Chapter 31
TOBIAS
Maria’s blood rushed through Tobias’ system, waking dead cells and healing the wounds left by Vladimir’s hand.
She’d insisted on Tobias quickly drinking from her before they went back into Rothburn.
There was no good to come from facing danger while Tobias was knocking on death’s door.
He hadn’t drunk much, but enough that he regained some semblance of strength.
All in good time because as they entered the lavish front doors, it was to find Rothburn’s foyer bathed in flame.
Plumes of dark smoke clung to the ceiling and ash stained the walls black.
Vampires fled from the clawing flames, coughing and screaming.
So much was happening that no one paid any mind to Tobias and Maria as they fought their way towards the flames.
Tobias sucked poisoned air into his lungs, causing him to cough hard enough to make his ribs ache.
“I know where they’ll be,” Maria called as a beam cracked above them. “Move–”
Splinters of burning wood fell like snow around them, creating smaller fires across carpets and pieces of ornate furniture.
If it wasn’t for Maria’s intervention, Tobias would’ve been caught beneath the rubble.
The Damianos legacy was crumbing around him. Literally. But for the first time in his long, bitter life, he hoped it was only Rothburn that would fall. Because if Vladimir died…
He couldn’t bear to think about it as they fought through the thick clouds of smoke and the scorching heat.
Tobias couldn’t speak. Words were beyond him. There was only the frantic beat of his heart, the adrenaline coursing through him, and the urgent breaths he took as they sprinted to the ballroom. What he wanted to do was scream Alexander’s name, over and over.
Tobias’ desperation burned more potent and powerful than the flames surging around him. And his desperation grew even hotter when the vampires started disintegrating in clouds of ash.
Maria stopped, releasing a noise akin to a wounded animal as she witnessed the horror. “We’re too late.”
He refused to believe her, although the proof was all around him.
Tobias’ eyes widened as more Damianos vampires turned to ashes around him. The panic was overwhelming. He pinched his eyes closed, refusing to take in the reality. Focus.
He inhaled deeply through his nose, searching for the scent he knew he could find, even in death.
And there, beneath the burning oak and cinder, was Alexander.
Tobias blindly reached for Maria’s hand and pulled her forward. “I’ve found him.”
With that, Tobias led the way like a bloodhound, Maria stumbling behind.
Alexander Damianos was on the ground, the ashen remains of Vladimir falling from over his lap and onto the floor.
His skin was illuminated by the flames. He blinked, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Alexander locked eyes with his sister, the surprise evident across his beautiful face before turning, a moment later, to horror.
Tobias had to watch Maria die, her skin effervescing into smoke and ash. He reached for her but all he caught was stray ash, which smudged across his palm.
Alexander scrambled for Maria’s remains, as though he could catch her and put her back together. But there was no fixing this.
Vladimir was dead, and so the Damianos line had reached its end.
Rothburn was deathly silent. It was as if fate allowed Tobias and Alexander a final moment before the inevitable.
Tobias’ knees hit the floor, the pain not registering compared to the agony in his heart. Alexander was kneeling in the pile of ash that had been Maria, staring blankly.
He acknowledged Tobias only when he wrapped his arms around Alexander and dragged him to his chest. “I’ve got you.”
“You have to live for me,” Alexander begged, rocking back and forth, with Tobias clutched to him. “You have to live for the both of us. Promise me.”
His voice was already weak. Tired and exhausted. But the next words were as clear as spring’s first dawn.
“Promise me.” Tears tracked down Alexander’s cheeks, cutting through the soot on his skin.
“I love you, Alexander.” It was the only thing Tobias could say.
Alexander’s gaze fixed on Tobias as though he could anchor the two of them together. “I thought you died. I did this to… to be with you.”
Fingers fumbling, Tobias took Alexander’s hand and pressed it to his chest. “You will always be with me. Always.”
This agony far outweighed anything Vladimir had done to him. All the wounds that had healed, and the word that had scarred strangely on Tobias’ stomach, paled in comparison to the knowledge that he was about to lose his heart.
“Say it again,” Alexander begged. “Let those three words be the last I hear.”
Tobias leaned forward, and rested his forehead against Alexander’s, surrounded by the destruction Tobias had manifested and yet would now give anything to undo. He pinched his eyes closed, knowing he wasn’t strong enough to watch Alexander die. “I love you so much, Alexander.”
“Not as much as I love you, little deer.”
Smoke hung heavy in the air. Maria’s and Vladimir’s ashes blended in with the floorboards.
When this was all over, there would be nothing but the memory to prove they had ever lived.
Forgotten. Just like the scar on his stomach read.
It had been meant for him, the last Osian, the boy forgotten to history.
But now, as he held his lover, he knew the true meaning of the word.
A deep, resounding silence engulfed them. Tobias knew he couldn’t stop himself from sitting here, clutching what he’d lost, waiting for the flames to take him next. If he’d as good as killed Alexander, he was going to die too.
“Tobias?” Alexander’s voice broke through his tears.
In the dark, he could still feel Alexander. Tobias knew that if he opened his eyes and saw the truth of what was laid out across his lap, it would ruin him. Instead, he would sit here, clutching Alexander’s ashes, waiting for his own death.
“Little deer.” A cool but sticky hand reached up and brushed gently across his cheek. “Tobias, open your eyes for me.”
