“Just take me to my brother.”
Draven sighed and led her on in silence. When they stopped in front of her brother’s apartment door, he looked again at her with pleading eyes. She rolled hers in response before banging on the door.
“Sis, good to see you’re awake. I was about to come check on you—” Thomas began, standing in the doorway, before Zarah interrupted him.
“Let’s cut the chat, okay?” she snapped and then aimed the gun eye level.
Thomas took a small step back but kept his gaze steady on her, frowning.
“I thought you said you changed your mind, hmm?” A smirk began to turn up the corner of his mouth. Draven fidgeted beside her uneasily. She saw Alyssa in the dark room, staring at the scene in disbelief, but unmoving. The tension charged the air.
“Well, I lied I guess.”
Thomas stared in amused silence before shrugging. He stepped back as pushed her way into the apartment. The gun remained aimed and steady on him, her eyes never leaving his face as she walked forward.
“Close the door, Draven.” Zarah didn’t bother turning to look at him while she barked the order when they were inside. She could hear him moving slowly, wary of her actions. He followed her command and then took a stance off to the side in a corner.
“Are you ready, Thomas?” Her eyebrows rose and a small teasing smile on her face matched his.
“Or are you going to try and delay me?”
Her eyes flitted over to Alyssa. The Rogue woman was standing at the back of the room near a desk, eyes filled with tears, but she remained still. Zarah didn’t worry about her coming into a fight. Alyssa knew this was between brother and sister to resolve only.
“I’ve always been ready, little sister. I told you that when the time came, I looked forward to dying by your hand.”
Zarah’s jaw clenched. Of course he was. She knew the truth. She’d learned enough from Nathanial. The ambush. His turning. It had all been a set-up because Thomas knew what she was all along. He knew turning her would trigger her gene, bringing her immunity and Fallen power out full-force. The more memories flooded her of the night he had turned her Rogue, the more she started understanding. Yes, he had been smiling that night when he’d closed her in the dark, and at that time it had seemed malicious, but then she recalled his eyes—cold, deep burgundy eyes that carried the weight of a heavy apology and intense sorrow. Zarah couldn’t get the memory from her mind, and even with him standing before her then, his eyes still shone with the same sad intensity despite the playful smile on his face.
“Don’t do this, Zarah,” Draven’s voice cut into her thoughts.
“Shut up, Draven.”
“Yes, shut it, Guardian. This is between me and my sister. We knew this was going to happen,” Thomas remarked, his eyes still steady on her.
“You have no idea,” she started, stepping closer and closer until she touched the gun to his chest. If she really wanted to threaten him, she’d have held it to his temple, but she had other plans. He wasn’t suspicious in the least.
“You have no idea how much hell I went through because of you.”
Her voice was a low whisper and tears were beginning to sting at the corners of her eyes as she struggled for the words. No, she wouldn’t forgive easily. But she would try, and she would save him. Besides, she needed him more than ever now.
“Zarah…I know. And I can’t emphasize how sorry I am. Of course, that won’t save me. I don’t deserve to be, anyway. I want you to kill me. Do it. Quit stalling.”
Suddenly she smiled, brilliantly bright. With a flash, she brought the gun down and fired, grazing her brother’s foot. He screamed out a curse and leapt backwards with a limp.
“What the hell? I meant quickly! Not torture!” he yelled, reaching for his bleeding foot while he collapsed into a nearby chair.
“I’m not going to kill you, Thomas,” Zarah said softly, setting the gun down on the table. Everyone in the room looked at her incredulously.
“So, you just shot me in the foot for sport?”
“Mostly.”
Thomas growled and shook his head in disbelief.
“Actually,” she started, “I shot you in the foot so you’d not only sit there with what I’m about to make you do, but so that you have some silver poisoning slowly beginning to form in your system and would need this either way.”
He looked confused. But Draven had worked it out, already stepping toward Zarah in shock.
“You shouldn’t have worried me like that,” Draven hissed through his teeth, causing her to let out a soft laugh.
“I’m serious, Zarah, I thought you were really going to kill him.”
She spun around to face him and narrowed her eyes.
“I thought so, too.”
Dropping the subject, she turned back to her confused brother who was still nursing his injured foot. Alyssa had finally built the courage to approach and stood beside her mate with concern.
Zarah took a fingernail and sliced a thin line across her wrist before thrusting it at Thomas.
“You’re going to feed from me. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m not killing you.”
Her brother stared at her in disbelief. She gave him an encouraging smile and pushed her wrist closer.
“If you do this, it’ll not only cure you, but then you can cure Alyssa. Yeah, we’re going to be a new race, but something tells me that it’s important, Thomas.” Zarah kept the bit about the dream of their mother to herself for the time being.
After a brief hesitation, he nodded, swallowing nervously.
“I just don’t want to hurt you…again.”
