Not Another Vampire Book (40 page)

He
didn’t listen to her.  His eyes bright with triumph, he scooped up the dagger. 
“Who’s the fucking stable boy now, cousin?”  He raised the knife to plunge it
into Slade’s chest.

“No!” 
Kara crosschecked him, her shoulder slamming into his side before he could
finish Slade off.  She quickly got between the two Vampires, protecting Slade
with her own body.

To’kel
stumbled back a step, his furious eyes fixing on her.  “I’ve had enough of your
interference.”  He spat out.  “Everything that’s gone wrong,
you’ve
instigated.”  The blue diamond blade slashed towards her throat.  “
You will
not
rob me of this moment!
”

The
blow would have sliced clean through Kara’s neck if Damien hadn’t yanked her out
of the way.  Using their cuffed hands, he pulled her sharply to the side and
caught her against his chest.  It saved her life…

…
And inadvertently sent the dagger straight into Slade’s heart.

For
one terrible instant, the whole world went still.

Then,
Slade fell.

“
Shit!
” 
Kara reached him a second too late, grabbing hold of him as he collapsed.  His
massive body sprawled against hers, going limp and spewing blood.  The weight
of him drove them both to the ground.  “Slade!  Slade, look at me!”  She
smacked his cheeks with her free palm, her other hand stretched up above her,
still attached to Damien’s wrist.  “Slade, stay awake and focus.”

Confused
blue eyes met hers.  “Witch… I think… I have been… defeated.”  He sounded like
he couldn’t believe it.

No
one could.

Fibos
screamed and sank to his knees at his king’s words.  All the other Vampires
were shell-shocked, not even moving as they tried to process what had just
happened.  Melessa’s mouth parted in astonishment, her black hair swinging around
her face as she shook her head in denial.  Several people started crying.

Damien
just looked confused.  He blinked down at Slade and then over at To’kel.  “You
killed him?”  He sounded astonished.  “How did that happen?  And why don’t I
feel… happy?  Something is very wrong here.”

“Of
course, it’s wrong!”  Kara pressed down on Slade’s wound, trying to stop the
bleeding.  “Oh,
God.
”  No matter how hard she pushed, the blood seeped
out between her fingers like a faucet.  “Slade?  Try to do something Vampire-y
and heal yourself.”

“He
can’t.”  To’kel chortled.  “I have won!”  He raised his hands up over his head,
the dagger still clutched in his palm.  “I’ve
won!
”  He threw his head
back with a delighted laugh, dancing around in glee.  “I’ve finally rid the
world of that pompous jackass.  Soon Damien will be dead, too.  And then,
Witch, you’ll learn what it is to bedded by an
actual
king, before you
join them in Hell.”

That
jolted Damien out of his bewildered daze.  His head snapped around to pin To’kel
with a hard stare.  “I will return in a moment, Kara Lynn.”  The handcuffs
disappeared from their wrists and, unrestrained, he stalked towards To’kel.  “You’ve
killed Slade, you fucking idiot.”

“What? 
Are you jealous?”  To’kel scoffed.  “You hate him as much as I do.”

“I
hate him
more
.  But my
cari
did not want Slade harmed.”

Feeling
invincible, the smaller man held his ground and jabbed the blade at Damien.  “Who
the hell cares
what
that human wants?”

“Unfortunately
for you,
I
do.”

Even
if she’d been paying attention, Kara doubted she could have followed what
happened next.  Damien just moved too fast.  In less than a heartbeat, he’d
wrenched the blue dagger from To’kel’s hand and, in one smooth movement,
slammed the blade into the dead center of the Vampire’s chest.  Glowing black
eyes stayed locked on To’kel’s face as the Vampire gasped in surprise and pain. 
“I care about that particular human very, very much.”

Kara
jolted at the violence.  “Damien, don’t fight!”

“He
tried to kill you!”  Damien shouted back.  “If I die today, I’ll die knowing he
can’t harm you when I’ve gone.”

To’kel
gave a wheeze, his sightless gaze going to the mortal wound and then back to
Damien’s harsh face.  “You asshole.”  He sagged to the ground.  “You were
supposed to be the bad guy.”  A final breath rattled out and then he lay still.

Kara
watched his motionless form for a moment.  Then, she gave up worrying about him
and looked at Damien.  “Help me.”  She said, simply.

