Blood Freed (Vampire-Cursed #4)

30. Chapter 30

30

Chapter 30

Soren

“ W hat’s wrong?” Marcus is staring at me as if I’ve grown another head. Probably because I’ve just frozen, every muscle in my body rigid with tension.

“It’s Mia.” I’m up and moving before the words leave my mouth. The bond screams in my mind, a piercing agony that nearly brings me to my knees.

Mia! What are you doing?

Fuck, I should have known she’d pull a move like this. Not bothering with formalities, I stride from the room and vanish into the shadows, using the shifting darkness to shadow-travel through the city.

Where the hell are you?

I can feel her flickering and shifting just beyond my reach. It’s hard to pin her down because what I’m feeling is her…but not her.

Dammit! What the fuck are you doing?

I don’t need to hear her reply, though. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what she’s doing.

She’s given in to the darkness.

And if I know Lucien Marlowe, he’s the reason she’s done it.

I pause in my travels, hovering in the space between reality and someplace else as I struggle to locate her. And then I see it.

Spires. Stained glass. Tall oak doors.

The connection leads me to an abandoned church, dark and looming against a storm-blackened sky.

“Mia!” I call out. She doesn’t answer, but I can feel the pull more strongly now. And from within the church, something is happening. Something deadly. I feel her pain, her rage, the dark magic consuming her.

I have to get to her.

The doors blast open at my touch, ancient wood splintering. Inside, magic crackles through the air, leaving the taste of ozone on my tongue.

I race down the center aisle, past broken pews and shattered stained glass. The church is abandoned and disintegrating, but this rubble isn’t from neglect. This is a war zone.

Ahead, Mia faces Lucien, her body wreathed in dark energy.

“Mia!” I shout again, my voice echoing through the cavernous space.

She turns, and my heart clenches. There’s almost nothing about her that I recognize. The magic has taken her completely.

Then I see it – the spell Lucien has woven, invisible threads of deadly power spiraling in on her. Before I can reach her, before I can help her, the magic ignites.

Flames erupt around Mia, but these aren’t ordinary flames. They’re black as pitch, consuming her from within as the dark magic turns on itself. Her scream pierces my soul, sending shockwaves rippling through me.

Beyond her, towers a tall figure: Lucien in his signature black suit, his dark hair swirling around his face. Trust the fucker to dress for the occasion.

“Ah. The hero arrives…in the knick of time.” He laughs. “Or maybe not.”

“Marlowe!” I snarl, wanting to rip out his throat with my bare hands. But there’s no time for that now. I have to get to her.

I lunge forward to where she seems to be trapped within the flames, but the heat drives me back.

“You’re too late, Daire.” Lucien’s voice oozes satisfaction. “The darkness has taken her completely. Quite fitting, really – the corruption of a Blackwood witch.”

I ignore him, focusing on Mia. Through the flames, I catch glimpses of her face contorted in pain. The magic wreathes her like a deadly shroud, eating away at her very essence.

“Mia!” I push against the barrier of black flames again. “Hold on! I’m coming.”

Her eyes meet mine through the inferno. For just a moment, I see a flash of recognition, of the real Mia beneath the darkness. The flames flicker, weakening slightly.

“No!” Lucien snarls. He gestures sharply, and the black fire intensifies.

Mia screams, the sound tearing through me. The pain drops me to my knees. Looking up, I see her body beginning to dissolve within the black magic.

“Motherfucker!” I growl at Lucien. “This was your plan all along.”

Lucien holds up a small crystalline sphere, its surface gleaming with an inner light. “You’ve all played your parts perfectly. The Blackwoods, the Assembly, even you, Daire. Like pieces on a chessboard, moving exactly where I needed you to be.”

I barely hear him through Mia’s screams. The flames are consuming her, and every second of her pain is like molten silver in my veins.

Lucien turns the sphere in his hand, admiring how it catches the light. “So much fuss for this.” He chuckles. “But it will be worth it in the end.”

I don’t bother with an answer. There’s no time for Lucien and his games now.

Turning back to the fire, I step into the heat. The flames sear my flesh as I force my way through them, but I don’t care. Nothing matters except reaching her. The magic crackles and snaps around me like a rabid animal, trying to drive me back, but I push forward step by step.

“Please…God, please!” I don’t know who I’m speaking to: her, myself, or some higher power. The fire burns hotter, eating into my skin, my muscles, my bones. Each step is agony, but I keep going. I feel her fading, slipping away with every second I waste.

