“We will work on your perception of things, Ava. For now, it is time to go.”
The fact that I had agreed to give my freedom to this murdering scum had all but escaped me. “Where?” I asked, doing my best to control myself. Given that she had just forced members of her own coven—her children, as she so eloquently put it—to death, I feared what she would do to my friends if I didn’t back off.
“Where we are going is irrelevant. You must leave with us, Ava, to ensure that our plan is successful.”
“No way in hell you’re taking her anywhere with you,” Erik said, again fighting against the superhuman holding him. “I’ll kill you first, you crazy bitch.” I expected Zyris to kill him instead, to hurt me even more by destroying the only real thing I had left.
“Be very careful, Erik,” Sebastian said, stepping in front of Zyris. “Or you will suffer the same fate as your dear departed sister.” Though he wasn’t beside me, I could feel Erik’s entire body go crazy with rage. I quickly went to him, begging him without words to back down. He did, but his anger toward Sebastian was strong enough to feel.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, Zyris.” I stood my ground. “I changed my mind. I’m not helping you kill more innocent people.”
“That is certainly your choice, Ava,” she said, no emotion behind her words. “But remember the consequence of that choice.” I stayed quiet as panic climbed my spine, and I fought hard to keep it hidden. “If you do not accompany me, I will be forced to kill everyone you love.” She glanced to the right, a quick look before turning back to me. “Including the one vampire I am certain you want to keep alive.”
My heart burst inside my chest, and an unnatural, primal pain crippled me, as the truth behind her words slowly crept into my mind.
If I didn’t go, she would kill Chance
GIVING IN
“No.” I heard Kayla’s voice, her words choking on her tears. “Ava.” I couldn’t look at her, or Erik, afraid to see their fear. The same fear that was eating me alive.
“It’s okay,” I said, more to myself than anyone else. “It’ll be okay.” I had no idea where the words were coming from. My mind was too far gone to put together a coherent thought, and yet I was spewing forth words of comfort.
“I heard you say goodbye to him,” Zyris said. “Perhaps you are prepared to call my bluff?”
I fought back my own tears. “Why are you doing this to me?” It was the one question I had that still remained unanswered.
Why was I the one chosen for such an impossible, unimaginable task?
Why me?
“There is no other choice, Ava. This is how it was written to be.”
I opened my mouth to protest, to tell Zyris and Sebastian to go to hell, that I would never do what they wanted of me. But I stopped myself. How could I possibly tell them no now? Five minutes ago, I made the hardest choice of my life when I chose to say goodbye to Chance.
Now, I would make an ever harder one.
I slowly turned to face Erik, every second we had been together flashing in my mind like a silent movie. Every word spoken, every touch, every kiss; all the memories flooded my senses, turning my stomach and making me sick. Sick, because I had just realized how much I loved him—and now I had to say goodbye.
I stepped close to him, desperate to touch him. “Erik…”
“Ava, no.” The fear in his eyes fell on his words. “You’re not doing this.”
I fought back tears. “I have to.”
“No. No.” He was fighting back his own tears. “I won’t let you do this.”
“Erik, I—”
“—don’t say it,” he interrupted. “Please don’t say you have to.” He looked away from me, over my shoulder to try and avoid the pain. “I have to stop you.” His voice was frayed, broken. “I have to stop you, Ava. I won’t let you kill yourself to save him.”
I cried for the millionth time, giving in to the hurt. “He saved me, Erik.”
I fell against him, wishing the vampire latched onto him would release his arms so he could hug me one last time. Erik’s rapid heartbeat pounded in my ears, the frantic scent of his blood consuming me with desire. I closed my eyes to ward of the bloodlust, wanting only to hold him, to hold this moment.
“Let me save you now,” he said, his hand caressing mine. “I can save you now.” I pulled away to see his face, his tears shattering my heart.
“I—I love you, Erik,” I cried. “Please always know that I love you.”
“I love you, too.” His face was hard as he fought to regain his composure.
