Chapter 36 #2
Isi is still staring at the talismans. “I can feel it,” she whispers. She wraps her hand around the medallions.
Caene screams in unholy agony, his knees buckling to the ground, his hands grabbing for me, bringing me down with him.
Despite myself, my heart stalls. I look for injury, desperate to stop his pain.
I've never heard him sound like this. Elex appears in front of me, eyes wide. His howl joins Caene’s symphony of pain.
I stare up at Isirae. There’s a look in her eyes I’ve never seen before. A look that terrifies me. She looks like her father; she looks monstrous.
“Isi,” I whisper. “Isi, please. Stop.” She drops her hand and Caene and Elex gasp, sagging to the floor. I shakily get to my feet, reaching for my friend.
“Back off Vay,” she spits at me, stepping back. I barely recognize her now. She’s looking at me with nothing but anger and hatred.
“Isi. What are you doing?” My heart gallops in my chest and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.
“Taking what is mine.” A venomous sneer spreads over her face. “I will be the matriarch of the Montbeth family.” She straightens her spine, lifting her chin. “I won’t be your in shadow any longer.”
“My shadow? Isi. You were never in my shadow. We were equals. Sisters.” Tears burn behind my eyes.
“Equals? Sisters?” She spits each word like they’re poison on her tongue.
“Maybe we were once but not anymore. You had everything, Vay. Master’s respect, money, any man you wanted.
You never had to whore! Even before you came to Berttom’s, you had it all!
You had a mother who loved you, a home, Feron.
Do you want to know what I had, Vayna? Nothing!
My mother was addicted to every drug available!
She started selling me to pay for her habits!
My body. My years. Whatever she could. Then the idiotic woman got too greedy one night, took too much, and died. Leaving me alone with nothing!
“When Otyx found me I thought I would finally be safe, would finally be loved. But then you came along! You were better than me at everything! Perfect little Vayna!”
Tears are cascading down my cheeks. “Isi. I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Isi scoffs, not answering my question. “That all ends today. I will have everything. I will leave you with nothing. Finally, you will learn what it’s like to be truly alone.”
“Isi,” I plead. “Don’t do this. Please. Give Caene the preservation talisman. We’ll run away. You and me. Like we always planned. You won’t have to sell yourself anymore. We’ll take Orryn with us. We’ll be safe and happy. One hope to the next. Remember?”
“Hope? There is no more hope, Vayna! Orryn is dead!” she screams, tears spilling over. The pain in her voice almost makes me buckle. “They killed him!” She points the ethereal axe between Osper’s body and Elex.
“Isi. You still have me. I love you.”
“You love me?” Her voice pitches higher. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have left me! You wouldn’t have abandoned me to these monsters! The monsters at the bordello! You know what it’s like!”
“I didn’t have a choice Isi,” I whisper. “I was taken. I was—”
“No! I don’t want to hear it, Vayna. You should have fought. You should have come back for me! I know you escaped weeks ago. How do I know that, you ask? Because that’s when they took me!”
She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
“No. You don’t love me. But you will fear me.
You will do for me what Maziar wanted you to do for him.
You will make me the most powerful woman in Lyclaven’s history.
I won’t be a queen. No. Together, we’ll make me a goddess.
There’s just one more thing getting in my way.
” She drops the glowing axe and produces a steel one from the air.
Damn. She catches on quickly.
She throws it. Her aim is flawless. The axe comes to a stop, buried in Elex’s chest. Before I can react, she’s picked up the glowing one, this time taking aim at Caene. She releases it.
“No!” I scream, running.
Searing pain explodes in my back and the floor flies up to meet my face. I hear Caene’s scream as I collapse. I can’t feel anything but the pain in my spine. I can’t move any part of my body.
I look up at Caene, who has rolled me over and is holding me against his body. He brings me up so my head rests on his shoulder and pulls the axe from my back. I scream. The pain is more than I can bear.
“Stay with me, little Aelavi. Stay with me.” He picks me up, holding me against his chest, one arm holding my legs, the other putting as much pressure on the wound in my back as he can.
I look down as the floor rushes past. He’s running.
Isi’s screams echo behind us. I can’t make out what she’s saying, but she’s chasing us.
Caene’s saying something, trying to soothe me, but the words get lost in the agony and the darkness. I can’t stay awake much longer.
I’m so tired.
So cold.
Air won’t come.
My breathing falters.
“Vayna. Please.” Caene’s voice is nothing but a whisper. It’s the last thing I hear before the cold and the darkness rise up and claim me for their own.
Before Death takes me in his icy embrace.