Page 46

DAHLIA

F uck. Here we go.

Shock and incredulity and amusement ring out through the Revenants gathered around us. Kilgren stares at me blankly for a moment, as if he doesn’t understand the words I’ve spoken, but soon enough I see the rage begin to roil inside him.

“I challenge you for leadership of the Revenants,” I say again, jutting my chin. I had no idea if this would even work, if a challenge could be issued from someone who isn’t one of their own, but it was the only idea I could come up with that had even a sliver of a chance. And with the way Kilgren is reacting, I’m betting that a challenge from anyone must be honored. I barely stop a triumphant smile from spreading across my face.

“You little bitch ,” he spits, eyes blazing and fangs bared.

“Challenge? What are you talking about? Dahlia! What the fuck is happening!?” Alaric roars, still held at bay by Luca’s shield. I ignore him, keeping my focus on Kilgren. This plan is insane, but it’s the only one available to me. It’s the only one that has a chance of keeping Alaric and my friends safe, the only one that has a chance of saving Braxhelm.

“I won’t let you use me to torture him,” I say quietly. “Either way, your plan fails here and now.” I shift my shoulders back. “A fight to the death now, is it not?” I ask, louder, smirking. Surprisingly, I’m not afraid. The fear is locked firmly away in that box and buried deep in the earth. Kilgren growls, a deep, unsettling sound that sends shivers up my spine.

“It’s no matter. Your death will still destroy him. Without him, the army will fall. My forces outnumber his.” He spreads his arm wide to gesture to the thousands of Revenants lined up behind us. It’s true that Alaric’s forces are smaller—I’m assuming he sent most of his men south to spread the word and evacuate civilians, or gave them leave to flee with their families. My heart swells knowing that those who stand beside him came out of loyalty and love for Alaric, but also a bit for me—but I have faith that they will survive long enough to retreat or join the others, and then they will fight back. They will not give up. They will beat back against Kilgren’s forces again. I have to have faith or I can’t do this.

“I will still come out victorious, you stupid little human. Soon, all of Braxhelm will bow to me.” Kilgren leans towards me and adds in a low snarl, “I will still make him suffer, I promise you that.” I grind my teeth and try to pull my arm from his grasp, but his claws have dug in like razors.

“A challenge has been issued,” another Revenant says loudly—Xavier?—and Kilgren’s lip curls in an irritated sneer. “A challenge must be answered.”

Without taking his eyes from me, Kilgren calls out to his men, “I accept the challenge. A fight to the death, as is custom.”

I can hear Alaric yelling, screaming his denial. He might not understand what’s happening, exactly, probably not having any idea about how leadership works with the Revenants, but he surely understands the words fight to the death . I want to turn to him so badly, to tell him that everything will be alright one way or another, but I don’t dare take pull my gaze from Kilgren’s. A rumble cascades from the Revenants all around us, but not a single voice lifts to give objection. These are ancient laws, laws built into their very blood. They are absolute.

One of us will die.

Kilgren bares his fangs and they are most certainly sharper and longer than they’d been a moment ago. I swallow hard but don’t cower.

“I had such plans for you, Dahlia.” His eyes skate over my body and I try not to cringe. “To deny me of them is unforgiveable. But not to worry, I will visit my retribution on all of those that you love. Mark my words, little human: they will suffer in your place, in ways you cannot imagine.” I shiver at that, my blood turning to ice at the thought, but I tell myself that it won’t happen, that this will be worth it and everything will turn out alright.

I bare my teeth at him and hiss, “Let’s get on with it then, shall we? I tire of hearing you speak.”

He grins at that and chuckles low. He releases my arm and I take a step back, shifting my stance the way Wesley and Nova taught me.

“Leech!” he calls, “keep that fucking shield in place. Our great High General isn’t going to like what’s about to happen.”

“Dahlia!! Gods damn it, what the fuck are you doing!?” I can hear Alaric screaming, his voice hoarse from it, and beating against the invisible barrier with all his might. All of them are, all of the soldiers that followed Alaric into this valley are shouting and clamoring against the wall, desperate to get to me. My heart surges at that, their strength bolstering mine.

I can do this for them. I take one quick, settling breath, and just hope that he doesn’t take my head off instantly. That will severely derail this plan.

“Let’s be quick about this. I have an army to destroy.” He shifts to the right and follow, keeping him in front of me. He goes back left, stalking me casually like a big cat. “I can smell your fear. It’s mouthwatering,” he taunts.

“Fuck you,” I say through gritted teeth, stepping forward and swinging my right fist towards his face. He grabs my wrist easily and tugs me closer, smiling. He glances down where he clutches me, claws digging into my flesh, and take the momentary distraction to lash out with my left arm. I rake my nails down his cheek, smiling when I see the black blood well. He arches a brow, completely unfazed.

“Is that it? Scratching like a feral alley cat?” Kilgren scoffs, laughing mockingly. A few Revenants around us join in. “I’m honestly a little disappointed, Dahlia. I expected more from the legendary High General’s mate.”

