Fabian turned, throwing a violent punch toward me, evidently expecting to find Julius there. I avoided it at the last second, clasping his shoulder as his eyes filled with confusion.
“What are you doing?” Fabian snarled through a mouthful of blood, shaking me off and turning back to face Magnar on the ground. His face was ashen and blood poured from his wounds in a never-ending torrent.
“Fuck. We can't do this,” I growled, wondering how the hell I was going to explain my change of heart. Even I didn't truly understand it. I pointed up at the key high above our heads. “This is another of the gods' games.”
I caught Fabian's arm as he stepped toward Magnar once more.
“Did you hit your head or something?” Fabian barked at me. “Let me finish him.”
“No,” I snarled, moving between the two of them, but Fabian wasn't backing down. “Our fight is with the gods, can't you see that?” I insisted. “All these years we've been tormented by them. We don't need to fight the slayers, we need their help.”
“What have you done!?” Julius's booming voice filled my ears.
I spotted him beyond the statue, speeding toward us. I grabbed hold of Fabian, wrestling him back as he tried to intercept him.
“Traitor,” Fabian spat at me, but I didn't let go.
Julius fell to his knees beside his brother, trembling from head to foot as he placed a hand to his neck.
“He's dead,” he gasped and Callie's scream sliced the air apart.
“No,” I snarled, shoving Fabian away from me as I moved to check Magnar myself.
I couldn't hear the beating of his heart and the reality of the situation descended on me.
Julius's dark gaze wheeled to me. “You did this.”
“I didn't,” I said and his eyes swung to Fabian who was moving toward him like a predator.
Julius rose his feet, baring his teeth as he waited for either me or Fabian to attack, lowering into a fighting stance.
“Listen to me!” I commanded, stepping between the two of them to keep them apart. Fabian growled, pushing up behind me but I didn't let him pass.
Julius's pained gaze turned to me.
“The day your father died, I was under Andvari's spell,” I explained.
“Liar!” Julius roared, lurching toward me.
I shoved his chest and he staggered back before coming at me again. I took a punch to the gut before throwing him away from me once more.
“Listen to him!” Montana called to us. “Erik's right! It's the gods who are to blame for this.”
“Someone let me out!” Callie yelled. “Let me help him, someone fucking help him!”
Fabian pushed me aside. “Fuck the gods! And fuck the slayers too. They’re all out to get us and I want to finish this now.” He launched himself at Julius and my heart turned to ice as I ran after him.
Julius caught Fabian by the waist, launching him into the air above us with colossal strength.
“Stop!” I commanded, but the slayer swung toward me and his knuckles connected with my jaw. Fabian crashed to the ground beside us, groaning as he regained his senses.
I stumbled away in fury as Julius came at me again. He couldn't hear me in his agonised state. His brother was dead so how the hell was I going to make him listen to me now?
I knew I couldn't fight back. I wouldn't kill him. We had to figure this shit out together. It didn't matter what we thought of each other. The only way we could take on the gods was if we united.
Julius threw more punches, left, right, centre. Fear grabbed me in an iron hold as Julius's rage took over his movements. He broke my jaw and I stumbled back, trying to counter his blow as they became more ferocious.
Fuck! No no no.
I parried as many as I could, backing up and guiding him toward the cage. If I couldn't talk sense into him, maybe Montana could. He smashed another crushing hit to my chest and bones shattered under the impact.
Pain burrowed through me and my wife's screams raked my eardrums. My body was healing, but not fast enough as Julius landed a kick to my shin and an ear-splitting crack sounded. Agony scorched through my body like a wildfire.
Over Julius's shoulder, I spied Fabian rising to his feet. Something glinted in his hand and a gasp escaped me as I realised what it was. My brother sped toward the cage, but Julius threw his weight at me and I was launched away from the girls.
“No!” I bellowed as he fell atop me, pressing his thumbs into my eyes.
“Your life for his, parasite,” Julius snarled and I roared in pain as my skull cracked beneath his hands.
