Blue-Blooded Vamp (47 page)

A groan crackled from his throat. I clenched my fists together and struggled to contain the sob that slammed into the back of my teeth. “You’re going to be okay,” I lied.

“Liar,” he rasped. “Dying.”

I shook my head. A tear splashed on his cheek. “Don’t you fucking dare,” I said. “Not now.”

In the distance, I heard Nyx screeching as she kicked and clawed against Cain. The father of the vampire race grinned at me and winked.

“Love—” Tristan croaked before a wet cough shook his whole body.

“Shhh.” I stroked his hair. “Just try to be still.”

I met Adam’s gaze over my father. He shook his head. There was nothing we could do to help him. Even if we could remove the brass spike, he’d bleed out before Adam could attempt a healing spell.

“Daughter.” Tristan’s throat clicked and a breath rasped out of his pale lips. I looked down through the tears I refused to let him see. “Proud.” A trembling hand rose and pointed at my heart. “Stronger together.”

Blood spilled from his lips. His blue eyes rolled back in their sockets. The hand he’d raised convulsed.

And fell to the ground, lifeless.

M
y father had stormed into my life less than a week earlier and now he was… gone.

The sob I’d been fighting finally escaped. The tears blurred and refracted the image of my father’s corpse. Someone in the distance was screaming like a banshee. Muted pounding echoed in my head and the sizzle of spent magic tainted the air.

“Red?” Adam said, his tone quiet.

I shook my head and curled into myself. Heaving gasps wracked my body as the tears fell like rain.

“Sabina, look,” Giguhl breathed.

I blinked and looked up. Through the veil of moisture, I saw a light escape from my father’s chest. I caught my breath and watched it rise up into the sky. It hovered above the garden throne room for a moment, as if my father’s spirit was taking one final look at everyone he was leaving behind. And then, Tristan Graecus’s soul zoomed through the sky like a comet.

“Wh-where’s he going?” I demanded, watching the streak cut across the sky.

“His soul is returning to the Adamantine Gate,” Giguhl whispered. “He’ll reenter Irkalla as a spirit now.”

“And then he’ll head to Hekatian Fields?” I asked.

Adam put his hand on my shoulder. “Probably.”

I blew out a shuddering breath. But a loud whimper caught my attention. I looked over and saw Nyx drooping in Cain’s hold.

Oh shit, she’d just watched the man she loved die. Telling her he would at least find comfort in the arms of my mother probably wouldn’t do much to relieve Nyx’s guilt or sadness.

I turned and saw Phoebe inside Lilith’s circle. Her eyes were on Cain. Their depths weren’t shadowed by pain or sadness but glowed poison green with rage.

I took a cue from my mother, realizing that tears wouldn’t make me feel better.

But making Cain pay would.

I rose slowly. Whatever Cain saw in my eyes made him step back. But then he raised his chin and called out to Lilith. “Honey, I’m home.”

Lilith’s face paled. She summoned her powers and threw her hands in the air. “
Elu
.”

A shimmering wall erected around the goddess. Nice of her to protect herself and leave the rest of us defenseless against a foe we couldn’t kill.

Cain laughed and stepped forward. “What’s wrong, love? I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

The instant Lilith’s circle rose, the one around my mother and sister disappeared.

Maisie raised her head and the determination I saw there gave me hope.

“Maisie?” I said.

“Sabina,” she breathed.

“Ah-ah-ah,” Cain said. He opened his jacket to reveal a holster filled with more brass spikes and a gun. “No talking.” He moved between Maisie and me. “Can’t have you two conspiring against me.”

I tilted my head. Something about his tone told me he was genuinely worried about Maisie and I teaming up against him.

“Sabina—” Lilith began.

“No cheating, dearest.” Cain’s tone was threatening. He kicked Lilith’s circle. The barrier sparked but held firm. “Open the circle, Lamashtu.”

“No!” she said.

I frowned at Cain. He didn’t want Lilith helping me either. Why? If I’d failed the test and prevented Maisie from becoming the Chosen, why was he so worried?

