After Twilight
Page 32
and Latore. Mom jumped into the ambulance, screaming.
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Bain and Latore were fighting in the middle of the street,
tossing each other in midair.’ Bain’s wings tore out of his
back, and he flung himself at Latore, smashing him into the
ground.
Latore got up with glowing red eyes. “I’m the one who
created you. Don’t be foolish, Bain. You know I will win.”
Bain chuckled. “And now your creation is going to kill
you!” He charged Latore again but with much more force.
Latore stopped him and slammed Bain into the ground,
cracking the pavement. Savina lifted me to her face and
hissed, showing her long white fangs.
I gasped and turned away. “You’re a damn vampire?”
Thousands of thoughts raced through my mind. I was
in shock and unable to accept the fact that they were all
vampires.
“You didn’t know?” she asked me with a confused look.
“No!” I tried to push her face away, but she was too
strong.
Another roar rattled the sky. It was much louder than
Bain’s. Something flew past us, but I couldn’t see what it was.
Savina hissed and flew higher. A loud bang shook the ground
beneath us, making the cars alarms go off. I looked down
and could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Dragos and
Bain fighting Latore.
Savina licked my neck slowly. “Do you have any last
words?”
My eyes widened. “Latore said not to kill me!”
“He’ll get over it.” She licked my neck again. “What a
waste.”
Something with large black wings grabbed her. Savina
kicked me so hard that I went flying backward, and then
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straight down.
“Son!” Sorin thundered.
As I fell to my death, I looked up at Sorin and Savina
fighting. An unknown male with a bald head caught me
before I hit the ground and flew me back up. His black eyes
met mine.
“No!” Savina shouted.
The man hissed, and his fangs tore through his gums.
“Bain!” I screamed.
The man forced my head back and bit my neck. I
grunted from the pain, and my arms fell to my sides. As he
drank my blood, the sky spun, then someone yanked me out
of the unknown man’s grip—blood squirting everywhere. I
turned to Bain and grabbed my neck, trying not to bleed out.
Bain cradled me in his arms and flew backward while keeping
his eyes on the man grabbing at his throat.
The man’s blurry eyes met mine. “Damn,” he choked,
and he ignited into flames.
Bain flew me up into the night sky and hovered. He took
my face and stared into my eyes with a worried look.
“Viata, I need you to grant me permission to take the
venom out of your blood.”
“What?” I whispered, confused.
“There’s no time. Grant me the permission, please,” he
begged.
“I allow ... I allow you ... to drink ... my blood,” I
managed to say, then my head became limp and everything
turned black.
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nable to breathe, I struggled back to
consciousness and opened my eyes to Bain
sucking the air out of my lungs. I jerked my head
away from him and gasped for air while looking at Dragos
and Sorin leaning over Bain, watching me. I threw myself off
the bed and crawled to the corner of the room. “What did
you guys do to me?”
“Viata, we’re not going to hurt you. I was taking the
poison out of your lungs.” Bain staggered toward the
window and coughed the rest up, just as he’d done before.
Dragos touched Sorin’s shoulder. “Let them be,” he
said in a thick Romanian accent. They walked out of the
room and looked back at me with a frown.
“What is that stuff? And why does Savina keep blowing
it in my face?”
“It’s called mânca, meaning eat. When you ingest it and
die, your soul will stay stationary until they come back and
retrieve it. If you don’t perish immediately, the dust will
slowly eat away your insides, starting with your brain.”
“Why do they want my soul?”
“I will tell you when you calm down.”
I exhaled and looked at the black, gothic king-size bed
with a matching chest in front of it. I didn’t know if I fell
asleep and was having another dream or what. “Where am
I?”
“You’re in my father’s room at the cabin.”
“Is Constin okay?”
“Yes, he’s fine. I was only using his body to protect you
from the others like me.”
“Why?”
“When Savina and Latore found out you were
resurrected, I had no choice but to possess Constin’s body.
If I had come to you in person, they would’ve known it was
me. This is the reason I used him as my vessel.”
“Constin was shot over a dozen times. How is he still
alive?”
“My body protected him.”
“Why was he so sick-looking when I was with him?”
Bain stepped toward me. “Because I couldn’t help but
feed on him when I possessed his body.”
I grimaced. “Stay away from me. You’re a damn vampire
like that wicked bitch Savina.”
“You have nothing to fear. We won’t hurt you.”
“We? Who’re we exactly?”
