53. Wolf
Chapter 53
Wolf
M ost people die only once. One final death to end it all.
I was not so lucky.
The first time I felt it was the night my father turned me into a vampyre. Vampyres were born creatures, not turned. To accomplish this, my father needed a sacrifice, one worthy of such a transformation.
My life.
It was a swift death. One of his men slipped the dagger into my heart as I lay on the stone table in his study.
I barely felt a pinch, the pain too insignificant to care all these years later.
The darkness that followed, that was what I remembered. I remembered the way I drowned in it, how I fought to climb back up to the surface, to breathe, but there was no air there. There were only more shadows, more black air and void existence, nothingness.
That’s when she appeared, her face a beacon in the dark void of my death. She appeared to me first with bright eyes, her power cascading around me and pulling me from that endless pit.
Her eyes were sad.
“Your father has sacrificed you to me, child. He requests that I return you as a vampyre. Are you aware of this?”
Though I wasn’t even sure she could see me, I nodded. “He’s made his intentions clear to me, yes.”
She eyed me carefully, as if deciding whether my life was even worth the trouble. “You’ll be useful to me in the future, child. However lost you may seem, however twisted this may all get, I’ll need you.”
She touched the center of my heart. All the darkness around us spiraled after her finger and followed her touch into my flesh.
“You need me for what?”
The shadows poured into me in waves, though I still couldn’t read her face. Her eyes hadn’t changed, but the darkness pouring into me became painful. Violent.
“You cannot remain an angel and become a vampyre, child. You are somewhere in between, neither here nor there.” More power flowed through my veins. “You will not understand this. You may not even remember it. But when the day comes, you will know.”
I could barely speak over the pain that burned like a fire in my chest. “I’ll know what? What are you talking about?”
And that was it. I woke up that day as a vampyre, desperate for the taste of blood and flanked by black wings that told everyone what happened.
This time, though, was much different.
There was no darkness swirling around me, no pain, no fear.
No confusion.
“Am I dead?” I gasped. “Is it real this time?”
Era’s eyes were not sad as she stood before me, light radiating around her body. “Yes, Wolf. You are dead.”
I did not feel afraid of what would happen next. Instead, a tidal wave of peace fell over me.
“You’ve done everything asked of you,” she said, moving closer. “Because of you, because of the sacrifices you’ve made, there is a fighting chance of saving the ones you love.”
“This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?” It all came together in my mind. She was behind all of this, behind me becoming a vampyre, behind Huntyr surviving Moira.
“When your father first asked me to turn you, child, I was skeptical. I should have shut it all down before he grew too strong. My abilities in this realm only extend so far in the physical world, but the day I met you, I knew you would be of use to me.”
I closed my eyes, reveling in the fact that it was all over. I was done fighting. “You did this? You ended it?”
“It took all your power to end him, yours and the girl’s combined. I touched you with enough power that day so you would be able to kill him, but only when met with hers, and only when you were ready.”
Fuck, that explained so much. My power had been slowly growing, even more so when I met Huntyr.
My eyes snapped open, my peace halting at the thought of her. “Huntyr—is she alive?”
Era smiled. The calmness within her pulsated toward me. “She is alive, yes.”
I let out a long breath. Good. All of this was for her, so she could survive, so she could finally be free.
I would die any day to keep her safe, to let her taste freedom.
“You may feel at peace with your decision to sacrifice yourself, child, but your work is not done.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m sending you back there. This was not a death of your doing, but one of mine, one I required of you for the bigger plan. I will give you the gift of one more life in this realm, Wolf, but there is something I need from you.”
Though I could not feel my body, I lifted my chin. “You’re sending me back there?”
She waved her hand and showed me a thousand moving pictures. Huntyr, Jessiah, and Rummy ran through the forest. Huntyr collapsed over my body, sobbing uncontrollably. Fuck . She was going to be so pissed that I’d gone and gotten myself killed.
Again.
But the next picture was the ruins of Scarlata, hundreds, if not thousands, of vampyre survivors tending to wounds, hugging each other, leaning on one another.
“They need you,” she pushed, pictures vanishing. “She needs you. There was a time when all of Vaehatis lived in peace, Scarlata Empire too. There was a time when all my creatures existed together. I have seen your heart, boy, and I have seen hers. She may have a good heart now, but the light fades without you.”
My throat tightened. “What are you saying?”
“I am sending you back to your wife, Wolf Jasper. Only this time, you will have everything he took from you.”
“Everything he–”
“And once you’re there, I need you to give the girl a message.”