Valkyrie Divided (Pyralis Book 2)

by Brandy L. Cunningham

  5

  Origins

  Reality crashed back on me like a full blown blast of inferno. Dead. That man was dead, and those days had vanished long ago. My mind tried to shove the memory of him deep into my subconscious where I could lock it away. Lifting my eyes from the castle before me, I saw the four Vampires who stared at me. The Panther rubbed his fangs against my knuckles. Blinking, I tried to clear the clouds from my mind.

  Shaking my head, I attempted to clear my thoughts. I trudged past the four of them. “I’ve been here before, I know the way, thank you.”

  I could have sworn I saw a smirk on Devyn’s face. I wanted to hit him, I wanted to hit something. Anger raged inside of me at the intrusion of memories I did not want. Each time, it was like losing him all over again. Marching up the stone steps to the heavy wooden doors, I shoved them open, stomping unceremoniously into the foyer.

  Another shock awaited me there. Looking up, I watched the man who descended the stairs in stunned silence. His dark hair was long and loose, and as he walked gracefully down the stairs, he stared down at me with those crystal-clear emerald eyes. Eyes that I knew as though they were the other side of my soul.

  Falling to my knees, I felt the claws of exhaustion finally beginning to take hold. Weakened, I stared as I whispered his name. “Valkyrian.”

  Taking the steps several at a time, my beloved brother kneeled in front of me. Pulling me into his arms, he sighed deeply. “Valkyrie. All these long years I have awaited your return.”

  I wanted to sob. Holding tight to my brother, I whispered, “He’s dead Valkyrian. I killed him.”

  My brother became still. Pushing me away from him, he looked down into my eyes. I didn’t understand his silence. In his eyes, I saw hesitation, but he said nothing. I wondered if he misunderstood who I meant.

  “Desmond has betrayed us. He betrayed us from the start. Aeron is gone because I was too foolish to see past the lies.”

  Valkyrian’s face fell. His reactions confused me. Lifting his eyes to my face again, he said. “It’s all right now my dear. You are safe. The Villart’s are friends. Desmond is nowhere near here. You need to feed, and you need to rest.”

  The idea of sleep frightened me. Shaking my head, I argued. “No, I do not need sleep, I am fine. No sleep.”

  Valkyrian must have seen the haunted look in my eyes, because he frowned darkly. “What have they done to you, my beautiful sister?”

  I never got the chance to answer him. I succumbed to the darkness then. Falling to the floor, my exhausted body made the choice about sleep for me.

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  Watching my sister lay quietly upon the bed where I had placed her, I released a long pent up breath. God, it felt good to be with her again, to witness the rise and fall of her chest in life, rather than see only the ash of her death. Part of me felt terrible for avoiding her so long, but there were things that needed to be done, events that had to play out. I couldn’t control destiny, but I could shift bits and pieces of things, cause small changes in the rifts of fate that would eventually become her destiny. I wanted nothing more than to hold her, to tell her all I knew, but as I watched her fight the powerful hand of sleep that now had her in its grip, I noticed many things about her.

  My sister was changed. A dark shadow lingered around her, as though watching over, but I wondered if it was trying to protect Valkyrie, or itself. Circling her, I studied this unknown entity that lingered with her. Was it her own, or had something snuck its way into her without her awareness? As I moved closer, I inhaled deeply her scent, and paused. My eyes widened, and I realized…it was not an unknown entity. I smelled only Valkyrie in this room. She had certainly changed. Where had all this darkness come from? Was it the scent of her fires I smelled, or something else? I wanted to wake her, to know everything, but as she tossed and turned, I hadn’t the heart.

  She was exhausted, and half starved. Why, I pondered, would she stretch herself to such limits like this? Sitting beside her, I listened to her muffled moans and the slurred speech. Aeron’s name was foremost on her tongue, but Desmond-I was unhappy to note-was not absent from her mind. She called to both of them, muttering about Aeron’s death, about the pull between Desmond and herself, and about a darker side. I listened to her mumble about “her” whoever that was. Valkyrie’s voice was muffled, but as her voice rose, I could just make out her words.