“Then you can’t fight me on this.” I pulled away from him. “I have to do this. I have to.” I kept repeating it, over and over. For Erik, for myself, I kept repeating it. As painful as it was, I walked away from him yet again. I could almost feel his silent screams for me to stop, their unheard pleas pounding in my ears.
“Ava, please don’t do this.” Kayla echoed Erik’s plea, crying as I stopped in front of her. “You can’t. You…you can’t go.”
I cried with her, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m so sorry, Kayla. I’m so, so sorry. But remember what I said, what I promised you?” She didn’t speak, only nodded. “I’m gonna find your dad. And I’m gonna get him back to you.” More silent nods of affirmation. No matter the outcome of my leaving, no matter what hell was in my future, finding Kayla’s father and saving him was a task I had no intention of failing. I hugged her even harder, with all the strength and fight I had left in me. The pain of saying goodbye to her was overwhelming, crippling. “You are my best friend, Kayla. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.” She was fighting back sobs as I broke our embrace. “I’m so scared.”
“Me, too.” Scared wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the fear that was eating me from the inside out, one slow, agonizing moment at a time. “But I’m more scared for him.” We both looked at Chance, and in that moment, I knew. I knew that what I was doing was the right thing.
Chance had risked his life helping me.
Now, I had to do the same.
“Please be careful, Ava,” she said, and I hugged her one last time. I held on to her a bit longer than I should have, not wanting to say goodbye. “And you know we’re gonna come after you, right?”
“Kayla—”
“—we are,” she said, wiping away tears as she did her best to smile. “So don’t even waste your time trying to argue.” She swallowed. “We’re gonna find you, Ava. I promise.”
“We promise,” Erik added, trying to sound confident and sure, but failing.
My eyes fluttered between them. “I love you, both,” I said, stepping away from my best friend to my new one.
“I’m not even gonna try to pretend I like you,” Lacey said, a cold shot of wind lifting and swirling the blond tuft of ponytail on the back of her head. I couldn’t believe that I was going to miss even her. “But…” She started to speak but paused, a softness spreading across her face. “Be careful, Ava.” I couldn’t help but smile. If someone had told me that first day of school that Lacey and I would one day share a moment, that we would actually become friends, I would have laughed until I cried. But here we were, surrounded by vampires and death and change, doing just that.
Without realizing it, I was hugging her. “Help them,” I whispered in her ear. “Help Erik and Kayla deal.” She didn’t say a word, only hugged me back, gentle and sincere. I gave all of them one final, whole-hearted smile, then walked away.
“It’s time,” Sebastian said once I took my place beside him and Zyris. Aldric had been standing behind his former friends, but slowly moved up as I approached, stopping in front of me. I had hated him that first night in the cemetery, but I’d told myself to trust him, that I had no other choice. Tonight I learned that everything he had told me had been a lie, and what little trust I had allowed myself t
o give was shattered. Now, I was surprised that I was glad he was here, that he would be there for my friends, to protect them.
“I’m sorry, Ava,” he said. The statement was short, simple, but held so much meaning. I knew that he was truly sorry, that he hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. It was difficult to trust in that, that he was being honest for the first time. But I somehow knew he was.
I watched in silence as Aldric left me and stood next to my friends. He and Erik and Kayla were the only people in my life who hadn’t abandoned me. Even Lacey, who I’d never truly understood until tonight, had always been there, in the most annoying yet unexpected way. Those four people were the only ones who were willing to fight for me, even when I couldn’t fight for myself. In some way, I loved each of them. And though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that I would never see any of them again.
“Don’t worry, Ava,” Sebastian said, his words like acid to my ears. “We will take excellent care of you.” He was smiling as he said it, clearly happy that he had finally won, that he had beaten me.
I hadn’t thought it possible to hate him more.
“I’m still going to kill you one day.” I stared into his dead eyes. “I promise you that, Sebastian.”
He stared right back. “I look forward to the day when you truly accept who you are.”
“Enough.” Zyris moved between us. “We must go, now.” She turned her attention to Chance, who had stood idly by while I broke my heart over and over again to my friends. “Come,” she said to him, her voice stern and unwavering. He walked toward us, that same zombie-like expression on his face. He stopped mere inches from me.
