by Lisa Sanchez
I gasped, my hand clutching my stomach. In the center of the room hanging by their feet were Jessica, Taylor, and — Oh, God! No!
“Grandma!”
Chapter 19
I dodged Xan’s grasp and raced forward toward my great-grandmother and friends. Hellbent on pulling them down from where they hung, I was knocked ass-over-tea-kettle onto the floor when I ran into the invisible barrier that lay before them. With a groan, I peeled myself off the floor and looked into the comatose faces of my loved ones through tear-filled eyes.
Innocent, sweet, and accepting, neither Taylor nor Jessica deserved the heaping load of shit fate dealt them. Their choice to befriend me had cost them dearly, and I’d never be able to make it up to them.
And my great-grandmother. The one person I’d relied on my entire life. My only remaining family — oh, God! The sight of her dangling by her feet in midair would forever be burned into my psyche. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill the motherfucker who did this to her.
“Welcome to my home, Ainsley.”
There was an explosion of light behind me, and the loud sound of struggle filled my ears. And then — there was only silence. The world stopped spinning, and everything was still as the echo of Lucian’s malevolent voice cut across my skin like a thousand tiny razor blades, slicing away at my flesh. Tense as a tightly drawn wire, my body shook and my teeth ground together. Slowly, I turned to face the monster that had chased me my entire life. The monster that had killed my mother, my grandmother and countless others on his quest for power.
Seated on a large wing-back chair at the far end of the room, with his fingers pressed together under his chin and a wicked smile on his malicious face, was Lucian. Floating high above the floor to his left were Xan and Gabriel, both bound by whatever dark magic Lucian had used, unable to move.
My breath caught, panic welling up from deep within. With Xan and Gabriel bound, I was on my own, and that thought terrified me.
I looked back toward my enemy to see both Edie and Deanna seated at his feet, ready and eager to do his bidding like the evil pets they were.
Lucian’s white-blond hair and pale skin were a stark contrast to the black silk shirt and slacks he wore. His soulless blue eyes cut into me like daggers, and the urge to look away was staggering. But I couldn’t. This was it. My one and only chance to confront him. The only opportunity I’d ever get to put an end to the torment he’d been dishing out for centuries.
“Lucian.” My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was raspy and full of hatred. And oh, Lord, did I ever hate him.
Lucian inclined his head toward me with a nefarious smile. “At long last we meet again, my sweet. Truly, it has been…too long.” He was enjoying himself. That much was evident in the tone of his voice and the way he carried himself. This was all a game to him, and we were his unwitting puppets. I wanted to hurl.
I balled my hands into fists as I forced myself to speak to him. “Not long enough as far as I’m concerned.”
“I believe I instructed you to come alone, yet I see you’ve brought along your vampire lover and his trusty side-kick — Gabriel, is it?” He looked up at him, a wicked grin crossing his face. “I’ve heard of you, and of the great loss you suffered.” Lucian glanced over to where Taylor hung motionless and back toward Gabriel. “She bears a remarkable likeness to Faythe, does she not?”
Panic flashed across Gabriel’s face as he looked from Taylor to Lucian. I’d never seen so much raw emotion from him. I understood all too well the haunted look in his eyes and why he looked at her the way he did. He’d lost someone close to him. Someone who looked a lot like Taylor.
“I wonder…” Lucian said, tapping his chin, “if she would suffer the same fate as your beloved Faythe? Shall we find out?”
“No!” Gabriel thrashed violently, straining under the weight of his magical bonds. “If you touch her, I’ll — ”
“You’ll what?” Lucian said, sounding bored. “I’m quite certain you won’t give me a second thought.” Turning his focus over to Taylor, he smiled. “Let’s test that theory.” With a flick of his wrist, Taylor vanished into thin air.
No! “Taylor!” My screams were nothing in comparison to the loud roar that came from Gabriel.
Glass from the scattered windows around the room shattered and blew inward as a strong wind came whipping through the room like a tornado. “I’m sorry, my friend,” he said, looking over to Xan before disappearing altogether.