Damien
was instantly on his knees beside her, assessing Slade’s damage with a trained
eye.  The Vampire had already lost consciousness and Damien swore.  “Kara Lynn,
even if I had all of my instruments, there is no way I could repair this damage
to his heart.  No one could.  Slade cannot survive.”

At
his words, thunder rumbled.  Honest-to-God thunder.

Then,
the world went dark.

Even
the stars winked out like someone flipped a light switch.  In the distance, the
night sky splintered into a crimson spider web.  The segments created by the
jagged red lines grew wider.  Spreading.  Cracking.  One by one, the pieces
began to fall away, showing a terrible void on the other side.  Something vital
had been broken and there would be no fixing it.

This
entire world was going to come down around them.

“Oh
no.”  Kara whispered.  The book did not like them killing off the hero and it
wasn’t going to content itself with just a bad review.  It was going to close
the whole fucking show.

Lenore
swept in from out of nowhere, cawing frantically.

Damien
lifted his free hand so the bird would land on his arm, his gaze still on the
angry sky.  “What is that?”  He demanded, harshly.

Kara
swallowed hard.  “I think it’s
Eternal Passion at Sunset’s
grand
finale.”

Damien knew he would die.  His hand covered the wound
in his chest and he sagged to the ground.

Slade stood next to him, the agent of his
destruction.  “This is the end of you, Creature.”

“Yes.”  Damien agreed.  “You are lucky Slade.”

“I know.  I have not been stabbed in the heart, as you
are.  Also, I am a king.”

“Well, there is that.  But, I meant because you found
your Eternal-One.  When you die, she will be at your side.”  Damien stared up
at the Vampire and shook his head.  “If I could die knowing I had a woman who
loved me, I would not have the regrets that I have now.  I think, perhaps, it all
would have been worth it.”

Eternal Passion at
Sunset- Chapter Twenty

Damien
shot Kara a quick glance as the ground shook beneath then.  “It’s the book’s
doing?”

She
didn’t respond to that.  Her eyes were fixed on the manuscript that To’kel had
tossed at her.  “So, this is how you want to end it, huh, Tanya?”  She
whispered.  “Funny.  I thought I’d be more afraid.”

Damien
felt a chill go through him.

A
terrible and growing rumble of power echoed as the earth itself quaked in
protest.  Above their heads, cracks appeared in the walls of the Vampire Palace
and, along the horizon, he saw the ocean roil in turbulent peaks.

The
voices of the crowd rose in shock and worry, their eyes cutting around their
normally peaceful homeland.  A lot of them took off running.  Even more just
stood there gaping.  Nothing like that had ever happened within the Vampires’ pristine
borders before.  It had never happened
anywhere
.  This power wasn’t
natural or supernatural, but something beyond the forces of this world.  Whatever
was going on, Damien knew it was outside the scope of his understanding.  This
was Kara’s area of expertise.

This
was
Eternal Passion at Sunset
preparing to kill them all.

“Kara
Lynn?”  He made his voice louder, breaking through her haze.  “Is this happening
because Slade is dying?”  Even as he asked it, he knew the answer.  Slade was
the hero of this book.

And
heroes couldn’t die at the end of the story.

Kara
gave a nod, focusing on Damien, again.  “See?  I told you Slade had to win, but
you just
always
think you know better.”  She gestured around,
expansively.  “I
told
you I’d be your doom.  I
told
you Slade’s
death could destroy us all.  I told you, I told you, I
told
you.  And
you didn’t listen and now here we are.  I think I’d like an apology before
we’re sucked into oblivion.”

The
woman would drive him crazy one of these days.

Well,
if this wasn’t the last of their days.

Damien
watched as the sky shattered like a window broken by some delinquent child.  Whatever
façade covered this world, it was cracking off one piece at time, faster and
faster.  He knew so much magic… had so many powers… And not even he could
explain such a phenomena.

Damien
couldn’t stop this.  He knew that.  Only Slade could halt the destruction.  If
the Vampire died, he would take this entire universe down with him.

He
would take
Karalynn
down with him.

No.

Damien’s
jaw firmed at the thought.

No
.

“It’s
the end of the world.”  Melessa dabbed at her eyes.  “It’s not fair.  I’m going
to die wearing this stupid bikini.  And I’m so
young
.”

