, taking advantage of Ragon’s silence, “don’t you ever say that we aren’t soul mates. You are stuck with me whether you like it or not!”
Ragon smiled then laughed.
“You are the most stubborn, head strong, persistent… God what else means all of those things?”
“Determined?” Ari suggested.
“Yes all of that. But you’re right… I do love you.”
Chapter 16 – Sorry
Only three coven members, Clyde, Ryder and Patrick, were waiting when Ragon and Ari exited the barge at the Isle of Man; they were all standing like statues, unblinking and unmoving as they watched Ari and Ragon walk along the dock. As always the weather was miserable; small speckles of rain splattered down on them as they waited, so that when Ragon and Ari finally reached them, the others were heavily soaked. Iridescent droplets of water had gathered on their abnormally hard faces, giving them the appearance of windows in the rain.
“Did you miss me muffin?” asked Ryder, racing up to her so as to pinch her cheeks hard, “oh, I just want to make out with you I’m so happy.”
“Let’s not get too carried away,” said Patrick, sweeping over to Ryder and linking elbows with him. He then smiled at Ari and said, “Well, I am glad to see you in one piece.”
At these wo
rds Ragon had growled but Clyde moved over to Ari and hugged her quickly saying, “As opposed to pieces. What the hell happened? We got Ragon’s message that you were back but you didn’t mention anything about why you vanished for a few days.”
“I didn’t want to risk sending it in a text or talking over the phone. It’s a long story,” said Ragon.
“Well, I’m all ears,” said Clyde.
“I think it best we go somewhere private to discuss it; where are Thomas and Sandra?” asked Ragon.
Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) Page 25
