..
Somewhere behind her a door opened and closed. Celeste didn"t bother turning to see who had entered her bedroom; she never took her eyes and hand off her swollen stomach. The person standing behind I also knew from my time in the vortex. She too looked the same with her wise eyes and long white hair in a single braid. Hildegarde smiled sadly behind Celeste
"She"s due any day now" The old crone commented. My mother met her eyes through the mirror and nodded.
"I know" She mumbled "I wish I could keep her in here longer just to have her close to me" Celeste rubbed her belly once more
"There is still time. We could try other ways to stop him…" Hildegarde pleaded but my mother"s hand up stopped her short. By this point I knew it was me that they were talking about. I was the baby she was carrying that was causing her this great sadness.
"Erebus is too far gone. His power is too great now. In order to kill him I"ll have to use my crystal heart powers and that would endanger my daughter. She must live above all else. It"s too late for my son. He"s a man, a warrior now and he will refuse to run. No, Arc will fight until his death just like his father…" A single tear dropped from her eye. That one dropped was filled with so much sorrow it was like a blow to my chest. Tears escaped my own eyes. Celeste finally turned from the mirror to face Hildegarde.
"We will stick to the plan. After her birth you"ll remove my crystal heart and place it in my daughter. Then take her through the portal to the mortal world. Make certain that when you place her in the slumber you spell her so that when she is awaken she will be human. If only for a short time" Celeste said
"The longest I can give her as a human would be eighteen years. On her eighteen birthday she"ll die unless the spell to turn her back into a vampire is performed or she drinks vampire blood" The old crone responded stepping closer to my mother.
"I know. Its eighteen years of peace for her before she has to deal with all the challenges coming to her way because of who she is and what she must do. Just make sure you teach Helia everything she needs to know for my daughters awakening and turning at eighteen." Celeste turned again to the mirror. Eyes showing tears yet to fall.
It all made sense now! How I was able to live a human life even though I born a thousand years ago. It also explained why Verna sent me to Chance Harbor. When I ran away at age sixteen I threw off my own fate. Verna must have had a vision of my dying two years later because the spell would have worn off. So she interfered and sent me in Marcos direction. She knew he would kill me and my survival instincts would kick in. Which explains why I bit him and drank his blood! Without even knowing what I was doing I had somehow called on a part of this memory and saved my own life.
The witches were right. I was always meant to be a vampire. Being human was just a gift from my mother. A small chance at peace until the problems of her past became my present. Too bad Kim made sure my human life sucked almost as bad as my vampire one is.
"I will my queen. Your daughter will live on" Hildegarde took her leave after that. My mother gently stroked her tummy as if she was actually holding me in her arms.
"I"m so sorry my daughter" Celeste spoke and I knew it was me she was talking to now "I"m sorry I won"t be there to watch you grow. More importantly I"m sorry I"m asking you do something I can"t even do. Erebus will rise again and he will come for you mainly because you"re my daughter. Please be strong. Believe in yourself and you"ll be the most powerful creature to exist. Even more powerful than me. I love you my daughter…"
Celeste closed her eyes and the memory closed with her…
Raven was still holding me and I was so full of rage that she saw something that my mother meant for me to see. Ignoring the pain in my body I pushed all the energy I could up my body and through my head. A huge blue static boom! Shot through the room blasting Raven off of me!
I couldn"t see where she landed but I heard the crash. As soon as her hands were removed from my body a coldness like no other seeped into my head.
This time I did scream "AAHH!!" I cradled my head in my arms to stop the unbearable pain. It was like eating ice cream really fast and getting a brain freeze times a hundred.
"Did you get the information I wanted?" Ferox asked impatiently from what I could hear. My ears ringing made listening a challenge.
"Not exactly. I was able see how Celeste shielded the girl but nothing about what she did to your father and his body. The brat pushed me out. I told you she was strong" Raven answered somewhere behind me. I couldn"t see a thing. When I tried to open my eyes all I saw was white and all I felt was cold.
"Well try again!" The king demanded
"I can"t. That blast of power she used just wiped me out. I need a few days to gather more energy for another mind bridge" Raven snapped back. My vision was clearing but my head still throbbed like crazy! Holding it was all I could do not to cry out again.
The doors bursting off the hinges got all of our attention. I slowly turned my head to see who caused all the ruckus and there stood Ca.s.sius. He looked p.i.s.sed and dangerously beautiful. His eyes scanned the room and when they met mine softened a little. He turned back to his father and the witch, red eyes igniting in flames.
"What the h.e.l.l is going on here?!" Ca.s.sius voice was so deep and angry I would have been scared of him had he been speaking to me. Ferox looked unfazed.
"Just gathering information on the prisoner son" The king replied casually
"Never and I mean never touch my mate again." Ca.s.sius spat in disgust meeting his father"s hard gaze and then Ravens. No one spoke. Satisfied Ca.s.sius turned back to me and scooped me up into his arms. His touch was warm and surprisingly gentle. He held me close to his chest and his smell and heat eased my pain. Ca.s.sius stepped through the broken door intent on leaving but Ferox wasn"t done yet.
