by Eve Newton
The shock of what he has done slows my brain down for just a second and I bring my arms up to get him off me, but it is one second too long. I feel Remiel behind me and I know I am done for. Cade has lured me into a trap and without the ability to Astral my arse out of here, I am at Remiel’s mercy. He runs his own damaging claws across the top of my back, and I feel my entire body start to go numb. I can’t Astral, I can’t pull up any magick with my numb hands, I can’t even fight them off. I lose all of my strength and Remiel catches me as my legs lose all feeling and my knees buckle. The only part of me that is still working is above where he had clawed me, that is, my head. I try to focus on Cade to blast him across the room with my eyes, but they start to go blurry as Remiel takes over from Cade and he digs his claws into me. The pain is unbearable, even though I have no sensation in my extremities, I somehow feel it.
“How could you?” I whisper to Cade.
“I had to!” he yells at me in anguish. “You have left me no choice. I have to break this bond, and this is the only way.”
“By be-betrayal,” I say on the verge of passing out.
The last thing I hear is him saying, “I can’t live like this with you. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
I awake to a soft voice calling my name. “Aefre,” he says. “Time to wake up.”
I blink my eyes open and my vision clears after a few moments. I have no idea where I am. I look around in panic and try to sit up, but I am completely immobilized. It all comes crashing back to me as I see Remiel’s face come into view.
Cade.
He betrayed me to break his bond with me. He hates me that much for what I did to him, he offered me up to the one creature I had, thus far, successfully been avoiding and who wants me dead more than anything else in these Realms. If I was capable of tears, I would shed some, because my heart is breaking. I turn my head and try to take in my surroundings. I am in a light gray-colored cave, lying on a large rock. There is a slight mist floating about and it looks cold. I get the image of what it would be like to live in an igloo. I assume though that I am not in the North Pole, but in fact the Spirit Realm. I try to wiggle, but I have no body. Or at least that is what it feels like. I feel like just a head and it is most disconcerting. If I weren’t so afraid, I would probably laugh about it.
“You used him to get to me,” I accuse Remiel and he shrugs.
“All I needed was a second with your guard down, and he gave it to me. He took his time though. I have been waiting months for this,” he says.
“Yes, I know,” I say through gritted teeth. “I had hoped this day would never come.”
“Don’t be too sad, dear Aefre. I told you before I am sure I don’t have to drain you to get enough power to rise,” he says, confident his words are reassuring, but I am here to tell you…not so much.
“Rise?” I ask then. I had never really given much thought to what exactly would happen to him once he drank from me. I suppose I just assumed he’d become a living thing again.
“Yes, rise. How else do you expect me to do this?” he asks, shaking his head at my apparent denseness.
I try to shrug, but then remember I have no shoulders. Or at least no shoulders I can feel. “Explain it to me, so at least I know what I am dying for,” I say with a false bravado. Truth be told, I am stalling him on the off chance that Cade felt so bad about his betrayal that he went to CK and confessed, and my husband is now moving Heaven and Earth to get to me. I doubt it though.
I think he knows what I am doing as he gives me an indulgent smile and indicates something at his feet that I can’t see from my horizontal position on this rock.
“My body,” he says. “I have, over the centuries, found each and every piece that Tiamat removed and buried in the four corners of the globe. Wasn’t an easy task, and I could never find my head.” He looks so perplexed by that and it sounds so funny, I actually do laugh out loud, it’s just too hard not to. “Indeed,” he says with a narrow-eyed look at me. “Anyway, as it turns out, it was in the one place that I would never have thought of and wouldn’t have been able to get to.”
“The Dragon Realms?” I ask.
“No, you would have thought that, wouldn’t you? No, it was in Hunter headquarters in Rome. Tiamat must have somehow got them to hide it for Her all this time,” he reveals.
“Cade got it for you,” I state then, a sudden realization hitting me that this was not just a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was quite the elaborate plan.
“He did. He brought it to me a few days ago. I was just waiting for the go-ahead from him,” he says.
