by G. K. DeRosa
“She – we both have a lot of questions for you,” she continued. Celeste could see that her aunt was desperately trying to hold it together. “What happened that night in the alley eight years ago?”
Maks grunted. “What’s the point? Knowing isn’t going to change anything.”
“I need to know!” she snapped. “Do you have any idea how that night has haunted me? I blamed myself for leaving you there. I’ve gone over the scene a million times in my head, and wondered what I could have done differently, and how our lives would have been.” She choked back a sob as tears began streaming down her face. She quickly rose and stalked away.
Celeste found herself alone with Maks. She was torn between going after her aunt to comfort her and getting answers to her burning questions. After a moment of consideration, she opted for the latter. “Maks, do you know who attacked you that night?”
“Of course. I’ll never forget that bastard’s face,” he hissed.
Celeste pulled out her cell phone and flipped to a picture of Roman. She thrust it in front of his face, and taking a deep breath, asked, “Is this him?”
Maks’ eyes went wide and his jaw clenched. “Yes,” he said and turned his head away from the phone as if looking at it was causing him physical pain.
Celeste’s heart sank. This can’t be happening. All of her worst fears were confirmed with that one reply. Roman had lied. He had killed someone and turned him into a vampire. Yet still, it was worse, because there was also the blonde girl. Roman had killed her and forsaken them both to a horrible life of darkness and evil. Celeste couldn’t breathe. The murky, soiled house was closing in on her as her vision spun out of control. She jumped to her feet and ran out the front door.
Celeste nearly bowled Marco over as she flew out of the house. He deftly leapt to the side to avoid spilling the cups of hot coffee all over both of them.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when he saw the panic in her eyes and tear-stained face. He put the tray of coffee down on the walkway and was ready to run back into the house.
She yanked his arm back, stopping him. “No, it’s nothing. They’re fine, everyone’s safe,” muttered Celeste in between sobs. Marco pulled her into his arms and gently stroked her hair as she cried inconsolably into his shoulder. After a few minutes, her chest stopped heaving and her breathing began to normalize, and she lifted her head up toward Marco’s worried face.
“Now are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
She slid down on the cement steps, defeated, and pulled Marco down next to her. She filled him in on her vision, Maks’ transformation from former guardian to vampire, and Roman’s role in all of it.
***
Alek stood hunched over Fabian’s spell book just a few feet away from the altar where his mother’s lifeless body lay. He had been going over the incantation for days, but there was still something wrong. This was the final night that the moon would be in proper alignment as per the specifications of the spell; if he wasn’t successful he would have to wait another month. Scattered across the table were the two vessels with Roman and Nico’s blood, his mother’s ring, and other various components the spell called for. He had all the necessary ingredients, of that he was sure, and yet his estranged mother was still lying comatose, her body cold to the touch.
Alek had replayed over and over in his head the night the Constantins and the Council saved Celeste from the caves. He had everything that Fabian had when he was preparing the resurrection spell. The only thing he didn’t have was Fabian himself, and that was what he feared was missing.
“No!” he muttered to himself. He walked over to the altar and removed the white sheet. Lilliana Constantin’s face was pale and expressionless, her porcelain skin like fine china. Looking at her closely, he could make out a slight resemblance. They shared the same high cheekbones and delicate nose, but that was all he had in common with his mother. He knew nothing of this woman that lay before him. How could she have abandoned him, he wondered angrily? How could she have left him and raised those other two monsters? The fury was swelling through him now as he thought of all that was taken from him. He could have had a life instead of the hell and constant torment that was forced upon him by Fabian.
Fabian had always said he wasn’t good enough, wasn’t strong enough, and would never amount to anything. Alek would prove him wrong. He would make his mother pay for abandoning him. Alek pledged to destroy the Constantins and everyone they loved. As the rage consumed him, he felt a newfound power surge through his veins. This was it. He was ready.
***
“You must think I’m out of my mind for being with Roman,” said Celeste after she finished the story.
Marco’s expression grew serious as he turned to look at her. “No, I don’t actually. We all do foolish things for love sometimes. It’s not crazy to love him, but it is irrational to think that he’s not going to do what is in his nature to do,” he paused for a moment as Celeste looked at him curiously. “You can’t be in love with a vampire and not expect him to kill a few people here and there. It comes with the territory.”
The way Marco put it so matter-of-factly surprised Celeste. She had always thought that the only way she and Roman could be together would be if he were good. That made sense to her. But to have a relationship with someone who was capable of terrible things was not something she could handle. She suddenly realized how naïve she had been. “I don’t know if I can be with someone like that,” she said.
“I can’t say that I know you that well Celeste, but from what I’ve seen so far, I would have to agree with you,” he said.
Celeste knew he was right, but she also wasn’t sure she could live without Roman. A terrible tightness closed over her chest, and she felt like she was drowning. The idea of being without Roman was like living without air.
“Come on, let’s go inside and see how they’re doing. This coffee is probably cold by now, but it’s better than nothing,” he said as he stood up and offered her his hand.
