by Bea Paige
My love, what I have done?
There is no heartbeat. No life left, not even a murmur.
She is dead.
Red is gone.
I have killed her.
I can’t breathe, I can’t move. All I hear is laughter. Laughter over my loss. Cruel, hateful laughter. I look up to see Queen Adrielle smiling. My brothers are caught in her magic. Both are crying freely. Behind, the Dark Angels stand watching the scene before them, they do not move to help. What could they do anyway? Isn’t this what they do? Kill, take life as though it is worth nothing. I am no better than them. In fact, I am worse.
Opposite me, the young girl Lissandra, the Queen’s chambermaid, the girl who helped us before, is on her knees surrounded by a pile of ash. She is staring at me with such sorrow. It reflects my own.
I have killed Red. I have murdered Ezra’s wife, Rhain’s heart and my soul.
I pull her limp body towards my chest, cradling her against me. I hear her name being called out over and over again, and I realise it is my voice I can hear. It is broken, it does not sound like my own.
“Red, Red, Red, Red…”
Red, Red, Red, Red…
I am dimly aware of a crack of sunlight breaking through a large hole in the roof of the Grand hall. Queen Adrielle stands, her arms are raised in the air. Her magic is peeling back the tiles, I can see dawn rising. Dawn? Red? I look back down at my beloved, at her unseeing eyes. The same eyes that looked out of the face of a stranger. I realise in that moment that Red has been with me all along. She tried to save me, and I have killed her. I am a beast. I deserve to die. I bury my head into her hair and wait for the Light.
Queen Adrielle is addressing Clan Lux, but I cannot hear the words. There is nothing but white noise and the sound of my soul breaking into a million, shattered pieces.
Red, my love. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
The sunlight makes its way across the floor to where I sit with my beloved. I don’t care. I want to die. I welcome it now, for there is nothing left for me to fight for.
I roar with the heartbreak of a thousand men. It is so loud, so powerful, that I feel the ground shake with the agony of it.
Queen Adrielle’s head snaps around. She is looking behind me. Her eyes widen in shock and surprise. I feel a cool breeze against my back. A hand drops to my shoulder. When I look up I see Nostra.
“Time to leave, my friend,” he says, raising his hand. A bolt of purple fire zips from his hand and smashes straight into Queen Adrielle’s chest. She stumbles backwards, but it isn’t strong enough to knock her off her feet.
“Brother?” she says, the shock soon replaced with quiet rage. “After all this time, now you decide to pay me a visit?”
She signals to my fellow clansmen and women. They move forward en masse. Nostra lifts his hand up and shoots out another purple flare. His magic rolls out in front of them and the vampires are prevented from passing through an invisible forcefield.
“Not scared of me, are you, sister?”
Queen Adrielle snorts in derision. “You have grown some balls, little brother. I see your power has multiplied too. How delightful, this should prove interesting,” she says, flicking her wrist. A black arrow shoots towards us. Nostra deflects it with his own magic and it disperses in the air.
“Pick up Accacia,” he orders whilst throwing out more of his magic. He makes it look easy, but I can tell my old friend is already tired. I stand, holding Red in my arms.
Nostra’s eyes briefly flick to Red. Then he looks over at my brothers, his eyes finally landing on the Dark Angels. “Take them,” he says.
Ether, the tallest of the Angels, runs towards Lissandra. As he does, huge black wings spread out from his back. He grabs her and lifts her off the floor. I watch the relief on Lissandra’s face turn to fear as he flies with her out of the roof and into the rising dawn.
His brothers, Gabe and Mihr, launch themselves towards Rhain and Ezra, snatching them up in their arms. They too follow Ether out into the sky.
Queen Adrielle lets out an ungodly cry at their escape, sending black arrows up into the sky after them, but the angels are too swift and dodge them with ease. She turns her gaze back to us and it is filled with hatred, rage, and a bottomless evil.