A loud sob escaped my lips as the space my friend once occupied was now empty. I could only hope that wherever Taylor was, Gabriel would find her and keep her safe.
My crying was interrupted by the sound of Lucian’s applause as it rang out through the room. He stood up from where he was seated, and crossed over to stand just in front of Xan. His movements were fluid, cunning, and purposeful.
“And now onto you, Alexandre — my son. I long feared we’d never meet — yet here you are.” Circling him like a vulture ready to attack his prey, Lucian took his time evaluating Xan, raking him over with evil, unforgiving eyes. “Such a disappointment,” he said with a sigh. “You have the look of your mother.” With an icy grin, he shook his head before raising his hand and showering Xan with rapid bursts of electricity. The bright blue sparks lit up the room, and the smell of burned flesh permeated my nose.
I lunged forward and hit a wall as Lucian’s free hand shot up, freezing me in place. “Stop it! Xan!” I could see the agony etched across his masculine face as the jolts of electricity burned away at his flesh and tore through his body. Yet he bore his pain in silence, refusing to give Lucian the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain.
“What’s wrong, ma cherie? Does it pain you to see your lover suffer? Maybe you’d like to join him. Yes?”
“No!” Xan’s powerful voice filled the air as he fought against the magical bonds that held him. Thrashing wildly, he closed his eyes and let out a long, agonizing groan. I held my breath and watched in awe as a brilliant glow surrounded him from head to toe before he vanished into thin air. The aging walls and floor of the room shook and buckled all around us, and the temperature of the room dropped so low I could see my breath as it came in rapid, shallow pants.
Lucian’s maniacal laughter echoed through the room as he casually strode back toward his mock throne and sat down. “You’re more powerful than I thought, Alexandre. I may have use for you yet.”
The sound of Xan’s enraged voice floated across the aging space, making my breath catch and my heart jump. “I will never serve you.”
The chair that Lucian sat upon exploded out from under him, killing Deanna when a large chunk of wood from the chair impaled her through the chest. Taken by surprise, Lucian was sent flying across the room by a now visible Xan who blasted him with a large energy pulse. Just as Lucian was about to hit the floor, Xan held up his hands, stopping his descent. Freezing him in midair, he drew his arms back and sent him crashing through the nearby wall.
“Master! No!” Edie, who had been thrown sideways when the chair exploded, launched herself off the floor and ran screaming across the room. She dove head-first out the destroyed wall her master had crashed through moments before.
I winced, because unless she could sprout wings and fly, Edie had just dove head-first to her death.
“Quick,” Xan said to me. “Get them out of here!” He glanced over toward Jessica and my great-grandmother before running off after Lucian.
Time was precious, and I wasn’t about to waste the few moments Xan provided me with. I raced over to my loved ones, lowering them to the floor with my magic.
“Grandma! Jessica! Wake up!” I shook them both violently, but neither woke. Shit! There was no way they were getting out on foot.
A loud explosion rocked the foundation, and the house groaned and shook violently. Time was running out. I’d have to try and teleport
Jessica to safety while remaining at the mansion myself. I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but there was no choice. I had to try. Grabbing onto her wrist, I channeled everything I felt. Filled with rage for the horrific murder of her mother, Karen, and crippling fear for Taylor who was lost somewhere in time, I reveled in the electric current that flowed through me. I focused on the safest place I could think of, Hanaford Park’s only Catholic church, with a loud pop, Jessica was gone.
“Ainsley?”
My head snapped over to where my great-grandmother lay, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest with joy as she struggled to open her eyes.
“I’m here, Grandma. I’m here,” I said as I raced to her side. Sliding my arms beneath her, I leaned down and held her close, burying my face in her silvery hair. The smell of fresh baked cookies filled my nose. Home.
