Marked - Prophecy of Aries - Book 1

by D. N. Leo

  Ciaran drew his sword. “We can only keep one. And I chose to keep the humans.”

  “I can’t let that happen,” Alex growled.

  “Consider I have just saved your life by getting you outside Vampire City. You have talent and you can contribute…”

  “Bullshit,” Alex interrupted. “That city is my destiny. It’s my home. It’s populated with innocent vampires. What do you have in Antarctica? Polar bears?”

  “It’s not just the ice. With the scale of the explosion when the Virgo key is retrieved, it will sink not only the Antarctica, but will drown the Earth. You love a human. You should understand I can’t let that happen.”

  “No, I don’t. No species is more important than others.” Alex charged at Ciaran, pointing the sword at Ciaran’s throat. Ciaran didn’t block it, so the pointy tip of the sword cut into his skin. He heard Antonio swear.

  “It’s not your life or my life. It’s not even the lives of the women we love that matter. When you are in charge of many lives, many families, generations of lives, what you’ve got is reduced to nothing,” Ciaran said.

  “Fuck you, Ciaran.” Alex withdrew the sword. Then he slashed the sword at the silver bomb. Apart from the clashing sound when metal hit metal, he had gotten nothing.

  He then went on a slashing rampage at the innocent snow. Minutes later, he flopped on the cold snow, exhausted. A trail of a bloody tear ran down his face.

  “There has to be another way, Ciaran,” Antonio said.

  “Really, that came from a vampire hunter like you? Didn’t you just trigger the bomb that massacred everyone in the tower?”

  “But they were gangster,” Antonio protested. “I’d never seen the city. There were women and children in the city. They were just like people. Like us. They have family. It was like the entire innocent society in there. You think you can pull the trigger on that?”

  “You think I don’t know that?” Ciaran snarled at Antonio. “You think I need you to tell me how to govern? Do you think I haven’t pulled a trigger that kill anyone? It takes a life to save a life. So, pick the one you want to save.”

  CHAPTER 21

  T he vampires dragged Adam and Emily by the legs along the steel corridor. Madeline had jumped up to her feet. A vampire darted her way and reached his hand out to grab her. She swung her sword. The vampire’s body became a few loose pieces dropping on the floor.

  Isabel waved her hand absently and followed the vampire who had Adam.

  Madeline jumped right in front of the vampire and slashed at him, taking him down. She grabbed at Adam. Isabel flew over and kicked Madeline away. Madeline lost her balance and fell over the rail, dangling on the outside.

  Isabel smirked. She approached to finish the job.

  Madeline looked down to the ground floor. It was three stories below her from her current position; so it wouldn’t be a sweet landing. She swung her legs up and got up onto the platform before Isabel could do more damage.

  Seeing Madeline had gotten back up, Isabel turned around and grabbed Adam by the neck. “One wrong move from you and I’ll rip his throat off.”

  “So what?” Madeline sneered. “That would be for the best because you can’t drill. His death will save a lot of people and he will be a hero.”

  “Do you like the sound of that, Adam? Being a hero?” Isabel asked.

  Adam shook his head.

  “I wouldn’t think so,” Isabel muttered. She dragged Adam with her toward the control room.

  Madeline darted toward the vampire holding Emily and swung her sword. With similar result to the one before, she killed the vampire, freeing Emily just before her neck was ripped open.

  When they both ran to the control room, it was locked from the inside and Adam was operating the drill. From outside the glass panel, Madeline called to Adam, “You don’t want to do this. You know the consequences. Please don’t.”

  Adam ignored Madeline and started operating the drill. A clanking noise dragged along the ceilings. Gigantic wall panels opened, revealing three drill tooth, each was as big as a two story building. To Madeline’s horror, the drill started spinning.

  Other vampires saw the women trying to distract Adam and darted toward the platform.

  “They’re mine,” Madeline said dryly. She jumped across the platform and charged toward three vampires at once. In a short moment, it was hard to tell which body part belong to which vampire. There were no vampires left but one.

  Isabel was nowhere to be found.

  Madeline rushed back to the control room and saw Emily stacking explosives at the window for Adam to see.

  “I’m going to blow up that window,” Emily explained. “I’ll drag him out here and make him stop the drill.”

  Madeline nodded.

  But before Emily could finish, Isabel flew over, grabbing Emily and flinging her over the rail. Madeline darted over, grabbing Emily’s hand as she dangled from the high platform.

  Isabel approached with a menacing smile on her face. Madeline swung Emily back onto the platform and charged at the evil vampire queen. The two women fought as the drill went down past the floor of the station and hit ice.

  The ground cracked and the building shook.

  Isabel kicked Madeline, falling to the floor. She was about to charge at Madeline again to finish the kill, but she quickly glanced down to the floor below and saw the drill had hit the ground.

  Isabel left Madeline and flew along the corridor, racing down.

  “They have never operated the drill at this level before. It’s obvious the drill and the building are not built for this,” Emily cried out.

