by Raven Steele
Before I headed in, I sent Briar a quick text so at least someone would know where I was. I typed: I’m meeting Mateo at the St. Michael’s church. I’ll come by later.
When I was finished sending the message, I jogged up the stone steps to the warped wooden doors, pausing to make sure no one was watching me. I listened closely, but heard nothing beyond.
Pushing open the heavy door, a breath of warm air ruffled the fine hair on my arms. Candles burned low in the wide narthex just beneath a giant painting of the Virgin Mary. I moved past it, thinking I’d light a candle on my way out. Before I’d been turned into a vampire, I’d been deeply religious. The words of spiritual leaders had always brought peace to my soul, but as a vampire, those same words made me feel like the demon they warned others about.
I stepped into the back of the high-ceilinged nave, rows and rows of wooden benches in front of me. Sconces lit the sides of the room, casting flickering candlelight across paintings of prophets of old.
A coppery smell accosted my senses, and I flinched. My gaze dropped to the planks on the floor. I stood inches away from a few drops of blood. My head snapped up, and I scanned the shadows of the room, especially near the front where a giant cross hung. At its base, next to an altar, something lay crumpled in a pile. I narrowed my eyes. A pile of blankets? No, that wasn’t right.
After looking over the room again, I took a hesitant step toward the raised chancel. Was that a leg?
I walked quicker, my stomach clenching tight as my nervousness grew into raging anxiety. A light high on the ceiling snapped on before I reached the chancel and shined down onto the altar. It spilled over to the crumpled heap near it, illuminating a familiar face.
My heart stopped beating.
Mateo. And by the looks of him, his body unmoving lying in a puddle of blood, he was dead.
Chapter 32
I reached Mateo so fast, my head spun. His eyes were frozen wide open, and his skin pale. Angry red cuts covered his body, and a blanket that reeked of gasoline had been draped over him. Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.
“Mateo!” I shook him gently, then harder. Horror and rage thrummed through me. He wasn’t moving. The Kiss reveled in the feeling, swallowing the pain and burning power through my chest. I dug my nail into one of the open wounds, trying to get a reaction.
He sucked in a breath and blinked.
“You’re alive! Oh, thank god.” I clutched him to me, my heart thundering against my rib cage. “We have to get you out of here.”
By the way his wounds weren’t healing, he must’ve been cut with a Saranton blade. It would take magic to heal him.
His cracked lips parted, and he barely whispered, “Samira?”
I nodded, a sob escaping my mouth. “I’m here.”
His gaze found mine, and he clutched me desperately. “Get out. Now. Trap.”
I jerked my head up and looked around. I didn’t see anyone, but I trusted him. Gathering him into my arms, I moved to blink out of there, but all of a sudden his body became rigid, every muscle corded tight. He groaned in agony. I attempted to move him, but he wouldn’t budge; he was as heavy as a boulder at the bottom of the sea.
That’s when I heard it.
A squeaky wheel rotating against an uneven floor. An awareness flooded through me and a smile crept up my face. If Naburus was here, I could kill him easily. It would only take a second. I paused.
No. First, I had to get Mateo out of here.
I tugged on him again to get him off the floor, but it was useless. His face paralyzed with fear, I rose to my full height, focusing all my senses against the threat in the room. Humming near my consciousness, the Kiss of Eternal Night had come to life. It could taste the anger I was desperately trying to control.
Naburus shuffled down the long aisle toward me, his IV pole squeaking behind him. “Father was right. You are predictable, Samira. I wasn’t so sure you’d show up.”
“What have you done to Mateo?”
From an exit hall off to my side, Korin stepped out of the shadows. “Tortured him, and soon, we will end him.”
“But why?” I positioned myself in front of Mateo to protect him from the monster and his son. “Mateo has only been loyal to you!”
“Is that so?” Korin stopped walked when he reached the edge of the chancel. “Then why did I catch him trying to free my new human pet?”
I didn’t dare hesitate in responding, even though his words surprised me. “I don’t know, but did you ask him? He may have a very good reason.”
