An animalistic growl ricocheted around them, and both, Lucious and Anna, glanced in the direction of the sound. A pack of wolves stalked towards her. Their lips curled over their gums and sharp teeth as they let out another warning.
Anna stumbled away from the deer and searched for her dagger when Lucious shouted, “Watch out!”
Another wolf had come in from behind her, latching onto her shoulder.
Screaming out her suffering, she spooked the birds gathered on the trees to observe the events.
Lucious stormed over to help her. When he tried to pull the vicious animal off of her, his hands went right through it. He ground his teeth together. He was forced to watch his sire struggling against the wild beast.
The other wolves jumped over the deer’s corpse and bit into her flailing limbs. Crimson stained the perfect whiteness of the forest floor. Anna’s yells for help went unheard, bringing bitter aftertaste to Lucious’ mouth.
As he was about to close his eyes and accept that she would die in this vision, the wolves tucked their tails under them and looked at the man who purposefully glided through the forest. When the stranger shouted something in their direction, the wolves stopped growling and scattered.
Arthemis squatted at Anna’s side and stroked her raven hair out of her glaring eyes. He peered over his shoulder, meeting Lucious’ stare, and smiled.
“Why are you doing this?” Lucious demanded. His hands curled at his sides into fists.
Sparing Lucious no response, Arthemis returned to caressing Anna’s cheek. Once the words left the elder’s mouth, Lucious’ eyes widened. He understood the language when its harsh sounds reached his ears.
“I have watched you for some time, child. What is your name?”
Anna’s eyes narrowed further, and she coughed. The sudden movement made her wince, and her wounded hand covered her bleeding shoulder.
“Do you wish for me to take away the pain as you have done for the deer?” Arthemis inquired.
She stilled, eyeing him with suspicion. “Yes…”
“Then tell me your name, the one the others call you?”
“Oönskad.”
Arthemis gave a light nod and lifted her head to rest on his lap. “With me, you will no longer be unwanted, I promise. From this day forth, you will be known as Runa, my Pillar of Speed.” He sliced his palm with his sharp nail. “Drink.”
He offered his bleeding hand to her, but she didn’t move, only stared at it. “Are you the darkness my village speaks of?”
“Do I look like the darkness?”
She shook her head. “You look powerful.”
Arthemis nudged his hand closer to her parted lips. “Drink, Runa. Drink and be reborn…”
After she had consumed the blackness the elder called blood, Arthemis stood instead of finishing the deed by snapping her neck. He whistled and, at once, Ealdraed appeared by his side with his head bowed.
“Your order, Father?” Ealdraed asked, devoid of emotion.
“Take her life and bring her with us. She is my final pillar,” Arthemis ordered.
Just as he had said that, Lucious lowered his shields enough to use his sight and witness the same golden chain spreading from Anna’s heaving chest and merging with Arthemis’.
Ealdraed used Anna’s dagger to cut her throat without blinking. Her feeble gasps and spluttering faded along with the light in her eyes. He lifted Anna’s body off the ground and cradled her in his arms, awaiting Arthemis’ next order.
The elder made his way to Lucious, causing the snow to crunch under his feet. “She chose me, Lucious, as you have chosen to become her childe.”
Lucious sneered at him. “You know nothing about us!”
“I know everything about you,” Arthemis corrected and tapped his temple. “Your memories are mine.”
“I did not give you permission to steal them.”
“No, you did not. It was the only way for me to learn about the world I was awakened in. You would have done the same thing.”
“I would—”
Arthemis captured Lucious’ shoulder. “You are my pillar, too. My Pillar of Change.”
“Not by choice!”
“It is a gift and a position many desire.” Arthemis withdrew his hand and waved it around, sending the vision away and leaving the emptiness of Lucious’ shields behind. “Do you not wish to become stronger? In your heart, I saw you seeking ways to protect Mother… Or are you solely interested in her vessel’s soul?”
Taking a menacing step towards the elder, Lucious was a few inches away from the man’s face. He spoke with the little restraint he had left. “Don’t bring her into this.”
“Do you not want to be able to protect your lover?”
“Of course I do!”
“Then why do you fight me?” Arthemis inquired. “Accept me into your heart, Lucious. You will die otherwise.”
“I’d rather do that. No offence.”
A laugh escaped Arthemis. “You are much like Bion when I first met him.”
“I am nothing like the monsters you’ve brought into this world.”
“You are the same as them, my son. You drink the blood of others to live, or am I mistaken?”
Lucious clenched his teeth. He knew this man was right. In the depths of this vampire’s blue eyes, he could see nothing there. No love. No pain. Nothing. Not a single emotion was present, or perhaps this creature was an expert at hiding his thoughts.
“Tell me, why did you let me live?” Lucious narrowed his eyes. “Isn’t it to draw Helena out?”
Arthemis took a step back and observed the darkness around them. “I have no interest in revenge.”
“You are lying! You must be…”
“You know I am not.”
There had to be a way to explain this. Lucious desperately tried to find flaws in this man’s words, yet there were none. This creature truly believed what he was saying. Since he did not wish to take revenge on Lilia, why was he so desperate to pull Lucious to his side?
