I shook my head and tried to hold in the sobs that crawled up my throat.
“Because you’re not alone.”
I looked at the faces around me. I knew they were right. I was at my best when I allowed my team to help me. I couldn’t argue with any of their arguments or pleas. But I still had no idea how we were going to get out of this.
“Okay,” I said finally. “So how are we going to—”
Before I could answer, the throne room swarmed with hundreds of vampire spirits. I didn’t see Cain among the horde. Probably he was hanging back so his army could clear a path for his grand entrance.
Shit, it was too late. My delay had just doomed us all. Just like the vision at the scrying pool had predicted.
“Sabina?” Tristan said.
“I don’t have any magic left.”
His eyes glistened. “I do. Let me help you.”
I watched him for a moment. If I accepted his offer, I knew instinctively that Lilith’s deal would be null and void. I glanced at the goddess, whose posture had gone tense and her eyes flicked restlessly toward the entrance.
The vampires closed in and flashed their fangs. Do or die time.
I nodded resolutely. “Do it.”
He gripped my hand hard and smiled. “Stand back.”
I moved back with Adam and Giguhl at my side. Tristan closed his eyes. The ground trembled as he called up the Chthonic powers that permeated Irkalla. It rose through his body and made the air vibrate and hum.
“Ati me peta babka,” he said, his voice loud and strong.
Three hundred and twenty-seven vampire spirits turned in unison to look at him. “Your work here is done. Return to the Bloodlands,” Tristan commanded.
As one, the entire army turned. But Tristan wasn’t done. A wicked spark twinkled in his blue eyes.
“When you return, rise up against the Dominae. Even dead, you deserve freedom from their oppression.”
As one, the army nodded and marched out. As they filed out, I spied Cain standing by the entrance to the throne room. His face was pale and his mouth hung open. Obviously he hadn’t been expecting us to defeat his army so easily. Good.
I ran to Tristan and hugged him. He smiled down at me and I up at him. “Nice job… Dad.” It was the first time I’d said that word to him without using a sarcastic tone. He winked and released me.
For the first time since I’d seen Maisie walk into the throne room, a spark of hope ignited in my chest. Tristan had been right—I wasn’t alone. I had my team by my side, and for better or worse, we’d fight the good fight because surrender was worse than death.
I turned to Lilith. “My answer is no.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re certain? How will you defeat Cain now?”
Inside the circle, Phoebe’s eyes widened and she threw herself at the barrier, punching at the wall of magic. Her muted screams made my skin go cold.
Behind me, a male shout. A gasp and a sickening gurgle.
The scent of blood reached my nose. An instant later, Nyx screamed.
I turned slowly. Tristan wobbled uneasily on his feet for a moment. A rapidly spreading red stain covered his chest. A large brass spike protruded from the wound.
I scrambled across the marble, reaching him a split second after he crumpled into Adam’s arms. The mancy slowly lowered him the rest of the way to the ground.
Kneeling beside my father, I touched the tip of the spike. When Tristan hissed in pain, I jerked my trembling hand away. “Tristan?” I whispered.
Adam and Giguhl knelt on either side of my father’s head.
A groan crackled from his throat. I clenched my fists together and struggled to contain the sob that slammed into the back of my teeth. “You’re going to be okay,” I lied.
“Liar,” he rasped. “Dying.”
I shook my head. A tear splashed on his cheek. “Don’t you fucking dare,” I said. “Not now.”
In the distance, I heard Nyx screeching as she kicked and clawed against Cain. The father of the vampire race grinned at me and winked.
“Love—” Tristan croaked before a wet cough shook his whole body.
“Shhh.” I stroked his hair. “Just try to be still.”
I met Adam’s gaze over my father. He shook his head. There was nothing we could do to help him. Even if we could remove the brass spike, he’d bleed out before Adam could attempt a healing spell.
“Daughter.” Tristan’s throat clicked and a breath rasped out of his pale lips. I looked down through the tears I refused to let him see. “Proud.” A trembling hand rose and pointed at my heart. “Stronger together.”
Blood spilled from his lips. His blue eyes rolled back in their sockets. The hand he’d raised convulsed.
And fell to the ground, lifeless.
Chapter 39
My father had stormed into my life less than a week earlier and now he was… gone.
The sob I’d been fighting finally escaped. The tears blurred and refracted the image of my father’s corpse. Someone in the distance was screaming like a banshee. Muted pounding echoed in my head and the sizzle of spent magic tainted the air.
