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“Stop!”

Valya reluctantly stopped. Just another two steps and he could wrap his hands around Luka’s throat.

“Now…kneel before me. Kneel before your master.”

Richelle watched as Valya slowly fell to his knees. Although he was in a supplicant position, his expression was set in grim determination. Luka was a coward who could never have made Valya fall to his knees. He would only do so because he was using her against Valya. Tears spilled down her cheeks, frustrated and angry that she could be used as a pawn in Luka’s twisted game.

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She met Valya’s gaze, strong and loving, and it rejuvenated her sagging spirit. She could feel his love for her radiating from him, touching her, filling her with the same determination and resolve he had to defeat Luka.

Pulling her up by her hair, Luka forced her to look upon Valya, pointing at him as he screamed.

“See how I have beaten him! How I have beaten all Immortals who have defied me!” He raised his head and bellowed into the night, knowing the Triad was still watching. “Your best Guardian, Nicolae’s chosen! And
I
have defeated him!”

“You haven’t defeated anyone.” Richelle spoke loudly. She’d be damned if she would allow that to happen.

“All you have succeeded in doing is manipulating those around you as a means to an end.”

He gripped her hair tighter and twisted her to face him. His face was red with fury. His handsome features had melded into a contorted gargoyle-like mask. She waited for fear to override her purpose, but it didn’t come. To the contrary, she felt strangely calm as she faced him boldly.

“Who do you think you are, bitch!” He shook her violently through his tirade. “I am the most powerful Immortal there ever was! No one can defeat me! No one!” He backhanded her and sent her tumbling to the floor. Valya’s blood boiled as he watched Richelle fall, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. He tried to rise and charge but found himself restrained by Luka’s mind control. Richelle raised her head to see Luka surrounded by a red and black aura as he pointed down at Valya.

“No one will ever be able to defeat me! Richelle will be mine and I shall rule the world! Not that you will care for
you will be dead!
”

Richelle felt her heart stop, and Luka gathered his power to vanquish Valya. She forced herself to breathe and slowly rose, disoriented and unsteady by Luka’s blow. After all they had endured together, she couldn’t lose Valya. She wouldn’t allow it to happen. Luka drew back ready to strike with his deadly blow when without a second thought, Richelle rushed forward.

“Nooo!”

All three yelled at the same time as Richelle threw herself between Valya and the lethal assault. Luka’s blow struck her squarely in her chest, sending her across the room to land a few feet away from Nicolae and

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Selene. Nicolae reacted quickly and ran to Richelle. A single tear trailed down his cheek as he cradled his daughter’s head in his lap. He could feel her life’s energy draining away, and he used his power the stop the threads of her tapestry from unraveling.

Luka began cursing and, in the commotion, lowered his shield around Valya. Released from his invisible chains, Valya created a ball of energy and threw it at Luka. Luka’s body shook as the energy enveloped him in an electrical field. After a few moments, the charge exploded, sending Luka crashing to the floor.

Valya rushed to Richelle’s side. His hands hovered inches over her body as he reached out, but he was afraid to touch her. He looked imploringly at Nicolae, his mouth gaping, but he was afraid to speak. Nicolae just stared at him, misery reflected in his fading silvery eyes as he lovingly kissed her forehead.

Grabbing her from Nicolae, Valya crushed her in his embrace and began to cry aloud. Rocking her gently, he murmured softly into her hair, begging her not to leave him. He looked up to Nicolae. Richelle’s flame was flickering, nearly extinguished. He bowed his head to her chest, willing her back to life, knowing it was useless and vowing she would not leave this world alone. He would join her in death.

She raised her hand to capture a strand of his hair in her fingertips. She stroked the length as it fell to his shoulder, where she rested her hand. She was so cold, so tired, but there was still something she had to do. She leaned into the warmth of Valya’s body, absorbing his heat as she gathered the remaining energy within her.

