Kara’s eyes snapped open. Gotcha. She looked down at the metal chain connecting her to the base of the Vampire Throne and willed it to disappear. Something extra was feeding into her efforts, now. She wanted the damn handcuffs off and she focused everything she had on making it happen. The effort left her sweaty and drained, but a heartbeat away from passing out from all the controlled breathing, it happened…
The chain fell apart and the handcuffs snapped free.
Kara hadn’t realized how hard she’d been pulling against them until the resistance was gone and she tumbled backwards on to the dais floor. Victorious, her eyes slashed over to Damien. “Okay. I figured the superpower thing out.” She panted.
His mouth curved. Just as it always did when she escaped one of his traps. “Gods, what a woman.” He said, softly.
…And then his whole body tipped to the side.
He hit the unfinished boards with the terrible, uncontrolled motion of someone beyond even bracing himself for impact.
“Damien!” Kara dove for him, sliding across the wooden slats and leaning over him, frantically looking for his pulse. She felt a faint flutter and kept her fingers pressed against it like it might vanish if she moved her hand. “Damien, look at me.” She shook his arm, trying to get a response. “Look at me, Damien!”
He didn’t answer her. His eyelashes didn’t even flicker. Kara’s throat went dry. If there was any part of Damien that heard her, he would have done something to respond. He would have tried to reassure her even as he bled to death. Pale and still, his legs caught at an awkward angle, he already looked… dead.
“No.” Kara’s insides slid downward in a hot/cold rush. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” It was an unconscious chant as she ripped off one whole side of Damien’s shirt and clamped the makeshift bandage onto his barrowed chest wound.
Oh God.
There was so much blood.
She swallowed hard. Stay calm. Stay focused. Concentrate. “Hey, Vlad?” Her voice shook, but she tried to keep it calm. “It’s Karalynn. I need you to wake up, beloved. I need to ask you about the healing power thing.”
Beside her, Slade let out a groan and sat up. “What happened?” He asked the world at large, clutching his forehead. “Did I win the fight?”
And just like that the earthquake and bubbling ocean and fracturing sky just… stopped. Whoever or whatever was guiding Eternal Passion at Sunset seemed appeased by Damien’s sacrifice. The world went quiet, again, except for the cheers of the assembled Vampires.
Kara barely noticed. “Damien, I’m scared.” All stops pulled, she went right to the vulnerability card. “I need your help. Are you just going to leave me here alone and unprotected? There are Vampires here! Vampires, Damien!” If there was one word in the English language guaranteed to register in his deepest parts of his consciousness that was it. “Vampire!” This time she screamed it and Damien’s face tightened a tiny bit in response, his forehead creasing.
Bingo.
“Thank God you’re back, Slade-y.” Melessa dashed towards his side. “I was so worried about you. Also, is that dagger over there really made of blue diamonds? If it is, can I have it?”
Kara ignored the chatter and grabbed hold of Melessa’s dangling Princess Leia leash as she passed. The girl was brought up short, but at least it shut her up. “Mel, hold this against his wound. Now.” She ordered and handed her another wadded up piece of Damien’s shirt.
“Do I have to?” Mel wrinkled her nose. “It’s so icky.”
“Fucking do it!” Kara screamed and yanked the girl into position by Damien’s side. “We don’t have much time. Keep the pressure on that injury no matter what, understand?”
“I don’t think you’re allowed to yell at a queen.” Melessa muttered, but she did as she was told.
“King Slade!” Fibos cried. “Oh, it’s a miracle to see you alive! You have risen like a phoenix to bless us with your majestic light.”
“We are all fortunate I’m here.” Slade agreed, modestly. “I am… Hey!” He broke off with a yelp as Kara sized his arm. “Witch, what do you mean by…”
Kara cut him off. “Shut up and say you’re going to kill me.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Say it!”
“Fine! I’m going to kill you, alright? Well, I will probably have my men do it, but...”
“No, don’t tell me! Tell him! Threaten me, so Damien hears it.”
Slade looked down at Damien and frowned. “What has happened to the sorcerer?”
“He’s dying, because he saved you.”
