Worth fighting for
WORTH FIGHTING FOR
Celine
The bright lights of the city herald my return.
And the phone buzzing in my pocket indicates that I’m back within cellphone reception. I usually don’t pick it up when I’m flying, but it’s buzzing so insistently, I take it out of my pocket.
Almost nobody has my cell number. Renata, Tudor…the mayor.
And Cedric.
There’s a voicemail from an unknown number. I put it to my ear.
My brother’s smug voice rings out. “Hello, Celine.”
My fury mounts again. If he was standing in front of me, I would stake him on the spot. I have a strong urge to throw my phone in the lake. But that would accomplish nothing.
Cedric’s voice says, “I’m aware that father has dragged you out of the city on one of his ridiculous tirades against the kitchen witches. I hope you enjoy your final battle, since by the time you receive this message, I will have infiltrated the Respite hotel with my night guard and imprisoned Renata and Lexi in their crypts. You see, I took advantage of the party to sneak in and change the security codes of their private chambers. I knew it would come in handy, I just didn’t realize how quickly it would pay off.”
He chuckles malevolently. Furious, I pause, suspended in the air above a busy intersection. I was heading to Lazarus’s mafia headquarters, planning to stop him and Cedric there. But if Cedric is at the hotel, I need to take this opportunity to get my revenge.
If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to end my traitorous brother.
“Oh, but that’s not all, dear sister!” the voicemail continues. “Not even close. While you were gallivanting through the woods with our Creator, I kidnapped your sweet girlfriend. It was so easy to pick her up off the street outside of her apartment. She looked a little roughed up, Celine. You should really take better care of your toys.
“But of course, that won’t be anything compared to what Lazarus is going to do to her. While I’m at the hotel, he’s going to be back at the mansion, slowly draining your cute plaything until she’s an inch from death. Then he’s going to slow down even more. You know the stories about Lazarus, don’t you? About how he loves to play with his food. And I’m sure he’ll have a wonderful time with your bartender. I’m a little jealous. She’s such a pretty thing. And her blood smells delicious …”
Rage overcomes me, as sharp as my stake and a hundred times more deadly. The phone crumbles to dust in my fist, the wind picking up the tiny pieces and swirling them down onto the city below.
I hover over the honking cars and bustling crowd, only a few streets from the hotel.
My fury knows no bounds. I have a chance now, an opportunity to end this once and for all. Cedric and I are the same age, equal in power and strength. I could go to the hotel and face him, unleash my anger and finally satisfy the thirst for revenge that’s been brewing inside me ever since he betrayed us.
Betrayed me .
But…I think of Amara, imprisoned in Lazarus’s mansion. I know that Cedric’s threat is real, that Lazarus would take great pleasure in killing her, slowly and painfully. And I know that he’ll do it before the night is through.
I remember the fear and the hurt in her eyes when I last saw her, the blood running down from her throat.
She’s a witch, but she won’t be powerful enough to escape Lazarus Gray. Certainly not in the weakened state she’s in.
The weakened state I put her in when I drank from her.
And something unravels within me. Something old and entrenched. Something I didn’t even know was wrapped around my heart.
I should never have let her leave in such a state. I should have known that something like this would happen.
I put her in this danger…
Even if she’s a Hecate witch, even if she’s the enemy spy…I can’t bear the thought of Lazarus sucking the blood from her veins.
How could I have let her go like that?
The wind whips through my hair and the lights of the city beam up at me, tauntingly.
In one direction, the hotel. The final opportunity to seek revenge against my brother. The bloodshed I’ve so desperately craved these long years.
In another, the mansion.
Amara.
She broke my trust, just like my brother.
I owe her nothing. Less than nothing. I should leave her to Lazarus. If I save her, surely she’ll stake me at the first opportunity she has. She’ll be loyal to her coven. Hecate witches don’t consort with vampires.
But I can feel the warm glow of her blood inside me…
And I don’t have time to think anymore.
A slow, ambling snow begins to fall over the city.
I make my choice. And I turn to my destination.
Amara
Over the course of my long life, I’ve broken fingers, toes, my left arm. I’ve twisted my ankle more times than I could count.
I’ve had concussions, been tied up, kidnapped, fallen twenty feet from my broom (into a thornbush, no less).
