Veronica moaned and grunted in pain, interrupting their conversation. They returned their attention to her, watching her body convulse and her chest rise and fall. Her skin was deathly pale and her faint blue lips parted slightly.
Anastasia felt the air become thick and the dread slithering from Remy. She immediately left the room and stood in the hallway. Standing against the wall in thought, her eyes obsessed over the red carpet on the floor.
Remy stood firm and he leaned against the doorframe. “You know, as soon as we realized what Lucius and Selene were up to, I went to look for you.”
She turned to him.
“Hallie said that once she and Veronica came back to the Manor, Veronica tore Nathan’s study apart, looking for any information on the Pure Ones.” His eyes turned to the ceiling. “The very first Deamhan; the original eight badasses. You know that they shouldn’t be released from Limbo, Anastasia. They’re dangerous, not only for humans but for us as well. Just imagine...eight powerful Deamhan, who can’t be harmed by stakes, sunlight, fire, let loose upon this world. For fuck’s sake, we witnessed that in the cave with Amenirdis. Think about it.”
“I got a taste of how strong she is from Lucius,” Anastasia whispered back. “His blood tasted like fine wine. It was delicious, old, soothing and...”
“Powerful?”
Anastasia nodded. “I was going to say uncontrollable but yes, powerful too. It was like no other blood I’ve ever tasted.”
“Well, there you go.”
“Even though those Deamhan came after me and it’s my fault that Veronica is injured,” Anastasia stared down the hallway of the manor in thought, “it would be wrong to sire her. She hates who and what we are.”
Remy held up his hands. “She’ll get over it.”
Anastasia sensed his feelings for Veronica. It wasn’t a part of his makeup. It wasn’t in his nature. The feeling of concern, pity, and desire for her to make it out of this alive weighed heavily on him. It was like an annoying itch that he couldn’t scratch. The feelings of a Deamhan changed constantly. She didn’t trust it but she had no other choice.
She thought that maybe if she did nothing and let Remy sire Veronica, the bizarre feelings they all had regarding her safety would go away. Sure, Nathan would never forgive them but at least she would be alive. No one knew if Veronica preferred death over being a Deamhan. It wasn’t easy to tell since the question never crossed their minds until now. Would it be that bad to turn her? At least Remy would finally have a companion and Hallie would have a big sister she could relate to. The longer Veronica remained in her frail condition, the more Anastasia felt the urgency to punish Selene and Lucius.
Anastasia walked back into the room, squeezing herself between Remy and the doorway. She sat on the edge of the bed.
“I will do what I have to do.”
She heard Remy’s voice behind her.
“I guess we can agree to disagree.” Her face showed signs of concern.
Remy walked over to the bed and pulled back the sheets. “I won’t leave her side until she gets better, but if she doesn’t...” He climbed into bed and lay next to her, snuggling his medium frame against hers, and pulled the covers her. “We’ll have another Deamhan to add to the family.” He gripped Veronica’s weak hand.
“Do what you want.” Anastasia stood up, turned around, and walked out of the room.
CHAPTER seventeen
Anastasia opened her eyes.
The last thing she remembered was the Deamhan blood burning and circling through her veins before she collapsed on her bed. Now she heard Remy’s voice in her ear.
“You up?”
She turned her head slightly to the right to the sound of his voice. Light spots created by the lamp on the night stand near her bed crimped her view. She sat up in bed and glared at him.
“I’ve been trying to wake you for a while now,” he said slowly.
She raised herself from the comfort of her bed. “What happened with Veronica?” Before Remy could answer, she dressed herself quickly. The Deamhan blood had left her system, replaced with severe pain still ravaging her body, signaling that she needed to feed.
She left her room and walked down the hallway, lowering each curtain as she passed. Even though the sun had set, there was still a trace of red and orange in the sky. She made it around the corner and stopped just feet from Veronica’s room, smelling Remy’s strong lingering scent. She slicked back her tousled hair, combing out the knots with her fingers, and she then placed her hands on the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door slightly. She peeked in, seeing Veronica laying on her bed.
