Chapter 41 The Sanguine Guard
SEBASTIAN'S POV
The vampire lord in silver armor stepped forward, and I recognized her instantly despite three centuries apart.
"Lyanna Ashford," I breathed. "You were executed. I saw the execution order."
"You saw what the court wanted you to see." Lyanna's golden eyes blazed with old fury. "My wife Elena was Sanguine-blessed. When they came for her, I fought. Lost. They claimed they killed me, but really, they imprisoned me and the other guards who'd bonded with Sanguine partners. Locked us away where we'd never threaten their precious tradition."
Behind her stood at least fifty vampires, all bearing the mark of the ancient Sanguine Guard—warriors who'd once protected human-vampire bonds before the practice was outlawed.
"How did you escape?" I demanded.
"Your niece." Lyanna nodded to Roslyn, who looked battered but triumphant. "When Valdis kidnapped me, she didn't realize I'd been mapping her holding dimensions for weeks. I found the Sanguine Guard's prison and broke them out."
Valdis snarled, her composure finally cracking. "You've ruined everything! Centuries of planning—"
"Good," Roslyn said cheerfully. "You kidnapped me, used my face to trick my uncle, and tried to murder innocent people. Consider your plans officially ruined."
Valdis's eyes darted between the Sanguine Guard, Aria and me still linked in blazing power, and the exits now blocked by Lyanna's forces. I saw the moment she made her decision.
"If I can't have the spell," she hissed, "no one survives."
She raised both hands, and the magical symbols covering the church turned blood-red. The entire building began to shake.
"She's collapsing the dimensional convergence point!" Lyanna shouted. "Everyone out, now!"
But Valdis moved faster than should be possible. She grabbed Aria, yanking her away from me. Our bond screamed in agony as the connection broke.
"Aria!" I lunged, but Valdis threw up a barrier of dark energy.
"The girl comes with me," Valdis said, backing toward a portal that was tearing itself open. "She's the most powerful Sanguine healer in three centuries. Even without the spell, I can use her."
"Over my dead body," Aria snarled. Then she did something I'd never seen a human do—she reached into Valdis's mind through their brief contact and pulled.
The blood witch shrieked as golden light erupted from Aria's hands. Memories poured out—eight hundred years of Valdis's schemes, her true plans, and something else. Something terrible.
"She's not working alone," Aria gasped. "There's someone else. Someone in the vampire court who's been helping her all along—"
Valdis slammed her hand over Aria's mouth. "Shut up!"
But it was too late. Through my bond with Aria, I'd seen the flash of memory. Seen the face of Valdis's secret partner.
My blood ran cold.
"Kieran?" I whispered.
My oldest friend, my most trusted advisor—the vampire who'd stood by me for nine hundred years—appeared in the church doorway. His ancient face showed no surprise at being discovered.
"I'm sorry, Sebastian," Kieran said quietly. "But this is for the greater good."
He raised his hand, and half of Lyanna's Sanguine Guard collapsed, writhing in pain.
"Loyalty bonds," Lyanna spat. "You bound your own warriors to your will."
"I bound those who were weak enough to fall for human sentiment," Kieran corrected. His eyes met mine, and I saw centuries of carefully hidden resentment. "You were supposed to be king, Sebastian. After your family died, you had the power, the right. But instead, you let grief destroy you. You became a slave to that ridiculous ritual, letting the nobles walk all over you."
"So you allied with Valdis?" I couldn't believe it. "You betrayed everything—"
"I tried to save you!" Kieran's composure shattered. "For nine hundred years, I've watched you die inside. Every Winter Feast, every bride you drained, you became less of who you were. The vampire I called friend disappeared piece by piece."
He moved closer, his power filling the church. "Valdis promised me we could break the curse properly. That with the Eternal Binding, I could take control of your power and rebuild what our people lost. Make you the king you should have been."
"By enslaving me?" I demanded.
"By saving you from yourself!" Kieran's voice cracked. "You were going to die, Sebastian. The curse was killing you. At least this way, you'd live. You'd rule. Even if you hated me for it."
Through our bond, I felt Aria's horror and sympathy warring inside her. Even now, even facing this betrayal, she felt compassion for Kieran's twisted love.
"It's not too late," she said softly. "Kieran, you can still choose differently."
"The girl's right," Valdis added, still gripping Aria. "Help me finish this. We can still win."
Kieran looked between us all—his bound warriors, Valdis's desperation, my heartbreak, Aria's hope.
For a moment, I thought he might relent.
Then Morgana laughed.
She'd been so quiet I'd almost forgotten her. But now she stood, breaking free of the last magical restraints, her power surging.
"You're all fools," she said. "Kieran, Valdis, Sebastian—all of you missing the obvious truth."
She smiled, and it was the expression of someone who'd finally gone completely mad.
"There is no prophecy. There is no Eternal Binding. There's only me." Her form began to shift, to change. "I am the blood witch. I've always been the blood witch. Valdis was just a puppet I've been wearing for eight hundred years."
The creature that had been Morgana—or Valdis—or something far older—spread her arms. Both bodies merged, reformed into something new. Something ancient and terrible.
"My name is Nyx," she said in a voice like universes dying. "And I've been playing this game since before vampires existed. Every piece on the board—Kieran's betrayal, Aria's bloodline, Sebastian's curse, even the dimensional collapse—all of it was choreographed to bring us to this single moment."
She looked at Aria with hungry eyes.
"Because I don't want to control one vampire lord. I want to consume a Sanguine healer and become something new. Something that can reshape all realities as I see fit."
The church walls dissolved. We were no longer in the building but somewhere else—a void between dimensions where Nyx's true power could manifest.
"And now," she purred, "there's nowhere left to run."
She lunged for Aria with impossible speed—
And my niece Roslyn threw herself in the way, taking the killing blow meant for the woman I loved.
"No!" I screamed.
Roslyn collapsed, her chest torn open, blood pooling around her.
And as she died, she smiled at me.
"Uncle Sebastian," she whispered. "The spell... it requires... willing sacrifice..."
Her hand reached for Aria's.
"Let me... be first..."