She didn’t like the Alpha and if the wolf wasn't careful, Chloe would spit her like a boar and roast her over a pit. Fur and all. She didn’t trust Kommissar to keep her word after they defeated the Council and had planned to keep Beca well away from her. A task made much harder by Beca’s loyalty and closeness to her friend, Jesse. Even thinking of the manling made her want to glare daggers at him.
He hadn't done anything wrong exactly, but his insistence at staying near Beca was annoying. Aubrey turned her head slightly and gave a barely perceptible nod acknowledging the need to remain alert. It was clear she didn’t trust Kommissar any more than Chloe herself did.
Beca cleared her throat and held her hand out for Athan to take. He took it and rose to follow her to the center of the space they were gathered in. And much to Chloe’s annoyance, Jesse and Kommissar were a step behind them. She knew it was necessary but it bothered her, seeing a constant shadow at Beca’s shoulder. Always watching with her heart in her hands.
“Does it bother you as much as it bothered me? Seeing you follow Aubrey around like…a puppy.”
Chloe swallowed back the hiss and straightened her spine. So now he was picking on her and playing on her insecurities. She had been wondering when Harun would finally try to hurt her the way he had obviously been cutting at Aubrey and Beca. In all her years she had never felt guilty about her choice to join the Guard so she could remain at Aubrey’s side. There had been no other choice for her to make, it was the only way to ensure she would always be near enough to protect her.
But she had never seen it from Harun’s perspective before.
“You were always just there. In the periphery of our life together. Always with your centuries of secrets and jokes. Always holding on to a part of her so that she would not give it to me. I was her husband, I was the one she had chosen, and yet you lingered there, holding her back from sharing everything with me as I shared with her!”
She expected the hot barrage of hatred that rained down on her and braced for it. She knew she would have felt the same had she been in his place. The feeling of jealousy filled her as she glanced at Jesse. It was sickening and she was angry at herself for letting it distract her from their goals. Or maybe she just didn’t want to focus on the fact that she had done exactly what Harun was accusing her of. Or the fact that she would do it again without so much as a hint of remorse or guilt. Even now, knowing how that felt as intimately as she did, how it must have felt for Harun especially…even now, she would do whatever she must to stay at Aubrey’s side.
Chloe bore the anger silently. She couldn’t let Harun distract her. Wouldn’t. She and Aubrey were meant to be and Beca was a part of that. That is what she needed to hold fast to. The moment she committed to that thought the pressure of Harun’s anger broke. The vampire stumbled back a step and shook her head to clear her thoughts. A cool hand closed over hers and laced their fingers. The blonde gave her a searching look full of concern. It was just like Aubrey to check in on her even in the midst of everything else. Chloe smiled reassuringly and squeezed the hand in her own. Beca’s voice rose and they broke eye contact to focus in on her.
“You're going to want to make room. Anything that tries to cross the line of my circle will die. Final death die.”
It was enough of a warning to make most of the Clans and vampires take several healthy steps back. Beca took the bowl and small machete from her new little friend and jerked her chin to the group.
“You too, Bump. I'd be sad if you got crispy.”
Bumper gave her a lopsided grin and scooted toward the rest of the group. Beca took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Power rose up around them pulling a collective gasp from those that hadn’t felt how strong Beca really was. The necromancer turned and handed Jesse the bowl before she sliced her own arm with the machete without the slightest hesitation. It was deep enough for blood to flow freely into the bowl he held for her. Perhaps too deep.
“Yeah but Beca that cut…”
Beca cut him off with a dismissive wave. “It's just a scratch.”
“I told you before Jesse. I don’t sacrifice anything or anyone for magic, that’s evil. Besides blood magic works better when sacrifice means more. And right now..nothing means more than my blood. But also that’s enough blood and maybe halp. Woozy.”
Kommissar was closer and ripped a sleeve from her shirt to make a quick bandage for the wound. Beca winced as it was tightened around her forearm but didn’t complain. Chloe was fairly sure if she had complained Kommissar would let go of her steadying grip and let Beca fall where she stood. Chloe moved to support their third but Beca steadied herself and nodded that she was okay.
“I’m okay, just a little dizzy for a second. Let me close this circle, it’s going to go fast from here.”
Chloe stepped back and let Beca walk the perimeter of the cleared circle around them. Each step was followed with a flick of the bloodied machete. Heavy droplets of blood fell to the concrete like peals of thunder that only grew louder as she approached the close of it. She could see her parents organizing the vampires with urgency but she couldn’t hear them through the roar of magic cresting over them. Athan and the wolves glanced around, responding to the magic surrounding them.
The necromancer’s steps brought her back to where Chloe and Aubrey stood. She swayed a moment but managed to get her balance before Chloe could reach out to help.
“I'm good, I'm okay. Yep.”