After she heard the strong cadence of Veronica’s heartbeat, she calmed herself and entered the room. Somehow she had made it through the night, still human. She stared at Veronica’s quaint features; her dark eyebrows, her average size lips, her round face, and it brought her back to the time when she first encountered Veronica at Dark Sepulcher.
At that time she had no deep feelings for the human and like Remy, she found Veronica to be an attractive meal. When she learned that Veronica knew how to hide her thoughts from Deamhan, it tempted Anastasia to end her life right then and there. Veronica remained untouchable, thanks to Selene’s protection which now seemed bogus. It took every atom that made up her entire body to also protect her and she found herself switching back and forth from her human side of compassion to her Deamhan side of callousness. Her face still showed signs of her illness, yet she looked better than the night before.
“I think she’ll be fine in a few days.”
Anastasia heard Remy’s voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder, seeing his cracked lips pull back into a smile.
“It’s good you didn’t sire her,” Anastasia replied. “I thought you would.”
“I’m not that disorderly.” He walked up to her and stood at her side. “I can handle my emotions.”
Anastasia felt her hunger pangs beginning to become more emphatic but again she pushed the thought of feeding aside. “You said last night that Veronica researched about the Pure Ones.”
“Yeah.” His eyes narrowed in on her. “You have a plan, don’t you?”
She walked out of the room and down the hallway, heading toward Nathan’s study. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been there when Nathan wasn’t there. It wasn’t a room she enjoyed or even bothered to discover. But she knew he kept all his research materials about the Deamhan tucked nicely on the bookshelves lined against the wall. However, Veronica had made a mess. Countless opened books laid on the table and on the floor. Anastasia walked over to one of the bookcases and began to read the writing on the spine of the books.
“Veronica scoured all those books.” Remy stood in the doorway.
“Maybe she missed something.”
“No, I think she covered it all. We can’t kill the Pure Ones because, they’re impossible to kill. Oh and if we did manage to do that, we end up killing ourselves as well.”
Anastasia immediately walked away from the bookcase. “Kill ourselves?” She didn’t understand.
“Veronica told Hallie who told me that if a Pure Ramanga dies, its descendants die along with it. So if I managed to kill a Pure Lamia, I’d die too.”
She returned to her search. “There has to be something we can do.” The thought about dying didn’t faze her. The Pure Ones couldn’t be this unstoppable. Everyone and everything had a weakness. She just needed to find it.
“Yeah, we can stop Lucius and Selene from getting the other piece of the tablet.”
She opened one of the books and searched it as fast as she could, but came up empty. “We need to find Nathan. I’m sure he knows what’s going on by now.”
“I have a better idea.” He stepped into the room. “We should pack up and leave Minneapolis.”
She stared at him, mind-boggled at his suggestion.
“At least we’d be alive and far away from this city.”
“It doesn’t matter where we run.” She clo
sed the book in her grasp and her eyes narrowed. “Once they’re freed, there won’t be any place to hide.”
“I’m not saying we hide. I’m saying we run.” He folded his hands across his chest. “I mean, if you want to stay here and try to stop it, then that’s your call. I love a good dirty fight myself but this fight...we won’t win.”
“We have to separate Lucius and Selene.” She walked out of the room, heading toward the front door. “Maybe they won’t be as strong when they’re apart.”
“And how are you going to do that?” He followed her.
“Selene’s the weakest.” She stopped by the Greek statues in the foyer. “Maybe if we talk to her, she’ll see the wrong in all of this.”
“Talk? You want to talk?” Confused, Remy’s mouth dropped. “That’s your big plan?”
“I’m not going to kill her.”
“Why not?”
She opened the door and felt the cool wind waver against her cheeks, tickling them briefly.
“I’m all for civil conversations but what makes you think she’s going to take your word over her own maker’s?” Remy descended the front steps and stopped just short of the front yard that still had small mounds of snow that had not melted yet from the warm weather.