“Who
cares if the world ends?”  Fibos got out between weeping jags.  “Without our
majestic king, what do we have to live for, anyway?”

“Well,
I kinda live for killing people.”  Xim muttered.

“And
there’s math.”  Eugene pulled himself up from the other side of the platform,
rubbing the knot on his head.  “I like math.”

“Also,
our eternal good looks.”  Some random Vampire put in.  “Those are nice.”

More
voices joined the chorus.

“Flying
really fast.”

“Hot
chicks that you can mind control.”

“I
think cars will be invented soon.  That’ll be cool.”

“And
don’t forget shopping.”  Melessa volunteered, sorrowfully.  “I’ll… miss that.” 
She broke down in sobs.

Damien
tuned out their inanity and looked over at the only thing in the world he lived
for.  The only thing he would die for.  “Kara Lynn?”  He trusted her as he
trusted no one else and he had to be sure.  “Is this truly the end of the book? 
There is nothing else to be done?”

She
glanced at him, her eyes damp and resigned.  “I’m sorry.”  She sniffed back
tears, but one still escaped, rolling down her cheek.  “It was my fault.  I’ve
doomed you.  I knew I would.  If you’d just let To’kel stab
me
and not
Slade…”

“The
world could end a hundred times over and I would still make no other choice.” 
Damien interrupted.  Between Kara and Slade, there
was
no choice.  Between
Kara and
anyone
, there was no choice.  Damien would do anything to keep
her alive.

Anything,
at all.

Kara
swallowed hard.  “I love you
so
much, Damien.  I would do all of this
again in a nanosecond, to meet you.”  She made a rueful face.  “Obviously, I’d
do some of it
differently
, this time around.  Like not dying.   But, I
have had the best time of my life in this stupid book.  Zombies and shape
shifters and dragons and all
of it. 
All
of it, Damien.  Because
I was with you.”

Damien
let out a long breath at her words and hugged her against him.  He glanced at
Slade, his mind racing.  The Vampire only had moments to live.  Already his
skin was going pale and waxy.  Damien kissed the top of Kara’s curly head… and
knew what he had to do.     “Alright, then.”  He said, firmly.  “Alright.”

It
was the end.

Karalynn
was right.  He’d have thought that he’d be more afraid.

Damien
released Kara and got to his feet.  He moved his arm in a quick jerk, so Lenore
would take flight.  “Go.”  He looked right at her.  “Be free, as I am.”

Beady
red eyes stared at him as if she understood that he’d just given her what she’d
always wanted and was thanking him for it.  Then, the raven took off soaring
into the fracturing sky, wild and unfettered as the gods had always intended.

Damien
watched the bird disappear, at peace with what was about to come.  He turned
back to Kara and smiled.  “I have something for you.”  Crouching down beside
her, again, he reached into his pocket and came out with an intricate ruby ring. 
“This is meant for my bride.”

“Oh.” 
Her word came out of a breathless sigh as she studied the gigantic stone
surrounded by glittering diamonds.  “Damien, you really made me a ring? 
Really?  With everything else going on?”  She held out her hand so he could
slip it onto her finger, looking delighted despite the dawn of the apocalypse. 
“It’s beautiful.”

It
fit her perfectly.  He knew it would.  “I did not make this.”  His hand curled
around hers and squeezed tight.  “It was my mother’s.  Long ago, she told me to
give it to you.  To my mate.”

Kara
beamed at him through her tears.  “Thank you.”

“You
are welcome.”  He closed his eyes, briefly.  “And I am sorry.”  Before he could
reconsider, he created the handcuffs, again.  Kara gave a gasp surprise as Damien
latched one side around her wrist and then sealed his lips over hers for a
final kiss.  Dragging Kara backwards, his mouth still covering hers, he swiftly
locked the other half of the cuffs around the base of the massive Vampire throne. 
“Forgive me,
cari
.”  He forced himself to step away from her.  “You
would try to stop me and there is no other choice, now.”

“Damien!” 
Her eyes met his in outrage and bafflement.  “What are you doing?”  The throne
was made of solid gold.  Vampires could move it easily, but Kara was far too
small to even shift it with her struggles.  “What are you
doing?!
”

 “My
own decisions have led me to this moment, choosing this path.  I would take no
other.”  He steeled himself against her panicked expression, needing her to understand
that she wasn’t to blame for anything that was about to happen.  “Remember that
I
do this on my own.  The outcome was inevitable, whether or not we met.
 It’s always been my destiny.”

