Blood Forever (23 page)

I break from Pyrus’s grasp, turning to the audience and gesturing wildly for their attention. A hush falls over the crowd. The organist stops playing. From beside me, I can hear Pyrus’s dismayed gasp, probably wondering what I’m about to do.

“Vampires of the Consortium!” I cry. “You must listen to me. I have something very important to tell you!”

“What are you doing?” Pyrus demands, looking at me with wild, panicked eyes. Guess he wasn’t expecting me to suddenly go rogue. And now he doesn’t know what to do. Sure, he could snap my neck on the spot and shut me up. But that would pretty
much ruin any chance at gaining a partnership with the fairy kingdom. After all, most people aren’t too keen on aligning with those who go and kill their kin. Not to mention that an act of violence out of the blue like that would definitively reveal his true colors to the rest of the Consortium, who still think of him as their nice, normal House Speaker, not a crazy insane vampire out to destroy the world.

Until I set them straight, that is.

“You have been deceived and blindsided by this man who stands before you,” I continue. “You should see the things he’s planning behind your backs! You think you’re a democracy. But you haven’t voted on any of this!”

“You idiot!” Pyrus hisses furiously. But he’s drowned out by conversation coming from the audience. Pyrus turns to the assembled vampire leaders, still trying to play it cool. “You must excuse my blood mate. She’s obviously under a lot of stress and—”

“Ask him about the zombies!” I cry. “Or his declaration of war against Slayer Inc. Ask him about the slayer he murdered in cold blood. Or better yet, ask him where the Blood Coven Master, Lucifent, is. I’ll give you a hint. He’s lying on the—”

“Silence!” Pyrus screeches, grabbing me and twisting me around so I’m flush against him. In one fluid motion, he sweeps my hair from my neck and sinks his fangs into my flesh. I can dimly hear the other vampires gasp in horror at this violent display of power. But Pyrus doesn’t seem to care. He’s gulping mouthfuls of my blood, pushing commands at me with all his might. Telling me to be silent, to be a good vampire, to be seen
and not heard. To be his slave forever and bend my mind to his. The orders come strong and hard and fast, tidal waves of suggestion threatening to consume my brain and leave me with no thoughts of my own.

But he doesn’t know my secret weapon. And my mind pushes back. My blood cells refusing to bond with his own. Namely because they’ve already bonded to another. And Pyrus is too late.

He rips his fangs from my neck, staring down at me with fury flashing in his eyes. “Why you…” he stammers. “You already…”

“Have a blood mate? Yes, she does.”

The crowd erupts in excitement as Magnus gallantly sweeps into the room, like a knight in shining armor staging a heroic rescue. He throws me a confident grin and my heart bursts with excitement. He came. And just in time, too.

“Everything she says is true,” he tells the vampires. “Pyrus has abused his power and taken advantage of our trust. He must be stopped before it’s too late.” He holds up his phone. “But don’t take my word for it. I’ve just texted you all photos of his atrocities. The murder of Lucifent, Master of the Blood Coven. And the zombies he plans to use to take down Slayer Inc. and the world.”

There’s a shuffling as the vampires all reach for their phones at once. Thank goodness for modern technology and group text. One by one, they look up from their phones, furious as they realize the depth of their leader’s deception.

But Pyrus ignores them all, looking only at Magnus. “Clever
boy,” he spits out. “But none of this will save your precious blood mate.” He makes a move toward me. I try to leap out of the way, but he’s too fast, charging at me, hands outstretched, ready to kill me once and for all.

In a blur of my mind’s eye, Magnus is suddenly standing in front of me, blocking Pyrus’s reach. The Speaker slams into him full force and the two vampires tumble to the ground, growling and flashing fangs, locked in immortal combat as the rest of the Consortium looks on, frozen in place.

“You gotta help him!” I beg the audience. “He’s fighting for you. For all of us!”

But just as the vampires begin to spring into action, Pyrus’s guards step in, surrounding their master in a protective circle. Allowing no one to reach him. Two of them grab me—one by each arm—holding me helpless on the stage. I wonder, at first, why they don’t just kill me and be done with it. But then I realize they’re probably saving the honor for their master.

