“Maybe not directly, but your presence weakens her. It reminds her of something that she no longer is. She is not human, Josh, not any more. The sooner you realize this, the better it will be for everyone, including Zoë. She is not the same woman you knew years ago.”
“But I, she’s still–” Josh fumbled over his words.
“It is time to let her go.”
I clenched my fists so tight that blood dripped from under my fingernails. I was so lost in their conversation that I hadn’t noticed Alec approaching me from behind. He placed a hand on my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
My cover had been blown. Josh and William stared out of the room, their eyes glued to me.
“Nothing,” I said, struggling to breathe. “I was just, um, coming to check on Josh. See how he’s doing, you know?”
“I’ll join you.”
Before I could escape, Alec wrapped a hand around my waist and started to tow me into the dim room. Josh’s eyes never left mine.
As I made my way to Josh’s bedside, footsteps traveled down the corridor. I turned to find a cloaked figure standing in the doorway. It bowed to William.
“Litharo,” William said, turning in the direction of the shadow creature. “What news do you bring us?”
“There is word from the forest nymphs that something travels in the wind. They believe they are headed this way, Sire.”
Those yellow eyes zeroed in on me. They glowed beneath the protection of the dark hood. I couldn’t look away; it had me in its clutches. Uneasiness overtook me and I grabbed my stomach, feeling something tugging on my insides. And then it happened.
I released a bloodcurdling scream, dropping to my knees. The physical pain was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I withered on the floor, trying to shove my intestines back into my stomach. Blood oozed over my fingers.
“Release her!” someone roared.
I crawled on hands and knees, slamming my fists into the ground, gasping for air. I flipped onto my back and screamed again, clawing at my head. It was tearing me apart from the inside out. “Make it stop,” I screamed.
“I said, release her!”
A blade sliced through the air. It was so fast I barely saw it. As quickly as the pain came upon me, it was gone.
The disembodied head rolled across the floor before coming to a stop a few feet away from me. Long jagged teeth protruded from the shadow of the black hood and I shielded my eyes, remembering Ryuu’s words.
“What were you thinking?” Alec raged. “I told you, never make eye contact with them! I warned you!”
I mutter my apologies into the stone floor, trying to push myself away from the head. As if he could read my mind, Alec stormed over to it and kicked it into the fire. It squealed in the flames and I covered my ears.
“Zoë, are you alright?” Josh looked over the side of the bed at me, his eyes wide. At least someone in the room was concerned for my well being.
“She’s fine,” Alec blurted, still fuming. “That’s what those filthy creatures do.”
“You said they were the good guys,” I finally said.
“They’re the embodiment of evil. They can’t help themselves, it’s what they are. You gave him power over you the second you made eye contact. The shadow people are master illusionists. They hypnotize the mind, making it see and feel things that aren’t really happening.”
“If it wasn’t his fault, then why did you have to kill him?” I asked, using the side of the bed to climb to my feet. Josh’s fingertips grazed mine and I felt dizzy all over again for completely unrelated reasons.
“If I didn’t kill him, Litharo would have always had power over you,” he snapped, as if I should already know. I was getting really sick of Alec’s condescending tone. I wasn’t some child, I was his equal and I expected to be treated as such.
As he opened his mouth to continue his lecture, I made my move. I was in Alec’s face in less than a heartbeat. I jabbed a stiff finger into his chest. “Next time you try to warn me, how about you actually warn me? If you hadn’t done such a shitty job in the first place with all your ‘they just are’ bullshit, then this wouldn’t have even happened. How about something like, ‘hey, don’t make eye contact with the crazy shadow creature or it’ll make you think your insides are being ripped out’? That’s probably something someone should know, don’t you think?”
I turned my back to him, cursing under my breath. I’d apologize later. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not.
“Alec did the right thing, Zoë. Litharo was an excellent messenger, but there will be others. His people will understand the reason for his death, they know the law and he clearly broke it,” William said with a nod. “Do not worry. With time, you will learn.”
