My question was greeted by another long silence. Eventually, I heard Rafael sigh. “I was hoping you could tell us. The best I know is that you went to kill Dominique, and then you vanished. Chandler found the massacre in the villa, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“I killed Dominique. I am responsible for the massacre. You were right. The darkness consumed me.”
I felt Rafael rest his hand on my shoulder. “I knew it would happen, one day or another. It is within you, within all of us to be honest. Unfortunately, you have it worse than the rest of us, due to your Vampire nature, and your other bloodline. Valkyrie, do you know what happened?”
I told them all I knew. I told them of Desmond and his betrayal. I was glad I could not open my eyes to see how Rafael would take this news. I could imagine the old man would feel it deep in his soul. I told them about the special metal they had created just to hold me, and about the conversations between Desmond and the woman. When I was finished, my throat felt like it was on fire.
“You are weak, you must rest, child. You are safe now. Rest and regain your strength.” Rafael spoke soothingly to me as he stroked my hair like he would a child.
ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ
In and out of consciousness my mind wandered. During my conscious hours, I drank blood and listened intently to the conversations around me. Much of what was said I could not make sense of. My mind still felt foggy, befuddled. I dreamt of the Fenix many times. I wanted to be awake. I had so many questions I needed to ask. I wanted to know who the Fenix was, and why I hadn’t been able to regenerate my fire while Desmond held me captive.
I had no idea how long I had really been a prisoner for Desmond, nor how many days had passed since my rescue. My body was still weak, but slowly I felt the strength returning. Voices drifted to me from a short distance away.
“Rafael, the situation is getting worse. Desmond has hunters looking for her. We should move. He has a blood link to her, and the longer we stay here, the more quickly he will find her.”
There was an audible exhale. “His blood link with her is no more. There is only one now who can track her, and we know that will not be possible. She is too weak to move. Tell me, which cities have fallen?” Rafael sounded worried.
“Odessa has fallen; St. Paul, and Providence are now under the control of Byron. I do not believe Desmond and Byron are working together, but again, I am not certain. The Witches of San Antonio have contacted others, and strengthened their numbers.”
Rafael muttered something unintelligible. “What about the Wolves of Minot? And the Witches of Salem? We know the Tombs of Viren are strong. We need to contact the winged ones of Los Angeles.”
The voice I still could not place replied, “As far as we know Minot is strong. I have sent runners there to contact the Werewolves. According to Tamyra, Salem is safe. I am afraid I am unfamiliar with the Cast who leads L.A.”
“The winged ones are the descendants of angels. They protect their territory fiercely, unfortunately, they are not the Godly angels many think of. These angels have a dark side. Their leader, Usela attempts to keep them in line, but I fear there are too many who would choose the dark path, given the choice. We need to send Chandler there with a message for her before it is too late.” Rafael fell into silence.
Clearing my throat, I was annoyed that my eyes still refused to open. “Rafael?” I barely managed to croak the words out.
I felt the moment when his cool skin touched my forehead. “Yes, my child?”
Swallowing, I tried to clear my gritty throat again. “Tell me. What is happening?”
He was silent for a long moment. I listened to the inhaling and exhaling of his lungs, the unsteady beat of his aged heart.
“The prophecy is fulfilling itself. The night we rescued you was not night but day. The eclipse shrouded everything in darkness for twenty-four hours. It is why your power became so heightened. Byron was able to release many new dark creatures during that dark day. Since that time, he has been massacring the Lost Cities. Another eclipse comes in less than a week, and this begins the series of darkened days.
There will be six of these total eclipses. Each approximately a month apart. During this time, Byron will exercise his powers to break down the doors to the world beneath the Lost Cities. If he succeeds, the world will remain dark, and evil will rule.”
I was silent a long time, absorbing the information that had just been given to me. My mind felt too fuzzy to coherently sort through it all.
“I thought the prophecy was about me. Did I doom the world when I killed Dominique?” I waited for their answer with trepidation.
