The Van Alen Legacy (33 page)

How glorious their triumphs
had been! How beautiful they all were, resplendent and soaring to the sun. How could anyone fault
them for basking in their own beauty and glory? How could anyone fault them for thinking the
glory was their own?

But no
!,
it was
his fault they were stuck here; his fault they were cursed to live out their lives on Earth.
Paradise was just a dim memory, almost a myth, even to them, shut out from warmth and love of the
Almighty forever.
If only . . .

They had tried. . . . They had
switched sides at the last moment, choosing that
clodhorse
Michael over their
general. But it had been too late. . . . It had been too late, even then, back in the early dawn
of the world, when she was still young. . . .

“Release her!” Jack cried.
“Now, serpent.”

Mimi looked at her brother, at
her twin. She had never seen him so angry, so hell-bent on destruction. They had fought side by
side in Lucifer’s army once, and had fought against him ever since. Jack leaped over the gate,
his sword aflame.
To vanquish his foe and rescue his love.

Without hesitation, Mimi
followed him into battle.

In the darkness of the glom,
Mimi unleashed the full powers of her transformation. She could feel her wings sprout, could feel
her horns grow, curling above her forehead. This was her true form as the dark and terrible
Azrael
, the Angel of Death. These were the wings of the Apocalypse, the harbinger of
Hades, of sorrow and ruin. All this she encompassed in her soul and her being.

With all of her strength, she
threw herself against the Morningstar, pinning him against the black rock, but her claws found no
leverage, and soon she was simply holding a pile of dust. Lucifer would not be taken so easily.
But Schuyler was free. I owed you one, Schuyler Van Alen. Now we are even, Mimi
thought.

“Not bad, Force.”

She turned.

Behind the gate, Kingsley and
Leviathan were caught in a stalemate. The demon had his spear at Kingsley’s neck, and Kingsley
had his sword poised at the demon’s heart. Neither would give an inch, Mimi saw.
But maybe
if . . .

“Stay right where you are,
Force,” Kingsley said slowly. His handsome face turned to her behind the iron bars. “Don’t come
any closer.”

“Why? What are you going to
do?” Mimi cried, although she already knew. She could see the white aura that began to surround
him. He was calling up a
subvertio
, fashioning a white hole of death.

“I am going to destroy the
path,” Kingsley said. “It’s the only way.”

“Don’t.” Mimi shook her head,
her eyes glistening.

Kingsley looked at her with
the utmost gentleness. “Do not cry for me,
Azrael
. Do not waste your tears. You made
your decision. And this is mine. Sacrifice seems to be my destiny. A funny thing for a selfish
man, isn’t it? They always called me weak back then . . . but maybe weakness is
a
strength
of a kind.”

Mimi pressed her face against
the bars, as close as she could get to him. She couldn’t bear for him to go without knowing what
she had been about to do, she had been planning to leave Jack to be with him. She had meant to
forsake her bond and throw her destiny to the wind. I can’t, she was going to say. I can’t do
this. I’m coming with you.

“Kingsley, I . . .”

Kingsley smiled his Cheshire
smile. And without another word, he called up the white darkness,
thesubvertio
, a
spell that unlocked what could not be unlocked, that destroyed what could not be
destroyed.

There was a deep rumbling, a
shaking, like the strongest earthquake, and the
iron gate
crumbled, and the path
began to melt. The demon shrieked, but Kingsley just looked at Mimi the entire time.

Azrael
. .
.

In a flash, they disappeared.
The path, the gate, the demon, and the Silver Blood.

Kingsley was gone.
Trapped in Hell for eternity.

Mimi collapsed to the ground,
as if her heart had imploded in her chest.

She had done it. She had
brought herself and Jack back from the glom. They were back in the church, lying a few feet away
from each other. She coughed, spitting out toxic black dust. She was covered in soot, like a
chimney sweep. She wondered if this was a consequence of what had happened in the glom or if it
was part of the Silver Blood mist that had blanketed the church during the attack.

“Jack . . . Jack . . .” she
whispered, crawling to his side. He was bleeding from the hole in his back. . . . The demon’s
spear was corrupted. It carried the black fire within it. Jack was dying. This was the nightmare
that had plagued her for months . . . the same despair that washed over her now. She was losing
him.

She turned him over so she
could cradle him in her arms. Her tears fell on his cheeks. He could not hear her.

“He needs the
Caeremonia
. Red Blood,” said a voice from the other side of the church. “It is
poison to the
Croatan
and will deflect the fire. We need to find a
human.”

Mimi Force was still wearing
her bonding dress, but like Schuyler, she was covered in black soot, her face was bruised, and
her eyes were red. She walked slowly toward Schuyler.

“I know it will work. Kingsley
told me,” Mimi said, leaving the church to find a human who could possibly save her
brother.

But there was no time. There
was no time even to use the Call. Then Schuyler realized . . .

“I’m human,” she said. “I’m a
half-blood.”

Half of her was vampire, but
the other half was mortal and weak but filled with vibrant life, the life that vampires needed so
badly for their own. It was this half, this side of her that would save her love.

“Jack, listen to me,” she
whispered, leaning down. “Listen, you need to drink. . . . You need to drink from me.”

Jack opened his eyes slowly
and stared into hers. “Are you sure?” he whispered.

“Yes, you must. It’s the only
way.”

Schuyler knew that Mimi did
not lie. And it made sense, somehow, that something so weak could also bring so much life,
because that was exactly what blood did. It brought him life.

Jack gasped. “But I could hurt
you. . . . The risk is too great. The Corruption . . . I might be tempted to . . .”

Taking the blood of a fellow
vampire was against the Code. It was what the Silver Bloods did to their victims. If Jack lost
control, both of them were doomed.

