****
Vega drifted among a sea of memories, no longer confused by their meanings. She remembered every life, every death, and all that had taken place. Unlike when the visions had first found her, she knew them in perfect order.
In the year seventeen-seventy-six, she had bargained with the greater demon and had, in return, died a dozen deaths since. Through every tragic existence and ending, her true love had watched and mourned her demise. Then, on the eve of her rebirth, she and Zane had been allowed a single night of love before it all began again.
This time had been different, though. Zane had changed the game by slipping through the barrier.
Even as he fought the demon, her body rested, healed, and regenerated. The magic of the ring worked to make her whole again, but the changes went unnoticed by Zane and Eurynome as they raged.
With a slow unwinding, her consciousness unfurled and stretched back into her limbs, reviving the body lying dormant in death. The pain of her wounds knitting themselves back together slowly faded, an exquisite torture made her want to rejoice. The agony meant she was truly alive.
Her short-lived relief diminished as she watched Zane falter. The greater demon attacked with brutal strength, and the mental and physical onslaught caused Zane to buckle at the knees. As he fell, Vega tried to call out his name, but the words caught behind the lump of anguish in her throat.
If he died, it would have all been for nothing. She would have lived and died, endured and failed, all to watch him die once more.
Crawling through the darkness, half dragging her body toward the battling duo, Vega resigned to sacrifice herself in a final act of love. She’d give herself—mind, body, and soul—if it meant Zane would not suffer. Her decision all those many years ago had condemned him to an existence far worse than any death could have been. Because of her selfishness, they had both nearly been destroyed.
In the distance, a deep and rhythmic ticking began—like the hands of a clock counting down to some moment when it would all be too late. Each resounding click echoed in the vast darkness.
Eurynome pulled Zane up from the floor, dangling him by throat and laughing in his face. “You’ve lost, boy.”
“Zane,” she cried out, dragging herself forward, terrified of what would happen next.
As suddenly as it had started the ticking stopped, and an absolute silence fell over them. Zane turned his bloody and swollen face toward Vega, his eyes pleading for her to stop. His strength was gone, and his life hung from a miniscule thread.
Zane’s harsh whisper broke the stillness, “Happy birthday, baby.”
“No!” Eurynome bellowed.
Zane’s head flopped back and forth as the demon shook him violently.
“No,” the demon screamed again. “I don’t lose. You will pay. Holding, Zane by the throat with one hand, large talons piercing the tender flesh, Eurynome drew back his fist.
Vega struggled to her feet, her limbs finally useable, though still weak. “Eurynome!” she screamed.
Face scrunched in surprise, he halted and turned.
Staring down the demon that had destroyed her life and all chance of happiness, Vega trembled. “This ends now.”
Eurynome’s laughter filled the void. “And who will stop me, girl. I have destroyed you many times over. You are not a warrior, just a child.”
Turning back to his victim, Eurynome ignored Vega’s screams. “I tire of playing with you, boy,” he said, voice like a dragon’s growl.
The greater demon’s hand shot forward, intent on ripping Zane’s heart from his chest, just as Vega reached them. In a simultaneous implosion, Eurynome’s hand slid harmlessly through Zane’s chest and Vega’s clawing hands fell through the demon’s back.
Toppling through the void, legs and arms tangling as they desperately reached out for solid ground, Zane and Vega fell together. A flash of light blinded them as they plummeted, and the world was lost in confusion.
****
Cool air and lush grass tickled her cheek. Rays of sunshine warmed her body and glowed orange behind her closed lids. At first, she felt nothing but peace, but then, Vega remembered.
Shooting upright, she gasped. “Zane!” Fear formed a lump in her throat as she searched for him.
Zane laid a few feet away, his back to her as he curled in the shade beneath the rows of rose bushes that seemed to go on forever. Rushing to his side, Vega was almost too afraid to touch him, terrified he had not survived.