Rafael cleared his throat. “No. You are part of the prophecy, but I do not think it rests solely upon your shoulders, my dear.”
“Who is the Fenix, Rafael? Who is the one who came to me in my imprisonment?”
I knew he didn’t want to answer me. He always took an extra-long time to answer when he didn’t want me to know something.
“I do not know who this Fenix you speak of is. The person who carried you out of the shaft they had you chained in was Aeron.”
I felt as though my world shifted beneath me. My breathing became shallow, and my heart seemed to stutter. Confusion mixed with my anxiety. No. It could not have been Aeron. How was that possible? I shook my head.
“That’s impossible Rafael. I was engulfed in flames, hotter than I ever have been. How could he have lived through that?”
There was a deafening silence in the space around me. The other man who stood with us stopped breathing. I heard his heartbeat increase. He was afraid. Why? Rafael too seemed to be fighting a decision to answer me. My brain tried to piece the clues together, but I shut it down.
“Rafael!”
His voice cracked with despair when he finally spoke. “He did not survive it, child. I am sorry.”
ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ
21
Awakening
My breathing hitched. My heart stuttered to a stop. Inside of me, the darkness tried to consume me again. Rage filled me, and I fought the thrall to kill. I wanted to rip something apart.
“He is gone and Desmond lives?” I heard the anger in my voice.
Rafael sighed. “Yes. Your fire was so great, the mine shaft and the laboratory where you were held exploded, many died, but Desmond was not there.”
I gaged on my despair. “Aeron was immortal. He should not have been able to die!”
“Yes, my child. He was immortal, but we immortals can still be killed. Your flames were just too much for him, I’m sorry.”
I choked on my own bile. So, I had killed him? Was I responsible for his death? How could this be? He was so strong, so fearless. I wanted to run, to kill, to let loose the fire I could feel building within me. I felt the sobs trying to tear from my throat.
“Leave me!”
I screamed the words. In the pit of my stomach, I felt pain. In my heart, I felt pain. It consumed me and overtook all my rational thoughts. So much of this did not make sense. I knew I felt the fiery wings of the Fenix wrap around me when I was being carried out of my prison. How could that be if it was Aeron who rescued me? Why? I screamed the question over and over.
Suddenly aware of how much I had truly cared for the Vampire, I cried out. No tears ran from my eyes, for I was incapable of real tears. Still, I felt the pain and hurt just as anyone else. Fire tickled my senses, begging me to release it, but I was afraid. I had caused an explosion, and I did not want to harm those now gathered around me. Through the fog of my misery, I could feel their heartbeats. I could pinpoint their exact locations as though seeing a grid in my mind.
I was surrounded by a great many supernatural beings. Some, I realized had no heartbeat. The Ghosts were here too. Why? Why did they rally around me when all I would bring was darkness and death? I wanted it, the darkness and the hunger for blood. I wanted to ignore all of the good inside of me and grasp the power of the darkness. It whispered to me, caressed me, and tried to seduce me. Together, it said,
we would be unbreakable.
But I knew better. I had been breakable when I had walked with that darkness. I had been caught unaware. It was the light in me that had saved me, the fire. I was stronger with the fire than I was with the darkness. I still didn’t understand though, why had my fire left me in that shaft? Had it been the poison? Had it been the lack of blood? I didn’t understand, but I knew it was with me now. It caressed my body as it flowed vibrantly through my veins.
I groaned with pain from the loss I felt in my heart and soul. To be reborn to lose the one who had cared enough to walk through the infernal flames of damnation to save me was no life at all. I had nothing left. My human parents were gone. My true mother was gone. My brother was missing, and my sister hid from the world. There was nothing left to fight for.
Laughter filled my mind. It was Emily. I saw her there in my memories. She was so young and beautiful. Her life had been so happy. She had so many dreams she would never get to accomplish. Beside her, Vanessa grinned at me from a face I would never again look upon. I saw Aeron’s face. He had called me poison. Had told me I brought out the worst in him. He believed I would doom the world with my darkness.
