“You can’t die,” I said, my voice turning hoarse. “Death can’t die.” Wetness covered my face as tears crowded their way out of my eyes. Fear and anxiety battled for dominance as my brain still raced for something to do, but I couldn’t leave him. All that mattered was holding onto him. He couldn’t go anywhere if I held him in my arms. The second I let go, I’d lose him.
Grim lifted a hand up, touching my face, his touch as icy as my dread. His skin turned the color of lead.
Though he couldn’t seem to get any more words out, his eyes shone with all the love he had for me. In them, I also saw an apology. As if he were sorry he had to go so soon.
Blood rushed in my ears like a raging storm.
Then his face emptied of expression and he hardened into stone. Even his hair solidified under my touch. Flakes drifted off him in bits, rising into the air, then faster as his body disintegrated in my arms.
“I love you,” I cried out.
But I was too late. He was already gone. Dark shimmering particles hovered before me, my hands now empty. The only thing left on the floor was his golden skull ring. I realized he must have taken it off before, leaving a token behind for me.
The tether inside binding me to him broke with a quiet snap. The wail that emerged from me released from the depths of my broken heart as it splintered under my rib cage. I gripped my face, unable to stop screaming.
12
Vivien
Grim said he’d give me more time. He promised I could have as much time as I needed. We had eternity to figure things out…for me to gather my strength. I hadn’t been brave enough to tell him. I was now. But it was too late. I rocked back and forth, unable to free myself from the hell I was trapped in.
I don’t know how long I screamed, but when I stopped, my throat was raw. It felt as though I swallowed glass. Emotion pounded me like a massive fist until I was a bloody, sobbing pulp.
I blinked away the tears, fingernails digging into the wood floor, leaving scratch marks.
Galina removed a wine bottle from one rack. A fingernail elongated into a claw she used to unwrap, then pulled out the cork. She crossed to the table, filling an empty glass.
The realization penetrated too slowly and tasted of ash when it did.
“You did this,” I said. My body vibrated with grief and rage. My fingers closed around the skull ring, still warm from Grim’s hand.
She sipped the wine. “I really am sorry for your loss. I know what it’s like to lose someone you thought you’d spend eternity with.”
Unable to get myself off the ground, I looked up at her. “Why?”
Galina drank her wine, as if weighing her next words. “I know this all seems terrible right now, but I promise, you’ll see. This is all for the best.”
“Why?!” I screamed this time, tightening my grip around the ring until it bit into my flesh.
The rim paused at her lips as she regarded me with an inscrutable look. She set the wine glass back down on the table without drinking from it again.
“I am here to free you and this world from tyranny. I know you thought you loved him. That’s what the blood bond does. It makes you believe you are connected in an eternal, meaningful way.”
If I could have moved from my spot, I would have lunged at her and clawed her eyes out. Trapped in the moment, afraid if I took any action, I’d be trapped in this nightmare for all time.
“How dare you tell me I don’t know what love is.” My tone was low, dangerous.
“You know what love is?” she asked, her voice suddenly sharp. Her pupils turned to slits as her magic cat eyes shone green. “Love is waiting for thousands of years to be reunited after others decided your fate. I couldn’t change the beginning, but I have the strength to say enough is enough and take control of the ending.”
The C. S. Lewis quote.You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
“I should have stopped them then,” she said with a snarl that reminded me of a panther.
“Who?” I asked, still not understanding. Not knowing what all this had been for.
“Osiris, and Grim,” she said, suddenly stiff, turning ice cold. “They deigned my sister was too dangerous, so they put her down.” A darkness came into her eyes. It was pain and resentment that had ages to stew and steep, pushing her to near madness. “They put my sister down like a dog and hid her from me. Because they knew if I could get to her, I would have woken her up and we would have been reunited.” Sadness tinged her voice, but she chased it away with the demeanor of an icy predator.
“The Original,” I said, putting it together. “The Original is your sister. The one who makes vampires.”
