Eden PoV
I'd never have admitted it to him, not yet when things still felt so raw and confused but goddess had I missed Cole. It felt like fate had brought him back into my life at the same time Sawyer was ripped away from me in such a brutal fashion, but I knew better than that.
Deep down I knew that Cole was already headed here when Sawyer was murdered. Fate hadn't guided him here, it was love. Regardless of how angry and bitterly betrayed I felt towards him, I hadn't failed to see the same look my eldest brother had always given me.
As a kid when ever achieved something, no matter how big or small of a feat it was, It was Cole that was always watching, cheering me on and screaming words of encouragement. His eyes always looked down at me with the brightest, most brilliant blaze of pride and love.
Despite my outburst earlier on and the danger I had been to all of those around me, he still looked at me that exact same way he did when I was a kid.
"I saw dad kill Sawyer. I cried over his dead body Cole, how can he just come back after all of that?" I gnawed in my lower lip as I tried to suppress those images from poisoning my mind.
"sanguis trium tenet clavem" Cole smiled brightly as if he had all the answers and couldn't wait to share them.
"The blood of three holds the key?" Blake translated with a frown.
"It was a fail safe that was set up before I left. As long as two of our hearts beat them the blood of the three can unlock death" Cole shrugged as stepped closer towards me and bent down in front of me. "I know you don't remember Eden and I want nothing more than to explain everything to you. We don't have the time right now" he added honestly.
"The three? Me, you and Sawyer? Our blood holds the key?" Why the hell did that sound so familiar to me, I raked my brains as those words echoed around inside my head. Then it hit me and I got up onto my feet and padded over to the chest of dressers and rummaged through the top drawer where I kept little trinkets and special things.
"Where the hell is it?! Where the hell... ahh hah!" After I muttered to myself as I moved concert tickets, hand written notes and Polaroid pictures of Harry, Sky and me looking like crazy people I finally found what I was looking for. I spun around and hoped that I wasn't losing the plot completely.
"You kept it all this time?" Cole marvelled as the necklace hung from my palm and the little gold vial shone under the lights.
"Blood of the three" Jace raised an eyebrow as he figured out what it contained.
"It was charmed in order to keep the contents fresh. I can't believe you kept it or mum or dad didn't find it. You need to wear that 24/7 Eden. It's important" my brother seemed so happy and proud that I'd kept this safe all these years.A warmth spread throughout my heart and the negative feelings towards him began to thaw.
"You told me not to lose it so we tried my best to keep it safe. I just forgot until now why it was so important. How could I forget that?" Tiny fractions had formed within my memories and ones I thought to be true had begun to blur and distort as other images seeped through the cracks.
"Issac messed with your head. He distorted your memories and made you forget things, he made other things different to the truth. But you are remembering things and that's a good sign" Cole didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me and held me close to him and gave his strength to me. I'd missed him so much.
"I'm so sorry I tried to hurt you. I was just so angry when I saw you I couldn't help it. I don't understand what's happening to me Cole?!" My body shook as I sobbed in my brother's arms. His embrace felt safe enough to fall apart within as I knew that he would never let me break.
"No stop.. that's on me. I should have been here sooner to explain everything. You are so fucking powerful little sister. You have no idea exactly what you are capable of. But neither does Isaac and before I left I had your powers bound so that he couldn't use you or harm you anymore than he already had. I refused to let him make you into a weapon. He did more than enough fucked up shit to us but I couldn't let that happen to you" Cole pulled back so that he could look at me and as he spoke him last few words a stray tear ran down his face, so much pain dipped his blue eyes into a raging midnight sky.
"You stopped that from happening Cole. I don't know what happened when we were kids but I'm okay. You made sure I was okay. Now we need to make sure Sawyer is okay" Every word I spoke was true. I knew deep down in my bones that Cole had succeeded in preventing me from becoming something he had dreaded. But we needed Sawyer too. I needed him.
Blake handed me an empty glass from the bedside table and I extended my fangs and ripped open the veins in my wrist. My fist clenched tightly as the blood poured into the glass until it was a third of the way filled. My wound quickly healed and I passed the glass to my brother.
"My little sister, the vampire!" Cole chuckled before he winked, opened his mouth and I watched in shock as his canines grew larger than any wolves I'd ever seen and his eyes flashed a blood red with orange hues around the edges that almost looked like flames licking up throughout his irises. He mimicked my actions until the glass was almost full.
"My big brother, the red-eyed, huge toothed .... Wolf??" What on earth exactly was he? It was more than clear that whatever had happened to us as children had been pretty damned extreme.
"There is so much to tell you sis. But first let's get Sawyer back, he'd be pissed if I explain it all without him" Cole found my astonishment very amusing and he got jack into his feet with the glass in hand.
"I'm coming with you"
"Umm no you most certainly aren't. I know you want to help but trust me when I say what happened to you today has exhausted you, you might not be feeling it right now but for the sake of twins please go to bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day. But I promise you Sawyer will be right as rain by lunchtime. You won't even know he died. But don't make him kick my ass the moment he wakes up because you overdid it and passed out" there was something about the light way Cole spoke about Sawyer waking up', that filled me with assurance and hope in my heart that he was right. I was exhausted too, as much as I hated to admit it I felt like I could have slept for a week.
"Promise me you'll be here when I wake up?" I asked nervously
"I ain't going nowhere sis. You are stuck with me from now on. I promise you I'm not leaving you again" Cole assured me with a smile.
"I'm glad you came back. I missed you.. a lot" I admitted coyly
"I missed you too. Love you Eden always" Cole returned to hug me and kissed my forehead before he said goodbye and left me with my mates.
"That was ... a lot" Jace blew out a long breath as if he'd been holding it for ages.
"It sure was! How are you doing baby?" Blake asked as he wrapped his muscular arms around me from behind me. My back rested against his chest.
" It's so strange cos on one hand it feels like my entire world just got turned upside down and now it's a chaotic scary nightmare but Cole is back and I trust him when he says Sawyer is coming back too. My brothers are both going to be here and I can't help but feel so damned happy about that"
"I'm so happy for you love, you never deserved any of this shit but believe me when I say I won't let anything bad happen to you again. Not while I'm breathing" Jace knelt down in front of me and took my small hands in his calloused ones and I could feel the strength of his promise vibrate through our bond.
But suddenly a terrible vision invaded my thoughts and his words became his ultimate downfall.
Darkness fell upon me as pain crushed my chest and coiled like a vicious serpent in my stomach. I didn't understand what had just happened but I knew that what I had foreseen was very very real.