Abruptly, the wind dropped and the shadow thing wailed out into the forest and collided with Zac, disappearing into his body. Gasping in shock, he fell to the ground and began convulsing. Sam dropped to his knees beside him, holding his shoulders down, calling for Aya.
Liz fell to her knees beside them, grasping his shaking hand, "He's dying, his skin is turning grey!”
Aya dropped into a crouch beside them, placing her palm on Zac's forehead, "She's cursed him. Katrin has cursed him." Tears began to well in her eyes as she gazed down at him and she brushed them away furiously. Katrin knew exactly what she was doing when she sent the curse, a last ditch effort to hurt her. She knew Zac was her weak spot, that she would do anything for him. Even if it meant giving him her blood, the only thing that would save him from the curse. And she would do it, knowing full well the consequences for doing so. Leaning close, she brushed his messy hair from his forehead and whispered, "Please let me save you, Zac."
She bit the vein in her wrist open and went to place it at his mouth, but Liz grabbed her arm, "What are you doing? Your blood will only make it faster!" That's right, she'd lied and told Sam that her blood was poison to vampires, with good reason.
Aya pulled her arm free and glared at the vampire who Zac had once loved. "My blood is the only thing that will save him now," she growled. "Do you want him to die?" Liz edged away, fearful.
Turning back towards Zac, Aya leaned in close and whispered, "Please let me do this for you. Trust me, Zac."
His eyes were wide as he shook his head. She couldn't bare to force him to drink her blood after they had all been turned against their will. He would have to choose to live on his own and she hoped that he would. He was a dark grey now, his body almost desiccated. Time was running out, and fast. All she had left was the truth, and she hoped it was enough.
Her blue eyes were full of sorrow as they pierced his dying muddy green and she whispered, "I love you, Zac. Please let me save you." Stroking his face, she kissed him softly on the lips, her tears dripping down onto his cheeks. When she offered her wrist again, he willingly took it and drank and drank until his convulsions began to still. Color began creeping back into his skin as her blood purged the curse from his body.
Sam relaxed his grip and looked sidelong at Aya, concern etched into his features. She couldn't look at any of them. Such an admission tore her apart and her blood... She was alarmed at what Zac might see once he recovered. She stood hastily and backed towards the line of trees, her knees shaking. The loss of blood had drained her physically after her transformation, the emotions flying about the clearing overwhelming and it was all she could do to focus herself.
Liz was back at Zac's side, stroking his hair from his eyes, her hand against his forehead and she felt a stab of jealousy. His skin was almost back to normal, the curse disappearing as her blood circulated. Zac was out cold, his breathing so slight it was a miracle his heart was still beating.
"Thank you," Sam murmured, looking up at her.
Aya shivered with exhaustion and wavered. "He will sleep a while," she said detached. "When he wakes, he will be well."
Sam nodded his acknowledgment. His eyes focused on a point behind her, widening in surprise and she knew that she had made a fatal mistake.
The last thing Aya saw was a hand bursting through her chest clutching her heart. Then there was nothing.
Sam and Liz stared in shock as Aya fell to the ground, eyes wide and vacant, a gaping hole through her chest. But she couldn't die, she just couldn't! Liz grasped Gabby's hand, she was still exhausted from the fight with Katrin, deathly pale.
Sam hissed and stood over Zac's unconscious body, glaring up at Aya's murderer.
He was shorter than Sam by a head, deathly pale skin, close-cropped dark brown hair and a hard face. A long scar from forehead to jaw marred his otherwise good looks. He had blood up to his elbow, a heavy hand still clutching her heart. He threw it nonchalantly to the ground beside him, a sly smile on his lips. "So, the witch made some friends. How quaint."
Sam growled deep in his throat in warning to the vampire who stood before them, "And who the fuck are you?"
The man bared his fangs, eyes turning black. "I am Arturius. I was her maker."
Epilogue
Arturius stood inside the tree line watching the group of vampires. Their witch was calling forth the void. The void where Katrin's soul dwelt. Her vampires had been watching them ever since Alistair had been staked. He wasn't sure if the man who had managed to kill someone that was three hundred years older should impress him. It was almost unheard of.
He stood and watched the show, hidden by witches' magic. As long as he didn't move from the tree line, he would be hidden from everything. Katrin wanted Aeriaya dead and he would see it to the end. He was here at her bequest, but he would have done it anyway. After all, it was his mistake to fix.
Aeriaya was just as he remembered. It had been hundreds of years since he had laid eyes on her and he could scarcely remember the circumstances, but he would never forget that day he sat with her in that dungeon. His lips on hers, her soft translucent skin under his hard calloused hands. He would never forget the moment he held her head in his hands and snapped her delicate neck.
After so much time, it was hard to separate the lies from the truths. There was never any hope for him. As soon as he set foot in Britannia, it had disappeared forever.
As she vanished into the void with the witch, he remembered the blood between his fingers and grimaced. He had ripped Aeriaya's brother to pieces at Katrin's command. He had no choice. That was the moment when he realized that he would never be able to escape. She had trapped them all.
It wasn't long before he felt a pull at the edges of his mind. He felt disoriented for a moment then the clarity hit him like a ton of bricks. Gasping, he clutched his head. For the first time in two thousand years, he felt free. Aeriaya had done it, as he knew she would. Even he knew that this time was different.
