Forever Touched (Touch of Vampire #5)

CHAPTER 32

32

ADALYN

When the clock struck midnight, everything froze.

It was like the entire Universe paused, curious to see what would happen next. To see if I’d fulfill my destiny. As Everett spoke, valiantly trying to reason with the Venturi, I’d slowly tightened my web, robbing them of their free will.

Every time their voices rose in anger, another piece of me shriveled up and died. Their anger was my fault. They were only reacting this way because of me . Because of the lies I’d woven into their minds. They were deaf to Everett’s words. Blinded by the enchantment I’d cast over them.

It was only a matter of time now. The second I attacked, they would too. Like mindless animals, they would follow my lead and destroy each other. Destroy the family who’d shown me nothing but kindness.

My time was up. I had no choice but to initiate the revolution Mistress had planned in the shadows ever since the last one had failed. Once it began, the Venturi would fight to the death. The ones under my control would attack their friends, family, and the royals I’d fashioned into their enemies. They had a mission the same way I did. A mission they couldn’t run away from.

It would be a bloodbath. And when the rogues arrived, very few Venturi would survive, if any. They’d been waiting six years for this moment. Six years of silently hating the royal family and Venturi for turning against them. For protecting a witch instead of their own kind.

And so they’d used a witch to destroy their own. To tear down the government they so despised.

Me. They’d used me . And I’d let them. I’d given them my body and soul. I’d let them abuse my magic. I’d done everything they asked of me. Everything .

I’d single-handedly ignited a revolution, seeking my revenge on the creatures who’d stolen my father and life from me in the process.

I’d become a monster. Their monster.

All to survive. To save myself.

But in order to save myself, I’d given up my light. Bit by bit, I’d fallen into darkness. My brightness had faded. Dulled. I’d thought it was gone completely until I’d met Everett. Until he’d slowly pulled me from that sucking darkness and reminded me of who I was.

Until he’d saved me. Truly saved me. Bringing the light back into my life.

And this was how I repaid him. By destroying his kingdom. By betraying him. By throwing away something beautiful. Something that a monster like me could never hope to deserve.

He loved me. Loved me. And I was about to stab him in the heart.

A silent scream started to build in my mind. A scream of sorrow and despair and hopelessness. A scream of injustice and frustration and rage .

It couldn’t end like this. I’d been allowed to experience my happily ever after for a single moment in time. To be that bright shining star again. To be free .

It had only been a moment, a brief moment of pure perfection, but I would cherish it forever. Even if my forever ended tonight.

So I let the scream continue to build, encouraging it to grow louder and louder. Stronger and stronger. Giving it my fear and desperation. My helplessness. Even my will to survive. To live .

Because I couldn’t save myself this way. If I followed through with this premonition, I would lose myself. Adalyn would be gone forever, and I couldn’t live with that.

I couldn’t live without him . Couldn’t live in a dark world where Everett D’angelo didn’t exist. He made me bright. He encouraged me to shine, to show the world the real me. And someone like that deserved to be protected. To be saved .

So I let that scream consume me. Let it build until I could no longer contain it. Until the need to fulfill my mission began to crack. To break apart. To shatter .

I was splintering. Fracturing. Pouring every last desperate thought into tearing myself free from six years of oppression. From every last thralled command. From every last promise.

I won’t do it anymore, I won’t do it anymore! I screamed and screamed inside my head, not caring that I was breaking. That I was sentencing myself to death.

He deserved it. Everett deserved it. I had to save him.

So when my premonition began to unravel—when I slipped my knife free and prepared to kill the man I loved—I fought. I fought with everything I had, consequences be damned. The knife arced through the air, aiming straight for his heart. Mistress had been right. He wouldn’t suspect me of treachery until it was too late. Until the deadly blade was buried hilt deep in his vulnerable organ.

Recalling in my dream how that beautiful light had left his eyes, I threw back my head and let the scream explode from me.

“NOOOOOO!”

It was a detonation of pain. A wave of anguish. A tsunami of rage .

I felt myself shatter into a million pieces. Felt the invisible ropes tying me into knots burn to ash. Felt my magic return in full force.

I was free. FREE.