Pyrus takes his advantage, flipping Magnus over and pinning him to the ground. He glares down at him with ugly, red-rimmed eyes. “You could have had everything,” he sneers, spit flying from his mouth as he speaks. “You could have ruled by my side. We could have taken over the world. But no. You throw it all away for some stupid girl.”

“She’s worth it,” Magnus growls back. “She’s worth everything.”

My heart soars at the same time my stomach sinks. There’s nothing that can stop Pyrus now. In one moment Magnus will
be dead. And then it’ll likely be my turn. Maybe we can meet up in Hades. See if they’ll let us live together there. That would be something, at least.

As I squeeze my eyes shut, not willing to watch the death of my true love, a voice suddenly echoes through the chapel.

“What, did you start the party without us?” my sister demands.

My eyes fly open and my mouth drops as I see Rayne step through the doorway, flanked by Jareth and Spider. “Now that’s just rude,” she scolds.

“Especially since we brought company,” Spider adds with a smug smile. She turns and gestures to someone or something behind the doorway. “Say hello to my little friends,” she quips as she steps aside and lets the friends in question barrel through.

Suddenly the chapel is swarming with zombies. Disgusting, slimy, decrepit zombies. At first I start freaking out—thinking now it’s really over for good. But then I realize the zombies seem to be under Spider’s control somehow. And they’re going after Pyrus’s goons with much gusto, moaning and groaning and gnashing their teeth.

“Are you kidding me? Freaking zombies? I don’t get paid enough for this,” mutters one of my captors. He and his buddy drop my arms and start fleeing toward the door. The others, evidently feeling similarly about their pay grade under Pyrus’s employment, join them. Spider watches them go, clapping her hands gleefully and instructing the zombies to give chase.

Now free, the vampire masters surround Pyrus, yanking him
off Magnus and dragging him away. Pyrus tries to fight back, but without his army, he’s not all that tough. And he quickly realizes he’s outnumbered.

“Look,” he tries. “I can explain.”

A vampire helps Magnus to his feet. Another leads him over to Pyrus.

“Would you like to do the honors?” she asks, holding out a wooden stake.

For a moment, I think Magnus is going to do it. He looks so fierce, so furious, as he stares with hatred at the man who murdered his sire. Who almost murdered him. Who, in another lifetime, murdered me. But then he shakes his head.

“Killing him now would make me as bad as he is,” he says to the group. “Despite what he may believe, we vampires are more civilized than that. Let him stand trial for his crimes like anyone else. And let the courts decide his fate.” He pauses, then adds, “We are a democracy, after all.”

A cheer erupts from the crowd as two of the vampire masters lead Pyrus away—hopefully to rot in prison, until he can be officially tried. While I’m not really a huge fan of capital punishment, as a rule, in his case I can make an exception. After all, that’s the only way we can be absolutely positive he can’t get out and start trouble someday. Because life in prison for a vampire is a very, very long time.

Once he’s gone, the Consortium members surround our little group, offering up their thanks to us for saving the day. “I feel like such an idiot,” laments Thadius, the first vampire who
speaks up from the crowd. “How did we not know what he was up to?”

“None of us did,” Magnus assures him kindly. “We were all blinded by his smooth speech and easy lies. Well,” he adds, “all of us except these two girls here, who risked their lives to tell us the truth.” He shoots me an admiring look “And didn’t give up, even when we didn’t believe them.”

The vampires nod. “We owe you a great thanks,” Thadius says, addressing my sister and me. “If it weren’t for you, who knows what Pyrus might have accomplished?”

I glance over at Rayne and smile. Who knows, indeed.

Before we can speak, a noise at the door interrupts. Spider bursts into the room, a huge grin on her face. “Those guards won’t be troubling you any longer,” she crows, rubbing her hands together in glee. “Man, it’s fun to be zombie queen for a day. Too bad I have to give them back to Glenda afterward. It’d be so cool to have a gig like that permanently.”

“You already have a job, remember, Miss Slayer?” Rayne reminds her with a teasing poke to her ribs. “One I have to admit you’re actually pretty good at. At least when you’re not setting buildings on fire.”

Spider beams at the compliment. “Well, I suppose you’re not so bad yourself,” she replies.

