The Price of a Forced Bargain
1307 Words
The abandoned church looked exactly like the kind of place where terrible decisions were made.
Cracked stained-glass windows.
A bell tower that leaned slightly to the left.
And enough creepy shadows to make every horror movie victim seem completely justified.
I stood at the entrance, gripping the silver dagger Marcus had given me.
My pulse hammered against my throat.
"This is a bad idea," I muttered.
The old wooden doors groaned open by themselves.
Apparently the universe agreed.
Cold air rolled out from the darkness.
Then I heard a woman's voice.
"Come in, Lily."
Lady Seraphine.
Smooth.
Elegant.
Dangerous.
The kind of voice that could convince you to jump off a cliff and thank her afterward.
I stepped inside.
The church had been transformed.
Black candles burned along the walls.
Ancient symbols covered the stone floor.
At the center stood a glass coffin.
Inside it lay a young woman.
Beautiful.
Motionless.
Frozen beneath a layer of frost.
She looked peaceful.
Like she was sleeping.
Like she hadn't been dead for decades.
Seraphine stood beside her.
A crystal wine glass rested between her fingers.
The dark red liquid inside wasn't wine.
I didn't need supernatural senses to know that.
"My sister," Seraphine said softly.
For the first time since meeting her, she looked almost human.
Almost.
"She died because of wolves."
I folded my arms.
"And your solution is to murder me?"
A small smile touched her lips.
"Not murder."
"Drain ninety percent of my blood."
"Semantics."
She laughed.
I hated that it sounded beautiful.
"Come."
She gestured toward a nearby table.
Stacks of journals covered its surface.
Laboratory notes.
Research records.
Photographs.
I immediately recognized Caspian's handwriting.
My stomach tightened.
"The complete experiment," Seraphine said.
"The original data."
"The cloning records."
"The resurrection theory."
My eyes widened.
"You really have all of it."
"Every page."
She leaned closer.
"And I will destroy every copy."
Hope flickered inside me.
Then she finished her sentence.
"After you save my sister."
There it was.
The catch.
Always a catch.
I stared at the frozen girl.
"You're asking me to die."
Seraphine's expression darkened.
"I'm asking you to make one death matter."
Before I could answer, a scream echoed through the church.
A familiar scream.
My heart stopped.
"No."
Two vampires dragged someone into the room.
A young blonde woman.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Crying.
Emily.
My coworker from the bar.
The girl who always stole my fries during lunch breaks.
The girl who had absolutely nothing to do with any of this.
"Emily!"
She looked up.
"Ellie!"
The sound of my fake name almost hurt.
Because she still thought I was normal.
Human.
Safe.
She had no idea how wrong she was.
Seraphine nodded toward her.
"A reminder."
One of the vampires produced a long silver needle.
My blood turned to ice.
"No."
The needle plunged into Emily's arm.
She screamed.
The sound ripped through the church.
Purple veins immediately spread beneath her skin.
She collapsed.
Convulsing.
Crying.
Begging.
The silver poison worked fast.
Too fast.
I lunged forward.
"Stop!"
The vampires restrained me.
Rage exploded through my chest.
"You said this was about your sister!"
"It is."
Seraphine's voice remained calm.
"But I needed leverage."
I wanted to stab her.
Repeatedly.
With enthusiasm.
Emily's body shook violently.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Ellie..."
Something inside me broke.
"Fine," I said.
The word tasted like poison.
"I'll do it."
The entire church fell silent.
Seraphine smiled.
Victory flashed in her eyes.
And that's when the windows exploded.
Glass erupted inward.
A massive black wolf crashed through the church wall like a freight train.
The floor shook.
Vampires screamed.
Marcus.
His fur was drenched in rain.
Golden eyes blazing.
Fangs bared.
Murder incarnate.
"Get away from her."
Chaos erupted.
Marcus slammed into three vampire guards.
Bones snapped.
Blood sprayed.
A body flew across the room and smashed through a pew.
Before the remaining guards could react, the stone floor beneath them exploded upward.
A white blur burst from the darkness.
Jace.
Of course.
