I watch in horror as Silas grabs Adonis' face, Silas' red eyes glowing into the night, and Adonis...Adonis goes limp. I waste no time before concentrating on Silas' body and start burning him. He screams, and Adonis goes absolutely feral and proceeds to rip his own body apart. I pull my powers back immediately, and they both stop thrashing. Adonis' eyes are glowing red now, and terror, like no other, seizes me when Silas grabs him by both ears, twisting his neck, and Adonis does nothing to fight back.
I look to my father, who is holding his own against the group of vampires attacking him, but can't help me or be distracted without risking his own life. Then, I look around for Aylin, Az, Seth, or anyone to jump in and help, but no one is around.
"No one is coming to rescue you this time, my sweet Amara," Silas hisses
I only stare at him and then at my mate. Maybe...maybe...I slam my mental talons into Roman's mind, but he only whimpers and starts to thrash again.
"Aht, at. You may be powerful, but I have over seven hundred years of mastering mind control, girl. So now, you can come with me, and I'll let him live. Or." he pauses and starts to twist Roman's head.
"Stop! Stop! I'll come, I'll come," I scream
"Very good," he says as he lets go of Roman, who merely sits on the ground
"Get your claws out of his mind," I snap as I walk to him
"So he can come to tear us apart? Come now, you must find me a fool."
I don't say anything; he's not wrong. His massive, cold hands grab my arm as we approach, and he takes a white satchel out of his pocket, dumping the powder into his hands and blowing it in my face. I cough, and my power fizzes and rumbles in response.
"Now. Let's go," he snaps.
"I'm not going until you get your claws out of his head! Do you want me to go with you? Free his mind, and I'll tell him to stand down."
Silas thinks for a moment before that ugly smile snakes across his face. He whistles; one of the vampires fighting my dad leaves and approaches Adonis, putting him in a headlock.
"Fine. Consider this my present to you," he says
I watch Roman tense before he stands up and leans on his back legs like he's going to fight the vampire off.
"Stand down, Roman." I snap at him before I open up our link
'I'm fine. Just stay there.'
'NO,' I hear Adonis' gravely voice flit through my mind as he shifts his weight to his hind legs again.
"STAND DOWN" I yell at him, and to my surprise, he sits.
Shock flits through me as I realize what I just did, but I have no time to waste as I turn to Silas.
His sinister smile turns into a scream as I grab his face, lighting it on fire and making sure I block his view of Roman.
As fast as possible, before the vampire on Roman can react, I turn, calling my dagger forth as I flick it at him. It hits him between the eyes before he can even process what happened.
I whirl back around, knowing I put myself at a disadvantage by taking out that vampire, just as I'm yet again tackled. The smell of Silas' burning hair and flesh makes me choke back a gag before he reaches back, aiming his fist at my face.
Not this time motherfucker; I let him bring his fist down before I catch it and twist to the best of my ability, it's hard at this angle, but I call forth my ice as I freeze it. Refusing to let go, I desperately bend and snap as the ice that froze up his arm allows me to snap his hand clean off.
"YOU BITCH" he screeches as he looks at his nub of an arm.
He looks absolutely demonic, half of his face on fire, only one hand, and his glowing red eyes filled with pure fury.
I use his distraction, kicking him off me before turning invisible. He snarls, looking around wildly as I finally stand back enough to focus, and I start to burn him alive with my mind.
He falls to his knees, and my own fury takes over. This man is why my parents are dead, why Aston now lies dead on the battlefield; he held me prisoner and threatened to hurt my daughter.
My fury takes over as I slow his internal cremation and manifest another flame, throwing it at him as he rolls around, trying to put my magic fire out. My throw strikes true as the flames entirely consume his body.
I watch as he screams; his mental claws are dragging across my shields to no avail. My fury dying down, I now feel... I feel nothing as I watch the man responsible for so much of my grief die. I feel no remorse, no satisfaction as his screams die out.
I watch until he's nothing but a pile of ash. I continue to stare long after the flames have died out before I feel my father come up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. I turn to look at him; he's pretty beaten up. But I'd expect a lot worse for someone who took on ten vampires simultaneously.
"He's gone, darling." my dad says, and I nod, not saying anything
"I think your mate is going to combust if you don't let him stand up," he says, looking at Roman just as I feel his anxiety pour in through the bond
"Oops. You can stand," I say as I lift the Alpha command I had over him
He runs up to me, pulling me into his arms
"Don't you ever do that to me again!" he says as he grabs my face and covers me in kisses. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought you forgot to take the antidote, or it didn't work, or you were just willingly going. Artemis' tits, Amara, you scared the fuck out of me!" he says before he crushes me against him.
