31. Brielle
31
Brielle
T he blood rushing in my ears muffles everything around me. Even whatever Azra is telling to the woman in front of us. Sentries crowd her, but her smile doesn’t leave her face.
Sister.
“I don’t have a sister.” I use every fiber of my strength to steady my shaky voice. The sentries halt from trying to grab her.
“Smart choice, boys.” She looks at each one of the males that were going to remove her from here. Those pale green eyes land on mine once again, nearly gutting me with how identical they are to my mother’s. “Funny, because here I am. Your sister.” Her arms raise from under her cloak. Raised scars snake around each pale arm.
“Unless you want to learn how long the brain remains active once removed from the body, I’d suggest telling us who you really are.” Azra’s threats only have her eyebrows shooting up at him.
“Ohhh, Brielle, he is quite scary when he gets all protective. I’ve watched him long enough that I know he will make good on that promise.” She picks at her nails and sighs. “Long story short, Mommy kept you, Daddy kept me and when Lilith came looking for our sweet grandmother, Daddy didn’t really stand a chance, did he? So, she took me and tortured the ever-living fuck out of me until I somehow conjured up my three-year-old memories of where to find our abomination of a grandmother.” She runs her hands along each of her arms to show off the gruesome scars.
“I would show the rest but you know, there are children present.” Her mouth clicks as one side of her lips lifts. “And in exchange for this information, Lilith decided that out of the kindness of her frozen nonexistent heart, she would raise me as one of her own. Who wouldn’t want a little nephilim in their arsenal?” Her eyes glow a bright green. “I have to admit, Azra, it was a challenge dodging your little spies all these months. Though Brielle got closer to finding me before you took her. That warehouse pumping vampires into your community… well, you’re looking at the founder.” She winks at me.
I step forward from a phantom pull toward her. Azra reaches out to steady me. I shake my head at her as tears sting my eyes and heat fills my veins. She has been around me for years. The sudden rise of vampires. Then the weird feelings I’ve had since killing Lilith. It’s been her.
“My dad died before I was born. He was killed by vampires!” Her laugh echoes around the room.
“Right, and Mom burned all of his pictures in a fit of rage. Isn’t that the story they told you?” My eyes widen. My heart feels like it is about to explode in my stomach.
This can’t be true.
“Why? Why would they do that?” My tone has turned my words into pleas.
“Because of what we are.” She moves closer and Azra steps close beside me. “They had me at seventeen and they learned quickly how I would be hunted for the rest of my life. They believed they could protect me with a stupid amulet. It worked until three years later, you were conceived after failed precautions and our powers together would bring too much attention to us from other forces. So, our lovely parents decided to split us in hopes our powers separated would keep us safe.” She huffs a laugh. “Well, Lilith showed me just how warm and cozy they kept you.”
Her jaw ticks as she lifts her chin and rolls her shoulders as if the story pains her to say. Like a switch, she smiles again and curtseys. The guards lunge slightly forward at her sudden movement.
“I’m Vara, by the way.” Her smile is truly bone-chilling. Everything in my stomach lurches up my throat at her name being my mother’s middle name. She straightens and looks around her. “Ugh, enough of you.” Vara’s face twists in disgust as she twists her hands and the sentries surrounding her drop. The sounds of their necks breaking cause screams to erupt around us.
Azra lunges forward, her arm reaches forward as if she is grabbing something, and she pulls. My body flies toward her and I fall flat on my face off the dais.
“Brielle!” Azra rushes to my side as I lift onto my arms. I can feel the blood trickling out of my nose.
“What did you do?” I slowly stand, wiping the blood with the back of my hand. Beings all around us are still running and screaming. I glance behind her and notice the vampires filing into the room.
I frantically search for Andrea, but I don’t find her.
“Looking for your little witch? Yea, she won’t be helping you any longer.” Vara sucks her teeth. “Such a shame she couldn’t unravel that last thread of our bond. A hell of a witch, that girl.”
Go, I can handle her.
I tell Azra down the mental bridge that connects us.
Are you sure?
Yes! Go save our people.
Vara’s eyes bounce between Azra and me, a smile slowly forming on her face.
“Aww, don’t keep secrets guys. I just told you all of mine.” She sarcastically frowns. “Well, I guess I didn’t share one. You should get better patrols, Azra. One silly little threat in the human realm and I got all of you out of here long enough to rip enough openings in the veil for my little vamps to enter. It was almost too easy.” Azra steps forward, his entire forearms lit with blue power.
The screams become louder as the floor runs red with blood. People are frantically running out of the ballroom and being attacked.
Go!
Azra looks at me once more and then vanishes. My entire body feels on fire.