My ire became too much for me to bear. Holding the flames and the darkness at bay was too much for my weakened body. I felt myself succumbing to the darkness once again. My mind slipped, and as my subconscious fled, I screamed for Aeron over and over.
ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ
My eyes snapped open for the first time in many months. I stared up at the wooden ceiling above me. I was surrounded by obscurity. The gloomy room in which I lay was unfamiliar. The last time I had been awake…No. I shut down my thoughts. I would not think about that. I refused to deal with those memories, with the truth. Flames lapped at my hair and spread down my arms and legs. Why? Why was I awake? Why had my eyes finally been opened? Tilting my head, I felt the breath of energy.
There. A window stood to my left and the drapes had been left open. I stared, fascinated as the radiant glow of the sun’s shadow haloed the moon. The scorching brightness was like hot energy bathing me in its radiation. I had been roused from my damnation. My fire was fed, and my body began to heal. I understood now. When Desmond had locked me away in a darkened mine shaft, there had been no sun, no moon. No light had showered me with its luminescent energy.
My fire fed off the radiation of these celestial bodies, and without their light, I was weak. My power surged with the eclipse, and I knew why. The sun and moon together gave me more energy when they joined in their celestial dance. Like the joining of two powerful lovers, they invigorated me. Lying there, I felt the sunken skin around my face rejuvenate. I was becoming whole again. Looking down at my arms, I smiled at the orange glow that shone from beneath my ivory skin.
Standing slowly, I was afraid of the pain I might feel. There was no pain. Like a Panther stretching from a long languid slumber, I felt the power in my body as I moved for the first time. Looking out the window, I caught a glimpse of the faint reflection I Cast upon the glass. With an eclipse backdrop, I stood proudly. Flames licked my body and my eyes glowed with an eerie red luminescence.
There was something different about my reflection today. A shadow was Cast upon me. Like a caress along my neck, I would have sworn I felt a breath. In my reflection, the dark wings of the shadow fluttered behind my fiery form. I inhaled deeply. What could this mean? Looking at the dark wings that shifted behind me, I smiled.
“I will not doom the world. I will not be your poison.” I whispered the words aloud before pivoting on my heels and leaving the room.
ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ
Stepping from the stone house, I glanced at the others gathered in front of me. Gargoyles crouched along the perimeter of the roof, looking down at me with disbelief. In the woods bordering the yard, glowing eyes shifted, watching me. A Wolf howled, followed by many others. To my left, a giant Black Panther stepped from the brush. His unsettling yellow eyes stared at me intensely before he let loose a bone-rattling roar. Many other roars echoed his from the dark woods.
Rafael stood with several Witches and Vampires I did not recognize. He looked up at me with awe, and with pride. I held his gaze for a long moment. Lifting my hand, I fingered the pendant that hung there.
Holding eye contact with him, I said, “I’m sorry Rafael, but it is time I control myself.”
He watched in fear as I lifted the pendant from my neck. Holding the silver chain in my hand, I waited. All those around me waited. None of us knew what to expect. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, just as I began to think it had all been false, that the pendant held nothing back, after all, I felt it.
Pain, tearing and ripping pain scorched my shoulders. I cried out, falling to my knees as the pain overtook me. Rafael made a move toward me, but I held my hand up.
“Stop. No one comes near me. I will not have the death of another friend on my conscious.”
Rafael halted. In his wise eyes, I saw that he understood. Not one of us present truly knew what I was or what I was to become. It was too dangerous for any of them. I cried out; my fangs lengthening in response to my body’s reaction. It was like someone had reached into my skin and was tearing at my bones. The blades of my shoulders shifted with a sickening crunch.
I began to understand what was happening as I watched both fear and awe cross the eyes of those who witnessed my transformation. I felt the shadow fall over me as the tearing and crunching in my back finally seemed to lessen. Glancing to the side, I sucked in a breath at the deceivingly beautiful black wings that stood over me. As the flames of my body overtook them, they became something else entirely. The feathers disappeared and the bone protruded, leaving them like a torn and shredded shroud around me.