Korin stared at Mateo’s body with an intensity I felt. The power behind it felt like a railroad spike drilling into my mind. “I’m not interested in his reasons. All I want is his death.” He paused to look up at me, his gaze boring into my eyes. “And for you to watch it.”
He snapped his fingers, creating a flickering flame.
“What do you want, Korin?” I asked, fury making me clench my fists.
His cold, icepick gaze returned to me. “What I’ve always wanted. Samira the Bloody. Samira the Conqueror. Release the demon power inside you. You are so close!”
This wasn’t what I expected him to say, and it took me off guard. “Why would you want that? It will destroy you!”
“Isn’t that what you want?” His voice grew soft, almost hurtful.
“I have been loy—”
“Shut up!” he screamed, his slicked back hair flopping in front of his face. “You haven’t been loyal. You’ve been conspiring behind my back for months, maybe even years. You even did it when you were with Mateo centuries ago, thinking you were so sneaky secretly meeting in churches. Did you not think I owned the priests? There is nothing you haven’t done that I have not known about. Nothing.” Spittle flew from his lips. “You believe you had freed yourself from me, but even from a distance I controlled your life.”
I backed up until my feet bumped into Mateo. His hand slowly reached out to touch me. His light grip gave me strength. “You have never controlled me.”
Korin narrowed his eyes. “Hold out your arm. My child is hungry.”
I heard Naburus’s IV pole move closer, but I didn’t look over. “No.”
The muscles in his jaw flexed. I needed to do something fast. A quick calculation told me I had only three options. Run and leave Mateo behind to die. Give in to Korin’s demands, and Mateo would probably still die. Or let the Kiss take over and kill Korin. Korin may have thought he wanted me to return to an all-powerful fighting machine who held no regard for human or supernatural lives, but he didn’t know what he was asking. Maybe it was time he found out.
This possibility could also leave Mateo dead. I glanced down at Mateo and shivered at his appearance. A shroud of death had fallen over him, breaking my heart. Maybe what Mateo had said was right, and his love could save me.
God, I hoped so, because in this moment, I had no other choice.
Korin hissed. “Nobody tells me no.”
“Maybe it’s time someone did.” As I spoke, I summoned the Kiss of Eternal Night to my mind and heart, thinking the words, I am yours. The beast came roaring outward, devouring all of my emotions and silencing all of my pain. It happened so fast that in my next breath, I was comprised entirely of someone else. Something else. That piece of darkness from hell fused to my very being, stitching its darkness to my soul.
I let my strongest desire determine my next move, and what I wanted in that moment was revenge for Faithe. A slow smile crept up my face. Korin’s own responding smile matched mine, and he leaned forward in glee.
“Ah, yes, there is the Samira I’m looking for. I guess you didn’t really love Faithe after all.”
“What?” Her name gave me pause.
Naburus snickered, and I shot him a deadly glare, silencing him.
“All this time, the answer to my problem was right before my own eyes.” Korin stepped forward. “Of course, I considered using Mateo to get to you, but he was too useful to me.” His cold gaze met mine. “Until he wasn’t. So
mething happened to him. He’s broken, apparently. Since my compulsion no longer works on him, I determined it was time to really test your love.” He tilted his head to the side, studying me. His next words drilled straight into my heart. “Killing Faithe meant nothing to you, otherwise you would’ve given in to the darkness inside you before I destroyed her. ”
Rage blew through me, and the Kiss gobbled it up. Screaming with untapped power, I leapt from the small rise faster than anyone tracked and withdrew the blade on my back. As I came down nearly on top of Naburus, the sharp end of my sword slashed through the air. The whooshing sound was followed by the dull thud of Naburus’s head hitting the wooden floor. A second later, his body began to crack and wilt.
My head snapped back to Korin. I wanted to see his reaction before I killed him next. The look of confusion on his face deepened as he realized how fast I’d moved. He glanced between me and the mess on the floor, and his eyebrows lifted. Shock colored his face, and he raced forward, falling to his knees next to the remaining pile of gristle and dusty bones. His voice caught. “Son?”
