Page 56

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Bleeding Heart

NYX

T he pressure in my head jarred me awake. The ground swayed just two feet from my face, my silver braid and limp arms dangling down to obscure my vision. It took me a hazy moment to realize I was fucking upside-down, my stomach bent and squished against something hard and cold.

“She’s awake,” a female voice muttered.

The memories eviscerated me.

The fact that I was slung over someone’s shoulder being carried to my fucking doom, though, quickly moved to the highest spot on my priority list.

I should have done something, but the exhaustion clogged my veins like wet concrete.

Claws gripped my hips and the world whirred before impact slammed into my back.

I yelped, the dark and ethereal expanse of stained glass above me turning the moonlight red and violent as it drenched me.

Where in the seven hells am I?

I blinked rapidly, winded beyond belief, but couldn’t look away from the high ceiling. Etched into the stained glass was a painting that told a story of war. A war between the sun and the moon and all who lived beneath them.

The male vampire with the two-toned eyes appeared over me. I instantly knew it was him who had been carrying me. He glared down at me, his expression wickedly amused. He looked old and young at the same time and threaded between the two was an evil nature that couldn’t wait to toy with me.

“We got you,” he taunted, whispering so that only I could hear.

Then he vanished from my line of sight.

My head throbbed, my spine screamed, and my mind stabbed me over and over with the memories of how I’d gotten here. The humiliation laced with panic made for a debilitating mental cocktail that had me wanting to curl up and wait for death.

Sitting up and looking around was going to make this way too real.

But I had no choice, so I did just that.

I blinked rapidly against the darkness. The stone floor spread out beneath me for what seemed like miles before the walls jutted high, connecting the arched, ominous stained-glass roof. A second-level balcony with an ornate metal railing wrapped around the entire hall. Muted candles mounted to the walls illuminated the strange, Gothic space. There were no windows, just paintings, each of them more disturbing than the last.

My eyes trailed forward, my heart knocking slow and deadly behind my ribs. The blood roaring through my veins was a river, loud in my ears.

“She who is named for the night and the dawn. Welcome.”

I thought I was having a fucking fever dream when I heard the voice. I recognized it, but it was different.

The whiny, valley girl voice I remembered was gone. Her tone now was deeper, full of authority and laced with the hint of an Old World accent.

Ra’ah.

She sat lazily on a wingback armchair perched atop a dais at the far end of the long room. Clad in a silver breastplate and a matching skirt that hung in tresses down her legs. A jagged crown with six points sat atop her long, raven hair. Like an empress from an ancient, forgotten world. Thick, floor-length red curtains covered the wall behind her. The male and female vampires that had violated me sat at her feet, smirking devilishly at me as they watched me take in the impossible scene.

In front of the dais, was a group of cloaked figures, standing in an ominous formation with their heads down.

I rose to my feet, running purely on instinct.

That rushing water I’d heard—it wasn’t my blood. I thought I had gone mad as I watched the people in cloaks split into two groups, moving off to each side to reveal a giant opening in the floor. Water sloshed over the edges of the dark in-ground pool, the surface rippling as if something were slithering under the depths.

But the insanity did not stop there.

Ra’ah waved her hand in an sharp gesture. As soon as she did, the cloaked freaks held out their hands and began summoning water from the pool to protect the vampires. The water obeyed them, rising in the air in intricate, DNA-shaped patterns.

My heart dropped out of my body.

Waterlings.

They conjured the water and created countless rivers that whirled through the air. I ducked to avoid a tendril that passed right over me. Dodged another that swirled by me at hip level. They snaked around the entire hall. If I were to approach the throne, it would be impossible not to get soaked.

“Come, girl,” Ra’ah called again. This time, a threat hung in her words.

I forced the shock to leave my face. Schooled my features into a mask of neutrality and boredom.

I walked through the floating rivers, not even so much as blinking. Water had never conquered me before and it wouldn’t now.

