by Nicola Rose
“The Beast won’t let you stay here much longer, Jess. You know what you need to do. Stop this. Stop me. I can’t be allowed to continue with the Bael, with my army. Who will save me from myself, if not you?”
“The Morena Legacy will destroy you. I’ve seen what it means, inside Constance’s head. You’d become mortal again—”
“It doesn’t matter.”
The pulsing darkness was choking me. I couldn’t breathe. Spearing pain lanced through my head as it pushed back, trying to invade my own mind.
“I’m ready. End this…” he urged.
And then I was gone. The old Zac shoved me unceremoniously from his head and I found myself on my knees in the dirt.
The new Zac leapt upon us, teeth bared – a monster brought to life.
I rolled instinctively. The crash of their bodies colliding made the ground tremble.
For a moment, I wished I didn’t have the vampire senses that allowed me to see every one of their breakneck moves with detail. Once, all I’d have seen was a blur, a whirlwind of thrashing and shouting.
Now, I saw every blow. Every agonising slash of their fangs against skin, the blood gleaming and calling out to some part of me that revelled in the gore. I saw the savage hatred in Zac’s form, matched by the anger in Alex.
Had this always been their destiny? Would they fight to the death this time? Should I try to intervene, or should I let them resolve it once and for all?
Panic crept in. I whirled around, faced with the thousand helpless humans attached to their chains, all heads looking in my direction through glazed eyes. Pleading, lost eyes.
Save them.
But beyond the wall every sound came crashing back around me. The Unaligned were still locked in battle with the Bael clones. Without me and Alex joining in they were too evenly matched. I could feel them, their numbers, the hope of victory slipping. The Bael were winning.
I’m ready. End this.
It wasn’t my own conscience attacking me, it was Zac himself. The small part that had remained in his head had crept into my own, whilst the Beast fought wildly with Alex.
Please, Jess. There isn’t much more time. I’ll kill Alexander. Stop this…
“Enough!” A voice bellowed out, causing Alex and Zac to pause. We all looked to the archway where Emory stood – a dark-skinned man on his knees before him, and flanked by Beatrix and the first Elwoods.
Beatrix took a smiling step forward, hands outstretched to Zac.
“Come to me, my love,” her voice was breathy, excited.
Slowly, Zac removed himself from his position straddling Alex and walked to her. His head shook, barely perceptible. Panic engulfed my head from his own thoughts. He was still with me, inside my mind, clinging on with everything he could muster as she compelled him towards her.
No. No! What has she done? His voice was pure fear through my skull.
Then he disappeared. Snapped from my head, leaving a cold, grim hopelessness.
Beatrix laughed as his legs carried him closer against his wishes.
And we all watched as he reached her and pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss… and as his head bowed, taking his place beside Laurance and Francis.
“Finally, another Elwood worthy of my love. How I shall delight in sharing my bed with the three of them,” Beatrix crooned, turning to stroke Zac’s cheek. His black eyes stared at the ground.
“What did you do?” Alex started towards them and Emory wrapped a silver chain around the throat of the man at his feet, warning us back with a glare.
“Syn?” I asked. Alex nodded once in reply. Given his opinion of Syn, I didn’t think he’d really care what Emory did to him, but we needed to tread carefully.
“You didn’t think I’d miss this opportunity, did you? My experiments with Zac’s freshly-bonded blood led me to a new spell, one that allowed me to bind him to me as a slave. My will is now his will. When I command, he’ll obey.” Beatrix cocked her head to prove her point. Zac dropped to the floor, licking her boot. Laurance laughed as he placed his own foot upon Zac’s neck and held it there.
The snarl that escaped Alex jolted me alive. I let the embers stir, the fire building inside…
Alex snapped his fingers, but nothing happened.
“Your Elwood tricks can’t get through my barrier,” Beatrix swung her head back and forth, exaggerated. Little, child-like witch. I would burn her slowly.
