by L.H. Cosway
But I don’t know why I’m even bothering theorising about all of this. I should be spending my time worrying for my own life and for Ethan’s, because let’s face it, we are the weakest of the three opposing teams on this roof. After using so much of my magic tonight, I feel drained. I wish I could somehow fill it back up, but something tells me it’ll take time to restore itself. Sort of like when you lose blood and it takes a while for your body to recuperate.
Thinking this, my thoughts fall on my blood and all of the power it can give to a vampire if ingested, or a witch if used in a spell, which makes me wish I could somehow wield that power myself. If only I knew more about spells then maybe I could cut myself right here and now and cast one to get me out of this mess. The problem is, Rita had only ever gotten around to teaching me the basics. I don’t know any spells powerful enough to help me in this situation.
Frustration consumes me as my attention returns to Whitfield and Theodore, who now have both their heads drawn close, most likely throwing together some dastardly plan or other. I’m practically shaking with fear as I see my death coming for me. Whitfield was right when he said it was in the air, because I’m as good as dead now. Seeing how I’m shaking, Ethan takes my hand into his to calm me. I look up into his beautiful eyes as he stares down at me, his expression full of affection and grief. He knows it too, knows that the both of us are done for.
Closing my eyes to stop myself from crying, I turn into him and rest my head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat drum a rhythm so different to my own. I think of Ethan’s physical strength and how powerful he has always seemed to me. I guess no matter how strong you are, there’s always someone out there who’s stronger.
As I’m thinking this, the strangest thing happens; the book opens in my head again. I say strange, because the book normally only comes to me when I’m determined to get past some barrier, but right now I’m not determined, I’m resigned to my fate.
The pages flick more slowly this time, before landing on a page titled, “The Mythology of the Ultimate Power Blood”, which contains all of the known facts about what my blood can do. I don’t get why it’s showing me all this, because I know everything that’s written down on the page already.
I know my blood can transform a vampire into something new and unbreakable. I saw it with my own two eyes when Eliza drank from me right before I staked her. I almost get annoyed at the book for showing me this page, because it’s like it’s rubbing my own weakness to vampires in my face. But then I realise that’s not what it’s doing at all. It’s trying to remind me. Remind me that my blood can make vampires immortal, can transform them into a being that’s indestructible, something with a strength that has never before been matched.
I pull my face from Ethan’s chest and look up at him again, everything falling into place. We can get out of this. Theodore and Whitfield may have joined forces, but would their combined strength be enough to rival that of Ethan when transformed?
Preventing myself from hashing over the idea for a second longer, I whisper to him, “Bite me.”
His eyes flicker at my words, and he appears taken aback. “Did I just hear you right?” he asks, whispering too.
“It’s the only way we’re getting out of this,” I tell him urgently.
His hand comes up to caress my face. “Do you know, I never even considered…” he trails off, hunger blazing in his eyes as thoughts of drinking from me take him over.
I glance quickly back at Rita, but her attention is caught on one of Whitfield’s men, who looks like he’s struggling not to faint under the force of her magic. Theodore and Whitfield are still talking, not paying us any heed. This is our only chance.
Ethan pulls me close, brushing my short hair away from my neck. “Are you sure?” he asks. “If I do this, it will change everything.”
“Look around you, Ethan. The city has gone to ruin. Everything is changed already.”
He fingers my throat with one hand, the other gripping me firmly by the hip. I can’t keep my eyes from his mouth as his fangs descend; I’m mesmerised by how sharp they are. They shine in the darkness. I swallow hard and my body comes alive. I’ve always feared being bitten by a vampire, but in this moment I welcome it. With every fibre of my being, I want Ethan to drink from me. I want to feel his fangs cut into my skin and his mouth suck the blood from my veins. I want to see him take a part of me inside of him so that we are bonded forever.
He kisses me then, just lightly on the lips, but because his fangs are out he nicks me. I feel a tiny trickle of my blood run down my mouth and Ethan kisses me harder as he licks it away. His body gives a powerful shudder and his mouth pulls away from mine. He gazes down at me and I’m vaguely aware of the fact that this is the last time I’ll ever see him as the Ethan I know. Once this is over I don’t know what or who he’ll be. All I know is that doing this is our only hope of survival.
He leans down to me, scraping his fangs along my earlobe, and breathes out those three little words, “I love you.”
