Shadow of Death: Book Two of the Chosen Chronicles (58 page)

The blow and the fall wrenched his slowly healing ribs and he gasped as he was forcibly hauled to his knees. He was held in place by a couple of Vampires who pinioned his arms behind his back. His eyes flickered over triumphant brown to land on green he had last seen staring blankly into the night. He let out an involuntary sob.

“
This is going so much better than I had hoped. ‘On my honour.’” snickered Corbie. A true smile brightened his face, his dark eyes filling with sadistic delight.
“
I bet you
’
re wondering how it is possible for your beloved to be standing here.
”
Corbie stepped closer knowing the Angel was well secure.

“
Jeanie, what happened to you?
”
He implored and was rewarded with a look of confusion before she shook it away. He could not believe who he was seeing. It was impossible. Jeanie was dead. But here she was alive. His heart clutched in joy and pain.

An unknown hand yanked a fist full of his hair, forcing him to match gazes with a Vampire he desperately needed to kill.

“
Now, now,
”
clucked Corbie.
“
How we create Vampires is for Vampires to know, but I
’
ll let you in on a little secret.
”
He leaned in to whisper.
“
She was so delicious when I kidnapped your sire. Granted it was a little bit more than a taste from her wrist, but when I saw her underneath that lamppost again after you murdered my Lady Bastia, I knew I had to have her, this time all of her. Oh, how intoxicatingly delicious. No wonder you had her. Did you know she came willingly to my embrace?
”

“
Liar!
”
he shouted, anger flooding him as he attempted to break from his fleshy bonds. He had known he had walked into a trap. He was even prepared to die. He was not prepared for this.

Corbie jumped back from the Angel
’
s wrath and glanced around, fear flickering across his face.
“
Your part of the bargain
–
none of your demons. You call them and her true death lands squarely upon your shoulders.
”

He did not know what Valraven was talking about until it struck him
–
Valraven believed he was calling the mists. Seething, he forced himself to calm down, the pain of his ribs and thigh throbbed in time with his racing heart as he slowed his breath.

“
Good. Good,
”
nodded the Dominus.
“
I wouldn
’
t want Michael to have to use Subtle Persuasion on you again.
”

He glanced over his shoulder, past the Vampire who pinned him, to see the Vampire he had met upon entering this nightmare holding a large limestone hammer. Returning his attention to   Valraven he glared his compliance.
“
What now?
”

“
You get your sword back,
”
said Corbie, nonchalantly.
“
I am a man of my word. One other thing; a message to the Chosen,
”
his voice hardened.
“
The Americas
–
north, south and central
–
are mine. The Chosen will keep away.
You
will keep away. No matter what you see or hear, the Chosen will not set one foot here. If you do then all out war will be declared and
we
will kill you to the very last like we had hoped to have done a hundred years ago. This time you would fight us
and
the humans.

“
I am not Bastia, a High Priestess of Isis, who worked at domination and destruction through the guise and glamour she excelled in. I am Corbie Vale, Lord of Valraven, Corvus Valerius Tertius, Tribuni Praetorian to Invictus Maxentiuns. I was born to lead and trained to rule. I am not interested in destroying the Chosen so long as the Chosen continue to be ignorant to what they are.
”

Corbie stood inches from the Angel, his face and stance rigid in martial discipline. No fear caught his dark eyes, only deadly purpose as if reciting his full name has brought him back to his true self.

Hands clasped behind his back, Corbie turned and marched back to stand next to Rose.
“
Give him back his sword,
”
he ordered.

Still held on his knees, his arms wrenched painfully behind him, he watched a shudder run through Jeanie before she lifted his sword and stepped towards him. Nothing about her had changed. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and his heart ached at her transformation. His ragged breath caught as she halted a foot in front of him. He did not care about the pleading gaze he sent her. The mask of the Angel was shattered.

She took a moment; head cocked to the side to allow cinnamon
falls to run past her shoulders, her pale beautiful face was pinched in contemplation.
“
When Corbie gave me the honour of giving you back your sword, I was thrilled,
”
she began.
“
Never before had I seen such beauty in a man, but there you were, standing in that newspaper photo and I just knew.
”

“
Knew what?
”
he rasped, his heart breaking. Even her sensuous Highland burr was gone.

