Troubled (The Binding Chronicles #4)

38. A Bloody Battleground

A Bloody Battleground

N o, no, no.

That was the only thought running through Marius’s mind, the only thing he could think of as Vivienne’s eyes locked with his.

Across the way, he could see his sister and brother-in-law fighting another one of those creatures.

Death, blood, and gore surrounded them.

The cold air was heavy with the weight of dozens of lost lives. Who knew so few creatures could be the bringers of so much destruction? He’d never been to war, but by all the gods, it was an awful sight.

How had it come to this?

A crazed laugh came from behind him, pulling him from his thoughts.

The First.

Anger was the driving force in Marius’s body as he turned and ducked, avoiding the ancient vampire’s attack. He had to end this. Vivienne needed him .

The dagger vibrated in his hand, the hilt so hot it nearly burned him. The blade had been guiding his movements this entire battle, strengthening him in a way that didn’t entirely make sense.

Now, it seemed to say.

Marius didn’t question the blade’s magic or the way it spoke to him. He didn’t have time.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched in horror as one of the undead creatures slammed into Vivienne’s bloody, bruised body. Marius screamed as the blond monster lifted its head, its too-sharp fangs glinting in the moonlight.

He spun on his heels, nearly slipping in the bloody snow, and shouted his rage and fear. His body moved of its own accord, and he charged at the First with a speed that didn’t seem to belong to him. He raised the Forsaken Blade, the hilt searing his palm.

The ancient vampire raced towards him with a snarl, and Marius knew this was the end.

The final stand.

Red tinged his vision, a roaring filled his ears, and the Spirit of the Water’s words echoed in his mind. Aim for the heart.

This was their last hope.

The First snarled and grabbed Marius’s arm with an iron grip. The ancient being cackled, the sound sending shivers down his spine.

The blade vibrated in his hand. His fingers twisted on the hilt. Before he could send a prayer to the gods asking them to guide his movements, his hand was already moving.

The First’s fingers dug into his skin, tearing through flesh and making him bleed even as he slammed the Forsaken Blade into her chest. A sizzling sound filled the air as the obsidian dagger sank through flesh, finding its target.

Time slowed, and Marius’s heart became a roaring drum in his ears. His breath caught in his throat.

Wails rose from all around him.

The dagger heated.

Shadows streamed from the First.

A clap of thunder came from the heavens.

In front of Marius, shadows swarmed the undead vampire Luna and Sebastian had been battling. One moment, the creature was there. The next, it was gone in an explosion of ash and darkness.

Had he done it?

Had he stopped them in time to save Vivienne?

Marius wanted to look and see if she was alright, but he couldn’t move.

Darkness swelled from the First’s chest, pulsing like a wave. It swept over Marius, stealing his vision for one long, never-ending moment. It was as if the entire world took a breath at the same time.

His heart stilled, his lungs ceased breathing, and even his magic solidified in his veins.

The moment lasted for an eternity, and it was over in the blink of an eye.

When the darkness lifted, several things seemed to happen at once.

Marius tightened his fingers around the blade.

The First’s mouth fell open in shock, and she stared at him, unblinking.

The fingers gripping his arm convulsed.

An ear-piercing, high-pitched whine came from the Forsaken Blade. The hilt glowed bright blue, lighting up the night sky as black blood seeped around it.

The ancient vampire opened and closed her mouth. She lifted her hand from Marius’s arm, her fingers twitching .

“Impossible,” she croaked, black blood pouring from her mouth. “I... can... not...”

Her next words never came as the blade’s whine became a scream. Shadows swept across the ancient vampire’s ashen skin like spilled bottles of ink, covering her in seconds.

Ashen skin turned black.

Marius’s eyes widened, and he fought the urge to remove his fingers from the blade as the First’s flesh shrunk in on itself, hugging the vampire’s skeletal frame.

It seemed to take the First forever to die. Or maybe it was Marius’s desperate need to get to his vampire that had him wishing this ancient creature would cease existing faster.

Endless, painful seconds dragged on as the First’s blood hardened to glistening black stone.

Seasons went by in the blink of an eye. Lifetimes passed. Universes were made and destroyed.

Thoughts of Vivienne consumed Marius’s mind. He had to get to her. To see her. To save her. To tell her he loved her. He needed her, but he was frozen in this warped moment with this gods-damned blade.

Why wouldn’t the First die?

Time was his adversary, and he couldn’t even fight it as he waited for this to be over.

Finally, after an endless eternity, the hilt cooled in Marius’s grip.

He withdrew the blade, and the First’s body fell to the ground with a thunderous bang that echoed through the forest.

Dead.

She was really, truly dead.

A minute hadn’t even passed before a hand landed on his good arm. He looked down to see his sister’s fingers gripping him, black blood coating her flesh .

“Stand back, Marius.” Luna’s voice was soft and laced with royal authority.

He did as she asked, his movements stiff. Luna took his place in front of the motionless body, extending her right hand before her.

