This woman looking at me appeared fine, if you could get past her skeletal appearance. Normal, even. Too normal. The intelligence in her eyes told me she was something extraordinary, even though she smelled of a hybrid, tainted, but a mix of vampire and human. Something was different about her, but it was really hard to decipher what exactly that was.
Her shiny, red eyes found mine, and she walked over, looking me up and down.
“You must be April.” How did she know my name?
“What do you want?”
“My sister Raina is the best scout I’ve ever had, but she tries too hard and wanted to find the cure faster than I did. She usually brings me the unusual, the lost, the ones I can use for experiments.” She sighed, looking upset as she glanced out through the door and into the dark ocean air. “Now she withholds information and experiments with people herself.”
“She’s a traitorous bitch!” Sarah’s shrill outburst made wonder if she was going to jump Lark. Even the guards stepped up closer to make sure she didn’t try anything.
“Yes, you’re right. She’s not trustworthy, even to her sister.” She sighed, and a weak smile formed across her face as she watched Sarah steam. “So much life in this bunch. I like that.” She paced back and forth, looking studious and concerned. I watched the line of her soldiers, hoping for a lapse, a break in their vigilance. “Look, I don’t want to fight. I need your help.”
“Not the right way to ask for it,” I muttered. “Let us go.” She wasn’t going to become my best friend forever by treating my real friends like crap.
She halted in her steps and frowned, glaring at the soldiers behind her. “I’m sorry for the brute force, but my sister can be a force to reckon with. She was my second in command and called my soldiers out without my approval. I will remedy that immediately so you will know we really don’t mean you any harm.” She waved at them to put their weapons away, and they shuffled on their feet, looking apprehensive, but did as they were told. “Please… forgive me. I meant no disrespect. It’s just, Raina is not quite herself.”
My teeth and fists were clenched, but I relaxed as Rye’s fingers wrapped around my hand.
“Get to the bloody point,” I said. I was tired of games.
Lark smiled, looking hopeful. Oh, I would listen to her proposition, but that didn’t mean I had to be nice to her about anything or even accept it.
“I want to make a deal. This antidote that my soldiers say you have… I want it. I know you have some, but my soldiers failed to find it for Raina. Can we make a peaceful negotiation and trade for some of it? I promise no harm will come to any of your party. If you have more than one dose, I’d love to have it all.”
“No.”
“Come now,” Lark said, looking shocked by my abrupt answer. “Okay, I don’t need all of it. Just as much as you can spare. How about half? How’s that? I really would love to work on it with your group, but I don’t know if you’re willing to work this out after such a rough start.”
I could feel my face burning from the deepened frown creasing my cheeks. “Why would you want to work with us? What if you betray us like Raina did and turn us into one of your experiments? I don’t want to end up like that. None of us do.”
“I know you don’t trust me. How about a promise? I swear on my life that my people will not disturb you as long as you’re here. We can work on the antidote together, and I promise I won’t attempt any unwilling experiments on anyone. That is not our way, truly. Would you do this for me then?”
Sarah was back on her feet, leaning on Elijah but almost recovered from the blow she’d taken. “Your word means nothing to us,” she said. “Raina said you did such things to people, but you say it was her. How do we know which of you to believe?”
Lark’s hardened glare focused on Sarah, but she did nothing to argue. Instead, she turned to wave down one of her soldiers, possibly one of her lieutenants, and then back to us as he whipped around and told the entire army to fall back.
What the…?
Lark waited until there was no one left in the room but her before speaking again. “There. My troops have pulled back to the road. The wild ones do not bother us here, so it’s quite safe to leave if you wish to do so. I do hope you consider my deal, because I want to help you find the antidote. I can help your friend in the car out there.” She pointed out through the shattered door, toward the Jeep where Randy was trapped. My stomach clenched at the thought of saving him, and I struggled with the options before me.
If I struck a deal with this woman, would I live to regret it? If not, would Randy?
It was a hard road, and as much as I didn’t trust this woman, I had no choice. I just wished she had approached us rationally in the first place, not like this, not with force, even if it hadn’t been her fault. Her rein on her sister appeared weak, something she’d have to remedy indeed.