I stood painfully. My body was still trying to heal and accommodate my true form. With my wings standing proudly behind me, they lit up the ground with their flames. Looking down at the ground, I saw the image I created. Like a fiery, magical, winged creature I stood. Lifting my chin, I looked out at the crowd. Rafael’s face looked less stunned than I would have expected, and it was then that I suspected he knew what I truly had become.
Taking a deep breath, I flexed my wings, fascinated when they moved as another set of arms I could control. Moving my gaze to the eclipse, I inhaled its power.
“Let us go retake our Lost Cities. This world shall not fall to darkness, not if we have anything to say about it.”
Around me, Panthers roared, and Wolves howled their eerie tune. Gargoyles let loose their spine-tingling battle cries, and Spirits shifted around me, as though emerging from a doorway we could not see. Their murky unsolidified forms floated in the spaces around me. I was angry at the world, hurt and desolate that I had lost Aeron, but I would not let the world fall without a fight.
ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ
Rafael refused to meet my eyes as I approached him. Around us, others prepared for war. Chandler came to walk on my right side, and the large Black Panther walked on my left. Running my hand along the sleek black fur of his back, I smiled when he purred.
“Thank you.” Glancing from him to Chandler, I continued. “I never got to thank you two for your aid in my rescue.”
Chandler grinned. “You are my leader, Valkyrie, whether you wish it or not, the Gargoyles are loyal to you now just as they once were.”
On my left, the Panther began shifting until it was the man who stood beside me. His eyes reflected at me a moment before fading to yellow. He eyed my wings before grinning.
“As am I. You, I choose to follow. I am Damien of the Panthers. Yours to command.”
I smiled back at them. I wasn’t entirely sure what I had done to gain such loyalty, but as I walked through the crowds, others stared at me with awe. Several bowed or kneeled, causing me to frown.
“Please, I am not your queen, you have no reason to bow to me.” Placing my fingers beneath the chin of a Vampire female, I continued, “And none of you should ever kneel before anyone.”
The female looked up at me,
and I saw respect in her eyes. I moved on, trying my best to ignore the naked form of Damien as he walked beside me. When I reached Rafael, I studied him.
“I think you and I have some things to speak about Rafael. Shall we take a walk?”
The old man deflated. With a nod, he turned toward the woods. I gave my two chaperones a nod to stay there. Following the Fiddler, as the Panther form darted past me, I waited until we were away from the others.
“You know what I am now, don’t you?”
The old man eyed me with his abnormally youthful eyes. Sitting slowly on a boulder, he sighed breathily.
“The story I told you before, about the boy who was given the blood of the first immortal Witch. That was me in that story.”
I didn’t know what his story had to do with me, but I listened politely anyway. I itched to know everything I could.
He looked off into the distance. “ Six hundred years ago, before I came to America, one night, I was out in the woods later than normal. Gathering herbs had kept me so busy I hadn’t realized the late hour. I heard screams. They came from a village nearby. I hurried there, afraid I would be too late. Indeed, I arrived as the place went up in flames, and I found a young girl lying there, bleeding to death. There was a very distinct bite wound on her neck that I had seen before, in my travels through Europe.
I knew she had been attacked by Vampires. I knew that if I saved her, she would become one of them. I remember looking down into her light blue eyes, seeing the hope in them. I could not leave her to die. I gave her my blood. My immortal blood. Then, I took her in and raised her far away from that village. I taught her to control her hunger and her darkness. She was like my daughter. Her name was Corentine.”
I stared at Rafael for several long minutes. I knew that name. It was like an itch somewhere in my mind. Racking my brain, I knew it was there somewhere. I saw a face, floating in the recesses of my mind. As the image became clear, I blinked several times as I saw her raven black hair and her icy white-blue eyes. My mother.
Becoming Valkyrie Page 24