by Tijan
All of them stopped. The woman in white had taken over the battle, but as Roane watched, she stopped in mid-air and looked down.
A rumbling started in the distance.
Everyone stopped.
THE IMMORTAL
This was her world.
The Immortal relished this sudden experience. She was free. She was alive. She was in control and she gazed down upon the war beneath her. Simpletons. The lot of them. All of them were weak. She wrinkled her nose. Here she was in the air and looking down on them. She was above them.
She was a god to them.
She couldn’t believe this was the world Davy honored above everything else. She wanted to be one of those weaklings. No. It was worse. These creatures were more powerful than humans. Davy wanted to be the lowest of the beings.
Never.
Determination coursed through her and as she gazed beneath her, The Immortal’s hands formed into fists. She would never be replaced. The human in her would never become human again. Davy’s destiny was linked with hers. She would not allow it. She would never go back into the shell, contained as a thread, jumping from one less than worthy human to another. All of them. They were all stupid. Everything they believed was wrong.
“Davy?”
She looked over to the cliff. Lucas Roane, the vampire that Davy loved. He was the vampire Talia loved as well, but he had no idea where their love for him was created. He would need to understand. Even now, while she was still acclimating to her new freedom, her body felt a stirring in her core. Her body wanted this vampire, but that was no surprise to her.
Everyone had stopped to gaze upon her, like the goddess she was. They felt her power. There were pockets among them, places where one person had more power than the other, but none matched her. She could feel her superiority over them, so they were ignored. For now.
She lowered herself so she was a few feet from the vampire Davy loved, and she cocked her head to the side. A small grin formed. He didn’t move. He didn’t dare. She sensed the horror in him. It was recoiling inside, pulling him from her. It was the body’s instinct for survival.
She did not come in peace, and his body was trying to pull him as far from her as possible, but still, he didn’t go.
Her eyes narrowed. “I can feel what is going on inside of you.”
Roane remained frozen in place. This couldn’t be . . . No, no. This couldn’t—he choked out, “Davy?”
She shook her head, slowly, and almost gently. “You know I am no longer her.” She took a step toward him. Her feet were bare, but she felt no pain. The ground was covered in blood, dirt, rocks, and she felt none of it. She only felt her power. Her dress glided over her body as she walked another step forward.
He jerked backwards. His eyes were piercing. A nerve bulged out from his neck. “Stop right there.”
“Now, Lucas,” she chided, wagging a finger from side to side. “You know I am not a being you can command. If anyone should know how powerful I am, it must be you.” She sent him visions of their past. The first memory was when he realized the thread had jumped to Talia. The second when he watched her bring their dead mother back to life. The third, when Talia stood behind her sister. Her hand was up and she was going to attempt the same event. Tracey was turned into a vampire and Talia wanted to make her human. Lucas stopped her, but The Immortal remembered that moment. She wanted Talia to try. She wanted to test the boundaries of her power, see how far she could go. He stopped her, though, and the two made love. The Immortal made him remember that night. When he slipped inside the thread-holder, held her, and cupped her face. He gazed down into Talia’s eyes, but it wasn’t Talia he was looking at. It was her.
He loved The Immortal, just as he fell in love with the next thread-holder.
She relished that feeling now. When she slipped into Davy. It was right. The body was right. There was power already in the human, more than she could’ve imagined, and as soon as the thread was inside of the empath, The Immortal knew she found the right body. At last.
She pushed that memory into Roane’s head, too. She wanted him to experience the moment he lost the next thread-holder, because he had. As soon as the thread was inside of Davy, it was over.
Davy was hers.
He fell in love with her vessel once again, and still, even as she pushed more memories into his mind, she knew he wouldn’t realize it.
He was in love with her, not the vessel.
Memory after memory, she shoved them all into his mind. Every time she was there. Every time he was feeling her power, not the thread-holder. Her. The last vision was when he drank from Davy’s blood. He was drinking her, not Davy. It was her, mixed in the vessel’s blood, that filled him and gave him power.