Slade glanced over to Fibos, who nodded. “He… saved me?” Slade looked back at Damien’s still face and his eyes widening on a sigh of true revelation. “Of course he did. Oh, yes. I see the truth, now. How could I be so blind?” Slade clutched a hand to forehead. “Poor Damien. All this time, the creature just wanted me… to like him.”
Kara was beyond anything except blinking in that moment. Hysterical screaming was the only other option. “I can’t believe Damien –my Damien-- got stabbed in the heart for you.” Her tone was just north of fury and slightly south of revulsion, but Slade didn’t notice.
“Yes, he had a noble death.” Slade seemed close to tears. But they weren’t genuine, sad tears. They were the tears of someone who just watched a reality show wedding on TV and wept about how pretty the bride looked. “Everyone yearns for my approval. Even lesser beings like Damien. For centuries, he acted badly, trying to gain my attention like a wayward boy and his glorious father. But today…” He pressed a knuckle to his trembling lips as his voice cracked. “Today I saw the deep love he truly bears for his king. And I am… moved. Fibos!” He looked over at his lieutenant. “We shall have a day of mourning for the sorcerer. Not today, though. It’s my birthday. Perhaps Tuesday.”
“You have that polo match Tuesday, Sire.”
“Oh yes. Well, Tuesday’s out, then.” He gave Kara’s shoulder a consoling pat. “We won’t allow anything to distract us from remembering the sorcerer’s final act of goodness. Not even my magnificent horses. He had so few decent moments, we need to celebrate that he at least died in a civilized way. So…” Slade bobbed his head back and forth, thinking. “We’ll switch his memorial to Thursday, I suppose. Because Tuesday’s polo and Wednesday’s that thing with the Ant People.”
“Thursday.” Fibos looked overwhelmed by the thought of it. “You are ever generous, your highness.”
Kara didn’t have to reach for the blue dagger. Her new powers just pulled the thing into her hand like it was magnetized. “You son-of-a-bitch.” She jammed the edge of the blade against Slade’s windpipe, nicking his golden skin. “Damien isn’t dead! Not yet. Now tell him that you’re going to kill me!”
“I’m going to kill you.” He squeaked in panic.
“Louder!”
“Sorcerer, I am going to kill your Witch! Slade, King of the Vampires, will now kill Karalynn Don. El. Ey! She will be very, very dead!”
“Close enough.” Kara dropped the knife and leaned down next to Damien’s ear. “Help me, Damien! Vampires! Help. Help. Help. Help. Help.”
Black eyes snapped open on an indrawn gasp. “Kara Lynn.”
Boo-yah!
“I’m here. Damien, I’m right here.” She pressed her lips against his. “Stay awake. Just fight and stay awake until I figure this out.”
He scanned her face. “Are you hurt?” Damien sounded hoarse. He had to be on his last reserves of strength, but he was alive and she planned to keep him that way.
She gave him a determined smile. “I’m fine, Vlad. How do I do the healing thing?”
“What?”
“The healing powers, Damien. Stay focused on me and don’t go to sleep.” She laid a palm his face, forcing his gaze to stay locked on hers. “Do I just put my hand on your chest and concentrate or do I need to do more?”
“You cannot heal me. Do not try.”
“Well, that sounds like a dare to me.” She was goin
g for levity, but her attention kept shifting to the ever darkening red of the shirt that Melessa had pressed to his wound. How much blood did one person have? Even with magical aid, how much more could he lose and still survive? “Seriously, how do I do this?”
“Kara Lynn.” Damien gave his head an almost imperceptible shake as she put her palm on his chest and concentrated with all her might. “Skills at healing… are different.” His voice was getting weaker. “They take centuries… to develop. It will not… work.”
Kara blinked back tears, knowing he was telling the truth from the utter lack of power she felt. “Shit.”
“I would not allow you… to die for me… anyway.”
“I’m going to save your life if it kills you, Damien. Deal with it.”
Slade knelt down between Melessa and Kara. “Sorcerer?”
“Oh fuck.” Damien groaned as Slade clutched his hand and held on.