As the void slipped away, Arturius watched as Katrin's curse wailed out into the night and collided with the man who'd killed Alistair. Now he would wait and see what she would do. They assumed that she would save him. After watching them so closely, he knew that she cared for this vampire and that would be her greatest mistake.
Sneering as she knelt over the vampire whispering how much she loved him, he rolled his eyes as she gave him her blood. Stupid woman. He had thought better of her. Vampirism had turned her into something cold and heartless, so how could she justify to herself that this was the right thing to do? Even if she loved him, it would give away everything.
Aeriaya stumbled back towards the tree line where he stood hidden by witches' magic. He didn't have to do it anymore. Katrin was gone and the compulsion had evaporated along with her. But, he would never forget his dead brothers and his poor, dear sister. Men he had known in life and death; brothers in both. He hadn't loved her for a long time.
As Arturius stepped out into the clearing, he caught the eye of the younger male vampire, whose eyes widened in surprise. He didn't hesitate. Plunging his hand into her chest from behind, his hand grasped her heart and pushed it straight through into the humid night air. She would see her death, just as his brothers had.
He wrenched his hand away and let her fall, blood dripping onto the ground. It stained his arm up to the elbow, her heart still clutched in his palm. He threw it nonchalantly to the ground beside him, a sly smile on his lips. "So, the witch made some friends. How quaint."
The vampire growled deep in his throat, standing over his fallen friend, "And who the fuck are you?"
He bared his fangs, feeling his eyes swirl into darkness. "I am Arturius. I was her maker."
About the Author
Nicole R. Taylor is an Australian born paranormal, fantasy and contemporary fiction author. She is a graduate of the University of Ballarat Professional Writing and Editing programme and is a former music memorabilia sales person and current grocery merchandiser.
She currently lives in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia with a two year old rescue cat named, Burger. She enjoys reading, writing (of course!), travelling and a little too much chocolate. One day she hopes to sky dive, but has to work up the courage first.
The first in her new paranormal fantasy series, The Witch Hunter Saga is currently available in e-edition and print.
Learn more about her writing at:
www.nicolertaylorwrites.com
She may be contacted by email at:
[email protected] A sneak peek from Book 2 - The Return
Zac had become a permanent fixture at Max's. He no longer cared about the scandalous gossip he was perpetuating as Ashburton's latest alcoholic train wreck. He just wanted everything to go the hell away and the more alcohol he could consume, the better. For the first time since setting foot in this stinking town, he'd had to compel the bar staff. Otherwise they'd cut him off. He was turning into the worst kind of drunk.
The only kind of control Zac wanted was the numb inebriated kind.
He sensed her concern from across the room before he heard her approach. Gabby sat at the bar beside him, worry set in her features as he rolled his eyes.
"You're better," he said, still staring straight ahead, fingers grasped tightly around his glass.
"Much," she replied, eyeing the drink in front of him. "Zac, I'm..."
"I know," he interrupted.
She was frowning at him. People frowned a lot in his direction lately. Why were they saying sorry to him? He hadn't had his heart torn out, but he may as well have. They'd all heard, all saw. She'd told him she loved him. They were sorry for him now that she had gone. He snorted, closing his dry eyes.
"What are you doing?" Gabby asked, as if she didn't already know.
"I'm just sitting here thinking about all the choices that I made to get to this point. The pathetic, lonely, homicidal maniac." Because it was true.
"You're not alone, Zac. You have Sam and Liz. Alex. And you have me," she said, firmly.
"Pfft. Sam doesn't want to help me, he wants to change me."
"Zac. You need to pull yourself out of this eventually. Do you think it's what she would have wanted?" she sighed, shaking her head.
Zac turned and glared at her. "Depressed or predator. Take your pick, Tabitha. Which is the lesser of two evils? Which has the lowest body count?"
"Don't..." she whispered, edging away from him.
"I kill people, Gabby. It's what I do. It's who I am," he scoffed. "I'm a vampire and I eat people. Shock. Horror."
"This isn't you," she shook her head. "You're better than that."
"Am I? Am I really? What makes you think you even know me? I was a soldier, a trained killer. Its what I was good at. I enlisted in both world wars and Vietnam because I wanted to kill. Oh, he's fallen off the wagon, everyone said. But I was just honoring my true nature, Gabby. A predator who needs to kill to survive," he spat, venom dripping from his words. "Everyone wants me to be the good guy. I've never been the good guy. I can't do it. I wasn't good enough for Liz and wasn't good enough to save Aya. That's what being good gets you. Nothing."
He looked over his shoulder towards the entrance, groaning as he sensed who was coming; at who he guessed was coming. Gabby looked towards the door as it banged open, letting in the late afternoon light, and something else. Arturius.
Zac glanced to Gabby who nodded reluctantly. She'd seen him that night in the clearing, his arm bloodied up to the elbow, Aya's heart clutched in his hand.
She grabbed Zac's arm as he went to stand, a low growl coming from deep in his throat. "Stop, Zac. Getting yourself killed is not the answer."
"If I die in the attempt of tearing that piece of shit apart, then so be it. It would be a benefit to the human race."
Arturius leant against the bar a few stools down and ordered a drink, glancing in Zac's direction. He walked up to the Roman and slammed his fist into the bar, glaring at the vampire who ruined everything.
To Be Continued......
Nicole R. Taylor, The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter Saga #1)
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