by Candy Crum
“Dear God,” Sayen said, her eyes wide as she looked him over.
I immediately wondered what he was doing as he motioned her over to the couch where I lay. She quickly released the power of the elements as she made her way past him and to the couch. I watched her hands go to my body as she tried to heal me, but it only made my body cringe in even more pain. She began to cry as she realized there was nothing that she could do to save me.
“The younger one,” Death said. It was plain, though guttural, to me, but I imagined that it sounded strained to her.
“Amanda?” she asked as she looked up at him.
He nodded and Amanda walked closer.
“What can I do? Can I save her?” she asked.
Hope filled her voice, and it broke my heart. I had no idea what he was doing, but I prayed that he didn’t let her down. I couldn’t stand to watch her try to do something fruitlessly and then have her watch me die anyway.
“I think I might know,” Khia said.
“Do not play games, Khia,” Khanae said as she stepped through the door.
“Dearest Khanae, do you really think so lowly of me? That I would endanger the life of my own blood?” Khia asked. She was serious as she saw the sarcastic look spread on Khanae’s usually delicate face. “That is my granddaughter lying there, and I’m not going to allow her to die. I think that I may know what Death wants.”
Sayen cringed when Khia called me her granddaughter. She wanted to say something, but kept her mouth quiet. She was picking her battles and knew I didn’t have time for an argument.
“Yes, well—now, my blood flows through her veins. She is like a granddaughter of mine now as well. In fact, she is now only four generations away from me. Do not tempt me, Khia. What do you know?”
“Death cannot collect on her soul. It’s not time for her to die. Once again, a Vampire has stepped in the way and caused a death that shouldn’t have been. Her soul cannot be collected on because it is still too strong. If he took her into himself for transport, she would purify him.”
“Oh, my God, is that true?” I asked.
He nodded grimly.
“Amanda may not have the gifts that Kailah was born with, but she is still of Immortal blood. Kailah must use Amanda to channel her power into healing her own body. Kailah is infinitely powerful now that she is outside of her body. She has total dominion over other spirits and can heal herself. The catch is—she can’t do it alone, and we can’t help her. We have too much of our own spiritual ability and it would interfere with Kailah’s. It must be Kailah’s. Amanda doesn’t have active powers, so she can be used as the medium. It should purify what’s left of the venom and Vampire blood, and her soul should be able to reconnect with her body.”
“I’ll do it,” Amanda said. Without another thought, she readied herself by my body.
“We have no idea what will happen to you,” Sayen said. “Kailah has to be saved, but she would never want you hurt in the process. She would never sacrifice you for herself.”
“I don’t care!” Amanda said. “That’s not her decision to make.”
“No matter what happens, Amanda, Kailah loved you with every beat of her heart. She made these decisions on her own. She wanted to save you, but you were never to blame. She wanted you to know that. And though I can’t speak to her at the moment, I know that no matter what happens, whether you succeed or if this plan fails, Kailah loves you and would be deeply grateful that you brought yourself to try,” Jacques said to Amanda.
She nodded once as a tear slid down her face. I looked at Aeric and saw that he was still trembling with anger. I imagined he wanted to rip Jacques’s head off, especially after that little speech.
“Well, what the hell are you waiting on sis?” Amanda asked. I heard a short, giggle-filled sob and a sniffle of her nose as she finished the sentence. It broke my heart seeing her that way.
“Place one hand on her forehead and one on her heart,” Sayen instructed softly. “Powerful restorations like this require healing of the mind and of the body.”
It was like watching a mother and child. She was so calm and peaceful, but I could feel the pain radiating off her that she couldn’t do it herself. Amanda did as Sayen asked her to do, and I stepped behind Amanda. She was sitting on her knees on the floor while resting her hands on my body. It was easy for me to lean over and place my hands over hers, and the instant that my hands brushed hers, she gasped.
I felt her morale boost as she felt me with her. It brought me both happiness and sadness that she cared so deeply for me. It saddened me for times like this when she would suffer for my loss because of my stupidity. I focused my spiritual energy into her hands, and I felt the heat begin to rise.
My body reacted as it tensed up. I may not have been able to feel it, but I certainly knew the physical signs of my own body showing pain. Even in spiritual form, I cringed as I watched the pain grip my body. I heard a nasty crack and realized that Jacques’s blood was still giving my muscles strength, but not my bones, as one of my ribs broke with the muscle strain.
It wasn’t working.
As my hand rested above my own heart, I felt it slowing. My body was unconscious, but it still felt pain. My heart was dramatically slowing, and I could even feel my body growing cold. This wasn’t working. This idea, while it made sense at the time, simply wasn’t working.
I heard a sharp gasp from Amanda as her head slumped for a moment. Her shoulders went slack, but her hands remained in place.
“She’s… having a vision,” Khia said softly, disbelief obvious in her voice.
Amanda quickly came to, and she seemed frantic. “Give me a knife!” she cried.
“Why?” Khia asked.
“Kailah needs my blood. If she takes in your Immortal blood it will be too powerful and it will kill her, but if she takes in mine, since I have no active powers, it will offset the negative balance inside her,” she said.