Hand timidly grazing his shoulder, she whispered, “Zane?”
He stirred, eyes narrowing and mouth forming a delicious pout as he opened his eyes. A moment passed in amazed silence. Together again at last—whole, well, and alive—Zane and Vega crumbled into a clumsy embrace. Their lips met, drowning out half-mumbled confessions of love.
Vega hadn’t felt so alive in over two hundred years, and when she finally pulled away, she asked, “Did we win, Zane? Are we really free?”
He kissed her once more and caressed her cheek. “I don’t know, love. I don’t know.”
His answer didn’t really matter. It was hard to care when she had him, alive and breathing, in her arms.
Huddled together in the garden, they embraced and kissed as if time didn’t exist, the perfume of roses thick in the air.
At last, Vega pulled back once more. “I don’t understand what happened. I can’t imagine how we managed to break free.”
A perplexed look crossed Zane’s face as he said, “I am not—”
“Love,” the old familiar voice came from a fountain positioned only a few feet away. “Well, that, and you beat the clock.”
Zane and Vega stared in wide-eyed wonder at the man sitting on the small stone bench, dressed in a priest’s habit. His dark eyes shined with mischievous knowledge, and a thin halo of gold set a little askew above his head.
“You see, Eurynome’s terms were that Vega had only to live to see her twentieth birthday once. However, the demon did not stipulate that you couldn’t have some assistance.” Hands spread in a very angelic gesture, he shrugged. “He also did not rule out resurrection. So, to put it plain and simple, he lost.”
Breaking through her shock, Vega asked, “But who are you? How and why did you help us?”
“Well, I didn’t do that much. Your love for each other is what saved you. I only supplied the ring and swift transportation back from purgatory.” The priest chuckled. Motioning for the two lovers to stand and follow, he began walking through the rose garden.
“When I found you, many centuries ago, I sensed the demon’s influence clinging all around your corpses. So, I brought your bodies here. Come, follow me.”
As they walked, the priest grew silent, letting the rest of the tale hang between them. Vega and Zane held hands as they walked along behind him, unable to stop touching each other now they were unbound from Eurynome’s curse.
Vega asked, “What is this place? It seems so strange but familiar.”
Zane’s eyes darkened as he replied. “This is a reminder of the saddest day I have ever lived.”
At the center of the rose garden, two stone coffins lay undisturbed. Side-by-side, they sat, holding the human forms Vega and Zane had left behind. Tears shined brightly in the couple’s eyes as they stood before their resting place, faced with mortality once again.
In a soft tone, the priest continued, “Even after my death, I came here. I could always feel the life in the both of you when others did not. So, I made a plea to save your young souls from the hands of a demon.
“Of course, my request was granted, or we wouldn’t be standing here now. However, permission came with limitations. There must always be rules.” The old priest shook his head and glanced up toward the bright blue sky. “I could not intervene physically, so I gave Zane the ring that would bring you back one day, whole and well.”
Voices combining in soft sadness, they whispered, “Thank you.”
“No thanks is needed, my children. You see, you may have made a deal
with a demon, but love drove you to do so. Your intent was not to do evil, it was to maintain the bond you shared. Not to mention, Eurynome is one of the world’s darkest powers, and this blow will take him down a few notches.”
“So, what now?” Vega asked, voice trembling with effort not to burst into sobs. “Are we dead? Is Eurynome dead? Does it all end now?”
“Eurynome has only been cast back through the nine circles of hell until he can muster the power to rise again and walk this bloody Earth,” the priest answered.
“As far as you two are concerned, you are in limbo. I had planned for you to defeat the demon and come here ready to choose between living your lives once more or going to rest in that place of blissful eternity. But things have become complicated since the demon was only defeated and not destroyed.”
“If you choose to forfeit the mortality you have just gained and end your worldly suffering, only one of you will pass onto a better place.” He eyed Zane carefully. “One of you is tainted, and will perish in the pits of hell fire because of the demon spawn secured to your soul.”
