Chapter 35
Esiree
Iwalked out of the house and marched directly toward the Town Hall.
Frightful Letorians had begun to litter the streets.
As the sky turned darker, those who resided on the outskirts corralled nearer the gates, hoping to make a swift return home to safety, but the sentries remained, keeping the territory locked down.
Some cautiously returned to their makeshift dwellings, while others had taken up temporary hiding in the homes of their neighbors during Darwyn’s inquisition.
Though they may not have had any guilt to conceal, they still feared the idea of interrogation by a group of angry Vampyr.
“Your Majesty! Um… ma’am!”
I ignored the guard’s protests, keeping my strides long and purposeful.
“You can’t! It’s not safe after dark. Please, you must return to your shelter.”
I didn’t know what I was going to say, but I would not sit idly by while they tormented Mes in the name of a law he barely understood. If Vastion returned to find me in contempt, so be it.
The sentry followed me closely, his shadow stretching long in the lantern light. He knew better than to lay a hand upon me—to restrain me, even for my own protection, would be an affront he dared not commit.
“You mustn’t interf—”
He was cut off by a shrill, piercing scream from the far end of the town. It was quickly answered by an unmistakable, high-pitched shriek that turned my blood to ice.
Forlorn.
Pandemonium ignited like cannon fire. Porch bells began to clang a frantic, rhythmic warning. Parents swept their children from the streets, the slamming of heavy bolts echoing through the air. I saw a man shove a woman and her infant into a root cellar before sprinting toward the armory.
“To arms!” a man shouted, sprinting past us to alert the others.
“We have to go!” the guard ordered. But in the haze of the sudden panic, everything seemed suspended; I stood frozen as the world blurred around me.
The night sky filled with the symphony of violence. Torches became streaks of orange light, zooming past as humans grabbed pitchforks and rusted blades; anything to keep the dark at bay.
“If you do not follow me now, I will be forced to carry you!” The sentry’s warning sounded muffled, as if he were shouting from underwater instead of at my side. Soon the screams were drowned out by the wet, rhythmic snarl of steel slicing through corrupted flesh.
They were here.
Scores of them.
Alyric burst from the Hall, her blade already drawn. She moved with a lethal, predatory brilliance, cutting through the swarms with movements so rapid they were almost untraceable.
“Es!”
I spun toward the familiar voice. Ari was standing outside our house, his silhouette framed by the firelight a short distance away. The guard relaxed his posture for a fraction of a second when he saw me move toward my brother.
“Es!” Ari called again, his head darting back and forth frantically, trying to find me through smoke and shadow.
The guard shifted into a defensive stance, but before we could close the gap, a female Rabid lunged from the corner of a nearby building, jaw unhinged. The sentry engaged the creature, his blade clashing against her skin. “Run!” he bellowed over the monstrous screams.
I gathered the heavy folds of my skirts and bolted. Just as I was on the verge of reaching Ari, I saw another stalking toward him from his blindside. Blood dripped down his face and neck in a mask of gore. I pushed my lungs to their limit, praying my feet were faster than its hunger.
“Ari! Watch out!” I tried to scream, but the warning was a breathless rasp, stolen by the wind and the din of the siege.
There wasn’t time to slow down. If I hesitated, the beast would take him.
I swallowed my fear and lunged. Just as the creature fell over him, I shoved Ari aside.
He hit the dirt, but in the wake of his fall, I felt the white-hot agony of the Rabid’s talons raking across my ribs, shredding through velvet and skin.
Trapped beneath his snarling maw, fangs exposed, I stared at the distorted face—oozing blood and devoid of anything human. It was impossible to believe a soul had ever resided behind those vicious eyes.
My life seeped from my wounds as adrenaline coursed through my veins, fighting to keep me afloat.
Instinctively, I tried to compress the wound, only to feel warm liquid bubbling through my fingers.
He leaned down, taking a long, predatory sniff, then paused.
A strange, serene expression smoothed his features, as if he had found peace instead of prey.
I lay frozen in fear, the pain of my wound overtaken by such a terror that my muscles were rendered useless.
When I expected the creature to strike its final blow, he instead slowly ran his nose along my face and down my neck.
Blood dripped from his maw, and I held extremely still, never having witnessed a Forlorn move in any non-bestial manner.
Every one of them, even restrained for the Parcaetes’ experiments, thrashed and shifted violently in chains; never still, always fighting to be free of its constraints.
This one moved with eerie intention, like he was considering me before making a meal of my wounded body.
As he hovered over me in assessment, the sound of the screams around us became muted; my heartbeat thumped in my ears like a drum, leading me to the gates of the beyond.
I inhaled deeply, bracing for the end. The tears along my ribs would likely be enough to kill me, but I knew the beast’s fangs would be swifter.
