Lyra screamed as Lilith dug her talon-like nails into her cursed arm, struggling to wretch the woman free from Frankie's grip. But Francesca held onto her beloved friend for dear life, dangling in mid-air with a chain tangled painfully around her ankle and calf, keeping them suspended. Lyra was shouting obscenities, struggling to kick what remained of her mother's demonic spirit off of her before it could latch on properly, but the constant movement was impacting the strength of Francesca's hold.
She could barely even take in her surroundings. All she knew was that this place was unbearably hot – stiflingly so – and there was something about it that left an unsettling stone of dread in the pit of her stomach.
"LET GO OF ME, YOU CUNT!" Lyra shrieked, trying to pry the demon's clawed hands from her arm, but Lilith was only digging in further. She was evidently beyond common speech. Whatever the ex-queen of hell was saying, even if she couldn't understand a word of it, it would undoubtedly haunt Frankie's nightmares for centuries to come.
Before she could get a better handle on her bearings, she felt the chain give way for a moment and they started to plummet again, deeper into this hellish cavern until it went taut again, snapping her ankle in half.
Frankie bit down hard on her tongue to keep from screaming at the pain, instead concentrating whatever she could on holding tightly to Lyra's hand and forearm. The heat of this place only seemed to get worse as they were now surrounded by a raging falls on all sides, the roar deafening. But this was no ordinary waterfall – it was almost black as pitch, but with the faintest sheen of crimson to it. Like blood in the moonlight.
Blood.
Her heart fell into her throat as she realized where they were, what they were surrounded by.
Mariella had warned them.
This was hellblood – a corrosive liquid that would completely destroy all flesh to the point where they would be unable to heal if it so much as touched them. The stench was unlike anything she had ever encountered before – somewhat like the old blood in the sewer system running beneath the lycan district, only this was somehow worse – infinitely worse. A wave of nausea roiled through her belly, gravity already trying to pull the bile down to her throat, but she swallowed hard, struggling to hold herself together.
Somewhere, somehow, over the roar of this inferno, she could hear someone shouting her name.
"Francesca, hold on!"
They sounded so distant, whoever they were. She couldn't quite tell if it was her brother or Vladislaus, but whoever it was, she attempted to crane her head back to look up at them before shouting, "Pull us up!"
"We can't!" another familiar voice bellowed from above. "It's too heavy!"
Francesca glanced down at the still struggling Lilith and Lyra beneath her and she realized what extra weight was keeping them from being rescued from this awful place.
It was Lilith.
----
Vladislaus tried to wrap the taut chain around his hands to gain more purchase, but to no avail. Whatever was keeping them down there, it was beyond what his own strength could bear. Jacob was quickly using his magic to weld the end of the chain to several more so they could share the load, but Vlad wasn't sure what good it would do.
"Don't let go, Vlad," Rémy was begging him. "Whatever you do, don't you dare let my sister go!"
"I don't intend to," he managed through gritted teeth.
"There! That should do it!" Jacob shouted. "Everyone grab on!"
Dracula nearly sighed in relief as he felt some of the burden offset by the fact that Rémy, Jacob, and his children had all taken a portion of the new extended chain, but even as they all attempted to heave and struggle, they were unable to pull up so much as an inch.
"Lower them down a bit," a familiar voice said from somewhere behind him.
"What?" he struggled, but then he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He heard a gasp and managed to look away for just a second to find Antón Bernardini standing beside him.
No – not Antón in the flesh – but some kind of being that was part corporeal, part spiritual manifestation.
It couldn't be! He couldn't believe it. But then he saw Mariella at his side as they both peered over the edge of the chasm and into the abyss together.
"Are they all right?" a decidedly unfamiliar feminine voice called out from behind and that's when he heard it. The sound of Jacob choking back a sob.
"Margot?"
A beautiful woman with chestnut brown hair appeared, standing beside Mariella as she too glanced down into the hellish cavern below.
"Lilith is still holding on," Mariella explained, and she looked to Vlad, those emerald eyes of her both ghostly and yet so real. "Vlad, you need to let go."
"What?! No!" Rémy shouted from the end of the chain.
