The New Age: Book 5 of The Bloodmoon Wars (A Paranormal Shifter Romance Series)

by Sara Snow

  “I love you, Cyrus.”

  “I love you more, Princess.”

  18

  Elinor

  “Will!” I called out, snapping a Bleeder’s neck. “Will!”

  The creature’s body fell to the ground, forgotten, as I stepped over it to make my way through the castle. There were an overwhelming number of smells in the castle, but none of them belonged to Will.

  “Amythia!” I screamed, bolts of lightning flashing from my body to kill the vampires rushing towards me down the windowless hall.

  The torches on the wall went out, plunging me into darkness. At the end of the hall, the passageway split in two directions. As I picked my way through the bodies on the ground, I took a deep breath, wondering which way to turn.

  Down each corridor, I could hear a stampede of vampires coming towards me.

  I gritted my teeth, dug my claws into my palms, then kicked off the ground. I broke through the ceiling, ending up in a grand throne room with a balcony. I could hear the battle raging outside, but from this high up, it all sounded somewhat distant.

  In front of me, Amythia sat on a throne of skulls. And Will stood by her side. My heart leaped at the sight of him, and I stood up straight.

  Areas of my body were tingling as my wounds healed, but I didn’t notice. All I could see were Will's blue eyes. I could always tell what he was thinking or feeling by his eyes.

  Only this time, there was nothing but emptiness.

  “Will?” I called as I stepped forward. But he neither blinked nor answered. His face was pale and emotionless.

  "I was wondering if I'd have to come and find you myself." Amythia rested her elbow on the arm of her throne, propping her head up.

  I wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. After watching Skye disappear with Cyrus, I’d slipped into a dark place, wanting nothing more than to see her bleed. “Will, are you okay?” He still didn’t respond, and my breathing grew labored. “What did you do to him?”

  “Doesn’t he look okay to you?” Flipping her hair to the side casually, Amythia appeared relaxed and in her element, like she faced existential threats every other day—and ate them for breakfast. “He looks as he once did—like a general, like my son.”

  I growled at her, and she chuckled in response. She ran a hand down her black dress, the fabric shining beautifully, and adjusted her crown of bones on her head of glorious black hair.

  “You’re such an adorable little thing.” She tilted her head to the side. “I can smell your power, little girl, but you’re nowhere near strong enough to beat me. But I can change that if you’d like.”

  “You mean if I join you, right? Become a vampire?”

  “Of course. The power you have now will be nothing compared to the amount you’ll wield once you have my venom running through your veins.” She ran a finger down Will’s arm. “And you’ll be able to be together.”

  “We are together,” I snarled. “Will, snap out of it!”

  He vanished from beside her, moving almost too fast for me to track . . . almost. So when his claws swiped at my face, I managed to step back in time. Still, reeling from the shock of his attack, I tripped and rolled on the ground.

  He kept coming at me, the ground shattering each time I rolled away just before he stomped on the spot where I’d been.

  I sent a bolt of lightning along the ground between us, knocking him back and giving me time to get to my feet.

  “Will! What the hell are you doing?”

  His skin turned a hideous gray, and his blue eyes changed to red. Black veins began to appear on his neck, running up to his chin and cheeks, and my breathing turned into quick, panicked breaths.

  “Will,” I whispered under my breath, unable to believe what I was seeing as his fangs elongated and he hissed at me, the sound shattering my heart. “Will, it’s me.”

  He vanished, and this time, my welling tears made me lose sight of him. Then, suddenly, he reappeared before me, backhanding me across the face and sending me flying backward. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the anguish of my broken soul.

  Across the room, Amythia started laughing. “Nothing you say will stop him. Submit to me, Wolf, or be killed by the man you love. I’m the Queen of all vampires. Any vampire I sired is blindingly loyal to me. And even when I’ve released them, or like in William’s case, they’ve released themselves, I can always recreate the sire bond. And I have.”