Vega watched Zane, and as his hand gripped hers. His face turned ashen and she wondered if the hunger was gnawing inside of him, awoken by the very mention of the death eater.
“He took a step back as if trying to distance himself until he could press it down deep inside of him, but she tightened her grip on his fingers.
“I will not give him up again,” Vega cried, desperately trying to pull Zane back to her side.
“That is not your choice, child. Look, even now, he hungers. And by giving you back life, he cemented the creature to himself forever. If it doesn’t feed on the death of others, Zane will die. Once more, without Eurynome to master the lesser demon, it will be uncontrollable. Living can’t be a choice.” Sadness crinkled the corner of his eyes and pulled his lips down at the corners. “Your beloved will become a monster.”
“No! Just no! There has to be another way,” Vega pleaded. She threw her arms around Zane’s neck, pulling his strong body toward her.
****
The death eater fought to the surface, the lingering smell of death around Vega too tantalizing to resist. As Zane faded back into his consciousness, the monster smiled. Empty sockets, filled with a darkness only comparable to the void, looked at the victim so willing pressed against him. The taste of Vega on the air was honey and butterscotch, and he delighted in the flavor as the invisible tentacle slowly wrapped around her.
****
A tingling sensation crept across Vega’s skin as if something was creeping up her spine, and she hugged Zane closer. When his arms did not move to embrace her back, and his lips did not find her cheek, she pulled away—ready to argue her case. Instead of her beloved, she looked into the face of a deadly beast as it smiled at her with desperate hunger.
Fated to Return
Book Three: The Death Eater Series
“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”
~Marcus Tullius Cicero
Chapter One
Zane’s face distorted, eyes black and veins bulging beneath in the soft pockets of skin beneath them. Lips spread in a twisted grin, he bared sharpening teeth in a feral growl. The death eater had risen, and its hunger gnashed at the surface.
“Zane! No, baby, no.” Vega squirmed, tears leaping to her eyes. “It’s me. It’s Vega. Don’t hurt me. Please, Zane.”
The sound of her helpless whimper only seemed to drive the monster closer to the killing edge.
“I can see you, Vega. I can see the real you. Beneath this terror and helplessness, your strength pulses like the beat of a heart. I see you, and I want to crush you.” His hands rose to her biceps, squeezing until the tender flesh bruised.
“If you can see me, then see my love.” She closed her eyes, letting her body go limp and unresisting in his grip. “Look into my heart.”
The invisible tentacle stretched up, its sharp barbs gently pressing into her inner mind and prying open the deepest barriers. The pain threatened to destroy her, and she bit down on her lip to stop the scream bubbling in her throat. Weakness and fear would only entice the hunter in him. Her only hope would be to reach Zane’s heart.
“Brave, so brave. Would you be my willing lamb for the slaughter, Vega?” Zane stroked her cheek, his lips a whisper away from hers.
The promise of that kiss was a deadly one, and she shivered as his breath tickled her cheek.
“Kiss me quick, so I can be reborn loving you,” she whispered. Vega’s only regrets filled her heart with sadness. He he had become a demon to save her, not once but twice, and she had repaid that love by condemning him to hell.
Zane’s hand slipped down her cheek, circling her throat. His fingers tightened, vice grips on her windpipe. “You will not be reborn again. Have you forgotten? By breaking your curse, you’ve given up your reincarnation. No more chances now.”
Eyes still pinched closed, Vega swore, “I don’t care. Life is not worth living without you by my side. Death would be a welcome reprieve from missing you.
Zane laughed. “Your death will taste even sweeter for all that you feel and say.”
Unable to remain passive as her throat collapsed and burned under the pressure, Vega grabbed his arm. Her lips moved as she tried to beg, but his hand cutoff her ability to speak, so she pleaded with her eyes. Flashes of their life before she’d made the deal with Eurynome and the few nights spent in each other’s arms since then seared into her mind. Even as she drew blood with her nails, she felt his influence in her head, telling her to be still.
