The Violet Line (35 page)

“
So, it was you who saved me? But then, I suppose it was your job to do it. I mean it was your boyfriend who hurt me and if you are going to be the queen, then it’s your place to look after your most powerful children. Although, even if you’re going to become the queen, I don’t care because I still won’t bow to you or anything; I’ll still be older than you. You probably won’t even be that powerful anyway. We have people here who can heal us already; I don’t see why we need another healer. And your other power, the way you can make them feel death?” She giggled behind her hand. “I can kill people. I don’t need to pretend to do it and make them think they are dying; I just do it. I think that is far more powerful than yours; wouldn’t you agree?”

I didn’t know how to answer her. She looked like a child and her mannerisms and arguments were childish, but the look in her eyes was very mature. It frightened me to look into her eyes but I could still do it and she had no power over me. It seemed my power was still growing. I could feel how truly powerful she was; it ran over my skin like little currents of electricity, but her eyes had no pull to them at all. I smiled with my small victory and her face twisted into a scowl. She stomped towards me but the tall, older vampire who had called himself Oskaar floated into the room just then.

“
Lissie, I do hope you are behaving yourself and treating our very special guest here with the utmost of respect?”

She turned and smiled angelically at him. “Of course I am, Uncle; I wouldn’t dream of being naughty.”

He studied her for a second before returning her smile with one as equally sickening. He looked past her to where I stood rooted to the floor and looked at me from head to toe. “Well, don’t you just look like a vision? I believe everything is in place so if you will follow me, I shall escort you both personally to the hall where we shall sort the little matter at hand.”

Sweeping his hand out grandly before him, Lissie slipped her cold little hand into mine and squeezed hard before dragging me out of the room while Oskaar brought up the rear with the other two guards. She towed me down through the grand hallway before skipping down along the marbled staircase, her feet barely touching the stone. She moved effortlessly but not as graceful as a fairy; I couldn’t stop the nasty thought from entering my head as she dragged me after her.

Her feet carried her forward at a faster pace as she pulled me into a large entry hallway. Up ahead, I could see two large heavy wooden doors. Stopping beside them, she came to an abrupt halt as she waited for Oskaar to catch up to us. He arrived with his easy glide and slowly passed us. The doors swung inwards to reveal a large ballroom. The floor was made of a dark stone tiles and I could see that all the windows had been shut up, leaving no real light to filter through. The walls were covered in heavy tapestries depicting to cruel scenes of violence. I couldn’t stare at them for too long; they made my stomach roll in disgust at some of the acts depicted.

Walking into the room, I could see several other vampires scattered about, including Marianne and Raphael. In the far corner, Sam stood chained to one of the large iron rings on the wall. His eyes met mine as I walked in; they looked huge and terrified. I tried to smile to reassure him that I was alright, but I couldn’t bring myself to be brave enough. My lip trembled and I was forced to fight back frightened tears. I didn’t want to die this way and I definitely didn’t want to kill Sam, but how could I avoid my mother’s premonition? I tried to go to Sam but Lissie steered me towards the low stage instead. I began to struggle and she tried to pull me under her power with her eyes, but she had no hold over me. I struggled against her harder; I wanted to go to Sam.

Oskaar held his hand up and two vampires unhooked Sam from his place on the wall and dragged him into the centre of the large cavernous hall. My heart filled with dread as I heard the sound of snarling and growling coming from behind one of the smaller doors and from it emerged my worst nightmare. Three large, what I presumed must be real revenants emerged on chain leashes. The vampires that led them out strained to hold them back as they scored the stone with their clawed hands, growling and snarling with temper. I stood completely still in Lissie’s arms as the vampires brought them into the centre of the room, almost within arm’s reach of where Sam was held. And then Oskaar spoke to me.

“
Now, Jade, as a little bit of an incentive for you, I felt this little display was necessary. Do you agree to allow me to bite and turn you into what the prophecy has promised? Or shall I let the Revenants drain Sam in front of you and then turn you anyway?”