The knife slipped through my fingers as the scream continued to belt from my lungs. It went on and on, destroying the last of my invisible prison. Freeing my magic from its cage. Relieved beyond measure to feel it freely flowing through my veins for the first time in six long years, I let it burst from me. My feet left the ground as magic exploded from my hands, from every pore in my body.

Suppressed for so long, I could barely contain it. The magic twirled and leapt, spinning me higher and higher, catapulting me into the air like a mighty creature stretching its wings. Light burst behind my closed eyelids, and I squinted them open to see that I was bathed in bright cerulean magic. Everywhere I looked, the magic spun and danced, happy to be free at last.

Free. I was truly free .

Mistress no longer controlled me. I could see her down below, a dark insignificant speck. I’d feared her for so long. Feared what she could do to me. But all that fear started to fade away like a bad dream.

I was free now. She couldn’t hurt me anymore. Couldn’t use me.

I’d just destroyed everything that had bound us together.

At the realization, the magic holding me aloft suddenly vanished, and I fell.

Too shocked to react, I let myself plummet to the ground. Down, down, down I went, succumbing to reality. To my chosen fate. The faces of my cruel past surrounded me from all sides, forcing me down to the cold, unforgiving ground.

But, at the last second, strong arms stopped my descent. Saved me from falling once more into the darkness’s waiting embrace.

Only this time, it was too late.

Darkness had already claimed me. He just didn’t realize it yet .

“Adalyn.”

As Everett’s voice washed over me, I waited to hear his disbelief, his anger at my betrayal. But it never came. Instead, he sounded worried. Worried for me .

Pain suddenly splintered my vision. So powerful and abrupt that I curled against his chest with a strangled cry.

“Adalyn, what’s wrong?” he said over the pounding in my ears. Over the agony threatening to tear me apart. “Adalyn!”

“I’m so sorry,” I whimpered, forcing my lids open so I could see his beautiful amethyst eyes one last time. “I’m so sorry about everything. It’s not their f-fault.”

“Um, Everett?” Kade called from nearby. “We might need you in a second here. They’re looking mighty pissed.”

Everett ignored him, his concerned gaze still locked on me. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby girl. Let me help you.”

“Everett!” Loch snapped. “They’re going to—”

The room suddenly exploded into chaos.

Several vampires rushed toward us en masse. Loch and Kade met them head on, their bodies a blur as they used their supernatural speed to hold them back. Isla and Kenna hurried forward to help them, the latter sending a bolt of fiery red magic at the charging crowd. Even King Ambrose joined the fray, grappling with a member of his council.

As a vampire broke through the line and streaked toward us, Everett set me down and met the male with a bellowing roar. They clashed in a powerful display of brutality, their movements a blur as they fought each other.

His opponent was Viscount Le Blanc, one of the clients under my control. Scrambling to focus on our blood connection, I tried to stop him. Tried to reverse the damage I had caused .

“Kill them! Kill them all!” a voice shrieked, breaking my concentration.

I paused to search the restless Venturi that hadn’t yet joined the fight. Most of their faces were lined with confusion, and hope thundered in my chest. Maybe I’d broken some of the blood bonds when I’d freed myself. Maybe some of my clients were coming back to themselves, remembering how they really felt about the royal family.

Out of nowhere, two blond males emerged from behind the crowd, their hands encased in bright magic. I froze, caught off guard by the sight. I hadn’t seen warlocks in years , not since the night my dad had died. What shocked me the most was that I recognized the younger one. Instructor Noah Andrews had been a teacher at the magic school I used to attend.

“Kill them!” the same voice shrieked again, and I finally spotted her.

Mistress still stood at the top of the grand staircase, her eyes gleaming wickedly as she surveyed the growing carnage below. Her two daughters cowered behind her, their expressions more excited than afraid.

Six years of pent-up emotion suddenly erupted from me.

With a feral battle cry, I flung a bolt of blue magic at them. Then another and another. One singed Mistress’s dress. Another hit Georgina in the arm, while the third exploded at Octavia’s feet. As they scattered like frightened ants, pain warped my vision once more. I curled forward, all the air leaving me in a rush. When I managed to blink away the darkness, red splotches dotted the floor.

Blood. My blood.

Ignoring it, I quickly focused on the stairs again, but the Faircrofts were gone. A sickening crack rent the air, and I turned just as Everett broke Viscount Le Blanc’s neck. When he grabbed the head to rip it off, I stumbled forward and croaked, “Don’t kill him.”