  “Can’t control her…her appetite is too much…”

  Unusual, I didn’t know what she spoke of, and I thought perhaps now would be a good time to have a chat with the Panther who had accompanied her.

  I found him downstairs, in human form. He was dressed in Devyn’s clothes, and he could have fit the part of brooding Vampire as well as any of us.

  “Damien, is it?” he turned at my words, yellow eyes flashing wearily. Inclining his head, he lowered himself into the chair directly behind him, making it clear he was not threatened by me.

  “I have some questions I’d like to ask you about Valkyrie. She seems changed since the last time I saw her.”

  His eyes narrowed, and his reply was clipped, “Anything you want to know about Val, you’ll have to ask her.”

  I blinked as he turned his back to me once more, and I thought, well, at least I know he’s loyal to my sister. I was, however, nowhere closer to knowing the answers to my questions, and I resigned myself to wait for her to awaken. It was good, nonetheless, to know my sister was back, finally.

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  Darkness plagued me. Death and destruction lay around me, and I was utterly alone as I walked the streets which ran red with blood. The destruction of human kind had come to pass. I saw Aeron there. His hauntingly beautiful face tormented me as he shook his head at me in disgust.

  “I told you Valkyrie, you are poison.”

  Crying out to him, I begged him not to leave me, to forgive me for his death. I begged him to come back to me. His form evaporated before my eyes. I felt alone and desolate as I stood in the crumbling street as the wind ripped at my hair and clothes. I had doomed the world after all.

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  Sucking in gulps of air, I bolted upright. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to calm myself. Looking around the unfamiliar room, I told myself it was nothing more than a dream. Why did I have nightmares? Why did I see these things? Was it the darker side of me, trying to convince me I was evil? Or was it a premonition of the things that would come? Trying to shake the thoughts off, I surveyed the dark room. Catching sight of my reflection in a gilded mirror, I stood slowly, approaching it.

  My clothes were ripped, hanging from my body in tatters. My hair hung in long knots to my waist, and dried blood stained the corners of my mouth. When I moved my gaze to my eyes, I stared for several long minutes. The golden hazel eyes that stared back at me were haunted. The dark shadow of my wings hung over my reflection even though they were currently concealed. It was something that I had noticed after their first emergence.

  Like a dark shadow that followed me, it was there always. Rafael said it was the Reaper in me. He told me I needed to embrace that side of myself, that there was more to being the daughter of death than simply having his wings. I didn’t think I wanted to know what that more was. It seemed more and more, that the only thing I wanted was to have the man I had lost return to me, but even then, I knew he wouldn’t want me.

  The door to the room opened, and my brother entered. Seating himself on the arm of the chair nearest me, he studied me. “You are troubled.”

  Sighing, I turned away from the mirror. “I am, brother. There is not much time left before the last eclipse. If the prophecies are true, it will be the last time the light of the sun touches earth for a thousand years. If that happens, Byron will seek control to rule the humans with terror.”

  Valkyrian tilted his head. “There is more troubling you than that, sister. I am sorry, about Aeron. And I am sorry none of us saw through the lies and deceit Desmond fed us.”

  Pacing, I wrung my h
ands. “We all played into his schemes exactly as he wanted us to. I have heard the mutterings of the Fiddler, and of the Witch Tamyra. I have heard the other Witches talking. I have read the words of the prophecy, and I have listened to the whispers of ghosts. In my heart, I know that this prophecy would not have fulfilled itself had I not been reborn.”

  Staring at me, Valkyrian’s green eyes contracted. He was thinking about what I had said. It was a way in which Aeron had always reminded me of my brother. They were both extremely calculating. Standing, he strode to the window. Pulling the curtain back, he looked outside, sighing.

  “You have reached the conclusion that all of this is because of you?”

