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“I know I’m a tool, but he’s not as indiscriminating as you think. Once he is free, he will free me from my vampiric state to become one of you. But enough talk. Give me the crystal.”
Weiyang’s hand snapped out. The crystal vibrated and tore out of Alistair’s pocket toward Weiyong. Alistair grabbed it and flung his power to freeze Weiyong.
Weiyong only laughed and stalked forward. “I’m not your puppet any longer.”
With a wave of his hand, Weiyong broke the bonds around Jiaren. Jiaren hissed, baring his fangs, and lunged at Alistair. Alistair teleported. When he reappeared, darkness pulsed out of the crystal. A shout of pain escaped him as millions of knives slashed at his insides, tearing him into pieces. Hunger and bloodlust roared their ugly heads.
Kill. Must feed.
Alistair convulsed as he fought against the vampire’s overwhelming needs. Unlike other vampires, he didn’t suffer from bloodlust. He sensed Weiyong coming closer. Another pulse from the crystal. Though he was prepared for it this time, the pain wasn’t any less. The crystal rolled out of his hand.
“What did you do?” Alistair rasped, his chest heaving. He leaned against a column lest he fall. It took effort to talk, to not see Weiyong as food. The crystal, surrounded by a black aura, floated into Weiyong’s palms.
“Your brother knew you couldn’t resist saving your precious vampires, so we made a special concoction just for you.”
Poison. They’d poisoned the vampires, hoping Alistair would use the crystal to save them and therefore take the poison into himself.
Alistair couldn’t move as the ball swirled faster and faster. Darkness surrounded its light and then expanded to cover Weiyong’s hands. Immense, unimaginable power whipped out of Weiyong, slashing into the surroundings and leaving deep indents onto walls and furniture. Alistair formed a shield around himself and planted his feet.
Black veins rushed up from Weiyong’s neck to his face. His eyes turned to obsidian while hurricane strength winds picked up around them.
The world blackened when the crystal shattered. Power and wind and broken furniture smashed into Alistair and bounced against his aura. His eyes squeezed shut, the despair within him matching his chaotic environment. This was it. After ten thousand years, his comeuppance was here. He’d failed, and he’d live the rest of his life in this cold and unwelcoming abyss.
When the tornado of power stopped, he opened his eyes. The whirlwind had destroyed anything not bolted to the wall. Dust and furniture pieces littered the floor. Jiaren was passed out on the ground. The only things standing were the columns holding up the roof.
The crystal was no more. Weiyong sighed, his contentment at odds with the surrounding destruction. The malevolent aura around him had strengthened tenfold. When his eyes opened, Alistair recognized the tyrannical gaze.
Drakos.
“Hello, brother,” Drakos said in Weiyong’s voice. Even the vicious grin was his, not Weiyong’s.
“You’re not free yet,” Alistair growled through the pain and the wrenching urge to feed. “Nina is awake. We will stop you.”
Weiyong laughed his brother’s laugh. Evil. Gloating. Diabolical. Alistair’s non-beating heart ached. Once upon a time, it hadn’t been like this, but thinking about the past was as useful as rubble littering the room.
“Nina, yes, our dearest sister. You spent the last ten thousand years attempting to revive her, scouring the earth for soulmates.” His eyes glittered with menace. “Have you asked yourself, why did Weiyong blow up the Ruin? When I knew it would alert you to my plan?”
Shit. Nina. His insides turning to Arctic ice, Alistair teleported away. His brother had meant for him to detect the explosion in LA. Drakos and Weiyong had hidden the first crystal’s destruction from him but had destroyed the LA Ruin to lure him away from Atlantis.
Away from Nina.
Alistair reappeared in the abandoned halls of his home. Nothing had changed. A vast audience hall forever stuck in twilight gray.
Before him, the marble altar was empty, his sister gone.
NO!
Alistair reached out with his senses, expanding past this dimension to earth. Nothing.Impossible.He had never lost Nina’s presence. Not even when her soul had splintered into a thousand pieces after sealing away Drakos.
Behind the altar was a raised dais on which an imposing throne loomed, a black monstrosity surrounded by Drakos’ cruel and hateful aura.
“Where is she?” Alistair screamed. “Where is she?”
His brother laughed with arrogant triumph, the sound echoing in the desolate hall. Alistair lashed out, pouring his anger into the beam of power he shot at the throne.
Nothing happened, as he’d known. He collapsed against the altar, his throat working with the need to feed. Regardless, as stupid as it was, the release of pent-up fury cleared his head.
“You don’t know where she is,” he muttered, gaining more confidence as he spoke. “To hide her from me… you can’t sense her either.”
An enraged hiss from the blackness. “She is weak. She will not survive this lifetime, and I will be free before she is reborn.”
It was Alistair’s turn to smile. “You’re wrong. You’ve always underestimated her. Shewillsurvive, and shewillgrow strong enough to restore your seal.”
He only had to buy her time.
