I clutched the phone tighter, feeling like it was the only thing present in the world right now. “I told my sister about us,” I revealed and Erik released a dark laugh.
“I'm sure that went well.”
“As well as you might expect. Although...I think she's trying to understand. Even Julius-”
“Don't,” he growled as if the slayer's name pained him to hear. “Don't talk about him, alright? I can't deal with it. Just tell me, are you safe? Did you make it out of the city?”
“Um...” I bit into my lower lip, unsure how much I should say. I hadn't really considered the fact that Erik might ask about our whereabouts.
“Forget I asked,” he muttered.
“I am safe, I promise,” I said.
He released a low noise in his throat. “I hate this.”
“I hate it, too. I wish things could be different...”
“I know why you left, Rebel. I'd have been a fool to think you would stay.”
My heart cleaved in two and a tear rolled smoothly down my cheek as I thumbed the wedding band on my finger. “I'm still yours. I'll always be yours.”
“You're killing me,” he groaned. “Put the camera on, let me see you.”
My cheeks burned and I stuttered, “I don't know how.”
“Press the camera symbol at the bottom and hold the phone in front of you.”
“Erik...” I laughed shyly.
“Please,” he begged and his deep tone was my undoing. I angled the phone toward me and pressed the button. My face stared back at me on the screen, lit up in blue by the light of the phone. A beat later, it shrank to a small box and Erik filled the screen. My throat closed up as I absorbed the sight of him. He was sat up in bed, bare-chested and his hair tousled. His eyes glittered hungrily as he gazed at me.
“There you are.” He grinned darkly and my insides coiled into a warm fuzzy ball.
Even though he was miles away, the video made him seem so terrifyingly close that my body reacted the way it always did around him. Remembering to breathe became a chore, my palms grew slick and my head was dizzy.
“I thought you might be busy tonight...with Wolfe,” I said.
“You know about that?”
“We watched the ceremony,” I revealed and his eyes grew a little darker.
“I didn't want to release him, you know that. But I gave him hell before we did. And anyway...he might be of use now to catch Valentina.”
I nodded, releasing a breath. I knew that was important, but my expression gave away my disappointment. I wanted Wolfe dead for what he'd done.
“We ran into Valentina,” I said cautiously. “She tried to take Magnar. I don’t know why...but she was determined.”
“Shit,” Erik growled. “There were reported sightings of her, but we didn’t get there in time. Did she hurt you?”
“She tried to, but I’m fine. She wanted me dead,” I breathed. “She said...that I’d taken away her chance of being a Countess. That you and her were an item once and that you were going to marry her.”
Erik’s face contorted. “I never promised any such thing.”
“But you were together?” I asked, my throat barely releasing the words.
His brow creased with lines. “I wouldn’t put it that way. She was just a distraction.”
My nose wrinkled and he gave me an apologetic frown.
“I never had feelings for her, Rebel. It was just sex.”
My gut swirled with nausea and a large portion of jealousy. “Alright alright, I don’t wanna hear about it.”
A slow smile took over his face. “You know I don’t want anyone but you. I’ve never wanted anything like I want you. You’re the first girl to ever claim my heart.”
A blush crawled into my cheeks as I nodded. “So what will you do about Valentina?”
He bared his fangs at her name. “We’re tracking Wolfe. He should lead us to her any day now.”
My thoughts took a sharp turn toward the slayers and their father. “Erik...I know you don't want to talk about this, but I feel like such a hypocrite right now. I wished for revenge on Wolfe more than anything for what he did to my dad. But that's how Magnar and Julius feel about you...”
His face became grave, riddled with discomfort. “You think I'm like Wolfe,” he stated and my heart crushed to dust.
“No,” I said, blinking back tears. “Or at least, I want to hope you're not. Maybe you did something terrible once...maybe you regret it?”
Erik rubbed his eyes. “That day is still burned into my mind so vividly, it is sometimes clearer than yesterday.”
“Tell me about it,” I urged, desperate to hear his side of the story.
“Well...after I was turned, I knew I needed to do something to appease Andvari. I longed to pay his debt and was desperate not to be the bloodthirsty beast he’d made me. So I barricaded myself in a cave. I didn't drink blood for two hundred years. I thought if I starved myself, it might break the curse.”
My heart clenched at his words as I thought of the pain he must have put himself through.
He went on, “Then one day Fabian came for me; he took me to a huge battle between us and the slayers. Andvari filled me with his power. I was so strong. And so fucking hungry. I couldn't feel anything but the thirst. I was an animal. A fox in a chicken pen...” He gave me a tense look as if he was concerned about continuing.
I waited, giving him an encouraging look.
“I lost every part of myself that day,” he muttered. “And when the hunger withdrew and my humanity returned, I saw what I'd done. I found myself before the final slayer left alive on the battlefield. He was dying...weak. The man was the Elioson's father. Andvari whispered the prophecy in my ear. Warrior born and monster made...I thought he was telling me that turning a slayer into one of us was the answer. That I could break the curse that way...” He trailed off, glancing away as if he didn't want to meet my eye. “I was wrong. Tricked. But not without blame.”
