Aldric put a hand to his head, his eyes locked on Saule. A thousand thoughts whirled through his mind. Part of his heart eased as if a wound that had bled for hundreds of years had finally stopped.
“Words, all words!”
Chernobog’s bottomless voice boomed throughout the room like a physical force. Aldric winced, his attention momentarily torn from the defeated sun goddess.
“Aldric, would you really let her wipe away two hundred years of vengeance with a few sniveling excuses?” the black god demanded. “After all, your people are still dead.”
Aldric’s body jerked as a ghostly apparition stepped from behind Chernobog. It was a man, the blacksmith who had worked with his father in the forge. He stared at Aldric with large sorrowful eyes and a cold sweat broke out on Aldric’s forehead. His eyes widened as wisps of smoke appeared throughout the room, gradually taking on human form as they continued to sail past him. Faces he recognized from long ago stared at him with sad faces. He could almost feel the disappointment in their gazes as they watched him.
“Will you let them all down now, Aldric?” Chernobog demanded. “You are so close to avenging their deaths, to bringing them their final peace. Will you deny them now?”
Aldric couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. The icy hatred that had been inside him for so long had melted under the sun goddess’ confessions, but the pain of his loss still stung like acid on fresh wounds. Someone had to pay for these deaths, for the loss of all these people. Didn’t they?
“Do not worry, Aldric,” Chernobog soothed. “I am here. I will make her pay for her abandonment.” The black god stalked across the room, his long sinewy tail dragging heavily along the floor. He stepped up to Saule and reached out a clawed hand to lift her chin as he continued to speak to Aldric over his shoulder. “Your friends, your family, will rest in peace at last.”
“Get away from her!”
Aldric grunted as his body was thrown backwards by a solid kick to his chest. Pain erupted in his back as he hit the wall, sliding down to a heap on the floor. Dazed and disoriented, he struggled to focus on what was going on.
A blood-curdling scream shattered the air followed by a sharp hiss. Aldric’s eyes widened in shock as he watched Valkyrine wrestle with Chernobog, her fiery wings sizzling every time she fanned them into his body. Saule screamed as Chernobog swiped at her daughter’s face.
“Valkyrine, no! Run, get out of here!”
“You will not touch her again,” Valkyrine shrieked, ignoring the blood pouring down her face.
Aldric’s jaw dropped as Valkyrine wrapped her body around Chernobog, her wings enveloping his shadowy form. The black god bellowed in agony. A giant black claw rose into the air, preparing for another strike.
“Valkyrine!”
Anton and Kurt sailed into the room, their incorporeal bodies not making a sound as they dove toward where Valkyrine and Chernobog wrestled for control. Anton seized Chernobog’s upraised claw, the sound of his feet hitting the floor alerting Aldric that he’d rematerialized. Kurt, his normally mischievous face set with grim determination, remained immaterial. He settled in against Chernobog’s chest, merging his body with the black god’s. Chernobog twitched and he hissed. Seconds later, his shadowy form erupted into black smoke before streaming through the air to the other side of the room. He rematerialized with a snarl.
“This has nothing to do with you, moras,” he hissed. “Get out before you add your names to the dotted line.”
“We are not going anywhere,” Kurt growled, hovering in front of Valkyrine.
“What if your master orders you out?” Chernobog demanded. He turned his head to Aldric. “Will you let your servants rob your people of their eternal peace?”
Aldric’s breath froze in his throat as the room grew thick with specters. They spun around like maniacal clouds, ghostly faces begging him for help. He could almost hear them screaming . . .
“What have you done?” Anton gasped.
Aldric barely registered the mora as he ran to his side, putting a hand on Aldric’s shoulder.
“Master, can you hear me?”
“What is going on?” Saule shouted.
Her voice sounded so high, so panicked. Aldric turned to stare at her. The ghosts swirled faster, filling the air between him and the sun goddess. They did not want him to look at her.
“He’s summoned a room full of ghosts,” Kurt murmured.
“What?” Saule looked around, her eyes wide. “What are you talking about?’
“Can’t you see them?” Kurt asked softly. “They’re everywhere.”
“Chernobog,” Saule accused, venom dripping from her voice. “This is your doing.”
“So this is what all those long stares were about,” Anton breathed. “All these years, he was seeing ghosts.” He looked back at Kurt. “We could not see them because they were not meant for us.”
“But you cannot hide ghosts from a mora,” Kurt finished, turning a glare on Chernobog.
“So that is why Aldric’s hatred has stayed so fresh,” Saule said, her voice a horrified whisper. She turned to Chernobog. “You have been raising the ghosts of his people, tormenting him with the memory. Did you steal their voices? Keep them from speaking to their kin?” Her voice grew harder, angrier, with every word. “Did you let their silence do your talking for you?”
Chernobog stared around the room at all the glaring faces. Aldric sat on the floor, his body still aching, and his mind still numb from all the revelations this night had brought. Never in his two hundred years had he felt so conflicted.
