Age of Vampires- The Complete Series

by Caroline Peckham

  Callie moved the ring close to her finger again, warning the goddess back. “Release my friends from your hold,” she demanded. “Then you can have it.”

  “Do you think I’m a fool?” Idun asked with a dark laugh which drew black clouds across the sky.

  I shifted closer to her, Venom and Tempest held ready as I took each silent step.

  The force which surrounded Idun swept over me as I moved within it and it felt as if my very bones were trembling under the influence of so much power. I drew closer still, a wolf stalking its prey.

  “How do I know you’ll release them once you have it?” Callie demanded.

  “You’ll have to trust me,” Idun purred, her gaze fixed on the ring in Callie’s hand as if it was the answer to all of her prayers.

  “Then swear it,” Callie said as the goddess drew closer to her. “Swear that once you have it you’ll leave us be.”

  “It’s so beautiful,” Idun sighed, moving towards Callie again. “I never thought it would look so...” Her brow pinched as she suddenly realised she shouldn’t be able to see it at all.

  I wasn’t as close as I’d hoped to be but I leapt forward all the same, releasing a cry of rage as I swung Venom for her head. The goddess twisted aside just before I could land the blow and my blade carved a line across her shoulder instead.

  She still couldn’t see me but she sure as hell felt that.

  Idun screamed and the ground trembled beneath me as if it felt her pain too and golden blood poured from the wound.

  The goddess’s power slammed into Callie and she was thrown from her feet, tumbling over the ground and crashing into Fabian and Chickoa too.

  “Magnar!” Idun bellowed, realising what we’d done. Her gaze flickered around as she hunted for me but the ring still hid me from her detection.

  I ground my teeth, leaping at her again as lightning flared from the sky. Another wave of power slammed out from her and Julius and all the others were thrown back too but she couldn’t touch me. I felt the energy of her attack washing around me like a tide breaking on the prow of a ship.

  Callie and the others were on their feet again, running to help me bring down this monster but she drove them back as easily as breathing. I was the only one she couldn’t see coming and who couldn’t be touched by her power.

  I threw my will into the ring, sweeping its protection out in a wide arc and hiding all of my allies, releasing them from her hold before she could hurt them or use them against me. Her mouth parted in horror as she lost sight of them, finding herself facing eight invisible enemies.

  Idun turned sharply, trying to disappear into the ether but she stumbled, her power failing her as a rumbling laugh filled the heavens and the sound of two great blades colliding set the air vibrating all around us.

  I think it’s time you faced your creations, Idun. Odin’s voice spilled through the sky, making the hairs rise along the back of my neck.

  Idun spewed curses at the king of the gods as he stopped her from leaving this place, fear filling her beautiful eyes as she turned back and forth, searching for us. She couldn’t see us anymore with the ring concealing our presence, though she knew we were all coming.

  I grinned savagely as I ran for her again and she shrieked in pained outrage at my betrayal. But I didn’t care. She betrayed me first. I’d dedicated my life to this goddess and her cause only to be rewarded with pain and misery and to be used as a pawn in her sick games. But no more. The ring shielded me from her and I was determined to end her reign of terror once and for all.

  I twisted behind her, slicing Tempest across her thigh as she screamed in agony, reaching for me but missing by inches.

  I was a ghost. The ring hid me and she couldn’t see me coming.

  She threw the leaves from her dress out in every direction at once and I ducked low, using my swords to shield me as they cut my exposed skin like razor blades. My arms were torn and bloody but I avoided the worst of the blows as my blades deflected them.

  As the maelstrom dropped away, I spun to look for Callie finding her safe, shielded behind Fabian and Chickoa as their own injuries slowly healed. The others were closing in again too from the top of the hill and before long we would have her surrounded.

  Idun was left naked and bleeding golden blood before me, facing away down the hill as she braced for the next attack.

  I sprinted at her, noticing my comrades doing the same in my periphery. Clarice was screaming for vengeance and Erik sprinted alongside my brother with matching snarls of rage filling their features.