  I got to my feet shakily, not taking my eyes off Will. The Will I knew, the man I loved, wasn’t this stranger now glaring at me. Before me was the beast of old, the bogeyman who filled children’s nightmares, the monster that even vampires feared.

  Somewhere inside this creature, the man I knew was trapped, held in thrall to Amythia.

  “Will, listen to me! Don’t let her do this, please. Will, wake up!”

  “Bring her to me!” Amythia commanded, and he attacked me again.

  His claws ripped into my flesh, wounding me no matter how much distance I tried to put between us. The more I ran, the angrier he seemed to grow.

  “You would never do this!” I cried. “Will! Wake up! Please!”

  He clapped his hands, the sound as loud as a thunderclap. I winced as I covered my ears, the pain throwing my focus off as my eardrums exploded, and I tripped. He tackled me to the ground, and I wailed in pain as his claws pierced my right shoulder.

  He bent his fingers that were embedded in my flesh, and I wailed in agony.

  I’d come here to fight Amythia, to end this war and get Will back. I hadn’t been prepared for this. I knew I was a fool for not fighting back, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t hurt the man I loved.

  He lowered himself slowly until his face was inches away from mine. “Fight back, wolf.”

  I stifled a sob. “I forgive you,” I whimpered. His brows knitted, black veins now growing under his eyes. “I need you to know that I forgive you.”

  I held my left hand out to touch his face, but his claws pierced my palm, pinning my hand above my head. I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip to stop the scream rolling up my throat. More tears slid from my eyes as he growled menacingly.

  I’d have to fight back. I came here for Amythia, and if I had to go through him to get to her, I would. Too many lives had been lost and were still being taken for me not to follow through on the one job I’d been given—to rid the world of Amythia.

  “I’m s-sorry I lost our baby,” I whispered, and as I looked up at him, he went stiff. “I’m so sorry. For a little while, even though we didn’t know it, we were a family.” My body trembled with a sob, my wolf whining in my head as Will pulled up, confusion on his face. “I l-love you so much. You would h-have been an amazing father.”

  I called on my power, and my wolf began to cry as I prepared myself to do the only thing I could—electrocute Will with my lightning.

  “What?” Amythia shouted. Will released me and held his head, my blood dripping down his hand. “A child? I knew it . . . I knew it was possible! Only vampires from the royal bloodline can birth children to carry on the line. But you, William, you have a soul. I knew you’d be able to create life!”

  Will's eyes changed from red to blue and then back to red as he stared down at me. His Adam's apple bobbed, and the black veins under his skin began to fade. There was a battle being fought in his head, and I held his gaze, hoping the man I loved would win.

  “Do you remember when you took me to the Dragon Territory? You promised we’d go there again.” He removed his hand from my shoulder. “We can have our family there, away from everyone and everything. Please, Will, wake up!”

  “Bring her to me, William. Now! She means nothing to you. Let me turn her.”

  Will’s hands trembled as he grabbed my arm and pulled me up with him. He hissed at no one in particular, then pushed me away. I grabbed my aching shoulder, watching as he shook his head hard, freeing long strands of his hair from his ponytail.

  “William!” Amythia roared. �
�I command you to bring her to me! Now!” When he didn’t do as she commanded, a chill blew through the room. “Damn it! Why do I have to do everything myself?”

  She rose and I released the bolt of lightning I had been holding, sending it in her direction. She vanished, and abruptly, Will held his hand out in front of me. His hand covered her face the second she appeared before me, and he threw her back.

  She flipped in the air and landed on her feet, her crown skidding away from her. “How dare you!” she screamed. “Stand aside!”

  I closed my eyes as my mouth curved upward.

  Will, I knew you were still in there.

  “I can’t do that.” Will’s voice was low, chilling, and contorted like a monster’s.

  Amythia’s eyes widened. “Impossible,” she hissed, her skin turning gray as her eyes grew larger. “You shouldn’t have been able to break the sire bond. I’m the Queen, your Queen, William! I’m your mother!”

