by G. K. DeRosa
Celeste went straight for the Queen, fiercely swinging her sword at any of the guards who stood in her way. Elsbetta and Astrid stood huddled in a corner, surrounded by a troupe of spear-wielding sentinels. Marco saw Celeste heading toward them and darted behind her, picking up the iron door handle from the floor which had broken off when the door was ripped off its hinges. Using it as a makeshift weapon, he bashed it into the head of the nearest guard who immediately crumpled to the ground.
Suddenly four more guards appeared with Brian, Marie and Brennan shackled in tow. Nico was the first to catch sight of them and lunged at the newly arrived backup. Taking advantage of the distraction, Brennan transformed into a wolf and slipped easily out of his restraints. He dashed off into the dungeon, growling and biting as he made his way through the jumbled royal guard.
“Celeste! Behind you!” shouted Roman as a spear whizzed by her and grazed her arm. He sprang from across the room to take on the burly guard, tackling him to the ground and snapping his neck in one fluid movement. Roman jumped back onto his feet and wrapped his arms around Celeste. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly, as she examined the minor cut on her arm. “Thank you, as usual.”
“I’ll never stop protecting you,” he said with a smile as he swiftly brushed his lips against her forehead. He pulled away, turning back to the fight, but she grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Wait! The Queen has the immortality-stripping potion. She wants to use it to kill you and Nico. And Alek…” Celeste spun around in a circle, suddenly noticing that Alek was nowhere in sight.
“Alek is here?” asked Roman.
“Yes, he came just before you guys got here.” She scanned the room again but with all the fighting going on, she couldn’t find him anywhere. “Please be careful,” she said. “We have no idea what effect that potion could have on you and Nico.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure not to drink anything black that comes out of a small vial,” he said with a sarcastic smile.
Celeste shot him a grin in return and turned in the direction she had last seen the Queen and Astrid. She found them a few feet away from that spot, huddled in a dark recess. The Queen was spinning powerful tornados and sending them twisting through the dungeon. Bodies were flying in every direction. Astrid stood beside her mother, her lips moving and a light orange glow encircled the area around them. “I’m ending this now,” said Celeste.
Roman followed her gaze and sprinted behind her as she took off toward the royal Fae. Between the two of them, they quickly dispatched the massive guards surrounding the Queen and Astrid. After a few slashes of the Wilder sword and Roman’s deadly fangs, there was no one left between them and the Fae monarchs. Astrid continued her mumbling as they neared and Celeste felt the distinct signature of magic. She reached out with her sword to poke at the orange-hued circle around them. She quickly discovered that Astrid had succeeded in enclosing herself and her mother in a protective bubble.
“You’re such a coward Astrid!” shouted Celeste. “You let others do all the dirty work for you and you hide behind magic.”
Astrid glared back at her with venom on her lips. “How else do you think I’ve survived for nearly a hundred years? People are weak and stupid and if I can manipulate them for my own means, why shouldn’t I?”
Celeste could feel the rage building inside of her like a boiling geyser gaining in intensity. “You killed my dad and now you’re going to die!” A slow tremor began from the depths of her stomach and grew in intensity, pushing itself outward from the tips of her fingers to the bottom of her toes. A bright blue light exploded from her outstretched hand, encircling the small orange bubble and consuming it instantaneously. Astrid’s eyes widened in shock as the magic around her disappeared and seconds later the blade of Celeste’s sword plunged into her exposed belly sending her buckling to the floor.
The Queen shrieked and hurled herself on top of Celeste but Roman was much too quick, pummeling into her and knocking her flat on her back. As he pushed himself off of her, he felt a slight prick in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw the Queen’s hand holding the crushed vial and his own blood mixing with the black inky liquid. A triumphant smile crossed her pale face as Roman struggled to his feet.
Celeste’s eyes shot open in fear when she saw the blood trickling from the cut on his stomach and the smashed glass on the floor. “No!” she cried as she ran toward him. “Nico, help!” She wasn’t sure what adding more vampire blood to the mix would do but it was the only thing she could think of right now. Nico appeared beside her in an instant, trying desperately to make sense of the scene. “The immortality-stripping potion—it’s mixing with his blood.”
“Lie down, brother,” said Nico as he helped Roman to the floor. He bit into his own wrist and let the lifeblood flow into Roman’s open mouth.
“It’s not healing,” said Celeste, glancing down at Roman’s abdomen.
“And neither will Nico,” hissed Alek as he suddenly materialized behind him. He wrapped his arm around Nico’s neck and tugged his head back, shoving a small capsule filled with black liquid down Nico’s throat.
Nico coughed and spluttered in an attempt to regurgitate the pill, but as soon as it made contact with his tongue, the casing melted away and the black liquid burst free, filling his mouth.
Alek peered down at Roman and Nico as a victorious smile stretched across his maniacal face. The brothers were writhing and contorting on the cold stone floor as the poison worked its way through their systems. It had all happened so quickly. Celeste hadn’t been able to do anything. Now all she could do was stare, frozen in horror, as the scene unfolded before her in slow motion.
