They huddled together and watched while Selwyn continued his gloating.
Keta, her face streaked with tears, looked like a lost clown because of her constant eye rubbing. She waved and tried to get Dra’s attention, but Seth grabbed her hand.
“Ssh, later kiddo. Don’t get in the middle. We should go and get out of their way,” he said, afraid of what she might witness next. He feared a worse scar than seeing Tyler.
Keta jerked away. “I’m not going anywhere. That’s Rhea. She needs us.” Cupping her mouth, she yelled, “Fight him!”
Rhea’s eyes dimmed and the light faded. She crumbled to her knees, gripped her stomach and yelped with pain. “Stop,” she breathed, “you’re distressing my baby.”
The Prince looked down on the kneeling woman and sneered.
“Children,” the Prince said slowly, “are our future and our history. In Fae, children are rare. We worship our youth because we carefully select our breeding mothers. I chose a powerful arctic fairy with whom I could weave to my life and who would produce beautiful offspring. For over four hundred years, we nurtured life, and she gave me three children. Then, when my queen bid me perform a simple task for her, something you and my progeny could have shared, you chose that moment to murder my children.”
Drahomira and Amor-el moved forward, but Selwyn stepped in Am’s way. Rhea waved off her friend and panted through her pain.
“I am grieved for your losses,” she breathed with forced calm. The fire in her eyes disappeared. “But we did not attack you.”
“Liar,” he sneered, raising his sword. “Kylee told me how you twisted the truth and the Sluagh showed me her headless body. This is how you punished her. This is your form of reason. Murder. Reason seems to be the excuse and tool of all humans. It killed my first born, Eochynell. He only wished to reconnect with his childhood friend, but you saw to it that he perished here on this blood-soaked land.”
Madness surged through Vaeryl. He swung his sword back and forth as if he marked time. Any moment he might take Rhea’s head, and she seemed impotent against his threats.
“I killed that brat,” Drahomira announced proudly and sauntered forward. “The little sea bastard dishonored your royalness, used poison, and tried to kill us. And for what? A visit with a friend? So much for family love and loyalty.” Dra laughed and let the bells echo wide and slow. “You are amusing but deluded. He didn’t even die well. He begged me for it. I cut off his head to shut him up.”
Diverted, the Prince lost control. He swung his sword wildly while he screamed his frustration and grief.
“This is your family reverence? You let this dark creature take my child? I wanted a simple thing. No death. No trouble. We fae do not seek to create violence. Only a book, proof of a prophecy, the end to an unnatural abomination of magic. It was a small offering. You are the one craving violence. I will now show you the majesty of violence, and I will have my vengeance.”
“Stop dithering and just get it over with,” Selwyn spat. “I grow tired.”
“You bastard. Remember our family. Prince, your children were my friends. Do you think I wished them dead?” Amor-el forced calm through his fear.
Rhea rocked, strength sapped. She could not fathom what was wrong with her. When she felt her babe stir, she rallied every ounce of strength. It manifested as a flash of fire rippling over her body.
“I am not magic, you fool,” Rhea snapped. “You cannot bind my magic or me. I am like you. I simply am. The Earth is my vessel, and I am hers. My son is a gift to all of us. He is part human. He could be the future that merges all us.”
“More lies. Imagine me like those dark creatures? And look at you, trembling with fear and trying to burn me. What kind of benevolence is that? Magic? I do not wish to blend our magic. I think your son must pay as my children did.”
“No, I will not allow you to harm Destin.” Fire trickled over Am’s palm, and Selwyn drew his sword.
“Look at him, Duke. There is your dark child. She corrupted him and the vampire before you is a mutation. We kill our mutant offspring before they pollute our race,” the prince sneered.
“I’ll show you a mutant,” Amor-el hissed and advanced only to have the point of Selwyn’s sword break the skin of his chest.
“Do not make me do this to you, boy. He is right. Somewhere there is an end to what the bitch did to you, to our family. Let the Prince set it right.”
“My queen released me to your world to mete justice and find answers,” Vaeryl said, and he lifted Rhea to her feet.
She swayed, blinked, but could not focus on what happened around her. Warmth trickled down her leg, and she gasped. When Selwyn’s head snapped back her way, she knew it was blood. Panic flooded her.