"It's okay, Reynaud," Margot replied, looking to her brother with a reassuring smile. "It'll only be for a moment. They just need to fall a little further so they can shake her off." She then marched over to Jacob who had taken to openly weeping as he stared at her in disbelief. She gripped the space of chain just above his hands.
"You're not real... there's no way you can be real," the man was muttering through his tears.
"Oh, get it together, Šarić," a booming male voice called out. "You can blubber later."
Vladislaus recognized the owner of the voice as soon as he stepped into view.
It was Louis de Chacier – Francesca's father.
The man gripped the space of chain just above his daughter's hands before glancing behind him.
"Come on, Vita! I saved you a spot!"
Elisaveta de Chacier practically drifted across the snow-laden lawn. She was beautiful – almost elf-life, with her regal figure, dark hair, and warm eyes.
"I'm coming!" she called out.
"Maman?" Rémy breathed in disbelief, eyes welling with tears of his own now. Elisaveta looked at her eldest son and smiled sweetly at him.
"Later, Reynaud. We need to save Francesca first." After taking her place just in front of her husband, she then looked over at Alayna who was positioned in front of her. The woman looked like a doe caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. "Hello, Lana."
"Aunt Vita? Is it really you?" Alayna whimpered.
"Think you can make room for your mother?"
Alayna's grip nearly slackened completely when Cecilia de Chacier stepped into the garden, a sob catching in her throat.
"Cece, darling – there's room for you here by Lana and this handsome young man," Elisaveta called out, but then she looked to Niklaus. "Terribly sorry, dear – I didn't catch your name."
Niklaus looked between the female and a on the verge of hysterics Alayna with equal parts confusion and disbelief.
"Niklaus, ma'am."
"Niklaus," Elisaveta repeated. "A pleasure. Would you be so kind as to move up a little to make some room for my sister-in-law?"
"Of course," and Niklaus scooted forward on the chain just as Cecilia bent down to grab hold of the links next to her daughter's hand.
"Oh, Maman!" Alayna bawled, but Cece only smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her youngest daughter's brow.
"My sweet girl."
"Oh, Maman, I've missed you so much."
"I know, mon enfant. I know. I've missed you, too."
Vlad looked back with increasing disbelief.
What the hell was going on?
Was this some kind of de Chacier family reunion? And how – how was such a thing even possible?
Then he remembered.
The images from Frankie's mind – that clandestine meeting at high noon in the library of Vilkova between she, Mariella, and Lyra. The source of Lilith's power had been the souls of all vampires and strigoi that had met true death. The moonstone necklace she had always worn must have been the conduit – so when Frankie destroyed it...
His whole body prickled with sudden awareness as he sensed two particular presences now stepping into the garden and from the cries of Tempest and Louise in particular, it didn't require him turning around to guess who had just joined them.
His eyes were already beginning to dampen and he squeezed them shut, hardening himself to the hope.
This was a dream.
This had to be a dream.
But then he felt two pairs of hands rest over his – cool, and familiar.
"It's okay, Father," he heard Henry murmur softly on his left. "We won't let her fall too far."
"Let go," Alessia urged him, and he felt her soft hand reach up to touch his face, wiping away one of the tears that had leaked out of his still tightly closed eyes.
Vladislaus felt his heart swell in a mixture of profound grief and overwhelming joy as he finally managed to look at his two deceased children standing on either side of him – as if they had never left.
"We've got her," Alessia insisted.
"Lissa?" he whispered.
Her smile warmed him down to his toes.
"On the count of three," she said, breaking eye contact with him for just a moment to look up at Antón.
"NO!" he heard Rémy suddenly cry out and he glanced behind him to see Carmen had just joined the line-up. "No, no, no, no, no..."
"One," Mariella counted aloud, a look of empathy in her eyes as she watched the ghostly apparition of Carmen kneel down beside Rémy, resting her hands over his as he sobbed. "Two... Three."
Vladislaus let go for just a moment until Antón shouted for them to all grab hold of the chain again, gripping tight. There was a muffled scream from Francesca down below and Dracula's already overwrought heart plummeted into his bowels.