“I seek to make amends with her, nothing more,” Arthemis added.
Lucious folded his arms across his chest. The wound from before was no longer there. The pain was gone, too. He frowned.
“While we are one, you will heal faster,” Arthemis explained.
“Stop invading my mind,” Lucious hissed.
“I cannot. My pillars are all connected to me. Their thoughts, desires, and wishes are mine.”
“Then how did Anna and Hartwin trap you?”
Something sinister flashed behind the elder’s mask of calm. “My mother and her sister cast old magic on them.”
“It makes you angry, doesn’t it? Anger breeds the need for revenge…”
“I will not harm her!” Arthemis shouted. “I cannot harm her…not my mother. She gave me life. She protected me and made me promise to never kill another soul.” His eyes welled with unshed tears. “And then she betrayed my trust. She forced my children to see me as a monster, but such deeds were not what bring me heartache. No.” A single drop escaped his eye and ran down his golden skin. “It was the fact that she never loved me. She did not believe in me.”
“There had to be a reason for that.”
“And what was the reason for your mother to abandon you when you most needed her support?”
Lucious froze. His mother had disowned him the second false news spread throughout London that he had raped a woman. He was sentenced to death without a fair trial. No one had listened to him when he begged them to, and not once did his mother show her face to witness him rotting in a cell.
“We are alike, you and I,” Arthemis added with renewed determination. “You seek power to protect your loved one as do I. My pillars grant me such strength, which in turn I used to protect my mother from this world.”
“How do I know if you’re telling the truth?”
“I can show you my past, but it would take months for you to make sense of the thousands of years of memories. I simply do not have the
time for such trivialities. My children need me, and I need you until I can regenerate my body in this realm.”
Lucious’ hands relaxed at his sides. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sense any hostility towards Lilia or Helena from this man. Was Lilia the one who spun the weave of lies? If Arthemis wasn’t the evil she claimed him to be, he needed to separate Helena from Lilia somehow. He rubbed his eyes and laughed bitterly. The only man who would know the answer to that dilemma was right here in front of him.
“If I help you, will you tell me of a way to separate Lilia and Helena?” Lucious asked.
Arthemis placed his hand over his heart. “You have my word.”
Lucious nodded. “Alright. You may temporarily do as you wish.”
11
BLACK MAMBA CLAN
HELENA
M orning came, bathing the city in the light of a new day. Ben pulled up in front of a rundown pub somewhere on the outskirts of London. He nudged Helena, breaking her out of her trance. Not a single thought passed through her psyche since they left Stonehenge. It was as if she had become disconnected from the world or all of the existence. She feared the possibilities her mind would invoke if she let it. So, she shut down instead.
Moving her limbs on autopilot, she climbed out of the car.
Ben rushed to her side. He caught her elbow and propelled her towards the pub’s back entrance. The sound of his banging on the door echoed in the dead-end street, each bang angrier than the last.
“Freda, let us in!” Ben shouted.
The door eventually opened, and a blonde woman narrowed her brown eyes on Helena. She seemed much older than Ben, seemingly in her mid to late thirties. Her German accent seeped into her words as she asked, “Who’s the extra?”
“A friend.” Ben jerked the door wide open. He pushed Helena inside and followed close behind her into the storage room. “Tell Xiomar to get rid of the car out front. Have the others contacted you yet?”
Freda rested her hands on her hips. Her strict posture emitted her respect for Ben and unrelenting nature. “I got a call about ten minutes ago. Burnell, Wagner, and Reynard have barely made it out alive. I think one of the Class 6 vampires nearly killed one of them, but I couldn’t be sure which. It was a good idea to snipe those things from a distance.”
“I’m glad they’re safe. When they return, tell them to give me their report. For now, do as I ask.” Ben took hold of Helena’s hand and pulled her along through the opened door and into the pub’s cosy kitchen. There, he stopped at the fridge. After he scavenged some ingredients from within the half-empty shelves, he made two tomato and cheese sandwiches, one of which he gave to Helena.
She took it, mumbling her thanks but didn’t move to consume it.
“You should eat,” he ordered.
“Do you think he—” Her lower lip started to quiver as her mind reactivated and started the inevitable torment of images of Lucious’ corpse. “Is he dead?”
Ben went quiet. He didn’t need to answer for her to know what his thoughts on the matter were. Silence spoke volumes. “We can’t be sure. If I had to guess, I believe the Class 6 vampires would eliminate him for helping us escape.”
“Are you talking about the Royals?”
He nodded and pointed to her sandwich. “Now eat and get some rest. We’re safe here.”
“Lilia told me not to do it. She told me not to open the gate… That thing that came into our world, do you think it was Arthemis?”
He said nothing for an eternal minute. Instead, he finished his food and rested his hip against the fridge. “Are you not going to eat that?”
She threw the sandwich at him, which he dodged with ease. “I can’t be as nonchalant as you about the death of someone I cared about!”
“Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. I’ve been there, remember?”
Her gut clenched at the memory of the nightmare they had been through in the Demon Realm when Maya became a demon. Although Ben pretended to be fine, she saw traces of past hurt lingering in the corner of his bloodshot eyes. The pain of losing Lucious rippled through her chest. Tears stung her eyes, but she wouldn’t cry. She had to remain strong. Lucious would want that.