“What can I do to prove you wrong? How can I appease your wrath and bring us back to peace?” Rhea begged and clutched her stomach. The baby rolled and kicked her.
“Something is wrong,” Dra hissed when she smelled the blood.
“There is no appeasement, Madam. That time has passed.”
The magic consumed everything and draped over the watchers like a heavy blanket. It wasn’t spell work or herb magic. This was no rune to call shadows. This was natural magic, the way air and water are natural and real. It cleansed the air and smelled of wildflowers. This magic was elemental power and unstoppable.
“I will take what I am owed in recompense because this is my right and my queen commands it. Now, choose.” The prince pointed his sword at Destin.
“Choose?” Rhea panted. “I feel no choice.”
Vaeryl pointed to Destin. “Life or death. He comes with me, or he dies.”
“No, no!” Selwyn stepped forward and pulled Destin protectively to his side. “Our agreement, prince. At the cabin. The boy is mine.”
“Over my dead body,” Am snarled and reached for his son. Selwyn thrust his sword into Amor-el abdomen, to the stunned horror of those gathered around. The wound was extensive but not deadly and served to delay any further action from him. Am blinked and gurgled blood.
“I will kill you if I must,” Selwyn warned. “Don’t make me.”
“Papa!” Destin screamed and felt Selwyn’s finger dig into his flesh.
“Am! No, please, by all the gods, I beg you to stop,” Rhea screamed and crumpled to her knees again. Reaper used that moment to circle behind the fountain as Drahomira advanced to Am’s side. His wound was already healing, and Dra nodded to Rhea. Send me a signal.
The Prince bowed. “My apologies, Duke. I did give my word. So let it be as you will. I have other options as Destin informed me.”
“Lemme go you bastard. I thought you wanted a family. Lair! You said you wanted me to be your heir. I don’t want to. Lemme go to my Father,” Destin wriggled, but Selwyn kept his death grip on him.
“I am your father now, boy. We will be leaving.”
Just beyond the circle of people, the night popped with a green flash of magic. Reaper howled A new fairy arrived.
Everyone turned as the elf approached. The figure let himself bathe in the fountain’s light. He was beautiful with shimmering, white-blonde hair. His skin appeared almost translucent, but his eyes were the more arresting feature. Cloudy sea green colors moved and shifted like the arctic tides from where he came, eyes that pierced you with every gaze. He strode to the group’s center, arms open, palms up, and grabbed the moment.
“Father, please do not do this. There is no need to take vengeance, for see? I return, and I am with you. Let this end with me. The phoenix is magic and therefore, she is owed our protection,” the strangely familiar voice pleaded.
Reaper whined, and Dra sniffed familiar air.
“By the Beng,” Dra said in recognition.
“Ransad?” Rhea beamed with joy and tears fell at the sight of him. “Am I dreaming?”
The tall elf bowed to his father and then to Rhea before he nodded to his old friend, Jean-Louis.
“I apologize Miss Rhea. No, you do not dream. I regret to tell yo
u Master Destin will need a new tutor.”
“Rico,” Am coughed, his voice thick with his blood. “I didn’t dare hope when I found the orb, but of course, Sondra. You tried to tell me.” He stood, and his eyes widened in understanding. Before he could say anything else, the Prince interrupted.
“Son? What trickery is this? Illusion. Lie. You are not real. The Sluagh confirmed your death. You are a shadow. I will not sway from my duty. The choice is made.”
“Father, wait, I am real. See? I—” Ransad implored.
The prince moved beyond normal vision. Only another fairy or the vampires would see what happened. For the rest, Rhea’s scream curdled their blood and froze their hearts. In a flash of light first gold and then green, the prince disappeared, and he took Selwyn and Destin with him. Ransad was left standing over Rhea’s inert body.
Reaper snarled and jumped when the Prince moved. His attack did not stop their departure, but neither was he completely unsuccessful. At his feet, he dropped a pale and bloodied stump of an arm, with a hand wearing a French coat of arms.
Amor-el ran to the spot where the green lights blinked out, his vampire screams piercing and painful. Ransad stared at his old friend and then removed the orb he retrieved from the kitchen.