“Your child for mine,” I growled.
His gaze slowly lifted to mine and for the first time ever, I saw uncontrollable rage. “I will kill you for this.”
He jumped to his feet, but I appeared behind him and took hold of the back of his hair, yanking him hard. His body spun through the air and crashed into the alter. Splinters flew everywhere, some of them hitting Mateo.
Korin rose, fire exploding from his hands. I sneered at his weak display of power. He was nothing compared to me. He screamed, and a steady stream of fire raced toward me. I easily leapt over it, then ducked another. The old wooden benches around me burst into flames.
I laughed, a sharp, bitter sound I hadn’t heard in a long time and continued the dance with Korin through the chapel. I let his flames lick my skin just enough for Korin to think he was winning. It was a fun game I often had with my prey. I even gave him a little whimper.
I stumbled to the ground, pretending I had tripped in the aisle. I looked back at him, feigning fear. The moment he tried to kill me, I would surprise him with a dagger to his heart. I could taste the victory.
He moved toward me, his body lifting from the floor. His steel-toed shoes dragging along the wood, the sound grating on my ears. A stream of flames moved with him, and he stared at me with a satisfied smile I knew wouldn’t last.
Just before the fire touched me, I made my move. Faster than lightning, I appeared in front of Korin and gripped him by the throat. One little squeeze and his head would pop off like fat-filled fistula. I paused, searching his eyes for the terror I craved.
His cold blue eyes widened and vibrated a fraction of an inch. There it was. Raw fear. A wave of pleasure rushed through my body more powerful than any orgasm.
“Do I know my place now, Korin? You always said you needed me to learn it.” I leaned in, squeezing tighter, pleasure coursing through me at his pain.
“Stop,” a powerful voice commanded.
My body slowed, my hand pausing. I looked up beyond Korin to see the Phoenix standing tall and straight as the crucifix behind him. Flames burned all around us.
“I said, stop,” he repeated, his eyes narrowing in anger.
Every muscle in my body seized, my lungs froze, and even the blood in my body stopped flowing. Korin wrenched out of my grip and dropped to the floor, gasping for air.
“It is not Korin’s time,” the Phoenix said, his voice deep, yet there was a ring of inauthenticity as if the voice didn’t quite belong to the body. The hot flames began to die down. Thick and suffocating smoke took their place.
I fought against my invisible restraints, truly shocked I wasn’t strong enough to break them. This time, it was my turn to be truly afraid. Fear iced my body, turning it arctic even with the heat in the room.
Korin slowly rose from the floor, rubbing at his neck. In a blink of an eye, his hand shot forward and punched me in the stomach. The force of the blow to my rigid body felt like he had cracked every bone and shattered my veins. I groaned in agony.
“You will pay with your life for killing my eldest child,” Korin hissed.
The Phoenix turned to him. “You play too many games. Your child would be alive if you had done what we had discussed.” His cold and empty gaze returned to mine. “You too may suffer a great loss if you do not do as I ask.”
I felt the muscles around my mouth loosen. “What do you want?”
He stepped out of the way so I could see Mateo’s near lifeless body lying broken on the chalice. “He will die tonight if you do not give me your dark gift.”
My mind stuttered. The Kiss of Eternal Night. The one thing I swore I’d never give up, in order to prevent the prophesy from coming true. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t think I could at this point. The Kiss was in control now and it would never sacrifice its power. “I can’t.”
“Very well.” The Phoenix lifted his hand. Mateo’s body rose with it high into the air.
The monstrous darkness inside me watched in awe and fascination, curious what might happen next, but my soul was still there. It cried out a thousand pain-filled words, but only one broke through. “Please.”
The Phoenix jerked his hand down. Mateo’s body crashed so hard onto the floor his body bounced.
“Stop!” I yelled.
“Give us the Kiss of Eternal Night,” Korin yelled at the side of my face. His spit slapped against my cheek.
