CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
They were sitting on the settee overlooking the vast expanse of green beyond the window.
Warm yellow framed them from the light that poured in.
It framed his hand as he lifted it to brush her flaxen curls off her shoulder.
It framed her now bare neck, glowing golden in the sunlight.
It framed his strong jaw, his straight nose, his plush lips as he leaned in closer.
And it framed the sharpened points of his canines that hovered above her throat.
My body moved without confirmation from my mind.
I lifted my skirts, clutching them in my hands as I charged.
I leapt through the air, over the settee, barreling into him.
We landed atop the coffee table with a thunderous crash and a shriek from Olivia.
Fine porcelain tea cups shattered as they hit the floor.
Warmth bled through my dress, and I hoped it was only tea.
I managed to stay on top of him as I wrestled him onto the floor.
There was no way I was stronger than him. Perhaps he was caught off guard, and the shock hadn’t worn off yet, but more likely, he was letting me win. For now. As my hands wrapped tightly around his neck, his lips tilted upwards into a smile, one that sent needles skittering beneath my skin.
I chanced a quick look at my sister. I had to know. I was dancing with the devil myself after all. But one look at her glittering, blue eyes and face frozen in disbelief was all I needed. She didn’t know.
And Edward took his chance. Before I could look back to him, I was already beneath him. He clutched my jaw tightly in his hand and inhaled deeply up the column of my throat. As he rose, he looked down to me with feral eyes.
“Death may be worth it for a taste.” His voice was far from the charming man I knew. It was rough, taunting, slimy. My eyes widened as he fought to maintain control, and a breath escaped me as he seemed to come to his senses.
Before I could blink, he was off me and had Olivia enveloped in his arms. He lifted her chin with his forefinger, looking deceptively lovingly into her terrified eyes. “I’m sorry it’s come to this, my love.”
I heaved myself off the floor, stepping onto the coffee table, nearly slipping in the spilled tea, and leapt off, wrapping myself tightly around his back. I snaked both arms around his neck, tightening them with as much strength as I could muster. He laughed at my efforts, but he released Olivia.
My back collided with the wall as he rammed me into it, leaving my lungs vacant of air. I attempted to gulp down a wheezing breath. I couldn’t hold on the second time. My body slid off his, but he caught me by the throat and shoved me back so hard I fell onto the coffee table, this time it broke.
I struggled to get a hold of the slightest breath, gasping as I rocked back and forth, trying to find any bit of strength left in my body. He crouched over me with a devilish smile. And then he was gone. Another shriek from Olivia accompanied his sudden disappearance.
With a great heave and a shooting pain down my back, I sat up. My mouth gaped slightly at the sight of Sebastian. He had Edward up against the wall pinning him by the throat. And what was truly unsettling was how hard Edward was laughing.
“Olivia.” The sharp yet strangled sound of my voice was enough to break through her shock. Her head snapped to me. “Do not run. Walk away. Now. Get as far away as you can.”
She backed away slowly, bumping into side tables, sidestepping them with a vacant look on her face. As I heard her steps disappear down the hall, I turned back to Sebastian and gave him one weak nod. This time I did not look away.
He took his black tourmaline blade and plunged it into Edward’s chest. The metallic stench of blood filled my nose, and I suppressed the urge to retch. His laughing faltered but his sadistic grin did not, and he died with it marring his face.
Sebastian sank down to his haunches beside me. His sharp eyes examined every part of me, inspecting the damage. I winced as I attempted to sit up further. It hurt to breathe.
“I’m okay,” I gasped.
His dark eyes narrowed on me. “This is not okay,” he deadpanned.
And I knew he meant many things. His eyes fell to my sheathed dagger at my hip. Once again, it hadn’t even occurred to me to use it.
“Charlotte!” Pari fled into the room, her teal gown flapping behind her.
She came to an abrupt stop before Edward, her eyes rounding as her mouth fell open.
“Edward?”
I gave her a solemn look before looking to Sebastian. “He was a newborn right?”
“Yes.”
Both Pari and I breathed in relief, though maybe it would have been better if he was a Dreigian vampire all along.
But it was seen as a greater tragedy to have a hidden vampire within our midst than to have one of our own turned.