The world was falling apart. As I tried to force Julius off of me, I knew I was done for. His combined strength and anger were overwhelming. He tore at my chest as if he wanted to dig my heart from my flesh.
Andvari's presence grew around me, tormented and furious. As his power slid into my body, my thoughts slipped away into darkness. He consumed me, took control of my limbs and forced my hand up to meet Julius's jaw. The slayer crashed into the ground with such force that a crater tore the cement apart.
I rose on sturdy legs, my body taken hostage, filled with the power of the god.
My mind angled towards one thing as hunger shredded my gut.
Blood.
Grief split me in two and carved a hole right through my chest as I stared across the broken concrete at Magnar’s body. He was so still, so pale, like everything that had made him him was just... gone. I felt like I was standing on the precipice of some dark abyss. If I moved so much as an inch I’d plunge in and fall forever more in darkness.
Montana’s arms were around me and she was whispering something but I couldn’t focus enough to hear it. I was torn between wanting the comfort of her embrace and hating her for loving one of the creatures responsible for my pain. She held me tightly and her tears fell on my bare shoulder.
My heart had stopped beating. Where it had pulsed with life just moments ago, now it was a cold, hard thing. A lifeless, joyless chasm within the centre of everything I’d thought I was.
Erik and Julius battled on and I was struck with the burning sense of how pointless all of it was. Death leading to death and on and on until none would be left standing in the end. And why? Julius would kill Erik and Fabian if he could but it wouldn’t bring Magnar back.
I’d never stand captured in his golden gaze again or feel the warmth of his touch on my skin...
Montana gasped in alarm, her hand clutching my wrist as she dragged me away from the bars. I resisted for a moment, not wanting to look away from Magnar, not wanting to abandon him when he needed me most. Except he didn’t need me anymore. There was nothing left inside the shell which used to house his soul.
My sister pulled my arm more urgently, and I forced myself to turn and see what was wrong. Fabian was racing towards us, the golden key clutched in his hand as his gaze stayed locked on me.
I stared at him for a moment and suddenly realised why Julius was still fighting. Killing them wouldn’t bring Magnar back. But it would feel really fucking good.
Fabian jammed the key into the padlock and I grabbed my sister’s arm, pushing her behind me despite the fact she’d been trying to shield me first. He wasn’t interested in her but I refused to let him near the only person I still loved in this wretched world.
Fabian ripped the gate open and stared at me like I was the only thing that existed in the entire universe.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed, hesitating on the threshold of our cage. “But he was poisoning you against me. You couldn’t accept the goddess’s gift while he still lived. But now you’re free of him. Free to give your heart to me completely.”
“How could you think I could love you now?” I hissed. “Have you been dead for so long that you’ve forgotten what it is to be alive? Killing him doesn’t just erase how I feel about him.”
“I know it hurts,” Fabian replied, feigning some sense of understanding while stepping towards me purposefully.
I started to back up, pu
shing Montana aside so that she didn’t end up penned in by him too. She resisted for a moment, clinging to my hand then suddenly released me and stepped away. I didn’t have a moment to wonder what had changed her mind as Fabian stalked closer.
“You have no idea how this feels,” I replied, my voice low with warning as he continued to close the distance between us.
My palm ached for the feeling of Fury in my grasp but I’d left the blade on the floor when I’d been holding Magnar in my arms. My gaze slipped to the golden blade as Fabian stepped over it but there was no way for me to reach it.
Montana slipped out of the cage and I hoped she had the good sense to get out of danger.
Fear spiked through me and the power of my ancestors drew closer as I opened myself to my gifts. I wouldn’t let this monster take me. I refused to bow to the pressure of the goddess as she tried to make my pulse race for him.
My gaze dropped to his muscular chest but I didn’t let Idun stoke any flames of desire in me. The only thing I saw was the blood which stained his skin. The blood of the man I loved.
My back collided with the bars behind me and Fabian stopped.