Inside me, a battle raged: my will against the Kiss’s. I would die in a heartbeat for Mateo, there was no question. But hell’s darkness would not give up so easily. I grit my teeth, pain slashing through me as I tried to force my will over the Kiss’s. It fought back, tearing through my body, breaking bones, slashing organs. You will die before you give me up.
Once again, Mateo’s body lifted into the air. The Phoenix glanced back at me. “He will suffer greatly before his body burns.”
He sent Mateo’s body crashing into one of the long stone pillars holding up part of the ceiling. The crack of his spine echoed through the chapel making my ears hurt.
“No! “I tried to reach for him, but I was still frozen, under the Phoenix’s control. So I focused inward, continuing to fight against the Kiss. I would not endure it any longer. I would not let Mateo die for the Kiss. I would force my will over it.
And so we battled, brawling for control. Its power was stronger than mine though, and I felt myself weakening. Mateo wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving… just lying there.
Mi anima gemella. His words whipped through my mind, forcing tears onto my frozen face. I hitched a breath, my lungs in agony as they fought against the Phoenix’s invisible restraints. The Phoenix’s dead eyes stared at me, his hand snapping forward towards Mateo again.
I switched tactics against the Kiss, surprising it by bringing every good memory of Mateo to my mind, flooding it with the love and joy we’d once felt. The way he touched me, as if he wanted to know every bit of flesh on my body. The electric sensation his caresses left on my skin. His love-filled eyes, as if I was the beginning and the end. Every touch, every movement. We’d circled each other for centuries, binding our love through word, deed, kiss, and caress. We’d shared blood and our most intimate thoughts.
Finalmente ci siamo incontrati. Sono anni che ti stavo cercando. The first words Mateo ever spoke to me. He’d known it from the beginning. We were at one of Korin’s parties. He was talking to Victoria, a beautiful Romanian woman with full lips and an open smile. A human slave had bumped into him, spilling a blood-filled wine glass on his fine clothing. He’d turned in disgust, and then his eyes met mine. Without blinking, without stopping to excuse himself from Victoria, he’d strode across the room and taken my hand, his eyes only for me. And then, from his lips, the words: “Finally we have met. I have been searching for you for a lifetime.”
I might’ve thought him crazy, if I hadn’t felt the same magnetic pull. He’d been by my side, in heart and mind, ever since.
Sei la mia vita, mia stella polare. You are my life, my polar star.
We’d made love that night, and after, he sat behind me on an open terrace in a Persian palace, sheltering me with his muscular arms and broad chest at my back. His whispered words caressed my skin while we stared out across a moonlit lake.
We were meant to be together, from that very first day. Our love for each other went beyond Korin’s torturous control, beyond any laws of nature, beyond the gods themselves. We were bound in friendship and love, our very beings fused together as one.
Senza di te la mia vita non ha senso. His words to me before the first time we’d tried to escape Korin. Without you, my life has no meaning.
I thought of the sacrifices he’d made for me. Staying with Korin to save my life, even though it must have tortured him to his very soul. He had truly given me everything. Even if it killed him.
And I would give everything to him in return.
The love inside me expanded, pouring through the pores of my body. I could feel it over every inch of my skin, every tight corner of my heart. I loved Mateo with every beat of my pounding heart, and I would do anything to save him. I gathered all the energy inside me, every bit of strength to fight against the Kiss.
You are mine. And you will do as I command!
My true consciousness commanded the Kiss to obey. It shrieked in agony as I finally forced control over it, but it fell back in fear of my love for Mateo. I raised my arms as I withdrew my sword, breaking the Phoenix’s hold over me. In one last ditch effort, I cried out and ran toward him, determined to kill him.
His cold, black eyes swirled, and his lips twisted up in glee. He slowly raised his hand, then clutched his fingers together tightly. My thundering heart squeezed in response, and I fell to my knees in agony. My sword fell from my hands, clanking against the stone floor.
A quick, painful breath later, my body lifted and floated through the air over Mateo’s body and to the front of the chapel. Just before I crashed into the wall, my body flipped upside down and my back pressed against the wall. The tips of my long hair barely reached the floor.