“Stop.” 
Her voice grew frantic.  “Whatever you’re going to do,
stop
.  Let’s talk
about this.”

His
eyes burned into hers.  “You were never my doom, Kara Lynn.  Not ever.”  He
shook his head at how insane that idea seemed, now.  “You are my salvation.”

“Please. 
Please, just untie me and we’ll do this together.”

“I
love you endlessly,
cari
.”  He wished there were better words –deeper
and more unique-- to describe what he felt for her, but he didn’t have the time
to think of any.  “I will miss you, even in death.”  He wanted to say that he’d
wait for her on the other side, but odds were good that they weren’t headed for
the same place.

“Damien,
don’t.”  She whispered, starkly.  “Stay with me.  You said you would.”

He
squeezed his eyes shut at the plea.  “I’d stay with you until the gods themselves
dragged me away.  But, this is the only way to see you safe.”  Glancing away
from her perfect face, Damien turned his attention back to Slade.  “This is the
only thing I can do.”

He
knew the exact moment when Kara fully grasped his plan.

“
Stop!
” 
She screamed it, pulling on the handcuffs so hard they cut into her wrist. 
“Damien,
stop
.  I’m begging you, as your
wife
, don’t do this!”  She
was openly weeping, now, and it was ripping out his soul.  “
Please
,
Damien.”

“Do
not cry.”  He murmured.  “I can’t stand to see you cry.  It will be alright.”

“No. 
No
.  We can go together, but don’t you make me stay here all alone!”

He
didn’t respond to that.  He didn’t trust his voice to work.

Damien
laid his hand on Slade’s faint pulse and tried to clear his mind of everything
except saving the Vampire.  He’d always been the Wizard-Warlocks’ best doctor. 
Given his selfish temperament and antisocial leanings, the gift had continuously
baffled Damien.  Why hadn’t the powers gone to someone more worthy?  Less…
villainous.

Now
he understood why he’d been given the skills to heal his patients, though.  Why
he’d be chosen to survive as the last of his people...

So
he could save the moron who was supposed to save the world.

Damien
scowled down at Slade’s bloodless features in disgust.  “You know,” he mused,
quietly.  “I still hate
you.”

Probably
not an ideal bedside matter, but who gave a shit at this point?  It wasn’t like
anyone was going to remember Damien’s role in this and carve those final words
into
his
golden statue.  When the Vampires got through embellishing this
tale, Slade would have defeated To’kel singlehandedly, before battling a
sea-serpent on his way to dedicate a new puppy orphanage.

Kara
was the only one who would remember Damien and, given her current mood, none of
her recollections would be fond ones.  “Damien, if you do this, I will kill
Slade myself!  I swear to God.”

He
glanced over at her one last time and smiled at that threat.  “You are
incapable of such a thing,
cari
.  You are gentle, and pure, and you will
always think of the welfare of others first.”  He slowly shook his head, amazed
that such a woman was his.  “Unlike Slade and I, you truly are one of the good
guys.”

With
that, Damien moved his palm to Slade’s bleeding chest and began to transfer his
enemy’s fatal injury onto himself.

*****

“
Damien!
” 
Kara screamed his name, although what good it might do she had no idea.  He
wasn’t going to stop.  No matter what she did or threatened or promised, he was
still going to kill himself right in front of her.

He
was going to sacrifice himself for Slade and absorb the stab wound into his own
body.

He’d
sure picked a hell of a time to turn selfless.

“Damn
it!”  She pulled at the cuffs as hard as she could, ripping deep gouges into
her flesh as she tried to pry her wrist free.  “Somebody help me!”  Her gaze
flew around the spellbound crowd, looking for someone to enlist.  “Xim!”  She
gestured frantically at the dragon.  “Get over here and break these handcuffs!”

“Yeah,
but if you stop Damien, I think the world might end, right?”  He asked,
dubiously.  “I mean, that’s what you guys were saying.  And I’m not liking the
earthquakes and all, so I’m thinking maybe we should just let him…you know… keep
doin’ what he’s doin’.”