CHAPTER NINE
I had thought about this day since I was a child.
Had feared its fruition and given so much precious time to how it would play out.
It was the death that I saw for myself because it was the most likely.
But what truly terrified me was not the bite with venom.
That was what would bring me to death’s doorstep, but it was not what would push me through the threshold. No, my father would do that.
And after all the time I had given to fear, once it all finally happened, it all happened so fast. And I deliberated what was more painful.
The decades that fear took or the measly second it took for the teeth to sink in.
And as all those years crashed down upon me, I couldn’t help but wonder what I had missed preparing for this moment that seemed almost insignificant now.
Alaric’s hand was entangled within my hair so tightly tears stung my eyes.
He held my throat up to his mouth. His other arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me flush against him.
I knew a part of me snapped as I leaned into him.
My life was over now, but he could take me away.
Far from Kilthorne, far from my father, far from all who would see me as a demon now.
But he left me.
I crumpled to the floor at the cold, empty space.
And as the venom spread through my veins, the pain rooted deep.
And I couldn’t stop the scream as the fire ravaged my body.
The door burst open. My mother fled through along with the waxing glow of the hall that slipped in with her.
She stopped cold as she saw me clutching my throat.
The warmth bled through my fingers in rivulets that spilled over dotting the floor.
That one step back she took marked me for death.
But Olivia did not see me as a dead woman. She pushed past a suspended Lillian and draped her body over me as if to guard me from the inevitable. I could hear her whisper in my ear, though I could not make out the words. And the heavy boots filled the hall.
I blinked through the fogged glass, searching for Sebastian, but he was not among those who filed into the room.
Olivia’s desperate hands clutched the fabric of my gown as she was ripped away from me.
I could hear her screams break through the unending drone that roiled throughout my ears.
Rough fingers dug into my arms as I was hauled from the floor.
I continued to clutch my throat. I had to hold it in. Hold myself in. The blood that dripped down my chest was poisoned now. But it was all that I had.
My feet ghosted along the marble floors as I was carried away. Father’s face came in through the haze. His eyes fell heavy over me. There was no time to grieve gently. He threw it upon me instead.
“No demon shall walk free.” Did he mean to whisper?
No demon shall walk free. Upon sight, the demon must be ridded from our land and returned to the underworld. No exceptions, lest their manipulations take hold of you.
He pried my hand away from my throat and inspected the wound with a slight tilt of his head. At least he made sure. He barely concealed his recoil, and once he released my hand, it went right back to where it was.
Until my hands were pried away once more and bound behind my back.
Blunt hands shoved me into a carriage. I stumbled over my skirts, falling on my shoulder with a cry.
Unable to get up, I remained on the floor between the benches.
The blood began to dry, pulling taut on the delicate skin of my neck.
Nothing crossed through my mind then. It was a barren place. Not even images of my life before its end.
Death was rather empty.
I yelped as rough hands rolled me onto my stomach and yanked me upwards by my bound wrists.
The autumn chill bit into my skin as the member hauled me out into the night.
There was a fine mist that roiled through the air like clashing phantoms. I blinked through it.
My hair stuck to my face. I could barely keep up with who dragged me along.
It all happened too fast. And I realized where we were.
And we were nearing too quickly, and my mind couldn’t keep up.
It was far behind me, afraid to go where I was headed.
Where the most heinous of vampires were executed. Father liked to make a show of it. To prove to the people that he was cleansing our world of the demons. And to prove to the vampires that he could do it. But he only reserved this ritual for the worst.
What had I done?
My wrists were secured tightly to the stake, along with my ankles.
The fabric of my gown clung to my skin as the fine rain churned around me.
Even the gods were angry. Where would I go?
Who would have me? At the thought, a raven called from atop a spindled oak that had lost its leaves.
It’s shape, a void piercing through the grayed backdrop of a weeping night sky.
It’s call, an echo clanging against every corner of my soul.
Brennus himself appeared to deliver his reckoning.
I would die by the silver, as I should.
