Blood Awakening (36 page)

“Shut up, moron!” Kayla shouted back at her.

“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath to try and clear my mind for the rest of Sebastian’s truths. “What else?”

Sebastian stole a glance at Aldric. “I can only assume that since Aldric didn’t bother to tell you about the prophecy, he also never mentioned your role in it, yes?” I didn’t even bother to acknowledge his question. “Yes, well, as you know, this particular prophecy speaks of a vampire born of human blood who possesses the ability to annihilate our species.”

“You’re not a species,” Erik said through gritted teeth.

Sebastian’s cold eyes glared at Erik before turning on me. “As I was saying, you are well aware of that part of the prophecy.”

I swallowed back the lump in my throat. “What do you mean, ‘that part’?”

Sebastian smiled. “That, I am afraid, is but one half of the legend.”

“What?” I had just been told I was born a vampire/human hybrid, with the power to kill an entire race; there was no way it could get worse.

“The prophecy states that the hybrid also possesses the ability to destroy another species,” Zyris said, her eyes locked on me.

“W-what other species?” I asked, terror clawing at my insides.

She smiled. “Humans.”

Hello, worse.

“I don’t understand any of this,” I said, my legs desperate to resume their pacing, to keep my body moving to avoid the impact of these unwanted truths. “I don’t see how I have the ability to destroy any species, let alone two?” I kept looking from Sebastian to Zyris, hoping to get some kind of read on what they still hadn’t told me. Unfortunately, they had long perfected their poker faces. “How is any of this possible? And what about what Aldric told me?” I shook my head. “No, you’re definitely lying. I have the chance to save myself. Aldric—”

“—ah, yes,” Sebastian said, “that whole ‘kill vampires to save yourself’ thing.” I just stared at him. “Honestly, Ava. Surely even you can hear how ridiculous that sounds.”

“But…” I glared at Aldric, who refused to look me in the eye.

Strike two.

“Figuring it out, are you?” Yes. Yes, I was. Like a puzzle, everything was beginning to fall into place.

Aldric had been lying to me.

Sebastian and Zyris were using those lies against me.

I hated them all.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I said to all of them.

Sebastian chose to answer. “We are doing nothing to you, Ava. We are simply telling you the truth.”

“Simply telling me the truth? Are you kidding me?”

Zyris chimed in. “Why do humans think everyone is lying to them anytime they hear something they do not like?”

“Not all the time,” I said. “Just when sadistic monsters want to use them in their plan to take over the world.” The attitude with which I spoke was so out of character for me that I thought Lacey had possessed me or something. I even snuck a peek to make sure she hadn’t disappeared. She was still scared and curled in on herself next to Kayla.

Zyris clasped her hands in front of her, like Kayla’s mom does when she knows Kayla’s lying. “I must admit that I will not miss your charming wit when you are gone, Avaline.”

It took everything I had left in me not to lunge at her. I no doubt would have died instantly, but it would have been worth it. “I love your optimism, Zyris.”

“Oh my dear, that is not optimism. Merely stating a fact.” Her porcelain-white hands were still gripped tightly together, the blood-red tips a bold juxtaposition against them.

“A fact, huh?” My sudden-onset nervous breakdown had somehow given me more courage. The old me never would have been so brazen.

“Yes, Ava. A fact.” She finally unclasped her hands, letting them fall graciously to her sides.

I made a split-second decision to call her bluff. “Do tell.”

She smiled again, and like the other times, it creeped me out; what was unlike the other times, however, was just how much. “It is quite simple, really,” she said. “In order for you to destroy either race, humans or vampires, you have to die.”

H
ARSH TRUTHS

W
-What?” To say I was stunned would have been a lie; I’d passed stunned a long time ago. It was like I was having an out-of-body experience, floating above myself. I could hear everything being said, but I didn’t have the energy to react.

“Oh,” Sebastian said. “I take it that part was left out as well?” I looked from Zyris to Sebastian to Aldric, everything moving in super slow motion, and yet I was struggling to keep up.

“I—I don’t—”

“—understand?” Sebastian was leaning forward a bit, almost hovering. “I should suspect you wouldn’t, Ava, since you have been kept in the dark from the very beginning.” He cut his eyes at Aldric. “But all that changes now. I am fully prepared to tell you everything.”