"FRANCESCA!" he shouted, the sound of her pain bringing him back to the stark reality of the present. He leaned forward a little to hazard a glance down into the abyss. "Francesca, hold on!"
"Pull us up!" she was screaming back at him.
"We can't!" Antón bellowed. "It's too heavy!"
There was no response back.
----
Frankie quickly tried to take stock of the situation, eyes darting about as she blocked out the shattering pain in her broken ankle. Lilith was still clawing up Lyra's arm, and Frankie's own grip on her friend was starting to slip.
They couldn't keep this up for much longer.
And from the looks of it, Lyra's arm couldn't take much either. Even from here, Frankie could see the stark white of exposed bone peeking through bloody muscle as the demoness struggled to hold on.
They were smack-dab in the center of three massive falls of hellblood with a churning whirlpool of the stuff just below. There were no cliffs or walls they could swing to, no exits. Only the abyss below, the center of the whirlpool filled with fire.
There weren't a lot of options, save one, and Frankie wasn't sure she liked the idea.
Lyra, I have an idea of how to shake her off, but you're not going to like it, she communicated down their sire bond. It was raw from the excruciating amount of pain Lyra was in, but somehow, the redhead managed to reply back.
I don't care what it is, just do it. Get her off of me!
Frankie readjusted her grip on Lyra's good arm before taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. She then reached outward for Vladislaus, flooding down the blood-bond with desperation and a single request.
Loosen your grip.
His reply was immediate.
Have you gone completely mental?
Just trust me. Loosen your grip. But only for a moment... then when I say when, you pull and you pull hard.
She could feel his hesitation, even from this great distance, but she could also sense his resignation like a nod of assent in the back of her head.
On the count of three... one... two...
On three, she felt the chain go slack a second time and her stomach flew into her throat as they plummeted down toward the roaring whirlpool. Then the chain went taut again and with a great heave, Frankie swung her body, sending them hurtling into the direction of one of the falls. Lyra was already shrieking, realizing what Frankie's insane plan actually entailed, but she gripped her maker's hand back tightly. They both watched as what remained of Lilith's demonic form was plunged into the falls, along with part of Lyra's arm.
Lyra screamed as the hellblood washed over her hand and forearm, sloughing away the flesh like corrosive acid before she went utterly silent and limp in Frankie's hold. They started to swing in the direction of the adjacent falls, which would certainly swallow them both considering their sudden momentum, so Frankie screamed both down the bond and aloud, "NOW! PULL NOW!"
The harsh yank upward just barely diverted them out of their collision course with the falls until they were soaring up and up out of the cavern and toward the surface.
Frankie looked down at Lyra, tears already spilling from her eyes as she called out her friend's name, but the woman was unresponsive.
----
Vladislaus desperately pulled at the chain, barking for everyone to move faster as the chasm in front of them began to close. Antón and Mariella both reached down into the shrinking hole to help lift Frankie out of it, but Vlad was quick to push his way through, gripping her waist and hoisting her up before helping her drag a seemingly lifeless Lyra out just as the rift sealed shut.
Francesca was openly weeping, calling out Lyra's name as she brushed the red hair from the woman's face, eyes scanning over her body in panic. And he could understand why.
At least a third of Lyra's arm had come in contact with hellblood, the skin and muscle corrupted, melting away around stark white bone.
"Lyra! Lyra, I need you to wake up. Please... please, wake up!" Frankie pleaded, roughly patting the redhead's face, even as tears streamed down her own cheeks. Vlad rested his hand on her back in an effort to soothe and reassure, but it only seemed to make her break further.
That was when Mariella knelt down on the other side of the unconscious woman, conjuring a sort of gauzy material from out of thin air before using it to wrap the female's damaged arm.
"What do I do?" Frankie pleaded with the witch. "Tell me what to do."
"Shh," Mariella whispered, gently hushing her. "She'll be all right. The hellblood has removed the arcane magic from her flesh. Her soul is being cleansed from the stain of her parentage. Give her a moment... she'll come to when it's complete."
Frankie, still kneeling, gripped the frozen grass beneath her as she held her breath in anticipation.