“Must…get…away, Ainsley,” she whispered faintly as I pulled her into a sitting position. Her head lolled to the side and her breathing was shallow and sparse. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Grandma?” I slid my hand up her back to cup her cheek, and that was when I saw the blood. God, no! “Grandma!” Leaning her forward, I gasped at the shredded fabric of her sweater and the bloody claw marks that marred her back. She’d been clawed by a Chromandi demon, and the poison had been flowing through her veins for — only God knew how long.
The sound of thunder filled the air, and a shower of wooden splinters rained down onto my great-grandmother and me as Lucian came crashing through the wall behind us and out the other side of the room. I looked up to see Xan flash into the room. His clothing looked singed as if he’d walked through fire, and there was a huge gash just above his eye that was healing before my very eyes. “Get out of here! Now, carino!”
“I can’t! My grandmother…” I could barely get the words out between sobs. “She’s been poisoned. I need you!”
“Carino, I…” A blast of electricity sent Xan flying backward. He crashed into the wall at the far side of the room.
“Aileana’s not going anywhere. Are you, my sweet?”
I looked up to see Lucian, hovering over my great-grandmother and me with a murderous look on his face. His clothes were torn and covered in filth from fighting Xan. Huge pieces of wood jutted out from his shoulder and thigh, blood seeping from the wounds at a rapid rate. “Finally. After all these years, you come to me willingly…”
“To spare the life…of my great-granddaughter.” Her voice was faint and weak, and I watched as she fought to keep her eyes open. “I’ve given my life, for hers. For once, Lucian…be merciful.”
His lips peeled back into a snarl, revealing a deadly set of fangs. “Mercy is for the weak. You made your choice years ago, Aileana, when you denied me. Now you shall suffer as the rest of your family has suffered.” He reared his head back with a hiss, baring his fangs as if readying to strike. Instinctively I huddled over my great-grandmother, shielding her with my body as I waited for the killing strike to claim my life. But the pain never came.
“Quick, carino. I…can’t hold him…for very long.”
I looked up to see Xan with his arms outstretched, holding Lucian in some sort of energy circle. It was the same type of circle he’d captured the Hantu Raya in earlier. Pulse after pulse of electricity came bursting from Lucian’s fingers as he tried to free himself from Xan’s makeshift prison. But his efforts were in vain. Xan’s hold over him was strong.
Sweat poured off Xan’s face as he struggled to contain Lucian, the muscles in his neck and jaw straining from his effort.
I carefully laid my grandmother on the floor and stood to face Xan. Not wanting Lucian to hear what I planned, I relied on the psychic connection we shared — a direct result of his feeding from me.
Xan…can you hear me?
His eyes widened ever so slightly, and he gave me a slight nod.
If I can get a lock of his hair, we can destroy him in any manner we like…I could see the page from the Book of Light clearly in my head. The page I’d read only days ago when I’d been searching for a way to take down Lucian.
Xan narrowed his eyes and shook his head before dropping to his knees with a loud groan. His strength was giving out and Lucian would be free any moment.
No, carino. I can’t let you use dark magic against him. I won’t let you travel down that path.
“But there’s no other way!” I paced back and forth for a moment before making up my mind. There was no other way. If I wanted to save us, I’d have to use voodoo magic to take him down. “I don’t care what you say. I’m going in,” I said and moved to jump into the energy circle. If I had to rip every piece of that white-blond hair out to kill him with, I would.
A cold hand gripped my ankle and stopped me dead in my tracks. I looked down to see my great-grandmother lying half-dead on the floor, no signs of life in her save the hand that gripped my ankle.
Embrace your love, Ainsley. Don’t give into the lure of dark magic. Resist the urge… Her faint voice filled my head, sending a wave of comfort through me as only hers could. Together you can defeat him.
I shook my head, confused by her words. Embrace my love? “Grandma, I — ” My words were cut off by Xan’s loud groan.
“I can’t hold him any longer, mi amor. Get out! Save yourself!”
Lucian’s maniacal laughter ate away at my flesh as he continued to blast away at the energy ball that contained him.
