Chapter 56 Echoes of Blood
ARIA'S POV
"I'll go."
The words left my mouth before Sebastian could stop me. I stepped toward Morgana, my legs shaking but my voice steady. "Let Elena go. Take me instead."
"No!" Sebastian grabbed my arm, his grip desperate. "Aria, don't—"
"Ten seconds are up anyway," Morgana purred. She snapped her fingers, and the warriors holding Elena shoved her forward. My friend stumbled, nearly falling.
I caught her, hugging her tight. "Get out of here," I whispered. "Find somewhere safe."
"I'm not leaving you—"
"You have to." I pushed her toward Kieran. "Please."
Morgana's laugh cut through the air. "How touching. Now, come along, little healer. Your trial awaits."
She reached for me.
That's when Sebastian moved.
His power exploded outward like a shockwave, slamming into every warrior in the room. They flew backward, crashing into walls. Morgana staggered, shock flashing across her face.
"Run!" Sebastian roared at Kieran. "Get them out!"
Everything happened at once. Kieran grabbed Elena and me, practically throwing us toward a hidden door I hadn't noticed. More warriors poured through the windows. Sebastian fought them all, his ancient power blazing like a star.
"Sebastian!" I screamed as three vampires tackled him.
"Go!" His voice was raw with command. "Kieran, get her out now!"
Kieran dragged me through the door. I fought him, tried to break free, but he was too strong. The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was Sebastian disappearing under a swarm of warriors, and Morgana's triumphant smile.
"No, no, no—" I twisted in Kieran's grip as he hauled me down a dark corridor. "We can't leave him!"
"He's buying us time," Kieran said grimly. "Don't waste it."
We ran through passages that seemed to go on forever. Elena sobbed beside me. My heart felt like it was tearing in half. Through the bond, I felt Sebastian's pain, his rage, his desperate need to keep me safe.
Then the bond went quiet.
"Sebastian?" I gasped, stumbling. "Sebastian!"
Nothing. Just terrifying silence where his presence should be.
"Keep moving," Kieran urged, catching me before I fell.
But my legs wouldn't work anymore. The bond's silence was like a knife in my chest. And the power I'd used to fight earlier—the killing light that had turned that assassin to ash—was draining away, leaving me hollow.
"I can't—" My vision blurred. "Kieran, I can't feel him anymore—"
"He's alive," Kieran said firmly. "The bond would break completely if he died. He's just unconscious. Aria, stay with me—"
But darkness was pulling me under. The last thing I heard was Elena calling my name.
Then I was somewhere else.
A garden filled with roses so red they looked like drops of blood. Sunlight—actual sunlight, warm and golden—streamed through the trees. And there was laughter.
A girl danced between the roses, her dark hair flying. She looked exactly like Sebastian—same sharp features, same ice-blue eyes—but where his face was hard with centuries of pain, hers was bright with joy.
"Brother!" she called, spinning to face me. "Stop hiding and come dance!"
I looked down at my hands. They weren't mine. They were larger, stronger, marked with old scars. Sebastian's hands.
I was seeing through his eyes. Eight hundred years ago.
"I don't dance, Celeste," I heard myself say in Sebastian's voice, younger and warmer than I'd ever heard it.
"Liar." The girl—his twin sister—grabbed my hands and pulled me into the garden. "You're just afraid you'll step on my toes again."
Her smile was so alive, so full of hope, that my chest ached.
Then the world twisted.
Screaming. The smell of blood. A throne room filled with bodies.
I was kneeling now, and Celeste was in my arms. Her white dress was soaked red. A sword wound had torn through her chest.
"Brother," she gasped, blood bubbling on her lips. "Please—"
"I'll get help!" Panic filled Sebastian's voice. My voice. "Just hold on—"
"No." Her hand found mine, surprisingly strong. "Listen. This—this isn't your fault."
"They killed you because of me!" The words were torn from somewhere deep. "Because I couldn't stop the rebellion. Because I failed—"
"Because they're afraid." Celeste's eyes burned with fierce determination even as life faded from them. "Afraid of change. Of love. Of anything that threatens their power."
She coughed, more blood staining her lips.
"Promise me something," she whispered. "Find another way. Don't let them turn you into a monster. Don't let tradition destroy you like it destroyed us."
"Celeste, please—"
"Promise me, Sebastian!"
"I promise." The words broke on a sob. "I promise."
She smiled then—gentle and sad and knowing. "Liar," she breathed. "You're going to forget. You're going to let the pain eat you alive. But maybe someday—maybe someone will remind you—"
Her eyes closed.
And the scream that tore from my throat echoed through eight hundred years of grief.
I woke gasping, tears streaming down my face.
"Aria!" Elena's voice, close. "Oh thank god, you're awake."
I blinked, trying to focus. We were in a small room—bare stone walls, a single candle. Kieran stood guard by the door.
"How long—" My voice cracked. "How long was I out?"
"Three hours," Kieran said quietly. "The bond nearly killed you. Using your power, then Sebastian being captured—it was too much strain."
Sebastian. Captured. The words hit like a blow.
"Where is he?" I demanded, trying to sit up. "What did they do to him?"
Kieran's expression was grave. "Morgana has him in the blood dungeons. She's—" He stopped, pain flashing across his face. "She's torturing him, Aria. Using the curse against him. Every hour he doesn't drink blood, the pain increases. She's trying to break him. Make him beg."
Horror flooded through me. "We have to save him!"
"With what army?" Kieran asked gently. "We're three fugitives against the entire vampire court."
"Then we get help." I wiped my tears away, Sebastian's sister's words still echoing in my mind. Find another way. "You said there were nobles who disagreed with Morgana. Find them. Convince them."
"That could take days we don't have—"
"Then we work faster." I stood, my legs shaky but holding. "I just saw Sebastian's memories, Kieran. I know what he lost. What he's been carrying for eight centuries." My voice hardened. "And I am not letting Morgana destroy what's left of him."
Elena grabbed my hand. "Tell us what to do."
Before I could answer, the door burst open.
A vampire stumbled in—one I didn't recognize, bleeding from a dozen wounds. He collapsed at Kieran's feet.
"Lord Kieran," he gasped. "I come from Prince Dante. He says—he says to tell you the court has made their decision." He looked up at me with something like pity. "They're executing Lord Sebastian at dawn. Public beheading. And after he's dead—" his voice dropped to a horrified whisper, "—they're going to use his blood to complete the Winter Feast ritual. They're going to drain every remaining bride to replace the power his curse would have provided."
My heart stopped.
"No," I breathed.
The vampire wasn't finished. "Prince Dante says if you want to stop it, you need to come to him. Now. He has a plan." His eyes met mine. "But he'll only share it with the girl who shares Sebastian's blood. And he says to tell you—" he swallowed hard, "—he says his own sister died for love too. He understands what you're fighting for."
It could be a trap.
It probably was a trap.
But Sebastian was going to die at dawn.
And I was the only one who could save him.