Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (14 page)

“No not
me
!” He held me in one of his talons and passed me to Caspian through the broken window.

“She hasn’t had blood-,”

“Nurses! I need nurses! Hurry!” He took me from Jasper’s claws.

“Wait!” Jasper called.

              Caspian ignored him and tended to me. He hooked me up to machines and injected needles into my arms.

“Her cousin is also in the same condition,” a nurse yelled.

“Why are you standing here telling me? You know what to do!”

“But, he’s a werewolf,” she began.

“It doesn’t matter, he’s her cousin, get him in here,” another nurse yelled, defending Caspian’s decision.

“Oh no,” I heard Caspian mumble.

“Chenille! How is Chenille?”

              Lucian came into view, only a blurry figure to me, but I knew it was him.

“Her pulse…the baby is dying. You were too late,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean I’m too late?”

“She will be reincarnated if she dies but her baby is going to die. You were too late. I’m sorry Lucian.”

              Lucian marched up to him and grabbed a fistful of his lab coat angrily. “You are a doctor! You save her!”

“I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do. She needed blood for the baby to get the proper nutrients, but it’s been too long.”

“No-,”

“There is a slim chance,” the doctor’s voice faded. “There is
nothing
I can do.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am positive.”

              Lucian walked over to me and placed a hand to my face.

“How much time does she have?”

“Not long. If only you made it here sooner. A day sooner would have made a difference.”

“But a few days ago we were in the City. She was ok.”

“She was malnourished
then
, Lucian. A few days of not eating are all it takes. The first few weeks are very crucial for development,” Caspian explained. 

              My eyes opened weakly. Lucian kissed me. His poison was sweet.

“Will the baby…be ok?”

“Yes,” Caspian lied, “the baby will be just fine.”

“I am sorry this had to happen.”

“Me too,” Lucian whispered.

“I will be reincarnated?”

              He nodded and kissed my cheek. “If you die, then yes,” he said, though there was a trace of uncertainty in his tone.

“I love you Lu,” my voice died and I felt my head fall back weakly. All the sounds around me faded.

              Lucian leaned his head against my chest. His breathing rose and fell unevenly. A faded figure, transparent, and almost ghostlike, appeared beside the bed. Beside the figure, I saw a faded image I assumed was my baby.

              Something was wrong. The image was fading like a diminishing piece of paper, burning from the bottom to the top. I watched, unable to help my baby. It was dying.

“Fitzray?” I said weakly. The transparent figure, the apparition that stood beside Caspian was more defined now. He seemed so real, but at the same time, so impossible.

“Have you learned about the insanity of this obscure world yet?” After a long pause, he moved closer to me.

“We performed the Ceremony together, remember? Our immortal bond still runs deep in our blood.” He said it as if I did not know who he was, but I could not find my voice. I only stared.

“I thought it didn’t happen. I thought you would have been reincarnated by now…or would not have been reincarnated at all,” I mumbled softly.

“It worked out. We did perform the Ceremony, but reincarnation takes time. I’ll be reincarnated soon,” he assured me.

“But I performed the Ceremony with Lucian.”

“I know.”

“But what about our bond?”

“We will be together in other ways, I promise.” He looked at me and smiled. “Lucian will take good care of you.”

“You were watching me all this time weren’t you?”

“Yes.” He said quietly.

              I glanced over at the image of my baby. It was almost gone.

“My baby,” I whispered.

              I watched my baby. The last little sliver of its white image faded away. The noises returned to me in a rush. The apparitions faded away. I was still alive.

              There was a sudden crash. A distant rumble came from another section of the hospital.

“What was that?” Caspian yelled.

“Fire! Great burning shards of fire have crashed into the hospital-,” a nurse cried.

              A fiery rock crashed into the room where we were and the force sent Lucian and me across the room, smashing us both into a wall. Lucian rubbed his head and picked me up. He then began to walk over to Caspian who held onto Amelia and Pearl. The floor shook as if caused by an earthquake and I clung tight to Lucian’s cape. Through a nearby window, I saw that the fire rocks had stopped falling and the floor ceased its shaking.

              Caspian looked around to see if anyone was injured. The fire rocks were doused with water, revealing beautiful pieces of white stone like those that made up the Bridge.

              I pulled onto Lucian’s cape and he caught my glance and smiled.

“How are you doing?”

“I don’t…feel too good.”

“Caspian! Where are you?”

“Over here.” He said while carefully examining the white stone.

“Come over here!”

“What? What is it?”

“It’s Chenille.”

              I uttered a cry of pain.

“Nurses!”

“Hang on, I’m here. You are going to be just fine.”

Chapter 33 - Bonding

              Vampires have the strongest bond of any creature to walk the planets. They are powerful and compassionate creatures toward each other. It is unfortunate that some, like me, have not been in a bond before. However, all vampires will find their Eternal Mate and the species will usually be at peace with each other. Will one day come when mortals, vampires, and werewolves are at peace with one another? And if that comes to be the case, what will come of the Bridge? To me, I find that hardly believable. I do not think three completely different species of any kind would ever come together and would certainly not become allies. I believe that the species of werewolves, vampires, and mortals should not unite in any way. But who knows what will come of us all?  

“H
ere you are, my Queen.” Calvin said and bowed before me with beautiful flowers. I was glad to see him happy, for he had somehow found love with Prusaious, who was at his side. Their companionship served as a little proof that we achieved some peace with the werewolves, if anything at all.

             
As it turned out, when Pete’s planet exploded, it caused the destruction of several other stars surrounding it. This resulted in the fire rocks that fell over the two planets, which were actually fragments of stars. The mortals made such profit with these new priceless rocks that were more valuable than dragon scales.
   

