Cian kneeled next to Amaliya. His shirt was in shreds and deep wounds were healing. “I’ll feed her,” he said, immediately opening a vein.
“I can’t let her die,” Amaliya said, stroking Bianca’s fine blonde hair with her bloody fingers. “I just can’t. Too many have died.”
His hazel eyes meeting hers, Cian nodded. “I know, Amaliya.” Holding his dripping wrist over Bianca’s mouth, he let his blood pour into her.
The cabal drifted into view one by one. The dhamphir was covered in blood and dirt, and a nasty cut was healing on her cheek. The witch was just as grungy and had a few scorch marks on her clothes and bit of singed hair, but appeared whole. Baptiste’s left arm hung limply at his side, a jagged spear of rock sticking out of his bicep. Jeff was dirty, but otherwise unharmed. Alexia was covered in blood and chunks of flesh.
“One of those things fell apart on me,” she explained seeing Amaliya’s look.
Samantha joined them, her eyes still glowing. A mantle of ghosts clustered behind her. Among them was Roberto looking very satisfied.
“Benchley?” Amaliya asked, fear creeping into her.
“He’s with Galina. They’re safe,” Jeff assured her.
Amaliya noted another was missing, too. “Eduardo?”
“He’s dead.” The coldness in Jeff’s gaze when he looked at her explained the whole story in one second.
“You killed him!” Amaliya gasped.
“He was a serial killer.”
Amaliya took a second to absorb that truth, then said, “Oh, that’s why I was attracted to him.”
“Serial killer?” Aimee exclaimed, the conversation finally registering. “What?”
“Oh, that makes total sense,” Alexia said, continuing to wipe off the fleshy bits from her skin and clothes. “That head thing he was doing was creepy.”
“Amaliya, you need to give her blood, too,” Cian said, drawing her attention back to Bianca. He was pale and drawn from giving so much of his own. “I think we can save her.”
Nodding, Amaliya ripped open her wrist with her teeth and started to feed Bianca.
“She’s still here,” Samantha said crouching next to Amaliya. “I can see her settling back into her body.”
Amaliya gently stroked the girl’s cheek with her grimy fingers. “She tried to save me.”
“And now you saved her.” Cian kissed Amaliya tenderly. “You’re amazing, you know.”
Nuzzling his lips, Amaliya relished the feel of his kiss. She loved him so much it was a physical pain inside of her to think of how close they had come to losing each other.
“We should probably get out of here,” Jeff suggested.
Above them sirens wailed and spotlights from circling helicopters skimmed over the sinkhole’s walls.
“How do we explain this?” Amaliya wondered.
“We don’t have to explain anything. Follow me,” Baptiste said, gesturing to the group.
Cian lifted Bianca into his arms and Amaliya slid her arm about his waist, leaning against him. The rest of the group fell in behind them. When the dirt wall split apart before them forming a tunnel, no one was really surprised.
Baptiste flashed a wide grin. “I have talents.”
Together, they filed into the narrow passage. It was a little disconcerting as the earth parted before them and closed behind them as they walked. The pathway gently sloped upward until at last the ground divided to reveal the dark silhouettes of trees against the night sky.
Amaliya pulled herself out of the earth, briefly reflecting on the first time she had emerged from a grave in the woods. Sweeping her gaze from Cian to the others gathered around, she smiled. Unlike the first time, she was no longer alone. She had a purpose. She had love. She had friendship.
And she had saved the world.
Epilogue
December 24, 2012
The chill wind buffeted Bianca as her scooter zipped down Congress Avenue toward downtown Austin. Ahead, the pink granite state capitol building glowed white in the lights. Bundled in a new white leather jacket and a matching pink knit cap and scarf, Bianca giggled as her passenger, Alexia, sang along, badly, to Mariah Carey singing about what she wanted for Christmas. It was hard to hear the music emanating from the phone clutched in Alexia’s hand over the wind, but Bianca relished the gloriousness of the moment.
She was free.
She had a friend.
She was alive.
Bianca had volunteered to take her brand new scooter (courtesy of Cian) out to grab some last minute items for their Christmas Eve celebration. Alexia had also opted to go along. They’d found a Walmart that was still open and had taken the side roads to get there, giggling and singing the whole way.
Bianca still couldn’t believe she was alive. During the dark, terrible days of her possession and imprisonment, she’d been convinced she was doomed. She had known that in the end The Summoner had truly wanted Amaliya at his side, not her. That knowledge had prepared her to die.
Instead, she was alive.
Cian had used so much of his blood to bring her back from the verge of death that he had become her new creator. It had surprised Cian and Bianca when they had realized they now shared the bond of a creator and fledging, but he had quickly stepped in to guide her through the dark life. He was kind to her in a way The Summoner never could have been. She understood why Amaliya loved him so much. Cian made her feel safe and strong. It was odd to go from being an orphan to a slave to a part of a family of vampires.
Though the vampires were presently sleeping in Jeff’s attic, they would soon be moving into a new house that Cian was having modified to suit their needs. Bianca would even have her own room decorated to her taste, but Amaliya had made it clear she could sleep with them whenever she wanted. After being alone most of her life, Bianca found comfort in sleeping with the other two vampires through the hours of the day. Surprisingly, she no longer awoke during the day and her necromancy powers were waning. Cian suspected they might disappear altogether as his blood continued to alter her vampire nature.
That thought thrilled Bianca.
All her life she had dealt with the spirits of the dead and now she was free of them. If she had to live as an undead creature, she preferred the simplicity of just being a regular vampire.
Alexia continued to sing along to yet another song.
Bianca zoomed her scooter around a corner and toward Jeff’s Victorian. Her scarf fluttered behind her and the cool air kissed her cheeks red. It was Christmas Eve. She had a family, a home, and a future.
She had tried so hard to save Amaliya, but in the end Amaliya had saved her.
“You are mutilating that poor bird!” Samantha stomped her foot and frowned at Jeff.
“Excuse me, but my turkey cutting skills are excellent,” Jeff responded, holding the carving knife over the golden roasted bird.
“Doing it all wrong. So wrong.”
Jeff kissed her nose. “Well, deal with it. We’re getting hitched. You’re signing on for the whole package. Besides, I have to put up with the cat and the ghost.” Jeff gestured to Beatrice sitting at his feet waiting for more turkey skin and then Roberto.
The ghost was washing dishes and looking decidedly grumpy about it.
Samantha grinned, lifting her eyes to the ceiling. “True.”
“Why haven’t you sent him on to his just reward?” Jeff asked, leaning toward her. He adored her cute face and twinkling eyes.
“He’s afraid it’s in the burning place.”
“I’d rather go to hell than do your dishes,” Roberto groused.
“Oh, shut your face,” Samantha shot back.
Jeff returned to carving the turkey. “I have the craziest life.”