She watched, unblinking for nearly thirty whole seconds before Lyra came to at last, gasping for air as if her soul had only just repossessed her body and Frankie let out a sob as she wrapped her arms around her friend's neck.
"Holy fucking shit, my arm hurts like a bitch," Lyra moaned into Frankie's neck, crying herself, although her customary profanity made Francesca laugh. "You could have warned me."
"I told you, you weren't going to like it."
"Yeah, well... you weren't exactly wrong, but it worked, thank God."
Lyra suddenly realized that Mariella was seated beside them and she looked over at the witch expectantly.
"Well? Did it work? Did we win?"
Mariella smiled, eyes glistening as she motioned behind them.
"Why don't you look and see for yourself."
Vlad kept his eyes on Francesca's face the entire time as she turned to look back at the line of people behind him – dead and undead alike. He was determined to commit this moment to memory – the way she suddenly reached out and gripped his hand. The way her eyes seemed to gobble up the familiar faces in front of her before realizing that at least half of them were faces of those she hadn't seen in a very long while.
And then he felt it.
The weight of all of the dead she had been carrying for centuries finally released, and with that sudden reprieve of a burden at long last relieved, her face crumpled and she shattered. She cried like a baby as he gathered her into his arms, holding her steady until she had managed to conjure up enough strength to crawl over to her parents. He leaned back against the pillar next to him, exhausted and overwhelmed as he watched his beloved reunite with her family. But his favorite reunion of all was that moment she realized her baby sister was there, leaning against Jacob, who had his arms tightly around her.
Margot somehow managed to untangle herself from her husband's grasp and the two sisters clung to each other, weeping. He felt Alessia move up to sit beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as they watched and he felt tears pricking his eyes once again. She wrapped her arms around one of his, leaning in closer.
"I missed you," she said softly.
And that's when he felt it – a ghost of that old blood-bond that had once existed between them, only it was no longer broken. It was still there, just... different. He reached out to find that it was the same with Hal, who looked back at him as he continued to embrace his twin when he felt the tug. Dracula wasn't sure he could take much more of this. It was overwhelming – the joy, the relief.
I missed you, too, he communicated down that renewed bond, unable to speak the words aloud for fear that if he did, he might end up like Francesca, giving way to tears and open weeping.
"I'm afraid our time is short," Mariella interjected after a while, gathering the attention of the others.
"What do you mean?" Jacob asked, panicked and reaching for Margot again, the fear of losing her anew written all over his face.
"There is nothing to anchor us here," Mariella explained. "I'm afraid we only have a little while longer before we must depart."
"Then how are you here now? How is any of this possible?" Lyra asked.
"She's right, I'm afraid," Margot explained, taking Jake's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "The source of Lilith's power was the gray mist – the place where all fallen souls resided. Not just the vampires, but the lamian strigoi as well."
"The gray mist... you mean you guys were trapped in Lilith's necklace this whole time?"
"It's a gross simplification, but for all intents and purposes, yes. We were. But now," and she looked to Frankie, wiping the streaks of tears lovingly from her elder sister's face, "you've freed us. You've freed all of us."
"I had a vision of this reality just before I died," Mariella explained, reaching for her husband's hand. "It's why I allowed Marcus to burn me at the stake – because it would complete the spell that would keep my soul from the gray mists so I could help to guide and prepare you when the time came," and she sent Vladislaus and Francesca both meaningful looks. "But it was tricky, given that Lilith was always watching, only partly suspicious of my intentions at the beginning until she learned the truth of it herself. That's when she defected to Marcus' side of the board, in the hopes of avoiding her fate."
"So wait... then you two," Jack called out, pointing to both Lyra and Frankie, "you guys knew? You were in on it this whole time?"
Frankie nodded rather guiltily.
"But why? Why didn't you tell us?" Louise asked, having moved over to sit next to Lyra on the ground.
"Because we needed it to be convincing so we could lure Lilith out," the redhead explained. "And when you guys put up such a marvelous stink about it, I told Frankie to use some of that Lanari compulsion to keep you guys from fucking anything up." Louise lightly smacked the woman's good arm.