“But wouldn’t taking in blood do the opposite? Wouldn’t it strengthen the Vampiric reaction, killing her faster?” Sayen asked.
“Just trust me!” she cried out. “Nothing else is working and she’s dying! I need a knife!”
“I’ll run and get one,” Aeric said.
“No! God, I’m an idiot. I didn’t even think. Just bite me, it’ll be quicker,” she said.
Aeric was about to question her, but stopped before he moved to her side. What surprised me was the fact that Khanae was faster. She knelt by Amanda’s side and gently took one of her arms into her tiny hands. I could see how difficult this was for her, too.
“I love you both,” she said softly before biting into Amanda.
Amanda’s eyes grew wide with the shock of the bite from Khanae. I imagined Khanae’s felt no different than Jacques’s, but the fact it was Khanae was monumental. She’d never even let her fangs show in a smile, let alone bite anyone. She quickly released Amanda and she went to work trying to get my body to take in the blood. I assumed that it would be a battle, but I was wrong. My body was being taken over by the Vampire blood and venom and had pushed out my own soul.
Though my body was dying, there was still that need for blood. My body latched onto her and began drawing deeply. The instant that the blood reached the stomach, my entire body stiffened again as my lungs stopped working. I watched my chest try to rise, but couldn’t. My organs were failing and any life essence that had been left was gone now as I stared down at my body. It only took a few seconds before my heart completely stopped.
“No!” Amanda cried. “It was supposed to work!”
My heart broke as I watched her cry for me.
“You did everything you could,” Khanae said.
“No! I killed her! She had visions and so do you guys, and I thought that since I had one, it was true! I thought if I had one, that I was like you guys, too. I killed her!” she cried into my eternally still chest.
Chapter Eight
I stood upright and quickly made my way to Death. “Why in the hel
l did you just put her through that? You know, I’m getting really sick of you playing with me! You get some sick thrill ride out of watching me suffer! Well, I was pissed about that before, in the hospital, but now? Now, I am livid. You just played that same ridiculous game with my sister! You just let her try her heart out for something that couldn’t be done. She’s not even an Immortal like me. If I knew all those future souls wouldn’t be lost without you, I would purify your ass right now!” I yelled.
“Feel better?” he asked. His voice was a guttural growl, but I could sense the humor in it.
He found this amusing. “What’s so funny?” I asked.
“You’ll figure it out eventually. The tables have just been dramatically turned in your favor.”
“What?” I asked. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“E-ventu-ally,” he said. His voice sounded strained as he disappeared. “Where are you going? You can’t leave me here alone, you bastard! Am I just supposed to float around in purgatory? Some reaper you are!” I released an onslaught of screams into thin air as he disappeared. “Oh! I hate—ah!” I cried out.
My chest felt like it was splitting open as a deep rumble rolled through it. My head felt like it was splitting in two, and I suddenly felt hot. I dropped to my knees, and the spirits that had disappeared earlier showed again as they gathered around me. I tried not to scream, but I couldn’t help it. The pain was excruciating. The spirits reached for me, and I felt dozens of hands touching me all over as the pain slowly dissipated.
“What’s going on? Whoa.”
I began feeling light headed as the warmth spread in core. I felt another thump in my chest, and it felt like I was being pulled somewhere. I felt it again and the pull became stronger. As I felt it again, it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I took a deep breath and my throat burned terribly, but it was my side that hurt worse than anything.
“Kailah!” Amanda shrieked.
I looked over and realized that I was looking my sister in the face—not at her back. She wasn’t leaning over my body anymore. She was leaning over me. I felt that pain again, from the broken rib, as I took a breath in. It was the most glorious thing I had ever felt. Amanda jumped at me and hugged me tight.
“You’re okay! How do you feel?” she asked as tears streamed down her face.
“Well, I feel pretty good unless you’re going for a concussion,” I said, repeating her words from when I’d broken her hand.
She laughed and sat back. “I tried so hard,” she said.
“I know you did. I was standing next to you the whole time. I saw everything, start to finish.” I smiled at her.
“Incredible,” Khia said softly as she stepped behind Amanda.
I thought the next world war was about to start as Vampires and my great-great grandmother darted towards Khia to keep her away from me.
“Wait!” I said. Everyone stopped, and Khia never broke her gaze from me. “She could have let me die, but she tried to help. Death knows something about all this that he isn’t letting me in on. I think everything that Khia had Amanda and I do, as well as the vision Amanda had, collectively saved me. I just have absolutely no idea how they tie in together yet. If she has something to say, I would like to hear it.”
“You are the only one who has ever pulled through from a change attempt. They didn’t only attempt once, they attempted seven times. All times you had incredibly powerful Vampire toxins inside of you. There was absolutely no reason for you to survive, and yet, you did. I doubt that even I could have survived. You truly are incredible. I am so sorry for everything I’ve put you through just to speak to you,” she said.
The look on her face was thoughtful and sincere.
“I appreciate your kind words, Khia, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve tried several times to kill me.”