“My father, grandfather, and many others you’re not
aware of.”
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As I scooted back into the corner and placed my knees
up to my chest, I grunted from the burning pain in my wrists
and looked at the white bandages wrapped around them. I
unfolded them and saw second-degree burns. “What
happened to my wrists?”
“You burned them.”
“How did I do that?”
“I will tell you when you settle down.”
I sighed, annoyed. “How is this all possible? Am I
dreaming? Please, please, please tell me I’m dreaming.”
“No, Viata, you’re very much awake. Just like you were
when I first met you.”
I gave him a puzzled look. “If I was in my bed that night
when I passed out, then how did I get outside?”
“When I cal ed out your name, you sleepwalked outside.
This is when I flew you into the woods. You woke up shortly
after that.”
I grabbed my sore neck. “Did you bite me?”
“No, it was one of Latore’s men who bit you. Don’t you
remember?”
I thought about it. “No, I can only remember some
things.”
He sighed. “Well, he bit you, and I needed your
permission to take his venom out, or the X that still flows
through your veins would’ve ignited me just like it did with
him.”
I faced him. “What is X?”
“It’s what the gods from your realm call your blood.”
“What if you touched my blood?”
“Nothing would happen. I would have to swallow the
gold liquid for me to die.�
�
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I looked at the blue veins in my arm. “Gods have gold
blood?”
“Yes, it’s mixed in with your human blood to hide your
identity, so doctors can’t trace it.”
I gasped. “You mean to tell me that evil witch, Muma,
was telling me the truth about me being a goddess?”
He nodded.
“She told me that we shared a complicated past. What
happened?”
“I will discuss that with you later.”
“Is Muma immortal?”
“Yes.”
I lowered my head. At that moment, I was in shock and
didn’t want to accept that I was a goddess. I needed a lot
more convincing. “Who resurrected me?”
Bain reached out his hand for mine. “Come with me,
and I will tell you.”
I hesitated, took his hand, and stood. “Do my parents
know you’re all vampires?”
“No, my father took care of that.”
“How?”
He lightly traced his finger over my bottom lip. “Father
compelled everyone to think the man who killed Dr. Wells
was there trying to kill you.”
“Of course. Who killed her?”
“I won’t tell you just yet, but I can assure you it wasn’t
me.”
I paced the room. “This is way too much for me to
handle.”
“Would you like me to tell you more, or would you
rather rest first?”
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“I’m not waiting any longer.”
“Then come with me.” He took my hand and led me
into the living room where Sorin and Dragos sat on the
couch.
“It’s time,” Bain said. He led me outside and spun me
around to face him. “You trust me, right?”
“I have no choice.” I looked over at Sorin and Dragos
to my right.
Bain pulled me into him. His wings expanded, and he
wrapped them snugly around me.
“What are you doing?” My voice squeaked.
“I’m warming you up before we go,” he whispered.
Dragos and Sorin extended their black wings, and their
boots transformed into talons.
I looked down at Bain’s shoes. “Where are your talons?”
“I use them when I want.”
His talons gave me the creeps, so I was glad he decided
not to use them. “Oh.” I ran my hand across his soft wings.
“This is unbelievable.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Hold your breath.”
He shot up into the air with me like a bullet. I closed my
eyes and held my breath from the G-force until we got below
the clouds. It felt like I was on a slingshot ride at an
amusement park but much more forceful. Sorin and Dragos
flew ahead of us.
Bain lifted my legs and cradled me. Within seconds, we
were over the Atlantic, sometimes skimming the water. I
glanced at him, still in disbelief. He flew toward an isolated
island, landed on top of a rock, and set me down.
I moved the hair out of my face. “What a rush.”
Sorin and Dragos approached us.
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“We’ll be close,” Sorin said, and they walked away.
Bain took my hand and led me over to the beach. He
stopped, took a black vial out of his pocket, and took a sip.
“What is that?”
He handed it to me. “Trust me and finish it.”
“Do I have to?”
He nodded.
I placed it up to my mouth, hesitated, and took a sip of
its thick, bitter taste. “Ew, that was nasty. What was it?”
“It’s a potion Muma created so Malign and the others
can’t see or smell us.” He took the vial from me and tossed
it into the ocean.
“Why did you do that?”
“There’s none left. Come on, I must tell you everything
before the potion wears off and the sun rises.”
“How are Savina and Latore able to go into the sun but
you can’t?”