If only he was here with me…
Worry prickled at the back of her mind. Ben had been down this path, and he turned into a vengeful monster without Maya. Would she grow to hate the Royals and other vampires for killing the only man she had ever loved?
“What are you thinking about?” Ben asked, scrunching his brows.
She lowered her gaze to the destroyed food on the tiled floor. “I want to get some sleep.”
“Sure, follow me.”
He guided her past a room filled with weapons and maps, which she assumed was the armoury, up the stairs and down a winding corridor to a single room adjacent to one of the bathrooms. She dragged her leaden feet into the bedroom and closed the door behind her without bothering to say anything to him. She ripped her blood-stained clothes off until she wore nothing but her underwear and climbed under the green cotton sheets.
At first, she counted to one hundred. Sleep still eluded her. Then, she lied on her back and stared at the chipped ceiling above. Unable to stop her thoughts, they replayed the night’s events, including everything from the ritual to her escape.
Why didn’t Lucious come with me? No matter how long she thought about it, he had more than enough time to join her and Ben.
“Your actions brought you this disaster,” Lilia hissed in her head. “You should have listened to my guidance and kept my son contained in his prison. The death of one vampire is the least of your worries.”
Helena closed her eyes and focused on her mental shields. Once she stood on the chequered monochrome floor, she glared at the fate. “My friends were in danger!”
Lilia rolled her eyes. “And now the world is in danger. Few must be sacrificed for the benefit of the many. Is that not logical?”
“What if you’re wrong? What if your son doesn’t destroy the world like you believe he will?” Helena bit down on her lower lip, drawing blood. “So far, you’ve provided no proof.”
“You had my word!” Lilia snapped.
“Your word is not enough!”
The fate assessed her through narrowed eyes. “You are too foolish to see the truth, child. There is no need for me to pursue an argument with you. Allow me to take hold of your body, so I can undo your error.”
“No. To take back control of me, you may as well kill me. This is my life and my body. You are not welcome here.”
“You are making a mistake.” Lilia glided closer and reached for her.
Before the fate could touch Helena’s shoulders, Helena jumped out of her reach. She attempted to catch her again, and every time Helena created more distance between them.
Lilia stopped moving. She closed her eyes and soon began chanting a spell.
Helena’s limbs turned rigid. She couldn’t move. Even breathing became a chore as she glowered at the fate from underneath her heavy lashes.
When the spell was complete, binding Helena in place against her will, Lilia edged closer. “Your fate is mine. We are two parts of one. Without me, you are weak.”
“And without me, you are a heartless bitch!”
Lilia cupped Helena’s cheek. The fate’s warm fingers caressed her skin, leaving behind a brief tingling sensation of stray magic. “Remember this for it will be the knowledge that will guide you in your later years. Love makes us vulnerable. The more you love someone, the easier it is to be blinded to the truth of what they—”
“Helena? Helena!” Ben’s yells reached her ears, and she shot into an upright position. A chill from the cold room wrapped around her, making her drape the quilt over her exposed skin.
“You were groaning a lot in your sleep. Are you okay?” he asked, observing her every twitch.
She gave him a nod and scanned the unfamiliar room. It took a minute for her to recall where she was. Her shoulders sagged and her hands aro
und her bedsheets loosened in defeat.
He carefully took her hand, redirecting her attention to him. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”
“Lilia tried to take control again…”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure there’s a way to fix you.”
“Fix me?” The words felt foreign on her tongue.
Am I broken?
Sure, an ancient soul of a fate from another realm possessed her, she had been through hell and back this past year, and she lost the man she loved.
Does that make me broken?
Her clammy palm rested over her raging heartbeat. The movement in her chest indicated she remained among the living.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he murmured.
She blinked, unable to understand his concern. She wasn’t upset. Or, at least, she didn’t think she was.
With a pained expression, he brushed her cheek with his thumb. Her tears wet his hand.
Helena blankly stared at her tears glistening on his skin as if they were a mirage. More salty drops cascaded down her face, and she felt something within her heart breaking.
Ben wrapped her in a loose hug, letting her cling to him as she released her pent up emotions into his shirt. She couldn’t tell how long she cried for or how many people came and went to talk to him during that time. He sent everyone away, never breaking his hold on her.
When she finished, her head hurt too much. She lay down. As she stretched out on the bed, resting her head on his lap, he combed his fingers through her tangled hair.
She sniffled, wiping her red nose with some sheets of toilet roll a young guy named ‘Otto’ gave her some time ago. The floor was littered with used, crumpled tissues, making it seem like a snowy carpet. If she didn’t know better, she’d think someone had helped her produce such an excessive amount.
“Feeling better?” Ben asked.
“No. I feel like my head is about to explode, my throat may as well be a desert, and my eyes ache so much that I am considering having them removed.”
He chuckled. “Better than I had hoped.”
Helena sat up, massaging her temples to reduce her thudding headache. “Tell me what to do, Ben.”
Fated Origins: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4) Page 15