“You son of a bitch!” I barely saw Erik as he ran past me and lunged for Sebastian, his face twisted and gnarled and red with rage.

“Erik, no!” I shot out after him, the vampire inside of me bursting forth with a frenzy. My fangs sliced through my gums, venom already dripping from their tips, the human blood in my veins giving way to the ravenous undead blood of my monster alter ego.

But even with my vampire super speed, I wasn’t fast enough. Erik made it to Sebastian seconds before me, and Sebastian already had him by the throat and was about to sink his fangs into Erik’s flesh when I ripped Erik from his grasp. Without even thinking, I tossed Erik aside and blindsided Sebastian.

I had no idea what my body slammed into until the ringing in my ears subsided and my vision cleared. Tiny shards of glass crackled beneath me as I pulled myself upright, leaning against the crumpled metal of a large piece of construction equipment. Aldric was by my side in a flash.

“Ava, are you all right?” He knelt beside me and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t touch me.” I slapped his hand away and pulled myself to my feet. “You’re a monster, Aldric. A horrible, manipulative monster.”

“Ava—”

“—don’t.” My body felt like it had just been hit by a thousand missiles, but as long as my legs worked, I had no intention of letting him near me. I practically had to drag myself away from the mangled pile of yellow metal and shattered glass, Aldric trailing behind me the entire time, spouting apologies. “Aldric, leave me alone.” I ignored him as I made my way to Erik, who was moaning and trying to sit up.

“Hey,” he said, groggy at best. I knelt beside him, ignoring the screams from my body to stop, and helped him into a somewhat sitting position.

“My God, Erik, are you okay?” I pulled leaves and twigs from his disheveled hair and wiped clumps of dirt from his face and chest, doing my best to overlook the muscles flexing beneath his shirt.

Geez Ava, control yourself.

What was wrong with me? He just risked his life for me, and my first thought was how much hotter he would look covered in dirt without a shirt on? I must’ve hit my head hard, because I clearly wasn’t thinking straight.

“I’m fine,” Erik said, brushing off more dirt and debris. “That bastard isn’t as strong as he looks.”

That bastard.

Sebastian.

I can’t believe I had completely forgotten about him. I jumped up—shooting pain almost dropping me like dead weight—expecting Sebastian to drive a stake through my heart or hit me with one of those poison-tipped arrows. But he did neither. He just stood there, seemingly unaffected by what had just happened, the illuminated New York skyline creating an ethereal backdrop behind him. The entire scene—the river, the moonlit water, Sebastian’s mood—was almost nice. It made absolutely no sense.

What is going on?

“What’s with him?” Erik snuck up behind me—well, as much as he could, limping and groaning with every step—and an impossibly strong blood scent flooded my brain, pulling my eyes to him.

“Erik, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m what?” I started patting him down, in search of an open wound. “You know,” he said, as I worked my hands from his lower back around to his stomach, “I think this counts as second base.”

I snatched my hands from his abs, turning away before he saw my cheeks burn red with heat. “Stop saying stuff like that, Erik.” I caught his grin in my peripheral. “And stop smiling like that.” He did, which somehow made him even hotter. “Ugh. Let’s just go.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to Kayla and Lacey. Kayla practically mauled him she was so happy he was alive, wiping away tears as she hugged him tight.

“Don’t you ever do something stupid like that again, you dork,” she said, punching him in the gut.

“Ow!” Erik yelped and clutched his gut, and even though I knew he was faking it, I couldn’t ignore the fact that he had just been tossed like trash by a super-powerful vampire. The same vampire who killed his sister. No way was he okay, no matter how much he flirted and laughed.

“If you are done with this odd display of human emotion, we have unfinished business.” Zyris appeared out of nowhere, scaring all of us.

“God, I hate these damn vampires!” Lacey cowered again, though this time she didn’t seem as timid and scared as before. I was impressed with her strength…and a bit envious.

“I’m betting the feeling’s mutual,” Erik said, staring Zyris down.