"Well that explains a lot," Tempest admitted.
"I didn't enjoy a second of it, believe me," Frankie replied with a heavy sigh.
"Did you know?" Niklaus asked, directing the attention over to Vlad. He nodded.
"I only learned of it just moments after Marcus awoke."
"So that's why you weren't saying anything," Tempest exclaimed, suddenly putting the pieces together.
"It was a rather impressive performance," Ezekiel chimed in humorously.
"Yes, yes – we're all terribly clever. I don't mean to interrupt this circle-jerk, but is there anything anyone can do about my arm?" Lyra interjected, hissing a little when she tried to lift the damaged limb, and she looked to Jacob expectantly.
"Ordinary magic won't be able to heal that, I'm afraid," Mariella explained sympathetically. "But perhaps our Lanari can perform one more miracle before the night is over?" and she looked to Frankie.
Francesca sighed.
"I don't know if I have anything left in me, but I can try."
"We might be able to help with that," Hal called out, stepping out of his twin sister's hold before motioning for Alessia to come join him. The pair made their way over. "We haven't been properly introduced, yet. My name is Henry Hambly – though everyone calls me Hal."
"And I'm Alessia Montero."
"Yes, I suspected as much," Frankie admitted. "It's nice to finally meet you both."
"If you're going to ask her, you two, do it quickly. We don't have much time," Antón reminded them. Hal nodded with a look of resolution on his face.
"Right – well, since we have to skip all the formalities, we'll just get to the point. Seeing as how you've absorbed the memories of the rest of the Dracul Sânge..."
"And since you're also blood-bound to them," Alessia added.
"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to complete the set?"
"We're not collector's items, Hal," Tempest called out teasingly, earning a chuckle from her twin brother.
"True, but still... I think it'd be nice. We've been watching you, you know – from the mists. I've seen what you've done for my sister... for all of them," and Hal motioned with his arm in the direction of the surviving members of the Dracul Sânge. "If it's not too much to ask, I would consider it an honor to be bound to you, Francesca de Chacier – even if it's not a proper blood-bond."
"As would I," Alessia agreed. "And if it would help replenish you so you can help heal your friend's arm, you are welcome to my memories as well."
"Mine too."
Frankie looked between the pair of ghostly apparitions standing before her before her gaze sought out that of Vladislaus. He was stoic and still, but even from this distance, she could see the pride in his eyes, and the faint glimmer of unshed tears still stubbornly resting in his lower lash line.
"The honor would be mine," Francesca replied, voice cracking with emotion.
She reached out a hand for both of them, and when their ethereal palms met her own corporeal form, she felt a bolt akin to electricity shooting through her – up her arms, into her chest, and down her spine until she was covered from head to toe in a strange, almost tingling sensation.
Their memories poured into her on a series of cool waves, like the gentle lapping of water on the shore of a mountain lake. They rushed over her mind, saturating her before that almost icy sensation started to pour into her depleted well of power, filling it gradually until it was just on the verge of brimming over.
Hal and Alessia's bodies briefly took on an almost luminescent glow, until the transference was complete. Frankie wavered on unsteady feet, overwhelmed by the rush of emotions, when she felt a steady hand grab hold of her, keeping her upright, followed by another resting at her back. She was suddenly flanked by both Vladislaus and her father, one on either side of her, the pair men exchanging a single look before Louis bent forward a bit to catch his daughter's eye.
"Ma petite lionne – are you all right?" he asked. Frankie's heart nearly cracked at the endearment. How she had missed the sound of it attached to her father's voice.
"Yes, papa. I'm all right. Just a little... oof, perhaps two at once was not a good idea," and she reached up to press a hand to her head.
That was when Vlad extended his bare wrist to her in offering. She accepted with a grateful, albeit somewhat drunken smile, before releasing her hold on her father to cling to her husband, digging her fangs into Dracula's flesh for a quick bite to help steady her. As she fed, Margot began to whisper quietly to Jacob, though Frankie couldn't quite make out what her sister was saying.
"We don't have much time left," Mariella reminded them. "My magic is waning."