“You won’t.”
She watched him spare Alyssa a glance for reassurance. When she nodded, reaching out and taking his hand in hers, he turned back to Zarah and sighed. Bringing Alyssa’s life into it as well had helped make his mind up. Knowing Thomas could save her too was enough for him to make the decision.
“Alright.”
Zarah saw Draven step up beside her protectively as Thomas began drinking from her wrist. She knew it was taking a lot of his strength to fight his Rogue instincts from caving to the bloodlust. She remembered that dark menacing voice that once resided at the back of her own mind, enticing her to gorge until all of the blood was drained. But she knew he was a fighter. He always had been. His Fallen gene wasn’t the only thing that helped him maintain a level of control even for a Rogue; it was his own strength, too.
After a few minutes, Thomas pulled away with a gasp. The changes were already starting as she saw the exhaustion taking over when she pulled away. He swayed in the chair and clutched at his temple like Ethan had done. The small change wouldn’t take long.
“We’ll let you rest. I’ll see you later,” Zarah said, directing Draven to follow her out.
“Stay with us as long as you like. Just don’t annoy the hell out of me.”
Thomas snorted a pained chuckle.
“Yeah, right. You know I always like to annoy you, Sis.”
She smirked and continued out the door with Draven.
Thirty
“I’m glad you forgave him—” Draven started after they left the room. Relief flooded his voice and reached the growing smile on his face.
Zarah stopped and spun around so quickly that he nearly ran into her.
“I didn’t forgive him. It’ll be a long time for that process to go through. I merely just decided not to kill him.”
“Why then?”
“Why then, what?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown.
“Why did you decide not to kill him?” His smile had disappeared, replaced with an unreadable expression and stern eyes.
She swallowed and dropped her gaze. Sighing, she shrugged.
“Because he’s my brother and the only family I have left. It was only right, especially since I had a way to save him. It’s what my mother would have wanted also, I think.” Zarah’s reply was soft as she shuffled her bare fee
t back and forth on the cold hallway tiles. The new building did not have the blindingly white hallways like the underground base had. These were a more muted ivory with a blue pattern, and had a classic, yet high-cost feel.
Then after a pause, “He probably would have done the same for me if the roles had been reversed.”
“Exactly.”
“Hey, have you two been watching the news?” Seth’s voice suddenly cut through the hall, coming toward them.
Zarah turned to see the Fallen looking extremely…human. He was even wearing plaid pajama pants and a white tee. She must’ve let her confusion show because he smirked at her.
“Our wings don’t have a constant appearance, Zarah,” he said as if reading her thoughts.
Quickly shaking her head to dislodge the distraction, she laughed nervously. Of course she knew that.
“Right. I should have known. Anyways, what’s this about the news?”
“Oh, yeah, have you both been watching?” he asked again.
They both shook their heads.
“No, we had an issue to handle,” she explained.
Seth nodded slowly and then motioned for them to follow.
“I think you need to see.”
*******
When they walked into the Lounge, Zarah was surprised to see most of everyone there. She recognized Guardians that had survived the earlier attack. Jerry, Nicholas, James, Markus, and Braydon. The Fallens were there, all eight of them, including Seth, she counted. She needed to learn the others’ names still. Either way, she suddenly noticed she was the only female in the room. In all, her and Alyssa were going to be outnumbered by the testosterone. The thought didn’t affect her much. She was used to it, having been one of the only female Guardians before as well.
The room had been buzzing with conversation when they’d entered. A large screen television was switched on in the corner of the room while everyone lounged on couches and chairs. But then the silence stretched when they looked up and saw Zarah standing in the doorway.
She ignored their stares and instead focused on the news. There was an image coming across the screen, constantly being repeated. The United States Capital was facing a lot of panicked humans. There were protestors waving signs pleading the President to “flush-out” the vamps before they take over, people attacking others if they looked like a vampire. Which, of course, was often wrong because the people getting attacked were only defenseless humans that liked the darker fashions.
In twenty-four hours, everything had already become an uproar.
She could feel both Draven and Seth watching her intently. It made her uncomfortable to be under their gaze.
“We can’t allow Vampires to live in this world! Haven’t you read anything in the last hundred and fifty years? They’ll enslave us!” One citizen shouted into a reporter’s microphone.
“Is this news only spread in America?”
She started to suggest packing it up and leaving the country, but frowned knowing how ridiculous it sounded. Even if it wasn’t world-wide yet, it would be a matter of a few more hours before it was.
“It’s already breaking international news organizations,” Seth replied, changing the channel on the television. Then she saw women crying in a panic, and men screaming curses in Spanish when she realized that Seth had put it on a foreign station. They were showing images of citizens in Spain. Zarah shook her head in disbelief.
“What about you guys? Were you seen?” She was frowning at Seth, then directed her glare around the room at the group of Fallen residing with them. He shook his head with a sly smile.
