Candescent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (9 page)

This whole thing was my fault.
My fault,
I thought. Within seconds, I started to scream. Burning poison on my flesh made me scream. His poison never hurt me before. I immediately tried to push him back, but the emerald on his cape only jabbed harder into my chest. I knew he could hear me, but he
wouldn’t hear
me
. He didn’t want to stop even though he knew he could because he knew
I
wanted him to stop and he wouldn’t have that.

I managed to take the Ceremonial Ring off and pressed it into his chest, hoping he would feel it digging into his skin and stop to look at me. It wasn’t worth it for this much pain.

“Stop, please stop Fitzray.” I pleaded.

“No.” He paused to look at me and I felt sickened to see my own blood running from his greedy fangs. “Put it back on.” I knew he meant the ring. He looked down at my hand, still clutching the ring against his chest and pushed it back. He bent over my neck again and stopped himself, hearing my weeping.

“Take it back,” I begged pressing my fist against his chest again. I felt his muscles beneath my hand grow tense and he tightened his grip on the chair.

“Put it back on,” he repeated. Before he could start again I summoned my strength and pushed him away, sending him to the floor.

I moved from my chair and thought I could find a way to escape when I found myself unable to move. He held me from behind, his instinct causing him to disregard my feeling and not allow me to escape. I managed to twist away from his grip and once I turned, he caught my hand clutching the ring and shoved it back onto my finger. He then sat down and I did the same, panting, hoping he would relax.

For a moment he did nothing, but then caught his breath and once he sensed I was calm, I took off the ring and threw it at him. He launched at me and tried to grab me. In defense, I scratched the side of his neck, and though I would never have wished to make such a deep wound, he fell back onto the rug and remained there in shock. He stared up at me as I stood and slowly, he closed his eyes. I was sure he just wanted me to continue the Ceremony since I had made such a deep wound, but then I saw his head fall to the side and I realized he had fainted. I seized my chance to run before his eyes opened to mark the start of his phases.

My senses sharpened and my legs took me out of the house, through the woods into darkness. I felt drawn by a scent I knew well that took me to a clearing where a massive house stood. The rumbling of a distant storm made me go further as to open up the door and go inside.

A figure sat in front of the fireplace, a bottle in hand. The stench of plumeberry juice filled the air around me making me feel lightheaded.

“Pete.” His name rang in my ears, but hung in the air and dissipated as though it had no importance. He didn’t move, not even to face me, not filled with astonishment as I silently hoped for.

“What did they do to you? Tell me. What have they done?”

Now he turned his head and I could see his profile against the blazing flames.

“Go away. Go back to Fitzray.”

“No.”

He was silent, turned back to the flames and downed the rest of the juice in his bottle. “What do you want?” he groaned. He threw the empty bottle aside and stood from his chair. The sound of the shattering bottle echoed, filling my ears with sudden fear.

“I want to know what happened.”

He turned, walked up to me. “What did they do? You
really
want to know?”

I nodded my head. He looked me up and down, disgusted to see what I was wearing. His gaze became stern and his eyes rolled to somewhere distant.

“They hurt you.”

He looked back at me. “You don’t want to know what they did to me. Why are you here? Did you even perform the Ceremony?”

“I screamed-,”

“I’m sure you did-,”

“Because of you.” I interrupted. “And Fitzray fainted, so I didn’t complete the Ceremony.”

The way he looked at me now was different. His eyes seemed to have a glint in them. They weren’t as dark as I expected. He was different, his tone of voice seemed weak and almost unconfident to me now. He looked destroyed.

“
What did they do to you
?” My eyes welled with tears in pain, unable to imagine what they must have put him through.

As I reached up to touch his face, he turned his head letting out what sounded to me like a gasp. His skin was warm against my fingertips. My palm gently caressed his cheek and I felt a gentle pulse vibrating against my skin. I touched his neck where a light fluttering throbbed against the pads of my fingers, causing him to swallow warily. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, backed away from my trembling fingers. He took off his cape and stood breathing heavily, waiting for me to speak. He opened his mouth, parting his lips first then clenched his teeth to which his canine teeth were normal. They were not fangs. He pulled off his shirt revealing to me his fluttering chest where I could see his pulse. His skin was darker with color and he was full of
life
.

“They turned me into a mortal. They took my poison and in turn poisoned me with medicines, extracted my mutated DNA, and replaced my heart with a once half-mortal’s.”

“Whose heart?”

“There was only one donor compatible that my body would accept, one with similar blood.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You can only become a mortal if your heart is replaced by someone else’s. That someone must have died at some point, meaning they must have been a mortal or a half- mortal. When a half-mortal dies, his body fades and all that is left is his heart. Half-mortal hearts are stored and used to perform torturous procedures such as turning a vampire into a mortal. That’s what they did to me.”

“You can never be a vampire again?”

“I can, but it would be very difficult because I have a half-mortal’s heart and poison could cause reactions in the heart to make me into the heart’s original person. The Pete as you know would cease to exist and the half-mortal that owned this heart would live again. That’s how it works, so I don’t plan to be a vampire anytime soon.”

“What if a wolf bit you?”

He shrugged. “The same would happen.”

“So who are you?”

“I’m Pete…for now.”

“And do you know whose heart you have?”

He looked down, placing a hand to his chest. “I have Lucian’s heart.”

“Lucian.” I said quietly. In disbelief, I stepped back.

“I’m going to Earth tomorrow. If I don’t leave, every forsaken creature on this planet will chase me off.”