  Madeline looked down to the floor and saw the crack spreading wide. She looked back up at the window of the control room and saw Adam smiling at her. “Captain goes down with the ship,” Madeline muttered. “Bloody hell, Adam.”

  Isabel had made it to the ground floor and was lurking around the ice hole. Madeline shook her head.

  “Adam wants to crash the entire station onto the key. So nobody can take it,” Madeline muttered.

  “I think Isabel will go down under and take the key before the building crashes,” Emily said.

  “I’ll go down to make sure Isabel takes nothing. You get out of the building.”

  Emily shook her head. “I’ll go down with you.”

  “No,” Madeline said quickly. “You can’t fight Isabel.”

  Emily nodded. “All right then.” She looked at Madeline, her eyes brimming. “Good luck,” she said and ran from the building.

  Madeline went down to the ground floor and glanced at the wrist unit.

  Ciaran still hadn’t called.

  CHAPTER 22

  C iaran grabbed at his wrist unit. He wanted to call Madeline.

  He needed her badly.

  They just had to nail this one. Fixed the bomb. Made the decision. It took a life to save a life. His father had said so. Before he took over the realm, his father had said he didn’t need to be virtuous, he only needed to be a just king.

  Was he just?

  Goddammit, he was biased toward Earth. He came from here and it used to be his home. It still was.

  That — he could justify.

  Now he was bias toward Vampire City.

  Goddammit.

  Was he a just king? It was his duty to serve Eudaiz. To act in Eudaiz’s best interest. That universe was the reason he was born. How could he betray that?

  His hands shook.

  He looked at Alex, who had stopped interfering with his thought process. Alex just stood and stared.

  “Fuck you, Alex!” he said.

  He knew Madeline needed him to act fast.

  He looked at Antonio, who was sitting on the snow, not knowing what to do.

  He looked again at the bomb.

  He stared at the control panel for a brief moment. He held his breath and typed in the command.

  The cylinder spun immediately, as if it was waiting for his touch. It spun. It clicked. It roared in joy.
>
  A row of gigantic claws extended from the machine. It grabbed at the ice. It drilled down. Then it shot into the air and exploded into nothingness.

  Alex glanced around. In the cross dimensional zone, he expected to see Vampire City drowned in silver dust.

  But it was as if nothing had happened. The citizens of Vampire City looked at him. They expected a lot from him. They knew what was going on. And at the moment, they were expecting true death.

  Women. Children. Families. They looked at Alex.

  He turned a looked at Ciaran and saw that Ciaran didn’t return his gaze.

  In the cross dimensional zone, Antonio expected to see Antarctica sink. But the lump of ice was still stubbornly standing.

  Ciaran stood by himself. Staring into the nothingness.

  “What did you do?” Alex asked.

  “Nothing you need to know. It is important that you understand, I have combined the dimensional zone of the Antarctica and your Vampire City. They are now one. They will share the same destiny. If the ice sinks, your city sinks. Now it is your duty to protect both.”

  Ciaran looked at his hands. They still shook. But he hoped his father would understand from somewhere in heaven. He only needed to be a just king and this was the only fair choice. It would be unjust of him to choose to sacrifice either Earth or Vampire City.

  He engaged his wrist unit to call Madeline. He stared at the blank screen for a short moment.

  Then he looked at Antonio and Alex. “Trouble.”

  With a heavy heart, he darted at the direction of the station, guided by the signal from Madeline’s unit.

  CHAPTER 23

  Under the frigid water, Madeline swam toward Isabel. There was no way in hell she’d let the horrible woman retrieve the key. It was deep and dark. And it was cold. So very cold. Her silver blood was on and was running in full swing. But her teeth still wanted to chatter.

  She looked up toward the dim light of the ice at the surface. She knew the building was going down at any moment. She stared in the dark water. The three teeth of the drill had punctured the ocean bed.

  The surface had been broken and Madeline could see the gigantic hole the drill had created. In the dim light, she could barely see a magnificent ice statue of a Goddess, holding the Virgo key in her hand.

  Isabel had reached it and dove into the hole.

  Madeline followed.

  Isabel grabbed at the key and broke the ice around the hand of the statue. Madeline attacked Isabel with the sword to distract her. Isabel countered the attacked and quickly kicked Madeline sword away. Madeline rolled on the ocean bed.

  She saw her wrist unit flash, signally that it was safe to retrieve the key now. She looked around and couldn’t find her sword. She swam toward the hole again. Isabel had gotten the key off the statue, crushing the ice statue into pieces.

  Madeline swam over and was kicked, rolling away again.

  From a dark corner, Emily appeared with Madeline’s sword in her hand. She attacked Isabel, slashing wildly at her. Isabel withdrew into the hole and Madeline swam over, grabbing the key as Isabel fought off Emily.

  Madeline yanked the key from Isabel’s hand. She felt a tremor all around her and looked up, seeing the building falling down on them.

  She swam out. Or tried to. Isabel grabbed at her leg and Madeline kicked her back into the hole, but couldn’t shake the other woman off.

  Emily charged at Isabel and pushed with all her might. Darkness descended and Madeline swam backwards just outside the growing shadow of the plunging building. When she turned, Emily wasn’t behind her.