  Idun slammed her hands to the dirt, digging her fingers into it as her power flooded into the land. The ground beneath my feet turned to mud which sucked and pulled at me, halting my advance. The hands of the dead reached up to grab at my limbs and I slashed through them, hacking and cutting as they fought to drag me down to join them.

  Montana screamed as one of the dead and blackened hands tore her down into the earth and Erik grabbed her arms, heaving her backwards as she sank down to her hips.

  I hurled Tempest at the goddess and the blade sliced across her cheek as she lurched away from it. The moment her hands left the soil, the ground returned to normal and I raced forwards, aiming for her neck with Venom held ready.

  My father’s blade was overdue a bath in the blood of one of the gods who had caused his death. And Venom would drink well tonight.

  I pulled Montana to her feet as the withered hands retracted from the soil. Revenge burned through me like a wildfire; it devoured me from the inside out.

  Idun had taken my brother from this world, his husband too. Their love was pure and abhorrence coursed through me that they had been robbed of their lives for no other reason than power.

  I ground my teeth, tearing away from my wife toward the deity who'd taken them from me. From each other. The world faded to black as my gaze trained on her.

  I grabbed hold of her throat, rearing forward and sinking my fangs into the flesh of her neck. It was like biting through bark and her blood tasted as vile as acid. I didn't care as I ripped and tore her flesh apart, desperate to finish her as I swallowed mouthfuls of her disgusting life force. She wheeled around in my arms with a shriek as her golden blood coated me. She was so strong I had to let go, but nothing matched my rage as I came at her again.

  For Miles, for Warren, I will finish you.

  I darted forward as she retreated, sensing Magnar closing in on my right, wielding his huge swords. I kicked her in the spine, forcing her towards him, but it wasn't like fighting anything that walked on earth. She spun through the air on a rolling wind, avoiding his ferocious strikes by sheer luck.

  Callie darted forward to stab her with her blade, but Idun kept moving in a blur of motion to avoid any attack that came her way. Adrenaline tangled with the desperation in my veins. I couldn't leave this place without Idun's body destroyed for good. No one hurt my family and got away with it.

  Clarice joined the battle, miraculously catching Idun's hair in her grip but it turned to liquid in her hand and my sister hissed as the touch of it scolded her.

  The ground quaked beneath my feet, so violently that chunks of stone burst up from the soil, making me stumble as I tried to close in on the goddess again.

  Idun wailed her anger and the ground split apart, a great fissure opening up between us and her. Clarice took a running leap, catching the ledge on the far side and trying to clamber up. Idun sent another violent tremor through the ground and my sister screamed as she almost lost her grip.

  Panic spilled through me and I backed up to take a running jump toward her, but a shadow flew past me and I spotted Julius landing on the other side of the ravine. He caught Clarice's hand but the chasm started closing and the earth shook so much that he was forced to his knees. As the gap continued to close and threatened to crush my sister to death, I sprinted across the ground, my eyes locked on Idun as a snarl peeled back my upper lip.

  Julius yanked Clarice out of the hole just as it shut and she fell
against him as she righted herself, her body trembling in his arms.

  Callie darted forward, her eyes locked on Idun who continued to retreat, her gaze flipping left and right as she tried to spot her invisible assailants. The goddess’s hands raised and a dark shadow shot out from her palms in two smoking whips. Someone tackled me and I hit the floor before the smoke could touch me, finding Montana above me.

  Her cheeks were stained with tears, but her jaw was set in anger. She’d saved me from Idun’s wrath and a swell of love filled my heart for my wife.

  One of the shadowy weapons hit Clarice and Julius and they yelled in pain as the dark tendril coiled around them, crushing them in its grip. Callie was caught too, but Magnar ripped her from the ethereal shadow, falling to the ground with her to avoid another whip of pure darkness. Idun slashed them blindly at us and that was our only advantage.

