Chapter 16
Connection
Death was an old friend. Grayson was surprised by how familiar it was.
Even how familiar the act of his blood being taken was despite it being drunk by Artemis.
Though he had never experienced being drunk dry, he had asked his fledglings about how it felt and they had been right in their halting, ecstatic descriptions.
Death was light.
A lightness that had him feeling as if he was rising up from the divan and floating.
The sensation of separating from his body like a balloon filled with helium and bobbing up into the air was as close to how he could describe it.
There was no pain here. No exhaustion. No mortal body to weigh him down.
Death was light.
It wasn’t frightening or painful or really anything at all.
He felt calm. Serene. That word truly made sense to him in this space.
The only thing that distressed him was Ryder.
Ryder should be doing this to him Ryder should be giving him the blood of everlasting life. But it was Kaly. Or rather, Artemis.
He thinks I’ll be loyal to him when this is over. But he is wrong. I will destroy him.
And that’s what Grayson was waiting for.
The return of weight. The return of strength.
The power in his chest would burst into a roaring fire.
And when Artemis let down his guard–if only for a second–Grayson would have him.
He would rip him molecule from molecule.
There would be nothing left. Even if that meant he would die and have to be born again as he could not feed but from his “Master”, he would still do it.
For he would never be beholden to someone that would compromise his loyalty to Daemon.
Artemis did not understand this. But he would. In the end.
The dark and bloody end.
He was so light. So very, very light. And the darkness was so very, very dark.
He tasted Artemis’ blood on his lips. It pattered on his tongue.
It slid down his throat. He did not even have the strength to swallow.
It just flowed into him against his will.
It pooled in his stomach. Heavy and hot and almost sweet.
This turning was not his will. But he held onto the fact that once he was reborn he would have his revenge.
Just wait. Just wait. I will have you, Artemis Alucius.
And it was good not to think of him as Kaly.
Kaly was Caemorn. Kaly was waiting for him back in Nightvallen.
He could almost picture Caemorn’s brow furrowing as time was passing and they had not returned.
He knew that Caemorn would never forgive Artemis for this.
Grayson’s determination to shred him was likely nothing compared to what Caemorn would do.
But his dreams of revenge were ripped away from him as everything changed.
Artemis was gone from on top of him and Fiona was there. She had his shoulders. She was gripping him and he suddenly felt very heavy again. Artemis’ blood was starting to sizzle in his veins. Turning him. Turning… turning…
“Hold on, Grayson!” she begged.
What should he hold onto? The blood was like a lead weight inside of him, anchoring him to this spot, this body, this moment. Turning… turning… turning…
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know,” she whispered.
There was nothing to do. He wanted to tell her how glad he was that she was there. How surprised he was but how it felt meant too. Then he heard other voices. Was that Charlie? He sounded so different and yet altogether familiar. But when did Charlie become commanding and a little scary?
And was that a Dire Wolf that leaped over his body and shouldered the door closed as fists began to pound against it? Yes, it was! But that made no sense. None of this made sense.
Finally, he heard Ryder’s voice. His lips parted to form words, but all that emitted from them was a bloody froth. Ryder’s voice was anguished and full of rage and then despair and then…
Something was happening. Something strange.
So strange. He felt the sizzling of Artemis’ blood leaving his veins.
He saw the blood floating up out of him into the very air and disappearing.
The lightness was coming back again, but this time he didn’t want it to.
He wanted to stay here. Ryder was here. Fiona was here.
Hell, Charlie was here with that Dire Wolf.
He had to know what he’d missed for he had clearly missed a lot.
And then…
“Ryder, go now! Give Grayson your blood! I will handle Artemis,” Charlie commanded and Grayson was practically nodding and getting up to obey him, but he had no control over his body.
Ryder’s face was suddenly above his. So handsome. So beloved. And so anguished. “Oh, my love, forgive me for this. I wanted it to be so different.”
Different? What did he mean? Oh, yes, the turning… the turning… the turning…
“You cannot do this,” Artemis croaked from somewhere out of his vision. “You cannot. It has been foreseen.”
Foreseen? What did that mean? Did Artemis have a Seeyr in his group? But could they out-see the Immortal Seeyr? Surely, no. But what if Seeyr had foreseen this?