             
The wars were over, almost over. The mortals did not slaughter the dragons for their scales, for now at least, and the mortals made a compromise with us. The werewolves were questionable. They would always be questionable as long as I was Queen.

Afterword

              There is not much known about vampires. I am not the first to say that their world is strange and complex, but when it comes down to love and Eternal Mates, I take the cake.

- Pete Silver

              I closed my eyes and sighed after reading the afterword of the black journal to myself.

              Pete is right. How is it possible to be at peace with all species? The mortals will someday come back to hunt our dragons. And we would fight back. As for the werewolves, they have been our enemy from the start and they always will be. How could they change their minds about us? How could we be so foolish as to trust them? Our world will surely crumble at our feet if we think we can keep this peace, especially since I am the Queen of Catastrophe. Saneness and reconciliation can scarcely breathe in the air of Catastrophe
, I thought.

             
And with bigger issues to be looked after, one said it was the Bridge of Secrecy that should be watched closely. One individual in particular caught my eye the other day and said, “If you have read the book, may you find the key in saving the Bridge from destruction.”

              Lucian, my new Eternal Mate, the King of Catastrophe, gathered me into his arms. Breathing a sigh of relief, I found comfort against him.

             
All of this, only temporary.   

* * * * *

Part 3

Return from Ashes

I
was lost in one of Lucian’s memory kisses. I saw my past when I had just become a vampress. I was sound asleep, anticipating the weekend morning, when something grabbed my arm and swung me to my feet. I went to utter out a cry when a hand covered my mouth.

“Shh, it’s just me.”             

              At the time, Pete and I were close friends so things like this happened often.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been out of town for a while, so I thought you might want to see me.”

“At this hour?”

“Come with me.”

“What? No, I’m not going anywhere. It’s like two in the morning.”

“Just meet me outside, ok?”

              He slipped from my room so I could dress into something warmer. I grabbed my scarf and tied it tightly around my neck just as I stepped into the chill of the night. He grabbed my wrist and led me to the backyard.

“Where did you say you were taking me again?”

“I don’t know yet.” There was aggravation in his tone.

              I stumbled over the sprouting sunflowers and the wisteria vines, straining my eyes after him through the pitch-black darkness. He walked past the willow tree and stopped. Once I caught up, he turned and smiled.

“Here,” was all he said and fell back onto the ground.

“Pete?” I sat beside him and shook him in panic.

              His eyes opened and in one movement swung me over onto the ground beside him and let out a growl.

“What are you doing?”

“You don’t get it do you?”

“Get what?”

“I am a vampire.”

              I laughed. “Vampires don’t exist.”

              He ripped the scarf away from my throat and pressed his fangs to my neck. “You sure about that?”

“You…you wouldn’t! You are my friend!”

“It’s for your own good, for reasons you wouldn’t understand.”

“But why?”

“So no one else can have you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll find out.”

              The next morning, I was alone. I managed to make my way inside to the bathroom. Blood ran like water from the wound on my neck. I put a hand to my throat and gazed at the blood on my fingertips that looked appetizing to me now. 

              I could not let my parents see me like this so I ran off to the Bridge of Secrecy, to Catastrophe, where my brother resided.

              Once I was there, a vampire approached me and healed the wound on my neck. A beautiful woman, about my age, walked up to me and smiled.

“You must be new here.”

“Yes, I am.”

“I am new here too. My name is Amelia.”

“I’m Chenille.”

              That was when my friendship with Amelia began.

              I broke away from Lucian, hearing the baby’s loud cry from the nursery.

“Fitzray is up.”

              Lucian and I had some debate with what to call the baby, but in the end, we agreed to name him Fitzray. The memories of him were still strong, especially since I saw his apparition.

              I went into the nursery and peeked inside to see him sitting on the rocking chair, his face flushed. His green eyes flooded over with large frightened tears.

              “What’s the matter?” I said quietly and lifted him up into my arms. Lucian peeked over my shoulder and smiled once the small child looked up at him.

“I almost forgot. There is something I wanted to give Fitzray.”

“What?”

              Lucian took off the chain he wore around his neck.  Hanging loosely from the chain was a large silver key with a red-orange stone in the center of the handle. Two silver snakes wrapped around the key itself with clever artisanship.

“This once belonged to my uncle and later was passed down to Pete…and then to me. But now I think is a good time for Fitzray to have it.”

“He is so young though. He is only three.”

“That’s all right. It will not be a bother to him. It is said that something as valuable as this must be passed down to someone at a very young age.”

“Why?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but that is what I was told.” He said and placed the key around the baby’s neck.

“There is something going on down by the Bridge. Come quickly!” Prusaious called, her figure filling the open doorway.

              I held onto Lucian’s cape before he could go anywhere. “Please Lu, don’t go.”

“I have to.”

“But Lucian-,”

“Don’t trouble yourself more than you already have. Go to the City of Lights. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

              Before I could say any more, he handed Fitzray back to me and followed Prusaious out.

              I followed Lucian’s advice and went off to the City, Fitzray in my arms. I strolled through the quiet streets of the city, even when the crowd swallowed me up.

              An elderly woman touched my elbow and pulled me off to the side from the swarm of creatures that gathered around me. She wore a dark cape over her shoulders and a mask on her face.

“Lucian is in trouble my Queen,” she said in a soft, throaty voice. “You must go to the Bridge of Secrecy at once, but be cautious and keep hold of your child. If you have read the book you shall find the key to save the Bridge and us from total destruction.”

              That was not the first time someone told me about a book saving us from certain demise.

“What key? And how do you know Lucian-,”

              She was gone. If I had not started to run toward the Bridge, it would have been too late.