For some twisted reason, the deceit was worse than murder.
Which meant Sebastian’s position was all the more dangerous, and my position was of the utmost treason.
“Pari, we need to find my sister.”
She nodded, though she moved around me cautiously.
“We need to get you to a doctor.” Sebastian’s tone left no room for argument, but I’d find room.
“After I find her. Her world is falling apart right now. She loved him.”
He eyed me for a moment, challenging me, and I held his gaze without wavering. I could see Pari glancing between us in my peripheral vision. Finally, he let out a sigh, and I could have sworn he stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. Though as I attempted to stand, I gasped at the shooting pain that pierced through my ribs. “No.”
I gritted my teeth against the pain as he scooped me up, cradling me in his arms. If he knew how much pain I was in, he’d take me straight to the doctor. But this wasn’t about me right now.
His lips brushed against my ear as he whispered for only me to hear. “There’s no need to hide your pain, mannyenska. I can scent it.” Of course he could. It benefited the hunter to know when their prey was wounded.
“Charlotte.” My father rushed in along with four members. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m alright.” His eyes raked over me in Sebastian’s arms as proof that I certainly was not alright. “I will be. But I need to get to Olivia.”
He glanced behind us at Edward slumped against the wall. “Newborn?” he asked Sebastian. Yes, of course. Because that’s what mattered right now. Gods forbid we were fooled. If you only knew who was really standing before you.
Sebastian nodded once, and the relief was evident on Father’s face. “Go to your sister. We’ll take care of this.”
The curtains were closed in her room as if she already couldn't stand the light. She laid on her side in bed staring blankly at the wall. Mother sat beside her petting her shoulder like a cat. Her icy, blue eyes met mine, and she glared at me as if this was my fault. Though I really couldn’t blame her this time.
It was. And I didn’t know how I was going to live with that.
“She doesn’t want to see any members right now, certainly not the one who killed her fiancé,” she said coldly.
I nearly had to do a double take when I looked up to him.
He was glaring at my mother. Though it was in his own way, with eyes devoid of feeling except an eagerness to eat you alive.
She didn’t seem to notice though because her disdainful eyes were firmly set on me.
I tapped his shoulder lightly, and he reluctantly looked down to me, as if glaring at her was inflicting some sort of damage and he wasn’t done yet.
“It’s okay, Sebastian. You can let me down now. I’ll find you in a moment.”
He seemed like he was about to protest, but after giving one last look to my mother, he set me down gently, his hand at my lower back assessing my stability.
I nodded to him once in reassurance, though every muscle was stiff and achy, and the sharp pain in my ribs melded with the dull ache in my back. The door clicked softly as Sebastian left, and Pari stood at the end of the bed with warm eyes and a scrunched brow as she looked over Olivia.
I wrapped my arm around my middle, an attempt to hold myself together, both literally and figuratively. I tried to hide the wince as I knelt down in front of her so she had to look at me, though she only looked through me. Her glassy eyes like a placid lake with endless depths of sorrow.
And as I attempted to wade through what would surely swallow me up too, waters so cold it froze my very marrow, I thought of how this happened.
Alaric. He had tied himself to me through the spell so that he could find me wherever I was.
He knew I went through the portal, after he specifically threatened me not to.
And this was some sort of sick punishment. But Olivia paid the price.
And that would be a scar burned into my soul for eternity.
He was hurting my family now. And he would only retaliate further the closer we got to eliminating him.
They say things only get worse before they get better. And I had a feeling things were about to get catastrophic.
I brushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Even her hair of woven gold grew more lackluster by the second. There was nothing I could say to relieve her pain in this moment. But I stayed with her until my legs went numb from kneeling, and Pari placed a hand on my shoulder.
“We should really get you to the doctor,” Pari said softly.
I hadn’t realized my breath was coming out in short bursts. I was so enveloped within Olivia’s pain, I couldn’t feel my own, until it all came barreling back to me.
“I love you so much, Olivia. I’ll be back soon,” I whispered.
I clutched Pari’s arm as she helped me up from the ground. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she held me upright. We headed to the door without a single glance to my mother, who was no doubt scowling the entire time I was there. I refused to meet her cold eyes again. I couldn’t bear it.