The loud rushing sounds of the whirling winds of a portal opening in the middle of the dungeon snapped Celeste back to the present. She jumped to her feet, ready to defend Roman and Nico, now barely moving, from whatever came next. To her surprise, Stellan and Lilliana emerged from the blue vortex, their eyes wide as they took in the scene before them. Celeste bit her bottom lip to keep from bursting into tears at the welcome sight. “Stellan! You have to help them,” she cried. “Alek poisoned them with the immortality-stripping potion.”
Stellan and Lilliana rushed over to Roman and Nico’s prone figures whose breathing was fading by the second. Lilliana clasped her hands together and hovered them over her sons’ heads. A faint yellow glow appeared and covered their bodies from head to toe.
“What have you done?” asked Lilliana, her eyes filled with tears as she stared up at Alek.
Celeste forced herself to look away for a moment to assess the situation around her. She hadn’t seen the others in awhile and for a moment panic gripped her as she scanned the room for Brian. Huddled in a corner, she finally recognized his figure, slumped down on the floor and leaning up against a wall with Marie pressed next to him. Brennan lay at their feet, still in wolf form and sporting bloody cuts and wounds that matted his dark fur. Brian gave her a quick thumbs up before he leaned his head back against the wall. She found Marco out of the corner of her eye as he limped toward the others, clasping a badly wounded arm. It took a second but he gave her a reassuring smile before crouching down to help Brennan.
Relieved that all of her friends had survived, Celeste focused her attention back to Roman and Nico and felt a figure looming over her. From the corner of her eye, she recognized the Queen’s snow-white hair dangling over her shoulders. Without even bothering to turn around, Celeste picked up the sword that had landed behind her during the struggle. With one quick thrust powered solely by magic and rage, Celeste buried it into the Queen’s chest.
The Queen gasped as the blade sunk deeper into her lungs, filling them with her own blood as she began to choke. Alek averted his gaze from his brothers when he heard the wheezing sounds and ran to his surrogate mother’s side. Celeste still hadn’t moved. She was feeling slightly alarmed by the magnitude of her power. Somehow she had managed to stab the Queen without lifting a finger. She watched as
Alek knelt down beside Elsbetta and clasped her hand tightly as she sucked in her last breath of air.
Celeste spun toward the two of them and a triumphant sneer crossed her face. “You’re not the only one who can destroy lives,” she hissed at Alek then turned her attention back to the brothers. It was clear that Fabian’s dark magic was coming undone with the potion and without that Roman and Nico’s human bodies were dying. Lilliana had gone deathly pale, but still she continued whispering over her sons’ heads.
“Lilliana, you must stop,” said Stellan, putting his hand on her arm. “This is going to kill you and we don’t even know if it’s helping.”
She yanked her arm away and glared at Stellan, never stopping the incantation. Alek got back on his feet and moved toward the circle around Roman and Nico.
“Stay away from them!” yelled Celeste.
Lilliana opened an eye and peered up at her son, her blue eyes filled with sorrow. “Help me. You’re the only one that can stabilize Fabian’s dark magic.”
Alek shook his head and took a step back.
“Help me now!” she shouted and snatched hold of his hand, dragging him closer. The moment their hands touched a bright flash ignited between them and they were both encased by a golden glow. The intense light stretched outward from them and encircled Roman and Nico’s lifeless bodies.
“Celeste, the ring!” cried Lilliana, extending her arm. “Take my hand, quickly.”
Celeste reached for Lilliana’s hand, noting that the immediate chill she felt at the touch of her cold skin was replaced by a surge of warmth emanating from the golden glow that now encompassed her too. She had never felt such powerful magic before and it flowed through her like a waterfall so intense that she was sure she would get swallowed up in it. This was without a doubt the almighty power of the Albsurori and Negrusurori covens combined.
Partially blinded by the intense glow, Celeste hazarded a glance down at Roman and Nico and couldn’t believe what she saw. The color had returned to their faces, the deathly pallor that had covered them only moments ago had all but vanished. She stared more closely at Roman and could detect a faint rise and fall of his chest. She turned to Nico and noticed that his eyes were beginning to flutter. Lilliana, too, had detected the changes and a small smile crossed her weary face. She let go of Celeste’s and Alek’s hands and her serene blue eyes rolled back into her head as she collapsed onto the cold stone floor.
Chapter 26
Nico laid Lilliana’s limp body on the couch in Stellan’s living room as they all gathered around her in silence. Her once vibrant blue eyes were closed, but a faint heartbeat still pulsed through her languid form. Alek and Stellan had attempted everything in their power to save her, but their last minute attempts had proven futile. It was time for them to say goodbye.
Celeste glanced around at the somber faces around the couch and her heart hurt. She even felt a slight stab of pity for Alek as she searched his dark eyes so full of pain and human emotion, something she was sure he had never experienced in his life. Nico was bent over his mother, whispering in her ear as he caressed her pale cheek. Roman looked on with his mouth drawn in a tight line. He knelt down next to Lilliana and took her cold hand, attempting to warm it up in his own.
