Unraveled

THIRTY-ONE

VICTORIA STEPPED IN FRONT of Aden and kissed him, just as he had done to her. She was there, in his arms, exactly where he liked her, and with the touch of her hot, soft lips, his senses snapped back into place, Caleb’s pleading drowned out, the witch’s hold on him broken. Before he could thank her, however, she jumped away from him—flying toward Marie.

“What are you—”

The two clashed together and rolled to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Victoria’s skin couldn’t be cut, so Aden didn’t worry about her. Yet. He approached the beast, who had positioned himself back in the doorway, keeping everyone inside, and raised his hands, as if he meant to pet. The beast—he needed a name. Chomper, maybe—huffed and puffed through his nostrils, clearly agitated by all the violence.

“Can you place the witches along the wall for me?” Aden asked.

There was a moment of suspended silence, where no one moved or breathed, everyone waiting to see what would happen. Finally the beast dipped his head and began gathering the witches with his mouth, sometimes several at a time, and tossing them along the wall. The ones still conscious tried to dart away, but he snarled in their faces, and they settled against the wall willingly.

Finally, only Marie was left. Her fight with Victoria hadn’t slowed. Or gentled. Nails slashed, teeth bit, fists punched and legs kicked.

When the beast moved for her, Aden said, “Not her. Not until I remove the vampire. Okay?”

Chomper snorted as he nodded.

“Good boy,” Aden said. “There’ll be lots of pets for you when this is over.”

Chomper’s tongue rolled out, red and wet, and his tail actually wagged.

Aden turned to the still-fighting girls. They were rolling on the ground, their punches more concentrated—nose, throats, stomachs—and their kicks more vicious. There was no hair-pulling or slapping. This was knockdown-drag-out, and to the death. Without a single drop of blood spilled, since neither was bleeding.

What was the best way to break up a witch and a vampire?

Caleb babbled, and Aden tried not to allow himself to become distracted. “Victoria. Separate. Please.”

A moment passed before she reacted. Then she flung herself away and pinned herself to the wall, arms splayed, nails digging into rock, as if they were the only thing holding her in place.

Marie spun, facing Aden. “Not much time left,” she taunted.

He raised his chin, refusing to back down. “There’s not much time for either of us, then, because I’m taking you to the grave with me.”

“You’ll try.”

“I’ll succeed.”

“Really? What about her?” Grinning, Marie held out her hand and wiggled her fingers, revealing a ring very much like the one Victoria always wore.

Aden realized what was about to happen, and his stomach twisted.

Victoria threw herself to the right, away from the witch, even as Aden leapt forward, intending to block, forcing the liquid to splash him instead. But he was too late, and Marie moved too quickly. Every poisonous drop hit Victoria’s profile. Her face, her neck, her arm and side. Immediately she dropped, screaming her pain, clothes and flesh sizzling.

Aden changed his direction and slammed into Marie; they rolled until he was on top, straddling her and holding her down. He was so angry, he almost hit her. Almost. But he’d never hit a girl before, and didn’t want to start now. Instead, he hopped to his feet and moved out of the way.

“Get her,” he pushed through gritted teeth.

Chomper grabbed the witch and once again threw her against the wall. A gust of air left her on a pained moan.

“Hold her down.”

The beast went back for her, pinning her to the ground as Aden had, using his teeth instead of legs.

She struggled against the hold. “Let me go!”

Aden raced to Victoria. He gathered her trembling body in his arms and held his wrist over her mouth. She immediately bit down, sucking his blood. “Call the meeting to order,” he told the witch.

“Why don’t you come over here and request that to my face,” Marie sputtered.

So she could ensnare him again? Ha!

Do what she says, Caleb beseeched. We have to do what she says.

Caleb! Dude. It’s not gonna happen. Leave the boy alone. She’s bad news. Julian.

No. She isn’t!

Julian cursed at him.

He’s ensnared, Elijah explained, just like Aden was. Only Caleb hasn’t snapped out of it yet. You won’t be able to talk any sense into him until he does.

Victoria’s trembling eased and her teeth loosened on Aden’s wrist. With his free hand, he smoothed the hair from her face. His trembling increased, making him a little lightheaded.