  Fabian released a battle cry, diving at Idun and catching hold of her arm. He wrenched with all his might, but she tugged it free and backhanded him, sending him tumbling over the earth with a hundred cracks as his bones broke. The shadows died away and Clarice and Julius crashed to the ground, nursing their wounds before gaining their feet again.

  Chickoa fired her shotgun over and over, but she realised her mistake as Idun cast the pellets back at her. She hit the ground, disabled and groaning in agony.

  Magnar and Callie ran at the deity from separate sides and I charged forward to help, hearing Montana taking chase after me.

  With the taste of Idun's blood in my mouth, energy pounced into my veins. I'd drink every drop before this fight was done.

  My heart lurched with horror and pain at what had happened. Clarice was screaming. Fabian was bellowing his rage to the sky and Erik was fighting like a demon released from the gates of hell. The four Belvederes had been together for over a thousand years. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the agony they were feeling after the scattered remains of their brother and his husband had swept across the valley and into the sky.

  My own chest felt like it was caving in two. Grief slammed into me like a wrecking ball but I had no time to feel it as the fight raged around us.

  Idun started running, her bare feet pounding into the ground with such force that the whole hill trembled beneath my boots.

  Each step she took was marked by a shimmering silver footprint and as my attention snared on them, bright green vines burst from the ground. Her path carved a line between our group. Fabian, Chickoa and I were cut off from the rest of our friends by the vines which whipped towards us like a horde of angry snakes.

  I backed up quickly, my heart pounding with fear at the thought of what those creepers would do if they managed to make contact with us.

  Julius had made it to Magnar’s side and the two of them charged forward with their swords raised to intercept the goddess as she tried to flee.

  The vines spread across the soil, gaining speed as they shot straight towards us. It was almost as if they could see us and I knew without doubt that I didn’t want them getting anywhere near me. They kept coming, writhing like worms as they sought us out and I stumbled back as one of them shot towards my legs.

  I sliced Fury into the the vine before it could make contact, cutting it in two. But the severed pieces just split again, creating more of the demonic plant which moved towards me even faster.

  I gasped as I leapt over one vine then threw myself beneath another.

  Idun screamed in pain and I turned toward the sound, my heart lifting with hope as golden blood flew and Julius bellowed victoriously. Magnar was several paces behind him, scrambling to avoid huge holes in the ground which were appearing all around him.

  Idun kicked out, aiming for the place where the attack on her had come from and Julius wasn’t quick enough to move aside. Her foot collided with his chest and she sent him flying away from her.

  He tumbled through the air, slamming to the ground halfway down the valley and crashing to the floor with enough force to carve a crater into the earth.

  Magnar roared a challenge as his brother failed to rise and my heart thundered with panic.

  We can’t do this. How could we have thought that we could? Who were we to try and stand against a deity?

  I shook my head against the negative thoughts, banishing them with the memories of all that Idun had done to us. She’d murdered Miles and Warren. She needed to pay. And it was time she did.

  My moment of inaction cost me and I screamed as I was yanked off of my feet by one of the vines.

  It snaked up my leg, tightening painfully as it moved further along my body like it had a mind of its own.

  I hacked at it, severing green tendrils again and again with the force of my blade. Each piece I cut split in two and grew twice as fast but the grip it had on me was loosening.

  Fury hissed encouragements through my mind, screaming at me to keep fighting no matter what. The blade seemed more desperate to taste Idun’s blood than I had ever known it to feel for a vampire.

  Feed me her heart!

  I could hear Magnar bellowing a battle cry and Idun screaming but I couldn’t look up to see what was happening.

  I cut again and again, kicking at the grasping vines until finally, I was free of them. I scrambled upright, panting my relief as I turned and fled, racing towards my sister and away from the demonic flora.

  Fabian and Chickoa were caught in its grasp too and I hesitated as I spotted them trying to fight their way free of it.

  “Just kill that bitch!” Fabian snarled as he noticed my hesitation. He didn’t want me to help him - he wanted me to go after Idun.

