Page 155 of Eternal Obsession

“I did. Inevitably she will return to her true love, Orpheus. She was known as the Sumerian. A princess. She was beautiful, and with her alluring gift she seduced Orpheus. Your father destroyed both Orpheus’s maker and bride.”

“How do we reverse this. . . ?”

“It takes the blood of two vampires to create the correct environment to resurrect such a being. We will offer up the spell with our blood and relight the spark of life that rekindles. Have you the stomach for it?”

“Just tell me what I must do.” I approached Fabian, ready to follow his commands and for the incantation to be over with.

Fabian tipped the urn upside down allowing the gray ashes to fall onto the long walnut table.

I stood by Fabian’s side, eager to assist. When the urn was empty, Fabian placed it onto the floor. He removed a knife from his coat pocket and cut into his wrist. Blood poured from the gaping wound onto the center of the mound of cinders.

He smiled. “Your wrist.” Fabian placed the knife against my flesh and cut.

I clenched my jaw as the pain radiated from my wrist and up my arm and into my shoulder.

Eyes closed, reluctant to see where the knife had penetrated. The incision stung. “Done?” I asked and opened one eye.

My blood splashed onto Sunaria’s remains.

A wave of dizziness crashed over me, sudden and consuming. My bright lifeforce gushed, frothing where it landed on grey remains. Each red cell shimmered with something ancient, something divine in its torrent.

A spark, or something dangerously like one, flared to the ground, subtle yet unmistakable. The ashes around it bubbled and twisted, as though stirred by breath not of this world. Something was waking. Something ancient. It coiled with a shimmer that looked achingly close to magic—raw, unearthly, undeniable.

It was happening—now.

After all the waiting, the desperate hoping, the relentless search for answers . . . this was real. Unfolding before us was a brilliant swirling light, vivid and almost blinding in its intensity.

It pulsed, vibrant and alive, becoming something sacred and terrifying all at once.

I could hardly breathe.

“How long will it take for Sunaria to rise?” I stared at the table and cringed at the sight of our seething blood becoming a womanly form.

“Well, it’s been a little while since I last performed this ceremony, and to be honest I didn’t exactly have a timepiece then.”

“Dear God.” I sighed.

“Do you detect it?” Fabian said. “It’s your friend, she has company. It appears she needs you.”

“Ingrid?”

“Orpheus. He is with her. We must hurry with Sunaria before Orpheus does something rash.”

“I can’t leave without her.” I stared again at Sunaria’s ashes.

“Go. I will deal with her. When she is raised, I will send her to Orpheus. Hurry.”

“Will you be all right here with her?”

“Quite safe. Sunaria will be well behaved with me. You know where to go?”

“Stonehenge,” I said.

Fabian nodded. “I have enjoyed our time together and hope we will see each other soon. With all that said and done, I ask only one thing of you. I have lived here undisturbed for many years. Tell no one of my whereabouts. This I ask of you as a friend.”

“You have my word,” I promised.

“One more thing, Jadeon. When the storm hits, stay centered and you will prevail.”