"Have at least a little faith in me, babe. I took my antidote this morning." I say, rolling my eyes and hugging him back
"I do, but it's different when I'm powerless to stop him, or you for that matter."
"How did I..." I start before I trail off and look at the carnage around us.
That can wait. The battle has stopped, and most vampires are on their knees in surrender. A few still fight, but they'll be taken down quickly. I feel Roman open up the pack mindlink and update everyone, then he asks the warriors to bind the knelt vampires.
Finally, I turn and really scan Roman up and down. He's covered head to toe in both black and red blood, a large scar now decorates his left flank from his underarm to his hip bone, and I see an oozing wound on his shoulder, but he's okay.
"Come on. I need to find him," Roman says, and sadness takes over me as I realize who he means.
"I know where he's at," I say, taking his hand.
We make our way through the bodies of the fallen. They're everywhere. I scan the face of every single wolf; I know most of them, but there are a couple faces of wolves who I haven't met or have met and don't know the names of.
As we approach Aston's body, the sight breaks me. Violet is rocking a screaming Cici as she loses her mind next to her mate's fallen body. Everyone is around them, Max, Serena, Blue, Seth, Gemma, and even Samirah and Damon, all with tears in their eyes.
This, this is the result of war, of a person hungry for a power he has no business possessing. Death, suffering, grief. That's all he accomplished here today and in the past. I look at my own hands, then my eyes go to Samirah, Damon, Seth, and now Cici, all people he has stolen from.
I kneel next to Cici and Violet, my own tears falling as I take her hand in mine and place it over Aston's heart. I cup her face with my other hand as I start the prayer. She takes a breath and says it with me, everyone else following along.
" Selene, hold you,
May the spirits of the fallen lead you beyond this form,
See the land of the moon and enter eternity;
From this day until the last, your sacrifice is carved in the stars."
"Thank you," Cici mouths to me as tears continue falling down our cheeks. Roman helps me up. We hold each other for a minute, his chin atop my head. He says nothing, and I pour all the love I feel for him through our bond.
"Come on, let's take care of the surrendered vampires," he says, wiping his bloodshot eyes.
Everyone gets up except Violet and CiCi. We make our way through the bound vampires mindlessly. I incinerate the ones who damn us, and we leave the ones who pledge loyalty to us. I'll go through their minds later.
We're nearly through them all when an ear-piercing scream is followed by a wail that shakes the ground, the trees, and even the few buildings surrounding us. Instantly, I turn and find Aylin screaming as she runs to Damon, who is on his knees with a blade sticking through his chest. Azrael instantly attacks a vampire, who had managed to get free, to the ground before he sticks one thumb in each of the vampire's eyes and melts him. I look at my still-screaming sister as she pulls the sword from Damon's chest.
"No, no, no, NO, NO, NO," she screams at him as if she's commanding him not to die.
From where I'm standing, I only see him cup her face as she lets out another scream and...
Goddess above, Artemis' tits, Nyx on a stick, she pulls his head to the side and marks him.
I watch her shoulders shake as she rests her forehead against his before they disappear into thin air. Unwilling to let my sister face this alone, I portal just outside the underworld hospital where I know she took him. I stagger for a second just as Roman appears behind me and grabs my arm, steadying me.
I grab his hand as we run inside; the woman at the reception desk starts at our abrupt entrance.
"Where is the Queen?" I ask her
"That's classif-" her words are cut off as she looks at me, my green eyes that match Aylin's piercing her, and the undeniable resemblance sinks in. I almost feel bad as the woman trembles in her seat. "Fourth door on your left," she stutters.
Roman waits behind me as I walk until I find the door, opening it to see my sister on her knees in front of a group of doctors and nurses, all yelling things in a panic as they work on her mate. I walk up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes as I lean down, one hand going under her arm, the other grabbing her opposite hand and pulling her up.
I see a row of three chairs and pull her towards them so she can sit. As soon as we sit, she rests her head against my shoulder. I don't move, and we silently watch them work on him until a doctor's urgent voice makes her shoot her head up.
"Your majesty! Your blood!" he says frantically.
Moving at inhuman speed, she goes to his head, pulls his mouth open, and slashes her wrist, letting her blood free flow into his mouth. It takes a second, but eventually, he grabs her wrist and pulls it to his mouth as he drinks. I watch as he drinks heavily for a few minutes, and she pales, staggering on her feet. I walk up and pull her away.
"No! He needs it," she screeches at me as I unleash Tamisra's claws and slash my wrist, holding his mouth open and letting my blood flow in.