“I trust you,” Schuyler said,
leaning down to him, while he pushed himself up and put an arm around her neck.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he
whispered, his fangs sharp and white, the edges as thin and dangerous as a razor.

“Please, Jack,” Schuyler said.
She closed her eyes. “Do it now!”

In answer, Jack sunk his fangs
into the base of her neck, and Schuyler bit her lip at the sudden intrusion. She had not expected
it to hurt so much, was this what the humans experienced? This dizzying sense of otherness, of
sweet relief and exquisite pain, as a vampire sucked the life force out of them? She had never
felt closer to Jack in her life. It was as if he were touching every part of her, as if their
very souls were merging in the blood exchange, as if he were opening every secret she’d ever had,
as if he knew every last bit of her . . . tasting and reveling in it. . . . She swooned. . .
.

Dark and lovely and precious .
. . so sweet . . . so sweet . . . so sweet . . .

The Visitor had returned. He
sounded manic, hysterical, barking orders that she did not understand. Bliss was groggy. The
demon had knocked her out when she’d tried to help Schuyler, and now her head was
throbbing.

“WAKE UP, CHILD! GO!
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!”

What . . . what did he want?
What was happening? She looked around. In the middle of the aisle, Schuyler was holding Jack in
her arms, like a Pieta. She stumbled forward, still holding her bouquet. What was Schuyler doing
with Jack Force? Jack was supposed to be bonded. But no, Schuyler had never followed any of the
rules. The Code of the Vampires had never applied to her. What had the Visitor called her?
Selfish.
Unremarkable.
A false friend.

Bliss felt so lost and alone.
Maybe the Visitor was right.

Maybe he was the only person
she could really trust. Her mother had not even bothered to wait for her, to see her, to speak to
the daughter who needed her so badly. As for Dylan, well, maybe he was false too, had he really
disappeared? Was he really being held? He had been able to break through before, what was
stopping him now?

There was nothing to stop
her.

Maybe the Visitor was right.
She couldn’t think anymore; she couldn’t see straight. All she knew was that she was so tired of
listening to the voice in her head. She was so very tired of fighting.

“Do it!”

“DO IT!”

“KILL HER!”

So very, very tired of
resisting and being good . . . And maybe if she did what he wanted, he would stop torturing her.
Maybe if she did what he wanted, she would finally have peace. . . .

Bliss walked over to where
Schuyler was sitting and removed the shard of glass from her bouquet.

You’re going to be all right,”
Schuyler murmured. Jack lay asleep in her arms. She knew he would live. She could feel it. Her
blood would save him. It was the only thing that would save him. It would bring life back to his
body and fight the black fire from Leviathan’s blade.

She looked around the empty
church. Mimi had not yet returned. Her former nemesis had looked broken and lost. Something had
happened back there, down in the glom.

Schuyler hugged Jack tighter,
but then heard footsteps. Someone was headed her way. Someone was standing, looming in front of
her.

“Bliss, what are you doing?”
Schuyler cried.

Her friend looked like a
witch, with her wild red hair and her torn black dress, holding something shiny and ominous in
her hand.

“I’m so sorry, Schuyler. I’m
so sorry,” Bliss sobbed.

Schuyler moved Jack so that he
would be safe. She stood up and covered him protectively.

“Bliss, put down the
knife.”

“I can’t . . . I have to,”
Bliss whimpered.

“I’m sorry but I have
to.”

“What do you mean? What’s
going on? What’s happened to you?”

“My father . . . he’s in my
head. He tells me things. He says I have to do this or I’ll never see Dylan again.”

“Your father?”
Schuyler asked.

But she already knew the
answer to her question. What had Cordelia once told her? We fear one of our oldest families is
harboring the Dark Prince himself. We don’t know how and we don’t know who, but we suspect the
betrayal is at the highest level of the Conclave.

Bliss Llewellyn was the Silver
Blood all along. Bliss carried Lucifer in her. Then Schuyler remembered something Lawrence had
told her as well: Your sister will be our death. Bliss was her hidden sister. Bliss was born to
kill her.

“No, Bliss, you don’t have to
. . . I can help you. We can do something about it. You don’t have to do what he tells
you.”

Bliss did not respond. Instead
she lunged at Schuyler, who ducked just in time. But Bliss caught the hem of Schuyler’s skirt and
dragged her down. Schuyler could feel the blade start to inch its way toward her chest. This was
it . . . Jack had risked his life for her and she for him . . . but it was all for nothing. How
could she have not known?

“Bliss!
Please!”
Schuyler sobbed. “Don’t?”

Bliss held the blade above
Schuyler’s heart, an inch from her chest, but at the last moment, she hesitated.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry!”
Bliss cried as she released her friend, the tears streaming down her face.

“Bliss, stop, what are you
doing?” Schuyler screamed. “No!” “

With a mighty thrust, Bliss
plunged the archangel’s blade deep into her own heart, breaking the glass into a million pieces,
and ending her life.

The Coven was up in arms.
Forsyth Llewellyn had disappeared. Kidnapped by the
Croatan
? Or was he
Croatan
himself. Who knew who they could trust anymore? Mimi wondered why he had
been so keen on their bonding. Had it truly been for the sake of the Coven, or was it something
else? Had he known what was hidden under the church?

Meanwhile, the Conclave was in
shambles. This was the end of everything, silver Bloods in the church! At a bonding! It was
madness, inexcusable. There would have to be meetings to discuss what must be done. More and more
meetings, and proper investigations, and no decisions made. They were frightened and leaderless.
Mimi understood that the Coven needed her and Jack now more than ever.
More even than
yesterday.