A few days ago? So, that is where he had been all this time. Trying to get Remiel’s head back. Makes sense that I couldn’t trace him, if he was being cloaked by someone so powerful. And it also makes sense now why he came back. Not to accept who he is, but to throw me to the original Vampire so he can resurrect himself.
“If Cade is expecting our tie to be broken, he is expecting you to kill me. So, which is it, Remiel? Am I going to die or not?”
“I hope not,” he says. “I needed the Vampire to get what I couldn’t, so I told him what he wanted to hear. I still have plans for you for which I need you alive and well.”
“Like what?” I ask, still stalling him. He is on to me now though and shakes his head.
“Enough talking,” he states with such finality, I do stop talking.
Well, I guess this is it. I am a goner, and it is going to hurt like a motherfucker before I do finally die. I mentally say goodbye to all my loved ones. I hope that one day they find out what happened to me and can have some closure. I hope that Cole will be okay and that despite everything, CK will look after him for me. I can feel the tears prick my eyes now and I turn my head away from him.
He sighs and says, “I will take you back to them, Aefre. They will know what happened to you, regardless of whether you live or die.”
Oh, well I suppose that is something then. It gives me a small amount of comfort that they will be able to give me a send-off. Even after the hurtful treachery of my newest charge, I say to Remiel, “Don’t tell the others that it was Cade. They will kill him. I am still his sire and I must still protect him. Just say you got the jump on me.”
He looks surprised but agrees to my request. “As you wish.”
He sits next to me on the rock and lifts my left arm. “I only need a small bite to get myself back into my body to heal. I will need more after I have risen.”
I gulp. This is sounding scarier by the second. I nod as he is looking at me, expecting me to say I understand what he needs me for. I just want it over with now. It doesn’t seem like I am going to be rescued, so I want it done. He bends over me and drops his huge, venomous fangs. I close my eyes tightly as he sinks them into the soft skin at my wrist, piercing me with a sharp snap to his jaw. I muffle my yelp as the lance of pain shoots through my arm, bringing all the feeling back tenfold, before it blissfully goes numb again. He lets me go and steps away from me, I assume to float back into his body, or whatever, and begin healing. I can’t even imagine how that must feel, to have his limbs and head all sewn back together to make him whole again. I get some idea though when he grunts in pain, which turns into a growl, which turns into a howl of epic proportions. I keep my eyes tightly closed, as I don’t really want to see what has arisen when I hear him stagger to his feet. He hasn’t fed for three thousand years, so there is no way I am getting out of this alive. But curiosity gets the better of me, stupid fool that I am. I crack my eyes open a tiny bit, now wanting to see the creature that is going to do me in. I open them wide in fear at the feral creature in front of me snarling, the venom dripping from his fangs in huge droplets as he advances on me. He is no longer the poised, suited, quite handsome man I have come to know, but a creature who looks as old as he really is. His hair is all long and straggly and he is dressed as he would have been when he was slaughtered, in bear skin and tanned hide. His skin is gray and so dry it is dusting off him. His eyes are bright red an
d that’s all I get to see as he launches himself at me and sinks his fangs into my neck as I scream out in terror and pain.
I come to and try to open my eyes. They are practically glued together, but I can tell it is really bright, so I decide against it for the moment. My tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth, which is desert dry. I make a small moan and try to lift my hand to my head, but it hurts too much. Everything just hurts.
“Aefre!” I hear CK exclaim quietly to me. Or maybe it is just my ears that are a bit muffled. He sounds like he is yelling, but he seems very far away.
“Liv!” I hear Cole now as well and feel them both take my hands in theirs.
“Ergh,” I manage to get out and feel a glass being pressed to my lips. I drink slowly, but deeply and try again to open my eyes. The sun is streaming in through the window, almost blinding me. Fuck, could they not shut them, never to be opened again? I try to ask them, but no sound comes out. I close my eyes again and feel myself drifting off again into the ether as I hear CK shout at me, “No, Aefre! Don’t go back under, please, stay with me.”