All of a sudden, her eyes fluttered open and a faint smile crossed her face. “My boys,” she whispered.
“We’re here mother,” said Nico, his voice rough with emotion. “You’re going to be okay.”
“No, I’m not,” she murmured ruefully, “but that doesn’t matter as long as you are safe.”
She lifted her gaze toward Alek who was hovering awkwardly behind Roman and Nico. “Aleksander, please come here.”
Roman and Nico’s faces tensed. The only reason they had allowed him to be here at all was in hopes that he could have somehow saved their mother—which he hadn’t.
Alek took a step toward her, his eyes red and his face blotchy as tears streamed down his cheeks. He swiped them away angrily and bent down toward his mother. “I’m here,” he said through gritted teeth, taking her other hand.
“Alek, you must make a promise to me right, now before I die,” she whispered. “You have to swear that you will never again try to harm your brothers in any way. Roman and Nico are human now as they were always meant to be. If you do this for me, I will forgive you for everything you have done in the past, as will they.”
Roman and Nico exchanged skeptical glances, but the look on their mother’s face was so pure and resolute that they could do nothing but nod in agreement.
Alek lowered his gaze to the floor as a swell of emotions raged through him, most of which were completely foreign to him. He wanted nothing more than to have his mother’s love and acceptance, and apparently he could finally have that, but it meant putting an end to a lifelong desire for revenge. He looked up at Lilliana just as her eyes began to close. “No, wait!” he cried, shaking her hand. “I swear it, Mother. I will never hurt Roman or Nico as long as you forgive me.”
Lilliana opened her eyes just a crack, her cool blue irises as tranquil as the sea after a storm. “Thank you,” she murmured. Then she glanced up at her sons, gazing at each, one by one, as if she were memorizing their features for the last time. “I love you.” Her eyes closed slowly and she drifted off to a sleep from which she would never again awaken.
Celeste knocked softly on the door of her old bedroom at Stellan’s. It was nearly midnight and she was exhausted, but she hadn’t wanted to disturb Roman. He and Nico had retreated hours ago into separate bedrooms as Stellan made arrangements for the consecration and burial of Lilliana’s body. The Albsurori coven had a very specific ritual that had to be followed, and he had immediately taken her to the compound to initiate preparations with Marja.
“Come in,” came a rough voice from inside.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to bother you,” she said as she laid eyes on Roman who was stretched across the bed staring blankly at the ceiling. “I wanted to see how you were doing and grab my toothbrush from my duffel bag.”
“Sure,” he muttered.
She walked in and headed toward the closet, but the look of agony on Roman’s face was just too much for her to ignore. She turned on her heel and sat down on the bed beside him. She was silent for a while not knowing how to put her feelings into words. She knew perfectly well what it felt like to lose a parent, but not the same one twice. And since Lilliana had given her life to save him and Nico, Celeste couldn’t imagine how much guilt must come along with that realization. Words just didn’t seem to cut it, so she decided instead to cuddle up next to him. Placing her head in the crook of his shoulder and chest, she stretched her arm across his body and held him close. He didn’t say a word, but a silent tear rolled down his cheek and he closed his eyes, his breathing calm and steady.
The following morning Celeste awoke in the exact same position that she had fallen asleep in. Roman was still asleep and an almost serene expression covered his face. She watched him for a few minutes, noting the steady rise and fall of his chest and the way his lips moved ever so slightly as the air went in and out of his mouth. His black t-shirt had scrunched up in his sleep to reveal his abdomen and a small scar from where the shards of the glass vial had punctured his previously perfect skin. With everything that had happened, she hadn’t had time to really get her head around the fact that Roman was human now. He would no longer have super strength, vamp-speed or superhuman hearing and he wouldn’t be able to heal himself either. As all of these thoughts ran through her mind, she heard footsteps out in the corridor. She didn’t want whoever it was to wake Roman so she quietly got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. Finding Alek on the other side of it was a complete surprise.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I came back because there’s something you need to know,” he replied. He looked to be in a much worse state than Roman. His eyes were bloodshot with dark bags encircling them and his face was swollen, red and splotchy. She doubted th
at Alek had ever cried a day in his life and perhaps he had made up for it all in one night.
Celeste stepped through the doorway and shut it quietly behind her. She walked with Alek through the corridor and down the spiral staircase to the living room. “What did you want to tell me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive stance.
“It’s about Dante…and others,” he muttered. Celeste’s eyes perked up, her interest piqued. “I promised my mother I wouldn’t ever try to hurt my brothers again, and I vow to uphold that. I thought you should know that there are others who are more than willing to take up where I left off.”
Celeste’s throat tightened. “Dante wants to kill them?” she forced out of her mouth.
He shook his head. “No, but his best friend Gianpaolo Caccia does. He’s been whispering in his ear for awhile now on my behalf.”
“Why?” she asked, not willing to believe what he was saying. She knew Marco’s dad was sneaky, but to be working with Alek? That was much more devious than she had ever expected.
“It’s because of you, of course. He wants them out of the way so that you’ll marry his son without any interference.”