“You dare to take what is mine? Brother, you are a fool. I will strip you of your power before you can even blink,” she screeches as her skin starts to ripple with black flames. “Then I will hunt each and every one of those who helped you and I will kill them slowly.” She points at me. “You think you know pain, loss, grief. You cry over a common woman, a worthless piece of trash. I will make you suffer for your part in this, Devin. I will make you watch as I torture your brothers, before returning them to the light. You will wish you had never betrayed me, Dark Knight.”
“I am dark no more,” I say, defiant.
She laughs cruelly.
“You’ve killed this woman. You, Devin, will never get away from the darkness now.”
“Fuck you,” I say, not caring. Nothing matters. My love is dead.
“And you, brother, even after all these years I can still read you like a book. The girl, Lissandra, she means something to you, doesn’t she?” She smirks. “I will enjoy stripping her of her magic and then carving her up piece by piece. I’ll make sure to give her your love when I do.”
Nostra roars, firing a succession of purple flames at Queen Adrielle. She counters them with pulses of black. His magic dissolves hers, but she is powerful, and I can tell Nostra’s strength is failing.
“We leave now,” he whispers to me, before firing more magic at his sister. Behind us a portal opens. Nostra pushes me through it, before leaping through. I can hear Queen Adrielle’s scream just as she disappears from view.
Chapter Eighteen
We are back in Nostra’s hamlet. Immediately I feel the sun burn my skin, it is still daylight, of course.
“Inside, now!” Nostra shouts. I don’t need to be told twice. Folding Red into my body as much as possible so that the sun burns me and not her, I run into his cottage. Only once I am inside do I notice just how quiet it is. Usually at this time of day at least some of the human residents of the hamlet are up and about.
“Gone,” Nostra says, understanding what I am thinking. “This place is no longer safe for them.”
I look down at Red. She looks as though she is sleeping peacefully in my arms.
“This place is no longer safe?”
“No, it is not. Adrielle will stop at nothing to find us and she will kill anyone who stays behind. She was right about one thing; my magic is strong. I have been cultivating it for as long as we have been estranged. Yet hers is stronger still. It could take her days, or mere hours to find us. Either way, we need to leave as soon as we are able. But first we must help Accacia. There isn’t much time left,” he says.
“Time left for what?” I ask, confused.
“To bind permanently with Accacia before Queen Adrielle arrives and rains hell fire down upon us,” he says, searching frantically for something amongst the bottles of potions that line his shelves. In his haste to find what he is looking for some fall to the floor and smash against the stone.
“What are you talking about Nostra? Red is gone. I killed her…” My voice breaks over the words.
She’s dead.
“Here it is,” Nostra says, grabbing a bottle filled with golden liquid. He pockets something else too, a golden stone. It reminds me of the sun.
“Nostra, she’s dead,” I repeat slowly. “Her heart has stopped beating. I took too much blood.”
The door to the cottage crashes open and Ezra rushes in, followed by Rhain. Before I know what is happening, Red has been snatched out of my arms by Ezra, and Rhain is holding me aloft by my throat.
“I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!” Rhain roars. His face is distorted with anger, pain and all-consuming grief. Behind him Ezra is on his knees, cradling Red’s lifeless body in his arms. Yet their pain is nothing compared to my own.
>
“Do it, brother,” I manage to say. “I can’t live without her. I won’t.”
“That’s enough!” Nostra says as a purple flame zips over Rhain’s hand. He roars in pain and drops me to the floor.
“Accacia’s heart may have stopped beating, but her soul has yet to leave her body. You can thank Devin for that. He holds a piece of it still within him. Without that, she would have left you all forever. With that sliver of her, I can bring her back. If you wish to save her then I suggest you stop fighting between yourselves and bring Accacia into my bedroom, so I can do my work.”
I imagine my brothers’ expressions are the same as mine, shock followed by hope.
“How?” Ezra asks, recovering first.
“There is no time to explain fully,” Nostra says quickly. “Bring her into my bedroom.”