My breathing quickened as I absorbed his words. “The slayers think you did it to kill their clan by sending him back to them. They think it's even worse that he was turned. That it would have been better if he died a warrior's death.”
Erik's brow furrowed. “I suppose I can see why they'd think that. But it wasn't my intention. I know Magnar killed his father when he returned home, disgusted by what had happened to him. The slayers cannot see us as human. And there are times we're not. Creating this empire was a way to counter that. We thought if we could set up a society with laws that would prevent humans from dying at our hands, then we might regain some sense of goodness. But even that has gone to hell... Every single standard I thought I was upholding was a fucking lie.” He glowered and I reached out to brush my fingers across the screen, wishing I could be there beside him to soothe his pain.
It wasn't okay what he'd done, but at least he knew that. At least he was trying to be better. I could see the regret in him like a dark shadow looming over his soul.
“I forgive you,” I said quietly. “Even if you can't forgive yourself. You are good Erik. Even if you've done bad things. We've all done bad things...”
“What have you ever done that's so wrong?” A flicker of light returned to his eyes and my heart unfolded like a flower.
“Hm...I once wished this kid I grew up with would be taken to the blood bank. He was always bullying me, shoving me in the mud.” I shook my head. “I didn't say it out loud. But I thought it. How messed up is that?”
“What a dark soul you have,” Erik chuckled. “You have no idea of the terrible things I've wished on some people. It's what we act on that counts. Which is why I'm damned for all eternity.”
“Don't say that,” I said sharply. “You're making up for things now, aren't you?”
“Well, I hear Fabian is erecting statues of your sister in the Realms, would you like me to do the same? I'll make sure they're twice the size. That might make up for some of my bullshit.”
A giggle burst from my mouth
and Erik smiled broadly in response.
“Rebel…” He sighed heavily. “I won’t deny you Wolfe’s death again. When I find Valentina, I’ll be sure he gets caught up in the massacre I’m going to bring down on her and her followers.”
Relief spilled through me and I blinked away the tears burning my eyes. “Thank you.”
He gave me an intense look. “Please tell me where you are, I promise I'll leave your friends alone if it means I can spend tonight with you.” Erik cocked a brow, sparking flames at the base of my spine.
“It didn't work out so well the last time we tried to do that,” I remarked guiltily.
“Second time's the charm,” he teased and my toes scrunched up.
“We have the small issue of sitting on opposing sides of an age-old war,” I said, trying to keep my tone light as we slipped toward discussing the cruel reality of our situation.
“How about we try to rewrite our version of Romeo and Juliet so we don't end up dead.”
I laughed softly, knowing the story from my dad's best attempt at recounting it. “I think this is the version where they go their separate ways.”
“That sounds like a rather boring version, Rebel. Don't pursue a career as a writer.”
Another laugh escaped me. I felt happier than I had in days. A few brief moments with him brightened all the dark spaces inside me. “Well how would you like it to go?”
“Firstly you end my torment by coming to my bed tonight. Then tomorrow we can take a boat and sail for anywhere that isn't here.”
“And leave everyone we love behind to deal with this mess?” I joked.
“They'll figure it out.” He beamed, then his expression fell a little as he considered something. “Unfortunately, things are not so simple.”
“Don't I know it.”
“Look...I think you need to talk to the slayers. Convince them to let you and your sister come to us. We know you're a part of the prophecy. We can figure out the rest together and break the curse. Surely the slayers would be satisfied with that? Are they so determined to murder us all even with that fact staring them in the face?”
I sighed, dropping my eyes. “Callie couldn't bear to be near Fabian again. And even if I could convince the others...it's personal when it comes to you Erik. I don't think they'd let us go without a fight.”
His brows raised and he nodded keenly. “You're right.”
My pulse thumped in my ears as I grew fearful of what he was thinking. “But a fight would be a very bad idea.”
“I disagree...I'd fight for you with more strength than I'd ever fought them with before.”
“Erik, don't even joke about it,” I hissed. “You're not fighting them. You don't even know where we are.”
“True,” he said, but I sensed he wasn't about to drop the issue.
Oh shit, what have I done?
“Montana,” Julius's voice hit me like a punch. I nearly dropped the phone as he pushed through the door across the room, just a dark silhouette as he stormed toward me. “Hang the fuck up,” he commanded.
I didn't, so he snatched the phone and glared right at Erik. “Stay the hell away from her.” He ended the call and my blood reached boiling point.
I sprang to my feet, shoving him as hard as I could. “You asshole!” I reached for the phone but he tucked it swiftly in his back pocket and batted my flailing arms aside.
“Magnar's right, Montana. You need to forget about him. And don't ever call him again.”
“Screw you.” I stormed from the room, my blood curdling in my veins. He had no right to tell me how to feel. To treat me like a naughty kid. Who did he think he was?
I strode back to the fire where Callie was sleeping and dropped down onto the floor, seething as I felt Julius following me.
“Erik is going to fall...one way or another,” he whispered, laying a hand on my back.