“You. You were the one draining me of my power.” My eyes heat. The glow from them illuminates her freckled face. I let my power build in my fist before swinging and connecting with her jaw. Vara’s head twists to the side. Strands of her hair lay over her face when she turns back to me. She grips her jaw and smiles, her teeth stained red from the blood my hit caused.
“How cute.” Her smile drops, and she pushes her palm toward me. My feet fly off the ground and my back cracks against the seat of Azra’s throne. I groan at the pain. My healing begins to slow. I wince as she steps atop the platform and kneels over me. “I will drain you until you die tonight.”
“Why?” I try to push up, but the pain in my back radiates through my entire body. “What have I done to you?”
She purses her lips and taps her finger on her lips, my mother’s lips. Disgust ripples through me that she would have the features of my mother. She doesn’t deserve them.
“You have ruined my life since you were in the womb. Once you are dead and I have your power, no one will be able to stop me from taking Lilith’s place in the Underworld. I will be the most powerful nephilim to have ever walked this earth. You think Lilith took her time finding you just because?” She laughs again. “Once we found a Morveaux witch years after Lilith killed our mother, we knew it was time to bring your ass in. Those damn witches are so hard to come by these days, and here you are with one that hasn’t even scratched the surface of what she can do.” She pushes my hair out of my face and I jerk back from her touch. “You do look just like Daddy,” she whispers.
A genuine smile shows for a mere second before she stands. The pain in my back eases with each passing moment but I stay sitting, slowly reaching for the dagger I have sheathed around my thigh under my dress.
“As for your witch, she’s in great hands. We will teach her all she needs to know.” She flicks her golden hair and moves toward the edge of the platform.
I growl as I lunge upward, my dagger slicing her thigh.
“ Ah! You little bitch.” She grabs at me, but I roll off the dais and land on my feet. I kick off my shoes and run. Everyone has evacuated the ballroom, the faint screams come from outside now. Only Vara and I are here.
“You know, the ritual was easy to perform while you were in Lilith’s cell.” Her voice echoes around me. My skin crawls at her name. “They would often beat you unconscious, so we had no problems keeping you asleep and compliant.”
A burning blast sends me hurling into a pillar. I hear my ribs crack at the impact of the hard stone. My dagger clatters to the floor.
Dropping to my knees, I search for it while holding my left side to ease the shooting pain, taking my breath away.
“And with us having the same blood pumping through our veins, it made it all that much easier. The bond was set in stone for as long as we both shall live.” Vara walks toward me, her nose scrunched with a smile. I try to stand regardless of the pain with each move. My bones ache as my power fuses them slowly. “Sad that you won’t live to hear those words at your wedding.”
I swing the dagger toward her throat, but she dodges and pushes me until my back hits the same pillar. I wince from the pain now traveling through my spine.
Vara presses her forearm against my throat. My body sags against it as I accept a fate I’ve been waiting for.
No one else will get hurt if this is my end.
I drop the dagger and close my eyes, sending my last I love you to Azra in my thoughts.
“I should have known you’d lay down and die just like our mother.” It’s as if time stops once she mutters about my mother’s death. A scorching ball grows rapidly in my chest, leaking into every vein and pumping my burning power until I can barely take the blaze. My body vibrates with anger.
My mother wouldn’t want me to just lie down and die. Willow wouldn’t either.
You are worthy of a good life, Brielle. Live that life… for me.
Willow’s words ring in my ears as blood rushes into them. My eyes spring open.
“Don’t speak about my fucking mother!” I allow the fire to consume me. The whites of Vara’s eyes glow with the golden light around my body. Raising my arms, I push her with all of my might. She flies across the large ballroom, the wall cracking from the impact of her body.
I walk toward her, throwing blast after blast into her body, still pinned to the wall. My muscles ache, but I don’t stop. I won’t stop until she is dead.
My ripped dress, once light and perfect, is stained with the blood of others on the floor.
I pick up a sword from one of the dead sentries at my feet and steady myself. This is what Torin has been training me for. I will my power to build in my free hand as I extend it and lift her from the ground. Dropping my hand quickly, she slams into the marble.
“Did I take most of your power when I broke the bond?” I mock her.
Vara’s body finally collapses to the floor when my powers only flicker in my palms. I notice her body shaking the closer I get. Suddenly, her laughter built louder, her body was shaking from her laughing.
“What is so funny?” I ask through my gritted teeth. My fists are cool at my sides now, just as they were a month ago. Her golden hair lies in strands over her face. Her green eyes glow even more than earlier.
“You played your part well, stupid girl.” She lunges forward. A sharp pain takes my breath away. I stumble back and look down. Only the handle of a dagger is jutting out of my left torso under my breast.
“NO!” I hear shouts as black crowds my vision while I take shallow gasps for air.
My body hits the floor before the darkness finally takes over.