  “Yes. I was reborn, it says it in the words written so many years ago. The bloodline that was mixed shall burn in flames, but rise from the ashes as another.”

  Valkyrian shook his head. “It says many things, Sister. Remember, Byron has only gained control of a handful of the Lost Cities and the words in the prophecy are, when the last Lonely City has fallen, and the moon casts its shadow upon earth, darkness will rule.”

  He paced again, running his hand over his chin. “How sure is Rafael that the Lonely Cities refers to the Lost Cities?”

  I shrugged. “He says they are. I do not often question him. The part about the light and the dark, that part is true too.” Making eye contact with my brother, I swallowed, trying to be brave. “It refers to me. I stand on the side of good and light, but within me, I rage a constant battle with the darker side of myself.”

  His green eyes bored into mine. “You know things I do not. Before I take you to Dresden, I want you to tell me everything that has happened since I saw you on Samhain.”

  I spent the next hour filling my brother in on the events that have happened. His expressive face changed many times throughout the detailed story I wove for him, but I brushed over some parts. I was not willing to tell my brother about my lust for Aeron. Even relaying the times the darkness had taken control of me was difficult. I had always been his sweet twin sister, but as I told him all I could, I could see in his eyes I had become something else entirely.

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  Sitting in the ornate chair, I studied the decorative study in which we sat. My brother had been oddly quiet ever since I had finished telling him my story. It left me feeling unnerved. I understood he had a lot of new information to digest, but still, it made me worry. When Dresden finally entered, he was not what I expected at all. Tall, distinguished and incredibly handsome, the man’s presence in the room was not something anyone would be able to ignore.

  His unusual eyes held my attention. His left was an eerie moss green, while the other was the same golden hue of my own. He studied my brother and me with great intensity. His features were strong and attractive, and he looked nowhere near the immense age I knew him to be. As he looked us over, I studied him in return. This was the Vampire who had killed my mother’s village and left her half turned. I had a hard time picturing that. He seemed so in control, so steady. Finished examining my brother, his eyes turned fully toward me.

  His pupils contracted and expanded as though I had surprised him. His nostrils flared, and a smile came to his stern lips. Turning toward Valkyrian once again, he spoke.

  “Leave us, Valkyrian. I have spoken to you much the last months you have been here. Now, I wish to speak to Corentine’s daughter.”

  Valkyrian hesitated. Looking from one of us to the other, he seemed about to argue. I sent him a smile. “It’s all right, Brother.”

  When the door clicked shut behind my twin, the silvery haired Vampire turned toward me. Standing, he walked to the window.

  “I sense a great divide within your soul, Valkyrie.” He turned his warm bi-colored gaze my way, the two individual colors were difficult not to stare at. I felt as though those eyes pierced straight to the very center of my soul. I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I remained quiet.

  “Your mother was enchantingly beautiful like you. Belladona too has her looks. But you have her dark hair, her jaw line, and her body. Belladona is more curvaceous than your mother was.” He watched me as he spoke.

  “So I have been told. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see her or know her like others did.” I looked away, feeling too exposed by those eyes.

  “She loved you. She spoke of her twins to me while she was pregnant. She seemed to know she carried two. She told me once that her daughter would bring a new chapter to the world, that she would be the glue that holds all of us together.”

  I glanced back at him then. “How could she have known she carried twins? It has never happened before her or since her.”

  Dresden smiled. “Your mother was special, child. It is the reason I hesitated that night, so many centuries ago.”

  His eyes bored into mine again. “I see it in your eyes. You are curious about me, about the reason I ravaged your mother’s village that night.”

  I couldn’t help myself. I nodded. “You seem to have such great control over yourself, yes it makes me wonder why you killed all those villagers, and why you would have left her half turned, to die.”

  He returned to his desk. Perching a hip on the edge, he looked back toward the window, as though reminiscing.

  “Your Fiddler is not the only one who is Ancient. He is not the only one with these…prophecies. There was a woman in France. She called herself the Goddess of Light.”