Because apparently dramatic entrances were a competition now.
The Rogue Alpha landed among the vampires.
Claws flashing.
Growls echoing.
Within seconds the church became a battlefield.
"Marcus!" I shouted.
His eyes found mine immediately.
Every instinct in his body locked onto me.
Mate.
Safe.
Alive.
The relief on his face lasted less than a second.
Then he saw Emily.
Then the silver poison.
Then Seraphine.
The relief disappeared.
The monster returned.
"You touched what's mine."
Seraphine sighed.
"How predictable."
Marcus launched himself at her.
His claws sliced directly through her body.
Or should have.
Instead, his attack passed through empty smoke.
The vampire queen dissolved into black mist.
Reforming several feet away.
Untouched.
Jace cursed.
"A projection."
Seraphine raised her glass.
"You cannot kill me."
The church lights flickered.
Her smile widened.
"I am not here."
Marcus growled.
Then charged again.
The same result.
Nothing.
Just smoke.
A phantom.
A shadow.
A taunt.
The real Seraphine was somewhere else entirely.
Watching.
Planning.
Waiting.
Her gaze shifted to me.
For a moment, sadness crossed her face.
Real sadness.
Then it vanished.
"Three days."
The temperature dropped.
The shadows deepened.
"I will return."
The frozen coffin behind her glowed faintly.
"My sister comes back."
Her eyes hardened.
"Or your town dies."
The projection dissolved.
Gone.
Silence followed.
Broken only by Emily's painful breathing.
I rushed to her side.
The purple veins had spread farther.
Too far.
"Help her!"
Marcus dropped beside us instantly.
One glance told him everything.
Silver poisoning.
Human victim.
Limited time.
Without hesitation, he dragged a claw across his own wrist.
Blood poured out.
Dark.
Hot.
Wolf blood.
"Marcus—"
"It's the only way."
His voice was rough.
He lifted Emily's head gently.
Then pressed his bleeding wrist against her lips.
For a second nothing happened.
Then she swallowed.
Once.
Twice.
The purple veins began to fade.
Emily's breathing steadied.
Color returned to her face.
The poison retreated.
Slowly.
Painfully.
But it retreated.
Minutes later her eyes fluttered open.
She looked confused.
Disoriented.
Then she saw Marcus.
Saw the blood.
Saw the fangs.
Saw the glowing golden eyes.
Fear flooded her expression.
She scrambled backward.
"What..."
Her voice shook.
"What are you?"
Nobody answered.
Because there was no good answer.
Marcus looked away first.
Emily's gaze shifted toward me.
Toward Jace.
Toward the destruction around us.
The broken pews.
The dead vampires.
The impossible reality she had just witnessed.
Finally she whispered:
"I don't care if he's a wolf or whatever."
She pointed at Marcus.
"He saved me."
Then her eyes met mine.
"But you..."
My chest tightened.
"You... what?"
Her voice cracked.
"What are you?"
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because I didn't know anymore.
A monster?
A weapon?
A daughter?
A clone?
A mistake?
Silence answered for me.
Across the church, Marcus wiped the blood from his wrist.
He glanced toward Jace.
"Looks like our unfinished business has to wait."
Jace shrugged.
A tired smile touched his lips.
"She stays alive."
His eyes narrowed.
"Then I still get the chance to kill you."
The two Alphas exchanged a look.
Not friendship.
Never friendship.
Something stranger.
Mutual survival.
Temporary.
Fragile.
Necessary.
I stared at both of them.
At the men who had ruined my life.
Saved my life.
And somehow become impossible to escape.
A question slipped out before I could stop it.
"If I die..."
Both Alphas turned toward me.
The church suddenly felt very quiet.
I swallowed.
"If I die, would you two still fight each other?"
Neither answered.
Neither looked away.
Neither denied it.
Outside the broken church windows, the horizon glowed red.
At first I thought it was sunrise.
Then I realized the sun was behind us.
The red lights were moving.
Thousands of them.
Approaching.
Growing brighter.
Growing closer.
An army.
Seraphine's army.
And it was already on the march.
- Writer
