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Kale smiled.

  Sara’s brow furrowed and her face reddened. “I don’t answer to you!” she screamed. “You answer to me!”

  Ash glanced at Sara, and wood popped in the fire. Otherwise the room was silent. Sara took a deep breath, smoothed her dress, then raised her chin in an attempt at dignity. She sat on the edge of the chair, crossing her legs. Her feet barely brushed the floor. She addressed Ash: “I assume you know why I brought you here.”

  “Yes,” Ash replied. “I know everything. You don’t hide your thoughts well.”

  Sara’s jaw clenched and her nostrils flared.

  “You have three,” Ash replied, “They’re here already. I would make the fourth element.” Ash turned to me. “She drank their blood while they were sleeping. She’s immortal.”

  “Shut up!” Sara’s voice boomed. She gripped the arms of her chair. “I don’t give a fuck if she is a mutant. Let’s get this over with.” She stood and moved toward us with a strange, unnatural gait.

  Hania rose at the same instant, but kept his eyes down. Though his motions were far slower, he never fell more than few steps behind her. My body tensed. Kale and Pedro lounged in their chairs. As Sara neared I stepped in front of Ash. I knew the dragon’s blood would give Sara incredible strength, far more than I could handle, but protecting Ash was my first instinct.

  Ash caught my arm and shoved me back. She froze me with her mind. It was staggering how much stronger she’d become. Sara glared up at Ash, and Ash glared back. Sara reached to her side where Hania stood.

  Hania pulled a silver dagger from his cloak. My breathing stopped. I could do nothing. Then I saw that Sara wasn’t even aware of the dagger. Her eyes were on Ash. It dawned on me: Silver!

  “It’s been a pleasure knowing you,” Ash said.

  Silver. To fairies it was poison. Just the touch of it burned their skin. Hania raised the dagger above his head. His head snapped up, his eyes met Ash’s, and he plunged the dagger deep into Sara’s neck.

  A screech burst out. It was Sara. As the dagger cut into her neck she flailed, trying to pull it out. As her palms met silver they blistered, and she screamed again. She fell to her knees.

  Hania glared down at her as she squirmed and writhed.

  Ash turned to Kale and Pedro. They sat transfixed, their eyes glassy with shock. An evil laugh passed Ash’s lips.

  No! I begged. I want to kill Kale!

  She ignored my pleading.

  What happened next was quicker than the human eye could follow. Ash spread her wings knocking me back against the French doors. She launched into the air toward Kale. The fireplace exploded. Hania and I were knocked to the floor. Hania nearly fell on top of Sara as she flailed about.

  Kale screamed as the fire engulfed him. Ash landed on him, toppling him and his chair. His legs kicked. Ash stomped, making a sickening crunch. Kale’s screams stopped. His kicks stopped. She’d crushed his skull.

  The fire had no effect on Ash or her clothing.

  Pedro jumped from his chair, and stared at the flames consuming Kale. He shifted to werewolf form, ready to fight. Circling Ash on all fours, he snarled. Shreds of his clothing hung from him. The rest had fallen to the floor.

  Ash stepped down from Kale’s scorched body. Keeping her eyes on Pedro, she wiped her boot on the carpet. He wouldn’t be a problem.

  I looked at Sara. Her skin was turning purple and she barely moved. It wouldn’t be long till she was dead. The silver had poisoned her blood quickly. She lay on the floor gasping for air like a fish out of water. Despite her hopes for immortality she had kept her vulnerable incarnate traits.

  Hania crawled over by me, and leaned against the wall. His voice a raspy. “Looks like your friend can take care of herself.”

  Ash’s prediction was right. I did have a lot more respect for him. Ash let go of my mind. I stood and helped Hania up.

  He spoke quietly. “I was so sick of the lies and betrayal. All I wanted was peace of mind, but I knew they wanted to kill me.” He shook his head and his hair waved with it under his hood. “The only reason Sara kept me alive was to get information. She wanted power—absolute power. I hoped Kale would keep his mouth shut about the dragons, but he didn’t.”

  Pedro had quit moving, but his snarls and growls were still audible. Ash looked him over. “You know, Hania thinks it’s best to resend your soul, and I suppose that would be the proper thing.” She circled him, closing in.

  At her silent command Pedro stood up on his hind legs, his arms dangling. He growled at her. She took his hand and examined his claws.

  She sighed. “I like mine still ‘kicking.’” She dropped his hand. He lunged. She hit him hard in the chest. His body flew across the room, smashed into the wall and crumpled to the floor. The blow shook the room, but it wasn’t final. Pedro jumped back up and leapt at her.

  She flew into him, catching his throat. She raised him up above her head. He growled, tearing at her wrists and pumping his legs. She slammed him flat on his back. The floor buckled and splintered. Books tumbled off shelves.

  Air gushed from his lungs. She bored her arm into his stomach, tearing through flesh. His eyes popped and his mouth opened, but no sound escaped.

  Ash thrust her forearm forward into his chest then yanked. She stood, holding his heart. She smiled and dropped it.

  With one arm covered in blood, she grabbed the edges of her dress and curtsied to Hania and me. Her boots were covered in charred remains from Kale.

  “Ta-da,” she sang.

  We all looked at Sara. The dagger protruded from her neck. Her skin was wilted and black and her lips had curled back, exposing her teeth. She’d stopped breathing.

  “It’s safe to say she is dead,” Ash said.