I looked up into his vacant eyes just as he moved to strike and whispered a wish for vengeance; a promise of my husband’s retribution: “He will come for you...”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to picture Vastion’s face in my final moment. Suddenly, a violent whoosh of air was followed by a wet, heavy thud against the earth. I opened my eyes to see the Rabid’s head lying in the dirt beside my shoulder.
Dizziness blurred my vision. I felt myself being lifted by strong arms. Then, the world went black…
When I came to, I was laid out on my father’s apothecary table, the harsh light of the lanterns stinging my eyes. He and my brother were frantic silhouettes above me.
I heard Alyric’s voice, though I couldn’t turn to find her. “I must return to the gates! The line is breaking!”
Ari begged her to stay, but a silent plea formed in my mind: Go. Protect them. I am already lost. Time became an elastic thing, stretching and snapping. I felt someone jamming cloth into my side, the pain a searing, constant roar.
“Hold it there! Pressure, Ari! Do not let go!”
“Father, help her! Please!”
The front door burst open with a crash that shook the floorboards. My heart sank; the threshold had been breached. I lay there, helpless, waiting to hear the screams of my family as they were torn limb from limb. Tears pricked my eyes as a cold, indescribable terror invaded my marrow.
“Esiree!” A frantic deep voice shattered my panic. “What happened?”
Vastion.
“Va… Vast…” I tried to say his name, but my tongue felt like lead.
“Shhh, shhh. Don’t speak. I am here.”
My eyes fluttered, struggling to hold onto his face.
“She’s already lost too much blood!” my father’s voice rattled, anger and fear colliding in every syllable.
“She’ll be okay,” Vastion declared, though his voice lacked its usual conviction.
They began to argue, their voices a blur of desperation.
“Help her! Please…” Ari begged.
“You know I cannot!” Vastion growled, devastation lacing his words.
“You must!” my father cried. “It is the only way.”
“Don’t ask this of me. It is a curse! And high treason.”
Someone squeezed my hand tightly. Then I heard my father’s words, muffled by a sob that seemed to tear through his chest.
“You can have her for eternity, but please, grant a father the lifetime he deserves with his child.”
A sudden, ringing silence followed as the weight of the request settled. I felt a cool hand cup my cheek. Vastion hovered over me, his once-steady eyes now fractured with fear and indecision.
“You’re here,” I croaked.
“My love,” he coaxed, tucking a blood-matted strand of hair behind my ear.
“Our time has been but a season, and yet, somehow, you have eclipsed my heart entirely. Every memory I hold is nothing compared to the way you’ve consumed my soul.
I may lose my kingdom for this, but I would surrender it gladly… for you. But you must ask.”
Vastion’s voice quivered, and for the first time, I saw blood-red tears welling in his eyes. I could feel the weight of his decision. If he gave me eternity, he’d lose everything.
“I cannot choose for you,” he pleaded, his gaze dropping to the crimson stain spreading across the table. “You must ask. You must choose this.”
“I do not wish…to be parted,” I answered, a single tear slipping into my hair. “Ever.”
Relief washed over him, his eyes alight with a terrifying hope. “I must act quickly. I fear I am losing you. I promise…I will be gentle.”
I tilted my head, bearing my neck to him. He could have taken me anywhere, but I wanted to feel his lips against my skin. In the haze of my blood loss, I studied the soft curve of his features, a stark contrast to the sharp, lethal edge of his fangs.
“Are you certain?” he whispered, his voice but a breath.
“I choose you,” I said quietly, feeling the truth of my words radiate through my entire being.
Vastion angled my neck with a tender, steady hand. Time slowed to a crawl. The screams beyond the walls faded into a dull hum, leaving only the heavy thud of my own heart in my ears. I listened to the beat, already slowing, counting the final seconds of the only life I had ever known.
I felt the sharp puncture, slow and deliberate, as his lips pressed against my feverish skin. He drew from me gently. I told myself to remember this as a wicked kiss, waiting for the sting to shift to the blissful lull of the turn.
Suddenly, Vastion pulled away. He clutched his throat, his body jerking back in a spasm of pure panic. He coughed, a violent, hacking sound, and my blood spattered from his lips onto the floor.
“Something is…wrong,” he choked out, staggering away from the table.
I wanted to lift myself up, but I couldn’t. I wanted to reach for him, but my body was too weak.
Vastion clutched his chest, where his heart had once beat. He retched, gasping for air. Gasping, yet he had no need for breath.
He clawed at his mouth, his fangs retracting and disappearing into his gums as if they had never existed.
“What is happening?” he shrieked, his voice thin with fear.
I looked toward my father and Ari, but the darkness was closing in. Exhaustion pulled at my eyelids like a slow, heavy curtain.
“What have you done?” I cried out, using the last ounce of energy I possessed, but the world vanished before the answer could come.