Reluctantly, and to the protests of Elijah and Sarah behind me, I stepped forward and held out my hand to seal the deal. I had found what I’d come for, and by the excited twinkle in this woman’s eyes, she had also found what she was looking for. I was going to stay and make sure she kept her end of the bargain.
“On your word and on your life that you will keep us safe while we work on this antidote, I accept.”
Epilogue
Things We Lost
Standing at the edge of the world, watching the tumbling waves rush up onto the sandy beach, I gripped my arms to my chest, the weight of it all suffocating me. I wanted to save them all, not only to bring some sort of hope and purpose to their lives again but to ultimately save myself, too. But could ferals, hybrids and humans ever be equal again? Would the differences continue to keep us apart, even after the cure? Weren’t the history books filled with people fighting over the slightest things? Still, if I could, I’d do everything in my power to help the world achieve some sort of peace.
It’d been two months since we’d found Lark and her hive. It was full of a wide variety of mutations she’d created in her well-meaning attempts to find a cure for the virus. They weren’t completely messed up people, not like the freak show lab in Christian’s hive. Some had subtle discolorations to their skin, hair or eyes. Others had longer fangs and reddened irises but were otherwise powerless compared to a hybrid vampire. Still others had increased strength, stamina and fighting abilities. These super soldiers were recruited into the ranks, but no one was ever tampered with beyond what they consented. Raina had lied when telling us about Lark’s hive. Why? My only guess was sibling rivalry, or she’d just really wanted to mess with our heads.
Through much coaxing, Lark had taken samples from all of us and tested them against new variations of the antidote, with a few promising results. We even visited her hive, to Sarah’s utter disgust. She still hated anything to do with Lark or Raina. Still, we found Lark’s hive to be accepting of our presence. I had to give it to this lady, she worked tirelessly to find the right combination of antibodies from all our blood samples and mixed them with the antidote. For the first time since I’d discovered the existence of an antidote, I felt we could really figure it out and save people.
Randy had been quarantined with us in the lighthouse, our temporary headquarters since it was near Lark’s domain, but still our own sanctuary. He’d spent the rest of that first night tied to a kitchen chair but hadn’t flashed any fangs or growled at any of us as we worked to barricade the demolished front door with plywood until morning. It was strange how calm he’d become, and it gave me hope that subsequent injections of antidote would continue to keep him calm until the right antidote could be mixed and given to him.
In his more lucid moments, he’d listened to Lark’s proposal to try the new antidote on him once she got it near perfect. I was astonished by this and made sure he was making a conscious decision when he’d agreed to it. I would’ve hated it if he’d ended up making an error without really thinking it over.
“I know what I’m doing, April,” he’d said.
??
?How can I be sure you really do?”
He’d stared at me, his eyes a marbleized mix of red and blue, a sign of his fight against the virus.
“You can’t be sure of anything in this life at all. If I die, I get to see Helen again. If I live, I live. Win-win, if you ask me. If it fails and I remain feral, I know you’ll do what you have to do with me.” He smiled. Never sad. Never forlorn. I wished I could be so brave.
“Of course.”
Sarah and Elijah became official, an interlocked pair, finally admitting to their mutual feelings. The days passed, and they’d enjoyed each other’s company, walking along the beach and watching sunsets from the top of the lighthouse. Who knew they could be so in love? It was inspiring to see that tragedy could result in people realizing it was time to take a chance on love. They were perfectly matched in every way, and I just wondered what had taken them so darn long to realize it. It’s never too late, I guess. Even in a post-apocalyptic world.
And what about my own fragmented love life? What about Rye? I’d let it sink in that he was the one for me, knowing with certainty that I finally knew what I wanted. I felt it in my bones, down to the very marrow within them. When the days passed and we held onto one another like we would never spend another moment apart, I knew it was real. It was as real as the way he got my heart racing with a smile and sent tingling rushes of pleasure shooting across my skin when he touched me. As real as the taste of his blood and the way it filled me up until I could hear his heart beating with mine as we exchanged blood, mating us together for life. He exhilarated me, and I hoped I did the same to him.