A plague wiped clean from the world.
Lanterns dotted the crowd that had gathered, their soft glow turned to wandering orbs as my vision swirled with the writhing mist. Their cries of outrage melded into unending waves crashing against me.
And the face of a member, whose name I could not recall, filled my vision.
I flinched as he placed the amulet around my neck, though it did not burn my skin like it usually did.
Something poked me, and I realized the amulet was secured to a band of woven oak branches.
And my stomach dropped as something sharp plunged into my chest. I had to look down to be sure.
And I had wondered why my father hadn’t been the one to do it.
Did he ever kill the vampires himself? And then warmth licked at my feet.
And my father’s words seeped in. “Through silver and oak, we cleanse this evil from our world.”
The venom burned, but the fire burned more.
My eyes opened to the darkened ceiling. The soft mattress at my back.
My unbound wrists crossed over my stomach.
A cool presence at my side. Alaric laid beside me.
I slowly looked over to him. He was on his side with his elbow propped beneath him, resting his chin on his hand.
Our faces were only mere inches apart. And an odd feeling unraveled deep within my chest, with shadowed tendrils that reached far and sank deeper.
In a world of limited choices, I was relieved to be with him rather than tied to a stake.
“See what your father would do to you.” His silken words draped over me. “To his own daughter. It didn’t take long at all for him to burn you.”
“You showed me what you wanted me to see.” My voice was hoarse as if I had been screaming. “That wasn’t real.”
“Who are you trying to convince? No exceptions, sweet dove.” His cold hand brushed down the side of my face, down to my throat.
His thumb caressed over where he had bit me in an alternate reality.
And likely where he would bite me soon in this world.
I swallowed under his heavy hand. His eyes tracked the movement.
“You fear the demons that prowl outside, blocked by the linen over your mirrors, yet you fail to realize those that reside in your very home.”
I blinked as if that would help me understand him better.
“I would protect you. I would never turn my back on you.”
I shook my head, his words tying my thoughts into a knotted mess. “Protect me? You have already hurt me.”
“You are surrounded by people content to toss you out at the slightest crack. I was merely showing you how those that are supposed to love you truly feel.”
His words stole a breath as they hit me. And what hurt the most was how he saw what I didn’t want to believe. “You’re trying to confuse me on purpose.”
“Some people can’t see the truth until drastic measures are taken. Do you see now?”
I shook my head mechanically. It only felt right to deny.
He sat up slightly, looming over me like a gargoyle waiting to fall.
I sank into the mattress. His eyes encaptured mine, and I couldn’t breathe.
He leaned in closer. He smelled of spices and darkened woods, a foreboding depth that beckoned.
“I know what it’s like, to have your own family be your end.
” His icy hand wrapped around my throat.
“Come with me, darling, and you’ll never have to hide. ”
The claws of his illusion still dug deep, holding me to the flames of truth. The heat grew the more I refused to accept it. But the last thing I’d ever do was trust Alaric.
“No. You are no better.”
His eyes flashed with a mixture of hurt and anger. His hand twitched around my throat as if he fought the urge to crush me.
“Is that your final answer?”
I should have been concerned that my response was not immediate. I should have been more concerned that I was considering his offer to take me away. No. He was messing with my head.
“I will never go with you, Alaric.”
His eyes roamed over my face, searching for the seams of my weakly mended composure.
He prodded at the bits of me that would bend.
My eyes widened as his face hovered just above mine.
His lips so close the energy between us melded, sparking beneath my skin.
In an instant he was gone, walking out my bedroom door without looking back.
He was bold enough to walk openly through the house of a vampire hunter, showing me yet again who was really in control.
Granted, he could conceal himself through illusions if he needed to, but the message was received.
I brushed my fingers across my lips. They were cold to the touch, as if his unnaturally cold temperature had leached into me. I didn’t want to acknowledge how close I had let him get. He was testing me, and my stomach turned knowing he got his answer.
Though he left following my rejection, I knew better than to think he was anywhere near finished.