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And now she was mine. Here, in the place she was meant for.
Chapter 16
Tessa
Silence met me as I stepped off the glass elevator that opened up to the large underground city. As I’d ridden down, I couldn’t stop the awe and sorrow at the sights. What I was faced with was nothing short of breathtaking. The tall statues littered throughout, the designs carved into the elegant monuments—the large steeple in the center. I knew that’s where Aetas was. He’d be in the best, and from what I could see as I lowered through the tall drop, it was beautifully done in white marble.
I lifted the bottom of my dress as I followed the wide, stone path that led me through the center. The walk was going to be long, but I didn’t care. My mind was racing, bombarded with so many questions that I didn’t even know where to begin. It was as though I were walking through a thick fog that was swallowing me whole.
How could this have happened? How could Marko have not known of our city’s fall?
Perhaps his mind was closed off. The events that had taken place during the ceremony were enough to distract anyone, but I would have felt it. I would have never of turned my attention away from what I was meant to protect. It wasn’t in my nature when I had led. My instinct had solely focused on what was mine.
My clicking heels merged with the thudding of my pulse and I let my emotion to the man I was mated to by vows filter through. Maybe my retreat from him was due to our broken bond. It was quite possible. After all, where Marko once filled my thoughts, Hunter was now there. His emotions, and his need of me, overpowered everything.
Even now, I could feel his worry. He wanted to speak to me. The pressure of his concern weighed against my mind. But he didn’t speak. He gave me distance, even though he didn’t want to. It had me embracing the idea of him even more. When I needed to be soothed, he was the one doing it. When I needed to talk, it was him coming to me. Not Marko. At least, not like he used to. He was becoming a stranger, and yet oddly familiar in another way. It made no sense, but nothing did right now.
My head rose and I watched Aetas’ memorial grow closer. My heart was beginning to race. Sweat was starting to cover my skin, despite that it was cold down here. The hum of energy to this place was downright exhilarating. It made the hair on my arms stand on end. I felt alone and yet surrounded by power.
Black marble aligned the path. Small towers of previous enforcers were on both sides of me and still in death, I could feel their protective nature. It had my lids dropping the slightest amount as I let my own aura flare out.
I was with them, and they with me. I respected them. We were all one here, and I opened myself to them completely as a sign of my loyalty and praise for what they have sacrificed during their life. They had kept us safe. Kept us on track in a world full of greed and violence. But that was no more. The lives of us, vampires, were spiraling out of control and if Marko didn’t make the right choices … we were in serious trouble.
I continued on, my mind going back to my grief. As I neared Aetas’ temple, I slowed, taking in the grandeur of the large structure. The door to the front was black metal and didn’t hold a door handle. There was no way to get in, and I didn’t think my powers would work. The energy around it was like a life force of its own. I was trembling as I stopped at the bench just feet away of the entrance. My legs nearly gave out as I collapsed to sit down.
“Aetas.”
Just saying his name brought tears. My heart ached to a magnitude that I had never felt before. I clutched to my hands as I let the new droplets fall to my lap.
“Aetas, we are lost. I am lost. You do not know what you have done by leaving us. Or maybe you do. We are in so much trouble,” I sobbed. “We need you back. I … need you. Marko, he’s not the same since he took your blood. He is a stranger to me. What were you doing attacking us like that? I should hate you. I should despise you for all that you did, but look at me. I mourn you like I would a lover. Like a best friend. My h-heart—”
Sobs tore from me as I slid from the bench to rest on my knees. My head bowed and harder I cried. When my palms flattened on the dirt, I broke through the surface with my claws.
“Why have you done this to us? To me? You weren’t supposed to die. You made me promises. You broke them. I demand you to come back! I …”
Harder I dug into the dirt. Words were gone. All I could do was cry as my heart pined for a man who had continuously put me through hell. But not just him. All three men had hurt me at one point or another. Now I was uncertain of what to do. I knew in their own way, Aetas, Marko, and Hunter had loved me. And in my own way, perhaps I loved all of them as well?
Aetas. My feelings toward him were a mystery to me. How had I never seen it before? He hadn’t been all bad. There were times when I softened toward him—the moments when he praised me or healed me. There was a look he’d give. One that pulled at something within. What did that say about me? Who the hell was I to allow myself to connect with three different men like that? I was broken in so many places that I just didn’t know anymore. The word lost kept coming. Was it for me or all vampires in general? Both?
“Jeremiah 50:6” My voice cracked but I forced the prayer to come, regardless that it scalded my throat. “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.”
“Where do I rest within this mess you have created, Aetas? What do I do to find myself? Where do any of us go? What is my purpose anymore? Tell me.” My lip pulled back in anger at the barrage of questions. “You will not tell me because you refused to be strong enough to stay and face what you did. But I don’t need you to show me the way. I will tell you my path. If all I am cannot be saved, I relinquish this soul to the devil who loved me most. The devil,” I spat. “Not the men in my life who do his deeds. He’s the one who lured me to this point. To you, Marko, and now this new Hunter.”
I paused. “Maybe you are Satan, and maybe I’m already in hell.”
I swept back the curl that was sticking to my wet face and stood. In three strides, I made it to the door, slamming my fist against the metal. “I hate how this has played out! Perhaps I shouldn’t have held such loyalty to you, but I did, and now I pay the price. We all do. But no more. You’re dead, and I will have faith for no one except myself from now on. If Marko strays …”
I pressed my fingers into the cold door, hitting it once again for all the anger that was surfacing. “I am a fool for no man. I am a warrior and I will learn to lead in case the time comes when I have to. You will regret the day you pushed me away for another. This is all your fault Aetas. You failed by making the wrong choice, but I will fix it for you. I will become the leader you doubted me to be. When my fears prove right, it will be my reign. And I will be ready.”
Chapter 17
Hunter
“Wait!”
My voice carried through the large opened room I had once ran through to escape this place. I hated being within these walls, but my concern over my location faded as I rushed toward Marko and the men in black who were leaving his side.
They froze, turning to look at me as I slid to a stop in front of them. Tessa’s need of revenge over the humans was my own. Her pain was mine, and all I knew was pleasing and avenging her in the moment.