  “I will always choose Elinor over everyone and everything else.” He looked down at his hands that were covered in my blood before removing the coat he was wearing. “You took my free will.” He threw the coat on the ground, and Amythia’s cheekbones became more pronounced as her face began to look more skeleton-like. “You forced me to hurt the only person I care about.” He ripped his shirt open as his skin turned as gray as hers. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  The floor around Amythia turned to ice. Because I blinked, I didn’t see the moment they both moved, but before I knew it, they’d collided in the air. Amythia held Will around the throat as they both fell to the ground, her atop him.

  “I won’t force you any longer, William! You’ve betrayed me for the last time!”

  She opened her mouth, blowing ice-cold air down at Will, and he immediately started to freeze.

  Using my control of the wind, I knocked her off him but dove to the ground when she sent daggers made of ice flying in my direction. I couldn’t do much more than watch as they continued to fight, unable to see an opening to help Will.

  They fought viciously, tearing into each other's skin, but it was soon clear that Amythia was doing everything she could to prevent him from biting her. She shoved Will away from her and lifted her hands, creating a wall of ice between them.

  Then she came at me, and I exhaled through my mouth as I pressed my feet into the floor, then pushed forward, running to meet her. Using my wolf’s strength, I smacked into her, throwing us both against the wall of ice she’d created. It shattered, and as we fell, my hand came down on her face. But she grabbed my wrist and bent it.

  I yelped as the pain ran up my arm, my bones breaking. But as she threw me off her, I released a bolt of lightning that burned her shoulder and knocked her backwards.

  Will appeared behind her, catching her before she could fall. She cried out and arched, his hand buried in her back, but as he tried to bite her, she pulled herself away from him.

  “Enough!” she bellowed, releasing thousands of daggers made of ice from her palm.

  Using my control over the wind, I was able to blow away the ones that would have hit me and tried to do the same for Will, but three had already hit him. He pulled one from his leg, stomach, and shoulder, and thankfully, the wounds began to heal.

  Amythia glared at me and then him. “You’ve made your choice, William. That much is clear. But know this: before this night ends, you’ll lose her. I’ll make sure of it!”

  The wind started to gather around her, spinning like a tornado. I tried to gain control over it, my arms straining, but she was too strong, and ice sliced at my exposed skin. All the torches in the room had gone out, and I looked behind me, realizing my back was to a balcony.

  “Goddess, lend me your strength,” I whispered before closing my eyes.

  In order to borrow the power of the earth, the wind, and the sky, I’d learned that I had to become one with them. And I fought to do that now.

  Below the castle, countless fires were burning, and I tried to reach out to them. I could feel their heat beneath my skin and the power of the flames to kill or cleanse. Back when I’d been practicing with the Nephilim Sisters, I’d always burned myself. My control over the flames had been too weak, so they’d always turned on me.

  This time, I didn’t try to control them. Instead, I gave them the respect they deserved as an element of annihilation.

  Lend me your power.

  I opened my eyes when a ball of warmth formed around me, melting the ice. I watched Will trying to push through the strong winds being created by Amythia, and I smiled. For a while there, he’d scared me to death. But nothing in this world was stronger than our bond—not even Amythia.

  He stopped fighting against the winds and looked my way.

  Flames began pouring in through the balconies, swirling above us in the opposite direction as the winds being created by Amythia. Breathing slowly, I held my hands up as the ice melted and Amythia was once again visible, the winds around her dying.

  I imbued the flames with my divinity until they began to turn blue. “Never underestimate a Blackwood.”

  Amythia’s jaw opened wide as she screamed. I aimed the flames at her, then sent them in her direction. As she was engulfed by fire, her guttural screams rose above the sound of the battle below.

  I held the blaze around her, creating a prison she couldn’t escape. She cried for William, who only stood back as far away from the flames as possible. The skin on my fingers began to burn, and I released the flames.

  The Queen’s charred body fell to the ground, and the flames died away.