“Can’t you feel it?” he whispered, leaning in as if he wanted to kiss me.
I could sense Idun drawing closer to us, lending more of her power to the bond as heat flamed along the mark on my palm. I ached to lace my arms around this demon’s neck, to give in to the desire which fuelled his abhorrent actions. I fought against it, keeping my arms at my side and praying she didn’t take me hostage as she had at the wedding.
Fabian reached out to touch my cheek, brushing my hair aside in a gentle caress.
I recoiled, staring at him in horror. How could he think I’d want him now? He was coated in Magnar’s blood, looking at me like I was some prize he’d won. But I would never be his. I swore it on everything that I was. If I couldn’t break this bond with him then I’d end my life before I’d spend it with him.
He leaned closer and I ached to hurt him as he’d hurt me but the fucking bond wouldn’t let me raise a hand against him.
He took my inaction as an invitation and dipped his mouth towards mine.
I gritted my teeth and pressed my hand to his chest, holding him back.
My eyes fell on the mark on the back of my hand. The one I’d received when I’d taken my vow and my life had been bound to Magnar’s. The one that Julius had told me would disappear if Magnar was dead.
I inhaled sharply as my eyes flicked away from Fabian to Magnar’s body which still lay on the concrete. Relief flooded me, rocking the foundations of my soul as my broken pieces knitted themselves back together.
My heart swelled and my shattered soul was reborn in this dazzling ray of hope.
He wasn’t dead. And if he wasn’t dead then he was healing. And if he was going to have the chance to recover before Fabian figured it out too then I had to hold his attention.
I looked back up at the immortal monster who had me pinned beneath his gaze.
I could still feel the desperate ache of the partnership rune drawing me towards him and for once, I gave myself to its desires.
I slid my hand further up his chest, holding his gaze as his muscles tensed beneath my touch. His eyes filled with lust and he pressed me back, his hands gripping my waist.
I raised my other hand too, holding his face between my palms as I stared up at him and the space dividing us grew smaller and smaller.
“I knew you’d give in to it now,” Fabian groaned longingly. He lifted me into his arms, pressing me against the bars as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
My heart thundered with the promise of what I was about to do. Fabian’s mouth lifted into a triumphant smile just before he pressed his cold lips to mine.
I ignored the tremors which rocked through me as he kissed me hungrily. I could taste the iron tang of Magnar’s blood on his mouth.
My grip on his face tightened. Strength flooded into my muscles as I called on my gifts and with an almighty wrench, I twisted his head as hard as I could.
Fabian tried to push me back but he was too late. I gathered my rage, releasing a feral noise as I dug my fingers into his flesh, feeling his neck break. I growled with effort and threw every ounce of my gifted strength into forcing his neck to turn even further until with a shuddering wrench, I tore his head from his shoulders. His blood flooded over me, soaking through my white dress as I screamed my satisfaction at the stars.
His body fell to the ground beneath me and I dropped his head as I fell on top of him.
Pain clawed at my fractured soul as the bond balked against what I’d done and I was seized with the desire to place his head back upon his shoulders.
I gritted my teeth and crawled towards Fury instead, pulling the blade into my hand with a sigh of relief.
Keep faith, Sun Child.
My hand trembled violently as I touched Fury to Fabian’s heart and the blade urged me to force my arm down. But another part of me was screaming, wailing and begging me not to do it. I loved him. I hated him and I loved him and wanted him dead but his death would kill me too.
Tremors racked my body as the two desires warred inside me and I was frozen between acting on either.
A growl of anger drew my attention and I looked up as my whole world snapped back into alignment.
Magnar was beginning to move, his hand curling into a fist as he prepared to rejoin the battle taking place between Erik and his brother.
With a desperate cry, I turned from Fabian’s body and ran from the cage to the slayer who owned my heart.
We would finish this fight together.