Just a few more feet.

The blaze roars higher, determined to keep us apart. I grit my teeth and lunge forward, throwing myself through the wall of black fire.

And then…nothing.

The flames vanish as if they never existed. The sudden silence is deafening after the roar of the inferno. Mia crumples, and I catch her before she hits the ground.

My heart stops.

Her body is charred black, her skin cracked and peeling like burnt paper. The dark magic has consumed almost everything that made her Mia. Her clothes are ash, her hair gone. Only her eyes remain unchanged – those bright green eyes I fell in love with stare up at me from a face I barely recognize.

“No, no, no…” I pull her closer, cradling her ruined body against my chest. “Mia, please…”

She feels so fragile in my arms, like she might disintegrate at any moment. Reaching through our connection, I sense only the faintest flicker of life.

“How touching.” Lucien’s laughter echoes through the church. “I must admit, I didn’t think you’d make it through those flames. The power of true love, perhaps?” His voice is slick with mockery. “Though it seems it wasn’t quite enough to save her, was it?”

“You evil fucking bastard!” I roar, but my attention snaps back to Mia as her charred lips move.

“I’m…sorry,” she whispers, her voice barely a breath.

My chest constricts, and suddenly, I’m thrown back three hundred years. Another witch dying in my arms, her flesh blackened by flames. Ingrid’s blue eyes had stared up at me just like this, filled with the same pain, the same apology. I’d stood frozen then, watching as they burned her, too late to help, afraid of facing the ruined inhuman thing she’d become. Too late to do anything except… that . The thing that Maxwell had warned me of, without ever explaining why. To make her just like me.

The memory of her screams mingles with Mia’s labored breathing. Two women, centuries apart, both burning because of me. Both times, I failed to protect them.

But this time is different. This time, I reached her. This time, I’m holding her. This time…

Mia’s crumbling fingers twitch against my chest, drawing me back to the present. Her emerald eyes lock onto mine, so different from Ingrid’s blue ones, yet filled with the same love.

“Not…your fault,” she manages to say, as if reading my thoughts.

Her breath rattles in her chest, growing weaker with each passing moment. I can feel her slipping away, the connection between us growing thinner, more fragile.

No. Not this time.

In another lifetime, I lost the woman I loved because I was afraid. Maxwell had warned me about turning others, and I’d assumed he was trying to spare me the burden of creating another immortal being, another creature forced to exist in darkness and on the blood of others.

The curse of immortality.

But now I understand. He wasn’t worried about the responsibility of being a maker. He was protecting our bloodline, trying to prevent the spread of the Bloodbane. He’d always known what we were, what ran in our veins.

I stroke Mia’s ravaged cheek with trembling fingers. “I won’t lose you,” I whisper. “I won’t lose you, Mia.”

What if she doesn’t want it?

The same doubt creeps back in as I second-guess myself. What if she doesn’t want an eternal life of blood and the night?

She’s dying, Soren.

And I can’t take it.

This time will be different. I won’t stand frozen in fear and regret. I won’t let the woman I love burn while I do nothing. The Bloodbane, the curse, none of it matters anymore. I’d rather face an eternity of that curse with her than live another moment without her.

Mia’s eyes flutter, struggling to stay open as she shakes her head. “So-sorry. So sorry.”

I look down at her ruined body, remembering how Maxwell once told me that turning someone wasn’t just about blood – it was about choice, about accepting the consequences of that choice. I hadn’t understood then. I do now.

“Stay with me,” I murmur, bringing my wrist to my mouth. My fangs extend, and I bite deep, letting my blood well up dark and rich.

Behind me, I hear Lucien laugh. Let him. He doesn’t understand what’s about to happen. None of them do.

I press my bleeding wrist to Mia’s cracked lips. “Drink, my love. Stay.”

She’s still for a moment. Too long. Until my breath catches in my chest, terrified that it’s too late. And then her head lifts slightly, and her mouth closes over my skin.

I press my bleeding wrist against her lips, willing her to drink. For a moment, nothing happens. Then her mouth draws down, and she latches on with desperate strength. The pull of her feeding sends shocks through my body. My vision blurs as she draws deeply from my veins, taking not just blood but my very essence.

Take it. Take everything you need.