Alec pulled me back into his arms, planting kisses along my jaw. He mumbled something about loving me into my ear but I had none of it. I sighed, pushing his arms away from me, ignoring his protests.
Ice-blue eyes found mine and I held Josh’s gaze. In that moment, I missed my old life and everything that came with it. It was far less complicated than this new and strange world, filled with creatures fit only for nightmares.
Chapter Seventeen
Someone was coming. I heard the light footsteps making their way down the corridor, feet inaudible to the untrained ear. Ryuu was standing in the door only seconds later.
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped short, his hazel eyes locking onto the headless shadow creature.
“Looks like someone made eye contact,” he said with a hoarse laugh, stepping over the limp body. “Make sure you get rid of that thing properly so it can’t reform itself. You know they can do that, Alec.”
Alec nodded with a straight face, eyes still locked onto mine.
“So, who was it?” Ryuu asked, scanning the room. “Zoë’s human?”
Josh scowled at him. “I’m not her human,” he grumbled.
“No,” Alec responded, “it was Zoë.”
“We warned you,” Ryuu said, giving me a half-hearted shrugged. He nudged the body with his foot and shuddered.
“Enough.” William’s voice echoed against stone walls. Ryuu straightened, moving away from the cloaked creature. “What is it that you wanted, Ryuu?”
“Oh, yes, of course. My apologies, William,” he nodded. “The castle is under attack.”
–
The sky was alive with movement. I wasn’t sure how many there were, their bodies blended together against the black sky. There was easily a dozen, maybe more. I drew my sword upon exiting the castle gates. Our people were already on the defense.
“Fire!” Markus bellowed. I couldn’t see him, but I’d recognize that voice anywhere.
A row of archers raised their bows and fired, and then reloaded and fired again. Vampires. Their aim was too accurate to be human. Hundreds of arrows sailed through the air.
A scream erupted high above us as one of the Sythen came tumbling down to Earth. The ground shook beneath its massive body made contact. The beast moaned and howled, trying to pull the many arrows out with its jagged teeth. Black liquid oozed over its scales.
Jade’s body split in two, one Jade staying defensively at our side, the other slicing the beast’s head off with one clean swipe of her blade.
Something sailed past my ear with a whistling sound. It shimmered as it soared through the air and high into the sky. Impact. Another of the serpent beasts toppled down from the protection of the dark clouds. I looked over my shoulder to find Tony holding firm to a large wooden bow, another arrow already in place. I blinked and the arrow was gone.
Ear-piercing shrieks filled the sky. A large black mass swooped down toward the Earth, wings expanded and mouth open. Fire spilled from its massive jaws, setting the land ablaze.
“Watch out!”
It swooped back down for a second round, snapping its jaws around an older man as he ran across the clearing. His legs toppled into the grass and the Sythen took off wi
th its meal.
“There are too many of them,” Annie shouted.
Josh came running out of the castle gates, his head still wrapped with gauze. He scanned the crowd, searching for someone. Maybe me. Probably Samantha.
I felt a tingling sensation building in the pit of my stomach and up through my fingertips. My head felt weightless as the voices whispered to me, rising in volume until I could hear nothing else. Suddenly, I was making my way back into the castle and up the spiral staircase, heading for the lookout tower.
My legs moved without my permission, leading me into the unknown. I rounded the staircase until I reached the top, a stale breeze ruffling through my hair. The voices urged me forward and I obeyed without a single thought, taking the final step toward the high tower.
Bodies moved up the staircase behind me, their presence hovering in the back of my mind.
“Zoë, what the hell are you doing? Get down from there!”
The darkness consumed me, clouds circling overhead. The beating of wings was all around me, wind pushing me from all directions. A laugh traveled through the air, it shook me to my very core. I tried with all of my might to stop myself, but it was too strong to resist. I lifted my hands up toward the heavens, electricity weaving in and out of my extended fingers.