“No.” Tobias pinched them closed, scrunching his forehead with tension.
“It’s safe,” Alexander said again. “I’m still here. I’m still–”
Tobias’ eyes flew open to find Alexander, still whole and very much alive.
It was not a trick of his trauma or grief, nor was it a ghost speaking to him from beyond the grave.
It was really Alexander. Tobias clutched at his body, frantic and desperate, making sure that he truly was alive. “I don’t understand.”
Rothburn groaned. The fire was everywhere now, cleansing this space of the monstrosities that once dwelled here. But Tobias couldn’t stop looking at Alexander, touching him.
“How is this possible?” The more Tobias touched Alexander, the more this felt real. “You should be dead. The Damianos line is gone.”
“I should be…” Alexander trailed off, soot and blood smudged across his cheekbones and jaw. His gaze grew distant, and Tobias saw the moment it clicked. “Oh. You drank from me, and I from you.”
Tobias shook his head violently, eyes blinded by tears.
“The Damianos family has been ended, yes.” Alexander leaned in closer, entire body shaking. “You… saved me. You’re the head of your own clan now that you’ve made those vampires. I’m not a Damianos. You… you saved me.”
It was as if the world slowed down, down to the ash floating in the air.
“No, Alexander. You saved me.” Tobias clutched Alexander’s face, brushing loose tears from his cheeks. “I love you, Alexander. I love you. Do you hear me? I love you.”
“And I love you,” Alexander replied.
For a moment, he glanced back to where his sister had stood just minutes ago. “I’ll never forgive myself for what I’ve done tonight.”
Maria had suffered because of their choices, even though she had only been trying to help, in the end.
Tobias knew her death would haunt Alexander, and that there wasn’t much he could do about it.
But he vowed, silently, that he’d be by Alexander’s side for as long as he would have him, doing his best to help him through it.
“I’m sorry I lied… I’m sorry I used you. Her death shouldn’t weigh on your soul, but mine. This is all my fault.”
Alexander shook his head. “We can save our declarations until we get out of here. I refuse to lose anything else tonight, and the manor doesn’t seem like it’s terribly structurally sound anymore.”
It was time for them to leave everything behind.
“Don’t let go of me,” Tobias demanded as they stood. He was convincing himself that the only reason Alexander was still alive was that Tobias’ touch was keeping death at bay. It felt too good to be true, that he could have inadvertently saved Alexander’s life.
“Never, little deer.” Alexander leaned into him, put his arm around Tobias’ shoulder, and walked with a limp.
Tobias practically sank his nails into Alexander’s forearm, just to anchor himself to him.
They half walked, half hobbled out of the estate, passing piles of ash falling out of forgotten piles of clothing.
Masks from the ball were scattered around the floor, beside shattered wine glasses and burning embers.
There was not a soul left alive in Rothburn.
Not a single vampire to offer answers. Only Alexander and Tobias, and both of them were far beyond knowing what was happening.
With every step, Tobias expected the weight at his side to vanish and ash to fall. It didn’t. Not when they left the ballroom or stepped outside the front doors, a hot blaze of wood and stone at his back. Alexander stayed with him. Stayed standing, breathing, living.
Expensive cars were littered around the gravel driveway. The guard posts beside the security gate were empty. All that remained were the scattering of ashes, caught on the hot breeze, swirling like dancing ghosts.
They were barely down the stone steps when the weight of everything that happened came crashing down on Tobias. He fell to his knees, pulling Alexander with him. Neither man tried to stand again. They held one another like it was the last time they’d touch.
All Alexander kept saying, over and over, was, “I’ve got you, I’m here to stay, you’re mine.”
“I’m not worthy of you, Alexander,” Tobias said, while looking to the smoke-filled sky. “I don’t deserve this–”
Alexander took Tobias’ face in his hands and leaned in. “Yes, you do. Do you know what you are to me, now?”
As he brought his lips to Tobias’, he whispered a single word. “Home.”
Tobias smiled against Alexander’s mouth, releasing a sigh he felt he’d been holding for hundreds of years. “Home,” he agreed.
The kiss sealed the promise between them. It was the end of their feud and the beginning of their lives together. They had lives to reconstruct, made vampires to save. A new kind of family to build.
They would do it together.
“Listen carefully, little deer,” Alexander said, planting kisses on his lips, cheek, head, shoulder, any place his mouth could reach.
“I’m worthy of you. I’m worthy of this. The demon who shadowed our lives, who haunted our paths, is no more.
I’m not a Damianos anymore. I’m something better. Something more.”
“You’re mine,” Tobias whispered.
Alexander smiled, looking angelic as Rothburn burned behind him, silhouetting him. “That I am. As you are mine.”
“Home,” Tobias repeated the earlier sentiment.
Slowly, they got up and turned to face Rothburn, side by side, hand grasping each other’s as if they’d never let go. Neither vampire moved, not until the fire went out and Rothburn was smoking in the dawn light.
Only when they were sure their past had been left in cinders did they turn their backs on it, and step away. Hand in hand, together – and, for the first time in Tobias’ long, immortal life, hopeful.
Their story could’ve ended in tragedy, but it hadn’t. With each stride away from Rothburn, they knew that out of this death, life had only just begun – for the both of them.