Everett whipped his gaze to me, the blood red of his eyes filled with bloodlust. “Why not? He attacked us,” he said, his voice little more than a growl. “He’s probably one of your clients and, therefore, doesn’t deserve to live.”

“He’s enchanted ,” I cried, then doubled over in a coughing fit. I covered my mouth, but not fast enough. Blood sprayed onto the floor once more.

“Adalyn!” Everett shouted. As I teetered sideways, he dropped Le Blanc to catch me. “Where are you hurt?”

“It doesn’t . . . doesn’t matter.”

“What? Of course it matters. Here, take my blood.”

He swiftly bit into his wrist and held it out to me, but I turned my head away and rasped, “They’re all enchanted. You have to . . . you have to spare them. They don’t . . . they don’t mean it. They’re loyal .” I coughed again, so forcefully that my lungs screamed in agony.

Sudden dread filled our bond. Struggling to breathe, I looked up again and caught the devastation on Everett’s face. The horror .

“You broke the pactum,” he whispered, the words barely audible.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered back, then forced myself to push away and stand on my own. “I can tell you the truth now. The Venturi aren’t your enemies. I’ve spent the past three years poisoning their minds against you, but that’s not how they really feel. Don’t kill them. Please. It’s the rogues you need to worry about. They’ve been orchestrating this attack from the very beginning. Call on your allies, because they’re coming. They—”

“Too late,” Everett said, his red eyes flaring bright. “They’re already here.”

My insides turned to ice as the human maids started to scream. I looked toward the stairs just as dozens of rogues poured into the ballroom.

“You heard her!” Everett shouted to his family and warlocks still valiantly fighting. “Spare the Venturi. Give the rogues no quarter. Now is the time to rid this kingdom of their deception once and for all!”

Battle cries rose into the air.

“Heads up!” Noah hollered and muscled his way into our circle. He tossed a silver sword with the hilt carefully wrapped in leather, and Kade whirled to catch it.

“Thanks, man!” Kade hollered back, ducking as his Venturi opponent swiped a clawed hand at him. With one smooth stroke, he sliced the hand off, and the Venturi grabbed his spurting arm with a scream. “You’ll thank me later,” Kade grunted, then lunged toward his next opponent.

Not far away, Loch tore off his jacket to reveal a twin pair of silver pistols strapped to his sides. Whipping the pistols free with gloved hands, he faced the approaching horde of rogues and lit them up.

“Yeah, baby!” Noah crowed, lighting up the horde as well with his Cosmic magic. The other warlock went back-to-back with him, focusing his efforts on the Venturi still under my enchantment. Every time one of them attacked, he used a spell to freeze them in place. Then Everett or King Ambrose would race forward and snap their necks.

Kenna and Isla had also teamed up in a similar manner, one using magic to stun their opponent while the other rushed in and knocked them out.

We were outnumbered by far, but everyone in the tight circle worked as a unit. They were a well-oiled machine, feeding off each other’s strengths and protecting their weaknesses. If I wasn’t feeling so helpless, I would have taken a moment to admire the beautiful way they danced together.

After several minutes of fighting, the tide started to shift in our favor. Venturi were submitting everywhere, backing off from the fight as my influence on their minds faded. And despite the rogues’ numbers, they didn’t stand a chance against the royal family’s power.

I coughed again, blood filling my mouth as I desperately tried to stay out of the way. In too much pain to help, all I could do was fight to remain conscious so Everett wouldn’t get distracted.

Never had I been more aware of time. Each second that ticked by reminded me that it could be my last. I was living on borrowed time now. The moment I’d broken both pactums, the lease on my life had expired. The pain was growing more and more unbearable, and I was losing way too much blood.

I wanted to stay. With everything in me, I wanted to stay and help. To see the Venturi fully freed of my enchantment and the rogues defeated.

But I couldn’t. There was one more thing I needed to do. Time was relentless, and if I didn’t leave now, I wouldn’t make it.

So I forced my aching body to pick up my knife from the blood-flecked floor. Forced myself to turn away from the love of my life and accept that I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye. And when the opportunity came, I forced myself to leave the protective circle. To dart through a gap in the fighting and slip through the crowd.

To vanish .