The Vampire's Reflection (39 page)

Aiden rushed toward her. Once again, everything was moving so slowly. As she felt the chill of his flesh wrap around her body, she looked to see Valek with one fist clutching Nikolai by the collar of his shirt, the other stretched out, reaching for her. He looked beautiful and blurry against the heavy fall of snow, an image of darkness against the clean, sparkling white. She finally felt that familiar ache for him. Realizing the enormity of the mistake she’d made only a few moments ago, she wished she could take it all back.

“It seems you’ve made the right choice, this time, darling,” Aiden growled with his lips pressed against her ear. His teeth grazed her earlobe and she wondered distantly if he’d also developed fangs. A shot of fear darted down her spine. Breathing became more difficult than ever as she found it harder to keep her knees locked.

“Aiden,” she whispered back with all of the strength she could muster, “I’m dying. So take me. Do whatever it is you want to do, but please don’t hurt him.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, angel.” His laugh was almost a bark in her ear and she flinched at the sound of it. “However, there is something that needs discussing first. Do you see that boy right there?” Aiden’s extended index claw indicated Nikolai, restrained and panting against Valek, who had him pinned against himself by the throat. It was as if Valek was threatening Aiden. Nikolai’s life for Charlotte’s. Tit for tat, though she knew who was going to win. “That boy is like you. Human. But he possesses a great deal of power—abilities he had far before I got to him because he was born with the gene inside him. Born with the dark magic.” Aiden’s words sounded alien in her ear. She didn’t recognize this person. He wasn’t even the same Elf that had stood beside her in the chapel of the Regime, when things had gotten really bad. He was altogether different—as if he’d gone mad. “He is this way, because he is your Valek’s great-grandson.”

Charlotte’s breath hitched in her throat as her heart dropped to her bowels.
But how could that be?

“Lies!” Valek spewed at Aiden. “You are feeding her lies!”

Even from her distance, and the blurriness of her vision, she could see Valek’s eyes wash red before new blood tears of his own began to fall.

Aiden’s chuckle rumbled low in her ear. “Am I, Valek? Charlotte knows about the wife you used to have, doesn’t she?” Charlotte immediately recalled her nightmare from weeks ago and the contents of her stomach started to ascend. “You remember your human wife, don’t you, Valek? The one you belonged to before you abandoned her for a new life with Francis?” Aiden spat his name as if it were the name of the most lethal poison. “Francis turned you, and you faked your death to explain your odd disappearance from her life.”

How does Aiden know all of this?

“It is all here.” He held up a rolled parchment in his free hand for the group to see. “A document given to Nikolai by the Parliament. It lists every gruesome detail in explanation for what he is. A certificate of belonging. An induction into our world so he might finally understand why he is what he is.” He explained in a valiant speech as though he were unmasking the true villain. “And then you watched from a distance as your wife got sicker and sicker. Slowly dying before your eyes. And in your last, desperate attempt to save her life, you failed. Got carried away, didn’t you?”

What was he talking about? Valek roared his anguished response.

“You didn’t know she was pregnant when you tried to change her, did you, Valek?”

“Yes, I did!” Valek wailed, his tears staining the snow beneath him red. He released Nikolai, who tumbled to the ground, scampering away from him. Charlotte felt sick, like she wanted to collapse, but Aiden kept her pressed steadfast to his chest. “I didn’t care. I just didn’t want to live in a world without her!”

“What happened when you tried to save her, Valek?” Aiden continued to prod with feigned politeness, his head cocked to one side. Charlotte could hear the amusement play, the malevolent grin in his words.

“I was too new. I didn’t know how strong I would be. I tried,” Valek managed to choke up. He looked desperately and finally to Charlotte as if he’d just admitted the darkest secret of his lifetime. She knew he probably had.

“There’s only one thing he needs to do to become complete. To finally realize who he really is.” Aiden’s tone dropped a few octaves as he drew closer to his point. “Nikolai, the time has come to take your first human. Valek and his band of fiends were responsible for taking your family. Here’s your chance for revenge. Do what needs to be done.” With that, he tossed Charlotte forward, sending her to her hands and knees into the snow.