“
I knew I had to have you,
”
she smiled. She brushed his smooth pale face with the tips of her fingers.

He shuddered at her touch, his eyes closing as he tried to come to terms with what his heart cried and what his mind screamed.
“
Jeanie,
”
he pleaded. A century of guilt and despair filled him.

“
When I saw you as I plucked your sword from its glass coffin I felt something more,
”
she continued.
“
I thought that by creating Thorn I would satisfy that feeling. It did not. And when I witnessed you slaughter two of my brothers in Queen
’
s Park all I wanted was to be in your arms. Why is that?
”

“
I–
”

“
Shhh.
”
She pressed her fingers to his lips.

His breath ran hot around her cold fingers, his eyes swimming in green. This was Jeanie! This was the woman he loved and had wanted to spend eternity with.

Her fingers left his mouth to be replaced with lips as cold as they were familiar. When she pressed him to open his mouth he let her in, tasting copper as he gave in to his desires. Tears sprung to his eyes with the realization of whom he was kissing. When she broke off he was almost grateful for the bonds that kept him from toppling over.

She took a step back, her fingers flying to her mouth, her eyes wide.
“
You
’
re warm,
”
she susurrated.

Fear stabbed through him and it took all his willpower to push down the rising panic. Jeanie knew he was no longer Chosen.

“
Get on with it Rose,
”
called Corbie.

Snapped back to her purpose she renewed the close distance.
“
Corbie wants me to give you back your sword,
”
she purred. She ran her fingers along his cheek to slide into his silky milk white hair.
“
He didn
’
t say how.
”

He knew where this was going. He had lived through it every time he slept since learning he was coming to this accursed land. Therefore it was not a surprise when she grabbed his hair close to the scalp, forcing his head to the side. He gasped in pain.

“
Jeanie, you don
’
t have to do this,
”
he panted. Images from reality, his dreams and his past when he was in Violet
’
s clutches swam through his mind, increasing the terror of what was to come. Jeanie moved closer, her mouth open and her canines lengthening.

“
Ahh, but I want to.
”

Her cold breath tickled his neck. Instinct and self preservation kicked in as he struggled to break free of the Vampires who kept him subjugated on his knees. His left arm was almost free when he felt the delicious agony of Jeanie
’
s teeth rip into his exposed jugular. The sound of her suckling accompanied the sensation of his blood being drawn up and out of the wound. It took all of his willpower not to move lest she rip out his throat.

Pain.

Hot searing pain stabbed through him, exacerbating the   throbbing of his injured ribs. The taste of blood filled his mouth at the same time nausea forced it out of him, spilling black blood over white lips. Every breath was torture as he fought to breathe, black bubbles popped to dribble down his chin.

Beyond the agony he could tell he was held only by Jeanie. Somewhere his mind registered that she had finished feeding. His eyes met hers and saw horrific realization. Unable to breathe he glanced down at himself, his hands pressing his abdomen. Unsurprisingly his sword was buried nearly to the hilt. He gazed back at Jeanie and saw bloody tears tracking her face. He knew it was not her fault. It was his. He had failed her. He had broken his Oath to her.

“
I—I love you,
”
he managed to get out with what was left in his lungs.

His eyes blurred and black tendrils stretched into his vision. Somehow he managed to catch himself with one hand on the concrete as he bent over. His long white hair caught drops of black blood before they could splatter to the ground.

Time moved slowly. Corbie
’
s order rang warped and elongated in his ears.

Excruciating pain tore at his insides as he felt the sudden pressure placed upon the end of the sword until he felt the break deep within his body. Blackness swallowed him, stealing his strength and his consciousness.

T
he first thing that struck her was how exquisite the Angel’s blood tasted. Never before had she imbibed someone so delicious. Each mouthful, each gulp, was pure heaven until she had given him back his sword, sheathing it through him. Then the flavour changed. Bitter, his blood stung her throat and she pulled out to witness blackness creeping up along his skin, marring his perfect paleness. Black blood spluttered from the Angel’s full lips, black mingling with white. His ruby eyes filled with shock and pain before he toppled over to catch himself, the length of his blade extruding from his back.