“Enough with the sideshow,” Emory levelled his cool, ruby gaze down at Syn, who was straining to breathe with the silver burning into his neck. “Call off your men, Sinclair, and they’ll die quickly. Fail to do so and I’ll let my hounds tear them apart piece by little piece.”
Hounds?
A silence swept through the estate. A pause. A moment in which horror and confusion stilled the fighting, and gave time for a reaction to the new creatures on the playing field.
Two almighty beasts stepped through the archway.
Taller than Emory. Wider. Pure sinewy muscle. They stood upright, but bore more resemblance to an animal belonging on all fours. A fine coating of brown fur covered their naked bodies. An elongated, canine muzzle. Teeth, as long as my hand, drooling and snarling.
And fierce golden eyes.
Zac’s eyes.
36
Jess
“Magnificent, aren’t they?” Emory said. “We’ve been tinkering with these brutes in the lab for years, but could never quite get them to work the way we wanted until we had Zac’s blood. That freshly-bonded blood gave us everything we desired, and a whole lot more that we hadn’t even anticipated. If I’d known it would be this successful I’d have got him on our side much sooner.”
“How? Why is he so special?” Alex asked, and I could feel his posture shifting beside me, ready for the fight.
“A question you must have asked every day of your life!” Emory laughed. “Have you always walked in his shadow—?”
“You can join us, Alex,” Beatrix interrupted, holding out her hand, and for one terrifying moment I thought she might have manipulated him to comply. But he remained firmly by my side. I moved closer, shoulder to shoulder.
“Don’t be jealous,” she continued, still eyeing him up. “I’ve plenty of love for every Elwood. It’s just that Zac’s blood… so ripe with promise and passion… it’s been so long since the mark has appeared on one of you, I was starting to think I’d never get my hands on freshly-bonded blood, so potent with new power. I was right to be patient, though; just look at how all the pieces fell into place.” Beatrix smiled wistfully as Laurance disappeared and reappeared a moment later with Constance, bound and gagged.
Her eyes gleamed with tears and terror as she took in the Elwood-werewolf monstrosities that stood panting beside Emory.
Beatrix cupped Constance’s chin in her palm. “Did you think I hadn’t learned of Constance’s existence and plan?” She turned back to face me. “I knew, and so too did my Elwood Legacy magic, it would seem. The magic understood the threat you posed, Jess, and retaliated for survival. Zac’s blood is strengthened by a magic more potent than any other Elwood before. It flowed freely through me when I drank from him and allowed me to create new toys.”
“Magic doesn’t have an awareness of its own,” I spat, wondering where the hell mine had gone to. I was busy rummaging around in my core, desperately trying to pull it out again, but it seemed Beatrix was stronger than any of us had appreciated. The embers in my soul were snuffed out. I’d felt the prickle of her suppression out on the grounds, but it hadn’t stopped me. Now she was close, and she’d made a pretty little bubble around this area.
“Don’t be so naive, child, you know as well as I do that it finds its own will,” she snorted.
Child?! Patronising bitch. She might have been hundreds of years old, but she was the one who looked like a twelve year old.
I chanced a glance at Zac, but immediately wished I hadn’t. To see him, now standing again, subservient at her side – my heart cracked apa
rt. Alex took a tentative step forward. Perhaps he was just as horrified as me.
“I’ve been having little weekly meetings with my darling sister,” Beatrix chirped on, enjoying her monologue far too much. Even Emory looked impatient now. But we remained in a stand-off. Facing each other, waiting for the first person to make a move…
“Feeding from Constance, siphoning her magic, draining her, then making her forget all about it so she could trot back to you, our little Jess. You were always ours, you see. We’ve let her train you and allowed you to run free, because with each step that your magic gathered power, so too did the Elwood bond. It responded to you! Don’t you see, little thing? You’re no threat to us. You’ve made us stronger.”
“Fuck!” Alex groaned. “I knew something was happening with my own power each time yours increased.”
“And they were using Constance?” My knees wobbled. Me? I made this happen?