We follow Nostra. Behind us, Lissandra runs into the cottage, followed by the angels and the wolf-shifter Blake. I barely acknowledge them.
Nostra raises his hand. “Wait here. This is between Accacia and her men. Any sign of Queen Adrielle, you come get me,” he says to the angels.
Blake’s gaze flicks to mine, then to Red held within Ezra’s arms. “Thank you for getting me out, your debt has been paid,” he says gruffly. He holds himself taut, I can still see the damage of Abanthe’s torture, but he looks far better than he should. Nostra’s magic has healed him a lot faster than his own body could ever have managed in such a short space of time.
Nostra looks to Lissandra. “I won’t be long, Lissa. Will you wait for me?”
She nods her head. “I have waited this long for you, a few more minutes won’t hurt.” She smiles softly, a knowing look on her face. Nostra’s eyes widen but he recovers quickly, nods his head and shuts the bedroom door.
Ezra lays Red on the bed with the utmost care. I watch as he gently presses his palm against her cheek and kisses her on the lips. “Come back to us, my love,” he whispers before stepping back. Rhain takes Ezra’s place. He too kisses her, then leans down and whispers into her ear.
“I love you, my heart is yours to own. Don’t leave us now, Cia,” he pleads.
“Devin, get over here,” Nostra orders as Rhain and Ezra take their positions by the bed.
I rush forward, hope filling my chest. “You’re sure you can bring her back?”
“Yes, I will. Now, drink this and lie down next to Accacia.” Nostra hands me the bottle of golden liquid. I drink it in one mouthful. He hands me a knife. I know what he wishes me to do with it. I cut her palm, then do mine quickly. I hold her hand in mine, our blood mingling.
“I am going to send you to a place where Accacia is waiting. Once there, you will have the chance to speak with her but be warned, Devin, she may choose to let go and return to the Light. If she does, you must let her leave, but if she chooses to return to you, to us all here in Ever Vale, she will not be as she was before. A sacrifice must be made, and she must be the one to make that sacrifice. It is imperative she understands the consequences of that choice. She will be like you all and not even the curse being broken will free her from that life.”
“You’re saying that if she chooses to be like us fully and the curse is broken she will remain a vampire, whilst we all return to what we once were?” I ask, feeling the hope trickle away. What have I done?
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.”
“That is not a choice, that is no better than what Queen Adrielle did to us all,” Ezra says, stepping forward.
“But she must be given the chance to make it. This is her fate, perhaps it always has been. I think you all owe her the opportunity to choose what path she wishes to take,” Nostra says.
Rhain takes the knife from me. He is no longer looking at me murderously, though I wouldn’t blame him if he were.
“Then we must give her that. Whatever choice she makes, we live with it. Agreed?” Rhain says.
I glance between Ezra and Rhain, my friends, my brothers, my family. We have been through so much together. This day has to be the worst of my life. I’ve taken something from them, something beyond precious, and now I may have the power to help give it back but at a price, a price that may be too high for all of us. I look at Red, at my soulmate and know that there really is only one decision to make.
“Agreed,” Ezra and I say in unison.
“Then let me begin,” Nostra says, flicking his hand. A haze of purple light illuminates the room. It swirls around us all, moving and weaving about us until it hovers above Red and me. I look up into the floating magic of it, feeling the zing of it as it lowers close to our skin. The hairs on my arms stand up. I squeeze Red’s hand tighter.
“Say the words, Devin,” Nostra says.
Apart from the two puncture wounds on her neck and the pain I feel when I look at her, I could almost convince myself she is sleeping. Taking a deep breath, I say the words to Bind us once more.
Blood of mine,
blood of yours,
combine as one.
From this day forth,
until it is done,
this piece of my soul I give to thee
willingly,
in exchange for your own.
Blood of mine,
blood of yours,
we bind as one.
Nostra raises his arms in the air, weaving them above his head. The purple haze mimics his movement until it separates into two swirling vortexes. He holds them there whilst he says the words to commit the Binding and join our souls together forever more.