I jerked my gaze toward my sister. She stood with her head bowed again. Obviously, her fear of Cain still lingered even though her death meant he couldn’t hurt her anymore.

Cain punched the barrier now, shouting and threatening the goddess if she didn’t bow to his demands. Lilith withstood every insult and name, her eyes jerking back and forth between Maisie and me.

“Sabina,” Phoebe said. “Remember what Tristan said.”

“Shut up, bitch!” Cain shouted. He threw a blade at my mother. Phoebe didn’t flinch as the dagger flew, useless, through her spirit.

I tilted my head and frowned at her. She ignored Cain’s shouts and watched me. Her eyes were pleading, as if she was begging me to put pieces of a puzzle together. “What do you mean? About being stronger together?”

“I can say no more.” She nodded toward Maisie and then to me. “The rest is up to you.”

Frowning, I looked at Maisie.

Stronger together
.

Flashes of memory played through my mind. How Maisie’s birthmark warmed whenever I was about to face danger. How I’d told Charon that the thing I craved most was balance. How Vinca’s soul tried to hitch a ride with mine.

Then I thought about how my sister and I had always been two sides of the same coin. Together, Maisie and I would have made the perfect being. Her with her nurturing spirit and skills at prophecy—the powerful mage. Me with my thirst for blood and fighting skills—a vampire to the core. Her love of life and my talent for death. How together, we created a perfectly balanced dark race being.

My stomach dropped. Oh shit! Was that it? Was that the answer?

Maisie?
I reached out to my sister with my mind.

No response. I wondered if she really couldn’t hear me or if her fear of Cain made her too scared to respond and incur Cain’s wrath.

Maisie, if you can hear me, show me some sign.

I watched my twin closely, but she didn’t move.

But then, a spot on my left shoulder—exactly where her birthmark resided—began to itch. The skin warmed and tingled just like it had all those times she’d helped me.

I’m going to try something. I need you to trust me.

The heat intensified. That was as close to a yes as I was going to get.

I glanced over my shoulder and met Adam’s gaze. I winked and his eyes widened. A slow grin spread across his handsome face. His mouth formed the words, “I love you.” Then he leaned over and nudged Giguhl. The demon jerked and leaned down to listen. He nodded once and turned to say something to Nyx. Whatever happened, I
trusted they would do what they could to help. I just prayed if everything went south, they’d also have the smarts to run like hell.

“Sabina!” Cain said. “Convince Lilith to let down the barriers or I’ll kill your mage.”

Adam cocked a brow. “Fuck you.”

I sucked a deep breath in through my nose and blew it out of my mouth. Some might call what I did next an act of faith. Others might call it the act of a fool. Either way, I knew in my gut it was right.

“Adam,” I said in a low tone. “Now!”

I ran straight for Maisie. My sister’s head jerked up a split second before I slammed into her spirit.

Her soul bore through my flesh like shards of ice. I gritted my teeth and struggled to hold on to her. Caught off guard, Maisie struggled against the warm prison.

Sabina, what—
she screamed in my head.

I gritted out, “Trust. Me.”

“No!” Cain screamed. I heard the sounds of a struggle. Giguhl shouted something, and I knew he and Adam and Nyx were trying to subdue Cain but were not having an easy time of it.

The instant Maisie’s soul was perfectly positioned, our spirits snapped together like pieces of a puzzle. The instant our essences united, a shock of energy exploded outward from my body. Our body.

The force lifted our body from the floor.

Up, up, up. We were flying.

Far below, we could see Adam and Giguhl struggling with Cain. Nyx scrambled away, chasing a gun that slid across the floor. Lilith stayed safe in her little chamber. Clovis hid behind the throne, where the coward had gone the instant Cain’s army arrived. Farther afield, we saw
Lilith’s garden surrounding the throne room. I realized then that it was the same garden Maisie had seen in her vision. The one she painted and showed me the night she told me I would be the Chosen. In it, I was flying over a garden toward a bright light in the sky.

She’d been half right. It was my body, but it was both our spirits.

Sabina?