“What else is there?” I asked. I kept one eye on Zyris and the other on Erik in case he passed out from the pain I could clearly see him trying to hide. I also tried to keep watch over Chance, who had been standing on the sidelines since basically telling me off in front of everyone. He was still in the same place, as though he hadn’t moved an inch since we got here. Zyris obviously had him under some sort of compulsion. My heart broke for him for the thousandth time.

“I believe you need to make a decision, Ava.” Sebastian joined us, with Aldric a few steps behind. When Aldric and I had first met that night in the cemetery, he had been so poised, confident, almost regal. Now, in the shadow of his Creator, he came off as timid, even scared.

He was me.

“What decision?” I asked Sebastian. After everything that had been thrown at me already, I was scared to even ask. I didn’t think I could handle more surprises.

“I’m afraid you must decide if you will stay here, or come with us.”

Cue surprise.

“What?”

Sebastian’s brows lifted. “Surely you must have anticipated this question?”

Had I anticipated it? Sebastian had kept from me the fact that he and Zyris were working together. Aldric had lied about who I really was. I’d discovered that I was actually born into a millennia-old vampire prophecy that held the lives of two races in the balance. I suppose having to decide my own fate wasn’t too far off.

“Not until now,” I finally said. The question kept turning over and over in my head, the words jumbling together like liquid metal.

“Are you prepared to deliver an answer?” Zyris asked.

I looked to her. “It’s impossible,” I finally said. “How am I supposed to make that kind of decision?”

She stared at me, that cold, dead look she seemed to have perfected still on her face. “I would think that someone who brazenly makes decisions without thought to the consequences would have no trouble with something like this.”

I so wanted to roll my eyes. “I just want this to be over with.”

“As do we,” she said. “But there is one thing that must be done before we can proceed.”

Yeah, totally rolled them. “I’m so tired of this crap. Just shut up, Zyris.”

“Ava, what the hell are you doing?” Erik’s voice was in my ear, his hand tugging on my arm. I never even heard him walk up to me. My mind was so consumed with Zyris, and whatever new bomb she was going to drop, that I couldn’t focus on anything else. I just wanted life to go back to normal…my normal. “She could kill you and not even think about it,” he added.

“I’m not letting them intimidate me anymore, Erik.” I pulled my arm from his grasp and turned back to her. “I’m done playing these stupid games with you, Zyris. Just tell me what it is I have to do.”

Zyris closed the gap between us. “You must willingly give yourself to us. You will come with us, severing all ties to the human world.” She stepped even closer. “Are you prepared to do that?’

“Ave, please, don’t.” I heard Kayla’s voice behind me, her words soft and broken. I turned to my friend, the one person I was most able to count on through everything, even more than Chance.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, fighting back tears. Kayla ran up to me and pulled me into a warm hug. I didn’t hug back, so scared that it would be for the last time.

“You don’t have to go,” she said, her breath hot on my neck as she sobbed on my shoulder. “Please don’t go.”

“I have to,” I said, fighting the urge to wrap my arms around her. “Remember what you said? You know she has your dad. I’m gonna find him, Kayla. I made you a promise.”

It was an eternity before she pulled away from our embrace, her face covered in tears and dust. “I know you will,” she finally said, still crying. “That’s what scares me.”

“I’ll be okay,” I said, hoping it was the truth.

Kayla tried to smile. “Please be careful. And come back.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, begging my emotions to stay away. “I will.” It was a hope that I couldn’t afford to give up on, that one day I would be with my friends again.

Kayla smiled and stepped away, going to stand next to Lacey. I stared at the two of them, opposite ends of my spectrum of friendship. One was true and loyal and loving, the other new and unsure.

Both of them mattered.

I turned back to Zyris. “I’ll go,” I said, the words falling from my lips like death.

“Very well, then,” she said, the tiniest of smiles tweaking the corners of her mouth. I could only imagine what horror was in store for me, what torture the Queen V had in mind. But I had made the decision, for Kayla and her dad, for Chance and myself. Now, I had no choice but to live with it.

The night I woke up in that coffin, the night this horrible nightmare called my life began, I had hated Aldric with everything inside of me. All this time, I had thought that he was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me—even worse than being a half vampire. Now, standing in front of two of the most evil creatures I had ever known, waiting to hear my fate, I realized I was wrong. Not knowing what would happen, what was coming next…that was far worse.