A moment later blinding pain explodes through my stomach as his claws sink deep into my flesh, ripping through bone and muscle. I gasp, trying to breathe around the pain, but it’s impossible. I hear Alaric roar in fury, screaming as he feels my pain through our bond. I blink at Kilgren, trying to keep my thoughts focused. Just a little longer. I need to hold on a little longer.

I grit my teeth against the pain and my legs nearly give out when I look down to see Kilgren’s fingers buried inside my body, blood pouring like a waterfall. He releases my right wrist and wraps his arm around my lower back, holding me upright and pulling me close to his body. It’s strangely gentle, almost intimate.

“And, to no one’s surprise, I am the victor of this little challenge,” he muses. I cough and blood fills my mouth, dripping over my lips and down my chin. I reach a trembling hand up to his face, laying it against his cheek. His brow furrows in surprise at the touch, but he doesn’t pull away.

“There was a better way,” I say softly, sliding my hand down his face to the side of his neck. “You should have listened to them.”

He scoffs. “Peace? You use your dying breath to speak of peace ? How pathetic.”

I lean up towards him as I press the hidden release on the band of my ring, the one da had given me all those months ago. The one that was my own design.

Discrete weaponry has always been a habit of mine.

The thin needle pops out from the side.

“Not dying yet,” I whisper, and slam my hand into his throat. I feel the needle break through his skin, sinking directly into the thick vein there. The powder hidden inside the stone empties, flowing directly into his bloodstream.

He releases me, his claws sliding free from my gut. I nearly topple before steadying myself, one hand flying to my wound. I cringe at the feel of my ruined flesh, the blood and…slimy things that I don’t want to think about too deeply. His hand goes to his neck, confusion clear on his face.

“Wh…what did you do?” he gasps before falling to his knees and clawing at the ground in pain. The veins in his neck and face and hands begin to turn black, like the roots of a rotten tree spreading beneath the soil. They’re moving faster than they had with Alaric when he’d been poisoned. My blow was directly to the vein, where Kilgren’s archer had missed by a few inches.

“Silver powder,” I say with a surprising amount of strength. I know I only have so much left, know deep in my bones that this wound won’t be healed, even if Alaric were to get to me in time. It’s alright. It’s worth it. It will protect them all. “You weren’t the only one with a secret store of it. And I’m willing to bet you don’t have a mate to come and heal you,” I say, grinning wickedly at him through the blood in my mouth. There’s no way the gods would be so cruel as to give this monster the gift of a mate.

He opens his mouth to say something, but the words are lost in a scream of agony that makes my ears ring. He falls to his back and writhes in pain. Cries of outrage and disbelief echo around us, but I focus only on Kilgren. My vision blurs but I force the pain away, force death itself away by sheer stubborn will. I have to see this through.

“Not yet,” I whisper through gritted teeth at the God of Death. I can practically feel him breathing down my neck. “ Not fucking yet .”

The Revenants all around us look on in confusion and unease, but no one moves forward, bound by the ancient laws to watch as the challenge unfolds, I assume. I pull my gaze from Kilgren’s body as it bows and twists in pain and rage, as his veins seem to burn with poison, turning black and rigid beneath his skin, and scan the crowd, noting every scarred cheek among them. Xavier has moved forward, standing just outside the invisible ring that seems to have surrounded Kilgren and me during the challenge. He stares in shock but I see the flicker of understanding in his crimson eyes.

I look back to Kilgren as he gives one final screech of pain, eyes burning with fury as he meets my gaze one final time. The crimson is veined with black now, and dark blood leaks from the corners.

“No,” he mouths and then collapses, falling utterly still. Something seems to slam into me then, right into my chest, some invisible force that fills my heart and spreads out through my entire body. It’s power . A strange, raw, ancient power that I don’t quite understand but somehow understand completely all at once. This is the bond that connects every Revenant, the power over all of them now resting in my veins.

My eyes fly wide at the same moment the Revenants seem to understand what’s happened, when they feel their allegiance shift to me. A particularly ferocious looking beast bares his fangs at me.

“A human cannot lead us!” he roars.

Before he can say or do more, Xavier twists his head and snaps his neck with a sickening crack. The Revenant’s body tumbles to the ground and Xavier gives me a solemn nod. I need to finish this before any others get the same idea and try to attack me—or worse, issue their own challenge. I have no more tricks up my sleeve and know that I’m keeping the God of Death waiting in the wings.

“Drop your weapons!” I call out, putting as much authority into the power thrumming inside me as I can. Weapons fall to the ground all around me and I try not to show the surprise and elation that this is actually working. “You will remain in place!” I yell, scanning the army. Though some look to be trying to push against the mystical bonds holding them in place, they all obey, most looking more confused than anything.

“Dahlia!!” Alaric roars. I know he has no idea what’s happening and can feel the agony of my wound, can probably feel how close to death I truly am, but I have one more thing I have to do before this is over.

“I know some of you did not want war before Kilgren took the power as your Chieftain. I know many of you wanted peace and were punished severely for it.”

A tide of confused murmurs washes through the gathered forces on both sides, Revenants and vampires alike not quite understanding what’s happening. I find Malek, who has stepped up beside Xavier, and he’s staring at me incredulously, but there’s a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes. This will work. This has to work.