“I just need a second,” she whispered. She remained outside for a few minutes, breathing deeply to let the chilly air into her lungs. She couldn’t simply let herself shut down, not yet anyway.
Stepping back inside, it took her eyes a second to readjust to the darkness of the house after the morning sun outside. Celeste could just make out her aunt and Maks sitting side-by-side, leaning up against the wall. Marco must have walked in on a private moment because he now seemed to have disappeared into what was once the kitchen. Slowly, she walked up to her aunt. “Everything okay?” she asked.
Maks’ wrists and ankles were still in shackles, but the chains around his arms, torso, and legs had been removed. Celeste took that as a good sign.
“As okay as it can be,” answered her aunt.
“We were just catching up on old times,” said Maks, a glimmer of hope in his dark eyes.
Celeste’s phone began to vibrate and her eyes widened when she picked it up and saw the caller ID read Roman. She held the phone away from her body, like it was a live wire twisting angrily before her. “I can’t,” she muttered. It finally stopped vibrating and she stared at the photo of Roman that displayed on the screen with the big letters saying Missed Call. Her aunt threw her a consoling smile.
The phone began to vibrate again as Celeste watched the familiar face flashing on the screen. She couldn’t bring herself to answer it.
“Celeste, it might be important,” said Marco coming in from the other room. “Do you want me to get it?” With a nod, she handed him her phone.
In retrospect, having Marco answer was probably not the smartest thing she could have done. From the other side of the phone, Celeste could hear the full out panic manifesting in Roman’s voice.
“No…wait…calm down…she’s fine,” said Marco, trying unsuccessfully to get a word in between Roman’s frenzied ranting.
Celeste watched Marco’s futile attempts to calm Roman, but eventually she was overcome with guilt (for both
of them) and grabbed the phone from his hand. “Roman, it’s me. What’s going on?”
She heard him exhale deeply, and then his voice came, rough with emotion. “Thank God you’re okay. When that guy answered, I thought something terrible had happened.”
“Roman, I’m fine. It’s just…I’m a little busy. We found Maks,” she said, her voice wavering. She stepped away from the others, going into a far room in the back of the house.
Roman paused, picking up on the clipped tone in her voice. “It’s not good, is it?” he asked sullenly.
“No,” she said, forcing herself not to start sobbing all over again. He let out an extended sigh and then remained silent. “Is there something you were calling about?” she asked, wary of the uncomfortable silence.
“We found the ring and most likely Alek,” he said, without any emotion in his voice. “We’re going after him tonight.”
She gasped. This was it. They were finally going to face Alek again. “Then I’m coming too,” she said.
“There’s no reason for you to come and put yourself in danger. Nico and Stellan and I have it under control,” he replied tersely.
“No, Roman! Whatever is going on between us has nothing to do with finding Alek. This is my job as the Guardian. And that was part of the deal with the Council when I came here. I have to go.”
“Fine. Meet us in St. Petersburg in eight hours. I’ll text you the address,” and without so much as a goodbye, he hung up.
When Celeste walked back into the dreary living room of the dilapidated old house, Aunt Maddie and Marco both had the same expectant looks on their faces.
“They found Alek,” she said and let go of the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. With everything going on here with Maks, Celeste had been able to push aside her fears about Alek, but now that all came tumbling back to the forefront of her mind. “I have to go meet them in St. Petersburg right away.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Marco quickly.
Celeste threw him a grateful smile and looked at her aunt. “What are you going to do?” she asked.
Aunt Maddie looked down at Maks’ pitiful form sprawled on the floor. He was unconscious again, the vervain ravaging his system. “I need to stay here with him,” she said finally.
Celeste took a step toward her aunt and took hold of her hands. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. She bent down and rummaged through her duffel bag, pulling out a few more vials of vervain. “I’ve got enough of this to keep him sedated for a while.”
“And then what? What are you going to do with him?” asked Celeste.
“I don’t know,” she said as tears welled in her familiar hazel eyes. “I just know that I have to spend some time with him before I can make a decision. There’s something different about him. I expected a cold-blooded monster, but there’s still so much of the Maks I knew still inside him.”
Celeste nodded. She knew exactly how she felt. Deciding to live without the person you loved most in the world was a choice no one should be forced to make. “Aunt Maddie, do you think I could ask Maks one more thing before I go?”
“Sure, let me see if I can wake him up,” she said kneeling down next to him.
Marco inclined his head to Maddie and extended his hand. “It’s been fun. If you ever need anything, I’m right next door in Italy.” She smiled and gave him a parting hug. “I’ll wait for you outside and check on flights,” he said to Celeste.
Maks groaned as he came to, blinking his eyes rapidly and trying to make sense of his surroundings. Then realization set in, and he slumped back down, the heavy chains restricting his movement. Aunt Maddie crouched down beside him, and cautiously laid her hand on his shoulder. He cringed at the contact for an instant, but then his eyes met hers and he relaxed. Celeste wondered what he would be like when the vervain was finally out of his system. She shook her head, trying to push the negative thoughts away, and kneeled down beside him.
“Maks, I need to ask you something important about the night you were turned,” she began. He grunted in reply. “When Roman attacked you, did he say anything? What was he like?”