“Red?” Adam said, his tone quiet.
I shook my head and curled into myself. Heaving gasps wracked my body as the tears fell like rain.
“Sabina, look,” Giguhl breathed.
I blinked and looked up. Through the veil of moisture, I saw a light escape from my father’s chest. I caught my breath and watched it rise up into the sky. It hovered above the garden throne room for a moment, as if my father’s spirit was taking one final look at everyone he was leaving behind. And then, Tristan Graecus’s soul zoomed through the sky like a comet.
“Wh-where’s he going?” I demanded, watching the streak cut across the sky.
“His soul is returning to the Adamantine Gate,” Giguhl whispered. “He’ll reenter Irkalla as a spirit now.”
“And then he’ll head to Hekatian Fields?” I asked.
Adam put his hand on my shoulder. “Probably.”
I blew out a shuddering breath. But a loud whimper caught my attention. I looked over and saw Nyx drooping in Cain’s hold.
Oh shit, she’d just watched the man she loved die. Telling her he would at least find comfort in the arms of my mother probably wouldn’t do much to relieve Nyx’s guilt or sadness.
I turned and saw Phoebe inside Lilith’s circle. Her eyes were on Cain. Their depths weren’t shadowed by pain or sadness but glowed poison green with rage.
I took a cue from my mother, realizing that tears wouldn’t make me feel better.
But making Cain pay would.
I rose slowly. Whatever Cain saw in my eyes made him step back. But then he raised his chin and called out to Lilith. “Honey, I’m home.”
Lilith’s face paled. She summoned her powers and threw her hands in the air. “Elu.”
A shimmering wall erected around the goddess. Nice of her to protect herself and leave the rest of us defenseless against a foe we couldn’t kill.
Cain laughed and stepped forward. “What’s wrong, love? I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
The instant Lilith’s circle rose, the one around my mother and sister disappeared.
Maisie raised her head and the determination I saw there gave me hope.
“Maisie?” I said.
“Sabina,” she breathed.
“Ah-ah-ah,” Cain said. He opened his jacket to reveal a holster filled with more brass spikes and a gun. “No talking.” He moved between Maisie and me. “Can’t have you two conspiring against me.”
I tilted my head. Something about his tone told me he was genuinely worried about Maisie and I teaming up against him.
“Sabina—” Lilith began.
“No cheating, dearest.” Cain’s tone was threatening. He kicked Lilith’s circle. The barrier sparked but held firm. “Open the circle, Lamashtu.”
“No!” she said.
I frowned at Cain. He didn’t want Lilith helping me either. Why? If I’d failed the test and prevented Maisie from becoming the Chosen, why was he so worried?
I jerked my gaze toward my sister. She stood with her head bowed again. Obviously, her fear of Cain still lingered even though her death meant he couldn’t hurt her anymore.
Cain punched the barrier now, shouting and threatening the goddess if she didn’t bow to his demands. Lilith withstood every insult and name, her eyes jerking back and forth between Maisie and me.
“Sabina,” Phoebe said. “Remember what Tristan said.”
“Shut up, bitch!” Cain shouted. He threw a blade at my mother. Phoebe didn’t flinch as the dagger flew, useless, through her spirit.
I tilted my head and frowned at her. She ignored Cain’s shouts and watched me. Her eyes were pleading, as if she was begging me to put pieces of a puzzle together. “What do you mean? About being stronger together?”
“I can say no more.” She nodded toward Maisie and then to me. “The rest is up to you.”
Frowning, I looked at Maisie.
Stronger together.
Flashes of memory played through my mind. How Maisie’s birthmark warmed whenever I was about to face danger. How I’d told Charon that the thing I craved most was balance. How Vinca’s soul tried to hitch a ride with mine.
Then I thought about how my sister and I had always been two sides of the same coin. Together, Maisie and I would have made the perfect being. Her with her nurturing spirit and skills at prophecy—the powerful mage. Me with my thirst for blood and fighting skills—a vampire to the core. Her love of life and my talent for death. How together, we created a perfectly balanced dark race being.
My stomach dropped. Oh shit! Was that it? Was that the answer?
Maisie? I reached out to my sister with my mind.
No response. I wondered if she really couldn’t hear me or if her fear of Cain made her too scared to respond and incur Cain’s wrath.
Maisie, if you can hear me, show me some sign.
I watched my twin closely, but she didn’t move.