“I think I’ll stay here,” Aden said. Victoria’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing heavily. She radiated tension, but she wasn’t screaming. “Now call the meeting to order, Marie, or I let the beast have you. And if you’re warded against death, you’ll get to live in his stomach, probably melting from the bile and acid there. Always in pain, never allowing death to relieve you.”

“I don’t care! Do you hear me? I don’t care. I could call the meeting to order, you’re right about that. I don’t need the elders. But your friends need to die, and so they will. At midnight. They’re dangerous. They’re evil. They will die.”

She wasn’t going to relent, and if she was telling the truth, they would die in just a few minutes. He was just going to have to force her to do what he wanted. And there was only one way to do that.

He settled Victoria gently on the ground and stood, then closed the distance between him and Chomper. “Whatever happens, keep holding her,” he said, patting the beast’s side.

A slight nod.

What are you doing? Caleb demanded. Don’t hurt her. Please don’t hurt her. We love her.

“There’s only one way for this to end happily for everyone, Caleb.” He hoped.

Possess her?

“Yes.” He would force her to call the meeting to order. He only prayed it counted. “And while we’re in there, you can search her memories for bits of your past. Sound good?” If he had to bargain with the soul, he would bargain.

You won’t force her to do anything to harm herself?

“I didn’t punch her when I had the chance, did I?”

All right, then. Yes.

“What are you doing?” Marie’s struggles increased. “Stop. Don’t come any closer!”

“I thought you wanted me to approach you.” Aden crouched down, grabbed her wrist and closed his eyes so that he wouldn’t accidentally be ensnared. He shouted as he turned to mist and tried to push his way inside her, but there was some type of block around her, keeping him out.

A ward.

Damn this! He solidified again. “Looks like we will have to hurt her,” he said on a sigh, “but it’s only to save her, Caleb,” he added before the soul could protest.

No!

Undaunted, desperate, he searched every one of the witches. He confiscated every ring he found—only four—and returned to Marie. “Tell me which ward to burn away or I’ll destroy all of them.” A vow. “And it will hurt, Marie. You know it will.”

Aden…

She saw the rings in his hand and stilled, panic filling her eyes. Panic and fear. He would do it; she had to realize that. He didn’t want to, but he would do it.

“No,” she said. “I—I won’t. I can’t! Try to understand.”

There was a ward tattooed on her wrist. “I don’t have time to understand.” He latched on to her arm and poured several drops of je la nune on the ink. She screamed, her body bowing as the pain slammed through her. The scent of burning flesh rose.

He tried again to possess her, but met the same block. Steady. “One more chance, Marie, then I’m not stopping until they’re all gone.”

“If I…call the meeting…will you vow to release us? Alive.”

“Yes,” he and Caleb said at the same time. Though Aden didn’t dare to hope. Yet. “If you will vow not to cast any spells on your way out.”

“I do,” she gritted out.

Thank God. Thank God, thank God, thank God. This might work. This might happen. “Then call the meeting, and I vow upon my life—and death—that you and your coven will have free passage from this cave.”

“No one can follow us.”

“I vow that no one will follow you.”

She pushed out a breath as her head fell to the ground. She stared up at the ceiling, tears leaking from her eyes. If she meant to waste time, to wait until it was too late…

“Do it now! Or I start pouring.” He took hold of her other arm, revealing the ward tattooed there.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “This meeting is…called to…. order.”

He waited several seconds, but nothing happened. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but this certainly wasn’t it. “That’s it? That’s all you have to do? All you have to say?”

“Yes.”

“My friends are saved?”

“Yes, damn you!”

His knees gave out. Thank God. His friends were safe. They were finally safe, free of their curse. He stayed just as he was for an eternity, shaking, basking, relieved, shocked, numb then excited, numb then sick—how close they’d come to losing—then, finally, blessedly, accepting.

Another battle, another victory. Only, this one was so much sweeter. They. Were. Safe.

“You can release her now,” he told Chomper, and the beast instantly obeyed. “Will you please guard the vampire while I take care of the witches?”

Another nod, and the beast was clomping off to hover over Victoria, teeth bared at all the witches in warning.