A flash of white overtook the black sky, lightning engulfing everything in its path. Bright sparks coiled around the flying beasts, dragging them down to the Earth to die. As the last Sythen fell, its body crashed into the edge of the tower, bits and pieces of stone cascading down to the ground with it. A man leapt from its back, landing on the rooftop just feet away from me. His laughter echoed across the land.
“Humans are far weaker than I remember. How pathetic,” he sneered, his voice low and cold. “I thought it might prove slightly harder to overcome their military forces, their leaders, their fortresses. So easily corrupt are these weak creatures. They should thank me for making them so much more.”
His voice was stained with malicious intent and his eyes were hollow and lifeless. His skin was pale and somewhat leathery, as if it had spent centuries battling the signs of aging. He contained every clichéd characteristic of a storybook villain; although, I doubted even the most experienced writer could capture the undying terror of his appearance with words alone.
Baldric took an elongated step toward me, coming too close for comfort. The others were inching their way toward me from behind. It didn’t go unnoticed by the General. He was as tall as William, black hair scattered over his shoulders, blowing in the breeze. His face was long and thin and, his eyes, the blackest eyes I’d ever seen. He wore a long black trench coat that covered just a portion of his bare chest, where I could make out a fraction of the dark symbol carved into his pale flesh. His pants were also black, tucked into a pair of leather boots that stretched up past his calf muscles. Matching leather gloves clenched with his fists as he glowered at me.
“Baldric,” I hissed. I drew my blade and lunged for him.
He was on me in a fraction of a second, his gloved hand wrapped around my face. “That is King to you,” he growled. So, he’d already changed his title – eager to claim the world as his own.
“Let her go,” Alec shouted, running toward me.
There were suddenly five more Baldric’s on the tower rooftop, blocking the path between the other’s and us. “Do not interfere,” they snarled in unison. I liked that trick a lot more when Jade was the one doing it.
The real Baldric’s eyes never left mine. He searched my face for what felt like hours.
“Roland was right, you look so much like her,” he purred into my ear. His free hand trailed down my neck, over my breasts and around my waist, pulling me into him.
I struggled under his grip, spitting in his face.
He laughed, wiping the moisture away. “And just as feisty. But, you are not her, are you? No, you are different than the rest. Faster, stronger, but you are still no match for me. Nonetheless, you are still a prize to be won. All that power, surely you do not know what to do with it all. I could show you. William, my old friend, how could you have missed so much power in a body so,” his eyes lingered on the top of my breasts, “lush?”
“I am sure that I do not know what you are talking about, old friend,” William snarled. I wished I could have seen the look on his face. His voice was laced with hatred. “You know as well as I that that is no more than folklore.”
“It is no ‘folklore’, it is truth!” Baldric exclaimed. “Look at this creature! She is living proof of that. She has made the ascent; she has a direct link to His magnificent power. She has been chosen to rise above the rest of us.” He traced the markings on my face with a gloved finger and I glowered at him. “Once she taps into her true potential, she will be unstoppable,” he breathed.
There was an emptiness in his dark eyes. It was as if the person who used to be there had long since gone. He was so much colder that I’d imagined he’d be. A small part of me wished I’d known the man he once was.
He leaned in close, the buttons of his trench coat scraping against my bare skin. “Join me,” he whispered into my ear. “We will rule together, as it was suppose to be long ago. With our combined powers, we will be invincible.”
“Over my dead body.”
He growled, tightening his grip on my face until I thought my jaw would snap. “That could be arranged,” Baldric hissed. “But, that would be such a waste of power. No, you will be mine. One way or another, I will have you, Jocelyn.”
“I am not Jocelyn!” I raged.
I thought I heard someone shouting for Josh to stop. A shot exploded behind me and something hard grazed my earlobe. Blood leached from the bullet hole in the side of Baldric’ head. His clones melted away and Josh barreled toward us.