Unable to fight the command, her hands fell back to her sides.
“Enough!” The power of the priest’s voice shook the world around them.
A flash of bright light sent stars dancing through Vega’s already blurred vision.
“Death eater, face me.”
Zane’s hand tightened for just a second longer before he released her and turned.
Vega fell, clutching her neck as she coughed and gasped for air. The invisible line connecting her to Zane snapped back from her mind, and in its place, fear flooded every nerve ending and synapses. The knowledge he would’ve killed her hurt far worse than his powerful hands squeezing her life away. The man she’d loved for so many lifetimes had nearly strangled her to death at the foot of their burial tombs.
On hands and knees, she reached out her hand to him. “N-n-no.” Still trying to force the words through raw vocal chords and hoping to quell the evil overcoming him, Vega tugged at his pant leg. The weak pulls did nothing to stop the rage booming out of him.
“You will not stop me, old man. This body is now mine. The boy is gone, and only I am left.”
“What is your name, demon? In the name of the Lord, I compel you to give forth your name.”
“I am known to many by many different names. I am powerful. I am strong.”
“You are a vain weakling of a thing. The puppet of a greater demon. You are nothing but a damned soul. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” The priest made the sign of the cross. “I command you to give forth your name, demon.”
Zane struck, his physical body launching forward and his power whipping outward. “My name shall be the Destroyer of Priests today!” he bellowed.
Vega watched in horror as his once luscious mouth stretched into a cavernous and gaping hole. Eyes blazing with ebony fire, he grabbed for the gentle priest.
With lightning reflex, the old man grabbed Zane’s head, his palms pressing like a vice against each side.
As the two grappled, the priest called out in Latin. “Exsúrgat Deus et dissipéntur inimíci ejus: et fúgiant qui odérunt eum a fácie ejus. Sicut déficit fumus defíciant; sicut fluit cera a fácie ígnis, sic péreant peccatóres a fácie Dei.”
Zane roared, defiance and hate echoing in the wordless cry.
Unable to join the fight, Vega repeated the prayer in a whisper. “Let God arise. And let His enemies be scattered. And let them that h
ate Him flee from before His face! As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.”
Zane and the priest collapsed, their knees buckling as the struggle between good and evil raged in words and demonic screams. The older of the two panted heavily as the Latin prayer puffed out of him in an eerie cadence, and the younger screamed in pain.
A shimmer at the base of the priest’s skull caught Vega’s eye just as his face twisted into a pale mask of horror. Urged into action by the knowledge that the demon would win, she scampered across the grass to where Zane and the priest still kneeled.
Neither paid her any attention as she raised up on her knees and thrust her palms forward. Exhausted, she ignored the sandpaper in her throat and screamed, “Go in peace, and the Lord be with you.”
As soon as the flesh of her palms touched Zane and the priest, the earth beneath her rumbled, and a flash of light blinded her eyes. A powerful force blew the three of them apart, each landing in a different direction.
Color slowly returned to the world, leaking in to wash away the white and gray vision left behind from the blast of light. Vega stood from the ground and looked at Zane, lying in a helpless heap. A small bit of blood seeped out from his forehead where he’d fallen against the stone coffin during the fight. The priest lay on his side in the grass, looking defeated and nearly translucent.
Indecision held her motionless for a long moment as she tried to gauge if Zane was safe to approach or if the priest needed her more. In the end, she betrayed her heart and ran to help the man who had fought so hard against the death eater.
“What can I do? How do I help? Is there a way to stop him without losing him?”
The priest slid his wrinkled hand atop of hers and smiled. “Learn the demon’s name. That is the only way you will exorcise it. Once you know its true identity, you shall hold the power.” He paused, eyes shifting to the heavens, and sighed.
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