  Hania picked up a vase of lilies from a nearby table, then dropped the flowers to the floor. He poured the water onto Kale’s remains. A hiss escaped from the chair.

  Chapter 20

  WE CONTINUE

  I wake up in a large bed and find myself alone. I hear small clicking noises and see a dim light shining from behind me, casting shadows on the wall. I roll over in the bed and look across the windowless room. Ash sits on a bench at a large wooden desk typing away on a laptop. She has a blanket draped across the front of her. Her back is exposed and her wings are slightly open; this has become their resting state. They hang over the back of the bench. She stares intently at the computer screen with headphones in, listening to music. Hania had given her his old mp3 player and she’s loaded it with her favorite songs. She’s trying to type quietly so she won’t wake me.

  Some time ago a quiet, bashful girl lived in a small town. Then somehow she began to sense she was different. Now she is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in our world.

  In just a few weeks both our lives have changed completely. Ash has become something totally new, and that has turned my world around. Two days ago the Quatre fell. Now there is a new Quatre: Ash, and three dragons I’d never laid eyes on. They don’t call themselves a “Quatre” and they’ve made no moves to rule. There’s a question as to whether any one person or group should govern our kind. A feeling grows that it might be best for each of us to make our own decisions.

  The idea that’s emerging is this: Vampires and Incarnates now have free will to do as they please, as long as it does not interfere with humans’ ability to live their lives. We still hide among them, but now there is also refuge for those who do not wish to live in the human world, and for those vampires who do not wish to conceal what they are.

  In the course of these advances I’ve had personal bright spots as well. I was amazed to find Jason safe and sound, jailed in a room deep in the mountain fortress. He was locked up with some humans. Kale had planned to taunt me with the plight of my imprisoned friend before killing both of us.

  I was surprised when Jason chose to have his soul resent. Weeks of being holed up, and one captive girl in particular, have given him sympathy for humans. We’ve only talked briefly, but I’m
happy to note that he’s still the same rude, crude Jason. His old personality is no hindrance to his new attitudes about humans. He can’t wait to get back to the States and start a new life.

  Yet I can’t help feeling something is off with Jason. It’s like an itch that’s still there after you stop scratching. I never could have imagined him wanting the life he now aspires to, but life-threatening events can change us. This is what he wants. It makes me sad to see him go.

  Hania exposed all of the hiding places of the previous Quatre and he’s opened them all to those who want to live in them. In revealing these places, he’s also been spreading the word about the ousting of the Quatre. He’s encouraging vampires to live in these areas, so that they do not have to hide what they are. Hania has offered incarnates refuge in these same spots. They will be opened to help those who are looking for answers.

  Before he set out to do those things Hania had told us of all the history leading up to the present cataclysm. Hania met the first dragon to re-emerge, and to his later regret, he told the other Quatre members that these long-dormant beings were reawakening. Kale vowed that dragons would not regain power. He put this vow into action by teaching Sara all about dragons. These stories of ultimate power, and of immortality free of the complications of the vampire virus, became an obsession with the fairy child. She threw a tantrum, demanding that she get her way with all dragons. She wanted their blood, and their elements. As the blood strengthened her, Sara convinced Pedro and Kale that once she had acquired all the elements, she would help them do the same. Hania wasn’t so cooperative, but as Sara grew stronger she threatened him, and found ways to force the information out of him. He was the only one who saw clearly that she intended to get control of the elements, then kill them all. That would have been only the beginning of her reign of terror.

  For now we are still in Siberia, but winters here are too cold for dragons. Ash has been talking with Hania about a move back to the States. She’s fallen in love with an underground dwelling near the Pacific in the Olympic National Forest. It’s warm enough that she and her fellow dragons would be able to go out year-round.

  Perhaps that’s what she’s typing about on her laptop.

  I sit up at the edge of the bed. Ash stops typing and removes her headphones. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to be quiet.” She shivers and somehow that makes the fire inside of me spark up in a blaze.

  “I’ll never get used to that,” I mumble sleepily.

  She smiles. It’s the same smile I fell for in a store in the Midwest just weeks ago. It seems like a lifetime, and in some ways it is. I get up and go to her. As I sit down next to her on the bench, she closes the laptop. She bites her lip and looks worried.

  I touch one of her fangs gently. “Don’t bite too hard, love.”

  She smiles and moves her wing, wrapping it around me to draw me in closer. As our skin touches I pull the blanket over my body. Her icy skin should stop the fire burning through me but it only seems to intensify it. I wrap my arm around her waist and look at the computer screen. “Who are you writing to?”

  “Hania. Trying to get all the loose ends tied up before we leave here. So are you ready to go back?”

  “I’ll go wherever you go.” I kiss her on the neck as she moves her hands across the laptop.

  Shedding all worries, Ash lets a gasp pass her lips as she turns her body toward me. My teeth graze the skin under her jaw. She giggles and speaks breathlessly. “You would think that you were the one with the power to seduce.”

  I chuckle. “So I guess you are willing to put up with me forever, huh?”

  “Yes,” she whispers. She runs her hands up my back and grips my hair. I could not fight her if I wanted to. I’ve never encountered such strength.

  I bite her neck softly for a quick taste of blood, then pull away and kiss her on the mouth. Our breaths come fast.

  “You must be gentle,” I say, “so’s not to break me.”

  Watch for the sequel

  Legacy

  http://www.authorcvhunt.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  C. V. Hunt lives in a small town in North West Ohio with her husband. She spends her spare time reading, writing, watching horror films and enjoying a variety of music.