“Dahlia what are you doing!? What’s happening!?” Alaric yells, still beating uselessly against the shield. I’m glad that Luca seems too terrified to let it drop now that Kilgren is gone.

“They wanted peace!” I call back, gritting my teeth as a wave of nausea and pain roil through me. I glance down and see that my hand is completely coated in blood, the ground slick with it, each flake of falling snow that hits the plain instantly transforming from white to crimson. I don’t have much time left.

“Any of you who do not wish for war, who only desire to live in peace with the vampires and humans, step forward!”

Malek steps forward at the same time as Xavier. All down the line, Revenants with scarred cheeks—and even some without—step away from their brethren. The others snarl and curse and rage, spitting insults and vitriol at them for wanting peace. I hold Malek’s gaze and incline my head at him before turning to Alaric. Seeing him nearly breaks my heart in two, the anguish on his face sending a fresh wave of pain through my chest. The urge to run to him is nearly overwhelming, but I will fucking finish this.

“Alaric, vow to me that any who have stepped forward will not be harmed. They will be given the opportunity to live in peace from this day forward.” His brow furrows, looking at me like I’m insane. I know he’s torn between trying to figure out what’s happening and the need to get to me.

“Dahlia, what?—”

“Vow it, damn it! I can’t explain it now, but they must obey me. If they didn’t truly desire peace, they wouldn’t have been able to step forward. Trust me. And fucking vow it!” I scream again.

He studies me for what feels like an eternity and the area around him becomes dark and fuzzy. I think I see my sister, but I know it must just be a sign that the end is near. Aren’t loved ones something you see as death approaches? Something lovely to usher you from this world into the one beyond?

“I vow, as High General of the vampiric army of Braxhelm and as a prince of the Montclare Clan, that no harm will come to any who have stepped forward and wish for peace.” I let out a shuddering sigh of relief.

“All of you,” I call to the Revenants who have chosen peace, “Move over here.” I point to the area near where Luca stands, shaking with fear and strain. “You’re going to want to be out of the way for this,” I mutter. Malek takes the lead and quickly urges them all to the area I’ve indicated.

“The rest of you,” I call out, “Kneel!” One by one they all sink to their knees in the rust-colored snow, all snarling and cursing and looking like they want to murder me. “You will not move. You have the choice to surrender or die.” I’ll let Alaric and the others figure out what to do from there.

I feel myself sway but force my shoulders back.

“Xavier and Malek, you will accompany the vampires to the stronghold and carry my command with you: those who want peace will not be harmed. The rest will have to deal with the vampires.” They both nod and bow their heads.

“Yes, my Chieftess,” Malek says reverently.

“Highspear! Let down the shield! Let them in!” I yell.

“Like hells I will! I’ll be slaughtered!” he calls back, voice shaking. He meets my gaze and his eyes are full of fear and panic.

I nearly scream in frustration. “I do not have time for this, damn it!” I reach back and pull one of the daggers free from my hair clip. I grit my teeth at the agony that I know awaits, and throw the blade the way Alaric and Wesley and Nova taught me. It sails through the air and lands true—right through Luca’s right eye. He screams in pain, clawing at the hilt sticking out of his eye socket, but it’s enough to divert his power and make the shield fall. With the way Highspear is screeching, I think da may have just put real silver in those daggers after all. I almost laugh.

Alaric is by my side the instant the shield falls, the rest of the men sprinting to the lines of Revenants. I don’t see what they do and, really, I don’t care as long as Malek and the others who wanted peace aren’t harmed.

I collapse in Alaric’s arms and he sinks to his knees on the blood-soaked snow.

“Keeva? Keeva, ah gods, look at me, love.” I force my eyes to open again so I can look at him one last time. I know this is the end. I reach up and rest my bloody palm on his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” I rasp. “It was the only way…he planned to torture me to torture you. Couldn’t…let you be hurt…that way.” I cough, blood thick and hot in my mouth.

“Shh, don’t try to talk. I can fix this. I can heal you.” I know he knows the truth, the red-tinged tears streaming down his cheeks tell me as much. “Drink,” he begs, tearing into his wrist with his fangs and holding it towards my mouth. “You cannot leave me, Dahlia Clayburn. You will not!”

“Honor your vow,” I whisper. “Let this be the end of the war. Take care of my family and Takara and Wesley and Nova and—” I gasp and writhe as a wave of pain crashes in to me, “—all of them,” I bite out. “Take care of all of them, Alaric.”

“Dahlia! No! No damn it, I will not lose you!!”

I swear I hear Enid screaming my name, swear that I see Takara running towards us in battle gear. I really am seeing things as I cross to the other side.

“I love you,” I tell Alaric one last time. My eyes slide closed, my hand falls from his cheek and lands limply in the snow, and I feel the darkness coming to greet me.

The last thing I hear is Alaric’s unholy roar of agony. I want to tell him that it will be ok. I want to tell him to continue on without me. I want to tell him over and over how much I love him and how sorry I am that we didn’t have more time.

But I can’t say any of these things.

I’m gone.