“Bastard!” Am yelled. “Bring him back. Destin! Oh god,” He stared into the dark where only moments ago his sire and his son stood.
“My friend, I won’t return until I have what my Father has stolen from you.” Ransad looked around the group, caught Dra’s eye long enough to nod, then popped his orb. The green light swallowed him, and he vanished.
A second later, Amor-el’s blood felt colder than death. Ethyrea. He spun around and spied her unmoving body. With a gut-wrenching moan, he hastened to his beloved’s side, falling into a pool of blood beside her. Her limp body was unresponsive, still as death, and he did not feel her heat or discern any heartbeat.
“No. Where is the wound? Rhea, open your eyes, my rose, please, hear me and open your eyes,” Am sobbed. His fingers slipped into a pool of dead blood to lift her up.
“Rhea, no goddess, no,” Victoria screamed as she ran Amor-el’s side. She covered her mouth and smothered a scream as she pointed to the blood.
“Holy Jesus,” Steel said. “Someone go back and get those ambulance people.”
Reaper howled a bone curling wild wailing. Dra stared at Rhea then pulled her hound away. She found the errant arm stump, removed the ring, then kicked the arm away.
“By the gods, the baby. He took the baby right out of her body,” Victoria’s stunned whisper stopped everyone cold.
“No way,” Keta said and gagged at the growing pool of blood. “Janice. Tye. Rhea and now the baby.” Keta hiccuped and wiped her eyes.
“It can’t survive, can it?” Seth whispered.
“Shut up. Back off. Of course, the baby can survive. It is a phoenix,” Dra snapped. They moved back not daring to disagree.
Am rocked with Rhea against him, whispering to her the entire time. He begged her to open her eyes. He smoothed her hair and gently kissed her lips, but she remained limp in his arms. The others could only watch, and even that proved extremely painful as a broken vampire sobbed against his beloved.
A large jaguar loped into the gathering. Reaper’s hackled raised. As they watched, the cat transformed and became the lovely Catarina. Once the shift completed, she knelt by Rhea’s side, assessing. The fact that she was naked bothered her not at all.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” an awed Steel whispered.
Immediately Cady gently opened Am’s arms until she could run her hands over Rhea’s body. She felt the necklaces wound around Rhea’s neck. One by one she lifted them until she suddenly pulled off the red rock and tossed it into the grass.
“That was a dragon’s bloodstone but with calcite. It drew on Rhea’s heat and nearly drained her heartfire. With her loss of blood, she may die. Without her heartfire, she will die. I can do nothing here. Does anyone have a jasper dragon stone? We need to get her to the house and get her warmed. Am, you must take her inside.”
Amor-el shook his head, bloody tears cutting lines into his smooth face. “Rhea, m’ange, wake for your Khnuman. Wake for me.”
“What is he saying? Who is Khnuman? Has he gone crazy?” Seth whispered.
“No, later.” Victoria shook her head and said to Steel, “Wasn’t that necklace the one Destin gave her?”
Steel nodded. They all watched when Destin made his presentation. Now it seemed the first betrayal was the son, just as Victoria predicted. Victoria sobbed into Steel’s shoulder. For once she hated being right.
Cooke, who hovered at the back of the crowd, quietly lifted a chain from her neck. It was smooth and uncut, but the vein of Jasper shone even in the dull light. She tossed the stone to Cady who shoved it into Rhea’s hemorrhaging belly.
“She told me it would bring me luck,” Cooke said, weeping.
“So much blood, she’s lost too much blood,” Am moaned at war with his instincts. His fangs urged him to do the unthinkable. “I’m taking her back to the house.”
Gently, oh so lovingly, he lifted his beloved and almost cheered when Rhea groaned. Alive. With all speed, he disappeared as he raced back to the mansion.
“Right behind you,” Cady said. She transformed and chased after him.
Like zombies to a feeding, everyone hurried back. Franklin caught Mace hovering on the fringe of the group and pulled him back to the house. He never said a word, like everyone else. No one spoke. What was there to say? Nothing made sense and talking about it felt disrespectful.