“We need to make a move, Jess. Now. Don’t allow her bullshit to break you down. Start your ritual,” Alex spoke into my head, his shoulder reassuring against my own.
“I can’t! The magic’s gone… you need to distract her, maybe that will help…”
He didn’t wait for another thought from me. He leaped across the space between us — straight into the path of the wild creatures, who attacked at the exact moment he moved.
Chaos exploded around me.
The perimeter wall collapsed and hundreds of vampires flooded the human farm where we stood. Unaligned fighting against Elwood clones, and those creatures… there were more than the two that attacked Alex.
Alex… where was he? I looked all around, it was hard to make anything out beyond the fighting bodies surrounding me. Everywhere. Confusion and death. But I finally caught sight of him, locked in battle with Emory. He needed my help. Emory had him pinned, grabbing his hair and twisting his head, pulling and pulling. Someone crashed into me and I landed with a heavy thud. They trod on my stomach as they fought right over me, oblivious to me even being there.
I rolled away, trying to drag air back into my lungs. Then I saw him.
Not Alex, but Zac. Stalking towards me. A pathway cleared right through the fighting, splitting apart and allowing him free passage. Parting the tide, as if he controlled every enemy on the field.
Beatrix walked beside him, a hand on his shoulder. Perhaps it was her controlling them all. I gave up trying to breathe. It was too painful. I managed to stand, but then remained frozen to the spot.
They paused before me, Zac looking at my feet.
“Once Zac has taken you as his sanguine mate, then your magic will be suppressed. His own power will overcome yours. It matters not that you’re a vampire now, he can still take you. We have enough of your energy now, it’s time to stop your traitorous schemes.” Beatrix released her hand from his shoulder and Zac closed the distance between us.
His hands went to my hips, his forehead resting against my own. Like a lover, inhaling and sighing into me. Which Zac was this? Had he conquered the Beast? A hand roamed gently to cup my ass, and the other upwards to the back of my neck. He breathed deeper, bringing his lips to the corner of my mouth.
I tried to push him away but he held tight. Then his eyes lifted to meet mine.
Crying out, I shoved him away. I had to get back to Alex, to help him…
The blackness overtook every part of his eyes. Nothing remained that was even remotely human.
“Blood of my blood—” he started, before a snarl ripped from his throat and he buried his face into my neck. I remained paralysed, all other thoughts lost, stuck between wanting to destroy him, and wanting to let him destroy me.
From over his shoulder, Beatrix watched with fascination. Or maybe glee.
Until Syn barrelled into her, dragging her into the chaos. He was free from Emory, that was a good sign. If he was OK, maybe Alex was too…
My head spun. Zac was savaging my neck like a lion on its prey. Something tingled in my fingers. A familiar thrum sparked in my core. Beatrix was distracted and slipping. I sent a testing wave of energy outwards and Zac lurched back.
I doubled over from the effort, or the blood loss, and looked to find him stalking back towards me, undeterred, my blood dripping from his chin. His face overtaken by pure, carnal hunger.
“Bone of my bone,” he growled.
I shot a hand out before me and he paused, confused. He made a tentative move against the flimsy barrier I’d erected.
“You think this will stop me?” he snarled. “You’re mine. This ends today.”
He pressed onwards and my strength wavered. This wouldn’t hold. I couldn’t keep him back and I couldn’t summon enough power to do much else. Beatrix might have been distracted but she was still fucking with my mojo.
Zac shoved angrily at the invisible forcefield, frustration growing. He thumped at it. Then he kicked. Then he thrashed wildly. Once, he’d thrashed against a forcefield to try and save me from Juno. Now he was in a frenzied bid to kill me…
He gained a step closer, the barrier shrinking back as my power slipped.
Death in his eyes. Hatred and venom.
“Please,” I begged. “Zac, you can’t do this.”
“You will surrender your body, so that we might become one—” his voice said out loud, but then he responded immediately inside my head. “No, it’s me begging you. Please, Jess. Don’t let me do this. Don’t let them win. You have to fight back.”