Chloe’s voice softened and lowered even though she knew everyone within the circle would hear her well enough.
“Bec…are you sure you're okay?”
Beca nodded and leaned into the vampire’s side clearly too weak to close the circle on her own. Chloe wrapped arm around her waist even as Aubrey helped raise Beca’s arm for the final flick of blood. The circle closed around them making her ears pop with the change in pressure.
Outside was a flurry of movement but inside it was as silent as Aubrey’s tomb. Beca took a breath and gave them a smile before she dropped to her knees.
This time it was too hard to bite back the snarl and Jesse gave her a worried look when he approached. Beca patted Chloe’s leg reassuringly then held up the bowl.
“It’s the Alphas’ turn now.”
Jesse took the bowl with a hand far less steady than he should have. It made Chloe remember that he was young and inexperienced. And probably scared out of his fur.
Aubrey held out the blade but he gave them a cheerful smile and flexed his hands, letting his fingers shift to claws. It was a show of power only an Alpha could master and Kommissar eyed him predatorily.
Chloe watched as first one wolf then the other bled themselves into the large bowl. They knelt before Beca, showing a reverence she hadn't expected but perhaps they now understood who and what Beca truly was.
He was there before she even finished. Athan bowed his head to the ground but Beca raised it gently and laid it in her lap. She stroked his head then turned it toward the bowl.
“Drink, Athan, drink and be mine.”
The command in the statement was final and unmistakable. It made Chloe shiver in response and Aubrey struggled to contain her demon face. Their Necromancer tipped the bowl to Athan's lips. Sluggish thick blood dripped on his chin and the thin slash of flesh that was all that was left of his decayed mouth. His thin withered hands clawed weakly at her arms trying to draw them closer for more of the offering.
Beca emptied the bowl and tipped her head to the side, no doubt listening to whatever allowed her to tap into her ancestral line. Hooded lids closed and Chloe was worried the blood loss had been a bit much for Beca but the necromancer opened her eyes and pinned Chloe with her gaze that held the fire of all of Beca's will.
Athan licked greedily at the last drops of blood in the bowl but she was too caught up falling into the widening pools of the necromancer’s pitch black pupils to care. Chloe reached out to Beca at the same moment Aubrey did. Their hands ghosted over Beca’s arm and the ancient vampire resting his head in Beca’s lap gasped as the circuit of power flared at their touch.
He rolled to his side and struggled on to knees that cracked and fractured under his own weight. There wouldn't be much of him left but a bag of ground powder if they didn't act quickly.
“Athan of Macedonia, Father of Wolves, you seek to break the curse.”
“Yes…please. I beg of you.”
He inched forward until his head bumped against the necromancer’s thigh. Beca's voice had shifted to a layered multi-tonal sound. It was still Beca but her voice now carried the echoes of her ancestors.
“And what would you give to be whole once more? Think you well on this, vampir. Your sacrifice must be in equal measure to your request.”
Chloe could feel the solid weight of Aubrey’s body next to hers, pressing them ever closer to Beca. The energy shifted and eddied around them, seeking contact with Athan. It was hungry for the ancient vampire despite how coy the Michile ancestors were acting now.
“I have nothing, I am nothing. If my true death would serve then I would offer it gladly. Anything to end this misery.”
Beca’s head dipped in a short, considering nod. “Death? Your death serves no purpose to us. But your life…that we will accept.”
Athan crawled closer still, pressing the crown of his head against Beca’s leg like a dog seeking affection from its master. He mewled softly and tentatively licked a drop of blood from Beca’s fingertips. His voice scratched out wearily but the truth rang out in his words.
“If by my life I can serve the Michile, then willingly I offer it. Make me your creature to call and by your whim I would gather all my power to bring nations to their knees.”
Kommissar inhaled sharply, understanding what that meant. But Jesse, for all his natural power, had no idea. And to be fair, Chloe hadn't seen it coming either. She turned her head to give Aubrey a startled look but it was clear by the vampire’s sharp gaze that she had already known this would happen. Maybe had even counted on it.
Jesse looked at everyone wondering what he was missing in the sudden tense silence. “Beca?”
The necromancer looked up at him and whatever he saw made him instinctively lean back. To his credit, the wolf hadn't actually taken a step back but he was clearly putting distance between them.
Beca shifted so she was no longer in the circle of Chloe’s arms. The necromancer rose to her feet, no longer swaying from blood loss. She walked a slow circle around Athan until she faced them all.
“We accept your offering.”
Kommissar growled and tried to take a step forward toward Beca but found herself rooted to the spot. She snarled and snapped at the air in Athan's direction. He raised his hand and slowly drew it to the ground, forcing the blonde wolf to her knees.
“Whoa whoa whoa! What is going on?? Bec? Beca, look at me!”
Beca sighed heavily and rolled her gaze toward him. “This one is distracting.”
