Chapter 20 The Real Monster
ARIA'S POV
"You're lying," I said, but my voice shook.
Morgana—human Morgana—stepped into the library. She looked maybe twenty years old, with the same beautiful face but none of the coldness I'd seen before. Her eyes were red from crying.
"I wish I was," she said. "God, I wish I was."
Sebastian stood up, his face hard. "Explain. Now."
"Three hundred years ago, I was just a healer in a small village," Morgana began. "I had the gift, like Aria. I could ease pain, slow bleeding. Then one day, a vampire found me. His name was Lord Dante Ashcroft."
My breath caught. "Prince Dante?"
"The same," she confirmed. "Back then, he wasn't a prince. He was just a noble who'd fallen in love with his Sanguine healer—his sister, actually. When the court found out, they sentenced her to death. Dante begged them to take him instead. They refused. So he came to me with an offer."
She started pacing, her hands trembling. "He said if I helped him fake his sister's death and frame someone else for treason, he'd give me immortality. He'd turn me into a vampire so I'd never have to fear the Selection, never have to worry about being chosen as a Winter Feast bride. I was terrified and stupid and twenty years old. So I said yes."
"You framed Celeste," Sebastian whispered.
"I forged documents making it look like she'd created an illegal bond," Morgana said, tears streaming down her face. "I planted evidence in her chambers. I lied to the court. And when you—" She looked at Sebastian. "When you tried to save her, when you helped her escape, I told the court you were part of the conspiracy. That your whole family was protecting Sanguine healers."
Sebastian's power exploded through the room, books flying everywhere. "YOU KILLED THEM! My parents, my brothers, my baby niece—YOU'RE THE REASON THEY'RE DEAD!"
"I know!" Morgana sobbed. "I've known for three hundred years! And Dante never gave me immortality. Instead, he cursed me. He used his sister's Sanguine power—the power I'd helped him steal—to trap me in a vampire body that feels everything. Every death I've caused. Every life I've destroyed. I feel all of it, every single day, and I can't die. I can't even go mad. I'm just stuck, eternally human inside a monster's body, drowning in guilt."
I stepped between her and Sebastian before he could attack. "Why are you telling us this now?"
"Because the First Curse knows," Morgana said desperately. "She's known the whole time. She kept me around as insurance, as proof of what really happened. And now she's going to use me."
"Use you how?" I demanded.
"My body is vampire, but my soul is still human and Sanguine-blessed," Morgana explained. "When she does the transformation, when she switches everyone, I'll be the anchor point. The bridge between states. And the power required to transform tens of thousands of people through one person will—"
"Will destroy you," I finished.
She nodded. "And everyone within a hundred miles. The explosion of power will be catastrophic. The First Curse doesn't just want to switch vampires and humans. She wants to wipe the slate clean. Start over with a handful of survivors who'll build a better world from the ashes."
"She's insane," Sebastian said.
"No," Morgana corrected. "She's broken. Three thousand years of watching people destroy each other broke her. Just like eight hundred years of killing innocent brides broke you. Just like three hundred years of guilt is breaking me." She looked at me. "And if you're not careful, the power she's forcing on you will break you too."
The golden light around my hands pulsed. "What do you mean?"
"Every time you use Sanguine power, it changes you," Morgana said. "Makes you less human. More like the First Curse. I've seen it happen to every healer who ever awakened fully. They become so focused on the big picture—saving thousands, fixing the world—that they forget individual lives matter. They start making terrible choices because the math says it's worth it."
"I would never—"
"That's what they all said," Morgana interrupted. "That's what I said before I murdered Sebastian's family. We all think we're different. Special. Strong enough to keep our humanity while wielding god-like power. We're always wrong."
A crack appeared in the library wall, spiderwebbing across the stone.
"We're out of time," Roslyn said. "The Archive is collapsing. Make your choice."
"What choice?" Sebastian demanded.
"Take Morgana with you or leave her here," Roslyn explained. "If you take her, she can help you stop the First Curse—she knows how the transformation magic works. But she's also the one who destroyed your family. Can you work with her?"
Sebastian stared at Morgana, and I felt his hatred through our bond. But underneath it was something else. Understanding. Because he knew what it was like to be forced into becoming a monster.
"If I leave you here, you die when the Archive collapses," he said flatly.
"I know," Morgana whispered. "And honestly? I'd welcome it."
"Sebastian," I said softly. "We need her."
He closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were cold. "Fine. But if you betray us again, I'll kill you myself."
"I'd expect nothing less," Morgana said.
We ran for the door as the library crumbled around us. Books burst into flames. Shelves crashed down. The floating pages turned to ash.
We burst through the doorway and tumbled out into—
The throne room. But it was full of people. The entire vampire court stood frozen like statues, their faces locked in expressions of shock.
In the center, elevated on a platform of crystallized light, stood the First Curse. And beside her, Celeste.
They were holding hands, and between their clasped palms burned a sphere of gold and black energy.
"Welcome back!" the First Curse called cheerfully. "You're just in time for the main event."
"What did you do?" I shouted.
"Oh, we're just getting started," she said. "You see, while you were busy learning uncomfortable truths, Celeste and I were busy preparing. We've already begun the transformation."
The sphere between their hands pulsed, and I felt it—power washing over the entire realm. In the distance, screams erupted.
"The switch has started," Celeste said, and she sounded happy. Excited. "Every vampire in the Crimson Vale is becoming human. Every human is becoming vampire. And in exactly one hour, the transformation will reach the human world. Billions of people, all switching at once."
"You'll kill them all!" Sebastian roared.
"Some will die," the First Curse admitted. "Maybe half. But the survivors will build something better. Something without the old hatreds and laws."
She smiled at me. "And you, dear Aria, are going to help us. Because if you don't channel your power to stabilize the transformation, EVERYONE dies. Every single person in both worlds."
My hands blazed with golden light, responding to her call.
"No," I whispered. "I won't."
"You will," Celeste said. "Because we have Elena."
The crowd of frozen vampires parted, and there she was—my friend, floating in a bubble of dark energy, unconscious and bleeding.
"Save the world," the First Curse said. "Or save your friend. You have thirty seconds to choose."