Slade ignored Damien’s listless efforts to pry it free. “I just want you to know, I will not really kill your mate.” Slade squeezed his lips together, holding back sobs. “I will find a Vampire husband to care for her, in fact. Do not worry as you pass from this world. She is in my wise hands.”
Kara had been preparing to tell Slade to zip it, but she stopped short at that announcement. Not that she ever, ever, planned on marrying a Vampire, for God’s sake. But, Damien was suddenly a lot more awake.
He focused on Slade, his eyes narrowing. “You will find… a… Vampire husband… for my cari?”
“It is my duty.” Slade vowed, one hand to his newly healed heart. “When you gave your life for mine, you left your woman in my care. I will fulfill the responsibility exactly as you would want. Carefully, thoughtfully, and respectfully…” He glanced over at Fibos. “Hey, you’re single. What do you think of mating with the Witch?”
“I fear the woman has always fancied you, sire. I would not be man enough for her.”
“True, true… And I do appreciate that curling hair of hers. Still, a Vampire cannot have two Eternal-Ones. Not even a king.”
“No, he sure can’t.” Melessa snapped.
Slade pursed his lips. “Perhaps we could have a raffle for the woman, then.”
“Oh fuck.” Damien said, again. Thanks to Slade, he wasn’t thinking about dying, anymore. He looked at Kara, his expression resolved. “You win. I’m not… going anywhere. Think of something… to save me… so I can kill him… again.”
“Trust me, I’m working on it.”
“You should see what the magic book says to do.” Melessa put-in, wisely. “It’s magic.”
It showed the level of her utter desperation that Kara actually listened to Mel’s idea. Her eyes slashed over the manuscript, which lay face up a few feet away. “Damien, hang on.” She crawled over to grab it, staining the pages with Damien’s blood as she frantically flipped towards the end.
To’kel finally was defeated, Slade and Melessa were together, Damien was dying…
Eternal Passion at Sunset was exactly where it wanted to be. The events and characters were beginning to overlap and the last chapter lined up with this reality for the first time since Mel’s engagement party. Kara had actually succeeded in forcing the novel back on track.
Now, she needed to derail it, again.
“You’re such a dimwit, Melessa.” Eugene piped up, sourly. Fibos men were busily tying him in golden rope, but his attention seemed centered on bickering with his ex-girlfriend. “I’ve seen that book and the Witch was telling the truth all along. It’s just a story, not a magical prophesy. Why I’m barely in it, at all.”
“I’m not speaking to you, Eugene. If I was, I’d say that the book predicted I would be Vampire queen and now I am. Therefore, it is magical.” She gave her hair a toss. “Dummy.”
“Well, the book also says Damien dies at the end.” He shot back. “It’s all right there in print. So, if it’s so ordained and magical, than what’s the point of trying to subvert the text and save him, Melessa?”
“The Witch can change the text, Eugene.” Melessa rolled her eyes in a style perfected by teenage mall goers the world over. “Hell-lo? She’s magical, too.”
Kara froze, her eyes staring at the page and not even seeing the words as she processed Melessa’s snarking.
Change the text.
“I just hope my literary death scene… is more dignified than this one.” Damien muttered. “Kara Lynn? Must he keep… holding my hand like that?”
“Shhhh!” Slade clutched Damien’s palm against his chest and rocked it gently. “There, there, sorcerer. Just relax. Your king is here. Slade is here.” He began to hum a soothing lullaby that sounded a lot like the theme song from Angel.
“Oh Gods… I’m in Hell.”
Kara ignored Damien’s longsuffering tone and launched herself at Eugene. Or, more specifically, she launched herself at Eugene’s pocket protector.
“Help!” He squawked as she grabbed one of his red pens. “I’ve been robbed!”
Melessa snorted. “You’re such a nerd. Thank God I found my wonderful Slade, before I wasted my life on a mere human with no castle, at all.”
“Yes, my queen. Destiny has truly brought us together.” Slade agreed.
Kara slapped the book down flat on the ground next to Damien and uncapped the pen with her teeth. It was a modern ballpoint and, for once, she didn’t mind Tanya’s anachronisms.