"Come," Alessia encouraged Frankie as she knelt down in the snow-covered grass at the woman's feet. "I'll go first. Mariella – could you help?"
"Of course, dear," and the witch conjured up the necessary materials for the rite out of thin air.
With some help from Vladislaus, Frankie knelt down in the snow across from Alessia, and with both Antón and Dracula as official witnesses, Mariella then bound the two women together, carving the customary mark onto Alessia's ghostly arm, right next to the one she had had for her father in life, and then a similar mark was placed onto Frankie's back next to the others. Hal was next, and when the rite was completed, Frankie instinctually reached out along the two new tethers. They were different from the others – not quite so solid, but when she anchored herself to them, they were there and they were strong.
She then finished anchoring herself to the others as she made her way over to Lyra's side, carefully removing the strange and delicate material that had been wrapped around her friend's arm. The limb was a ghastly thing to behold, the remaining flesh almost putrid looking, ready to fall right off the bone like meat that had been sitting in a pressure cooker for too long.
It took some time and a great deal of concentration, but very slowly, Frankie was able to heal much of Lyra's arm. She had to clear away the mortified flesh first before she could use her power to encourage new muscle, tendons, and nerves to grow, but there was only so much she could do. While she had managed to stitch a good deal of the damaged skin back together, the places where Lilith's talons had been refused to grow back entirely, instead leaving deep ravine-line scars running along the flesh.
When she had reached the limit of her abilities, Francesca let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry, Lyra... that's the best I can do."
Lyra held her arm out in front of her, flexing her fingers, testing out the feeling in her hand.
"It's ugly as sin, but at least it still works," the redhead replied. "I'll take it."
"Do you know if I'd be able to continue to treat her arm until it's restored to normal?" Frankie asked, turning to Mariella. The witch shook her head.
"I doubt it, though who could say for certain. There is power in your veins, Francesca – power and life, the likes of which this world has never seen. Only you can define the true extent of your limits. But always remember – all magic comes at a price, and learning the bounds of your power will take time."
When she was certain that Frankie understood, Mariella then turned to face the others.
"It is almost time. Best to say your goodbyes now. We only have a few more minutes."
Alayna suddenly gasped as she looked to her mother.
"Father! Father will want to see you!"
"I'm afraid there's not enough time for that," Cece said mournfully.
Frankie would have listened in further on that conversation when she noticed her brother still seated on the ground, the ghostly apparition of Carmen whispering something to him. She felt her heart get caught in her throat – she hadn't even realized...
"Carmen?" she called out. Her friend looked up at her and smiled.
"Hey Frankie."
"But..." Frankie's voice cracked when she saw how red her brother's eyes were from crying and her heart broke. "What happened?"
"We were ambushed."
"Oh my God, Vesper!"
"She's all right," Carmen assured her, rising to her feet as Frankie approached. "She's with Gigi and Charles. She was extraordinary, Frank. You would have been so proud."
Frankie did her best to blink away her tears as she reached out for her friend, pulling the now ghostly figure of the woman into a tight hug. It was so strange – like hugging a cold mountain spring, without the damp, and yet she was still strangely solid somehow.
"What am I going to do without you?" she whimpered into the woman's neck. Carmen squeezed her once before letting her go, stepping back to look into her eyes.
"You're going to be the queen I've always known you could be," the Spaniard said affectionately. "You're going to keep an eye on Vesper. You're going to keep Vlad in line, and you're going to name a building after me as well. And it better be a nice one, or I'll have to come back and haunt you." The pair of them laughed a little at that. She then lowered her voice, expression becoming more somber. "And you're going to have to be extra gentle with your brother," she added, the words barely even a whisper. "Especially when... well, you'll know when. Don't let him wallow, Frankie. Make sure he lives. And give him something to do – even if he fights you at first. You know as well as I do that he'll need an occupation or he'll run mad."
Frankie nodded, the tears running freely down her face.
"I'm going to miss you, Carmen Guillermo."
Carmen smiled, brushing her fingers against the woman's tear-stained cheek.
"And I'm going to miss you, too, Frankie Chase," she murmured, voice trembling with emotion. "My dearest friend."