I awake slowly this time. Right, let’s try this again, I think grimly. I am aching all over, I am thirsty, sweaty, and hungry for blood, and I just feel disgusting in every which way. I open my eyes and I am relieved to see it is now night-time. The curtains are still open, but a cool, soft breeze is blowing in through the partially cracked window. I shiver in the chill. I look to my right and Cole is lying on the bed next to me fast asleep. The gods, he looks awful. He looks tormented and exhausted. I want to wake him, to ask him to help me get up, but another look at his sleeping face makes me decide to leave him. I sit up slowly and grab my head as it spins. I am as weak as a kitten and I need to find some blood soon. I spot the water jug on the nightstand and grab that with my left hand. I almost drop it as the pain radiates through me and I catch it, just, steadying it with my right hand. I put it to my lips and drink. It tastes stale like it has been sitting there for a couple of days, but right now I would drink it even if it had algae floating in it. I gulp it back and place it back on the nightstand with a soft thump, not wanting to wake Cole. I wonder where CK is. Why is he not here waiting for me to get up? I remember everything that happened vividly, unfortunately. That I helped Remiel resurrect himself, that he almost drained me, and that he brought me back here all but unconscious. I wonder how many days ago that was? It couldn’t have been that many as I still feel like utter crap. But I am alive and that is what matters. Now, I just need to stay that way. The thought of blood gets me on my feet and I slowly and shakily make my way over to the door. I frown down at the old-fashioned, white cotton nightgown that I am currently dressed in. Covered neck to toes, clearly CK didn’t want me laying around in the buff. This is not an outfit Cole would ever choose to put on me. I open the door quietly and make my way painfully to the stairs. The house is deathly quiet, which is annoying as I could really use some help right about now. I think of calling to Cole, but it would use just as much energy as it would to start my descent, so off I go. One at a time. My knees wobble and I think this is how Bambi must have felt. I am several stairs from the bottom when CK finally makes an appearance. He looks up at me as if he has seen a ghost. Mind you, I probably look like one floating around in this ridiculous nightgown.
“CK,” I say as my knees give way and I collapse, straight into his waiting arms.
“Aefre,” he whispers, gathering me to him and cradling me close. “You’re awake.”
I nod, with my mouth really close to his neck, and, being frightfully rude, I clamp down on him, expecting my fangs to drop and for me to be draining him.
Only, I have no fangs.
All I am doing is ineffectually biting him with my teeth. He grunts in surprise and I pull back sheepishly.
“Sorry,” I mumble, “hungry.”
He slices a gash across his neck, and I attach myself to him, lapping away at him until my fangs decide they are now blood-soaked enough to be capable of functioning and drop straight into his neck. He pulls me closer to him and sits on the stairs, knowing I am not going to be able to pull back. He lets me go for as long as I can and then he gently pushes on my forehead to get me to release him. Reluctantly, I let him go, but I feel a tiny bit better. With a sigh, I slump back into his tightening embrace.
“Where is Cole? Why did he not help you down or call me?” he asks.
“He is sleeping,” I say with great effort. “I didn’t want to wake him.”
“Sleeping?” he snaps. “He is meant to be watching you.”
“I’m okay,” I say even though we both know it’s a big, fat lie. “Leave him, he looked exhausted.”
“Humph,” he replies rudely, and I frown. “You need more blood, come, human this time.” He stands up with me still in his arms and carries me swiftly to the kitchen. He places me gently on the counter and goes to the fridge where we keep our stash. I run my hand through my hair while I wait for him and find my fingers get stuck in all the sweaty tangles. I quickly pull my hand out and grab a fistful of my long hair and say to him, “Could you at least have brushed it?”
He chuckles and says, “You look beautiful. I have been so worried about you. I thought I had lost you.” He hands me the glass. I drink it back slowly and he hands me another, and then another. “No more just yet. You will make yourself sick.”
I nod, as I am starting to feel a bit queasy. “What time did I wake up this morning?” I ask, looking at the clock and seeing it is now almost midnight.
He peers at me curiously and says cautiously, “This morning?”
