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Amara considered the matter for a moment as I shuddered. “Ah yes, perhaps that would indeed be more poetic. There are plenty of tombs down there, and there will be more dead to come. We can line the tombs with the bodies of our victims. Perhaps it would be better to keep them as trophies rather than letting them fall into the abyss.”
I shuddered as Amara drew her sword and pointed it directly at me.
“Walk,” she said. I, like Cassius, had no choice but to obey.
*
We left the stone walls of the castle and entered the tunnels that had been carved into the mountain the castle had been built upon. The darkness consumed us. The twisting tunnels were cold, and I was filled with the eerie sense of dread that had come into my heart before. I kept waiting for an opportunity to attack, but none presented itself.
The tunnels opened into a wide cavern. Pillars of stone held up the ceiling. Stalagmites jutted out like daggers, and shadows lurked all around. If there was one place in all the world that was fitting for a vampire, it was this one. Rows of tombs stretched out as far as the eye could see. Some were simple stone ones, others more ornate. I had first been in here chasing a clue that could reveal Cassius’ secret. He had been lying to me then, and even now he kept secrets. It was only recently that I had discovered the truth about these tombs, how it was the only way to kill…
As the thought entered my mind my heart skipped a beat and my breath caught in my throat. I glanced towards Cassius, who still looked like a dutiful servant. But was he really this way, or was this just a part he was playing in order to lure Amara down here? I wanted to believe that our love was strong enough to endure him being turned into a vampire, but I was afraid that it was just wishful thinking on my part. I was afraid of looking at him for too long in case Amara should suspect anything, but even if he had truly changed, this was still my best chance of killing her.
I just had to wait for a signal, any signal.
Chapter Nineteen
Cassius
Had she seen the look in my eyes? Did she understand what I was trying to do? It felt awful having to shun Willow and not welcome her into my arms, but this plan was only going to work if Amara believed I was truly hers. It was always easier to make someone believe what they wanted to believe, and that was what I was counting on with Amara. However, I feared that Willow might not understand that I was trying to deceive the vampire queen, and there was no chance for us to exchange a secret message. I had to hope and pray that she would understand.
I had been worried that Amara would see through my suggestion, but she had been eager to bring Willow down into the tombs.
“Now end it Cassius. I want you to choose a tomb for her, some simple thing that is never going to be used,” Amara said.
“Perhaps we could use your tomb for her my lady. It’s not as though you are ever going to need it. It would be a strong statement to condemn her into your tomb,” I tried to keep my voice as even as possible. It was easier to do as a vampire. As a human I would have been shaking with nerves, and most likely would have given the game away. So far Amara hadn’t noticed that anything was amiss.
She turned towards her tomb and wore a pensive expression, as any vampire should. She reached out and leaned against the high tombstone that was decorated with rubies, and the ornate inscription that had been carved into stone.
“It has been a long time since I have seen this. I never thought there could be a fate worse than death until you condemned me to that infernal limbo. But you are right, I shall never die. I can’t. I’m too valuable to the cause, I know too many things. If you couldn’t kill me then what chance does anyone else have? Yes… yes,” she turned her back to the tomb and faced Willow. “I want to come down here and look upon your face for eternity. I will always remember this sweet victory, and how pitiful you were. You thought you could defeat me, but I hope now you see that you never stood a chance. Your love was nothing compared to the power of the vampire’s bite, and you will die knowing that the world will be consumed by darkness. There is no hope for anything that you value.”
I pulled the lid off the tomb as she spoke, opening the gaping darkness. “It’s ready,” I said, looking over Amara’s shoulder towards Willow. I tried to communicate everything I could into that gaze, and if our love was worth anything then she had to see the meaning in my eyes. This was our one chance, because if it failed then Willow would be dead and I would be a broken man, and what would be left for me other than to break the world again?
But Willow did see. Before Amara could do anything, Willow lunged forward and embraced the wolf. Her momentum carried her like a spear and she clashed against Amara, sending her reeling back. Amara lost her balance. Her arms wheeled around her as she tried to fight gravity, but although she was a powerful vampire she could not do everything. I reached up and yanked on her hair, dragging her down into the pit that she had built for herself. Willow reached down, sweeping low to take away Amara’s legs. Amara fell back and collapsed into the pit. As she realized what was happening she shifted into a bat. Smoke burst out of her and she started to fly away. I grabbed hold of the lid and started to drag it. Stone scraped against stone, but there was still a crack and Amara was going to escape again… but then Willow’s great paw smashed through the air and caught Amara, swatting her back into the tomb. Amara was thrown off course and I managed to pull the lid across her tomb, locking it into place.
I fell back, stunned that it had actually worked. I was just waiting for something else to go wrong now, for her to find some other way to escape. There was a flap of wings and then the beating of fists. The tomb shook as she tried everything she could to get out of there. She even tried to scrape her sword against it, but nothing would work. Then I heard a muffled scream emerge, a scream that soon went silent, and then there was nothing more.
I turned and looked at Willow, who now shifted back into her human form.
“Is it over?” she asked.
“I… I think so,” I said.
“So all along you planned this?”
“I thought it was the only way. I just had no idea how to get her into the tomb without her becoming suspicious. When you arrived I saw an opportunity, but I couldn’t tell you in case she learned the truth. If she realized that I was trying to give you a hint then she never would have come down here. She would have punished us both.”
Willow nodded. “I’m glad you kept it a secret, although you gave me a damn good scare.” I crawled over to her and clasped her hands. She pressed her body against me and relief coursed through my body. We shuddered now that it was all over, and I never thought I could feel this good in a place such as this.
“Did you really think I was hers?”
“I didn’t know what to think,” she admitted.
“You should know that I could never lose sight of what is important to me so easily.”
“But she… she turned you again,” Willow said, her voice faltering.
I nodded slowly. “Yes, she did. It was practically the first thing she did when we returned. I suppose she wanted to make sure I would be tortured for eternity. I think she thought that if she had to suffer for so long then I should have to suffer as well.”
