The Return (26 page)

When she was done, she tossed the shovel aside and began to back away. He would want some time alone before things got out of hand. Arturius wouldn't be gone for much longer. It had already been the best part of an hour since Gabby opened the door to their basement prison.

Zac reached out and grasped her arm, pulling her hard into his body. His arms snaked around her waist and he buried his face into her shoulder, breathing in her scent as deeply as he could. Her eyes flickered to the others and met Sam's. He nodded and drew the others back out into the yard, leaving them in their own little cocoon.

"Did you bury your family?" he asked, his voice muffled.

Aya felt her body become rigid as his words cut into her. No, she hadn't. She'd just left them there to decay into bones. Nothing could enter the clearing where their house
lay,
she was the only remaining person alive who could. If she went back, what would she find? A ruin. A tomb.
Broken bones and a broken future.

When she didn't answer him, Zac slipped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her to him. They stood this way for a moment, staring down at the disturbed earth that was now Morgan's final resting place.

"No," she said. "I didn't."

"Neither did I."

Then she understood why this was so important to him. He'd lost everyone he'd loved and had never had the chance to say goodbye.

Aya lifted her hand and stroked his hair lovingly. She said it for him. She said it for all of those times he couldn't. "Rest in peace."

"A
rturius is coming," Aya said suddenly, her head snapping up and turned towards the street.

"Have you had enough blood?" Zac asked, grabbing her shoulder, his sadness beginning to evaporate. They would have time to mourn later.

"Yes," she said. "I've had more than I had when I took Caius. I will manage it. The stars have been speaking to me again."

Zac frowned at the cryptic message and pulled her close, "Whatever happens, Aya, know that I love you."

"And I, you," she reached up and pulled him to her, kissing him deeply. 

When Aya stepped back abruptly, a queer look on her face, he knew that whatever it was, was closing in. "What is it?" he asked.

"He's not alone," she was looking off into space, listening.

"How many?" came Sam's steady voice as Zac pulled her back out into the
yard.

"I'm not sure. There's a witch."

"The witch that spelled the basement," Gabby said.

"Are you able to counter her?" Aya asked, hyper aware that she wasn't quite herself yet. She'd literally had a nasty shock.

"Yes," she nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'll manage it."

Aya turned to the others. "I can't ask you all to stay," she said. "I know this is my fight and I can't protect you all."

"Aya." To her surprise it was Liz who had interrupted her. "We know. You're one of us. We'll do whatever it takes."

"And now it's personal," Zac murmured into her ear. "The moment he tore your heart out. The moment he staked Morgan. The moment he set foot in this town. It's personal."

She looked up into his green eyes and understood. She would do the same for him, no questions asked. She cocked her head to the side, letting them know that the Roman's arrival was imminent and a moment later, Arturius appeared from around the side of the house, his expression complete darkness. His presence was overwhelming. Aya turned to face her maker with an almost feral snarl as she felt her fangs grow in. Now it was time to deliver him to death.

Gabby came forward and stood to her
left,
her expression strained as she fought against whatever countermeasures the other witch had placed around the Roman and his followers. Abruptly, she brought her palms together and the six vampires in front of them shimmered into twelve. Aya placed a hand on her shoulder and instantly felt her power join with hers. They couldn't will all of their brains to explode at the same time, but together they could take out the front line.

Four vampires stopped mid stride and dropped limply to the ground, blood running from their eyes. Before she could help Gabby with the next wave, her hand was torn from her shoulder and she spun backwards into Zac's arms, Gabby falling limply to the ground. Liz was at her side in an instant, laying a hand protectively over her heart.

Aya felt the presence of power almost instantly. Turning with a
growl, that reverberated in her bones,
she saw the witch that had subdued Gabby standing in front of the remaining vampires and Arturius, who was trying not to laugh. A look of triumph was plastered on the witch's face; a look Aya wanted to rip off with her bare hands. She took a few steps forward, her eyes opalescent as she sized up the woman.

