Chapter 50 The Human Invasion
ARIA'S POV
"I'm not going anywhere with you." My voice came out stronger than I expected, fueled by fury I didn't know I had.
Marcus's smile faltered. Behind him, the human soldiers shifted, their strange weapons humming with energy that made my Sanguine senses scream warnings.
"Aria, you don't understand what they've done to you," Marcus said, his voice dripping with fake concern. "Your stepmother explained everything. They forced a blood bond on you. Corrupted you with vampire magic. But we can break it. The Council has healers who can purify you—"
"Purify me?" I stepped forward, pulling away from Sebastian's protective grip. "You think I need saving? From the man who actually protected me when you threw me away like garbage?"
Marcus flinched, but recovered quickly. "That was three years ago. I was young, foolish. I've regretted it every day since."
"Liar." The word felt good leaving my mouth. "You regret losing my family's fortune. You don't regret hurting me."
Through our bond, I felt Sebastian's surprise and pride mixing together. He hadn't expected me to fight back like this.
"The girl's been brainwashed," one of the human soldiers said, raising his weapon. "We should just take her by force."
"Stand down," Marcus ordered, but his eyes had gone cold. "Aria, last chance. Come peacefully, or we'll assume you've been fully turned. And you know what the Council does to vampire sympathizers."
My blood ran cold. I'd heard the stories—humans who helped vampires were executed as traitors. No trial, no mercy.
"She's not going anywhere." Sebastian moved to stand beside me, and even weakened from everything we'd survived tonight, his power filled the throne room. "This is vampire territory. You have no authority here."
"Actually," Marcus pulled out a scroll, "we do. The Winter Feast treaty specifically states that any human held against their will can be rescued by force. Aria Thornwell was selected as a ceremonial bride—a death sentence. We're here to enforce her freedom."
Dante laughed bitterly from where he stood. "How convenient. The treaty made eight hundred years ago, when humans had no weapons that could threaten us. But now you've got magic-infused guns and protective runes. This isn't a rescue—it's an invasion."
"Call it what you want," Marcus said. "But we're not leaving without her. And while we're here, we'll be liberating the other five Sanguine healers your kind is holding prisoner."
My sisters. He wanted to take my sisters too.
"They're not prisoners," I said. "They're—"
"Chained in your dungeons according to our intelligence," Marcus interrupted. "Really, Aria. Do you expect us to believe vampires suddenly became benevolent?"
He had a point. My sisters were technically still in chains, even if Sebastian had been planning to free them. To outside eyes, it looked exactly like what Marcus was claiming.
"Give us one hour," Sebastian said suddenly. "One hour to prove that Aria and her sisters are here by choice. If after seeing the truth, they want to leave with you, I won't stop them."
Marcus's eyes narrowed. "And why would I trust you?"
"Because I'm trusting you not to attack while we're having this conversation," Sebastian replied. "You could have shot first and asked questions later. The fact that you didn't means you actually care whether Aria lives or dies."
It was a good point. If Marcus just wanted revenge or conquest, he would have started the battle already.
"Thirty minutes," Marcus countered. "And I'm coming with you. I want to see these 'proof' with my own eyes."
Sebastian's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Fine. But only you. Your army stays here."
"Not a chance," one of Marcus's officers protested. "Sir, it's obviously a trap—"
"I'll risk it," Marcus said, never taking his eyes off me. "For Aria."
The way he said my name made my skin crawl. Like he owned me. Like three years of abandonment could be erased with one heroic rescue mission.
Kieran appeared at Sebastian's elbow. "My lord, this is madness. The moment you leave this room with him—"
"I know," Sebastian said quietly. "But it's the only way to prevent bloodshed. Prepare the dungeons. Bring Aria's sisters to the upper chambers and remove their chains."
As Kieran hurried off, Sebastian turned to me. Through our bond, I felt his plan forming—show Marcus that my sisters were being freed, that the Sanguine bond was real and mutual, that we weren't the monsters he thought.