“Stupid fool,” Baldric growled. He threw me down and grabbed Josh by the throat, picking him up off the ground. The bullet pushed its way back out of his skull and landed on the rooftop, rolling to a stop beside my leg. The General searched Josh’s eyes, bringing him closer to his face. Josh struggled against his grip, kicking the air. “It’s you,” Baldric exclaimed. He laughed, releasing him. Josh collapsed to the ground beside me, grabbing his throat with shaky hands.
“Now,” the General continued, “to get down to business. I have a proposition for you, warriors. If you join my legion now, I will forgive you of your past transgressions and will give you positions of great power. After all, our kind was always meant to work together, was it not? You will be loved and adored by all those in my kingdom. They will worship you as they have me.”
“And what are we suppose to get out of this ‘proposition’?” Jade sneered.
Baldric locked eyes with her and, for the first time, I thought I glimpsed fear on Jade’s face. “I will spare you and this pathetic excuse of an army that you have. No one will die.”
“Never,” Alec growled.
“Then you have just made the biggest mistake of your long lives. These people’s blood will be on your hands. There will be war and I will win. I am everywhere and I know everything. My power is unending. Do not underestimate me, warriors. My people are all around you.” Baldric grinned as something caught his eye. “Speaking of my people.”
Samantha hid behind Jade, trying to keep her eyes low to the ground, but it was too late, he’d already spotted her. Baldric’s black eyes landed on Sam, his boots scratching the dirt-covered rooftop as he made his way toward her.
“Come,” he ordered.
Samantha fell to her knees at his feet. She cowered before him, her face on the ground. She placed trembling hands on his leather boots. “I-I’m sorry, master.”
“Well, well, William. It looks as if you are getting weak in your old age. You have a traitor in your midst. Maybe I should take care of her for you.”
No one dared to step in his way, to put his or her neck on the line for Samantha. Not even Josh. He was too busy catching flies, staring at his girlfriend with wide eyes.
“N
o, master, please!” she cried. His fangs extended as he bent down, inching closer to her. Sam scurried back, pressing her shoulders against the high stone columns along the tower ledge. Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked up at him.
“When we found out who he was, I gave you one simple task and you swore to me that you could handle it.” The level in his voice rose and she cringed. “Your assignment was clear, was it not? I told you to bring him to me! But, what have you done? Joined their ranks?”
“N-no master, I would n-never leave your side,” she sobbed, trying to reach out to touch his leg. Baldric kicked her hand away and she cried out again. Bloody tears streamed down her pale cheeks. “I-I tried!”
“This is your definition of trying?!” Baldric threw a gloved finger at Josh.
“He won’t leave her,” she cried.
“Then you make him,” he growled. “He is nothing but a mere human! You are a vampire! There is no excuse!”
“I-”
“I do not tolerate failure. It is a sign of weakness. My legion will not be weak.” He pulled the thick blade from his hip and raised it over his head.
“Pl-please don’t kill me!” she begged. “I’ll do anything you ask, master.”
Baldric paused a foot away from her, thinking over the offer. “Anything?” He smirked and knelt down in front of her, whispering something into her ear.
Samantha flew through the air, fangs extended. I was on my feet before she could reach me. The sword ripped through her like tissue paper, in through her abdomen and out through her back. She pulled herself further onto my blade, inching her way toward me. Her fangs grazed my neck and I twisted the sword. She howled, gripping both of my shoulders. Her nails dug into me, breaking skin. Her eyes were dark, her beautiful face covered in blood. She screamed.
“Please, Zoë. Don’t do this. I-I can change,” she choked, blood spilling from the corner of her lips. “I’m s-sorry. I’ll do a-anything. Y-you can even have him if you want. Just don’t kill me!”
Alec stepped forward, wrapping a hand around the vampire’s throat. She shrieked, trying to pull away from him. “The bloodsucker lies,” he spat. “She must die.”
Until Dawn: Last Light Page 17