She landed, the wet and cold sending a stinging pain up her arms. Mr. Třínožka or Sarah must have attempted to go to her, because she heard Aiden send a whirling ball of fire forward, and a screech. She glanced up from beneath her lashes to make sure no one had gotten maimed.

“If anyone attempts to help her, you, too, will perish. Valek, this is your punishment and my solace. Charlotte will finally know peace, so try not to be too anguished over this.” Aiden chuckled again.

Nikolai got to his feet, lethargically leaning to one side as he gazed down at Charlotte. Even in his casual stance, he looked threatening. They regarded each other for a few long moments, Charlotte not daring to take her eyes off him, knowing that once she did, he would surely lunge. So this was his angle. An eye for an eye. Because of something he thought Valek had done, he was going to take her life. She distantly wondered if Valek really was responsible for killing his family. How could she have not seen this before? He was curious when they’d first stumbled upon him in the forest.

With her mind, she spoke to Valek, wanting him to be the only one to hear what she was about to say.
Don’t you dare try and save me this time. I don’t want you to. I want you to live long enough to finally defeat Aiden once and for all. It’s my turn to fight the only way I know how. I love you
.

This was it. The final moments. Her world spiraled as her heart thudded violently against her sternum, as if it wanted to crawl right out of her mouth. She needed to keep herself steady, brace herself for death. Slowly, she tried to remain undetected as she reached for the letter opener sheathed in the tie of her dress. Maybe she couldn’t kill off Aiden, and maybe she couldn’t live long enough to save herself, but she’d at least die knowing she’d tried—that she’d fought. She steadied her breathing and dropped her gaze, waiting for Nikolai to make his move.

“No,” was the next thing she heard, followed by several tiny gasps. Charlotte looked up to see silver tears glistening off Sarah’s pale cheeks, but that wasn’t where the sound had come from. Her gaze slowly moved across the gathering and back to the most unfamiliar face. Nikolai stood valiantly with his arms folded across his chest.

“What did you say to me?” Aiden’s voice was a low growl behind where she knelt.

She inhaled very slowly, remaining frozen in her place just in case.

“No, Aiden!” Nikolai growled back, tossing his arms to his sides like an errant teenager. “I’m not going to kill Charlotte because of some screwed-up, deep-seated feud
you
have!”

Oh, no. Shut up. You are so going to die!

“You told me we’d find
him
,” Nikolai pointed to Valek, who by now was a shredded-to-pieces-shell-of-a-man wreck in the snow, “and kill him for taking the lives of my family.”

Valek blinked, finally coming awake from his emotional coma. “I did no such thing,” he murmured, looking square at Nikolai. “I would never slaughter an entire family of people. That is absolutely wasteful and murderous.”

“Except for
mine
.” Aiden slapped his chest like he was beating a war drum. “Right, Valek?
My
family was expendable!”

“That was different, Aiden! You and your family are an evident threat to our lives!”

“This just doesn’t seem like the kind of deal I signed up for anymore.” Nikolai shrugged apathetically.

Where did this kid find his tenacity?
Charlotte thought with her eyebrow quirked.

“I’m not even sure seeking
revenge
,” he held up air quotes with the last word, “is really my kind of thing, anyway.”

By now, Aiden was positively fuming. Charlotte could hear his breathing become erratic, feel the tremors of his anger, as they were almost tangible in the air.

“Enough! I am tired of this!” he roared, but Charlotte sensed an edge of desperation in his voice. “I am the rightful ruler of the Regime! I am the rightful ruler of this whole, damned universe!” He was spewing now, his voice shaky. In that brief moment, Charlotte heard her friend, the Elf she used to know, the needy schoolboy who was used to getting what he wanted, somewhere very deep inside Aiden. “I’ll kill her myself, right before all of you, so you never question my authority again!”

Aiden lunged at her before she could think, grabbing her by the longest tendrils of her hair and yanking her back against his chest. His hand moved swiftly to cup the bottom of her chin, pulling so that her throat was exposed. In a brief moment, she peered at Valek, who shifted forward in an attempt to save her, but Aiden halted him with a fiery blast from his fist. It didn’t hit Valek directly, though it threatened to singe his overcoat.

No! Please don’t help me!