I’ve lost my fair share of blood in battle, had my magic bound, been knocked unconscious and off my feet countless times.
Before modern dentistry, I had to have two teeth pulled. I still remember the enormous pliers and the gushing of blood. The sting of whiskey in my throat.
That was not fun.
But this…
This is so much worse than anything I’ve ever experienced.
When Celine bit me, she glamoured me first. Enchanted me so that the pain was all mixed up with pleasure.
Lazarus Gray does no such thing. He finds a clean spot on the other side of my neck and sinks his long, venomous fangs deep into my artery. There’s no twisted pleasure in it, not for me at least.
I scream in agony as pain wracks my body. Although I know there’s no hope of escape, I use my last reserves of strength to try and disentangle myself from his grasp.
But he holds me like a vise as he sucks slowly from the bleeding wound on my neck. I know there’s no point in fighting, but when I hear his self-satisfied moans, my anger and desperation overcome me and I give it all that I have.
O Hecate , I think desperately. Please, please save me. I don’t want to die like this.
As anger turns to hopelessness, tears stream down my face.
And all thoughts vanish.
All thoughts except for one image…
Celine. Her dark brown hair flowing wildly around her shoulders, her blood-red lips set in a determined expression, her eyes…so fierce…
If I die, will I see her again? The thought of losing her is worse than anything else.
But the image in my mind is so powerful, it’s almost as though she’s here with me. Hovering beside the moon, surrounded by a hazy halo of snowflakes.
Wait…
No, it can’t be…
In a bright red flash (tinged with gold?), the massive hall window shatters. Glass spills everywhere, littering the floor and chairs.
Celine flies into the hall, her fierce gaze trained on Lazarus and I. Yellow and red light radiates from her fingertips. She must have absorbed some of my magic when she drank from me last night!
I can’t believe she’s here, hovering over the shattered glass like an unholy angel.
“C…Celine…” I whisper weakly, a tear falling gently to the blood-splattered floor.
“Enjoying yourself, you sick bastard?” Celine hisses at Lazarus.
The ancient vampire tears himself from my neck, looking up at her lazily. I gasp with relief .
“How nice of you to join us,” he says. “You’ve come just in time to watch your little plaything die a slow, agonizing death. I have to say, you have excellent taste. Her blood is delectable, even for a witch. She must have been quite powerful. Not powerful enough, however…”
I’m shaking uncontrollably, aware that blood is still gushing from my neck. A wave of dizziness overwhelms me. But I can’t pass out. I need to do everything I can to stay alive.
But at least if I die…I got to see her one last time…
“Thank you, Hecate,” I whisper weakly.
“Let her go immediately,” Celine demands, with a voice forged in iron. A voice from a time when weakness wasn’t an option. A voice that shakes the foundations of the mansion itself.
But Lazarus isn’t deterred. “You’ve wasted your time, progeny of Tudor Thornblade. This witch is going to die. And while you stay here talking to me, Cedric is invading your precious hotel. I’m sure he’s already captured your useless sisters, and is fortifying his position. If you leave now, you might have a chance to stop him.”
I blink, trying to process what he’s saying. Cedric is at the hotel? Possibly hurting Renata and Lexi? What about Xia and Nova?
I summon all of my effort. “Ce…Celine, you have to go! Save your s…sisters!”
My voice is weak, and hoarse. But Celine has vampiric hearing. And even if she couldn’t hear me, she knows what I would say.
She knows more about me than anyone else. Her eyes meet mine across the hall. Despite the resolve in her expression, they soften.
Maybe it’s the blood loss, or the adrenaline coursing through my veins…but time slows down.
I know how important getting revenge on Cedric is to Celine. It’s what she’s dreamed of for years. And the hotel, the empire she’s built…she can’t let those things go…
But I can see something different in her pale violet eyes. Something beyond the monster that she thinks she is. It’s the same look she gave me that night in the park. The first time she told me that she loved me.
“I’m warning you one last time, Lazarus Gray,” she says. “Let her go.”
The ancient vampire tosses his head back in a single, barking laugh.
“If you want her so badly,” he replies. “Come and get her. ”
Then, in one movement, he grabs me by the neck and holds me up in the air, my legs dangling above the floor.
He squeezes my throat, and blood gushes down, soaking my chest. I cough and gasp, clawing at his hand with my fingers, my weak body instinctively hanging on for life.
