Chapter 628: Not My Sunny
Memories flooded me as I made that walk, of being a prisoner of the vampire queens. Forced to choose Batsheva's clan, to become a member, to take her fangs in my neck in order to survive. And almost dying anyway because I didn't learn how to live the games the two families seemed to adore.
I felt my shoulders bunch as I walked. Had to force them down from around my ears, to breathe and stay calm despite the fight between rising anger and the absolute need to turn and run. I could only guess from Piotr's attitude toward me, something changed with Sunny. Either that or, like with Sebastian, she'd somehow been deposed. The very real possibility I was walking into a throne room ruled by a new queen suddenly made me feel so nauseated I had to bite my lower lip hard enough it bled inside my mouth to keep from freaking the hell out.
My vampire remained silent, as wound up as I was despite her usual stoicism. Charlotte's almost constant chuffing behind me didn't help much. My only real saving grace was Gram, grim faced and surly, marching beside me in her thin cotton dress, hip-length pink cardigan and fuzzy orange socks.
I'd built myself up to a fever pitch of Oh My Swearword by the time we reached the end of the hall and the throne room entry. It wasn't until we passed through the archway and into the giant room and I looked up at the stunning blonde on the throne I felt my bundle of fear and fury unclench a little.
Sunny. It was Sunny, absolutely, without question. And Uncle Frank stood beside her. Both of them looked fantastic, a pair of lovers straight from history, she in her ball gown and he in his frock coat and knee-high boots. The giant stained glass window behind them cast an eerie rainbow over them as I strode with growing confidence to the foot of the dais.
That confidence died when I stopped, eyes locked on Sunny's.
She stared with cold contempt, eyes blocks of brilliant blue, flawless face held in a stern scowl that did nothing to shatter her perfection.
"How dare you?" Her voice rang through the room, making her gathered people sway in response. It wasn't until then I noticed how many assembled, I was so focused on her and my uncle. But we were surrounded now, vampires pressing close, hissing and flickering with power, in and out of shadow as they shifted positions. "Invaders. Trespassers! You have come to my home without permission and now your lives are forfeit."
Um, what the hell? "Sunny." I felt myself deflate, emotions failing me, no anger from my demon either. She just gaped, mouth open. And no rumble of an earthquake from Shaylee who gasped in shock. Not even a breath of protection from my vampire who sighed sadly and retreated as though hurt.
"You will address her as Your Majesty." Piotr's voice hissed in my ear, over my shoulder as his bumped me.
Jerktard.
Sunny's scowl didn't waver. "You are here without cause," she said. "And thus, as a vampire of my family, while under my roof, you are subject to my laws. And I order your death for your intrusion."
She had to be freaking kidding me. "Uncle Frank." One of them had to listen to reason.
He swayed slightly, but his hand tightened on the back of her throne as he turned his face away. "My queen speaks," he said. "All obey."
This was not what I expected, not even close. Gram, I sent, feeling desperation rise. What the hell is wrong with them?
She jabbed me with her power. Like I'm supposed to know? She sighed heavily in my head. The Brotherhood?
My vampire's magic slipped forward, touching Sunny's, relinking me to the blood clan. I'd done my best to sever my connection, not to hurt Sunny's feelings, but because I had things I needed to do that were none of the clan's concern. But since she made me one of them, I had two choices: reject the connection completely or just put up a wall around it. Since I loved Sunny and thought maybe continuing the relationship might be necessary at some point, I simply did the latter.
Now that the wall was down, my vampire back in touch with the clan, I felt the pull of Sunny's power as she stood in a rush of swishing satin, rage rising on her pale face.
"You dare attack me!" Sunny strode down two steps, almost in my face, her mouth gaping wide as her teeth grew in length, jutting from her pink lips in long, shining fangs, eyes pits of black rimmed in white as she howled her anger.