“She’ll die for Lucius.”
“And eventually, she will.”
The right corner of his mouth curled in a halfcocked smile. “Awesome sauce.” He took a few steps before looking over his shoulder at her. “Shall we?” Without warning he took off in a blur, jumped over the fence surrounding the yard, and took off through the trees, heading to Minneapolis. Anastasia quickly followed, staying on his tail. Everything around them moved as if it existed in its own realm. The stars streaked in the night sky and the city lights combined their auras. They were moving faster than anyone or anything could move.
They zigzagged around cars and trucks stopped at stoplights. When they made it into downtown Minneapolis they moved around pedestrians who had no idea except for the surprising gust of wind. Remy continued through the downtown area and to east Minneapolis where he slowed down just before reaching a busy intersection. He moved into the alley and seconds later Anastasia appeared beside him, stirring up empty cans and other garbage from the streets.
The smell of car exhaust filled her nose. She heard the sounds of roaring engines and the thoughts of humans around them.
“So much better than a taxi.” Remy straightened his clothes.
They stopped across the corner of Pierce and Market. The street was deserted except for pot holes in the asphalt filled with water from melting snow. Anastasia stared down at her reflection in one puddle at her pale face. She needed to feed but she didn’t have the time. Ahead, the smell of Deamhan and Selene’s human minion exuded from the sanctuary. Anastasia crinkled her lips in disgust.
She walked forward with Remy following her in silent steps, their bodies on high alert. Selene was there, somewhere inside the two story home, maybe along with Lucius. She walked up to the door, noticing that it was slightly opened. She kicked it gently and it swung back, knocking against the wall. Her keen sense of smell picked up on the sweet smell of poinsettias and peppermints. Ahead she saw Jessica who jumped to her feet, on alert at their unexpected visit. Remy chuckled quietly at the human.
Anastasia approached Jessica, sensing that she was not afraid of them.
Instead she stood tall. “Are you here to see Selene?” Her voice sounded somewhat archaic.
Remy examined the human closely. “Well, who else do you think we’re here to see?” He turned back to Anastasia who looked down the hallway. In one quick movement she grabbed Jessica, sinking her teeth into the base of her neck. Jessica let out a gurgled scream but Anastasia placed her hand over her mouth to silence it. The warm blood trickled down her throat, healing her and silencing her hunger pains. She released her grip, letting Jessica’s limp body fall to the floor.
“You don’t waste any time, do you?” Remy glared at the body on the floor.
“I needed to eat.”
“And how was that supposed to help you get Selene on our side?”
She looked down the hallway, seeing a bright light illuminating from a room. She then heard Selene’s voice, clear as day, in a whisper.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Of course she did. It’s Anastasia,” Remy replied.
They walked down the hall and to the room. They saw Selene standing near a wide open window with her back to the door and to Anastasia’s surprise, Lucius standing off to her right. The large room encompassed the length of three large master bedrooms. A bed was lined up against the wall with several packed suitcases on top of it. Selene looked over her shoulder, frowning at Anastasia but her piercing eyes revealed a woman who still had something up her sleeve.
“I told you we couldn’t trust her.” Selene stared wildly at Lucius.
A look of disappointment appeared on Lucius’ face.
“And she brought her annoying friend.” Selene’s green eyes circled to Remy.
Remy’s eyes tapered and he quickly turned to Anastasia. “We’re about to die, aren’t we?”
“There’s a high probability,” Anastasia muttered to him.
“So I guess I should just say what’s on my mind.” He cleared his throat, preparing for his speech. “Believe it or not I’m a Deamhan that follows Decretums.” He looked toward Selene. “Your Decretum, in particular, demands that Veronica be protected at any cost. So, yeah, whatever happened to that?”
Selene’s eyes narrowed in on Remy. “You need to leave. This doesn’t concern you.”
“Hey, we’re all sorry that Lucius was thrown into Limbo, but what you’re both trying to do now...it isn’t right and you know it,” Remy said.