  I gasped. “Airi? The first immortal woman? The woman who saved Rafael’s life?”

  Dresden inclined his head. “So you have heard of her. Yes, her name was Airi. She had roamed amongst our people healing and helping the villagers and the sick for years. One day, when I was still a young Vampire, she found me in the woods. She told me she had a secret to tell me.”

  He stared again toward the window. A lengthy silence grew between us as I imagined he looked back into his past.

  “The secret she told me was of a girl with an ancient bloodline that had been hidden for eons. A bloodline that others had once thought exterminated. Airi said that this girl child was the last descendant of Ian Vangrough, the first true Vampire.”

  Blinking, I tried to understand his words. “The first Vampire? How is that possible?”

  “Ian Vangrough was born in a small village in Russia. He was the son of a peasant. He was different from the very beginning. As he matured, he had a certain obsession with killing. It seemed the older he became, the more his obsession grew until his adulthood when he began to drink the blood of his kills. He was stronger than any man their village had seen, and he thought himself superior to others.

  Over time, he became the leader of their village, as the strongest man, he believed himself some kind of god, so he took several wives, wanting to procreate and make a new breed of man. It worked. Three of his six sons and two of his five daughters grew to have the same killing lust he had. They too were incredibly strong, the girls mesmerizingly beautiful.”

  Trailing off, he turned to face me once again. A sad look came to his face. “One of his daughters attacked a human. From that bite, the first turned Vampire was created. My father. His other children realized they could create a new breed of super-humans by biting us, and as they began an era of creation, so did they create a lust for human blood.

  The newly turned Vampires spread across Europe, turning others, but as they matured, as humans began hunting them back, they realized their need for secrecy. That was when they formed the Ancient families. There were four. The Walkers, the Vanderhoff’s the La Croix, and the Villart’s. All of these families of Vampires had learned to curb their bloodlust and to live in secrecy amongst the humans.

  Rumors began spreading of the Russian village of murderers. The children of Vangrough never learned to control their appetites for blood. They were massacring humans in Russia. Together, the four families convened. They knew that if something was not done, then our secret would be revealed and we would be hunted forever. The decision was made to exterminate the line of Vangrou
gh. They thought it was the only way to contain the bloodlust.

  A group of them went to the Russian village, and destroyed the entire village. All had to die. There could be no link left to the uncontrollable Vangrough Vampires.”

  I sat in silence, staring at him. I wasn’t completely sure what this had to do with my mother, but I knew better than to interrupt. When Dresden looked back at me, there was both a sadness, and a pride in his eyes.

  “They made a mistake. There was an infant left alive. She was the daughter of one of Vangrough’s sons. One of his sons who had not inherited the Bloodlust. The child’s mother had been ill, so she had taken her infant to a nearby village to be nursed by one of the peasant women there. We had no idea. After we killed and burned the village, making it look like a fire had killed them all, the woman died of her illness.

  When the peasant heard that the village had burned down, she kept the infant girl as her own, even taking her with her own children as they migrated to America under the guise of Spaniards the following year.”

  As his words hung heavy in the air, I understood now. “My mother. The child was my mother.”

  He nodded. “Yes. Airi came to me six years after the council had burned the village. She spoke of a girl who had escaped to America. She told me I would not be able to kill the child, and that the bloodline of Vangrough would live on through her children. She said one of those children would become something else, something dark.”

  I felt like my world was crashing down around me. Everyone I knew had said I would doom the world in some way, everyone said I was dark, and evil. Aeron had said I was the poison that brought out the bad part of him. I could feel my heartbeat increasing and my breathing hitch.

  “Why didn’t you kill my mother when you found her, Dresden?” I needed to know the answer.

  His eyes turned sad. “I tried. I had already begun to drain her blood. Her family was dead. But then, I looked down into those icy white eyes. Eyes like Vangrough’s. Something happened as I stared at her. I…” Shaking his head, he stalked across the room.