These two souls
Bound to each other
By flesh, by blood,
By heart and by soul
From this day forth
Until the light is gone
Forever more
You will Bind as one.
The moment the last word leaves Nostra’s mouth the purple vortexes above us both shape into an arrow. They head straight for our hearts. As the arrow enters my chest I have one lasting thought above all else; that I would run into the depths of hell itself to see Red one last time.
Chapter Nineteen
Accacia
The midday sun is warm against my skin as I lay here on this empty beach. It burns bright above me, so bright and warm. The sky is unmarred by cloud. Nothing but endless blue, and a bright, gold circle of light. I am laying in the sun with no consequence to me. In fact, it feels wonderful. The sunlight does not hurt me, it does not burn my skin.
I have never felt happier.
Although I am alone, I don’t feel it. It’s as though, just beyond what I can see, my mother awaits. She is here, hidden from me, but here nonetheless. I can feel her presence, hear the soft murmurings as she sings me a lullaby from my childhood. The sound is sweet to my ears. Beautiful. I’ve missed her.
“Mum?”
I sit up, my attention drawn to something in the distance. Far along the other end of the beach is a shape, a person. That person is walking towards me. No, not walking. Running. They are running. I hold my hands up to shade my eyes. Is that my mum? I am too far away to tell for sure. The sand beneath my feet is warm as I stand and make my way across the beach towards the shore. It isn’t long before the dry grains become wet as my feet meet the shallows. I stand for a moment, distracted by the horizon and the great expanse of sea. I always wanted to go to the beach, and now here I am.
This place is so peaceful. It is perfect.
“Red!”
I hear a man call my name and I turn towards the sound. The person running towards me, his shape is familiar, his voice too. Red? Yes, that is what I am called. Red, Cia, Accacia. I am all three.
“Red!” he calls again. The man behind that voice both frightens me and fills me with a joy that’s hard to contain. Yet I wait. I wait for the man as he runs towards me. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone run as fast. Soon he is only a few yards away. He stops. There is a deep pain in his gaze.
“Red.” He breathes my name. It washes over my skin, soothing me, like the waves
against the shore.
Devin?
Yes, it’s me, my love.
What are you doing here? Somehow, I know he shouldn’t be here. That this place is meant for me, not for him, this man who I know, yet cannot quite place.
“I’m here for you…” he says, stepping closer to me. I am stuck. I cannot move as he approaches. He stands in front of me, the dark brown of his eyes filled with shards of golden light, just like the sun above us.
“Look at you…” A lone tear falls down his cheek. “I am so sorry for it all.” He raises his fingers to my lips, presses them gently against my mouth. “You are actually here. Red, I am sorry,” he repeats.
I take his hand and press it against my face, leaning into his touch. It is not enough. This is not enough. I want to kiss him. I want to taste him. My need to feel his body pressed against mine overtakes me. I know this man, my body knows him, my heart. His soul, it calls to mine. I feel an inextricable pull towards him. The small spark of fear I felt has gone and in its place, belonging fills me.
Devin?
Yes, that’s right. I came for you.
Kiss me.
He steps forward, pulls me into his arms and presses his lips against mine. It is the lightest of touches, nothing more than a whisper of a kiss, but I feel the promise of something far more. Yet a promise isn’t enough. I don’t want to wait a moment longer. I want all of him, no reservations, no holding back. That time has gone, all we have is this moment now. It is ours to claim. I understand the importance of it.
Kiss me like you mean it, Devin.
A soft chuckle enters my thoughts. I’ve missed that sound. Though it is not quite there yet, it is still edged in sadness. Devin draws me closer so that our bodies meet, then he kisses me. It is not gentle, the kiss. It is urgent and raw, and it feels like a goodbye. There is a desperate need in it. I feel the force of that need and my knees buckle beneath me. Devin lifts me so I am cradled in his arms, but not once do we break the kiss. I find I am crying, that he is too. Our tears mingle, I can taste the salt on my lips, on his.