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Rowan could not die, she decided. She had no idea how to live without him. Even when she had left Moonwood, she’d thought about him every day for years. The last few months had seen them reconnect, even if she had been unwilling to admit it to herself.
He couldn’t die. Not like this. Not while she carried his child. Not when she could see all that he was willing to throw away for her. She didn’t need any further proof of his loyalty. He simply couldn’t die.
She didn’t mind using all her magic. She didn’t care about the consequences. She heard the voice of her witch mentor clearly in her mind:
Crystalizing your power, manifesting it as a physical substance—that’s the only way to truly kill a vampire. It’s an ancient witch technique that has long been forgotten. It’s dangerous and can kill you if not done properly.
Remember, it can only work in close range, so you have to find a way to get close enough to the vampire and strike true where its heart should be.
Juniper squeezed her eyes shut and time seemed to stop. She remembered her vision suddenly. She had seen it a hundred times. This was how Rowan died, with a spear through his chest.
This was the reason she had come back to Moonwood.
Many years ago, she had seen visions about a rogue but had been powerless to stop the death of her father. She wasn’t going to allow the same thing to happen again. She was going to act on her visions. She had lost her father, she didn’t plan to lose Rowan as well.
She emptied her mind and reached deep inside her for the source of her power. She heard her breathing slow down and felt her heart stop beating. She drifted toward the source and felt the reservoir of her magic.
She imagined it coming out of her as a separate entity on its own. She willed it into the material world as a physical object, shaped it in her mind. She held the image in her head for what could have been mere seconds, or an eternity. She couldn’t tell.
She felt a slight resistance but she firmed her mind. Suddenly, the pressure gave and the resistance broke. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a crystal spear in her hand that glowed with purple light.
She suppressed the urge to laugh out loud in triumph. She stood up and watched the vampire still floating toward Rowan. It seemed as if time had stood still.
She quickly held the spear behind her back and walked softly toward Rowan. The vampire had not noticed the spear that had materialized in her hands. More accurately, he had forgotten all about her.
Juniper grinned when she realized why. Rowan was the only person who threatened him. The rest of the town could have been a composition of harmless sheep for all he cared. He was not afraid of them. He was not afraid of Juniper. That was a careless mistake.
She walked slowly to the side, keeping herself on his blind side as she approached. She tried to levitate off the ground but couldn’t. All her powers had manifested physically into the spear in her hand.
The only mana left in her was what powered her to move and function. She had to strike, and quickly, or she would be dead before she realized it.
Rowan had seen her get up, had seen the spear form in her hand. By some miracle, he had managed to keep his expression neutral and his eyes on the vampire.
The vampire landed softly in front of him and pulled his blood spear out of the air. “So, this is how it ends.” He grinned wildly. “You fought well.”
Rowan held his gaze. “Don’t patronize me. Do what you have to do. Do you remember your promise? My life for theirs. No harm comes to my pack or my mate.”
“Why the rush to die?” The vampire shook his head in mock sympathy. “Such a naive little boy. I made you no promises, fool. But I will promise you this. When I kill everyone you love and destroy everything you’ve ever built, I will take no pleasure in doing it.”
Rowan’s eyes widened in shock as the vampire hefted the spear over his head in preparation for the kill strike. “Come now,” he continued. “You didn’t really think I would spare any of you…did you?” He laughed in mockery. “You did? Well, you’re a bigger fool than I thought.”
He brought his hand down but Juniper was already behind him. She rammed her spear so hard into his back it ripped out of his chest. The vampire’s spear, in turn, ripped into Rowan’s shoulder, his aim thrown off.
She twisted the spear wickedly and leaned forward till her lips were inches from his ear. “Then that makes you the biggest fool of all,” she whispered.
His eyes widened and he looked down at the glowing spear poking out of his chest. He looked to the side at Juniper’s face with horror in his eyes. Black blood dribbled slowly out the side of his pale lips.
She smiled wickedly at him, and then removed her spear slowly from his back. He gasped and collapsed on his knees as blood oozed out of the deadly wounds. He looked confused, and his cocky grin had disappeared from his face.
Juniper’s spear started to shimmer with the blood on it, and as she watched, the blood of the vampire was absorbed by the spear. She stared closely at the spear and saw that every drop of blood had disappeared.Strange.
The vampire heaved, breathing hard and heavy. He sat on the floor and smiled at Juniper. “Well, what do you know? Looks like you know some ancient witch magic of your own, after all.” He coughed and spat out a glob of black blood.
“I am from another time. It was a mistake that I stayed asleep as long as I did. I could never have survived in your world.” He glanced at Juniper’s spear. “I should thank you, for freeing me from the prison of my immortality.” He sighed deeply and shut his eyes.
Slowly, his pale skin turned into a dried husk, and then he crumbled slowly until all that was left was a mound of gray dust.
Juniper was struck with a wave of fatigue that left her feeling dizzy. She suddenly felt several years older. The spear in her hand glowed even brighter than it had before. Without knowing how she did it, she absorbed the spear back into herself.