If touching her power, rekindling mine was an attack, she had a pretty skewed view of things. This wasn't my Sunny, couldn't be, and yet, it was. I had no choice but to protect us despite knowing it would be seen as a threat, wrapping myself in energy. My magic rose, forming a shield around Gram and Charlotte, pulling Demetrius close by a firm grip on his arm, though I was certain he could take care of himself.
"I dare come in front of my queen," I said. "You already admit I'm a part of this family. I have every right to be here."
Sunny's rage flared brighter as she pointed at me with a slashing claw, grown thick and white from her fingertips. "Come," she snarled, the pressure of my blood tie to her activated at last. "Kneel before me and die."
It was there, the pain I remembered, but not as powerful. Not even close to the searing agony I'd felt under Batsheva's orders. The way my insides had seemed to turn on themselves. Yes, it hurt, like bloody murder. But, as I stood there, facing Sunny down, the pull weakened, the jagged hurt lessening until I was able to gasp a breath and shake my head as my maji power formed around me.
"I'm a part of your clan," I said. "But you don't own me, Wilhelm Queen. If you want my blood, you come down here and fight me for it."
I know she would have. Watched her bunch herself even as I pushed the others behind me, to dubious safety. But Sunny didn't get the chance. The moment she shifted her weight to pounce, Alison rippled into being and leaped on the vampire queen with a cackle of joy, mouth locking on Sunny's neck.
I didn't move fast enough to stop Demetrius as he lunged forward with his crystal in his hand. But he staggered, Piotr landing on his back in what had to be a misguided attempt to save his queen from further harm, sending the small sorcerer sprawling on the steps, his precious crystal bouncing away a few feet.
Maji power crackled around me as I lashed out at Alison, wishing I'd brought my own crystal with me, the opening of my sorcery pulling against my other magicks, linking them together. Sunny fought the echo of my old friend, crashing to her side as the ghostly remains of Alison drank her blood. Uncle Frank tackled the pair of them even as my iridescent power sliced through Alison, distracting her long enough Sunny was able to shake the girl's echo free.
Alison met my eyes, her mouth sheathed in red, a cackling laugh carrying in the air as she vanished in a flash of light.
The vampires went nuts, slamming against my shields, trying to reach us as Uncle Frank helped Sunny rise. She stared at me with so much hate, one hand clamped to the gash in her throat, I knew the ghost of my old bestie just made things a million times worse.
"You think to defeat me so easily?" Sunny pushed Uncle Frank away, body morphing as the vampire inside her took over, skin translucent, claws the length of knives, her face dominated by a jaw full of very scary teeth even as her body thinned and lengthened, a deadly skeleton focused on me.
Feel it, my vampire sent in a jab as sharp as Sunny's claws just as the vampire queen launched herself at me. I blocked Sunny with creation magic, knocking her back to crash into the stairs where she scrambled to her feet, hissing and snarling like an animal. But I wasn't paying attention to her, not on the outside.
Not while her inside seethed with taint.
It's been there for centuries, my vampire sent as Sunny threw herself at me again. Soiling the purity of our spirit magic. I felt the shielding repel her like a physical thing, endured the hammering of her vampires against the wards I held. For how long, I had no idea, sweat beading out on my forehead. One opponent I could block. But hundreds? Gram's hand settled in mine on one side, Demetrius's on the other, but I kept them in reserve.
For now.
What happened to the taint? My vampire let me feel it before, back when she first emerged. The big difference between her and the undead souls who had come from her. It had never been so black, an oozing layer like oil on a pond, scumming up the feeling of Sunny, blocking out her glow.
I don't know, my vampire sent. But it's the reason for her loss of self. We must break its hold or she is lost. They all are.
No way was I going to allow that to happen. I had to save Sunny and Uncle Frank. He had the taint, too, as my vampire traced back through Sunny's connection to my uncle. Dark and fetid, like a slow growing decay, feeding on their creation power, turning it, twisting it into something devouring them from the inside out.
And Alison fed on it.
Lovely.