While not trying to look concerned about it, I tried to get a read of where I was. It seemed like some sort of estate—or castle. Victorian. Gothic. It smelled of blood and mildew.

“Nyx Morningstar.” She spoke my name as if it were a curse that would plague entire nations. On her left arm, she had an elbow-length black glove. Her eyes were as red and endless as ever, her smile wicked and fanged.

“The lost girl. I had my bats look into your stars, you know. How unfortunate to be born with your sun in Ophiuchus. With starblood from Draco and Venus, no less! What a tragic formula the Goddess made you of. And you are living up to your celestial blueprint, aren’t you? A cast out with a bleeding heart. Demonized and forgotten. Severed and banished from the wheel once more.”

A stretch of pregnant silence.

“Ra’ah,” I replied curtly. I didn’t bother to muster up any lore or titles for her.

“It’s Rashira!” the female vampire below her hissed, making me take a good look at her for the first time. Dark skin, wide almond-shaped eyes, thick black hair. Despite her demonic appearance, she was rather attractive. Or maybe it was just her awesome leathers that clouded my judgment.

I cocked a brow. “Ra shira ?”

Ra’ah grinned and nodded her head once. Tendrils of water slithered around her, an elemental shield she thought would keep her safe from me.

There were no traces of the shallow she-vamp that I’d met in Solaris’s penthouse. She had played us… Unless Solaris was in on it?

“Alright, Rashira . What have you done with Solaris and Jedidiah?”

All three vampires snickered at me.

“Worry not, Morningstar,” Rashira purred. “I will return your boyfriends to you. But we will chat first.”

“About what?”

“How have you been fairing out on the streets? My bats tell me, not well.”

I was taken aback. “You’ve been having me watched.”

“I have eyes everywhere.”

“Hm.”

“You don’t want to talk about yourself? I am shocked.”

I lifted a shoulder, passive. “I’ve been exploring some new lows but it’s nothing I can’t handle and nothing I won’t get myself out of. And certainly nothing I will be discussing with you.”

Her dark brows settled in a straight line above her crimson eyes as she glared inquisitively at me. “Very well. I have brought you here so that we may make a trade. You have something that belongs to me. I have something that belongs to you.” She grinned. “Two things, to be precise.”

I swallowed, forcing myself to remain cool. But I did not like the way the male vampire was staring at me. I could still feel his teeth on my shoulder. I trembled with the need to smite him.

The female, though… She eyed me with pure hatred. As if she knew me on a deep, personal level and loathed the very ground I walked on. Which was more comfortable for me than the way the male looked like he’d set his sights on a new target, new plaything.

“Oh?” I quipped. “Doubtful. I’m pretty low on possessions these days. What could I possibly have of yours?”

Rashira sat up straight in her chair. Her crimson eyes were nearly aglow as she glared at me. “Think, girl.”

I pressed my lips together. “Thinking, thinking, thinking… Yeah, I don’t know.” I splayed my hands and looked down at myself. “All I own is the clothes on my back. I quite literally have nothing else. So, this is a waste of time. Why don’t you just cut the shit and tell me what you’ve done with—your brother s .” Fucking heavy emphasis on the plural.

I smirked wickedly.

Rashira stiffened. At first, her face betrayed nothing. Then the crimson of her eyes smoldered with disdain.

But my small victory was a candle in the wind. Smugness settled back over her features as she relaxed in her chair. She looked me up and down, her tongue wetting her bottom lip. “Yes. My brothers . So fond of them, you are.”

The two vampires below her hissed with quiet laughter.

Heat clawed up the back of my neck.

“How interesting. How pathetic . I have you captured, and you know not where you are. Varian and Luc ravished you and bled you dry. I have your own people here, wielding water for me. And yet, all you care about is the useless shadow and the psychotic earth shaker. Sullying your draconian bloodline by caring about the affairs of men . What a waste of potential, Nyx Morningstar.”