Mutely, I shook my head as I stared into Sam’s horrified eyes. I wouldn’t let him die. Oskaar clapped happily.

“
See, I knew this would all work out; all it requires is a little persuasion. Now, Lissie dear, if you would be so good as to help Jade up here to me we can begin.”

She pulled me towards the steps at the side of the stage and led me up them. The entire time, I stared at Sam standing shackled in the centre of the room. I stood in front of Oskaar and he turned my face towards his as he looked into my eyes.

“
I see, child, our power has no hold over you anymore so I’m afraid it will hurt, but I cannot help that.”

I watched in horror and shock as his fangs slid out and I could see droplets of spit coating the edges. I held up my hand. “Wait. If I let you do this, will you promise me that Sam will go free?”

He smiled indulgently at me. “My dear, I promise that when I am finished, I will let you decide what you will do with Sam.”

I nodded; it was the best deal I would get from him. His mouth opened and he tilted my head to the right, exposing the long column of my neck to his wicked fangs. His cold breath fanned against my skin. Just as he grazed my skin, a howling erupted from the room below. It startled Oskaar and I turned my head just in time to see one of the vampires releasing a revenant from his grip. My eyes sought out Sam and he lunged for the bottom of the stage, but he wasn’t fast enough to escape from the loose revenant that landed on his back and latched onto his neck.

Oskaar still held me but he lifted his head to watch the proceedings. They both rolled across the floor below the stage but the revenant had Sam in a tight grip and blood ran in rivulets from Sam’s wounds. They struggled and I screamed in terror and pain as the revenant clamped even more securely around Sam’s neck. He still fought but I could see he was tiring under the onslaught; and he couldn’t shake the thing from his back.

I broke free from Oskaar’s surprised hold and jumped from the edge of the stage just as Sam stopped struggling beneath the weight of the beast that sat atop him. A howl of anguish ripped from my lips as I ran at them. From the corner of my eye, I could see some of the vampires darting to try and catch me, but in that moment I was my father’s daughter and I was of the Violet Line. I dodged through their arms and felt for my power that lay coiled deep in the pit of my stomach. Calling it forth, it lashed outwards from my outstretched hands in the form of violet fire engulfing any vampire foolish enough to come with its reach. The revenant on top of Sam bristled at my approach and launched itself towards my head but I was consumed by the burning power. With one touch I reduced it to ash that blew away on the air.

Dropping to my knees, I cradled Sam’s bloodied form in my arms. I knew he was dead, for real this time. I could feel it; there was nothing within him and all I had left was the shell I held in my arms. The two other revenants were released and I dispatched them with a simple flick of the wrist. Violet fire blew through them, turning them into small piles of ash on the floor. I lifted my head in time to see Marianne and Raphael ushering Oskaar and Lissie out a small side door beside the stage. I contemplated following them, but that would mean I would have to leave Sam. I sat there rocking him back and forth for what seemed like an eternity before it dawned on me; I could give him his life back if I worked fast enough. My powers, when they were complete, allowed me to give back a life that I took and while I knew taking the lives of the revenants wasn’t enough, I had a life I could give; my own.

I searched on the floor around us for something sharp and found the broken end of one of the chain links. Picking it up, I positioned it over my wrist and struck downwards. It tore through the skin and blood ran in a thin line down my wrist onto Sam’s skin. Turning it over, I placed the bloodied wound over his mouth, closed my eyes and once more summoned my power. It easily came at my call and curled up through my body, flowing fowards through the wound in my wrist and mingling with the blood.

I sat there waiting for Sam to stir; I needed him to come back. The blood flowed out over the edge of his mouth and I pleaded with him to bite down, to drink from my arm and take back what had been taken from him, but still he didn’t move. I could feel the power working its way through his body, healing all the physical wounds he had. When I looked down at him, the only blood marring his skin was mine; he simply looked as though he was sleeping. I could feel my heart rate slowing down and the noise seemed to thunder within my ears and still, my blood and power poured into him.