Luka stood slowly and began to rant against his thwarted plot. “You will all die! No one can defeat me! And if I can’t have Richelle, no one shall!

You…will…all…
die!
”

His destructive powers lashed out in all directions as he raised his arms above his head, creating a lightning storm within the castle. The walls trembled under his fury and the stones began to crumble beneath the wind and lightning. Immortals threw fireballs at Luka only to have them deflected by the power of the storm.

Valya pulled Richelle tighter into his embrace, using his body to shield her. Richelle weakly pushed against the immoveable wall of his chest. “
I
will not let Luka win,”
she proclaimed. Focusing her will, she gathered her

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life force into a flame within her. It started to burn brighter until a blinding white flame encircled her and Valya.

She let her head loll back and began chanting. At first her words were imperceptible, but she continued to chant them over and over and over again.

“Triple Goddess, hear my plea…Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, hear me. And
as I will, so mote it be. I cast this spell, invoking the powers of the Universe.

Karma, do as ye will, do as ye will. Karma, do as ye will. So mote it be.”

The lightning ceased and the storm winds died down. An eerie calm settled over the room like the eye of a storm. Luka stared wide-eyed into the calm air, waving his hands and shaking his fists, ineffectively trying to re-summon the storm. Raising his head, Valya watched as Luka screamed like a banshee. Valya’s gaze shifted from Luka to Richelle and then back to Luka as she continued to repeat her chant.

“Karma, do as ye will, do as ye will. Karma, do as ye will. So mote it
be.”

Then there was complete silence.

Luka visibly began to shake. At first with rage. Then…with fear.

He began gasping for air, his hands immediately going to his throat as he began to grasp at invisible hands. He clawed at his throat until he shredded his skin and blood oozed between his fingertips. He spun around, trying to break free from the forces strangling him. A freezing cold wind whipped around him like a tornado; ice formed and his skin turned icy blue.

His eyes were stark with terror as he was slowly entombed in a block of ice.

Selene awoke groggily and crawled to Nicolae, who embraced her. She had wanted to save her son from the wrong she had done. But in the end, she had chosen to save the Immortals and mankind, so all she could do was watch in wretchedness as the Fates decided upon her son’s punishment. She buried her face in Nicolae’s shoulder and wept forlorn tears.

As the Immortals looked on, the tomb of ice shattered, sending shards flying about the room. Luka was still gasping for breath, his hands around his bleeding throat as he was levitated several feet above the floor. His arms shot down to his side, and he threw his head back in an agonizing screech.

Before their eyes, his chest expanded and decreased until his black heart exploded out of his chest, landing on the floor and bursting to flames.

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In a final horrific scene, the flames began to lick at his pant legs, rising higher until he was engulfed in a fiery inferno. The smell of burning, rotting flesh permeated the air. Luka’sscreams cut through the night like a knife.

Selene covered her ears to block out the death throes of her prodigal son all the while acknowledging Karma as a vengeful bitch. His screams died off as his body burnt to ashes, a pile of glowing embers upon the floor the only remains of the Evil One, Luka cel Rau.

“Karma, do as ye will. So mote it be.”

Valya gazed at his love lying limp in his arms. She gave him a weak smile and touched her fingertips to his lips. Never again would she feel the softness of his kiss, she thought ruefully, but she had to do what needed to be done. She stroked them lightly, tracing the outline and ingraining the shape and texture to memory.

“It…is done,” she whispered as her hand fell away.

He grabbed her hand before it landed on her chest and raised it to his lips, kissing the backs of her fingers.
So cold. So damned cold,
he thought.

“I…do not…regret…a thing.” She struggled to get the words out.
She
had to tell him. He had to know.
He merely looked at her with a love’s reflection that would defy the ages as he clung to her body, willing her spirit not to leave.

“I will love you, Valya. For all eternity.”

Only now did he understand the profundity of her capability to love. She had sacrificed herself to save the world, and with her dying breath, she declared her devotion to him. Closing his eyes, he bent his head until his forehead touched hers, where he wept bitterly.