And then in a voice that chilled Grayson to his bones, Charlie said, “We are doing this, Artemis. We make our fate. We are us.”
We are us. We are the Immortals. That’s what he means. Charlie then… Charlie is Mirryr. Of course, he is. Who else could it be?
Ryder put an arm underneath his body and lifted Grayson into his arms. That felt so good.
To be held. To be cradled. To be beloved.
Ryder smoothed Grayson’s hair back from his forehead with the other hand.
He felt so treasured. So safe. He smiled.
He knew his lips were still bloody. He could feel Artemis’ blood still on his tongue.
He swallowed. He couldn’t help it. He felt those drops of blood chase each other down to his stomach.
Oh… was that bad? Fiona had somehow turned back time.
Removed Artemis’ blood. Most of it. But not all of it.
“Grayson, I need to know if I have your permission to turn you,” Ryder said.
Of course. Of course. Always. I want this!
But the words were lodged in his mind. His mouth could only pucker slightly. Nothing more. Excitement and frustration merged, but he couldn’t even grunt. His body was hardly his any longer.
“Grayson, oh, gods, my love, can you nod? Do you want this?” Ryder begged.
Yes! YES! I want you! I want this!
“If he can’t tell me, Fiona, and I do this and he didn’t want it to be me, what then?” Ryder began.
Fiona gripped Ryder’s arm. “He’d forgive you for anything. But I know he wants it to be you.”
I do! Can’t you hear me? Oh, you can’t… you can’t…
“You just need to do it, Ryder. I know this isn’t what you hoped. But there is no more time,” Charlie said.
No more time. He’s right. There is no more time…i
The lightness was starting to separate him from Ryder, sending his soul spiraling up to the ceiling, and then he would pass through it into the second floor and then the floor after that and then the floor after that until he reached the night sky.
He knew he would be spirited to another place once he was in the open air.
A gate. Yes. A gate. And while there would be a choice for others, there would not be for him.
Not that he would choose anything other than to be made once more.
But no, he didn’t want that. He didn’t! He wanted to be here. This life. He wanted this life.
Ashyr? A voice he recognized. But how could it be here? How could it be now?
Caemorn? He gasped. There was a pause and he knew then that it was and wasn’t Caemorn. Kaly?
Yes, it is me. Truly me, the voice answered.
How are you–you’re not one of these traitors–
No, not one of them. Not a slice. Me. The core. Waiting to be reborn pursuant to Seeyr’s plan, Kaly answered.
Seeyr’s plan? I think something has gone wrong with that, Grayson laughed a little bitterly. He thought he heard Eyros laughing along with him. He’d been foolish to trust any plan. The future was ever changing.
No, not wrong. Just different than what you thought, Kaly told him almost gently. But that doesn’t mean it won’t work out exactly how you hoped. Or maybe better. But perhaps that is just my wish.
I can’t make Ryder understand that I want this. I want him to turn me. But I’m dying. I think I might be too far gone, Grayson admitted.
Death is yours to control, Ashyr, Kaly said. So control it.
I…
Control it.
Grayson realized that he couldn’t see Ryder’s face any longer.
He was, in fact, seeing the endless stars of the Ever Dark sky.
He could feel the slender thread connecting his soul to his body.
He willed himself to go back down. He slowly started to descend.
But he knew he was moving too slow. The thread was starting to fray. Soon it would snap.
KALY! I can’t do it! I’m losing–
It’s all right. I will help you, Kaly said.
There was a sensation of someone lightly pushing down on the center of Grayson’s chest. The night sky disappeared.
He saw the interior of stone then a room filled with light and water then more stone until he was back in his body.
It felt like he had fallen from a great height. He drew in a ragged breath.
“Grayson?!” Ryder gasped.
“Thank the gods,” Fiona whispered.
Grayson reached up with a shaking hand and grasped Ryder’s nearest wrist. His lips still could not form words, but he pushed that wrist to Ryder’s mouth.
Ryder understood. His fangs came out and he bit down.
His blood bright as red rubies, brilliant crimson, poured down his forearm.
He pressed that wrist to Grayson’s mouth.
“Drink, my beloved. Come back to the night. Live forever,” Ryder pleaded.