I closed my eyes and from what felt like a great distance, I felt him bite down on my hand and begin to suck at the wound. Smiling, I slumped down over him. I had lost a lot of blood and the magic was making it worse, but I needed to keep going in order to bring him back. I forced more and more into him before drifting into a peaceful sleep. The final words I whispered to him were, “I’ll always love you, forever.”

Chapter Thirty

He looked up at her. She lay across his chest, slumped over him like a broken rag doll. She wasn’t quite dead, but her heart beat had slowed down so much it was barely audible even with his vampire hearing. His heartbeat, though, beat steadily and rhythmically thudding away in his chest. It gave him a pain in his head listening to it; he hadn’t heard it beat in so many years and now that it was back, he wasn’t used to it. He tore his mouth away from her wrist. He had almost drained her completely; he’d nearly killed the one he loved even though he had promised to protect her.

He sat up, pulling her into his arms as gently as he could. Ripping some of the blue chiffon fabric from the bottom of the dress she wore, he bandaged the wound on her arm as tightly as he could; he needed to stop her from losing anymore blood. He listened carefully, but her breathing was sporadic and her heartbeat had slowed even more. She didn’t have enough blood to pump through her veins anymore and her body was slowly shutting down. He sat holding her. He didn’t want to do what he was going to have to do; he had fought against this for so long, but he couldn’t lose her; not now when she had fought so hard for him. The thought of never seeing her smile again, of never being able to hold her in his arms again or kiss her, nearly broke his heart in two.

If he lost her now that he had her back again, he would kill himself. There would be no point in continuing on with his life; it was meaningless without her. Looking down into her quiet face, he made up his mind. Having her this way was better than letting her die and slip away from him completely. Her lips had turned blue from her loss of blood and he lowered his mouth gently over hers and kissed her, one soft chaste kiss.

“
Jade, I love you. Come back, love.”

Taking his own wrist, he bit down over the vein and watched as the blood welled up. Her blood; the blood she had given him moments before and now he would give it back to her. He listened as her heartbeat faltered and then stopped. He lowered his wrist to her mouth and poured in the blood, willing her to drink in the same way she had willed him. The blood dropped painfully slowly into her open mouth and eventually she stirred, her lips closing around the wound she drank deep.

He held her close as she drank. At least this way, even if she was a vampire, he would get to keep her. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. She shifted in his arms and then stirred again. He thought it seemed a bit soon for her to be stirring; after all, she was undergoing the transformation and it should have taken more blood than the few drops she had drunk from him. Her mouth ripped away from his arm and she convulsed, her spine bowing upwards as though she was pulled on strings. A ragged scream tore from her bloodied lips as she ripped and tore at herself, writhing in agony. Sam held onto her as best as he could, trying to soothe her, but nothing seemed to work. He knew the transformation process was agonising, but it shouldn’t have been happening like this; he had never witnessed it like this before.

She twisted out of his grip and continued to writhe and scream on the stone floor. He could see the veins on her arms turning a violet colour and violet fire danced along the edges of her skin. He tried to reach out towards her but she rolled out of his reach, her body contorting and convulsing as scream after scream of terror and pain howled from her mouth. What had he done to her? He hadn’t meant for this to happen; he didn’t want to cause her more pain by turning her, but he thought it was for the best. He couldn’t live without her.

He reached for her again but a blinding light erupting into the room, knocking him away from where she writhed. Standing in the room was a woman who looked remarkably like Jade. Her long dark hair was pinned back and her blue eyes were a match for Jade’s in every way. She stepped over to Jade and laid her hand across her forehead, temporarily soothing her agony.

“
Who are you?” Sam’s voice was hoarse with fear but at least he could talk, he thought to himself.

“
My name is Emily; I’m Jade’s real mother. I don’t really have time to explain but while she was in the fairy realm with me and my husband, Faraling, who is her father, I had a vision of this moment. I knew it was coming but I just didn’t know what led up to this moment and now I do. You have tried to turn her, haven’t you, Sam?”