The Darkest Crown (The Eternal Darkness Duet #2)

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

A llie was sitting on the edge of her bed wearing a pink tank top and striped pajama shorts, and Eskel stood nearby in his normal dark attire. They were talking, but fell silent when I walked in.

“Feeling better?” I asked, closing the door.

Allie huffed. “Yeah. Thanks to Diana, it was probably the world’s shortest hangover, but I’m still glad I won’t have to experience it again.”

I sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. “Because you can’t ever drink champagne again. Or eat Nutella.”

Allie’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t even think about trying to talk me out of this.”

I chuckled and held up my hands. “Okay.”

Eskel grabbed a cup from the bedside table and held it out to me. “To take the edge off.”

I was too nervous to feel hungry, but I took the cup and drained it. I wiped my mouth with my hand and set the cup down.

Eskel sat down on the other side of Allie, sandwiching her between us. He lifted his hand to sweep her hair over her shoulder, baring one side of her neck.

“Sarah will bite you here,” he said, touching his fingertips to her neck. “You’ll feel that first sharp prick, then her venom will enter your system making you feel very good. She’ll drain you until you are at the brink of death, then she’ll feed you her own blood. When you’ve had enough, you’ll fall into a deep sleep. That's when your body changes. When you wake, you’ll feel sick, and you’ll be in a great deal of pain. But it will only last until you’ve fed, which you’ll do immediately.” Eskel looked to me. “I’ll listen to her heart and tell you when to stop.”

I nodded, unable to speak, and slid closer to Allie. She grabbed my hand, wrapping both of hers around it. “I love you, and I trust you. Do it.”

I lifted my free hand to her neck, holding her still as I leaned in. I felt my fangs come down, and I stopped, my lips hovering over her skin. I looked over her shoulder at Eskel, and and he nodded once. I opened my mouth and sank my fangs into my sister's neck.

She gasped and stiffened, then her body relaxed. I drank deeply, feeling my body strengthen with each swallow. I closed my eyes, hating myself for enjoying the taste of her blood.

Images began to flash through my mind. Allie as a child riding her little purple bike, playing dress up with mom’s jewelry, splashing in the ocean, opening presents on Christmas morning, standing beside mom’s grave, us arguing, and playing, and laughing. Every fight we’d ever had. Every time she comforted me, even though I was the older sister.

“Stop.” Eskel said, startling me from my thoughts. I opened my eyes and looked at him. “ Stop .”

I pulled my fangs out of Allie’s neck and leaned back to look at her. She was unconscious, and pale. Even the pink in her lips was gone. Eskel was holding her upright, and I looked at him with alarm.

“She’s alright,” he assured me. “Bite the inside of your wrist and hold it to her mouth.”

I quickly lifted my hand and bit into my wrist. In my panic, I bit hard, and blood spurted out of me. Eskel lay Allie back on the bed, and I hurriedly pressed my wrist to her mouth. Her jaw was slack, and I was getting blood all over her. I listened for her heartbeat, but couldn’t hear anything. Then she swallowed.

I sobbed with relief, my eyes darting briefly to Eskel. Allie swallowed a second time, and a third. “Drink, Allie,” I encouraged, not knowing if she could hear me.

“She’s doing well,” Eskel said.

Suddenly Allie’s hands shot up and grabbed my arm. Her eyes opened, and she looked up at me without seeing. Her eyes were red with blood, and her pupils kept dilating and constricting. She gripped me tightly, holding my wrist to her mouth as she drank. Her pupils flared, spreading to the edges of her eyes, leaving them entirely black. Blood rolled from the corners of her eyes, down into her hair, and I looked at Eskel with alarm, but he seemed calm.

After what seemed like eternity but was probably only a minute, Allie’s grip on me loosened, and her hands fell to the bed. She exhaled, a loud wheezing sound, and her eyelids slowly closed. I cradled my wrist in my lap as I watched her.

“It's done,” Eskel said, standing. I looked up at him, not knowing what to say or do. His face was soft with understanding. “There’s nothing to do now but wait.”

And wait we did. We sat by Allie’s side for almost twenty-four hours. She looked peaceful at first. I used a wet cloth to clean her face and neck, and I used my blood to heal the bite marks. After that, I sat on the bed beside her, leaning against the headboard, and Eskel moved to a chair by the fireplace. We didn’t speak. Each of us were lost in our own thoughts.

Sometime in the early morning hours, Allie moaned, and I jerked my head towards her. Her body twitched, then jerked, her back arching high off the mattress. I cried out with alarm, and Eskel was beside the bed in an instant.

“What’s happening?” I asked, fearfully.

“It’s part of the process,” Eskel explained. “She must die to be reborn.”

I looked at Allie and felt tears roll down my cheeks. I didn’t bother to wipe them away, instead I raised a shaking hand to smooth her hair away from her face. “I’m sorry,” I whispered raggedly, as her body continued to convulse. “Can she feel it? Is she in pain?”

Eskel sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know. We don’t remember this part, only the pain when we wake.”

Allie’s body jerked violently, her head twisting to the side at an unnatural angle. Her eyelids flickered and twitched, and she began to make choking sounds as she gasped for air.

“She can’t breathe!” I cried. “We have to do something!”