She stood just before him now, her hand still in the air. “Do you feel me?”
His eyes rolled inside and he bent over, falling to his knees. She pulled at her power that was still in his blood. The Roane Hunter-line had turned off his connection to the Hunters. He could no longer sense them, but she felt a faint stirring of them. She felt his Hunter tattoo. It sparked alive and that meant one thing, the Hunters were near. He was still not connected to them. They feared he was too powerful, but his tattoo was burning. It only burned when other Hunters were nearby.
“No,” she murmured. She was lost in thought.
Lucas was reliving that moment when he drank from Davy. It was on a loop, repeating over and over again. As he was blind to everything else, she cupped the side of his face. He looked up at her, but he still couldn’t see her. She pressed her wrist to his mouth and urged, “Drink.”
The other Roane was turned into a human, but that was because Davy wanted it.
Lucas didn’t fight her. He gripped her arm and his fangs sank deep into her skin. He was drinking her blood and more of her power went into him. It mixed with the other remnants of her power and everything became more inside of him. He was more. He was more of a vampire. He was more of a Hunter. He was more of her lover. He loved her more. His strength was more.
His power was more, and he was her creature now.
She traced the side of his face as he kept drinking. Her own love for him filled her. She could feel Davy protesting in her. She didn’t want this to happen, not while The Immortal was in control, but the human was the one contained now.
The Immortal smiled. Still holding her lover’s head to her wrist, she gazed out over the battleground.
She felt Jacith’s magic. It was underneath the warring vampires and werewolves. He was there, but he was hiding. He had sensed she was near and he was cloaking himself from her. Even now, she searched each and every being below. Some of them were connected to him. She felt his magic in them. He had given his magic to them. He was aiding one side to win against the other. As she thought this, Roane sank his teeth deeper into her. She looked down, confused.
“Can you hear my thoughts?”
He drank harder, faster.
He could. She had taken over his mind, but that was his response to her.
He wanted her to help his side. She felt him imploring her. He wasn’t thinking it, but somewhere his consciousness was reaching out to her. She felt his desires as if they were hers, and for his friends and loved ones to win was one of the most important.
She needed to consider it. If one side won over the other, how would it benefit her? Or would it not? It was Jacith’s side versus Roane’s. If Jacith won, her eyes narrowed—she had to locate him. She needed to understand what he wanted from her.
She focused on the battle again, waving a hand so she and Roane were cloaked. A group of vampires broke away from the rest. They were racing to find Roane, but they weren’t of too much concern. She would stop them once they arrived. The rest resumed their fighting, and she used this distraction to go from one creature to the other.
Jacith had covered his tracks. His magic was disguised inside of his creatures. She had to go from one to another, one at a time, and sink deep into each of them to find the amount of power
he had given to each.
Vampires. Werewolves—she found that the wolves were given new power. The vampires held his power, but it was buried deep. Their power and magic had been with them for centuries. Each had been weaned off. It was their own power now, there was no line back to him and that was what she needed to find him.
She focused on the wolves. She went from one to the other, until she had searched the last of the wolves. They were all linked, but there had to be a line back to him . . . she needed to find the one that held Jacith’s power.
Wait.
She stopped and lifted her head. The answer was in herself. Davy would know. Closing her eyes, she began to shift through her own memories. Lucas was still drinking from her and she continued to hold his head in the palm of her hand. “Davy, Davy. What do you know?”
“Fuck you!”
Her mouth lifted in a grin. “Oh, how I’ve missed your spunk.”
“My spunk? Here’s some more spunk.”
Davy began fighting her.
The Immortal frowned. She was distracted and released Lucas from her hold. She rallied, focusing all her attention on the human in her. “You would dare to fight me?”
“I’d dare to do more. You took my body, you psycho narcissistic bitch.”