Shhh, Maisie. It’s going to be all right now.

How do you know?

Look up
.

A throbbing glow over our heads demanded our attention. It felt warm on our face, inviting. We willed ourselves to move faster, fly higher. We raised our arms above our head and focused on reaching the light.

So close now. We reached a hand toward the light, yearning for it. Just before we brushed the outer edges of this power, a deep voice echoed through our head.

Chosen
.

The light spread and entered us. The force threw our head back and filled us with its heat, its energy. Power spread through us like lightning.

Secret knowledge filled us. A vortex of light swirled around our skin. Filled us, glowing from the inside. Our eyes saw eternity, our arms spread like wings, and our heart filled to bursting. Every ounce of power that had been taken from us returned with a vengeance—plus some. And when we screamed, it was not from fear but from victory.

The battle cry of a goddess.

It is done
, the voice said.

Our body plunged. Down, down, down.

Our eyes opened. The power coalesced around us, a swirling golden cyclone. We heard every sound—shouting,
fists pounding flesh. The individual heartbeats of every being in the room. Every thought. Every emotion.

We raised our hand and saw our own aura. Instead of the individual red of Sabina’s aura or the blue of Maisie’s, it shimmered pure gold shot through with deep, royal purple.

We are the Chosen
, our souls whispered in stereo.

Miracle number five
, I whispered to myself.

Together, we turned toward the fight.

The instant the mage and demon saw us, they stopped fighting Cain. Giguhl’s goat eyes flared and a huge smile spread his black lips. Adam paled. “Gods be praised.”

Nyx stood behind Cain, her trembling hand aiming the weapon at his head.

“Nicolette,” we said, our voices united into one. “Put it down.”

Tears streamed down her face. “He killed Tristan,” she sobbed.

“We know. But if you kill him, we will all die.”

Nyx’s eyes finally moved from the back of Cain’s head to look at us. Whatever the vampire saw made her drop the gun. Her eyes flared and she dropped to her knees, touching her forehead with her right hand.

Cain turned around slowly. When he saw Maisie and I in our new form—whatever it looked like—his eyes went wild. Like a snake’s strike, he grabbed Adam by the throat and held a brass blade to his jugular. “I’ll kill him.”

We smiled and waved a hand. The blade Cain held to Adam’s neck dissolved. Cain yelped and jumped back. “What—”

We lowered our head, gazing up at our prey. “Run.”

Cain’s eyes widened. “I’m not leaving without her,” he spat. “Lilith is mine.”

“Dude, seriously?” Giguhl said. “You need to take a hint already.”

Cain ignored the demon and raised his chin at us. “I am Master Mahan. You can’t kill me.”

“We are the Chosen.”

“No. I don’t believe it! It’s a trick!” Cain’s voice rose as the first hint of panic hit him. “Lilitu, tell them they can’t kill me.”

“Sorry,
my love
,” Lilith mocked. “But you are wrong. They can and they will.”

He whipped around. “But… but why? I love you. I have killed for you. I have done all of this”—he waved his hands around to indicate his grand scheme—“for us. So we can finally be together again.”

“Then you are a fool. I used your seed to create the first of my children. And, yes, for a time, I fancied myself in love with you. Until your true nature, your controlling ways, your temper, your fists, proved you were unworthy of that love. You did not deserve me.”

“Shut up, bitch.” He punched the barrier and ignored the sizzling sound of his knuckles burning. “You’re mine!”

Lilith raised an ebony brow. “You have never and will never measure up to my beloved husband, Asmodeus.”

“No,” Cain said through clenched teeth. “He’s hidden you away in this cesspool. Forced you to bear his children. How can you be happy here?”

Lilith shrugged. “I love him.”

Cain rushed Lilith’s protective circle, punching and kicking. He sobbed with rage, screaming obscenities and making oaths to profane gods if they’d help him force his love to submit. The shimmering walls sparked and sputtered with each strike. Wounds appeared everywhere Cain made contact with the shield. Lilith cringed back against
the other side, looking genuinely worried he might somehow succeed in breaking her spell.