Aiden reared up. Just before he struck her throat, she plunged the letter opener into her own chest, followed by a louder chorus of gasps and cries. She clutched the hilt of it, the feeling of the metal in her body numbing and almost…heavy. It was painful, but something rang out, salient, over the pain. She recognized it as peace. Finally, there was peace. And she had succeeded in her plan being undetected, because Aiden’s new fangs sank into her as well, taking from her greedily and vigorously. It was not the slow, sensual onslaught she was used to from the Vampires. It was murderous and filled with the feeling of revenge.

This was a different sort of desire. All he wanted to do was kill her, and kill her quickly. Her appendages started to go numb and tingly. It was perfect—the cardinal rule of a Vampire was never to drink from a ruptured heart, and her blood was spilling from the wound at her chest as fast as he was taking it from her throat. She’d succeeded in tapping directly into her heart. The snow beneath her was turning a brilliant red. In no time, Aiden was going to feel the effects and either get very sick or die himself. She smiled exhaustedly at her own cunning.

“Charlotte!” she heard Valek wail. “What have you done?”

As if on cue, Aiden pulled himself away, releasing her. He stumbled backward against the trunk of the tree nearest him, his breathing harsh and staggered. He clawed at his throat as he looked up in anguish to the sky, grainy cries slipping from his gaping lips.

“Charlotte,” he croaked, mirroring Valek’s words, “What have you done? You taste so…putrid.” He tried to spit.

Charlotte gazed up toward Valek, whose wide eyes revealed that he had just become privy to her plan. There was even a tiny strain of amusement glinting under the sheer horror.

“You taste so rotten.” He choked and hacked, but to no avail. He’d already consumed too much of her.

Charlotte’s joints were stiff and heavy. She could hardly feel the chill of the snow beneath her legs anymore, so numb now. So this was death. She’d never expected it to be so easy, like a thick blanket being draped over you. Once again, she recognized the feeling of peace. She must have dozed for a few seconds, because when she opened her eyes again, Sarah was next to her, holding her up—cradling her. Though her vision was still blurry, she could see the anguish painted on her best friend’s face. She wanted to tell her not to worry—to stop crying, but her jaw stayed wired, too heavy to move.

“What are you doing just standing there?” Sarah howled desperately at someone. “Now’s the time! Change her!” Her voice was cracked and broken as she pleaded her final argument, one last time.

Valek was suddenly there, kneeling in front of her. His arms wrapped around her delicately, pulling her into his lap, cradling her gently. Her head lolled to one side, leaning on his shoulder. He hushed her quietly as he smoothed the hair by her ear and hummed her familiar childhood lullaby. Charlotte discovered that she could manage to smile.

“That’s it, baby,” he crooned to her, “you did very well, my love.”

Is he dead?

“I do not know, darling. He’s gone away, though. Disappeared. He will not last long.”

Valek, am I a hero?

“You’ve always been my hero, Lottie. Always.”

“Valek!” Sarah continued to sob. “Change her,
please!
”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Retribution

It was an impossible sight for Sarah to behold: Charlotte cradled in Valek’s arms, weak and pale and dying. Edwin and Mr. Třínožka joined them in the center of the clearing, Edwin hopping down off the Spider’s back to wrap his burlap arms around Sarah’s shoulders. Terrified to lose the only one she’d called a friend in a long while, she couldn’t contain her trembling. She’d been resigned to living out the rest of her days as Francis’ housemaid, until Charlotte quite literally dropped in and changed everything.

Valek and Charlotte were having some odd, half-unspoken conversation. Charlotte was a horrifying sight, seeming nearly dead. Her face was blank. Her eyes held very little light at all. The only indication she was still there with them were the tears that continued to drip silently down her cheeks and the fact that Valek was seemingly answering every last one of her thoughts.

“Valek, please,” Sarah implored again.

“Sarah, stop it!”

Valek was absolutely ruined. She’d never seen the Vampire like this, so wrung out. His eyes were completely eclipsed in black and stained red with his tears. She was unsure if it was Charlotte’s scent that had gotten to him, or if it was the effect of his desperation.

“I will not make the same mistakes twice!” His voice wavered, sounding so completely…human. “What happened to my wife was a careless exercise on my part. I will
never
do that again. Everyone should be given the choice.”