"She will only betray you son! Just like her mother. History will repeat itself" Ferox called out. Ca.s.sius halted his next step but didn"t turn to face his father
"Maybe history already repeated itself with you father" Ca.s.sius replied in a cold detached voice. I don"t know what he meant by that but I heard Ferox"s sharp intake of breath and I knew whatever Ca.s.sius meant hit its mark with his father.
~~~~~
Jace Pov
"Mom! I"m eighteen and I"m on the phone with you right now! You can"t report me missing!" Simon screamed into the IPhone. He had been on the phone for twenty minutes with his overbearing mother, trying and failing to convince her he was safe.
They had arrived to the beach a half hour ago and Seb had woken the others to prepare for the search of the castle. Before they ventured around the area Lily, Bobby and Simon had to check in with their parents. Simon was the only one still on the phone.
Jace pulled out his cell and checked the screen again for any missed calls but nothing. He knew his mother wouldn"t call. Helia was sure to have already talked to her about his whereabouts, which is probably why she wasn"t checking on him now. His mother turned her back on magic before he was born. She never told him why exactly but if Jace wanted to practice magic and not live as a human, then his mother wanted no part in it.
"How"d your parents take it?" Lily asked popping up beside. Jace stuffed the phone back into his pockets and began busying himself by searching through his bag.
"It was fine" He lied
"Cool. My dad didn"t answer so I just left a voicemail that I was alive and I got his last deposit in my account" Lily said back. Jace noticed for the first time there might be more to Lily than she lets on. "Have you learned to make food appear yet because I"m freaking starved!" That was until she said that.
"I told you witches don"t do that" Jace replied annoyed by her again
"So that"s what they call you" Kim said walking closer to them. Jace straightened up and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Yes. I"m a witch" Jace replied defensively. He scanned the area and noticing a few people missing. "Where"s Seb, Marie and Bobby?"
Kim shrugged nonchalantly "Hulk guy said they were going to check out for any sign of vampires and Bobby was eager to join. He said you and I could check over those boulders" She said pointing to a mountain of rocks a hundred yards down the beach. Jace wasn"t sure he could trust what Kim was saying but he looked around and didn"t see any sign of Seb.
"Are you scared? Or do you need to wait for Seb"s permission" Kim taunted with a smirk on her face. Jace narrowed his eyes at her and hefted his bag of weapons over his shoulder.
"Wait, you"re not going with her alone right?" Lily questioned disbelieving.
"Jace never complained about being alone with me before" Kim remarked offhandedly
"No one asked you. So shut it before I get Marie and her shiny gun" Lily taunted with her own smirk. Kim hissed flashing her fangs. Jace stepped in between them before things got any worse.
"I"ll be fine Lily. Tell Seb where we went and stay with Simon" He said thumbing a finger at his curly head friend still arguing with his mom. Lily looked like she wanted to protest but she just gave Kim the finger instead and walked away.
"That mouth of hers is going to get her killed" Kim snapped as they watched Lily sashay away.
"Can it Kim" Jace snapped and walked off towards the rocks.
Not long after Kim fell in step alongside him. The walk was silent. One thing he was thankful for. Once they reached the boulders he realized they looked smaller from further away. The only way to get a good view would be to climb over them. Dusting off his hands he began climbing. Kim"s vampire abilities made climbing the slippery rocks look like a walk in the park.
"Why are you trying to save her?" Kim asked breaking the silence. Jace stuck his foot in a groove in the rock and lifted himself up.
"Because I love her" He responded knowing Kim was asking about Ana.
"I"m sure she hates you by now. I mean you did date me and ignore her for years" Kim recalled. Jace was so angry by her comment he almost lost his grip on the rock.
"That was all your fault!" he snapped. Kim laughed
"Keep telling yourself that but I never forced you to stay with me" she added moving up the rock past him with ease
"Blackmail is force" he spat
"You"re an idiot!" she laughed "What would I have told people? I saw you floating rocks and dirt when we were kids? Who would have believed me?" Her announcement cut through him, making him stop moving. All those years and she was basically telling him she was bluffing the whole time! Unbelievable! And equally devastating.
"You b.i.t.c.h!" he shouted when he regained his composure. All the suffering he watched Ana endure so he could keep his family secrets was all for nothing. Kim was never planning to tell.
"Aw don"t be mad baby. I had a lot of fun" Kim teased. She had made it to the top and was sitting swinging her legs back and forth as she watched him continue to climb.
"You evil and you"ll pay for this Kim" Jace sneered trying to get to the top a little faster now.
"You trusting me then wasn"t the biggest mistake you made" she whispered. Jace was almost to the top now…just a few more steps... "Your biggest mistake was trusting me now…" Jace looked up just in time to see Kim"s foot coming right to his face. It was too late to dodge it or react properly in anyway.
The force of the blow cracked his nose and caused him to lose his grip on the rock. The last thing he saw was Kim victorious smile as his body tumbled to the ground and everything went black….
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#Tobecontinued...
Thrilling chapters coming on the way, ya soo gonna love iiit