“I don’t know how…”
Start the words, and the rest will unravel.
Constance had shown me what to do. When she’d been in my head, and I’d slipped through into her own, I’d seen the ritual. I knew it. It was right there, written on my very soul. I just had to start the process. My magic knew what was required. If I searched deep enough into my core and pulled the threads to the surface, it would unravel itself and flow free.
But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. It would kill them…
“Jess! Do it now!” Zac raged through my mind. The barrier was almost gone, he was right upon me, teeth snarling, ready to tear me apart.
One more step.
One step closer and this would end. He would take me.
“Et conteram vinculum,” the words fell from my lips in a voice I didn’t recognise. I pressed my mouth together, but then more words tumbled free of their own accord. “Separabunt necessitudines.”
He moved back. Anger turning to fear, then back to anger. Launching for me, he smashed against the invisible wall so hard that a gash appeared on his forehead. Again and again he attacked, his bloodied face a twisted vision of rage.
Something shifted in the air. A tangible sense of something happening. The swirling mass of fighting bodies seemed to tune in to my direction. I felt their minds wandering this way, looking for answers as to what had charged the air so strongly.
But the numbers were dwindling, and it didn’t look good for us. The Unaligned were vastly outnumbered now and retreating away, back towards the house, Elwood clones and beasts pursuing them.
We were losing this war.
I struggled to keep my mouth shut. I needed to see Alex first, I couldn’t do this to him, not like this, but the words kept coming. Bubbling up from deep inside. A secret magic that had lain dormant was now insisting upon its release.
It came in a steady chant, in a voice that wasn’t even my own, spewing out into the charged air. I felt warmth against my lips and reached up to find blood rushing from my nose. The pressure in my head crushed my skull. Agonising.
Dropping to my knees, pain tore through every part of me. My ears felt like they were on fire. They too, were bleeding. Everything blurred, but the words kept coming. I couldn’t stop them. I fought with everything I had to shove the magic down, but it grew stronger, feeding from my life force, draining everything I had.
I would die.
This spell was going to kill me.
“No, it won’t.” Alex appeared beside me with Constance in his arms. I whipped my
head to check, but Zac was still attacking the shield. Alex had stepped right through. “You’re mine, remember? It’ll take more than a flimsy barricade to keep me out.” He smiled, dropping Constance in a heap and pulling me into a tight embrace.
“You don’t get to die on my watch,” he whispered into my ear, before taking a little lick at the blood there. He was bleeding profusely himself, looking battered and bruised.
“Emory?” I asked, and he clenched his teeth.
“He nearly had me, but my men distracted him, then he was gone, lost in the battle. I don’t have time to search for him. I brought you Constance as a gift, it’s what she wanted. She warned me that you weren’t ready for magic this powerful. You need to feed from her, take her life. What’s left of it, anyway. Beatrix has drained most of it, but it’ll give you strength.”
I shook my head and he squeezed tighter. Another line of mumbo-jumbo spilled from my mouth and he chuckled. That’s my Alex. Eternally light-hearted despite the death that lurked within. I’d seen it, in his head. He was just as fucked-up as Zac. Yet somehow, Alex had been the one with the self-control all along.
“The Bael must be stopped. I mean, no pressure, darlin’, but the human race is kind of relying on you at this point.”
“FUCK!” I screamed into the sky, suddenly finding my own voice. “You can’t make me do this, you fucking bastards! You’ve controlled me and fucked with me from the moment I got to your island. You can’t make me fall for you and then make me kill you—”
“Quit being such a drama queen. I won’t die, I’ll just be human. I mean, yes, that will feel like death, but I’m not letting you die. This magic is coming out of you today whether you like it or not. The wheels are in motion. Do. Not. Let. It. Kill. You.”
“You know about becoming human? How long? When?”
“I finally got a glimpse of it in your own thoughts, after you’d plundered it from Constance’s—”