My head spins. Dark spots dance at the edges of my vision. Still, I hold steady, letting her drink. The bond between us pulses with each swallow, growing stronger even as I grow weaker.

Finally, her grip loosens. She sags in my arms, head falling back. The scent of burning fills my nostrils, bringing back memories I’ve tried centuries to forget.

Her body is still charred, still broken. Fear claws at my chest.

Please. Please let this work.

“Oh, this is rich.” Lucien’s laughter echoes through the church. “Getting it wrong again, Daire? First, the witch trials, now this? You really should learn from your mistakes.”

I ignore him, focusing on Mia’s face, searching for any sign of change. Her eyes remain closed, her body motionless.

Come on, my love. Fight!

My arms tighten around Mia’s lifeless body. The silence in the church is deafening, broken only by Lucien’s satisfied chuckle. I press my forehead to hers, ignoring the stench of charred flesh, the way her skin crumbles at my touch.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “I failed you. Just like I failed her.”

My chest constricts with a pain that has nothing to do with physical wounds. Without Mia, there’s nothing left. The sun may not be able to end me anymore, but I’ll find another way. Maybe the Maker’s sword – the ancient weapon said to be able to kill even the oldest vampires. Or perhaps—

Mia’s body jerks in my arms.

I pull back, hardly daring to hope. Her skin… Something’s happening to her skin. The burned layers begin to crack and peel, but underneath isn’t more devastation – it’s new flesh, pale and perfect.

“What?” Lucien’s voice sharp with shock. “That’s impossible.”

Yet again, I ignore him, transfixed by the transformation. The blackened remnants of Mia’s body are falling away like a snake shedding its skin. Her hair regrows in a cascade of auburn waves. Her chest rises with a sudden, desperate breath.

Her eyes snap open – still that brilliant green, but now with rings of silver around the pupils.

“Mia?” My voice breaks on her name.

She gasps, her back arching as the last of the burned flesh falls away. Her hand clutches mine with impossible strength.

“Soren,” she breathes, and her voice is both familiar and somehow different – deeper, richer, laden with power.

Mia rises, her form shifting before my eyes. The remnants of her charred body dissolve into radiant skin that glows with an ethereal light. I feel an electric current coursing through us as she takes my hand, pulling me up alongside her. When I look down, I realize we’re no longer touching the floor; we float just above it, surrounded by a shimmering aura that pulses with power.

“This can’t happen.” Lucien backs away, his expression a mix of shock and fury as he clutches the sphere. It glints ominously in his grip, but I barely register it. My gaze is locked on Mia.

I stare in awe as Mia hovers before me, her transformation complete. Power radiates from her, making the air swirl with energy. Her hair floats around her face like a living flame, and those eyes – those incredible green eyes with their new silver rings – lock onto mine with an intensity that steals my breath.

“What have you done?” Lucien’s voice cuts through my wonder. He’s still backing away, but his fingers tighten around that crystal sphere. “This isn’t possible. The dark magic should have consumed her completely!”

Mia’s head snaps around to look at him. “You…!” she snarls. Her power crackles around us like lightning, making my skin tingle. Those silver-ringed green eyes dart between Lucien and me, torn between vengeance and love.

“Mia,” I whisper, reaching for her. “Mia, look at me.”

She turns to me fully then, the magic settling around her like a cloak as she makes her choice. My heart swells as she drifts closer, her feet still not quite touching the ground.

“I thought I’d lost you,” I say, my voice rough with emotion. “When I saw you burning… I couldn’t bear it. Not again. Not you.”

“I’m here.” Her voice carries new depths, rich with power but still unmistakably Mia. “I’ll always choose you, Soren.”

“I love you,” I tell her, meaning it more than I’ve ever meant anything in my centuries of existence. “With everything I am.”

“I love you too.” She smiles, and it’s like watching the sun rise.

When our lips meet, the world explodes with light. Her mouth is soft against mine, but there’s nothing gentle about this kiss. It’s fierce and claiming, filled with all the fear and love and desperation we’ve both felt.

The magic surrounds us, lifting us higher, creating a cocoon of pure energy. I taste power on her tongue, feel it coursing through her body where she presses against me. Our bond pulses with each heartbeat, growing stronger until I can’t tell where I end and she begins.

When we finally break apart, breathing heavily, I realize the church has gone silent. Only scattered debris and the lingering scent of burning surround us.

Lucien is gone.