Celine doesn’t hesitate. She swoops out of the air like a bat out of hell. She launches herself at Lazarus, powerfully enough that he drops me. I crumble to the ground, trying desperately to catch my breath.
She’s strong, and she’s ingested my blood, and therefore my light magic.
But so has Lazarus. And he’s much older than she is.
I watch as she struggles to reach the dagger-stake at her ankle. Lazarus hoists her up by her blazer and tosses her across the room. She lands in a pile of chairs, but quickly rights herself again.
Blood is still spilling from my throat. I rip off my silk shirt and hold it to my neck, trying to stem the flow of blood. I may have already lost too much, but I can’t give up.
Goddess of Good Witches, hear my prayer…help me escape this vampire’s lair…
And then I see it…my wand! It rolled underneath one of the long wooden tables.
I feel Hecate’s presence, giving me strength. Hoisting myself onto my elbows, I drag myself toward my wand and grab it. Traces of light energy magic tingle on my fingers.
But it’s nowhere near enough. I’ve lost so much blood, there’s no way I could perform a spell powerful enough to disable an ancient vampire, even with my wand in hand.
There’s a loud bang from across the room. I roll onto my back, still trying to keep the shirt against my neck so I don’t lose any more blood.
It doesn’t look good. Celine’s body is hunched up against the back of the event hall, her head lolling unnaturally on her neck.
“Celine!” I shout. It looks like she’s healing, but slowly.
My words distract Lazarus, who turns his gaze to me. There’s a horrible gleam of delight in his eyes. He must be satisfied that Celine is helpless for the time being, because he moves toward me.
My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. I’ve never been so terrified in my life .
Lazarus Gray, his eyes pure red, his fangs elongated and dripping with my blood, walks over to me and crouches down.
“I really must thank you,” he leers. “It gets so dull, living for centuries on end. It’s always exciting when breathers struggle a bit. But in the end, I always win.”
I grip my wand in my fist, tears streaming down my face. From out of the corner of my eye, I see Celine’s limp form.
She won’t be able to save me.
But I don’t need her to.
I hate killing. For the past eight months, I’ve done everything I can to avoid it.
But sometimes, there are things worth fighting for.
And I’m lucky enough to have a love worth fighting for.
Lazarus Gray bends down over me, heading straight for my neck.
With one final burst of effort, I take the wand in my fist…
And I plunge it deep into the vampire’s chest.
“Amara…”
My eyes flutter open. Her face is the first thing I see. Shining down at me under the light of the moon. Snowflakes are falling from the shattered window, and have settled in her dark, tangled hair.
“Celine,” I whisper, but my voice is cracked.
“Shh, don’t try to talk,” she says. She bares her fangs and puts her wrist to her mouth, biting down on it. Thick, almost purple blood oozes out.
Before I can protest, she puts her wrist to my lips. Her blood drips into my mouth like nectar.
Months ago, I would have recoiled in horror at the gesture. But now, I’m so grateful for the thick, rich liquid. It eases the pounding in my head and warms me up, like drinking hot cider or whiskey.
If cider or whiskey had supernatural healing abilities.
And more importantly, I can taste her. Feel her life force resonate through me. My heart strengthens, pumping her blood through my veins.
We’re bound together now, forever.
“I…I thought I lost you,” I whisper. A lump forms in my throat. “I’m so, so sorry, Celine. I never meant to deceive you or your family. I hated having to spy on you. I was only doing it for my coven. But I know that’s no excuse…”
She shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. I know what it’s like, to have to do things you don’t want to do because of your loyalties.”
“But still…I never wanted to hurt you. The more I got to know you…the more I fell for you. All of those moments between us were real. I meant what I said, Celine. I love you.”
She holds me on her lap, looking down at me with such love in her eyes I could explode.
“I love you too, Amara. More than I ever thought was possible. I would do anything for you.”
Then I remember something, and I sit up suddenly.
“Wait! Your brother…Cedric…he’s at the hotel! Your chance to get revenge…”
She sighs. “It’s all right. That doesn’t matter, not if I have you.”
Her words make my weakened heart leap.
But…the blood flowing through my veins gives me new resolve.
And I don’t just have a love worth fighting for.
She comes with a family, too.