Dra was the last to leave. She knelt beside Reaper, both of them quivering with a desire for death and justice. She ripped off her hooded cloak and stared into the darkness.
At what point do the intersections of life and death cross? Is it an inevitable destiny waiting to come around and then it happens? Or are we thrust down a road, selecting the moment when we must choose between the two forces?
Dra rarely pondered philosophical questions of destiny and never worried whether death was right. She was death, and she dealt it when it felt necessary. But with her friend in trouble, she sensed failure and finality, feelings she never knew before this moment.
Such thoughts seemed to call the golden light that suddenly blazed by the fountain. Fearing the return of the Prince, Dra drew her glickris and felt the cold blade of her sword on her back. This time she was ready. But it wasn’t the prince, or any vampires, or even any of their friends who appeared before her.
A deep humming filled the skies overhead, the same sound heard when Drahomira chased her prey. Without thinking, Dra summoned her mists, and they answered, thankfully unfettered from the prince’s magical warding. However, she knew she did not need the oblivion. This was someone she knew well and hated. Sort of.
Drahomira shielded her eyes from the arrival’s unearthly light. The man adorned in gold and silver armor stepped out of the illumination. His carriage exuded a benevolence with a touch of arrogance. His wings were black as the surrounding night and his visage burned with an undefined and ancient aura. She was not happy to see him and tossed her glickris to prove how unwelcome she found him.
He brushed her knife from the air without a second look. She hated him.
“Hail to thee child of shadows. I bid thee Peace and hope to find thee well.”
She stared into the beatific face of Viseriel, Archangel of Death.
“No. You are too late.” Dra snapped.
“Am I?” He paused and pointed his sword into the sky. “No, there is still time.”
“The baby is gone. Where were you?”
Viseriel frowned. “I know nothing of any babe. Sadly, I am summoned for the Ancient One. I grieved for this day.”
“No,” Dra snarled. “I forbid it. You shall not. Give me one of your damn feathers. Give me one of her feathers. You must not let her go. I command you. If you love me, do not do this, angel boy. Do not make me hate you.” Her neon
eyes pleaded, hoped, dared.
Viseriel sighed heavily, removed his helmet and shook out his long hair. “Vampire, you cannot command my purpose. I regret what I must do. For over twelve millennia, the Ancient One has often walked beside me across continents and through history. She served change as much as I do. I love her as I do no other, even you. Even so, I cannot alter the divine command, dark one. You bring death. I am Death.”
“How long?” Dra whispered, shaking. “Give her some time. You owe her.”
“When dawn calls the sun on the morrow, and if her body is unchanged, I will return. There is nothing more I may do. There is nothing you may do. We must let the future unfold, Mira. Have faith. Say your farewells.”
His great wings opened with a whoosh. Effortlessly, he lifted into the night sky and disappeared.
Dra stared at the heavens for several minutes. “By the Beng, I hate you when you use that name, you know,” she said aloud. No answer came back. “Have faith,” she sneered. “As if.” She paced in silence for a few minutes. “Today and tonight,” Dra said dully to Reaper. “C’mon boy, we have to deliver the news.”
Reaper whined. She retrieved her blade, and they returned to the mansion, the place Rhea loved, a home now bathed in blood, a house marked by Death himself.
DRA FOUND THE entire ensemble gathered in the library. Franklin and Cooke wasted no time shutting off the ballroom and dining room. Cooke set out uneaten goodies in the kitchen, but no one wanted anything, despite Steel’s rumbling belly. Franklin and Victoria moved the gifts to an upstairs empty guestroom. Busy work. No one cared. Every action felt mindless and useless. All hearts beat with hope. Dra couldn’t bring herself to join them as she watched.
Keta paced by the fire and glanced at the ceiling every so often as if she could see into the rooms above.
“We’ll hear as soon as there is news, lass,” Cooke sniffed and wiped her eyes. Franklin rubbed his eyes too and helped her pass around the coffee. More busy work.
“Who is going to notify Tye’s family? Does he have a family?” Steel wondered aloud.
Keta shook her head. “They’re all dead.” She sniffed again and added, “I will miss his jokes about Jimmy Buffet.”
Love and Blood (Evening Bower Book 2) Page 27