The Shadow's Son (28 page)

W
hen Zac could bare it no more, he went to her.

He'd let Aya sleep for a day, alone, while Tristan guarded her like a rabid German Shepard. No one would get past him again, at least not without a few wounds to count for it. After he had apologized for going off at him like he did, his disposition towards the knight had softened somewhat. Tristan knew that he'd never win Aya's love, not in the way he wanted, but he was satisfied to be counted as a brother.

Nye had kept an eye on the old apartment that once housed the Six, but no one had come back to it and probably never would. Soon enough, they would have to go and find the Three and win them over to their cause. Once Coraline and Maximus had confirmed the Original Witch still slept, then they would know what to do next. Either end the threat for good or fight like hell to take her out. If it even was the Original Witch.

Zac opened the door to Aya's room as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake her if she still slept. But, she stood by the window, looking down at the street below. When he closed the door behind him, she sighed. It used to annoy him when she didn't acknowledge his presence, then suddenly saying hello without looking up, or coming out with some smart ass comment that took him off guard. He kind of missed it to be honest.

"Zac." Her fingers were balled up into the curtain.

He walked up behind her and pried her fingers away, pulling her against him. "You look exhausted. Have you…"

He felt her head shaking against him.

"Your power?"

She shook her head again.

"Take my blood," he whispered and pulled her towards the bed forcing her to sit in his lap.

Without a word, she eased his head to the side and bit into the skin of his neck as delicately as she could. Closing his eyes, he relished in the feel of her lips against his skin and the pull of his blood as it left him. When she drew back, he felt oddly cold.

"I've been hearing some outrageous things," she said, laying her head against his chest. "I don't remember much, but I do remember coming back to myself in the sanctuary."

"It's okay. I know you're sorry for that. I know."

She clutched onto him like she was afraid he would disappear. "What happened to Regulus?"

"Aya, Regulus is dead. I told you..."

"What do you mean?" The look on her face was confused at best.

"I killed him. Coraline lent me her power and I killed him."

She was shaking her head in disbelief. "But, the link. He links everyone to him. How?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I thought I was."

"You were just going to sacrifice yourself?" she exclaimed, standing up. The look in her eyes was wild and he couldn't fathom the breadth of it.

"Yes."

"I don't know what happened, but you're still here. Thank god." She pulled him up and pressed herself against him, arms winding around his waist. "Never do that again. Not when I'm here to help you. You have to let me help you."

"It was Gabby," he said, ignoring the last part. "She told me what to do."

"She knew you were going to do this? Did she suggest it to you?"

"Not exactly." He wound an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head to calm her. "She wanted to undo the link, but she wouldn't have gotten here fast enough. She turned up a few hours after it was done."

"You couldn't wait a few hours?"

"I didn't know."

"Zac…" she began to scold him, but he placed a finger over her lips. She knew why he wanted to do it.

"When the Coven took you…" he began, but she placed a finger on his lips this time, silencing him mid-sentence.

"It's done. They're all gone now."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know that they could..."

"I should have told you. I will tell you," she said and he realized she was still stuck on the trust issue.

"No," he stonewalled her. "Don't tell anyone. Not even me."

Even though they had finally done away with the Romans and the Coven, deep down something was still missing. Something in his heart was still missing and he knew he wasn't there yet. He wasn't the man Aya deserved to love… not yet.

"All this time," she began, eyes downcast, "I've been counting on myself... All this time I've had to bring myself back from the edge."

"Aya..."

"No, listen to me. After all this time, you were the only one
who's
brought me back. You."

He wasn't sure what he was meant to say to that. How could he bring someone back when he couldn't find the way himself?

"If you would forgive me, then..."

"Then what?" Zac whispered, already knowing what she was going to say. Then they could be together forever and be each
others
anchor? He couldn't do that. Aya had learnt to control the wild parts in
herself
and if he wasn't there, it wouldn't matter.
The other way around?
He almost had it. Almost.

"Regulus is dead. The Coven is gone. Don't you understand? I'm
free
."

"And what about the Coven? What if they managed to awaken whoever it was?"

"Then we'll fight it," she said, "like we've fought everything else."

He turned his face away, not wanting her to see the pain that flashed across his features. "You'll always be fighting something and maybe I'll always be fighting my demons."

He'd descended into something terrible again and again as a coping mechanism. He'd turned to the only thing he knew and that was being a true vampire. He turned into a monster to cope with his pain. It was so wrong on so many levels. He needed to do this on his own.

"Zac," she turned his face back to hers. "What's wrong? There's something else, isn't there?"

"I'm tired of fighting." He always thought it would be Aya leaving him in the end. She'd already set the precedent for it. Had she felt this way when she'd told him all those horrible lies? It seemed such a long time ago and so much had happened since then. "Aya, I will never love anyone else like I love you. But we can't do this." As the words left his mouth, he felt his heart breaking. "If this is what it does to me… What it does to you… Then we can't do this."

"You can't be serious," Aya exclaimed.

"I need to learn how to live on my own again. I relied on you to the point where I couldn't function without you. And you…"

"And I what?" She narrowed her eyes.

"This isn't you, either."

By the way her expression crumbled, she knew he was right.