I flinched away from him, turning to glare up at his face. “Then I'll fall with him,” I snarled.
Julius backed up, his eyebrows drawn tightly together. “You don't mean that,” he hissed.
I laid down and rolled over, ending this conversation as I muttered, “I do. And if you ever hurt him, I’ll never forgive you.”
I awoke to a light chill skimming across my skin and pushed myself upright. It took me a moment to realign my brain with where we were and I frowned into the smoldering fire as I shook off the confusion that was drowning me.
I’d gone to Fabian for answers but I felt like I’d left with more questions. I didn’t really know anything about the prophecy except that it could be a way for the vampires to end their curse. Magnar hadn’t mentioned much about it though and I presumed he thought it wasn’t going to be what finished them. I guessed his thirst for revenge wouldn’t have wanted him to accept that alternative anyway. It wouldn’t be enough for him to see the vampires returned to their mortal form. He hungered for their blood almost as much as they hungered for ours.
I stretched my arms above my head and pushed myself up so that I could lean closer to the fire. Montana and Julius were sleeping soundly beside it so I guessed that meant Magnar was on watch at the top of the statue. The wards should have been more than enough to keep any vampires from discovering us but the slayers didn’t want to take chances this close to the city.
My thoughts kept landing on what Fabian had said about Erik trying to repay his debt by starving himself for two hundred years. I couldn’t begin to imagine such a thing. Had he managed to hold out for so long without succumbing to his primal desires? Or had he chained himself and leapt into the sea so that he couldn’t go back on his decision?
And why would he have thought that hunger would pay a debt to right old wrongs? Hunger had never earned me anything other than misery.
I wondered what Dad would have made of the prophecy. He’d always had a mind for solving problems and if there really was some way that Montana and I were caught up in it I was sure he would have been able to figure it out.
I raised my hand to the chain he’d given me and held Mom’s wedding ring in my fist. It felt warm. Warmer than a piece of metal should have been. And my heart felt glad as I clung to it.
I started fiddling with it as my mind continued to turn in circles, each answer opening up more questions until I was making myself dizzy with it all.
I pushed the ring onto my finger and suddenly everything fell silent, but not in the usual sense of the word. I could still hear the crackle of the fire and Julius’s soft snores but it was like everything else was cushioned. Like I could somehow see things more clearly.
I frowned as I tried to figure out what the difference was and suddenly realised it was Fabian. I could see him for what he was again. My thoughts of him weren’t clouded with unwanted desires. I was free to hate him with as much venom as I had before the wedding. Although I was loath to admit that that was harder than it seemed now that I knew more about him.
The ring was doing more than that too. I felt light, like a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I could suddenly do everything and anything...
I pulled the ring from my finger and the weight of my obligations came crashing back down on me. I gasped in shock and Montana stirred opposite me.
I quickly pulled the chain over my head and held it before my eyes so that I could look at the ring more closely. I’d seen it so many times in my life that I wasn’t sure if I’d ever really looked at it.
It was a chunky, golden thing with a green stone in its centre. Mom had always called it an emerald but I’d been too young to understand what she’d meant by that. I knew it had been her mother’s and her mother’s before that. Back and back for as long as anyone in her family remembered. But I didn’t really know anything else about it.
I unclasped the chain and pulled the ring free of it before slowly pushing it onto my finger again.
The silence found me once more and a smile pulled at my lips. I didn’t know how, but I was free. I could sense it. There were no rules, no commands,
no deity to push her way into my body... just me. And without my tie to Fabian everything seemed a lot clearer once more.
I pushed myself to my feet and silently crossed the room before heading up the wide stairwell which led to the viewing point in the statue’s crown.
My heart pounded in time with my footsteps as I moved higher and higher.
I didn’t grow tired as I climbed even though I knew I would have before I’d taken my vow. My gifts were still mine, like they were some intrinsic part of me, but the weight on my soul was completely gone.
I stepped into the viewing area and found Magnar staring out into the night at the city.
My nerve floundered as I closed in on him and he turned to look at me in surprise.
“Are you having trouble sleeping?” he asked as I drew closer.
I shook my head, unsure how to say what I thought I’d discovered. If I was wrong I would only disappoint him, but if I was right...
I kept moving until I was standing barely a foot away from him and reached for the edges of the bubble which surrounded me.
It felt like an extension of myself and by pushing my will into the ring, I was able to surround him with it too.
Magnar frowned as he felt the energy slipping over him and I took the final step, closing the distance between us.
“Tell me to stop,” I said, a smile pulling at my lips as I looked up at him.
“Stop what?” he asked in confusion.
“Just command me to stop and you’ll see,” I teased, waiting for him to wield his power over me.
Magnar looked into my eyes and I had no idea what he was thinking. “Stop,” he said firmly.
I felt his command crash into the bubble of safety and fizzle away to nothing.
My smile widened as I reached for his chest and gripped his shirt in my hands. I pushed up onto my tiptoes and pulled him towards me, slowly, so achingly slowly as my need for him devoured me whole. We hung in that breath of space between our lips as I slid my hands further up his chest and his heart pounded beneath my palm.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 94