He picked up his cape and returned to his chair in front of the fire. I fell to my knees. “This is my fault. If only I’d convinced Fitzray to forget the Trial.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it now. The two of you wanted to get back at me for what I did and I don’t blame you. I’m not your Eternal Mate anymore. I’m not a vampire anymore, not even a half-mortal, I’m just a mortal.”

“You know I didn’t perform the Ceremony. I couldn’t do it.”

“And you think I’d be grateful for that? All of that hard work for nothing, I almost feel disappointed. It doesn’t matter though. My plans have failed me before.”

“What do you mean?”

“Leaking information from the Allies was all my work. I had Raven do my dirty work for me.”

“And what was the purpose of that?”

“I needed a distraction from everyone focusing on me. For months, I knew Fitzray was making plans for a Ceremonial Trial and for months, I tried to stop him, but I knew my fate was sealed. I just didn’t think it would be this bad.”

I walked up to him and he didn’t bother to look at me. I hugged him and found he hugged me back. His voice turned to a whisper as he begged me to kill him.

“Put me out of my misery,” he begged, “and perform the Ceremony with me. It will either kill me or make me your Eternal Mate. If I survive I will go to Earth, but if I die leave me here and don’t let yourself be seen.”

“I can’t…how could I do that to you?”

“Please,” he begged, “please just try. Kill me.”

He took off my Ceremonial Ring and placed it on the arm of the chair. He took off his cape and put it over my shoulders. “I can’t live like
this
. Just bite me. I won’t bite back, I promise.” He rested his head on my shoulder and his pulse throbbed violently against me, emotion shaking his body to tears.

“Please do it now. Make it fast. If I become a half-mortal, I will go to Earth and get bit by a vampire. Then, when I become one, I’ll come back to you. I’ll be a good Eternal Mate. I’ll be a good King.”

“Ok,” I breathed, “ok, take the juice. Drink it down so you don’t feel anything.”

“Have you ever tasted mortal blood?” He asked curiously as he opened another bottle of plumeberry juice.

“No.”

“It’s good. You’ll enjoy yourself.”

“I don’t even see how this is a Ceremony. I won’t turn you into a vampire and it’s not like you can even bite back.”

“Your poison is enough to kill me a little bit. If it doesn’t kill me completely, it will turn me into a half-blood. That’s obviously what we want. And many half-bloods have fangs, as Lucian did. So I will complete a Ceremony if it starts.”

“Sit down.”

“Where, here?”

“Sit wherever you’re comfortable.”

He sat down in front of me on the floor. He tossed his shirt and cape aside and let out a deep sigh. “Do you know what to do?”

“I think so.”

“No, you have to do this right.” He pointed to the side of his neck. “Don’t take too much. Don’t drain me completely. Give yourself a moment to let your poison set in…and trust me, even though a vampress has weak poison I will feel it. You’ll know when you’ve waited enough. Take your time. You have all night to do this right. Got it?”

“Yeah,” I said nervously.

“Take off your cape. It’s going to get really hot, really fast.”

“What if you start to suffer…or something happens?”

“Just relax. I won’t hurt you, simply because I won’t have the strength. If it works it works and if it doesn’t…well we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Do you have a ring or something?”

“No. I’ll have one made. Don’t worry about it. A ring is just a symbol. It has no significance to the Ceremony itself.”

I took a breath and just stared at him. “This is happening so fast…I just got out of a Ceremony with Fitzray.”

“Look at me and relax. Don’t think about any of that. You’re helping me. Well, either that or killing me, but we’ll see what happens.”

“Do you want me to start?”

“Start when you’re ready.” I edged forward and his hands flew up. “Wait. I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened in the past. I wasn’t a good Eternal Mate to you. I will make it up to you this time.”

I kissed his face. “Ok. I’m starting now.”

He took a breath and closed his eyes. “I’m ready.” I held him tightly, drawing him in close and carefully nuzzled his neck. “One more thing Chenille,” he said.

“What?”

“No matter how much I scream…don’t stop until it’s over.”

I grew nervous as I neared his neck again. I could hear his anxiety rising, his adrenaline pumping, and his rising pulse. He was scared and so was I. I took a breath and bit him, so lightly at first that nothing even happened. And he actually laughed at my attempt. That was just out of pure fright. The second attempt was it. This time he wasn’t laughing. He was begging me to stop. His body shook and was burning in an instant, just as he’d warned me. He was sweating so much and the fire didn’t make it any better.

His breathing became short and forced and his hand was holding my shoulder so tight I was cringing from the pain. I could taste this blood he warned me about- mortal’s blood. And no doubt it was the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted. I finally understood the palates of mosquitoes. I loved the idea that he was all mine, just as a selfish tiger would be over its fallen kill. And he grew weaker and weaker, still screaming in pain until he finally pushed me aside. He clutched his neck, shielded it away from me and shook uncontrollably from the trauma. There was blood spilling all over his hands and I looked at him, fighting the instinct to go back. I knew now that if I went back I would do too much damage.

“Pete, can you hear me?”

His eyes flew up as he remained on his side. He was in so much agony that he was afraid of me. He didn’t want me to be near him. He gasped for breath, his hands pressing the side of his neck in attempt to stop the bleeding with panic. His eyes shot me a nervous glance. He breathed through his teeth and finally uttered a defenseless scream for help. I put my hands on his shoulders and waited until he looked at me. His breathing became stable.

“I took too much.”

“Don’t go back,” he said hoarsely.

“I’m not doing anything now.”

“Good. Very good.” He sighed and turned his head to the side.

“Can you sit up?”

“No, I’ll stay here for…a minute or two.” He reached out, grabbed his cape, and used it to soak up the blood that was pouring from his wound. He took a few deep breaths and then finally sat up.