“And I will take more. I will take your life,” The Immortal sparked back at her. “Remember that I hold the power of your loved ones in my hand, literally. You will do better to work with me than against me.”
The human wasn’t happy. The Immoral felt Davy wanting to fight back, but what she spoke was the truth. The human needed her to help her friends.
“The Mother Wolf.”
The Immortal frowned. “The Mother Wolf?”
“That’s the answer. She’s the big bad mother Alpha. I’m guessing she’s the key to Jacith. She’s a psycho bitch like you, so you better kill her. Don’t become besties or something. She’ll try to take your power.”
The Immortal chuckled softly. No one could take her power. No one was a match to her anymore. She thought, “Thank you, my human.” Then, she released Davy from her thoughts and pushed her back, as far back into the back of her mind as possible. It was the same jail that she herself had been locked in. Then she opened her eyes once more. She turned again to the battleground before her.
Instead of resuming her search for this Mother Wolf, she saw that Lucas wasn’t kneeling before her anymore. She turned, and he was behind her. An army of his vampires behind him. All of them were staring at her, and she could sense their fear and rage all at the same time.
They wanted to kill her.
She smiled. “I don’t fear you.”
Lucas growled, “You should.” But he was conflicted. She saw the damage that all his memories had done to him. He loved her, or he loved the vessel, but he wasn’t sure anymore.
“You shouldn’t question yourself. You know who you truly love, Lucas.” She spoke, her voice dropping to an intimate whisper. Her words acted like a caress to him, trailing over him and filling his mind with the memory of when he made love to Davy. But it was her. He was feeling The Immortal, not the human anymore. He felt The Immortal’s power in the vision.
“Stop.” He turned away, breaking the connection from her. “Get out of my head.”
She whispered, her voice sounding as loud as thunder in his mind alone, “I cannot. You love me. It was never her.”
He pressed his hands over his ears and roared, “GET OUT!”
His friends started forward, reacting to his plea. They each had varied expressions. Alarm. Fear. Awe. Some were captivated by her, but none of them were a threat.
As they raced around their leader for her, she stepped backwards. Her feet touched air, but she lifted her arms and she was airborne once more. They stopped on the edge of the cliff. There was a woman snarling at her. Her chest was heaving. Her rage was clear and she wanted to murder The Immortal.
“Wren,” The Immortal spoke, pulling her name from Davy’s memories. “You are in love with Lucas.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed and she reached for her, but The Immortal moved back again. She was out of the vampire’s reach unless she stepped off the cliff. “There, there,” she taunted her. “You cannot fly, the last I remembered.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Yes. You wished the same thing to the human who I share this body with.” The Immortal tilted her head to the side. “But you cannot harm either of us. We are both too powerful for you, and you hate it.” She flicked her eyes up and down the vampire’s body.
She was strong. Long black hair. Fierce dark eyes. Ruby red lips. She had hate and a yearning for power not so unlike The Immortal. She chided, sighing, “I wish that the prophecy had been changed. If I could’ve merged with you, I think both of us would’ve been happy with the result.”
But no, she had a human in her.
“Davy!”
A new voice sounded and The Immortal lifted herself higher. The voice came from behind the throng in front of her. It was a werewolf, and as she recognized her, she felt Davy fighting once again. This was a friend to her human.
“Pippa.”
“Davy.” The younger wolf rushed forward. Her sleek hair blowing in the wind. She had recently transformed back to her human body so her clothes were torn. They hung limply from her. The werewolf paid no attention. “Davy, please.”
The Immortal didn’t say a word. Sympathy filled her and she frowned. Where had that emotion come from? She wasn’t keen to human emotions.
Davy. The answer was clear to her. The human in her still had power over her senses. Perhaps that was why she didn’t wish to harm this wolf.
She needed to leave. She had to get away from Davy’s friends. They had power over her, power that she didn’t want anyone to have. She turned her back to the group on the cliff. She could feel Lucas’s confusion still. They were linked now, linked even more than they ever had been, but she had to deal with Jacith. He was a problem she didn’t want to regret not stopping as soon as she could.