Clarity as sharp and clear as glass sliced through me. Embrace your love. My love. Xan. My body was a conduit for my magic. If I held onto him, he could tap into my power and use it to destroy Lucian.
I didn’t think. I just acted. Flashing over to Xan, I wrapped my arms around his large chest, buried my face in his back and held on tight.
My voice was wild, frantic. “Use me, Xan. Tap into my power, and send his undead ass to Hades!”
An electrical shock tore through me, and my body came alive with a rush of energy as Xan siphoned my magic into himself. Wind ripped through the room, sending the wreckage from the battle flying around us as a large black hole began to form in the center of the room. I watched in horror as the flames that were beginning to fill the circle faltered. Xan needed more than my magic.
Xan’s voice cracked. “It’s not enough, carino. I need…I need — ”
“You’ll never destroy me,” Lucian roared as he blasted away at the tenuous prison that held him. “Even together you are weak. Pathetic.”
And then it hit me. “My blood. You need my blood,” I shouted, and lifted my wrist up to his mouth. The extra power from my life’s essence would give him the strength he needed to kill Lucian. That was my hope, anyway. “Hurry!”
There was a searing pain as his fangs sank into the delicate flesh of my wrist. The burn didn’t last long and was followed by a rush of power the likes of which I’d never known. I could feel everything Xan was feeling. His rage. His fear. His love for me. It was as if I’d tapped into his very soul. And having felt and seen the beauty of it, I never wanted to be apart from him again.
Peering up from behind Xan, I watched as flames burst forth like a raging inferno, enveloping Lucian almost instantly. A high-pitched keening reverberated off the walls, as his flesh burned away into ash. The horrific sound echoed in my ears even after the black hole sucked him into nothingness and disappeared.
Silence rang out.
It was over. Lucian was gone.
Exhausted, Xan fell forward onto his hands and knees. His chest heaved up and down, before crashing onto his side with a labored groan.
I’d never bothered to let go of the death grip I had on him and went tumbling down along with him. I lay on the floor for what felt like an immeasurable amount of time, frozen, unable to move or think. And then I felt Xan’s warm fingers under my chin, lifting my head up. Looking into his battle worn face, I lost it as he drew me into his arms and held me close.
>
His smooth voice served as a balm, calming my aching heart and frazzled nerves as only he could. “That’s right, mi amor. Let it out. Let it all out.”
Drowning in the deluge of my tears, I cried for my mother and grandmother who’d suffered at Lucian’s hand, and who I so wanted to see at that moment. I cried for Xan and the tragic loss of his mother, and Katya, the woman who raised him as her own. Neither had the chance to see the magnificent creature, the angel, he’d grown to be. I mourned the loss of Karen and the devastation I knew Jessica would deal with when she learned of what happened to her mother. And Taylor. My heart ached for her, wherever she was. So sweet and accepting and loyal — she didn’t deserve the fate she’d been dealt, and I felt wholly responsible.
I lay wrapped in Xan’s arms for an eternity, or maybe it was only just a short time. I didn’t know. I was too tired to move, to think. He ran his hands up and down my back in long soothing strokes as he whispered in my ear.
“It’s time to go, carino. Your grandmother needs help.”
Chapter 20
The next few days were some of the best and worst of my life if that makes any kind of sense. There was a huge part of me that wanted nothing more than to dance around my apartment in my underwear and revel in the demise of Lucian. The monster that had destroyed so many lives was no more; he’d been burned alive and sent packing to the deepest fires of Hades. Xan had made certain he would never return.
I no longer had to look over my shoulder when I went out. There was no longer any need to hide under a glamour spell. Having grown to love my alter ego, in the end I chose to remain as I was. Who says blondes and redheads have more fun? My brown hair had scored me one scandalously hot vampire. I adopted the age old motto of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
As happy as I was to have both my freedom and Xan, on the flipside, I was heartbroken over the loss of Taylor. Though we’d only been friends for a few months, I’d grown to love her like a sister, and her absence made my chest ache. I thought back to the day after the battle, when Xan came over to help clean up the mess that was my apartment.