A brunette vampire in a navy-blue suit turns to Spider. “Slayer, I hope you will let your bosses know that this situation has been taken care of. And there will be no war against you, at least from us. We would like to continue to live in peace and
harmony from this point forward and keep you in the role of policing the otherworld for the foreseeable future.”

Spider nods. “I can do that!” she declares. “I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.”

“We cannot allow this…incident…to harm the Consortium’s image,” the woman continues, turning to the other masters. “We must replace Pyrus as quickly as possible so our people do not feel any disruption.”

“I agree,” Magnus cuts in. “We’ll hold a vote. Find the best vampire for the job.”

As the others murmur their assent, I reach over to give my boyfriend a little squeeze. “Well, I know who’d get my vote,” I tease.

He cocks his head in question. “And who is that?”

“You, silly,” I reply. “Remember, I know the future. I’ve already seen your leadership abilities firsthand. And I think you’d make a very excellent House Speaker.”

Yes, yes, I know. I’m the one who always complained about him working too hard. And House Speaker is probably twice the demanding job that Coven Master is. But still, I know it’ll make him happy. And I know it’ll help vampire kind to have a wise and benevolent ruler looking out for their best interests. So maybe I’ll have to finish a movie alone or get stood up on date night once in a while—it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

“She’s right,” Jareth agrees, slapping his friend on the back. “I can’t think of a better vampire for the job. You’ve got my vote, mate.”

“And mine, too, if I can persuade a certain vampire to make
me his blood mate,” Rayne adds, elbowing Jareth purposefully. He laughs, pulling her into his arms and twirling her around.

“I think that can be arranged,” I hear him whisper in her ear.

“Well, that’s very nice of all of you,” Magnus says. “But before I can even consider a political campaign, there’s something important that Sunny and I must do.”

“There is?” I question. “What’s that?”

“Why, reverse your vampire transformation, of course,” he says, looking surprised that I haven’t guessed. “I’ve been doing some research. If we are able to get our hands on the Holy Grail—”

I shake my head. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

Magnus crinkles his brow. “I’m pretty sure it’s the only—”

“I mean I don’t think I want to reverse the transformation,” I say with a shy smile. “I know this may sound weird, but I’m kind of looking forward to becoming a vampire. After all, it means spending eternity by your side.” I pause, giving him a loving look. “If you’ll have me, that is.”

“Oh, Sunny!” Magnus cries, grabbing me and burrowing his face in my neck. He squeezes me tightly, as if he never wants to let me go. “I can’t think of anything I’d want more in the entire world.”

And, truth be told, neither can I.

A
nd so we get our happily-ever-after. The one I used to think was reserved for storybooks. Magnus’s and my relationship is better than ever, thanks to the new memories we now share. Not to mention the fact that I’m now his true partner. A vampire. A blood mate in every sense of the word. No longer worried about growing old and having him leave me behind—now we have the ability to be together forever. And he’s even promised me a proper wedding, once I graduate from college. How amazing will that be?

To be honest, I don’t know why I held out for so long. Being a vampire is pretty awesome, I have to admit. Sure, I don’t get to go out during the day anymore, but with all I’ve gained from my transformation? The sun can suck it.

Pyrus is tried and convicted, and unfortunately sentenced
only to eternal life in prison, rather than the forever death. But we’ll take what we can get. At least he’ll never rule any sort of vampire organization ever again. The coven members have convened and chosen a new House Speaker. A leader committed to fostering a democracy, where every vampire has an equal voice.

And who scored an almost unanimous vote for the job in question? Um, yeah, that would be my boyfriend. And as his blood mate, I get a new job, too—as his coleader. I can’t tell you how cool it is to stand in front of the entire Consortium and get sworn in. All those vampires who once saw me as a pathetic mortal now looking upon me with utmost respect. As we stand together, after saying our vows, we announce our commitment to continue to work toward peaceful relations with all otherworld creatures, not to mention Slayer Inc. We’re even working on a treaty with the fairy kingdom, with the help of my mom and dad.

Another order of business? To reinstate all the vampires cast out of the Consortium under Pyrus’s rule. Like the ones who live under the streets of New York City and fought selflessly to save Magnus and me, once upon a time. They’re thrilled, of course, to be a part of the organization again and vow to serve and protect in any way possible.