This has to be the Brotherhood. Made total sense to me. And drove my fear spikes even higher as the vampires continued to throw themselves at my shields. I sent out a blast of iridescent magic, flinging them away, hearing them impact stone, the crunch of bone. They would recover, but hopefully I bought myself enough time to focus on Sunny.
We must free her. My vampire showed me the image of Sebastian in the cavern, Sunny and Uncle Frank hovering over him while Dad and Theridialis watched. You remember?
Did I. We'd rescued Sebastian from her, my vampire, and Dad and Theridialis took her away.
To Demonicon. She shuddered. A terrible place void of spirit, too far gone in blood magic and fire.
I'm sorry, I sent as Sunny slashed at my shields. I felt her slice through, sealed the holes even as Uncle Frank joined her, a few of her vampires returning to fight. Gram looked grim, met my eyes.
I don't want to hurt her, she sent in a snarl. Or my son. But I will if I have to.
I know, I sent back. We're working on it. Knowing she was probably eavesdropping anyway, I let Gram in on the conversation with my vampire. Keep going, I sent to her. Demonicon.
Your father contained me, she sent, still disgusted. In that gem.
Right. Okay, I sent as I shuddered from the pressure of Sunny's power. What does that have to do with Sunny? The queen dove headfirst for me, puncturing the outer layer of my shielding, pouring her darkened spirit magic into the surface of the wards. I felt myself weakening until my sorcery latched on and began to drain her. She shuddered and pulled away, howling to the ceiling, burning with white fire.
My vampire sighed as though I was dense. You drew me out and contained me, she sent.
Oh. Gotcha.
Gram prodded me. Hurry the hell up, she grumbled. Before she hurts her damned self. Sunny was now hurtling herself against the shields with abandon, gnawing on the edge as Uncle Frank pounded away with his spirit magic.
I need someone to channel it through. It had been Uncle Frank last time.
No, my vampire sent, you don't. You have me.
She was so smart I just wanted to smack her.
Bracing myself for the experience, fully open to my vampire, I let a small gap open in front of Sunny and stepped into it, reaching for her. She lunged at me, claws sinking into my arm, pain spiking, blood gushing from me, but it didn't matter.
I had her.
The taint came almost willingly, suctioned down into my sorcery, forming a writhing mass at my feet. I shuddered from it even as it raced through me, not hurting me, but stirring my nausea again. I wished there was some way to wash my insides and knew I'd be taking a very long and very hot shower at the first opportunity.
But I'd never be clean again.
Sunny gasped, her body returning to human form, claws retracting from my flesh as her eyes and mouth opened wide, blackness pouring from her and into me. Uncle Frank staggered, his darkness rushing to her and out again. I felt the oncoming rush of power before it appeared, the stain spread to Sunny's bloodline on every continent rushing back to source. I had just enough time to flinch before a great wave of taint burst against the stained glass window, shattering it inward, collapsing on Sunny and, in a surge of waste and rot, through me. The last of it burst from her, a bubble of filth, falling with a wet gurgle to meld with the rest.
Now, my vampire sent. Contain it.
She showed me an image, of the cavern in Wilding Springs where Sebastian had retreated to die. Flashed to me pulling her out of him, through Uncle Frank. To Dad. A shot of Demonicon, of her fighting my father, how he compressed her power, formed a gem from her very essence.
Gotcha.
I compressed the taint with my magic, corralling it into a single entity. It fought, writhing and struggling for freedom while my alter egos fenced it in. My sorcery spun beneath it, maji power crushing it with fire and my own blood still seeping from my arm, condensing it, tighter and tighter. It floated higher, rising to eye-level as it spun into facets, the size of a watermelon, a baseball, finally flashing on its edges as it imploded into a stone no bigger than a pea.
My vampire forced my hand out, opened my fingers, my palm itching with the need to pull away even as the gem spun on its axis before dropping into my waiting hand. The hard edges hummed with life, but I no longer felt the taint outside its confines, firmly trapped within.
I looked up and into Sunny's eyes as she stared at me in horror.
"Syd," she whispered. "What have I done?"
***