“They were immortals before Malign made them into
vampires. Only mortals who are turned into vampires will
burn.”
“That sucks.”
“We’re used to it.” Bain sat on the sand. “Sit with me,
please.”
I sat in front of him and looked at the woods behind us.
“Where are we?”
“A place where there are no other humans to feed on.”
Bain retook my hand and locked his fingers between mine.
He looked at the ocean and exhaled sharply. “This is the part
I’ve been dreading.”
“What can be that bad?”
His eyes met mine. “Your decision is what scares me.”
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“Decision?” I repeated.
He ignored me and placed his hands on each side of my
face, running his fingers through my hair until they locked
into place behind my head.
“I want you to relax and clear your mind. I’m going to
show you now.”
“How?” My voice cracked.
He kissed me softly on my lips, then placed his forehead
against mine. “Close your eyes. This is going to burn, but
whatever you do, don’t fight it.”
“Am I going to die?”
“No, but you will feel like it.”
I shut my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck,
squeezing as tightly as I could. Seconds later, Bain chanted
something in Romanian, causing me to lose control of my
thoughts. My eyes began to roll into the back of my head.
My brain felt like it was sizzling as childhood memories
flashed through my mind, spinning faster and faster until I
could feel my body shrinking in size. A sudden rush took
over me, and I experienced a womb-like warmth, then a
burst of electricity rushed through my little body, making my
heart stop briefly. I knew that was the moment I was
reincarnated.
My brain felt like it was on fire as I was being forced
back further in time. I squeezed Bain’s wrists and screamed
from the pain. Within seconds, I was in my late teens, fixing
my hair in the rustic mirror. I noticed one of the embroidered
gems were out of place on my red, velvet, medieval gown, so
I fiddled with it.
“Divinity,” a man called out.
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“I’m coming, Father.” I ran out of the room and down
a long hallway with lit torches on the stone walls. I continued
toward an open door and charged through it.
Latore and Savina were standing in front of an older
man, who was wearing a gold tunic.
I gasped. “Latore, who is this woman you brought into
our castle?”
Savina smirked at me.
Latore turned to the man. “Potent, will me over your
power, or you will die for what you have done to me.”
“Father, what is he talking about?”
Potent looked at me with fear in his gold eyes. “I will
my power over to you, Divinity. Accept it. Accept it now!”
he bellowed.
“I accept,” I yelled without hesitation.
“No!” Latore thundered. Latore reached over hi
s
shoulder, pulled out the Sicuro, and impaled my father in the
chest with it. Potent clutched the dagger and dropped to the
ground.
“Father!” I screamed and ran toward him.
Before I could reach him, Latore yanked the dagger out
of my father’s chest, took Savina’s hand, and jumped out a
closed window—glass shattering everywhere.
I knelt and took my father’s shaky hand. “Father, why
did Latore do this to you?”
Potent touched my face gently. “Latore isn’t who he
used to be. He’s one of Malign’s many creations now.
Divinity, listen. In order to gain my powers, you must get the
Sicuro back and follow the rules. After you do, you must kill
Malign and—”
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Before he could finish, his body formed into a bright
light and flew out the broken window.
“No!” I ran after the light, and the room turned into a
dark forest with me lying in the high grass, shivering.
Bain approached me. “What is your name?” he asked
me gently.
“Divinity,” I managed to say.
Bain picked me up and carried me away.
I blinked, and now Bain was kissing me in front of Bran
Castle.
“Don’t be nervous.” Bain walked me hand in hand up
the steep stairs toward it. He knocked on the tall oak door.
Sorin opened it, and Dragos was behind him. “Good
evening, Divinity, it’s an honor to meet you.” They took
turns kissing my hand.
Their faces faded as time seemed to be fast-forwarding.
I came to another stop with Bain and me getting married
inside the Black Church. I blinked again, and I saw myself
lying on a bed, covered in fresh rose petals.
“Are you certain you want to join me?” Bain asked me
tenderly.
“Yes.” I turned toward the window and looked at the
full moon.
Bain took my wrists and placed them over my head.
Seconds later, his sharp fangs grazed my neck—unsure if he
wanted to pierce it or not. I arched my back and bit my
bottom lip. Bain’s fangs punctured my neck, and he sucked
in long gulps of my blood. My nails clawed down his back
like knives as he fought the urge to drain me dry.
“Bain, please, no more.”
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