“Chance?” I kept my eyes locked on his face as he stared out into the open darkness of the Hudson River. I couldn’t understand how the seemingly unbreakable connection between us had failed, what had happened to sever it. All night long, I had been trying to recapture that feeling, to re-establish the lost link we’d once shared.
Now, for the first time, I felt even the tiniest hint of it, weak but still alive.
And I think he felt it, too.
“No more time for talking,” Zyris said. She laced her arm into Chance’s and smiled. Sebastian did the same to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me to him. I tried to push him away, but he was far too strong. “Children!” Zyris shouted, her eyes on me, her face as hard and lifeless as stone.
Just as before when she had summoned her minions to their deaths, the shadows surrounding us began to pulse and move, glowing points of light emerging from the darkness. Within seconds, we were surrounded by vampires.
The rest of Zyris’s coven.
What was left of her children.
“I thought you killed them?” I said to her, shocked and scared.
“Don’t be foolish,” she stated dryly. “I would never leave myself completely defenseless.” She removed her arm from Chance’s and slid it around his waist.
“But it’s over,” I said. “You’ve won.”
“That I have. But I am smart enough to know that your friends will not simply let you leave without a fight.”
“No one’s going to fight you, Zyris.” I looked to Erik and Kayla, begging them to hear me. “They know this is what I want.”
She ignored me. “As I’ve said before, I must do what is necessary to ensure our success.”
Fear swept over me once again, gnawing at the broken pieces of my soul. “What are you saying?” Sebastian gripped me even tighter.
“I am certain you already know the answer to that, Ava.” She lifted a hand into the night sky, and her legion of vampires began their descent.
That paralyzing fear consumed me, slowly ripping me apart as I realized what I was powerless to stop. “Zyris, no. Please, don’t do this.”
An evil smile lifted her mouth as she stared out at the teeming undead.
“Please,” I begged, struggling against Sebastian’s strength. A low thrum of energy pulsed in my head. “You don’t have to do this! You got what you wanted!” I felt like the smallest of particles, completely unable to control my surroundings, forced to witness the unthinkable.
With an unsettling calm that sent shivers to my very core, Zyris turned to the vampire holding Erik. “Make sure no one survives,” she said, before shooting up into the air, disappearing into the darkness with Chance at her side.
I screamed harder than I ever had before as I tried to break free from Sebastian. His grip tightened and he dragged me even farther away from the impending maelstrom as the horde of vampires closed in on my friends. I could do nothing more than stare in devastating agony as the realization of what was coming settled behind their faces, as the once-radiant lights behind their eyes slowly began to darken with defeat.
As Sebastian lifted me into the air, carrying me away to what I knew would be a certain death, the deafening silence of the night was shattered by the terror-filled screams of those I loved.
Acknowledgements
As always, this book never would have happened without the support and insight of my wonderful publisher, Kamilla, and an amazing editor, Stephanie. You two made my words much more pleasant and presentable than I ever could, and for that I thank you immensely.
To my close group of “real life” friends, Rich, James, Andrea, Amber, Amy, Marj—you all have offered endless support and encouragement when I needed it most. I love you all and share this success with each of you.
To Mandie and Jessica, the two best critique partners anyone could ever ask for. Countless times you guys read chapters and tweaked sentences and were never shy about telling me when something was wrong. Thank you will never be enough to cover what you each mean to me. Love you, ladies!
To my family, who also showed great support throughout this book. Each of you understood when I said “Not now, I’m busy writing,” and you never doubted that I would finish. I love you all.
To the immensely talented and expressive online lovers of books—you all have given me countless advice, feedback, encouragement, joy; without you, I truly don’t believe I would be writing this final page for my second published book.
And, without exception, to the readers, without which no book or story would matter. If I spent every minute of every day of the rest of my life trying, I could never express the gratitude I have for each and every one of you who chose to pick up this collection of my words and read through them to the end. Thank you.
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