Eskel put his hand on my arm. “I’ve seen this many times, Sarah. There’s no reason to be alarmed.”

Allie opened her mouth wide, as if she were screaming, but all that came out was a guttural moan. Her body arched off the bed again, her back cracking loudly.

“We have to do something!” I sobbed.

Reach into her mind.

“Marius!” I’d never been so happy to hear his voice. Eskel’s head jerked towards me, his eyes wide. “What do I do?” I asked, choking on my tears.

The same thing you always do. It will be harder to reach her in this state, but if you focus, you can do it.

“Focus,” I whispered to myself. I was aware that Eskel was watching me, and I knew he wanted to ask about Marius, but there would be time for that later. I grabbed Allie’s shoulders, pinning her down to the bed, then I leaned over her and pressed my forehead to hers. I pushed my fear aside and opened my mind to her. And then I heard her screams. They were wild and animalistic, and they were never ending.

I sobbed, but didn’t pull away. Allie. Listen to my voice. You feel no pain. You are not afraid. I am with you. I repeated the words over and over, until her screams turned to sobs, and her convulsions lessened. Her crying became softer, and before long stopped completely. Her body grew still and her breathing became even. But I didn’t stop. Without breaking contact, I lay down beside her and wrapped my arms around her, holding her close to me. You feel no pain. You are not afraid. I am with you.

For hours, I clung to her body and her mind. She lay so still, I was startled when she jerked against my hold. She moaned and twisted in my grasp. My eyes flew open, and I quickly sat up. Eskel was standing at the foot of the bed, watching us. Allie’s face scrunched, and she curled into a fetal position, then she groaned and her eyes flew open.

“I’m gonna puke,” she gasped, struggling to get to the edge of the bed. Eskel was there in an instant, with a large bowl. I lifted Allie into a sitting position and Eskel shoved the bowl under her face just in time.

She retched loudly, her back hunching as her body expelled acid and bile. When she was done, Eskel removed the bowl and returned with a wet cloth. I leaned her back against my chest and he wiped her face clean. She moaned again, and her body twitched in my arms. Her head lolled back against my shoulder and her eyelids fluttered.

Eskel pulled a bag of blood out of a small cooler and poured it into a cup for Allie. He held it to her lips and titled it, and she choked, then she swallowed. Without opening her eyes, she emptied the cup. Her forehead smoothed as her body relaxed once more.

I sighed with relief and looked at Eskel. “We did it.”

He smiled softly. “She’s one of us now.”

I slowly shook my head. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Eskel perched on the foot of the bed and looked at me with understanding. “It’s terrifying the first time you witness it.” We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. “You spoke to Marius.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

His brow furrowed with confusion. “How?”

“I don’t know. He said he’d be with me for as long as I needed him.”

Eskel looked at me, his eyes lined red with unshed tears. “He reached Valhalla.”

Seeing the raw emotion on Eskel’s face made my eyes water. “Yeah, I think so.” I knew Valhalla was supposed to be heaven for vikings. “He said nothing could hurt him now.”

Eskel let out a shaky breath and leaned his head back against the bedpost.

Valhalla was heaven. There was an afterlife. That meant my parents might live on in another place. Were they together? Were they at peace? I closed my eyes and pictured them, walking hand in hand. My mom was beautiful, like she was before she got sick, and my dad was smiling. A real smile, like I hadn’t seen in years. I smiled sadly as I imagined it.

Eskel and I remained lost in our own thoughts for two more hours before Allie woke again.

“Sarah?” She was looking up at me with confusion, and her eyes were the brightest green I’d ever seen.

“Hey,” I said, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

She stared at me a moment, before looking around the room in wonder. “Eskel,” she breathed, when she saw him.

He smiled warmly. “Hello, Allie.”

She blinked several times and looked back at me. “I feel different,” she said, her brow wrinkling. She looked at my chest. “I can hear your heart beating,” she whispered with awe. She turned towards Eskel. “And yours.” She held her hands up in front of her face, turning them this way and that.

Eskel stood to get another glass of blood for Allie. Her eyes tracked his movement, and when he poured the blood her pupils flared.

“That’s blood,” she breathed, as if thinking out loud. “I want it. Like, really want it.” She climbed onto her knees and scooted across the bed towards him as he brought the cup to her. She grabbed it eagerly and lifted it to her lips. She moaned as she swallowed, and the corner of Eskel’s lips twitched.

Allie drained the cup, tipping her head back to get every last drop. When she lowered the empty cup, she looked at me with wide eyes and her lips slowly curled. “It's good! I mean, I figured I’d like it, but…” She looked down at her body, then back at me. “I feel so alive!” She let the cup fall to the bed and ran her hands over body. “I can’t even describe it.” She looked at me with amazement, and I couldn’t help but smile. She reached out and touched my hair, running her fingers through it, then she touched her own hair. “Everything feels so good .”

Eskel chuckled, and she jerked her head towards him. His eyes widened as she crawled over to him. She knelt in front of him and reached up to touch his face. “You’re so beautiful,” she breathed, running her fingers over his skin. She leaned in close and inhaled, breathing in his scent. “You smell so good .”

Eskel cleared his throat and stepped back, away from her touch. She frowned, then looked back at me. “I wanna go outside.”