Page 35

Chapter 31

Aaliyah

T he halls were barren, creaking and groaning around us in an eerie symphony, tiles shifting as though pulled around by tiny magic as they took us to where we wanted to go. Or, in this case, where it wanted us .

"I really think if we try hard enough, we can get the Eternium to conjure us up a Christmas tree," Adrian mused, breaking up the silence as he appeared by my side.

He stretched his arms up, hands tucked behind his head as he tilted it to look at me with that silly open grin. There was a twinkle in his eye, one that seemed to have been lost, one I grabbed onto as Fallon bumped into his other side.

"There's no way," he grunted, shaking his head as Adrian pouted.

"Look, it can take us anywhere, and if my absolute desire is to cut down a tree like a rugged mountain man, you'd think it'd let me do that. Who knows, it might even give me some overalls." He sighed wistfully, and Fallon rolled his eyes again as I laughed into my palm, an act that had his smile growing. "I'm just saying we should try it once tonight's over. I promised love that we'd get her one and I'm not one to break promises."

I hummed, thinking of the idea. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a real tree, and a few months ago, I might have preened at the thought of one. A piece of my childhood I could steal back.

Now, it wasn't so much the tree that I wanted. It wasn't the grand idea, or the flash and pomp. We were all together, and at the end of the day, I couldn't have asked for anything more. But Adrian saw it differently, wanted the tree for what it represented. For what it meant. A promise.

"Does it have to be a tree?" I asked, humming softly as I contemplated what else we might be able to do. "We could put something up. Maybe make a fort that looks like one or draw one on the walls." Then we wouldn't have to rely on the Eternium at all.

Adrian snapped his fingers, a plan already forming as he nodded his head. "I like the way you think, love. I hadn't thought about that. Oh! What about lights? We could string them in the shape of one, like I saw on a little video a while ago. I think that'd be fun!" Adrian rubbed his hands together in a way that was both enduring and looking a little like a mad scientist. "Yes, that should do. What do you think of that, Fally?"

Except Fallon didn't answer.

"Fallon?" Adrian asked, looking over his shoulder at the same time I did, just as Fallon's face registered. He'd gone an ashen pale, sweat lining his forehead as he swayed. "Whoa, easy!"

Adrian caught him before he hit the wall, the others circling at the commotion as I rushed to support his other side. His weight bore down on me, and I felt the shake in his legs as he tried to keep as much weight off me as he could.

The fact that he struggled, that he still leaned on me, told me enough.

"I'm all right," he grunted, but didn't try to get out of our hold.

"No, all right is someone who hasn't been cooked in the sun. You, brother, are not all right," Prince whispered, moving like a mother hen, checking Fallon's face and pressing his hand to his forehead like Fallon might be something other than cold. He gave me a soft smile as he slid Fallon's arm over his shoulder, taking my place so I could move in front. "It's okay to lean on me. Don't worry, I'm told I'm quite strong. I probably won't even drop you."

Fallon looked at me with glassy eyes as I reached up to cup his cheek. His nose ran along my wrist, and I heard his fangs fall as he drew in even breaths. There was a hesitation there as I pulled him closer, like he didn't want to take anymore.

But I wasn't going to let him get away from it.

"You bite, or I will," I whispered, a partial threat. He knew how to go gently, how to aim for the right place. I'd tear into the skin, hit muscle, hurt more.

Either way, he'd feed.

Fallon sighed, his jaw clenching, a rogue vein popping on it before he took my wrist in his hand. His breath was warm, contrasting with his cool touch and the heated spark that came with it. Lips brushed skin, and my pulse stuttered as his tongue traced a path along my vein. I blushed, unable to look away as he caught my eye, sinking fangs in a shallow bite. I sucked in a breath, the penetration stinging for a second, making me jolt as the pain was replaced with a warmth that settled low in my stomach.

When he lifted his head again, licking his lips, he looked less dead on his feet. His eyes cleared, and he stood, Adrian and Prince stepping away cautiously.

The marks that littered his skin faded more, the ones on his face pretty much gone all together, the trace reminders still crawling up his neck.

"Thank you, Ali," he whispered, gently brushing a thumb against my cheek as he reached up to cup my face before he looked at Adrian. "You holding up okay?"

Adrian's smile slipped, just enough to catch the fall in it, before it was swept away with a goading, narrowed grin. His eyes squinted, and he tipped forward slightly, as if to imitate looking down on Fallon.

"Me? Oh, yeah. You know, I guess there was something good to come out of Archon's mess." He shrugged it off, exaggerating his nonchalance by brushing his hair back with a tilted swagger. "What can I say? I knew I had the higher pain tolerance. Fally, are you going soft ?"

Fallon's eye twitched, his nose flaring as he bared his teeth. The worry he'd held for Adrian was lost behind the clench of his fists. "Fuck off, Adrian."

He stalked forward, shoulder checking Adrian, who laughed again. "I probably just got more healing. Will about ran out of the room like you lit his ass on fire. You really only have your sunny disposition to blame."

Adrian snickered, lifting his hands and placing them behind his head again, a mischievous pride clinging to his smile as Prince rolled his eyes, laughing as though sharing a joke.

The shifting halls split then, opening up to a loft room and a door, one that others lined up for. Most I didn't know, hidden behind their masks, but I knew the looks they gave, the glowers and the stares. Like they were waiting for us to fall.

I lifted my chin as Fallon slowed, coming to my side again, sliding his hand into mine.

"Let's give them hell, trouble," he whispered, and a hearty chuckle went off behind us.

"Now that's an idea I can get behind," Prince called, his arm lying over my shoulder.

Our time came, and the same creature that had let us into the Eternium looked us up and down. Its featureless face seemed to bore into us, calculating, before the doors at its back slid open.

Bright lights blinded me, and for a moment, I was back on stage at the Devil's Details. The sound of people conversing was familiar, drowning out my own thoughts. I was exposed under the endless stares, trying to hold my head high as Osiris had said, keeping myself from hiding the scars I knew they could see. Except this time, it wasn't Curtis by my side.

The men I trusted, the men I loved, were with me now as we stepped forward into the room.

"Now announcing, the Vivas Crypt, Secondaries of Vampire Eternal Sebek Ra."