Before I could react to her scathing words, she held up her hand, the one without the glove, showing off a gaudy silver ring I recognized all too well.

My stomach fell out of my ass.

Solaris’s ring . His shadow wielding ring.

My jaw fell open. “How—”

“ Now I have your attention,” Rashira growled. She snapped a cold laugh. “I was there, you idiot. I watched you reduce my brother to ash. I watched your reaction to it, too. I can still hear your scream. You couldn’t handle it. You collapsed. So I seized the day and took what should have always been mine. He made it for me, you know. Now it is where it is meant to be! How did you think Varian and Luc were able to glamour themselves the way they did?” She flexed her fingers. “The shadows answer to me now.”

My heart was beating too fucking fast. “Impossible,” I breathed. “You’re a vampire. The ring wouldn’t work for you .”

Rashira’s cheeks reddened with offense. “I am a Celestial vampire. You cannot begin to fathom what I am capable of.”

No.

There was no way she could wield shadows. She was fucking bluffing. Why would she need an army of waterlings if she could combat me herself?

I sucked in a breath, tipped my chin up. “I have descended to hidden crypts under the Vatican and come face to face with a dragon of old. I’ve jumped off cliffs and buildings and lived to tell the tale. I’ve rotted away alone in secret underground dungeons for crimes I didn’t commit. Being kidnapped and brought into a vampire den is a first, sure, but it pales in comparison to everything else I’ve been through.”

With six demonic eyes hyper-fixated on me, I stepped forward. “Your henchmen here will die screaming in blood and flame for what they did to me. You will answer to the Goddess herself for your lengthy list of heinous crimes.” I tapped my bottom lip with my index finger. “What else—oh, and I do not believe for a second that you can wield shadows.”

“ Ooooh ,” the three of them crooned, then laughed.

“There she is.” Rashira beamed, her fangs on full show. “I was wondering when you would start uttering death threats. The thing is, you’re at a disadvantage, Nyx Morningstar. While I am in possession of my brothers, you are my mercy. The shadows have shown me the depth of your affliction. When I stole their essences to glamour Varian and Luc, we saw everything . I mean, don’t you wonder how they were able to portray them so well? Oh, how you loved the little show we put on. I knew you would not be able to resist them—so tragic and broken and desperate for you.”

Varian and Luc grinned demonically at me.

It was hard to breathe against the burning shame in my heart.

“If it’s any consolation, the script we created was probably quite close to how it would have really gone. We based it on everything we’d seen inside their minds. Besides all the kissing and pawing, of course. They’re not quite there yet .”

A blasphemous invasion of privacy.

I wouldn’t give her the fucking satisfaction.

“Might wanna get off your high horse. You actually did not portray them well at all. They were nothing like themselves. I saw all the red flags waving boldly in the wind but I chose to be blind.” I shrugged, checked my nails. “What can I say? It’s been a rough few weeks.”

The laugh that came from Rashira now was one born of incredulity and amusement. “I like you. I always appreciate that which refuses to bend or break.” She shared a glance with the other two, and then her striking red eyes returned to me.

“You are not like the rest of your kind. You do not try to hide the darker aspects of your nature. While most Celestials throw glitter over theirs, you own what you are. It’s admirable. I have never wished to make irrevocable enemies of you, Nyx Morningstar. Hopefully tonight we can come to an agreement. So that when the war begins, there will be a seat for you on my council. Your power, backed by my knowledge and my army. Unstoppable.”

I scoffed, taken aback. “Are you serious? You organized an attack against the Celestials on Hallows Eve. You murdered dozens of my people which I am now being blamed for. You killed the twins. How in Goddess’s name do you think we are not already irrevocable enemies?”

“ Because ,” Rashira hissed, and for a second she was all Ra’ah. The spoiled, child-like vermin I’d met up in Solaris’s lair in the sky.

“You have been lied to, girl. It is your kind which is the plague upon the earth. Your Celestial Society with their glitz and their glamour and their magic—but they are nothing . Nothing more than privileged mortals wielding dead elements. Conditioned to be weak, concerned only with power and image and things that do not matter.