Finally Chernobog chuckled. He shook his head. “I did not light the embers of Aldric’s hatred for you, oh bright one,” he sneered to Saule. “I merely fanned the flames.”
His words echoed into the room, reverberating in Aldric’s ears. The meaning of the monster’s words finally registered and a fire flared to life inside him. Aldric looked across the room at where Kurt stood defiantly in front of Valkyrine. The vieschtitsa had blood running down her face from her scuffle with the black god, but still she glared at him without a trace of fear. Her brilliant wings glowed like a bonfire behind her, slowing fanning as if waiting for another chance to scald the flesh from Chernobog’s body.
Anton still knelt at his side, his hand a reassuring weight on Aldric’s shoulder. His steady presence reminded Aldric of his oath, of his promise. Anton had remained loyal beyond what Aldric ever had a right to expect. Chernobog had tried to break that oath and had nearly dishonored Aldric’s own vow to the vampire-mora-who had proven to be not a servant . . . but a friend.
Last, but not least, Aldric looked at Saule. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to find her blue-eyed gaze locked on him, her eyes full of sorrow and . . . hope?
Aldric held her gaze. The last two hundred years swirled through his mind, reminding him of all his hateful words, all his tormented dreams. How much of that had been true and how much had been Chernobog’s manipulation? How much of it had been outrage over the battle he believed she’d never fought and how much had been the love he’d thought she never returned?
“No more.”
Everyone in the room turned their attention to Aldric, his whispered words echoing in the tense silence. Anton dropped his hand as Aldric shoved himself to his feet. Hot determination rose steadily inside him as he held Saule’s gaze. He didn’t know for certain what this night meant for them . . . but he would find out without the help of the black god.
Turning to Chernobog, Aldric straightened his spine and summoned every ounce of courage he’d amassed over the years. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a rock. Without taking his eyes off his new enemy, he threw the stone outside. Chernobog raised his eyebrows.
“Interesting. May I ask what the rock was for?”
“There was a time when I put all of my faith in another,” Aldric started quietly. “A time when I stayed inside to pray while battles were fought outside. I believed with every fiber of my being that this other person would com
e and defeat my enemies for me.”
“And she let you down.” Chernobog nodded, a wide smile splitting his face. “But tonight you will have your revenge. And I will help you.”
Aldric narrowed his eyes as he heard Saule’s breath hitch. He continued to stare at Chernobog. “You are not listening. The time when I put all of my faith in another has passed.” He glanced at Saule, his gaze momentarily softening. “Someone taught me better.”
He turned back to Chernobog in time to see him frown. “What are you saying?”
“I am saying, that I no longer put blind faith in anyone. I am always prepared to fight my own battles. No matter who that enemy may be.”
The tension in the air grew thicker as suspicion blossomed on Chernobog’s face. “The rock?”
“A signal. In case my faith in the black god was ill-placed.”
“When this is over, human, we are going to have a talk,” came a gruff voice from outside.
Aldric didn’t bother to hide a smile of satisfaction as Perkunas stepped into the room. He moved to the side so that the thunder god could enter, his smile widening as he looked down at the two large shadowy shapes moving on either side of him.
Bron and Vincentas snarled, snapping their stark white teeth as they growled at the black god. Their dire wolf forms were just as impressive as Aldric remembered them, the size of small ponies. Their thick fur stood up, making them seem even larger as they stood snarling on either side of Perkunas.
“Well well, what have we here?” Perkunas’ voice boomed throughout the room. He raised his silver axe, his eyes sparkling as he eyed the web-like creature still holding Saule. The creature shifted around its prisoner, seeming to pull away under Perkunas’ glare. Inch by inch, Saule’s body was freed until she was bound only at her wrists and ankles. Even in the presence of the lightening deity, the creature seemed reluctant to completely disobey its master.
“You sent your wolves to fetch the thunder-god.”
The bemusement in Chernobog’s voice wilted Aldric’s smile. There was no reason for the black god to be amused.
“Call me a fool, but I did not feel I could completely trust you,” Aldric said, frowning at the confident expression on Chernobog’s face. “And though I no longer rely on others to fight for me, I am also not such a fool that I do not know when to ask someone to fight by my side.”
“And a pleasure it will be to fight beside you,” Perkunas said graciously. His eyes narrowed. “Let us see if we cannot wipe that smile off your hideous countenance,” Perkunas snarled at Chernobog. “Perhaps a bolt of lightening would sizzle the edges off?”
“Oh, I do not believe you will be stealing my smile any time soon,” Chernobog gloated. “It would be hard to steal the wind from my sails on this night. After all, I have been fighting to make Saule my prisoner for eons, and tonight I will finally take home my prize.”
“You will not be taking her anywhere,” Perkunas growled.
“Well, you don’t have to take my word for it. Why not ask her yourself?” Chernobog turned to Saule, his smile splitting his face. “What say you, sun goddess? Take a good look at our friend Aldric and tell me who you will be going home with this night?”