It was only then that Marius realized none of the vampires were in front of them. They couldn’t have gone far, what with the Tether, but he couldn’t see them.

Was Vivienne with the others?

She had to be there. He couldn’t bear to think about the alternative. His chest seized at the very thought that something had happened to her.

Before he could ask, bright yellow sparks danced across his sister’s hand.

Embers of pure sunlight lit up the night, and with a frown of concentration, Luna formed a glowing sphere in her palm. It expanded, reaching the size of a large orange, before she lobbed the ball of sunlight at the First.

Her aim was perfect.

The projectile landed on the ancient vampire’s lifeless body, and the corpse burst into flames. The fire burned far hotter than normal, and the body was gone in seconds.

A heartbeat after that, the fire vanished.

When the final spark was extinguished, Marius turned and ran towards the last location where he’d seen Vivienne. Luna called after him, but he didn’t stop. He had to find his vampire. Now that the First was dead, Vivienne was the only thing that mattered.

The forest had become a gruesome, bloody battleground, but he barely noticed the gore as he pushed past trees and raced to the last spot where he’d seen her.

Ash covered the snow and nearby trees. There was the imprint of a body on the crimson snow, but she wasn’t there .

Marius dropped to his knees, placing his palm face-down on the ground. His heart raced. Where was she?

“Marius,” Luna spoke softly behind him, standing a few feet away. She must not have been able to come any closer, thanks to the Tether. “You’re looking for Vivienne, right?”

He spun around. “Yes. Where is she?”

“Sebastian has her. But you should know, she’s?—”

He didn’t wait to hear the rest of her words. He rose and raced over to the king, who was kneeling on the ground with his wings spread.

A low moan filled the air as he got close to Sebastian, and it took a moment for Marius to realize the sound was coming from him.

Laid out beside the king in a row were over twenty vampires, all in various states of injury and death.

Marius couldn’t take his eyes off the one closest to his brother-in-law.

Fiery red hair framed a too-pale face, and beautiful black eyes that had once held so much life stared blankly up at the night sky. Vivienne’s chest was a mess of blood, and her arms lay limply at her sides.

Someone yelled, their voice echoing through the forest. He wasn’t sure if it was him or Luna.

Marius fell to his knees beside Sebastian, ignoring the bite of snow through his trousers, and took Vivienne’s hand.

It was as cold as ice.

“Wake up,” he pleaded with her, his eyes burning. “Please, you need to wake up. We did it.”

She didn’t move, and his heart twisted as pain speared his chest.

Marius had known death was a possibility, but it had been a foreign concept. He’d never truly considered that it might visit either of them. Vampires were immortal, for the gods’ sake. Creatures of the night weren’t supposed to die. They were supposed to live forever. She was supposed to live forever .

He’d been a gods-damned fool.

And now, Vivienne was…

She was…

This was…

Marius inhaled… or at least, he tried to.

In reality, a fist compressed his lungs. Air was a distant memory.

“Get up,” he whispered, salty tears streaming down his cheeks. He did nothing to stop them. “Get. Up. Yell at me. Tell me how much I attract trouble. Be angry with me. Just… please.” His voice cracked, and the words barely made it out of his throat. “Wake up.”

She didn’t do as he asked.

Of course not.

A hand touched his shoulder.

“She’s gone,” Sebastian said. The king’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, filled with the gentleness he usually reserved for his wife.

That made things so much worse.

“No.” Marius shook his head, unwilling and unable to accept what he was seeing. What he was hearing. This had to be a trick. A joke. This couldn’t be real. “She can’t be dead.”

Death was so final. So cold.

And Vivienne was so full of life.

Fabric rustled on his other side, and Luna pried his hand from his bodyguard.

“I’m sorry, Marius,” she whispered, clasping his fingers between hers.

No.

This couldn’t be happening. He refused to believe it.

He didn’t realize that he’d shaken off his sister’s hold until he held Vivienne’s clammy hands between his once again.

“Wake up,” he whispered, repeating his earlier plea. “You have to wake up. ”

He didn’t want to go back to Castle Sanguis without her. He didn’t want to go on any adventures without her. He didn’t want to do anything without her.

“Marius—”

“No.”

Luna meant well, but he couldn’t talk to his sister right now. He couldn’t look at her. He brought Vivienne’s hand to his lips, uncaring that it was bloody. What was blood when he’d failed her?

He kissed the inside of her palm, his heart breaking at the coldness of her flesh.

“I’m so sorry, Viv,” he murmured brokenly against her skin. “I?—”

His eyes widened, and he replaced his lips with his thumb. He didn’t dare move, let alone breathe, in case he missed it. In case it wasn’t real. In case she was really, truly dead.

Seconds that seemed like lifetimes passed before he felt it again.

A flutter.

It was barely there, a whisper of life, but it. Was. There.

Marius’s entire world centered on that minuscule movement. He swept Vivienne into his arms, his own wounds nothing in comparison to hers.

“She’s still alive.” He stood and faced the royals. “We need to get her help. Now.”