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The Darkest Crown (The Eternal Darkness Duet #2) Chapter 28 76%
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Chapter 28

Chapter 28

W illiam’s men finally arrived, and were given rooms in the castle. I was uncomfortable having that many new vampires around, but I knew I had to get used to it. I couldn’t remain in seclusion forever. I wondered if they knew the danger they were in, just by being there. I still had no control over my power, and everyone in my vicinity was at risk.

Selene was back to her original strength, but her mother still insisted on joining us for training. The two witches would work together to shield my magic, and Adam volunteered to be my target. Actually everyone volunteered, but Diana chose Adam. I suspected she did it just to piss Julian off.

At first Julian refused to stay behind, but when I threatened to make him , he reluctantly agreed. He glared daggers at Adam when we walked out through the gates, and I inwardly cringed, knowing I’d have to deal with him later.

The four of us walked halfway to the cliffs before Diana stopped. “This will do,” she said, looking around. “You two stay there,” she pointed to Adam and I, “Selene, backup twenty paces.” Selene did as told, and Diana backed up too. Diana looked past me to her daughter.

“I’m ready,” Selene called from behind me.

Adam and I stood still, waiting. He never took his eyes off me. There was a blast of cold wind, just like before, and Adam’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The shields are in place,” Diana called. “You may begin.”

I looked at Adam, suddenly feeling self conscious.

He smiled reassuringly. “Go for it.”

“O- kay ,” I said slowly. “I’m going to try to read your mind.”

He grinned. “I’ll try to think of something interesting.”

I chuckled and looked into his eyes, and it just happened. I didn’t really have to try at all. His thoughts came at me, as if he was speaking out loud. You’ve got this, Sarah. You’re stronger than you realize. There’s nothing you can’t do. His thoughts made me smile, and he smiled back.

I shook out my hands. “Okay, reading minds is easy. I’m going to try to make you move, so try to stand still.” Adam nodded once, and I stared into his eyes, willing him to walk towards me. Instantly his body lurched forward, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. When he was close enough, I grabbed his arms to stop him.

“Sorry,” I said, looking up into his face. “I know that feels shitty.”

“I’m alright,” he assured me, his expression smoothing.

I released him, but didn’t move away. I continued to look into his eyes. Kneel . I didn’t say it aloud, but he heard my command. He fell to his knees in front of me and tipped his head back to look up at me. Our eyes met, and the world around me changed. The field disappeared, and I found myself standing in a crowded city, but I wasn’t myself. I was seeing through Adam’s eyes.

I walked down the sidewalk, searching for my first victim. My heart was pounding with anticipation. I knew I was sick to be looking forward to this, but I was what she made me. I was a monster, and tonight I would bathe the streets in blood.

My eyes swept over the crowd, searching. I stilled, my fangs coming down as I spotted my prey. Him, in the red shirt. He would be the first to die.

He was laughing with his friends as I started across the street towards him, completely unaware that his life was about to end. Then I heard a sound that made me pause. It was dark and melancholy, and it called to me. I stopped, in the middle of the street, and turned my head towards it. There was a girl in the park, playing a violin. She was wearing dark jeans and a blue sweater with tiny white flowers on it. Her dark blond hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and her movement made it sway from side to side. I started towards her, the man in the red shirt forgotten.

I stopped on the opposite side of the fountain and watched her through the spray of water. She played with her eyes closed, and the raw emotion on her face matched what was in my heart. Anger, pain, grief. My fangs retracted, and I lifted my hand to run my fingertips across my lips. I would wait. After she finished her song, I would choose a new victim.

The song ended too soon, and I found myself frowning. I shifted my stance and started to scan the crowd, but then she started to play again. I turned back towards her. The night was young, there would be plenty of time for killing later. I would listen to one more song.

I gasped as my mind snapped back to reality. I blinked and saw Adam kneeling on the ground in front of me. “I saw you see me,” I said in wonder. “I wasn’t just hearing your thoughts, it was like I was you.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I thought of that. I should have-”

“It’s okay.” I cupped his cheek with my hand. “It's okay.”

Without breaking eye contact, Adam slowly stood. I let my hand fall to my side, and for a moment we just stood there, staring into each other's eyes.

“Mind control comes easily to you,” Diana said, startling me.

I stepped away from Adam, pretending not to notice his disappointment, and looked past him to Diana. “Yeah, I didn’t really even have to try. I just thought about it and it happened.”

Diana nodded. “That’s excellent. Adam, you can go back now. We don't need you for this next part.”

Adam frowned. “I’d like to help.”

“Sarah will be practicing her deadlier magic,” Diana explained. “And I think she’d feel more comfortable if you weren’t within striking distance.”