  I nodded, continuing my desperate bid to reach Montana. If I could just get to her and the others then maybe we could work together to bring that eternal whore down for good. It was time that Idun learned the price of playing with our lives.

  Vines seized my arms and I battled to get up as I fought against their painful grip. I spotted Magnar swinging his sword viciously at those holding his legs and he managed to break free. Beside me, Montana used her teeth to escape those holding her down and I mimicked her, lifting the vine around my arm and ripping through it with my canines. Another immediately snared my leg and I shouted my fury as I struggled to tear every one of them from my body.

  Idun's laughter rang through the air and the vines fell to the ground around us, coiling up into tight balls and merging into snakes instead. I sprang to my feet, snatching Montana's arm in the brief seconds we had to escape, pulling her up beside me.

  We started kicking and crushing the skulls of every viper that got near. Their tongues flicked out as their heads lunged towards us. A snake bit into Montana's leg and she screamed in agony. I dragged her closer, killing the snake who'd bitten her with a harsh stamp of my heel.

  “Erik...kill her,” she murmured, then her eyes turned blank and she fell limp in my arms. I gasped, kicking out at the tide of snakes which tried to get their fangs in me too, stamping and stamping as I retreated.

  I lifted Montana into my arms to keep her out of their way, leaping over a group of them and charging away from the battle to lay her in the grass a hundred yards from the fight. My heart clenched as I gazed at her still form. But she was alright here and I couldn't leave the others to battle Idun alone. I squeezed her fingers, my throat tight with emotion.

  “I'll come back.” I turned and sped away into the battle with my heart tearing in half. I needed to protect her with every ounce of my being, but the only way I could do that was by bringing this bitch to her knees.

  Callie, Magnar and Clarice were the only ones still standing and I sprinted toward my sister as four snakes struck at her at once. She kicked them, desperate to keep them away, but before I reached her their fangs found her skin and she collapsed to the ground. I crushed the creatures beneath my heel with a grunt of anger. When I'd killed them all, I tugged Clarice away from the mass writhing toward us, laying her down and stepping in front of her, ready to take on the vipers.

  They surged toward m
e like water, so many of them that I knew it was only a matter of time before I got bitten. As the first one reached me, I smashed my foot down on its skull.

  A scream caught my attention and my eyes whipped to Callie several paces away. Three vipers bit into her leg at once and she tumbled to the ground unconscious. The snakes moved away and I noticed the fallen were safe from their attacks. Idun was taking us out of the fight one by one.

  My gut knotted as I realised how close we were to losing. We could die here. But it couldn't end like this. Not after everything we'd been through. After all that had been taken from us.

  Magnar yelled in anger as he cut the snakes to ribbons at his feet. As he killed those surrounding him, he set his sights on Idun and sprinted forward, swinging his sword in a fierce arc as he finally closed the space between them.

  My heart lifted as his sword hit its mark and Idun's belly ripped open. She wailed and the heavens boomed with thunder as she stumbled back. Gold blood poured from the wound, but I could tell it was beginning to heal already. She whipped her hand through the air and struck him by chance. He slammed into the ground and fear coursed through my veins.

  Magnar rose to his feet as Idun's wound started to heal, but the injury had cost her sorely. The snakes dissolved to nothing, giving me a clear path to the deity.

  I started running, eating up the ground parting us with my fangs bared. Holes opened up in the dirt and I leapt over them, determined not to fall as Idun regained enough strength to wield her powers once more.

  My foot caught in a fissure and I stumbled, my knees crashing into the ground. I swore, leaping up again and powering on, my body filled with the need for revenge. My brother was gone because of this beast. Everything that had ever happened to us came down to her and Andvari. But the other god wasn't here. She was alone. And she was now my prey. The next victim of the vampire curse.

  Her immortal fruit had led us here, and she was going to find out what it felt like to fall victim to her own powers. My fangs would bury deep into her throat before I tore her body apart. I'd destroy every inch of her perfect flesh just like she'd done to my brother.