“Oh, I thought I woke this morning,” I say, a bit confused. “I must have dreamt it.”
CK is looking at me, unsure of what to say. After a long pause, he says, “Aefre, my sweet. You did wake up, briefly, but it wasn’t this morning. It was three weeks ago.”
“What?” I ask in disbelief. “I have been sleeping for three weeks?” Geez, no wonder I am such a mess, and so bloody hungry.
“Err,” CK says as Cole comes racing into the kitchen and then comes to a dead halt as he sees me sitting on the counter.
“Oh, Christ, Liv. I woke up and you weren’t there. You scared the crap out of me. Again. Oh, God, I love you. I love you so much.” He crushes me to him, and I make a noise of protest as he hurts me, but he doesn’t let me go.
“I love you too,” I say, returning his hug as much as I am able. My arms feel like dead weights.
CK pulls him back and says, “Aefre, you have been in a coma for three months. Remiel dumped you here and took off and we haven’t been able to rouse you.”
“Three months?” I whisper. “How did I lose three months?”
“From what we have gathered, Remiel took you from the library back in June and then brought you back here almost dead a few hours later. We have tried to contact your mother to heal you, but no one can get Her to answer our call. Corinne has worked tirelessly to find a healing spell for you, but nothing has worked. We have tried every spell from every lore, and we couldn’t get you back. We had all but lost hope.” He looks so anguished my heart breaks. I pull them both close to me, knowing how they must have felt.
Three months.
Shit, no wonder Cole looks so worn out and why CK looks like he is still in shock. They had probably come to terms that I wasn’t coming back. Ever.
“Tiamat never came to see me?” I ask then, something not sitting right with that. You would have thought being Her daughter and heir, She might have made a few minutes to pop in to see how I was doing.
“No,” Cole says, shaking his head. “Drake did. He came and sat with you for a few days. He tried everything he could to wake you, but not even Faerie magick worked.”
Oh, well at least my father cares enough. I start to feel sorry for myself, but then I get a whiff of my pits and blanch. “Get me in a bath, will you?” I snap at them. “I am all kinds of disgusting.”
They both scamper off to do my bidding, forgetting that I need assistance in
getting back upstairs. I can barely move my body, so I am certain there is a Power outage going on. CK comes rushing back in apologizing and I just roll my eyes at him as he lifts me up and Teleports us back upstairs.
He sits me on the plush stool in the bathroom while Cole is hastily running the bath. He hesitates over the bubbly stuff and looks to CK, who looks back at me.
“Have at it,” I say, waving my hand at the bottle of Lavender bubble bath. “That water is going to have to be as fragrant as possible.”
Cole nods and dumps half the bottle into the water, and it foams up instantly. Okay, I said fragrant, not overpowering.
“Wasn’t sure if it would hurt your wounds,” he says.
Wounds? I have wounds? I must look mildly shocked by that as CK comes to kneel at my feet. “You didn’t heal, Aefre. You still have the wounds he inflicted on you.”
Oh, I guess that makes sense why it hurts to turn my head and why my left arm feels like lead. It doesn’t explain why the rest of me is so sore though. CK must see that I don’t know the half of it and he hesitantly reaches up to undo the tie on the frumpy nightgown. He peels it away from my super sensitive skin, plucking it delicately over the neck bite and down my torso. Well, so far, so good. Only the one on my neck. He continues to peel it slowly down as Cole watches. He pulls it off my arms and I see the awful wrist bite. It is red and oozing pus and blood.
“Why am I not healing?” I ask.
“We don’t know, maybe because you are still so weak?” Cole says as CK continues with his task. I stand up and help him remove the rest of the nightgown and get a bit of a shock. My legs have been clawed from thigh to ankle. Remiel must have done that to keep me paralyzed. He mutilated me to keep me still. The claw wounds aren’t as bad as the bites, they seem to have semi-healed at least, but I look an absolute mess. I start to cry and CK holds me tenderly as I sag against him and give up. I don’t even have the energy for a good pity party. I am pathetic.