  I looked at Will and sighed, allowing myself a few deep breaths. “Is she dead?”

  “Not yet,” Amythia answered. She vanished, and suddenly, a portal opened in the middle of the room.

  I spun around as she whispered in my ear, and wings like a bat’s—the same sickly gray color as her skin—sprouted from her back. She grabbed me by the throat, lifted me off the ground, and threw us both into the portal.

  Elinor

  I smacked onto the cold, hard ground as I was thrown out of the portal. I jumped to my feet as Amythia exited the portal next, then slammed into me.

  The woman has wings. Wings!

  She picked me up, her hand around my throat once more. Her burned skin began to heal, but in the process, she started to turn into a hideous bat-like creature. Her ears elongated and laid flat against her head as she ripped off her dress with her other hand.

  More of her teeth sharpened into fangs, and her claws dug into my skin. Several of my ribs broke as she slammed me into a pillar that shattered, and we fell outside and into a garden.

  A horrendous roar had us both looking around, and Amythia released me as a black dragon flew by.

  We’re in Agomon, I thought to myself but pushed the thought from my mind. I had to focus on Amythia.

  “Goddess, you’re a hideous thing,” I said, and she hissed in response. “And you want me to become like you? I’d rather die.”

  “Then do it!”

  I shrugged. “You first, Your Highness.”

  Out of nowhere, Will appeared, having apparently jumped through the portal with us, and leaped onto her back. He ripped one of her wings off, and saliva spewed from her mouth as she screamed.

  “Elinor?” My father came rushing into the garden just as Will was thrown backwards.

  “Father, look out!”

  Amythia appeared behind him, her mouth curving upward with a grin, and my world shattered into a thousand pieces as her arm pierced through his gut from behind.

  “Father!”

  I moved faster than I ever had before; my body developed a mind of its own, and I went with it. As Amythia pulled her hand from his stomach, my fist met her face.

  Lightning danced across my fist and struck her face on impact. My fingers broke, and I felt parts of her face fractured as she was thrown back.

  I shook my hand as my bones began to rejoin to heal, and I fell to my knees beside my father.


  “Please, don’t do this,” I whimpered as he spat up blood. I slammed my hand over the wound on his stomach. “I’ll heal you! I’ll heal you, okay? Hold on!”

  “B-Behind you,” he stuttered, blood leaking from the side of his mouth. But I didn't look as Will ran past us to face off with Amythia. The only thing I could think of right now was my father.

  My hands began to glow, and the light slipped into his body.

  “My f-firstborn.” He placed a weak hand on my cheek, his eyes tearing up, and my chest began to ache from a pain I knew too well and hated with every fiber of my being, the fear of impending loss. “I’m s-so proud of y-you.”

  I screamed.

  My face was awash with tears when the wound refused to heal. No doubt his organs were too damaged. He was too close to death.

  I held my head back and stared up at the starless sky. “Goddess! Help me, please! Don’t let this happen! I beg you!”

  Let me in, child. The Goddess’s voice echoed in my head as my tears fell onto my father’s chest.

  “Heal him! Please!”

  Give me your body, Elinor, and I’ll end this.

  Enough is enough, I thought to myself. I was so tired of watching the people I loved suffer. After my brief experience with allowing the Goddess to use my body before to kill Levi, I instinctively knew that giving the Goddess my body this time would lead to my death. But if that finally ended this madness and saved my father, I’d happily make the sacrifice.

  Long ago, the Goddess had told me I’d have to pay a price in the end, and this was it—my life.

  I looked behind me at Will and Amythia. He was strong, but she was stronger—and still, he had yet to bite her. So far, nothing had happened as we had planned. It was time to put an end to it all.

  “My body is yours,” I said under my breath. “Take it.”

  “Elinor, w-wait!”

  My father’s words were a distant sound as something entered my body and I was thrown back. Suddenly, I found myself in a garden with the Goddess, her cloaked figure a giant before me.