“I guess we were lucky.” She heard the mocking tone in his deep voice. There was an unusual accent there she hadn’t heard before.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Her arms crossed over chest in annoyance.
“Zarah,” Jerry cut in, standing from his seat and stepping forward. She turned and looked at the Guardian to see his eyes were full of determination and admiration. Suddenly, the others were standing, too. In any other situation, she would have felt nervous, but when she looked around at the Guardians, all she saw were pride and respect.
“We heard you can create a new race of Vampires—ones with a special power like you and Draven,” Jerry continued. She stared silently at him, waiting for the sneers or the disgust, but it never came.
“Yes.”
“Change us.”
She looked at them in shock.
“Do you even know what you’re asking?”
“We know exactly what we’re asking. We’re asking for you to change us. Make us a part of a new race. The world is about to drastically change. There’s most likely going to be some very dark times ahead. War. Let’s start building our own army. We want you to lead us.”
She sucked in a deep breath and looked around at the guys. Catching Seth’s gaze, she was slightly relieved to see the Fallen not seeming affected by the Guardians so open by her changing them. She remembered their reaction to her when they first picked her up at the base. Turning to Draven, he nodded his encouragement but remained silent.
“Alright,” she finally said.
Her eyes strayed back to the television and there she saw the aerial video clips of their fighting at the base, occasionally being zoomed in on a Rogue whenever one hissed and bared its elongated fangs. Those were the images the humans were being shown. They were spared from the truth—they wouldn’t know the amount of countless hours spent that Guardians and other Vampires had always protected humans. She could still remember her years of training before being brought onto the team and how important it was to always maintain the attitude that humans should be helped, not harmed. They could work in peace together secretly but with the impending future, Zarah knew it was no longer going to be possible. There were going to be too many stereotypes and too many Vampires who wanted the opportunity for superiority.
“For now, let’s just party like it’s the end of the world,” a voice came from the doorway.
Everyone turned to see Thomas and Alyssa standing there. Zarah noticed the amused smirk on his face before she saw his eyes. The old, red rabid color was gone, replaced with a mix of amber and gold. Her brother was back. She almost laughed out loud when seeing the others’ stunned expressions. Draven did laugh beside her causing warmth to blossom in her chest.
“I do believe it may already be the end of the world, Thomas,” Zarah said sarcastically, returning his smirk.
Epilogue
As Thomas had announced, there’d been a party. Perhaps not really much of one, but they all let loose for a while at least trying to forget the current worries. They waited until the next night to gather up again so everyone could catch up on rest, and Zarah could get a shower and a change of clothes.
The news was switched off. Instead, someone turned on a stereo and began blasting music—some of Zarah’s favorite heavy rock bands—as everyone began taking turns playing each other against various games of pool or foosball. A couple of the guys pulled out a game console. The noise and laughter that echoed around the room made her smile when she entered.
No one talked about the issues they were going to have to worry about soon. They were talking about anything and everything else. The windows opened as night rose and she enjoyed the view over the city. Apparently the new Compound was its own building, seven stories high, where most of their activity and living quarters were on the top floor.
Draven was distant from her again. In a way, it bothered her. Hurt. Over the past couple of months, she knew she had developed feelings for him. She would have to clamp them down so she could focus on the coming work ahead of them.
She had to take a break from the crowd so she stepped onto the adjoining balcony from the Lounge. The wind outside was cold, but the chill didn’t affect her. Zarah ran her hands along the balcony railing, looking down at the passing humans on the street.
“You look like your mother. I don’t think I’ve managed to say that to you yet.” Seth’s voice carried to her f
rom the doorway.
Zarah turned and saw him stepping up beside her, looking out over the city and not at her. His face showed no signs of emotions. His strawberry-blonde hair ruffled lightly against the night breeze and she surprisingly picked up a scent. Seth smelled like vanilla.
“Thank you.” Her words came out quiet, a bit unnerved from his comment. He nodded and then turned his heavy gaze, his eyes darker amber than before, on her as if he waited for her to continue. She swallowed nervously.
“How did you know her, anyway?”
“She was an Exiled One. She saved me once.”
She nodded as if she understood but didn’t ask him to elaborate the story. Maybe he would tell her more one day. He didn’t seem much up to telling her more than that then.
Zarah turned away from the city view and looked back into the Lounge at everyone. She stared at Draven for a long time in silence. Her mother had told her to start looking into Draven’s past. Was that a good or bad thing? What would she find if she started digging around? And should she go to him about it at all? Questions seemed to nag at her a lot recently that she was struggling to find answers to.
“I talked to her in a dream. My mother. Does that sound crazy?” she asked Seth.
“No. She is still a part of the spirit world. Kathleen needed to reach you, so I believe that she would have found a way.”
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