“Carry the ones who can’t walk on their own and follow me,” Aden told the women who’d almost destroyed all he’d come to love. Without waiting for a reply, he stood and stumbled his way to the cavern’s opening. Footsteps soon echoed behind him, some dragging, most heavy. He snaked left and right through a long hallway, but finally reached the outside.

What he saw shocked him anew, and he stilled, the witches slamming into his back. Fairies littered the ground. Wolves and vampires stood around them, all staring over at Riley, in wolf form, who was in front of Mary Ann and growling. He was…protecting her? From his own people?

Meanwhile, Mary Ann was pale and clutching her stomach, as if in pain. “Aden,” she said on a moan.

All eyes swung to him, and then the vampires were kneeling. The witches gasped and took a collective step backward.

He’d find out what was going on in a minute. “Allow the witches to pass. Don’t look at them. Don’t touch them. Don’t follow them. Just allow them to pass.” He waited until both the vampires and the wolves had nodded before stepping aside.

Though hesitant, the witches filed out, their unconscious sisters propped between them. The vampires parted, creating a pathway, and Aden released a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. No one reached out, no one attempted to stop the robed women.

Now for his friends. “Riley, take Mary Ann home.” She was clearly sick and in need of rest.

“But, my king,” a vampire covered in blood said as he rose. “She’s a Drainer. She must be killed.”

Someone was going to have to explain the drainer thing, and soon. As for now, he said, “I don’t care what she is. No one touches her, and no one follows her, either. Riley, take her home like I told you. Now!”

The guard moved behind Mary Ann and nudged her forward. Again, the vampires and wolves heeded his command—though all of them were stiff and clearly eager to act. More so than they’d been with the witches.

Such blind obedience. In a sudden moment of clarity, he realized these were his people. And he…he was their king. Yes. Yes. The admission felt right, so unbelievably right. He’d earned the title with this victory. More than that, he had somehow tamed their beasts. He was king, and he wasn’t going to fight it anymore.

“The rest of you…stay here. Don’t move.” He turned and strode back to the cave. Chomper and Victoria were exactly where he’d left them, only Victoria was now sitting up.

“Better?” He squatted beside her and cupped her jaw. He gently moved her head left and right, gaze intent on her skin. The burns were already fading.

“Better.” Those blue, blue eyes regarded him with concern. “Are you?”

“I’m just fine.”

“I’m so glad.” She threw her arms around him, placing little kisses all over his face.

Chomper snorted to remind Aden of his presence. Grinning, Aden reached up and petted his new protector behind the ears. So much could have gone wrong tonight, he thought. He could have lost everyone he loved, but with this creature’s help, things had turned out okay.

Better than okay.

After he convinced a reluctant Chomper to go back inside Victoria—where he could better protect them both, Aden explained—he and Victoria walked back outside, hand and hand. This time, he wasn’t surprised to discover his orders had been obeyed. The vampires and wolves hadn’t moved.

Aden looked over at Victoria, and she looked over at him. They shared a grin, happy to be alive and with each other. “I’m king,” he said.

“Yes,” she agreed. “You are.”

He faced the waiting crowd. “Return home. Rest. I’m proud of each of you.” Next week, after he had rested, he’d hold a meeting of his own. Things were going to be different now.

As they began to teleport, disappearing from view, Victoria said, “Now I’ll take you home.”

A moment later, he was standing in his bedroom, Shannon snoring softly from the top bunk. Aden peered up at his friend. He would stay here a while longer, he thought, before moving into the vampire mansion with Victoria, where he would rule as was expected. There were a few things he had to do first. For the boys. For Dan. He wanted to make sure they were forever taken care of, forever safe.

He didn’t see Thomas, and wondered where he was.

“You go home and get some rest, too. Because tomorrow,” he said, placing a soft kiss on Victoria’s lips. “We’re going on a date.”

She grinned slowly. “Is that an order from my king?”

“That’s a plea from the guy who loves you.”

“Then I accept.”

“YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, Mary Ann,” Riley said, stuffing her clothes in a bag, several pieces at a time. Even as she pulled those clothes out. “And I’m going with you.”

“I’m not leaving my dad. And no, you’re not.”

“It’s the only way. If you’re here with him, he’ll be killed to get to you. Everyone knows what you are now. Aden can command the vamps and weres to leave you alone, but he has no power over the witches or the fairies. And they’ll be very eager to destroy you. Especially after tonight. So just so you know, there’s no way I’m staying behind. I want to protect you.”