“And what makes you think my stint in Limbo was wrong?” Lucius asked him. “It was the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Remy burst out in laughter. “You’re kidding, right?” His eyes moved to Anastasia. “He’s kidding, right?”
Anastasia allowed her body to tense up and at any moment she felt that Lucius would strike Remy down in a single blow. She wanted to avoid any confrontation and hoped to sway Selene with words alone.
“We don’t have time for this.” Lucius looked to Selene and nodded. “Go. I’ll join you shortly.”
Anastasia didn’t want to Selene to leave. She would miss her opportunity to get her alone and if she made one move to follow her, Lucius would easily manhandle her.
Selene walked over to the bed and she picked up a long brown jacket with a white ruffled collar. She slid the jacket over her body and adjusted it. “You made a mistake coming here.”
“What makes you both think that once you release them, they’ll welcome us with open arms?”
“Because we are their children, Anastasia, and good children obey their parents,” Selene answered.
“Yes, but good parents don’t kill their children,” Remy said. “That’s what they did. They killed their children, betrayed the humans who made them. They will do that to you, to me, to Anastasia, and to Lucius. They will kill everyone, mortal and immortal alike.”
“Heretic,” Lucius growled.
“Maybe.” Remy shrugged. “But we all know how Deamhan act. We know what our kind are capable of.”
“Enough!” Lucius raised his voice. “Selene, go. I’ll handle this.”
Selene nodded back and before Anastasia had any chance to stop her, she rushed out of the room and her sanctuary in Deamhan speed.
“Well that was a bust,” Remy whispered to Anastasia. “What now? Do we follow her?”
Lucius turned to them. “You’re a strong Deamhan, Anastasia. You’re exactly the type we need to bring in the age of the Pure Ones. Don’t abandon that.”
“I don’t serve anyone, including them and including you.” Anastasia moved forward. “Not like this, Lucius. Not anymore.”
Lucius raised his right hand calmly. “Don’t fight me. You won’t win.”
“I’m not here to fight you. I’m here to reason with you.”
“Well, I’m here to fight you,” Remy added in a joking voice.
Lucius took a step forward. “If that’s the way you want it,” he balled his right hand into a fist, “so be it.”
Anastasia felt a force inside her chest beginning to weigh itself down on her. Her legs quivered and she lost her balance, falling to her knees. The pain shot up through her throat and to her brain. It rung her ears and played with her Deamhan senses. She’d never felt this pain before. With her vision blurred, she placed her hands on the sides of her head in a feeble attempt to control the pain. It suddenly stopped.
Taken aback by what he just saw, Remy stepped forward. “Wow, the Pure Ones really worked some mojo on you. Look at you!” He smiled at Lucius. “I mean, who would want to worship something like you?” As fast as he could, Remy launched himself at Lucius, managing to wrap his hands around his neck. Lucius reacted just as quickly, tossing him against the wall like a ragdoll. He then waved at Remy to advance again.
Anastasia stood up with her Ramanga teeth fully exposed. She couldn’t allow Lucius to harm or even possibly kill Remy. This wasn’t the reason she came to Selene’s sanctuary. “Think about what you’re doing Lucius!” She felt her body surging with uncontrollable strength.
“I have thought about it.” Without warning, he leaped at her, catching Anastasia and slamming her to the ground. “I’m doing what should have been done a long time ago.” He pinned her by her shoulders and his moonless eyes gaped at her. “I’m securing a future for our kind.”
“No.” Anastasia reached for Lucius’ hands, using her strength to move him aside but he didn’t budge.
Remy advanced, wrapping his arms around Lucius’ waist, holding on tight. Lucius reached around quickly, grabbing Remy by the strands of his hair, and swiftly throwing him aside.
He returned to Anastasia and gripped her by the neck. This time he raised her a few feet from the ground and tossed her through the large paned window. Small shards dug into her face and arms and she landed face first onto the wet soil outside.
Dark Curse (Deamhan Chronicles Book 2) Page 18