“That is not your friend, dummkopf! Don't you realize we are betrayed?”
“Your necromancer has enslaved us to him! And he to her!”
Jesse looked at Beca and frowned. “Beca wouldn’t do that.”
Chloe admired his loyalty and belief in Beca. Even if it was kinda exactly what she had done. Though not for the reasons Kommissar was likely thinking. She hoped anyway. A nervous glance at Aubrey's still calculating countenance, however, didn't set her at ease in the slightest.
“Did you think she was not prepared for this? That she didn’t orchestrate this? You are stupid as the puppy.”
Chloe looked at Aubrey again then shook her head to clear her mind of Harun's presence. Aubrey may have realized this could or would happen but she didn’t plan for it to happen. Aubrey was better than the Council, no matter how ruthless she could be. Chloe had to believe that.
“Bec, you wouldn't do that, right? Right, Beca? Be-caw?”
Beca seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, enough to flash him nothing more than a wink before the Elders regained control of her body. It was enough for Jesse who gave a nervous nod of acceptance.
“You can't trust the vampires, Jesse.”
He looked at Kommissar and nodded once. “I don’t. I trust Beca.”
Athan's lips quirked in a small smile that split the paper thin flesh of his cheek. It crumbled away and lifted like smoke in a breeze. Chloe was wondering how long it would be before he was gone entirely. Even now the energy that flowed through and around them could sense his weakness.
As if reading her mind, Beca turned to the redhead and beckoned her closer. “I need you Chloe.”
It wasn’t entirely Beca. The tone was wrong, but it wasn't not Beca either. She was in there, among the many, watching and guiding. Like Jesse, Chloe trusted her.
Beca hummed a soft approving sound traced a fingertip over her bare shoulder. Power and desire rose within her at the contact and she shivered. The necromancer closed the distance between them and pressed them into a kiss. Chloe could feel Beca pulling energy from her as she deepened the kiss and she gave it all without hesitation. The brunette pulled away only to resume her kiss with Aubrey. The draw of power pulled the blonde’s demon along with it forcing a shift in features. Beca kept them close but whispered against Aubrey’s lips.
“You have to let him go now.”
For a second she didn’t know what Beca meant but the other vampire stiffened. And then it hit her. Chloe had never created another vampire but the bond between sire and progeny was strong in most cases. Most siring vampires were not Aubrey, however, and her bond to Harun had lasted past the true death of his body and kept his spirit attached to them all. He couldn’t leave unless his sire released him.
Aubrey was going to have to let go of a lot more than just her ownership of the vampire he was. She was going to have to divorce herself from the love that she had put into the bond that had created him in the first place. All these centuries after his death she had held fast to his memory. The memory of the man she loved, her husband, her partner in building a new nation, her hero.
A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away. Of all the pain Aubrey had endured up to now this would be the worst of it.
“I can not Beca Mitchell. For all he is now, I still love him and he is mine.”
“If the legacy you two built is to survive, you must release him. His body is gone, there is another his vampire will serve better.”
The truth of it took the strength out of Aubrey and she dropped to a knee with her shoulders bent in grief. Chloe knelt by her and did the only thing she could. She wrapped arms around her bondmate and held her as she struggled to dredge up the words that would give her husband freedom.
“Iubital meu, my beloved, I…”
“AUBREY STOP!! DO NOT SAY IT!”
The scream echoed through all of them and Chloe raised her hands to her ears to protect herself from the echoes of rage and mourning. But there was no protection from the sound that tore at her very spirit. It was full of a loss she couldn’t begin to fathom, she could only suffer through the pain of it until it faded like a howling wind.
Aubrey didn’t look at her. The effort to raise her head too great for the vampire. Chloe looked up at Beca and found the necromancer already leaning over Athan, tendrils of hair wafting in the breeze generated by her power.
“Come to me Athan. Come my servant, and I will restore what the Council has taken.”
Beca pulled on the lines of power tethered to her through the blood she had fed Athan and had shared with Chloe and Aubrey. They all gasped at the rush of energy that raced out of them and was thrust without warning into Athan. His body bowed with the force of it, a half cry strangled in his throat as power ripped through him.
Chloe reached down and held tightly to Aubrey, both of them watching in horror filled awe as Athan’s body twisted and curled on itself. He writhed in pain, the power within him burning even as it healed him. It felt like forever but the vampire knew it could only have been moments. Several eternally long seconds, maybe even minutes, and then as suddenly as it had begun it ended.
Beca let out a breath and blinked rapidly, her eyes more clear than they had been since the closing of the circle. She looked adorably bewildered. “Did I do it?”
Athan groaned and slowly rose to his feet, stretching finally to his full height. They stared as he gazed down at his own hands, strong and whole once again. Beca stumbled a step as the last of the power seeped from her body. Aubrey was quick enough to catch her before she fell to the ground.