He was right about the danger. She knew he was right. That didn’t make this any easier. “I can’t just leave.”

“Write him a note,” Riley continued as if there was no question of her course of action. “Tell him goodbye. That’s the only way to save him.”

Save him. Nothing else could have propelled her into action. Tears filled her eyes, but she stopped stopping Riley from packing and walked to her desk. She wrote her dad a letter, telling him she loved him, but needed to get away for a little while and she’d call him when she could.

He was going to be distraught and blame himself. God, she hated herself just then.

“All packed,” Riley said, resolute.

“My dad…he’s still in his room. The fairy told him to stay there, no matter what he heard. I think he’s been there all night.” She’d been home less than half an hour, but she’d checked on him twice. Both times, he hadn’t heard her, hadn’t noticed her, had merely remained perched at the edge of his bed, his eyes glazed.

“I’ll contact Victoria and she’ll release him from the fairy’s compulsion. Any other objections?”

“Yes. No one knows Vlad is still alive. What’s going to happen to Aden when everyone finds out? You need to stay here and protect him. Or have you lost your loyalty to him?”

His lashes fused together, but she could still see the way his pupils expanded and retracted. “No, I haven’t lost my loyalty to Aden. No one else will, either. Believe me, he has more than proven himself, taming the beasts, and our people would now rather deal with Vlad’s wrath than Aden’s. He’ll be fine. Now, let’s go.”

Gulping, she stood and faced him. Telling her dad goodbye wasn’t the only tough thing she had to do. “No,” she whispered, then added more firmly, “No. I told you. I’m going alone.”

“Not just no, but hell, no.” He slung the bag over his shoulder. “Let’s go. Together.”

“I’m going alone or I’m staying here.” She wasn’t going to allow Riley to give up everything for her, not when such an act would get him killed. If not by her, then by the people he left behind. Protecting her after the battle with the fairies was explainable. She’d saved the day, defeated their adversary. He’d felt obligated. And yet still the others had growled and hissed at him as if he were the enemy. They would have killed him right then if Aden hadn’t stepped out and ordered them to back down.

They’d forgive him, though, welcome him back into the fold. Surely. Unless Riley chose her over his brethren a second time. Then they’d hunt him down—as they were going to hunt her.

“I’m not kidding, Riley. If I stay and he’s hurt, I’ll blame you. You have to let me go alone.”

“And just where will you go?” he snapped.

She didn’t know, but she wouldn’t have told him if she had. “It’s best if I keep that to myself.”

He popped his jaw.

“For both of us,” she added, and had to fight a fresh spring of tears. This is for the best. Don’t forget.

“Fine,” he said, his knuckles white as they clutched the bag’s handles. “Do it. Go.”

“I will.” The words choked from her as she pried his fingers loose and anchored the heavy nylon in place. “I guess this is goodbye, then.” She turned away before the tears started falling and strode out of her bedroom. Then stopped in the hall. She couldn’t leave like this. Couldn’t end things like this.

Quickly she backtracked, pausing in front of a scowling Riley, grabbing him by the back of the neck and jerking his mouth to hers. The kiss was swift, hard and teased her with the wildness of his taste, the unwavering strength of his body. Seconds passed, and she wished for eternity. This was it. The end. Their last kiss. She committed the moment, the boy, to her memory.

She’d need it.

With a groan, she released him and spun. She ran out of her house and into the bright sunlight.

She threw her bag in the car Riley had stolen last night, recalling how he’d sped along the roads, whisking her from somewhere in Texas to Oklahoma in record time. Then she drove, just drove. She never stopped crying.

ADEN SAID NOTHING about his plans to Dan or the boys while they ate breakfast and discussed Ms. Brendal and how she’d seemed to disappear exactly as Mr. Thomas had. And how Dan wanted to give up on tutors entirely and try and enroll the other boys at Crossroads High with Aden and Shannon.

They were, of course, excited.

He said nothing as he gathered his books and backpack, the souls chattering inside his head—Caleb making plans to find the witches again, Julian amusing himself by pointing out the flaws in each of Caleb’s ideas, and Elijah trying to figure out why he saw more turmoil in the future than ever. Aden ignored them, still flying high. Even Shannon and the other boys remarked on how happy he seemed, how light his mood was.

