Page 124 of Vow of the Undead
And after all this time, I was more lost than ever.
“They want to kill her but they can’t yet. They fear her body can be used as a vessel by the first witch to reincarnate and control all vampires. Just like yours. But this is a risk they’ll be willing to take to kill both of you and me, because they know that together we’re a threat to their way of life and they’ll go to war to keep their control. If the lost history is accurate, none of the chosen have come this close since the war that left us with the wasteland. Lux, this means you’ve terrified them.”
The wasteland. The war. Each of these words frayed my nerves a little more each time I thought of them, but it was the mention of Silver’s death that struck dread in my heart.
I adjusted my grip on the stake, my arm growing tired. Blinking away the black spots in my vision and resisting the dizzy spell thrust upon me by my erratic nerves, I tried to process everything he’d said, stopping at one odd point. “Wait,us, as in you and me?”
“Silver made me a vampire.” That wasn’t possible, but instead of arguing, I soaked in his words. “And when we discovered you were chosen by the Gods and granted the same powers of the first witch—powers Silver already innately had—we knew you were tied by more than sisterhood. If she dies, they cut off your powers and I become…human again. I’ve no doubt they’ll kill me.”
This was why he’d begged for marriage. Not because he cared, not because he wasfascinatedby me or whatever bullshithe’d fed me. Because he didn’t want to become a vulnerable, mortal human again.
And my sister was never a witch. How she’d come by these powers now, I didn’t know.
“I wanted to blame you for this life my sister led,” I spoke just above a whisper. “But I was the one who sent her here.”
“I know the story. My mother was one of the executioners who was instructed to find you and take you to King Roderic.” My heart skipped. “Silver and I grew up together.”
When he spoke her name, his voice cracked, as if she were a childhood friend he’d lost long ago, not someone who he’d had her mouth sewn shut.
“No.”
“Yes. And it wasn’t all terrible, but I can’t tell you any of it was good. For either of us.”
“It’s my fault.”
“You were scared, Lux. Not evil.”
Thatcoming from the man who’d threatened to kill both Silver and I just last night. It was laughable, but I had no energy left. He’d carved me out, left me raw with the truth.
The night the Grimward came for me, I was scared. So fucking scared.
I hid, and I didn’t come out when they thought Silver was the one they were searching for.
“I was the witch the executioners came for, not her.”
“Yes, but when the first witch tried to be reborn, her powers were split. I suspect you became a seer while Silver carried the power the first witch learned regarding the undead she created. Powers that you now have because the Gods can’t stand that they don’t have total control.”
So it was possible. My sister had powers similar to mine, similar, but entirely different. She could make the vampires, I was destined to unmake them. Was this all the magic of the first witch? We’d always been the opposite—I, the scared girlwho would run and hide, while she dared spit on the executioners’ boots as they walked by.
Had our mother’s pregnancy destroyed the first witch’s attempt to be reborn? There were two of us, and according to the king’s understanding, it split her powers. I rolled this over, trying to process it.
Though it made sense, I wasn’t ready to absorb it all just yet.
King Drakkar continued, unaware of the questions taking my mind captive. “But if we cut those powers off, we free you, and Ylva and Darius will leave us be. They’ll have no reason to risk killing your sister and bringing forth the first witch.”
“And you get to stay a vampire—” I cut myself off. Who cared what he was if it saved my sister’s life? It was time I stop making the selfish choice. I never wanted to take this Call and now I had a reason to reject the darkness within.
“You have to choose to bind yourself to me.”
I barely breathed. It all sounded too unbelievable, but also, so intricate that he couldn’t have conjured it from an amalgamation of lies. King Drakkar never lied, and I knew he wouldn’t start now with my stake at his heart. Why lie about his own vulnerability? The man who liked to grab my throat just to flex his power because he was so desperately afraid of any sliver of control he had slipping away.
“Marry. Me.” He tugged me even closer, the tip of the stake pinching into the fabric of his shirt now.
I recoiled. “Is that all you think of? Binding and controlling me? Do you have someone lined up to take your place as my husband? Some sort of sick legacy of power?”
“Never.” His voice was low, grating, as his eyes searched mine. “I could never see you with someone else.”
Again, I was faced with destroying him and I could not do it. “Let us leave now or I’ll kill you.” My gaze dropped to his hand around my wrist. He wasn’t hurting me, but he held ontightly enough to pull me into him once more, the stake the only barrier between us.