The Mother Wolf. She needed to find her first.
She flew then, searching for her prey.
ROANE
“Roane.”
As soon as The Immortal was gone, Wren dashed to her leader’s side. Falling to her knees, she placed a hand on his shoulder. He was pale and trembling. The Immortal had been inside his head. She frowned, worrying about how to help him. What damage had Davy’s Immortality done to Roane?
“I’m okay.” Lucas touched her hand and raked his other hand over his face. He could feel her. He could see through her eyes as she soared over the trees now. He needed a block to her. He couldn’t let her know what he sensed when she had been accosting him with visions of time with Talia and Davy. Sensing that Wren was about to question him, he held a hand up. “Don’t ask me questions. She’s in my head still. I can’t tell you anything.
Wren pulled her hand free and hastily retreated a step. The vampiress’s eyebrows were arched high. The others heard his words and followed her lead. They all looked in fear at their leader now.
He needed . . . he couldn’t think.
The Immortal was moving farther away. Their link was lessening, but it was still there. He could feel The Immortal’s essence in him. It was pure power and he drew in a sharp breath, feeling his body acclimate to the sudden surge in him. It was overwhelming, but he couldn’t do a thing to stop The Immortal right now. Turning to the battle, he could do something there instead.
“Lucas!”
Christian Christane had arrived. He pushed his way through Roane’s vampires and stopped next to his sister. Glancing at Pippa, he paused a moment. Their heads bent together. She was filling him in on what happened. When she was done, a different expression crossed the Alpha Werewolf’s features. It was close to sympathy, but there was caution as well. His eyes held to Roane’s with a wariness Lucas felt in his bones.
Christian was gazing at him as if he were an enemy.
He was
so far from that, or he hoped to be. Before Christian could speak, Lucas shook his head. “She gave me power. A lot of it. We can use that and launch another attack.”
“They’re retreating below. We can follow to where their camp is.”
Roane nodded. He signaled for Wren to come to him. She did, so did Pippa and her brother. He spoke, already feeling a grave distance starting between him and them. He would be their enemy soon. The Immortal was in his head, and she just proved that she couldn’t be trusted.
He said, “She’s in my head. She can feel me, but she’s distracted right now. Her power is immense and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold onto my own will. Right now, I’m your ally. You can use me against our enemies, but don’t trust me.”
Pippa’s bottom lip trembled. “Davy’s gone?”
She wasn’t. He felt her inside of The Immortal, but he said, “There’s little hope of getting her back.”
“Your brother.”
They all turned to Wren. She raised her chin up and squared her shoulders back. Her hands went behind her back and her legs stood apart. She took on a soldier’s pose. “He used witches to separate the thread from Davy. He could help, perhaps, in weakening her now.”
Christian’s nostrils flared. Anger pitted deep inside of him. “Are you joking? He’s the reason this entire war is happening.”
Wren stiffened, but she didn’t back down. “He wants the thread. Now that she’s loose, he’ll be scared of her. He caused her pain. I heard the screams. I’ve no doubt that he’ll be more fearful of The Immortal than he will be of us.”
“It’s a shot.”
Christian’s head jerked back to Lucas. “You can’t be serious?”
He was, so very much so, but there was more Roane needed to say. He couldn’t. She would sense his intentions. As it was, he was trying to keep his thoughts clear. The Immortal couldn’t know what he was planning, but while she was in his head, he was in hers. He was there. Davy was there too. It was something, at least.
“Roane.”
His name was being called and Lucas looked over. What he saw had him closing his eyes as a surge of hope filled him. He shoved it down, almost as soon as it appeared. Bastion pointed behind him, to Gavin, Tracey, and Gregory. There were two others and he could smell the humanity on them. Before going over to greet them, he turned away. The less The Immortal knew, the better.