The
witches
expression began to falter as she advanced, her attempts at subduing the vampire not working. Aya laughed at her then. "Do you really think your little mind tricks work on me?" Zac's blood had erased any footholds her magic could have taken.

Before the witch could reply, Aya was in front of her, fangs bared ready to rip her throat out. Instead, she placed and hand on the woman's shoulder and smiled down at her condescendingly. As the witch pleaded silently with her, she plunged her hand into her chest cavity and tore her heart out. No remorse for the betrayers.

Dropping the useless organ to the ground she looked up at Arturius,
who's
expression had turned cold. Peeling her lips back in a snarl, she dived onto the closest vampire, her fangs tearing into his throat, fingers opening the wound further until his head tore clean off. 
Aya didn't have to tell the others to take care of Atrurius' minions
,
they were already on it
.

She was vaguely aware of Liz standing over an unconscious Gabby, tearing into anyone who dared come close like a lioness protecting her cubs. If Aya had been in control of her thoughts, then maybe she would have retracted her previous opinion of the blond vampire. Liz had finally stepped up.

She felt Zac behind her tearing into someone, but she disregarded him, knowing he would be okay. She advanced on the Roman who was content to watch the carnage unfold, her eyes blazing with anger.

Arms were around her neck before she could close the distance and she flipped her assailant over her head, her fist following them down and plunging straight into their chest cavity. The female vampire's heart was crushed instantaneously, her skin fading to grey, much like her life.

Abruptly, Zac let out an angry roar of pain. Her head snapped up towards the sound and she started towards him when she saw a stake protruding from his shoulder, blood soaking into his dark shirt. Sam was in front of him a second later, tearing it from his brother's flesh.

"Go," he yelled to her.

Pivoting on her heel, she flipped one of the vampires over her shoulder, hardly noticing where he landed. She only had eyes for Arturius.

When another vampire appeared in her path, she lunged with her fangs bared and sunk them into his throat and bit down with all of her strength. Her victim let out a strangled cry of pain as his blood poured into her mouth and down the front of her shirt, hot and sticky. Dropping him a moment later, she stepped over his inert body and lunged forward towards Arturius, her elbow colliding with his stomach, making the Roman double over in surprise. As he lurched forwards, her fist came up and connected with his nose, the crack as it broke echoing through her own bones.

He was quick to correct himself as his head flung upwards with a snap, his bulky form behind her before she could twist to the side. Arturius grasped the back of her neck, throwing her across the yard with a roar as blood poured from his broken nose. As she slammed into the wall of the house, she felt her flesh bruise under the impact. Landing face first on the hard ground, she was hauled up before she could scramble to her feet, Arturius' fingers digging into the flesh of her shoulder drawing blood. She cried out as the pressure crushed her bones, rendering her left arm near useless.

"You're nothing," he spat at her, pushing all of his weight into her slight form, pinning her against the wall. "You've got nothing left." He lent into her neck and licked her blood from her skin, his black eyes boring into hers as he drew back.

Aya couldn't speak, pain burning through her shoulder and back. She had to lead him on, let him think he was winning. If she fought back it would only be delaying the inevitable.

"I know it took all of your strength to murder Caius. The centuries of drinking human blood to survive has eroded your power into 
nothing
," he hissed, his hands crushing her ribs.

Twisting out of his grip, she tried to put distance between them, but he pushed her to the ground, a knee heavy in her back. Looking up at the others, she saw Sam wresting with a male vampire, his arms around his neck. She'd only seen him once in his vampire guise. The night that they'd saved Alex in the gardens. Kindhearted Sam, all back eyes and scary fangs, blood smeared across his face. And Liz. She never thought she would ever be able to step up, but there she was plunging a stake into a male vampire twice her size and who knew how many years older than her. Zac… he was covered in blood, the sound of it all over the yard. He was looking at her in horror as the Roman pulled her head back violently.

"No," she whispered to him, pleading him to stay away. He couldn't help her now. None of them could. She wouldn't let this mismatched family suffer the same fate as her own. She couldn't let it happen again.