“You have forgotten the old ways! You do not speak with the trees or the water. You use the elements as if they are things, not spirits. Spirits that feel .”

Her eyes glimmered with something that made my knees tremble.

“And all by grand design! Your Priestesses are bound, their tongues cut from their throats. Forced to watch it all happen.”

My lips were open, but I said nothing.

Delphyne’s bloody mouth as she tried to speak flashed before my mind’s eye.

My heart pounded, each one of her words taking root and festering inside of me.

Then, she called out in a language I’d never heard before. Some demonic, inverted tongue that made my insides curl up.

It had the hall and the balcony flooding with vampires.

They came from everywhere and nowhere, pooling in like a toxic oil spill. Rashira grinned from up on her dais, and I tried to remain unfazed as the army assembled around me.

The variety was perplexing. Some of the vampires were dressed from a different time, with otherworldly red eyes and pale skin. How I would expect vampires to look.

Some of them, though, looked like everyday people you’d pass on the street. They didn’t possess the blaring red eyes or the papery skin that hadn’t been touched by the sun in centuries. They appeared…human. Convincingly so. Stylish and modern, every one of them beautiful and striking. I swore some of them I’d seen before—socialites and celebrities.

That made no fucking sense.

“Now, Nyx Morningstar. If you ever wish to see my brothers again, you will bring me that which has been stolen. The demon blade.”

She didn’t need to elaborate for me to know exactly which horrible weapon she was talking about.

But I kept my face neutral. “Never heard of it.”

Rashira rolled her eyes. “Do not be difficult, girl.”

I made a face. “You killed my friends. Massacred my people. You had Flotsam and Jetsam here violate me. Why would you ever think I would oblige you? I’ll never cooperate, so you might as well tell me where I can find Solaris and Jed before I—”

Rashira raised her gloved hand, dismissing me.

Silence rang.

Then a slow, putrid grin slid across her lips. “Fine. As you wish.”

The two vampires at her feet beamed in excitement.

“Take what I am about to do as an act of good faith.” Rashira stared at me for a moment, her eyes scathing me up and down. Her expression flooded with a new level of severity. “You must also take into consideration, the kindness I have bestowed by not having the earth shaker’s heart ripped from his chest. He has murdered several of my people, including Varian’s mate. Understand that.”

Oh, fuck.

Varian’s dead stare didn’t waver. She remained hard, but there was vengeance brewing around her.

“Varian. Luc. Would you do the honors, my beloveds?”

Her two henchmen rose from their spot at her feet. The waterlings continued to wield the rivers through the air—air that was heavy and dense and full of something nameless that made me want to throw up.

Varian and Luc strutted to the curtained wall behind her. Looked back at me devilishly before they unveiled what was hidden behind the red velvet.

My senses blew out like a fuse.

All sound, light, time, everything—was vanquished by the horror and despair that assailed me.

There they were. Hanging back to back, their feet barely touching the ground. Behind a glass wall, their heads hung, wrists bound above them in vicious bear traps attached to heavy iron chains. Most of their clothes had been torn off, countless bite marks marring their blood-stained flesh. Solaris’s wings hung low and limp and— broken .

The monster inside me burst free.

The candles mounting the walls all raged, the flames howling as my form shifted. My senses sharpened and heightened. My claws dug into my palms enough to draw blood. Every inch of me trembled. My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth would shatter.

I didn’t move—I only stood there, my heart thundering like a deadly omen.

“Oh, how wonderful!” Rashira cawed with delight. “I was hoping I would get to see this new side of you! My bats told me of your dragoness form. What a treat. What a treat.”

I couldn’t dwell on her words, not while I was looking at Solaris and Jed.

“Before you act rashly, understand that you are outmatched, Nyx Morningstar.” Rashira’s voice rang through the hall, icy with warning. But I didn’t miss the note of panic hiding in her tone. My shifted state had all of them on fucking edge, and rightfully so.