Adam looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded. Diana was right, I didn’t want him anywhere close to us for the next part. “I’ll come find you when we’re done,” I told him.

I could tell he wanted to protest, but he nodded and turned back towards the castle. As I watched him walk away, I couldn’t help comparing him to Julian. Julian wouldn’t have left. He would have argued and growled at me. He would have insisted that he was refusing for my own good, to protect me. But Adam wasn’t like that. He actually listened to me and did as I asked.

I shook my head. Why was I comparing them? I had bigger things to worry about than our sad little love triangle. I turned around and glanced between the two witches. “What’s next?”

“We’ll test your ability to turn someone to dust.” Diana saw my expression and quickly held up a hand to stop me. “Before you panic, you’ll be practicing on plants.”

“Plants,” I repeated, not sure I was understanding.

“Plants and people have far more in common than most humans realize. They’re both living organisms that eat, drink, and breathe, though their methods of doing so are quite different. They both respond to sound and touch. I could go on, but I’m afraid if I did you’d be reluctant to hurt a plant.”

“Great,” I mumbled.

“Just focus on a patch of grass in front of you, and imagine it turning to dust.”

I looked at the tall grass surrounding me. We’d trampled parts of it down, but most of it was knee high. The color ranged from deep green to golden brown, and there were tall yellow flowers here and there.

I focused on a flower, noticing for the first time how pretty it was. When was the last time I noticed something like that? On Julian’s island maybe? Or when Adam and I sat on his front steps and looked up at the stars?

I’d picked countless wildflowers in my lifetime, but I was suddenly reluctant to hurt this one. Would it feel it? Would the other flowers mourn it? I exhaled loudly, feeling ridiculous. What was I going to do, never walk on grass again for fear of hurting it? Never eat another vegetable? Fuck, Sarah, just dust the damn thing.

The flower disintegrated into dust, which fell to the ground, becoming lost in the tall grass.

“I did it!” I looked at Selene and Diana, proud of my accomplishment. They exchanged a look, and I felt a cool breeze brush past me as they removed the shield.

“You did great,” Selene said, walking towards me.

“It was easy,” I said, amazed. “I don’t know why I was so afraid of my magic.”

“You were afraid because your first experience with it was terrifying,” Diana explained, walking over to us. “You were in the middle of a battle and Marius had just been killed. You were overcome with rage and pain, and your magic responded in kind. It came easily this time, because you feel calm, and safe.”

I frowned. “But when I actually need to use my magic, it’ll be in self defense. How am I supposed to feel calm and safe if I’m under attack?”

“Practice,” Diana said simply. “I’ll spar with you, magic to magic. Selene will create a shield around us and heal us if one of us actually hurts the other.”

“I don’t know,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“All of my ideas are good,” Diana said, surprising a laugh out of me. She looked to Selene. “Move over there.” She pointed towards the castle. “Create a wall between us and the castle. It won't matter if a blast shoots in the other direction.”

Selene jogged back towards the castle before turning to face us. She turned her palms towards us, and I felt the shield come into place.

Shit. We’re doing this now.

I started to turn towards Diana when something hit me, like a punch to the stomach that sent me flying backwards through the air. I hit the ground hard, sliding several feet before stopping. I gasped, filling my burning lungs with air, as the sky above me came back into focus. I pushed myself up on shaking hands and looked across the tall grass at Diana. She stood at least thirty feet away, with a smug smile on her face.

I stood slowly, not knowing what I was supposed to do. I saw Diana’s hand move, and I didn’t even have time to brace for impact before I was flying backwards again. When I hit the ground, the impact took my breath away. I slid even further than before, my body flattening a long path in the grass. When I finally came to a stop, I lay there for a moment, listening to the ringing in my ears. I pushed myself to my feet and saw that the distance between Diana and I had more than doubled. I held up a hand, signaling for her to wait, but I was too late. Her hand was already moving.

Again and again she struck me, never giving me a chance to catch my breath. Each time it got harder to get up. Each time I tried to tell her to stop, but she never let me get the word out. Her last blast was the worst. Or maybe it just seemed that way because I was in such bad shape. I pushed myself onto my hands and knees, and watched the blood from my nose drip down onto the ground.

Fight, Marius hissed in my mind.

“I can't,” I whimpered. I could barely hear my own voice over the ringing in my ears.

You can. Fight her like you wanted to fight me.

I shook my head, causing my vision to dance. “I didn’t want to fight you.”

You don’t now , but you did . Remember when I tortured your lovers? How I bent their bodies and snapped their bones? I would have moved on to Allie next. If I hadn’t tasted your blood and learned the truth, I would have tortured your sister.