He didn’t know what he’d tell them yet, or even how he’d tell them. But he wasn’t going to worry about that now. After everything that had happened, he was simply going to enjoy the day. And the evening, of course, when he took Victoria on their first official date. He grinned. He frowned. Would evening never arrive?

The school day passed with agonizing slowness, the classes sheer torture. Despite the fact that he was free. Free of the witches’ curse and its consequences. Victoria was absent, but then, so were Mary Ann and Riley. Aden wasn’t worried. They needed a break. Hell, he needed a break, but he kinda owed Dan.

After school, he rushed through his chores. Or tried to. Finally, though, he finished shucking and bailing and showered. He changed into his best clothes, jeans and a black T-shirt, just as the moon made its appearance in the sky. He wanted to buy Victoria flowers, but didn’t have any money and didn’t want to destroy Meg’s roses.

He would just have to give her his heart. Again.

Because he didn’t have a car, and wasn’t allowed to date while living at the ranch—girls equaled trouble, Dan said, because they kept boys from working hard and studying—Victoria had to pick him up and convince everyone to think he was right there with them.

And God, did she look beautiful. Some of her wounds were still in the process of healing, and there were scabs on her arm, but she wore a tight blue sweater and a barely there miniskirt in a lighter shade. The colors transformed her from Vampire Chick to Little Slice of Heaven. Her hair hung down her back in silky black waves, and all he wanted to do was find a dark corner and run his fingers through them.

They climbed through his window and strolled away from the ranch hand in hand.

“Do you like?” she asked. She even pulled from his hold to twirl in front of him. “I borrowed it from Stephanie, naturally. And speaking of my family, the girls have decided you’re, and I quote, not so bad. You tamed their beasts, outwitted the witches and sent the fairies to their knees.”

“I love,” he corrected. In the distance, an owl hooted. “And tell your sisters I think they’re not so bad themselves.”

They shared a smile. They were doing that a lot lately, he thought, proud. Bit by bit, she was losing her serious, somber edge.

“So…what should we do?” she asked. “I can’t believe we don’t have a death curse hanging over us or goblins to fight.”

“I know what you mean.” Tonight, they were just two people, hanging out and having fun. “Want to go into town? I mean, a town other than this one, where no one knows who we are. We can see a movie, maybe.” What did girls like to do? He’d never been on a date before.

“I would love to!” She reclaimed his hand, and a moment later, the world tilted, wind kicked up and his surroundings faded. He blinked, that was it, and his feet settled, buildings suddenly stretching at his sides.

He laughed. “You’re getting good at that.”

“I know, right.”

How human she sounded. How sweet. He looked around. They were in a darkened alley, a busy street sidewalk a few feet away and an even busier road a few feet from there. “Where are we?”

“Tulsa. Not too far from home, but not too close either.”

“Perfect.”

Aden, Elijah said. Go home. You have to go home.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Of course you will, but instead of going to the movies, what do you think of going to a dance club?” Victoria asked, unaware he’d been talking to the souls. He didn’t correct her.

“I think that’s…doable.” He didn’t know how good a dancer he was, never having danced before, but for her, he would try. And he would get to hold her close, so that was even better.

Aden, please.

One night, Aden thought. That’s all he wanted. “Tomorrow,” he said.

“The souls?” Victoria asked, getting it this time.

“Yes.”

“They’ll be our next project.” Victoria’s skin was hot against his as they strolled down the street, joining the crowd. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. I mean, I love you, you know that, but this feels so…frivolous.”

“Frivolous is what we desperately need right now.” Do you hear that, Elijah? I need this.

“So true. So guess what?” Too excited to wait, she answered before he could reply, releasing his hand to jump in front of him. “I know a human joke.”

“Oh, yeah?” He hooked several strands of hair behind her ear. “What is it?” From the corner of his eye, he saw a strange movement and frowned. Had that trash can just moved several inches on its own? Surely not. Surely he was simply paranoid now, looking for danger in every shadow.

“There was once a boy who—” Victoria frowned, too, and followed the line of his vision. “What is it?”

Aden. Aden, leave now.