  Madeline frantically returned and saw the two women continuing to fight. To her horror, she saw Isabel’s sword pierce through Emily’s body. Madeline swam over to grab Emily, pulling her away. She turned, needing to get out from under the descending building, but stopped when she felt a tug at her hand.

  Isabel’s eyes were wide as she grabbed at Madeline. To Madeline’s surprise, Isabel pressed the talisman into her hand. That’s when Madeline saw the fatal wound. Isabel may have pierced Emily with the sword, but Emily must have pierced her first.

  Blood swirled into the water as Isabel’s eyes glazed and she stared into the nothingness of the dark.

  Frantic, Madeline pushed Emily out of the way, just before the building crushed down to the ocean bed, burying the dead woman.

  Struggling to the surface, she grabbed both Emily and the Talisman, heaving in great breaths of air when she made it to the top. She looked around, hoping to find help.

  To her right, she saw Ciaran, Alex and Antonio charging toward them. Ciaran pulled her out of the water, clutching her to him. His body vibrated with emotions and he stroked her arms, doing anything to warm her. He just held her. He didn’t say much.

  After a few moments, Madeline opened her hand and saw the engraved initials: HF.

  Hoyt Flanagan

  What did he do to deserve these women? Madeline thought to herself.

  Madeline closed her eyes and held onto Ciaran. She knew she would do the same as Isabel had for the man she loved.

  The difference was, she loved the right man. Isabel didn’t.

  From nearby, Madeline heard a sob. She looked over and saw Alex holding Emily in his arms, rocking.

  Another victim of Hoyt Flanagan’s. Another beautiful woman dead

  Or maybe not.

  Madeline felt him listening for life. Praying for life. Begging for his love to wake up. But his undead body couldn’t tell the difference. Madeline’s own eyes filled with tears as she saw a single blood tear trailed down Alex’s face.

  Crushing her to his chest, Alex whispered something to Emily’s lifeless body.

  It was as if time had stood still.

  Then Emily’s eyes fluttered and opened, just the tiniest bit. Alex looked as if he were delirious. “Em… Emily, would you like me to make you a vampire?” The question sounded like he was begging for an agreement. “Please, Emily! I need you to say yes.”

  She said nothing, but her eyes flicked to Antonio. Antonio held her hand, tears spilling down his face.

  “I want you alive, Emily,” her brother told her, his voice clogged with emotion. “I don’t care in whatever form. I don’t care if you’re a vampire, werewolf or whatever. I just want you, sister.”

  Emily looked at Alex. “Yes,” she whispered. And just like that, Alex picked her up and darted toward the ice hills.

  Antonio covered his face and openly cried.

  Ciaran took Madeline’s hand and rubbed his thumb at her wedding ring, saying nothing.

  She showed him the Virgo key. “Mission accomplished,” she said, her teeth still chattering a bit.

  He smiled and nodded, pulling her close.

  “What’s wrong, Ciaran?” she asked in concern, placing a hand on the side of his face.

  He sighed. “I decided to keep both Earth and Vampire City. As the result, I had to collapse a dimension in Eudaiz and let go of Elixix. That’s more than fifty thousand citizens in fifty years. I know that it is in the future and we still have time to fix it, but the idea that I was willing to sacrifice that many citizens for a city I don’t even know eats at me.”

  She looked at his intense grey eyes and grabbed a fist full of his raven black hair, pulling him down and ravishing his lips.

  CHAPTER 24

  C iaran and Madeline were ready to go home. Ciaran turned to open the teleport when Madeline heard children cry.

  Not just any children.

  Her children.

  It was her children who were crying.

  She whirled around and saw nothing but white snow.

  Then she noticed that the sound came from her wrist unit. She looked at it and then looked at her husband. “Ciaran, you programmed a baby monitor device into my wrist unit?”

  He grinned. “I thought you wanted it.”

  “You refused when I asked you to program my American accent into the computer, saying that you didn’t have the time. Now you have t
he time to program a baby wailer into my unit?”

  He hugged her to his chest and kissed her forehead before taking her hand. “Let’s just go home,” he said, grinning. “I’ll take the baby wailer off your unit.”

  She snatched her hand away and protectively covered the device on her arm. She looked up at him. “No. I want it now. I’ve changed my mind.”

  His grin grew wider. “Are you sure …?”

  She nodded and stepped closer to him.

  Ciaran wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Together, they walked into the teleport to go back to Eudaiz, the faraway universe they called home.

  This is the end of

  Virgo - Mindscape Trilogy - Epilogue

  Turn to the next page for more information

  MINDSCAPE VOLUME - SECOND LIFE IN DEATH

  The relationship between Ciaran and Madeline begins in Second Life in Death - a complete epic series that can be found here.

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  Mindscape Trilogy by D.N. Leo

  AFTERWORD

  Thank you for reading.

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  VIRGO

  MINDSCAPE TRILOGY

  EPILOGUE

  Copyright © 2017 by D.N. Leo, all rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual business or persons is purely coincidental.