“I’ve never tried to kill you, though I did at one point say that if I couldn’t have you then I would rather you be dead. But that was a little extreme, and I am sorry. Now that I’ve lost you, I realize the finality of what I insinuated. I cannot imagine this world without you in it. I followed your tainted Immortal light here. What Vampiric power you used burned off the block Sayen had in place, and I saw you clearly. The reason why Sayen couldn’t see you was the block that I had in place on the Vampires here. I’m going to have to look into how they were able to use my barrier and still hide from me. That’s a mystery.”
I could tell that she was amused at being outsmarted by those she deemed lower than herself.
“I really don’t feel like talking about this any longer, Khia,” I said. I was exhausted. “I just want someone to carry me the hell out of here because, honestly, I don’t think I can walk. My muscles feel like liquid.”
“They probably will for a while,” Khanae said. “It’s from the change. Your muscles will return to normal in a few days. Or at least, I would imagine they would. I’ve never been involved in a situation where the victim pulled out of the change.”
“She’s strong. I’m sure you’re right, Khanae,” Khia said without looking away from me.
“How is it possible the two of you can hate each other so completely? If not for Jacques and my sister, I would have just died. So, you’re different from one another, who cares?” I asked.
Khia looked toward the floor, and I saw sadness cross Khanae’s face. They looked at each other for a moment, a brief look passing between them before Khanae looked to me again.
“That is a story for another day,” Khanae said with a forced smile.
“Yes,” Khia said, also with a forced smile. It looked as though they both had tears trying to well in their eyes. What was I missing? “Maybe we’ll each tell you our stories sometime in the future. For now, though, Kailah, I will no longer pursue you. I assure you, my goals are the same. I wish nothing more than to destroy these creatures, and now, even more so after what they did to you. I will never stop. But what I can guarantee you is that I will no longer pursue you or the Vampires you have come—to call family. They’ve all aided in saving your life tonight and many times before. It’s obvious how much you mean to them. I’ll be around if and when you need me. I still believe that I’m the only one that can truly give you what you need. And there will come a time when he will betray you. When that time comes, I’ll be waiting for you.”
What did she mean that he would betray me? Aeric? Surely, she didn’t mean him.
“Thank you for that, Khia,” I said. I doubted that I could trust her, but she sounded sincere. That was all I cared about right then. The only thing that I really wanted was to go home.
“Okay, let’s get you outta here,” Aeric said with a smile.
He gently slid his arms under me and picked me up bridal style. We all made our way outside, and I saw that this house had suffered massive structural damage from Sayen’s fury. The foundation was completely cracked in several places, and it looked like the entire house had gone through a massive earthquake. There was no part of it that was safe enough to be inside.
On the way out, I mentioned to Brett that Casi was still inside with a purified bullet in her brain and that she had actually tried to help me. I left out the fact that it was only so she could take me to Khia. Sayen easily removed the spiritual energy from the bullet, and after a few minutes, her healing ability kicked in, and she pushed it out on her own. Aeric assured me that she would be fine and that was all I needed to hear.
I wanted the hell out of there. That had easily been the worst night of my life, and I never wanted to experience anything like that again, though, I imagined that bad things would probably happen on a more regular basis.
“Kailah,” Jacques’s soft voice called as Aeric carried me to the car.
Aeric growled, but he turned with me still in his arms so I could acknowledge the other Vampire.
“Yes?” I said.
“I don’t understand why you saved me, but for whatever reason that was, I am forever in your debt. I am yours if ever an
d whenever you need me. I hope that one day you will be able to forgive me for trusting such vengeful men.”
“I don’t blame you. The moment that you walked into the room, I knew there was something different about you. You didn’t have hate consuming your soul. And if you were wondering, yes, you do have one. It has lightened considerably throughout the course of the evening.”
“If that is true, goddess, it was your doing. It was you that saved me.” His eyes narrowed as guilty relief washed over him. “I hope that you fully recover soon.”
“My child,” Khanae said. Her voice was soft, kind.
Jacques fell to his knees as Khanae approached him. He generously bowed his head in respect.
“My Queen,” he said. She touched both sides of his face as she lifted it to look into his eyes.
“You redeemed yourself for whatever wrong you’ve done in the past. Though others may not agree, I know that you only attempted to turn Kailah because she would have preferred that to happen over losing her sister. I feel the grief emanating from you now, and though I cannot see your soul as Kailah can—even at her young age—I believe that she’s right. I have no doubt that it’s lighter now than when she met you earlier this evening. Use this new life for good, and if she calls for your strength, use it to protect her.”
He nodded. “I would die to protect her, my Queen, with or without your command.”
Khanae smiled and gently reached for one of his hands, guiding him to stand before her. “I know you would. You nearly did tonight. Goodbye, Jacques. Oh, and please, call me Khanae.”
“Goodbye, Khanae,” he said softly.
His eyes briefly met mine, and I could see tears in them. It was obvious that Khanae’s forgiveness meant so much to him. He clearly had a great deal of respect for her.
“And goodbye to you, my goddess.”
Aeric growled again, but Khanae soothed him as she placed a hand on his arm. He looked into my eyes, and I pleaded with him not to be angry with him at the moment. He lightly nodded, and I turned back to Jacques.