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And then, before the body completely collapses, the beast opens its jaws, wider and wider, like it’s unhooking, and then it clamps its teeth around Skarde’s head, fangs piercing the skull. With two rough shakes of its head, the beast rips Skarde’s head right off, leaving a ragged stump behind, then spits the head out across the snow. It bounces a few times and lands facing up. Skarde’s blue eyes blink at the sky a couple of times before he completely dies.
Better stick that on a pike to make sure, I think absently to myself, though I know now he’s deader than dead.
I look back to the beast, which is now setting its attention on me.
“I see you’ve discovered how to fly now,” Jeremias says to me as I quickly get to my feet. “You better make use of that.”
The beast is starting to run at us now, gaining ground.
But instead of flying away, I stay where I am. I widen my stance, grounding myself, then put my palms out toward the beast, energy and light flowing outward.
It stops the beast in mid-stride. It’s like it hits an invisible wall, bouncing back, then growling in anger. Giant claws rake the air in frustration, its hackles raised.
Fucking hell, why does it want to kill me so badly? I know Wolf and Ezra have tussled with it before, how come they’re still alive?
“Because Absolon loves you,” Jeremias says snidely. “I told you, it ruins us. The beast hates that you make Absolon better. The more he loves you, the deeper the beast gets buried. The deeper the darkness is hidden away.”
Then Jeremias takes out the glowing witch’s blade from his pocket. “But don’t worry, my child. I’ll make sure it never bothers you again.”
He strides off toward the beast, moving fast, holding the blade up, ready to strike.
“No!” I scream, and start to run after him. “If you kill the beast, you’ll kill Solon!”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Jeremias says over his shoulder, not stopping. “All vampires will be killed soon enough.”
No, no, no! I’m running at top vampire speed, about to see if flying gets me there faster to stop him, but then Jeremias waves his arm at me without looking, without slowing down, and I’m thrown backward a hundred feet, landing on the snow.
“No!” I scream again, just as the beast lunges at Jeremias.
Jeremias throws the blade.
It goes right into the beast’s heart.
It stops it dead.
The beast stumbles backward, the shining handle sticking out of its chest, the blue electricity spreading outward from the wound until it’s covering the beast’s entire body like a network of glowing veins.
And then the beast starts to change.
It shrinks in size, getting smaller, turning pale, becoming something else.
Becoming Solon.
Solon, my beautiful, handsome Solon is now naked, the witch’s blade in his chest, and he’s falling to his knees, blue eyes staring right at me in love and sorrow.
A gut-wrenching cry rips out of my chest, blasting my ears, and then I’m running and running toward him and he’s falling over on his side, collapsing to the ground.
“NO!” I yell, tears streaming down my face, sobs choking me, and I’m praying and praying, please, no, be okay, please be okay. Please, please, please.
I throw myself down on the ground beside him, my hands going to the blade and pulling it out. Blood rushes to the surface of the wound, but it’s not Solon’s normal blood. It’s tinged with black and blue, like he’s been poisoned. Dying from the inside out.
“It’s no use, Lenore,” Jeremias says from behind me. “I’m a slayer and that’s a slayer’s blade. It’s how the world works.”
“Fuck you!” I scream at him, and then turn my head back as Solon reaches up with his hand and places it at my cheek, my tears spilling over his fingers.
“Please, don’t go,” I beg him through a sob, pressing my palm over his hand, keeping his cold skin on my cheek. “This isn’t over for us. We’re only just beginning. We didn’t come this far through all of this to give up now.”
Solon moves his lips, those beautiful lips, but only blood comes out of his mouth. He blinks up at me. It’s okay, he says in my head, his voice faint. I’ll be okay.
“No,” I plead. “What about me? I can’t do this without you. Don’t let me do this life without you. You’re supposed to be mine for the ages.”
I am, he says, staring deep into my eyes with so much love and sorrow and my god, no, no, he’s saying goodbye. And you are mine for the ages, moonshine. I love you with all the blood in my heart. True love never dies, even if I do.
My face crumbles and he’s slowly drifting away from me. I frantically press my hands on his heart, over the wound, and I can feel him going. His heart isn’t even beating anymore. His body is growing ice cold and stiff, and all the wonderful life inside him, all those centuries, all those hard-fought battles, all his memories, all the love and soul and heart that resides inside him are slipping away forever.