Arturius pressed his knee harder into her back and she cried out in agony as her spine snapped in several places, her legs useless. He flipped her over, his face plastered with triumph. Wrapping his hands around her throat, he began to squeeze, her pale skin bruising and her airway closing. But, she smiled up at him, even as he tried to choke the life from her.

"Why are you smiling?" he cried.

"Because this is the last time I will ever have see your face, dear Arturius," she whispered hoarsely, a tear trailing down her cheek. Her power was simmering just below the surface, burning her from the inside in
it's
desire for revenge. All she had to do was let go and it would be too late for him. She looked into his dark eyes one last time and surrendered.

Arturius stared in disbelief as his hands began to glow with a pale blue light that trailed up his arms, burning the life from
him
as it grew brighter. Trying to let her go, he found himself locked in position, unable to control
himself
.

"No!" he cried, as he realized what was happening. "No! No, you can't!"

Aya felt the power coiled tightly inside her, the power she had always called her rage. She now understood that it was her Celestine power in a different guise.
Just as she was turned into a vampire, so too was her power turned into something just a little darker, but no less pure.
It now had a limit and Zac was her lifeline. The universe worked in mysterious ways.

"Yes," she rasped. "I can."

Arturius screamed in agony as her power enveloped him, his eyes sinking back into his skull. She hadn't the energy to lift her arm to pulverize his heart, but she wouldn't have put him out of his misery given a choice. Triumph coursed through her as she watched the Roman desiccate above her.
The vampire who had been responsible for turning her into a monstrosity.
The vampire that had torn her brother to pieces.
The vampire that had almost destroyed Gabby and everyone she'd ever loved.

Her body jerked as she felt a burning sensation shock through her mind. Just as her power was entering his body, it folded back on itself and she felt it searing back into her. The pressure of it almost split her head in two and a trickle of blood ran from her nose, across her cheek and into her hair. This had never happened before. Ever. Her eyes widened with surprise and she knew Arturius realized that this wasn't meant to happen. Aya knew she couldn't stop this. Once it began, it had to run its course.

There as no way of telling what would happen when it came down to this moment. After all, it was his vampire blood that ran with her Celestine. There was nothing for her to compare it to. No status quo. But, there was no doubt in her mind that she had to do this, even if it meant destroying herself in the process. He had to die, no matter the cost.

The fire continued to burn away at Arturius greedily, his skin becoming ashen, his veins protruding as he began to desiccate. He let out a strangled cry as he tried to draw in oxygen, but it was useless. When the life finally left him, his limp body fell on her, an empty husk. Pushing him off with what little strength she had left, she let out a sob as her broken bones grated together.

"Zac?" she called out, but her voice had been reduced to a strained whisper.

"Aya." He was there, murmuring into her ear, his hand on her face, brushing her hair out of her eyes. His touch was comforting, her heart slowing its racing to a steady beat.

"I…" She tried to sit up, but she collapsed back onto the ground.

"Shh," he tried to comfort her. "It's over. Don't try and move. Not yet."

"Gabby?"

"She's fine."

Turning her head, she saw Liz on her knees beside her, just as she was before. A tear slid from her eye as the young witch began to stir.

"Sam?"

"I'm here," he said, the sound of his voice coming from behind his brother.

"Alex?"

"He's waiting for us back at the manor." Sam was always on top of everything.

"Are you okay?" Zac was looking at her concerned. His green eyes had a strange hue to them in the aftermath of her power. He wiped a thumb over the trail of blood that had trickled from her nose and she closed her eyes.

"I will be." What she didn't tell him was that she was afraid that something wasn't right. She'd killed her maker and who knew what that would do to her. What it had broken in her.

Zac lent down and pressed his lips to hers and she felt the life creeping back into her body. This time the roles were reversed. This time Zac looked down on
her
as she lay broken on the ground. This time he would save
her
.

"Let's get you home," he said, scooping her up into his arms.

"Home," she murmured into the crook of his neck. "That sounds nice."