A second later, Tucker seemed to appear out of nowhere, suddenly right in front of Aden, tears streaming down his face. “What the—”

The crowd and cars disappeared—Victoria, too—leaving Aden on a deserted street. A deserted street he’d seen in countless visions. One he’d dreaded finding. One he’d hoped to avoid.

Aden backed up, gearing to fight. Tucker followed.

“I’m sorry, so very, very sorry,” Tucker said. “He told me you would be here. Why did you have to be here?”

Before the last word left his mouth, before Aden could go on the offensive, a sharp pain he recognized, hated, dreaded, expected, lanced through him, slicing through bone, through muscle, through…organ. Every beat of his heart sliced the wound deeper, wider.

The very heartbeat that kept him alive was killing him.

Tucker fled, footsteps pounding.

The pain exploded, as sharp as the blade. Aden looked down, saw the hilt dripping crimson. A gasp of blood gurgled from him, and he heard Victoria scream his name. Where was she? He still couldn’t see her. He was alone. Was going to die all alone.

Not even a day. He hadn’t even had a day of rest. Even God had had a day of rest. Strange thoughts, he mused. “Worth…it,” he said, hoping Victoria would hear him, wherever she was. She was worth anything, everything. He wouldn’t trade a moment of his time with her.

The deserted street shimmered, faded, the busy street coming back into view.

Oh, Aden, Elijah said.

Caleb and Julian shouted denials.

Not alone, then. He had the souls. Made sense. They’d started life together, and now they would end it together. Oh, God. End. End. This was the end. With the word echoing in his head, he realized he wasn’t ready. But the pain soon dragged him down…he was falling…a shroud of black was sweeping him under a burning tide…

He knew nothing more.

SOMEONE MUST HAVE USED electric shocks on his brain, because suddenly Aden’s entire body spasmed, and he felt the pain, so much pain. Too much pain. The shroud of black quickly wrapped back around him, thank God, thank God, thank God, but the electric shock pulled him back out. The process was repeated over and over again.

“—save him,” Victoria was pleading to someone. “You have to save him.”

“He’s been injured too badly,” an unfamiliar voice said, “and you’ve given him all the blood you can stand to lose. Any more, and you’ll both die.”

“He’s not going to die,” she screeched. “We can’t let him die. He’s our king!”

I’m here, he tried to tell her, but he couldn’t force his mouth to move. The souls were still with him, he thought, because he could hear them crying, but they couldn’t form a single word, either.

Was this it? The end?

The end. Familiar words.

“Try and turn him,” Victoria said on a rush. “Drain him completely and fill him back up with what remains of my blood.”

A sigh, weary and sad. “We’ve tried that before, princess, with others. This you know. Not since Vlad’s time has a turning ever ended successfully.”

“I don’t care.”

“Sometimes the donor died, as well.”

“I know that, too! Just do it! There’s no other way, and I have to try. I have to try,” she repeated on a sob.

No, Aden wanted to shout. Don’t risk your life, Victoria. Anything but that.

Another sigh left the stranger. “Very well. He’s all yours. But know this. When your people discover his weakened condition—and they will, we can’t keep this a secret for long—there will be a struggle for the crown. No matter how worthy a king Aden has proved himself to be, there will always be those who hunger for power. Contenders will want to strike him while they can.”

“They’ll have to find him first. And when he returns, and he will, I’m sure anyone who dared issue a challenge will be punished. Severely.”

A knock sounded, several hard thumps. Footsteps. A gasp.

“Riley?” Victoria said.

“What happened to him? What the hell happened?”

“Stay back! Don’t touch him. I’m turning him. Just stay here and keep everyone calm. I’m taking him away.”

“Turning him? Away? Victoria, you can’t do that.”

“I can and I will. Stay back!”

A pause. “Okay, okay. I’ll stay back. But there’s something I have to tell you. Several somethings, actually. And I can’t stay here for long. Mary Ann ran away, and I followed her to make sure she made it someplace safely, and I only came back to talk to you. I have to return to her before she decides to head somewhere else and I lose her trail. So listen up. You’ve been challenged by Draven for rights to Aden. Your father is alive and—”

“A challenge? No! Not yet! Is Mary Ann okay? And…and what you do mean my father is alive? Riley, he can’t be alive. He can’t be alive. He’ll hurt Aden, he’ll… No! I won’t let him!”