From the looks I’d catch him giving me when he thought no one was looking, I did. It was all I needed, and the happiness he gave me kept each day in the right.
Lark proved to be true to her word. She sent frequent updates and allowed me to work side by side with her on occasion. She’d concoct different antidotes and choose a volunteer to use it on. We painstakingly labeled each new mix, testing them on ferals we caught on expeditions during the night, deep into the cities of the California coast. We took them from different parts of the state to ensure we evaluated all possible strains of the virus. We even procured some from Las Vegas. Though we always found more and more variations the further we dug, it only brought us closer to finding the cure.
What we did with it would be entirely a collective decision. First and foremost, the infected ferals would be given the adjusted antidote, that decision was unanimous amongst Lark’s hive and Blaze’s. Rye kept the lines of communication open between them, always trading the information from Lark to Blaze and back on trips back and forth between Las Vegas and the coast. He even returned one day with a sight to surprise even me. Felix.
He’d survived the bombing of Christian’s hive, escaping before we had. He’d approached Blaze’s hive under surrender, waving the white flag. His information that the enemy hive was completely obliterated, including Christian and Mercer, was confirmed by Blaze’s many scouts. Felix’s desire to help us with the antidote, even trying one of the latest batches on himself, had given Blaze more than enough good reason to send him with Rye on his trip back west.
Lark had taken an immediate liking to Felix, finding their mutations very similar, even though Felix was more filled out than she was. He’d also been an asset to her as she continued the tests, taking one for the team and subjecting himself to endless blood draws and tests by her. I was glad he took the focus off Randy, who’d been changing more and more each day, becoming more and more human and leaving the feral beast to slumber, hopefully forever. He had to continue getting a shot every three days to keep it subdued, but that was better than anything he or I could’ve hoped for.
In the end, I returned to Las Vegas. I needed to see my brother and ensure that he was still happy. We’d exchanged letters through Rye as he made his way back and forth, but I needed to see him for myself.
Sitting in the confines of the underground City of Vida, I watched his soccer championship game against some older kids. He really was a sight to see, sprinting across the expanse of the underground field, and the normalcy of it all brought me back to my own childhood. He kept growing, like an overfed weed, never stopping, always different each time I saw him. I knew he’d never forget me. We were family, and it never got old to see his face light up when I did get around to visiting him.
This was what happiness was to me, even though I knew I would continue to fight with myself. No matter what happened, I could find the places and moments of contentment I so longed for. I’d fight for them, one bloody battle at a time. I knew my mother would’ve smiled at me and agreed. Oh how I wished she’d been able to hold on, just a bit longer. But then, would we have been where we are now if she had?
For now, the fight in my soul had quieted and was slumbering like a gentle giant. I’d probably have to reawaken it one day, but hopefully that day was far off in the distant future.
The End
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About the Author
Alexia currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada–Sin City! She loves to spend every free moment writing or playing with her four rambunctious kids. Writing has always been her dream, and she has been writing ever since she can remember. She loves writing paranormal fantasy and poetry and devours books daily. Alexia also enjoys watching movies, dancing, singing loudly in the car and eating Italian food.
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Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale) Facebook Fan page
Reign of Blood Series Facebook Fan Page
Also by Alexia Purdy:
Reign of Blood Series:
Reign of Blood
Disarming (Reign of Blood #2)
Elijah (The Miel Chronicles):
A Reign of Blood Companion Story
Amplified (Reign of Blood #3)
A Dark Faerie Tale Series:
Evangeline (A Dark Faerie Tale #0.5)
Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1)
Ever Fire (A Dark Faerie Tale #2)
Ever Winter (A Dark Faerie Tale #3)
The Cursed (A Dark Faerie Tale #3.5)
Ever Wrath (A Dark Faerie Tale #4)
Short Stories:
The Faery Hunt
Never Say Such Things
Poetic Collections:
Whispers of Dreams
Five Fathoms
Anthology:
Beyond the Never
Soul Games
Faery Worlds
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Epilogue
Alexia Purdy, Amplified (Reign of Blood #3)
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