I don’t even realise I’m saying it when my mouth moves of its own volition. “I love you too.”
With that, his mouth moves to my neck, and I’m practically shaking with the anticipation of his bite. He sucks on my skin, and between one second and the next his fangs clamp down on me. My eyes close and I fall limp in his arms.
Every moment we’ve spent together since we met over two years ago flashes rapidly through my mind. I feel myself slipping, losing something I didn’t know I had in the first place, and then his mouth is off me and I slide to the ground. With my hands braced against the cold, hard concrete of the roof, I stare up at him as his eyes and skin turn silver, just like Eliza’s had. His body seems to be hardening, his skin resembling flawless marble even more so. It all happens so quickly and then the silver dies down. His skin returns to its normal colour, however his dark blue eyes are now edged in silver.
Rita is the first to notice that Ethan has changed. She aims her palms at him now, instead of Whitfield’s men, but her black magic only seems to bounce off him, causing no harm at all. She makes an angry noise at this, which draws Theodore’s attention. His black eyes flicker over us, and within seconds he seems to have deducted what has happened. Instead of his usual confident expression, his pale face suddenly seems even more colourless.
“No…” he whispers, his voice filled with dread as he takes in Ethan’s transformation.
In the blink of an eye Ethan zooms to Whitfield, takes the vampire governor’s head in his hands and pulls it straight off his shoulders. He holds the bodiless head in his grip for only a second before tossing it over the edge of the building. His new eyes gleam at Theodore, as he takes a step toward the sorcerer. Undiluted fear seeps from Theodore’s features as he backs away, and before I can blink he and Rita have disappeared in the same way that they arrived, in a cloud of purple smoke.
My little human heart beats in my chest as I watch the other vampires sink to their knees at the sight of Ethan. My body feels so weak from blood loss that I can hardly move. I manage to gather just enough strength to crawl half a foot to the edge of the roof. Ethan gazes at me only for a moment. It seems like he’s trying to communicate so much in just that one glance but I can’t decipher a single ounce of it.
In quick succession he murders all five of the vampires on the roof, in the exact same way he killed Whitfield. He snuffs out their lives with not the slightest bit of effort. Then he strides to the edge of the roof, close to me but not too close. He stands right on the very precipice, his body so composed that there’s not a single possibility of him falling.
I pull myself up and look down where there are still hundreds of vampires going wild, unaware that their leader has just been decapitated. Ethan lets out an almighty roar that echoes not just throughout the street, but throughout the entire city. The vampires below instantly stop what they are doing to stare up at him in shock. Ethan roars again, his whole body pulsating with his change, with my blood running throug
h it, and the vampires fall to their knees, their heads bowed. They all recognise that Ethan is not like any vampire they have ever seen before. They also know that he is their leader now.
This thought sobers me. Whitfield and Pamphrock are no more. The two rulers who fought a war over this city have both been taken down in the same night. Theodore had always been the most powerful of the three, but even he fled when he saw the change in Ethan. This means that Tribane now belongs to the vampire standing only feet away from me, looking down upon his people and showing them that they belong to him now.
Over on the roof across from us, I see Finn and the others staring at Ethan too. They aren’t kneeling like everyone else, but they are certainly awe-struck.
Only minutes ago Ethan and I confessed our love for one another, but does that love still exist now that he is changed so irrevocably? And is it true that consuming too much of my blood not only causes a vampire to strengthen, but also to decline? I don’t know whether Ethan drank just enough to become immortal, or if he drank too much. Only time will tell.
His old self has died. He has been reborn a new vampire.
Feeling a little less weak in body, but very much weaker in my mind, I gaze again at the vampires below us, all bent over as though worshipping the one who stands above them. In this moment I can’t conceive of what the future might hold.
All I know is that things will never be the same again.
END.
The story concludes in the fourth and final book in the Ultimate Power Series
Tegan’s Power
Estimated date of Publication: December 2013.
About the Author
L.H. Cosway is a self-employed writer, editor and proofreader. She has a BA in English Literature and Greek and Roman Civilisation and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin city. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. You can follow her on twitter at twitter.com/lhcosway and you can read her blog at lhcosway.blogspot.ie. If you would like to contact her, you can do so via [email protected]. She loves to hear from readers!