Silence, then. Floating. Darkness. Then, Aden felt as if his neck was being ripped open, and this time, he did make his mouth move. He screamed.

He thrashed, he fought, he stilled. Nothing, he had nothing left.

The shroud, that blessed shroud. It covered him, protected him. Slipping away…

…cold, so cold…

Stupid shroud…he tugged it back in place.

…hot, so hot…

He pushed it away… Better, but not for long. Slipping again…

—COLD, SO COLD—

He tugged.

—HOT, SO HOT—

He pushed, as hard as he could. He kicked. No shroud. No more shroud.

…pain, so much pain…

—PAIN, SO MUCH PAIN—

Time was an endless ocean of change. He drifted on the waves, was pulled under, struggled, was jerked back up, drifted some more…cold, so cold…and wondered…hot, so hot…if he’d ever find his way home. Home, where was home? The answer eluded him. Too much chatter, incoherent, bothersome. The pain had returned. But not the shroud. Thank you, God, not the shroud.

The ocean vanished in a sudden blink. He saw a cave, he hated caves now, saw himself, how sick and pale he looked, writhing, sweat pouring from him, washing away the blood that coated him, and he saw Victoria, how sick and pale she looked, lying beside him, thrashing, moaning, and he heard her thoughts, all her thoughts from all her life, so loud he couldn’t deal with them, couldn’t listen to them, there were too many memories inside his head, her memories, his own, her pain, his own, more than could possibly fit, and if something didn’t give soon, he would break, break into a thousand pieces and never fit back together.

He wanted the shroud back.

Then there was silence. Calm. They came, but they didn’t last. In the distance, he heard a roar. No, not in the distance. Louder…louder…closer…so close. Inside him. The roar was inside him, filling him up, nearly ripping from his pores. At least the chatter stopped. Hot…he was hotter than before. Burning, blistering, smoldering to ash. Reforming, weaving back together, harder, heavier, still hotter.

“Aden.”

Where was the cold? He wanted the cold to return.

“Aden, please.” The voice blended with the roar. “Open your eyes.”

His mouth was as dry as cotton, his gums and tongue swollen, his lips bruised. His muscles and bones felt like they’d gotten up close and personal with a baseball bat.

“Aden!”

His lids popped open of their own volition. He was panting, still sweating. A wan Victoria loomed over him, her dark hair falling like a curtain around his face. There were circles under her eyes, eyes that were glazed with pain, and she was clutching at her ears, cringing.

Was this a dream? Or had he died and gone to heaven? No, he couldn’t have gone to heaven. He still heard that godawful roar, still felt as if he were on fire, battered and bruised.

“Aden,” she moaned.

He jolted upright. Dizziness hit, then subsided. Pain hit, and remained. “What’s wrong?” The words were slurred, pushed through teeth he didn’t recognize. Through…fangs? He flicked his incisors with his tongue—no, no fangs. He wasn’t sure what that meant. Wasn’t sure what was wrong with him or what had happened.

Oh, he knew Victoria had given him some of her blood. Knew she’d tried to turn him from human to vampire in order to save his life. He hadn’t forgotten the conversation he’d heard. But he didn’t know any more than that. How was he alive if the change hadn’t succeeded?

He wanted to ask.

“The souls,” she said before he could. “I have the souls. Inside me. Talking. Why won’t they stop? And you…you, I think you have my beast.” As if she’d managed to maintain her strength only long enough to issue her confession, she collapsed, falling into his arms.

Unable to process what he’d heard, Aden gathered her close, held her tight. His brain hadn’t sparked back to life yet, his thoughts fragmenting quickly, fatigue beating through him. He eased to his back, taking Victoria with him.

They were alive. That thought was clear. Whatever had happened to them, they were alive. The rest could be figured out later. And whatever changes they’d experienced, whatever they would next need to do, they would triumph; he had no doubt. They’d defeated the witches and the death curse. They could get through this, too. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.

“Don’t let go,” Victoria said against his chest.

He was surprised she had roused, surprised but glad. “I won’t. I’ll never you let go.”

Yes, they had each other, would always have each other. They could handle what came next.

He hoped.