“I don’t believe you.”

I would have taken my time with her. I would have-

“Stop!” I shouted. I shoved myself to my feet, swaying as I turned to face Diana. I was on the opposite side of the field now, practically to the treeline, but even from this distance I could see her perfectly. I saw her hand begin to move, and time slowed. This time when she struck at me, I struck back.

Power shot out of me, and I saw the moment it hit her. I watched her body fly backwards, straight towards the cliff’s edge. “Stop!” I screamed, lunging forward, arms outstretched as if I could catch her from this great distance. I was so shocked when I saw her body stop, that I stumbled a few steps before finding my footing.

She was suspended mid-air, barely a foot from the cliff's edge. I ran towards her, crossing the field in an instant. I wanted to grab her, and pull her down, but was afraid to touch her. I looked to Selene for help, but she was frozen too. I was on my own.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to move her, and I knew if I unfroze time her momentum would send her flying over the edge. So I did the only thing I could think of. I wrapped my arms around her, locking my hands together behind her back.

“Marius?” I prayed he’d answer, but he didn’t. I tightened my grip on Diana and closed my eyes. Unfreeze.

We lurched into motion as Diana’s body continued on its trajectory, taking me with it. I heard her scream as she became aware, and her arms tightened around me as we flew over the edge. The wind tore past us as we plummeted towards the ground.

“Fly!” she cried. The wind tore the word from her lips, but I heard it.

Fly! I commanded myself, and to my amazement, I did. We were only a few feet from the jagged rocks when our direction changed and our entwined bodies soared back upwards. I spun us in the air, so I was facing the cliff, and when we reached the top, the sight that greeted me took my breath away. The sky was filled with vampires, flying at us like valkyrie army.

I landed without finesse, sending Diana and I both tumbling to the ground. Vampires landed all around us, the earth shaking as their feet slammed into the ground. Eskel was there, along with Marc, Adam, and Julian. There were many I didn’t recognize, and I knew they must be William’s men.

Julian fell to the ground beside me and yanked me into his arms. “Are you alright?” he asked, crushing me to his chest, making it impossible for me to respond.

“Let her breathe, will ya?” someone said, and Julian snarled in response. I pushed against his chest, and he reluctantly released me.

“I’m fine," I said, as I stood. In a blink, Julian was on his feet, trying to help me up. I shot him a look. “I said I’m fine.”

Everyone started talking at once, but I ignored them all. I turned to see Selene helping Diana to her feet. “Are you okay?” I asked, concerned. Diana nodded, and I shoved my tangled hair out of my face. “You could have given me some warning before blasting me.”

“But then you wouldn’t have panicked,” she said, matter-of-factly. “You would’ve sparred with me, but you would’ve held back.”

I gave her an exasperated look. “But we wouldn’t have gone over the cliff! What if I couldn’t fly? They wouldn’t have gotten here in time!” I waved a hand towards the others. “You could’ve been killed!”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Do you think so?”

I watched, stunned, as Diana’s feet slowly lifted off the ground. The crowd fell silent, and I stared at her, dumbstruck. “You can fly.”

She smiled mischievously, and I burst out laughing. Julian looked at me as if I’d lost my mind, and perhaps I had. Maybe it was the adrenaline wearing off, maybe I suffered brain damage from one-to-many hits of Diana’s magic. All I knew was I couldn’t stop laughing.

I was vaguely aware that William’s men headed back to the castle. When my laughter finally subsided, I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked around at the group that remained. Selene and Diana were still with me, as were Eskel, Julian, Adam, and Marc. They were all watching me with concern.

“Sorry,” I wheezed, wiping the tears from my face. “Oh my god, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard in my life.” I drew in a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know why I was laughing.”

“It’s a common reaction to a near death experience,” Marc said, stepping forward.

I looked at Diana. “Except I wasn’t really near death, because you can fly.”

Diana looked directly into my eyes. “You held your own against me. Fighting a vampire should be a piece of cake.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, a piece of cake.”

We walked back to the castle in silence, or at least I was silent. Marc chatted away with Selene and Diana, while I walked ahead with Eskel at my side. I tried to ignore the fact that both Julian and Adam trailed behind me. I had no idea what Adam was thinking, but the tension coming from Julian was palpable.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what Diana said. I held my own against her, and she had the power of a goddess. A vampire without magic didn’t stand a chance. For weeks, I’d been living in fear that my enemies would hurt my loved ones, or that I’d lose control and hurt them myself. But now, for the first time, I wasn’t afraid. I felt powerful. So powerful that I was almost looking forward to facing my enemies. Let them come for me. I would destroy them all.

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