“If it were not for you, they would be dead.” Rashira pointed one clawed finger at her brothers. “Solaris betrayed me and has made a mockery of his own power. The earth shaker is a useless miscreant who has murdered multiple members of my court. The only reason their hearts still beat is because, as I said, I do not wish to make an irrevocable enemy of you.”

We were way. Way. Way passed that now.

I couldn’t speak. I only trembled. Stared at the two men who had I had cursed more times than I could count. Looking at them now, though, a thousand revelations pelted me like assailing arrows.

I would burn every fucking th—

“It is time for the Celestials to know that the rest of the Enlightened are no longer standing by as they turn their backs on the End Times,” Rashira declared. “You call us Underworlders and demons. But we are more than that—we are the divergent ones. Look around.” She waved a gesture to the mob. “They’re not just vampires. There are mortals, too. And Celestials. We are a century in the making.”

My heart was going to lurch from my throat and splat against the stone steps.

I wanted her to be lying. But as I scathed over every face, I knew she was telling the truth. I saw crimson eyes and soft brown eyes and piercing green eyes. I saw living tattoos whirling on golden flesh similar to mine.

The waterlings coaxing the rivers through the air were not enslaved, but here on their own merit.

All of them…united.

“And what they have done to you ?” Rashira went on, dramatically feigning pity. “Demonized you and cast you out as trash! You’ll never be one of them again. There is no escaping the reputation they’ve given you. Even your dragon abandoned you. There is no way to truly clear your name. So, why not own it? Be what they say you are, and then some. Be their worst nightmare. Align with us.”

I almost choked. How the fuck did she know about the dragon?

“We are beyond the battle of light and dark. We live in the gray area, everywhere in between, and so we shall outlast all of you who are caught up in the swing of the pendulum. You would be wise to join us, Nyx Morningstar. Heed my advice: Let go of your infatuation with my brothers, for I promise you they are worthless. Solaris has made a mockery of himself, of his power! Look at him! He is a joke. He is a child masquerading as some sort of god. But he is nothing. And the other one, well…”

Rashira trailed off, her face clouding with something almost dreamy. She didn’t bother to elaborate.

“Bring me the blade. Everything that’s occurred can be water under the bridge. You may not see it now, but you will. We are on the same side. We—”

“That’s enough,” I hissed. I stepped forward, my toes teasing the edge of the pool. “You think water, or shadows, or your little mixed breed army can subdue me ?”

She tried to remain neutral, but I caught the glimmer of fear behind her red eyes.

“You are outnumbered. Do not overestimate yourself. You possess great power, yes, but so do we. The creatures you vanquished on Hallows Eve were lesser creatures. Disposable drones made from moronic mortals that I used as a means to an end. You face a much more formidable force tonight. If you wish for a fight, you will get one. But you will not rise unscathed this time.”

I remained immutable.

She sucked in a sharp breath, blew it out long-windedly. Nodded her head once.

Her army began to close in around me. Fight stances were taken. Weapons were drawn. Elements from my own brethren who had turned to the dark side were summoned.

Fuck .

I sucked in a sharp breath and summoned my fire.

It did not come.

Aggravated, I dug deeper, but I was met with an internal wall. Something hard and unbreakable was blocking the well of my magic. My fire wouldn’t ignite. I couldn’t—

I couldn’t summon flame in my shifted form.

The revelation fucking pummeled me. She must have seen my face—the way it twisted in pure, ripe horror.

I tried to feign nonchalance—to not let my panic show.

A cruel but delighted look spread across her features as she regarded me. She made another gesture with her gloved hand, which had her people standing down. “You know what, for good measure, I will appease you, Nyx Morningstar.” She leaned forward, her fangs sharpening as she smiled at me. She nodded to the glass wall behind her. “If you promise to return the blade to me, you may take… one .”