Eternal Passion at Sunset was just a manuscript and she was a goddamn editor.
Let’s see what kind of changes she could make.
Kara began ruthlessly drawing Xs through whole paragraphs, her eyes scanning over the dialogue.
“Thank God I found my wonderful Slade, before I wasted my life on a mere human with no castle, at all.” Melessa said.
“Yes, my queen. Destiny has truly brought us together.” Slade agreed.
All around them, the courtyard was in ruins from the fight. But, it mattered not to the happy couple, who stood on the brink of their endless, love-filled future. The other Vampires gazed at them with joyful, yet envious, faces. For who could ever match the love and beauty of such a golden couple at the peak of their golden beauty?
“I repent of my evil ways.” Damien whispered from his deathbed there on the ground. “You have shown me what true love truly is, Slade, and I thank you from the bottom of my black heart.”
“Damien, sweetie, do you repent of your evil ways?” Kara asked distractedly, trying to keep him engaged and conscious.
“Hell no.”
“Good.” She crossed out all of that crap and swiftly turned to the next page.
The last page.
“I forgive you, creature, for all your terrible deeds against me.” Slade knelt down by Damien’s side and clasped his hand. “I am a big enough man to say… you were wrong. But, I absolve you, for you knew no better.”
Slade actually said that line out loud as Kara read it on the page. It sounded even stupider than it looked.
Also, Damien’s real life response was a bit different from his scripted reaction in the book. “Fuck off, Vampire.” He snarled.
“Oh Slade, you really are a gracious winner.” Damien’s eyes closed. “I go now to seek the peace I could never find here on Earth.”
With that, his chest ceased to move and Damien, last of the Wizard-Warlocks, perished.
“Kara Lynn… love you.” Damien whispered and then he went still.
“Witch!” Slade cried. “He stopped breathing. The sorcerer has stopped breathing! You must do something!”
“I’m trying!” Kara couldn’t look over at her husband’s silent form. If she did, she’d break down completely. CPR wasn’t going to cut it here. She needed to bring him back another way. Her whole body was shaking, trying to edit Eternal Passion at Sunset’s final page. She could barely hold the pen as she scribbled out the damning lines that killed Damien in wild, jagged strokes.
Time for a new ending, Tanya.
Excising Damien’s death scene under layers
of red ink, Kara drew an arrow to the wide margin at the bottom of the page and started writing her corrections in huge, waving letters. Tears were making it impossible to keep the printing straight.
Damien healed. He woke-up and went home with Karalynn Donnelly.
Her head whirled around to look at Damien, willing him to move. To blink. To curse. To do anything in response to the book’s changes.
Nothing happened.
No.
This couldn’t be happening. Not to Damien. It wasn’t fair! He’d just saved the whole friggin’ world! He couldn’t die like this. He couldn’t. This wasn’t his destiny.
“Damien!” Kara was close to hyperventilating. What was she missing? It had to be something. What were the magic words she could write to save him?
How else should a love story end?
She looked back at the manuscript and played her last card, scrawling the sentence out in almost illegible haste:
And they lived happily ever after.
The platform beneath them gave way, suddenly. As if the all supports had been kicked out from under it, the whole structure seemed to plunge downward. Kara forgot about the book and flung her body over Damien, holding onto him with all she was worth. “Shit!” Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to protect him from an impact that seemed like it was taking a hell of a long time happen.
In fact, it took Kara a moment to realize that they somehow weren’t falling anymore.
What the hell?
She cautiously raised her head from Damien’s chest and looked around.
What the hell?
Kara’s mouth parted in surprise as she took in her surroundings. They weren’t in the courtyard of the Vampire Palace, any longer.
… They were sprawled out in the Art Deco foyer of the Donnelly Building.
She blinked, trying to figure out what was going.
“So, is that the infamous elevator, then?” Damien asked from beneath her, staring over at the dangling brass doors on the opposite side of the room. “It looks like it met up with one of your future weapons.” Smoke still emanated from the interior. Gears and wires littered the marble floor.
She was back in the real world, apparently just seconds after she left it.
Not Another Vampire Book Page 34