His comrades neared, forming a circle around them, but none dared approach. Richelle was dying. Valya was losing his life mate, which meant he would be unpredictable as to his actions and reactions. Nicolae alone was able to approach, and even he was wary of Valya’s changed demeanor. If Richelle perished, Valya would readily follow her into oblivion but not without accidentally taking out several of his brethren.

Nicolae stood beside Valya and placed his hand upon his shoulder.

Valya’s head snapped up with a jerk, but he never took his eyes from Richelle’s ashen face. He couldn’t imagine his world without her radiant smile to light his way through the darkness of his empty soul. She was his shining star and she was fading into a darkness from which she could never

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return. He could not save her from it. All he could do was blindly follow her.

“Oh Gods…help me. I cannot live without her.” He shook his head and looked up beseechingly at Nicolae. “Save her…please.”

Guardians rarely asked for help. They never begged. Yet here was Valya begging for the life of his woman, his life.

Nicolae’s daughter.

Nicolae was as unwilling to let his daughter’s light fade from the world as Valya. He had the power to save her. No price was too high to pay to ensure her survival and her happiness. He remembered the words he had said to Valya—
“No matter what the price.”

Holding out his arms, he nodded to Valya.
“Give her to me.”

Valya was reluctant to let Richelle go, but the look in Nicolae’s silvery eyes tore through him. Valya lifted her into his arms and stood, gingerly handing her to her father.

Nicolae choked back the lump that had formed in his throat. Mimicking Valya, he touched his forehead to hers. He regretted all the time he had missed with her, where he could have helped her. But most of all he grieved, knowing he would miss her future with Valya as they lived and loved, had children—
his
grandchildren. He kissed her cheek softly, prompting her to speak.

“Father, I wish…” she slurred as she leaned into his embrace, struggling to raise her face to meet his eyes. She had no strength left.

“I know,” Nicolae replied. She was light as a feather in his arms, as if she could float away into the night sky.

“I love you.”

“And I love you, daughter. For all eternity and beyond.”

She held his gaze for only a moment, but the memory of that moment would last ’til the end of time. She smiled as her eyes fluttered shut. Nicolae checked her pulse…
so faint. “I love you, Richelle. Be happy.”
With a final embrace, he walked toward the center of the great hall.

The rising moon sent silvery-white beams of light through an upper window, creating an ethereal spotlight in the center of the room. The moonlight cast a mystical glow through the rest of the room, banishing all shadows and gloom from their dark hiding places. Using his powers, the

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bodies lying scattered throughout the hall dissolved like mist in the morning light.

“What are you going to do?” Valya’s emotions were riding high, but right now, he was unsure and operating in a state of confusion. Nicolae gazed at him with understanding and apologetic regret.

“You need to complete the bonding ritual. Take her someplace holy
where your union can be consummated, untouched by this evil.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Take good care of my daughter. Be happy in your life together.”

Valya delved into Nicolae’s mind and caught a glimpse of his intent.

His body began to vibrate with the intensity of Nicolae’s determination and then with the energy surge as Nicolae prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. He was going to give his life for Richelle.

“Noooo!” Valya’s outcry fell on deaf ears as Nicolae closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and began to chant in the Immortal language. The other Immortals drew near, watching in amazement as the moonlight became a bright white aura encasing Nicolae and Richelle in a blinding ray of purity, and the wind began to rise.

Nicolae offered Richelle to the moonlight, and she began to levitate from his arms. She was lifted higher and higher by an unseen force as Nicolae raised his arms above his head. He was unaffected by the wind whipping at his hair and body, and his chanting grew louder, using his power to infuse Richelle with his life force. Richelle’s body turned in midair until she was upright with her arms spread out to her sides.

Valya reached out to grab Nicolae, but was repelled by the energy of light surrounding them. It threw him against Roman and Stefan and they each took an arm.

“No, Nicolae! There has to be another way!”