It was a gamble. A huge one.
But we didn't have better options.
"Stay close to me," Sebastian murmured as we led Marcus from the throne room. "If anything happens—"
"I'll burn him with Sanguine light," I whispered back. "I know."
Marcus followed us through the palace corridors, his hand never leaving his weapon. "Impressive architecture," he commented. "For a death trap."
"It's a home," Sebastian said coldly. "Or it was, before humans started building armies to destroy it."
"Maybe if you hadn't been kidnapping our people for centuries—"
"The Winter Feast was a treaty both sides agreed to," Sebastian interrupted. "Humans offered six lives every fifty years in exchange for vampire protection against other supernatural threats. We kept our end of the bargain."
"By murdering innocent women," Marcus shot back.
"By following laws both our people wrote together," Sebastian corrected. "But you're right. The treaty was flawed. That's why I'm ending it."
Marcus actually stumbled. "What?"
"No more Winter Feast. No more ceremonial brides. No more ritual deaths." Sebastian stopped, turning to face Marcus directly. "That's what you wanted, isn't it? What your Human Council has been pushing for? Well congratulations—you won. I'm abolishing the tradition."
Marcus's expression went from shock to suspicion. "Why would you do that?"
"Because Aria showed me another way." Sebastian's hand found mine, our bond flaring warm between us. "Because love is stronger than tradition. And because eight hundred years of death is enough."
For a moment—just a moment—I saw something almost like respect in Marcus's eyes.
Then we reached the upper chambers, and everything went wrong.
The doors were already open. Inside, my sisters lay unconscious on the floor, chains still binding them.
And standing over them, smiling triumphantly, was Celeste—my stepmother.
"Hello, Aria dear," she purred. "Did you really think I came alone? That Marcus was the only ally I cultivated?"
She gestured, and more figures stepped from the shadows. Vampires I didn't recognize, all bearing weapons marked with the same runes as the human army's guns.
"You see," Celeste continued, "the Human Council and certain vampire nobles have been working together for years. Planning the perfect moment to overthrow Sebastian's rule and seize control of both realms. We were just waiting for the right catalyst."
She looked at me with pure hatred. "And you, my dear stepdaughter, turned out to be perfect. A Sanguine healer bonded to the vampire lord? The Council is terrified you'll create an unstoppable alliance. They want you dead almost as much as I do."
Marcus's hand was on his weapon now, but he looked genuinely shocked. "Celeste, what are you talking about? The mission was rescue, not assassination—"
"The mission was whatever I told your superiors it was," Celeste said. "I've been feeding them information about the vampire realm for years. Shaping their fears. Building their weapons. All leading to this moment."
She pulled out a device I'd never seen before—a crystal pulsing with sickly green light.
"This," she said, "is a Void anchor. It opens permanent rifts to the Void Realm. I was supposed to use it after the Winter Feast, once all six Sanguine healers were dead and their power couldn't interfere. But plans change."
Horror crashed through me. "You opened the first rift. Not Morgana. You."
"Guilty," Celeste smiled. "Though Morgana helped without knowing it. So did Dante. So did Sebastian's dead mother—or rather, the thing wearing her corpse. I've been pulling strings for years, dear. Everyone danced exactly as I choreographed."
She activated the device.
Reality screamed as a rift tore open behind her—massive, stable, and growing.
Void creatures poured through.
"I'm tired of playing games," Celeste announced over the chaos. "Time to end this properly. The Crimson Vale falls tonight, and both realms will belong to the Void. Starting with you, Aria."
The device in her hand began to glow brighter.
And through our bond, I felt Sebastian's absolute terror as he realized what she was planning.
"She's going to collapse the Vale into the Void," he whispered. "Everyone inside will be consumed. Vampire and human alike."
"How long do we have?" I asked.
Sebastian's eyes met mine, and I saw the answer before he spoke it.
"Minutes. Maybe less."