As Fabian ran to the edge of the cage and opened the door, fear bled through me. Was he an enemy? I didn't think he'd hurt Callie, but I'd just seen him murder the man she loved and I wasn't going to let him anywhere near her.
Instead of moving into Fabian’s path, I stumbled back to the edge of the cage, my thoughts scattering. A power bled into my body, taking me prisoner and squeezing my heart.
Andvari appeared beyond the golden bars, beckoning me toward him. I wasn't sure if anyone else could see him and I couldn't turn my head to check. My limbs moved of their own accord, guided by him as I walked from the cage straight into his outstretched arms.
He caressed my back and a prickling quiet fell over me.
No, Callie. I have to help Callie!
I couldn’t do anything but stand there in the god’s icy embrace, his will dictating mine.
“How long I have waited for this,” Andvari whispered, his breath a gust of hot air that made my nose wrinkle. “Come now, Moon Child, it is time your fate was decided.”
I nodded, following in a daze as he led me toward the base of the statue. His aura filled me, possessing my body and saturating me with the strength I needed to do what he willed.
I rested my hands on the stone podium, sliding my fingers into a deep fissure caused by the battle. Erik sparked into my mind and desperation filled me as I tried to force away Andvari's urges.
I have to get to him. I have to stop this.
“Enough,” Andvari hissed. “Don't fight me.”
His strength inched deeper into my body and I dragged myself up the stone podium with impossible ease. My hands and feet were guided by the god, helping me climb higher and higher. Soon I was scaling the statue itself, finding handholds that shouldn't have existed as I managed to move up the copper structure. It was leaning precariously toward the river and I was sure one more hit would send it careering into its depths.
Fear sped through me as I once again attempted to battle away the god's hold over me. But it was like trying to force an organ from my body. He was a part of me, pushing me to my limits. I bowed to his power, unable to break free. I clawed my way up the chest of the giant woman and my hand landed on something warm.
Venom, the sword purred its name as I gripped the hilt. It was embedded in the metal, but with Andvari’s power in my veins, it came easily away. The blade tumbled to the ground
and I gasped, grabbing onto the hole it had gouged in the statue.
Two more swords penetrated the statue above me, glittering as lightning spilled through the sky.
“Please, let me down!” I screamed to Andvari, the icy wind drilling into my veins.
“Keep going,” he snarled and my legs moved under his influence, forcing me higher.
I reached for the next blade and Menace whispered its name to me, its hunger evident for the vampires below. I hoisted myself onto it and reached for the next blade further up, resting my feet precariously on Menace. As my fingers brushed the next sword, its heavy aura rubbed against me.
Tempest, it revealed reluctantly.
Menace came loose beneath my feet and I cried out as it fell. Andvari guided me and I caught hold of Tempest by the hilt. I swung madly in the frantic breeze and panic swallowed me up.
I dug my heels against the statue to brace myself, a murmur of terror escaping me.
“Up,” the god whispered and I had no choice as I dragged myself onto Tempest, my bare feet balancing on the blade. I should have been cut to ribbons but Andvari’s gifts were making my body impossibly strong. I just wished I could have used this power against him.
I ground my teeth as I rested my hands against the statue and Tempest slid free. The moment it dropped, I leapt upwards, catching a small ledge of metal and scrambling higher.
The wind whipped past me, fluttering my white dress around my ankles. My bare feet were frozen as they pressed against the copper, guiding me ever upwards.
I didn't dare look down as I continued to scale the giant statue that reached toward the endless sky.
When I made it to the shoulder of the woman, I gripped on for dear life. The structure was leaning forward, making her shoulder into a deadly slope beneath me.
“Why are you doing this?” I begged, unable to avoid looking at the nauseating view ahead. The dark river coiled toward the sea like spilled ink. The drop below me was staggering. If the god released me from his power, I'd be stuck here, clinging on at the mercy of the wind.
“Because I have been wronged deeply and I am tired of waiting for penance,” Andvari said in a gruff tone. “So I am going to start by taking it from you, Montana Ford.”
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 101