"You were right when you said it was a dream," he sighed, looking away. Looking back, it often felt like their love had been the ultimate fantasy. They both wanted to feel that feeling for someone. Zac had always felt like he'd been waiting for something to break it apart. To wake up or feel a sharp pinch that told him it was just that, a dream. But now, here she was pleading with him not to leave. This dangerous thing would push them over the edge to their destruction. They had different paths to take.

"How can this be wrong?" She placed a hand over his heart. "After everything that we've been through, how could it be wrong?"

"We've hurt each other so much all in the name of love. You don't see anything wrong with that?"

"Zac, don't do this."

"Aya," he sighed, struggling with his words. "Without you I could never have found the path I was meant to take. I need to find the person I'm meant to be on my own. It was never wrong. Just the wrong time." It was ironic that now the tables had been turned, Aya couldn't let him go. They would never be even. "If you truly love me, then you'll let me go."

She let her hands drop limply from his face, her expression pained. Smiling at him sadly, he knew she understood. "I love you and I know you love me. I'll be here, no matter how long it takes."

"I can't ask you to wait for me."

Running a hand down his face she smiled. "You're closer than you think, Zachary Degaud."

Leaning in, he kissed her deeply, savoring the taste of her lips. Who knew when or if he'd be able to do this
again.
"Goodbye, Aya. We'll see each other again… someday."

As he walked out the door, he didn't look back. He couldn't.

Nye was waiting for him in the hallway, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "I'm sorry, mate," he said, frowning.

"Save it, Nye," he snorted. "We've got work to do."

"Do you really think we can convince them?"

Turning, he looked at him pointedly, "Without a doubt."

"Then where do you want to start?"

Zac grinned, "The Tower."

G
abby sat in the darkness of the catacombs underneath Highgate Cemetery, her coat and scarf drawn tightly around her. The only light was from her cell phone, which she had open on a torch app, shining it onto Regulus' coffin. Enough time had passed since Aya had ended the Coven. How she knew was still a mystery to her, she'd had no contact with anyone since Zac and Nye had left her. There had been a build up of power, then nothing.

A simple phone call from Zac had confirmed it all.

Walking over to the coffin, she shuddered, knowing who was inside. There was no way he was waking up any time soon. Not without a little help, anyway. Opening the lid, she gazed down at Regulus' desiccated body. If Aya knew what she was doing, 
god
, if Zac knew, she would be in a lot of trouble.

Suppressing a shiver of revulsion, she reached out towards the Roman and placed her palm over his heart. Or the deceptive pile of ash that was his heart. The glamour really was quite lifelike. If she didn't know it, she'd think the Roman was truly dead as well. His evil, black heart still sat intact in his chest and what she'd done made her gag. What she'd put Zac through… He had every right to be mad with her.

The Roman had brought her to London days ago. She'd undone the link when she was bidden and orchestrated Coraline's escape. When she knew Zac had been given her power, she cast the complicated glamour over Regulus. She'd had no choice in the matter. The lives of her family and friends had been threatened and she had no way of protecting them all.

If Regulus was going to make her play his games, then she would give as good as she had to take. Sending a sharp jolt of energy straight into his heart, his eyes snapped open and rolled slowly to meet hers. They were bloodshot and tinted a sickly grey color and very much alive.

Scowling at him, she pushed another burst of energy straight into his heart, this time not holding back.
Let the bastard suffer
, she thought.

Regulus sat up sharply, gasping for breath as life began to creep back into his body. "God, Gabrielle," he wheezed. "You could have been a little more gentle about it."

"Now, why would I do that?" she sneered, leaning against the wall.

"Because I could kill you right now," he spat and lifted his hand to grab her, but much to his surprise it stopped in midair.

Gabby cocked her head, "You were saying?"

He climbed out of the coffin, his jaw set. "I'm breathing again, so I take it Aeriaya did what she was meant to."

"The Coven is gone," she confirmed.

"Good. And what of the ritual?"

"They believe it was interrupted, but the priest Maximus and Coraline have gone to Brú
na
Bóinne to make sure."

"And the link?"

"Severed."

"Zachary is still alive."

"Yes."

"How heartwarming."

"Why do they need to think you're dead anyway? It doesn't make sense."

Regulus laughed. "I am the last Original Vampire. There are things only I can do."

"You went to a lot of effort to orchestrate your own death."

"It had to be believable."

"To who?"

"The Coven and in case they succeeded, to their little friend."

"Don't make me regret helping you, Regulus," she said sharply. "I want answers."

He snorted, leaning forward. "Gabrielle, there is a hell of a lot at stake here. I need all the people on my side I can get. I may be the only vampire alive that can stop this thing."

"What is it?"

"Everyone stupidly thinks it's the Original Witch. None of you have one iota of intelligence."

"What do you mean? It's not?"

"Let's just say that Aeriaya is not the only hybrid I've been hunting these past two thousand years."

Gabby's face paled and she swallowed hard. "What do you mean? There's another? A hybrid with what?"

Regulus smiled wryly, "Are you ready for a wild ride, Gabrielle? You better hope to god that the Coven didn't succeed."

"Why?"

"Because if they did? It will be the end of the fucking world as we know it."