Chapter 61 Not Your Sacrifice
ARIA'S POV
"They're what?"
The messenger's words echoed in my head. Hunting for Aria Thornwell.
Sebastian moved in front of me instantly, even without our bond telling him to protect me. "How many creatures?"
"Dozens, my lord. Maybe more." The messenger trembled. "They crossed through the human town of Thornwick. Killed three people already. The survivors are fleeing."
My hometown. My patients. The people I'd healed for three years.
"We need to close the portal completely," Kieran said urgently. "Before more cross over."
"How?" Dante demanded, looking like he'd aged a century in the past hour. "Nyx opened it. Only she can close it fully."
"Then we find another way," Sebastian said, his voice hard. "Gather the council. Now."
Within minutes, the throne room filled with the surviving nobles—those who hadn't fled when Nyx appeared. They looked terrified, angry, and searching for someone to blame.
An elderly vampire I didn't recognize pointed at me. "This is her fault. The human brought this curse upon us."
"The human has a name," I snapped before I could stop myself.
The room went silent. Every vampire turned to stare at me with shock—and some with outrage. Humans didn't speak at vampire councils. Ever.
"Lady Vex is right," another noble said coldly. "The creatures are hunting the girl. Give her to them. Problem solved."
"Absolutely not," Sebastian said, power radiating from him in waves.
"You've lost your bond," Lady Vex countered. "She's nothing to you now. Why sacrifice our realm for one powerless human?"
More nobles murmured agreement. I felt Sebastian's rage building, saw his hands clench.
But I stepped forward before he could speak.
"Stop." My voice rang out, stronger than I felt. "I'm standing right here. If you're going to debate my life like I'm property, at least have the decency to look me in the eye while you do it."
Sebastian's hand found my arm—a gentle warning. I ignored it.
"You want to hand me over to creatures from the void?" I looked at each noble in turn. "Fine. Let's talk about what happens then. You think they'll just take me and leave? They're hunting me because I helped break Nyx's plan. You really believe they'll show mercy to the realm that stopped her?"
I could see some of them wavering.
"And even if they would," I continued, my voice hardening, "I won't let you use me as a bargaining chip. I'm not livestock to be traded. I'm not a pet to be bargained over. And I definitely won't let you sacrifice me to save your own skins when you've spent centuries sacrificing humans in that ritual."
"How dare you—" Lady Vex started.
"How dare I?" I laughed, sharp and bitter. "You murdered fifty-six women in eight hundred years. You call it tradition. I call it murder. And now that your tradition nearly destroyed everything, you want to go right back to sacrificing humans to solve your problems?"
"She's right," a voice called from the back. Roslyn—Sebastian's niece—pushed through the crowd. "We've hidden behind the ritual for too long. Used it as an excuse not to change."
"And what would you have us do?" an older noble demanded. "Simply wait for these creatures to slaughter us all?"
"No." I met Sebastian's eyes, and even without the bond, I saw his pride in me. "We fight. Together. Humans and vampires. We close that portal using whatever magic you have left. And we stop treating people like me as disposable."
Sebastian stepped forward, standing beside me. "The lady has spoken. We defend our realm. We protect the humans. And anyone who suggests otherwise can challenge me directly."
His power filled the throne room, ancient and absolute. Nobody moved.
"Good," he said coldly. "Then here's what happens. Kieran, take our best magic users to the portal. Find a way to seal it. Dante, organize warriors to hunt the creatures that have already crossed. Roslyn, evacuate human towns near the border. And Aria—" he looked at me, "—you're staying with me where I can protect you."
"No," I said firmly.
He blinked. "What?"
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not hiding while people die." I turned to Kieran. "You said the portal is leaking because Nyx's ritual was interrupted. What would it take to complete it properly? To seal it from this side?"
Kieran's expression grew troubled. "A powerful magical sacrifice. Something with enough life force to—" He stopped, understanding dawning. "No. Aria, no."
"I don't have powers anymore," I said. "But I'm still Sanguine-blessed by blood. That has to count for something."
"You're talking about killing yourself," Sebastian said, his voice dangerously quiet.
"I'm talking about closing the portal before more people die." I met his gaze. "It's my choice, Sebastian. Not yours. Not the council's. Mine."
For a long moment, we stared at each other. Then Sebastian shook his head slowly.
"No. There has to be another way."
"My lord!" A guard burst into the throne room, his face white with terror. "The creatures—they're not just hunting randomly. They're organized. Following a leader."
"What kind of leader?" Dante demanded.
"A woman." The guard's voice shook. "Human. She says she's Aria's stepmother, and she's made a deal with the void creatures. She's leading them straight to the palace."
My blood turned to ice. "Celeste?"
"She's demanding we hand over Aria," the guard continued. "And if we don't—" he swallowed hard, "—she says the creatures will tear apart every human town between here and the capital. Starting with Thornwick. Where Elena and the other freed brides just arrived."
Horror crashed through me. Elena. The women we'd just saved.
"How?" I breathed. "How is Celeste controlling void creatures?"
"She isn't," Kieran said grimly, studying the guard's report. "They're using her. They promised her something in exchange for delivering you."
"What could they possibly offer—"
"Immortality," a new voice purred.
I spun around.
Standing in the throne room doorway, flanked by shadow creatures that hurt to look at, was Celeste.
But she looked different. Younger. Her gray hair was dark again, her wrinkles gone. And her eyes—her eyes glowed with the same terrible light as Nyx's had.
"Hello, stepdaughter," she said with a smile that belonged on a corpse. "Did you really think I came to the vampire court just to expose your bloodline? I made a deal. Your life for eternal youth. And these lovely creatures have agreed to honor it."
She gestured, and the void creatures poured into the throne room.
"Now," Celeste said sweetly, "you can come willingly and I'll let your friends live. Or you can resist, and I'll let my new allies tear them apart one by one. Your choice, Aria. You always did love being noble and self-sacrificing."
Through the chaos, through my terror, one thought burned clear:
I'd lost my powers, severed my bond, and survived an ancient evil.
I wasn't about to let my stepmother be the thing that finally broke me.