Maks’ face twisted uncomfortably as he brought back the painful memories of that night. “Who is this vampire to you, and why do you care?” he asked.
Celeste looked down and rotated the new shiny sapphire ring around her finger. “He’s someone who is very important to me. And he’s changed. He’s no longer that monster who turned you in the alley.”
“I never said he turned me,” he said abruptly.
Both Celeste and Aunt Maddie’s eyes spun toward him. “What do you mean?” asked Celeste, her heart pounding.
“Roman, the guy in the picture you showed me, he bit me and drained most of my blood, but he didn’t kill me,” he said, frowning as he remembered the gruesome details. “He left me and the girl for dead on the street. When I finally came to, she and I were in an old abandoned church surrounded by vampires. Apparently, one of them found us at the point of death and decided to turn us. They brought us to their hideout to feed on some humans they had rounded up.”
“So you’re sure that it wasn’t Roman who did this to you?” asked Celeste, her voice trembling with hope.
“I’m positive. The guy who sired us forced me to follow him around like a little puppy for months. I’ll never forget him.”
“Where is he now?” asked Aunt Maddie. She too apparently had revenge on her mind.
“I killed him as soon as I got the chance,” said Maks with a cold sneer.
Celeste’s heart was racing. Roman hadn’t turned anyone after all. Maybe she could get past him biting someone; after all, he had told her he had done things in the past that he regretted. I’m sure there were a lot of people he almost killed. She couldn’t focus on that now, she had to get on a plane and get to St. Petersburg to stop Alek.
Without thinking, Celeste wrapped her arms around Maks and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you’ve helped.” He froze under her touch, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“Celeste, be careful!” said Aunt Maddie, pulling her off of the chained vampire. “We still don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“I think he’s going to be okay,” she said with a grin. Maks looked awkwardly down at his shackled hands, avoiding her gaze.
“Oh Celeste, that’s what I love about you – your eternal optimism. You are just like your dad. You always think the best of everyone,” said her aunt as she pulled her into a big hug. “You better hurry if you want to make it to St. Petersburg. And please be careful!”
“What’s wrong, brother?” asked Nico.
“Hmmph. Nothing,” said Roman, putting the phone down.
“She’s coming, right?”
“Yes.”
Roman turned and strode off as Nico watched, bewildered. Stellan and Dalla had been whispering in the library for the past few hours, and it was making Nico nervous. The sudden appearance of Alek seemed too good to be true. The whole thing felt off to him, but everyone was so preoccupied with other things that no one else seemed to notice. This little venture had “trap” written all over it.
Nico hurried in the direction Roman had gone. He searched the house, but his brother was nowhere in sight. From the large window in the living room, he finally made out Roman’s figure in the backyard, heading toward the forest. “This is not the time for one of your mood swings, brother,” he muttered to himself as he followed him out the door.
Running at vamp speed, he quickly caught up to Roman before he disappeared further into the tranquil forest. “Roman, wait!” he said, reaching for his brother’s arm.
“Nico, it’s not a good time,” he growled, yanking his arm away.
Nico was not so easily intimidated. He had seen his brother at his worst, and he wasn’t going to let him sink deeper into despair. “Look, I don’t know what Celeste said, but I’m guessing it wasn’t good. That doesn�
�t give you the right to slink off into the woods and disappear.”
“I wasn’t,” he said through gritted teeth.
“No?” he asked. “You were just going for a leisurely stroll before our big battle with Alek?”
Roman spun around back toward the dark depths of the forest. Then he stopped, and spoke under his breath without facing his brother. “It was me. I was the one that turned Celeste’s aunt’s fiancé into a vampire.”
Nico let out an exasperated sigh. “So what? So you’re just going to give up and let Alek get away with whatever evil plan he has in store for us all?”
“Don’t you see?” said Roman, twisting around toward him. “Nothing matters if I don’t have Celeste. Nothing!”
“You don’t know that you’ve lost her for sure, Roman.”
“You didn’t hear her voice. I did. She didn’t even want to talk to me. She had that guardian Marco answer her phone. Between him and her aunt, they’re probably filling her head with terrible things about me. And you know what? They’re right,” he said, his eyes burning with agony.
“So prove them wrong!” yelled Nico. “Don’t just skulk away in shame. Help us defeat Alek, and show Celeste and everyone else that you’re not the same person who did those terrible things.”
“I don’t think I can,” he admitted as he ran his hand through his hair.
“You can and you will. Even if that means I have to drag your butt back into that house and through the portal. We are going to fight Alek and we are going to get our mom’s body back. If you won’t do it for yourself or for Celeste, do it for our mother.”
Roman chuckled ruefully. “When did you get so good at these pep talks, little brother?”
Nico shrugged his shoulders with a grin. “I think it might be Natalie. Her constant peppiness is rubbing off on me.” Nico put his arm around Roman and led him back through the yard and into the house.
As they walked back into the living room, they found that Stellan and Dalla had finally emerged from the study. “It’s time,” said Stellan, his jaw set. “Is everyone ready?”