The blood of the tribrid has to count for something, even if it's not his mate's blood, right? Aylin grips my shoulders as the blood flows down his throat before he starts coughing, and I hold pressure over my cut and pull it away.
Aylin sits next to his head as she brushes his hair out of his face and waits for him to wake up. She freezes when he finally opens his red eyes and looks up at her. I watch horror cross her face as she stands and backs up. I can see her closing in on herself as she stares at his eyes. I then watch as the softness and love in Damon's gaze turn to nothing I can describe as anything short of utter agony.
"Aylin..." he croaks
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I can't," she says as she turns away, smooths her hair back, holds her chin high, and leaves the room.
I don't stop her; if I got to know my sister during this last month, then I knew she needed a minute alone before I approached her. I look down at Damon as his eyes glisten before he closes them, his fists clenching.
"She just needs time," I tell him, putting a hand on his shoulder
"It's different when I can feel her terror," he says, his hand going to his mark.
I don't tell him I understand because I don't, but I understand my sister, who has become one of my best friends.
"I can imagine. But, if there's anyone who can help her heal, it's you. This isn't new territory for you; you've walked these same eggshells before." I tell him, and he nods once. Twice, like he's trying to convince himself.
"How can I, though? This is different; we're mates; I don't have to worry about wanting any of the girls in the village and what that want would do to them. She's not a random person who I just want to help. The girls in the village...if they don't trust me, it's not the end of the world," he says
"She barely knows you. You guys bickering back and forth over the last few days doesn't count as knowing. She just needs to spend time around you and see the real you. She won't be able to resist the bond. Right now, she sees you as her mate, the vampire. She doesn't see you as her mate, Damon."
"At what point am I forcing the bond on her, though?" he asks
"Not right now. She wouldn't have freaked out like that if she didn't want you. She's a Queen. Do you think anyone outside of her family has ever seen her lose her cool? And she just lost her mind in front of four different species." I explain
"She rejected me, you know. I didn't accept it...but" he trails off, and I raise my brows as I look at him
"I'm gonna go ahead and say she took back her rejection based on that mark on your neck," I say, and he shakes his head
"She just didn't want me to die. She can still reject the bond, even if she marked me."
I guess he's not wrong, but she loves him; that much is clear. I sigh
"She has PTSD and needs help before she can look past the fact that you're part of the same species who hurt her," I tell him, and he just looks away
I get up, deciding she's probably had enough time, and exit the room as I look for her. I find Roman first.
"She went outside," Roman tells me, and I nod.
"I'll be back soon. Why don't you go home and do what you need to do? I'll meet you there," I tell him as I grab his hand. He shakes his head.
"It can wait," he says before he kisses my head and lets go of my hands
I walk outside, finding Aylin sitting on a bench. She still holds her head high, sitting with perfect posture. She looks at me as I sit down next to her
"You probably find me weak," she sighs, turning her gaze back and looking ahead into the light violet sky
Shock runs through me
"Absolutely not. I think a lot of memories got pulled to the front of your mind before he was even in the picture, and now that he's here, you see them every time you see him," I tell her, putting a hand over hers.
I hesitate, almost expecting her to pull away, but she doesn't flinch from my touch.
"Fifteen years. It has been fifteen years. Still, I can't even look my own mate in his eyes because they're the exact same," she scoffs.
"So what if it's been fifteen years? You're immortal; that's, like, a week to an immortal. Even so, some humans and wolves take even longer to recover."
"I'm a fucking Queen, not a human," she snaps, her fist clenching
"Yes, Aylin, you're a Queen, not a robot. You're still allowed to be traumatized. Scolding yourself for being traumatized and telling yourself you're weak isn't going to help you."
She stares ahead for a long time before she answers.
"It's the truth. I couldn't fight them off. I let my guard down when I knew attacks were imminent, and they put those despicable cuffs on me that nullified my powers. A fucking creation of the angels and three weak vampires got them on me." she closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head.
"And an incubus abducted me because I let my own guard down; he also managed to trick me into a mating bond. Neither of us is perfect, and we never will be. You didn't do anything wrong, Aylin." I tell her, and she scoffs again
"I don't want to discuss this anymore," she says, effectively shutting me out.
"I'm always here for you, you know," I tell her, and she looks at me before nodding.
"Come. Let's get back; there's much to do," she says, standing
"Let me just grab Roman; we can all portal together," I tell her, and she nods.
I look at her momentarily before she raises her brows and waves her hand dismissively toward the inside, where he's sitting in the waiting room. I sigh and turn around, knowing she's brushing off the subject, but at least she talked about it.