Everyone in the room looked around in confusion. Saule glared at Chernobog before turned her attention to Aldric. He frowned as she stared at him, her eyes losing focus as if she was looking at something underneath his skin. Then her eyes widened and her lips parted.
“No,” she whispered.
The horror in that one word made Aldric’s skin crawl. “What? What do you see?”
“You traveled with Chernobog through his world?”
Aldric shifted uncomfortably, his previous confidence wilting in the face of Saule’s sudden aura of defeat.
“Saule, what is going on?” Perkunas demanded.
“He put a seed of darkness inside Aldric,” Saule said sadly. “His power waits inside Aldric’s body.”
“And a mere thought on my part will make that darkness grow,” Chernobog added smugly. “Your little human will die, the light of his precious soul so recently returned to him extinguished forever.”
“Surely you can cleanse him of the darkness?” Perkunas said uncertainly.
Saule’s eyes glistened with fresh tears. “I am powerless until sunrise. Chernobog could kill him long before then.”
“And I will kill him this instant if you do not swear an oath to me.” Chernobog straightened to his full height, his monstrous black body filling half of the small building. He stared down at Saule like a child who’d just found a hidden cache of Christmas presents. “You will pass your mantle on to Ausrine. And you will swear to remain by my side as my slave until such time that I decide to release you.”
“No!” Valkyrine screamed.
“Never!” Perkunas shouted.
“You must swear to remove the darkness from Aldric and to never harm my loved ones again,” Saule said quietly.
“Saule, what are you doing?”
Aldric’s whisper burned past his throat. He’d finally gotten what he’d been seeking for centuries. His revenge would be total and complete, more than he’d ever hoped for. It was a cruel twist of fate that the dish best served cold would come when his appetite had vanished.
Saule looked into his eyes, the trace of a smile tugging at her mouth. “After you became a vampire, you waited to pursue your revenge until after you helped our people rebuild their village. You found Bronislovas and Vincentas mourning their pack and you paused your revenge again to help them search. You shed tears for their loss when the search bore no fruit. You heard Anton’s cries for his brother and you did everything you could to keep them together.” She took a deep breath, her smile growing a little wider. “I finally see you, Aldric. I really see you. You have grown into a man to be proud of.”
“Saule . . .”
“I love you, Aldric,” she whispered.
The stone around his heart that he’d worked so hard to build shattered. Pain like he’d never felt before seized his mind as he realized that the love he’d dreamed of was about to be taken away, forever lost to a world of darkness. Unable to think, he gave his body free rein. Shouts echoed around the room and suddenly he found himself standing inches in front of Saule, her own spear pressed to her heart.
“I will not let you die for me,” he choked. “I will send you back to Sky Mountain whether you wish it or not.”
“Oh, Aldric,” Saule sobbed. “I couldn’t see it before, but I can see it now. Your love is as bright as a sunrise in your eyes, and even more beautiful.” She sucked in a breath past her tears. “I think we both know you cannot do it.”
Aldric’s eyes widened. His hand closed tighter around the spear, trembling as he tried to force it through her heart. Saule stared at him with eyes shining with tears and emotion. Horror heated his blood as he shook his head in denial.
“Saule,” he whispered. “I . . .”
“I know,” she said, nodding too fast. She sobbed again. “I know.”
Chernobog’s laughter filled the room, the sound like razor blades against Aldric’s skin. He turned to the black god with a surge of hatred so strong it crackled in the air around him. The god only laughed harder, his body shimmering before de-materializing into his darkness form.
“I can see your plan in your eyes, Aldric,” he mocked from inside the cloud of shadows. “Without a physical body, your moras cannot frighten me and your wolves cannot rend me. Perkunas will not dare to strike out at me while I hold Saule in my will. I will remain incorporeal until Saule has formally sworn her oath. I have won.”
Aldric reached into his tunic, his anger sharpening to a fine wicked point. “Well then you leave me no choice.”
The small glass vial flew from his hand, shattering on the floor. Aldric stared into Saule’s eyes as a pool of black water spread from the broken glass, covering the floor in the blink of an eye. Everyone in the room shouted as they were sucked down into dark.
Chapter
9
Saule hissed in pain as she collapsed onto a hard stone floor. The creature holding her wrists and ankles made a little hissing sound as if in pain, but its grip on her did not loosen. Unable to wipe her tears away, Saule was left blinking as she tried to ascertain what had just happened.
“Well it’s about bloody time!”
The sound of Dubheasa’s voice made Saule freeze. Her lips parted in surprise as she found herself lying on the floor of the throne room at the Unseelie sithen. Over their heads, the branches of the trees that lined the room rustled with the movements of unseen creatures. Saule sat up and looked toward the sound of the voice. The mistress of the sithen was seated on the throne, dressed as usual in a gown of shadows. She stared down at her visitors with a sparkle of excitement in her raven black eyes.
Revenge in Vein, The Complete Series Page 21