Nero laughs, the sound dripping venom. "You no longer have the ability to fight me, Highness, can no longer hide." He lifts a few strands of the female’s hair and brings them to his nose, and inhales deeply. "I have searched hundreds of years for you, taken up my father’s hunt since he failed time and time again to track you down. You will not get away this time and if you are harboring more of your kind it will be in your favor to share that now."
"We are alone," the female says quickly. "It is only the two of us left." Her eyes harden. "You have eradicated our people, wiped them out, leaving only the two of us."
My heart beats wildly as I watch their exchange, watch who I know in my gut to be Ellida and Tolan confront my grandfather with nothing but bravery and pride, their bond strengthening their resolve to unbreakable.
"You would not lie to me, Highness, would you? Would not sacrifice yourself so that one or two of your kind could flee in an attempt to find refuge among the kingdom of those disgusting beasts?"
Her spine stiffens but Tolan speaks. "It is only the two of us left. You have finally been successful in completing your father’s work."
Nero looks between them for a few seconds, and searches their faces before he gets to his feet. "They lie," he barks out. "Go! Find the others! Bring me whatever fae they try to protect!"
Five of the other vampires immediately take off as Ellida cries, "No! We do not lie! It is only us, we are the last of our kind!"
I watch as Nero's minions disperse amongst the forest, then look to my right only to find a massive creature crouched next to me, his white blonde hair glimmering in the firelight. He tracks the vampires briefly then looks down into his arms, a small bundle cradled to his chest.
"It is time, my gem. Time for us to say goodbye to the ones who loved us most." His eyes flick toward the cave just as Tolan's roar pierces the silence.
I follow, follow his stare to see Nero feeding off of Ellida, his fangs deep in her neck, fingers digging into her cheeks. Tolan fights, screams, cries, begs but my grandfather does not relent, does not let go.
The figure beside me gets to his feet, towers close to my height, watches for a few more minutes before wrapping the bundle tighter in the pale blue linens.
"I have you now, my gem. I have you. They will not find you, you will be safe."
Then he starts running, runs at an untraceable speed for what seems like hours, travels at least two kingdoms away, maybe three, before the bundle in his arms begins to fuss.
"There there, my gem," Zan croons, and lifts the linens a bit as he slows his pace. "We shall rest a while, get you fed, and make sure you are comfortable before we continue our journey."
Zan walks a little ways until he finds a thicket, drops to the ground, and crawls inside. He removes a satchel from his back and produces a blanket, laying it flat before positioning the bundle in the center and begins unwrapping it.
My chest squeezes as he reveals a tiny babe, one so small and delicate with raven blue curls and electric sapphire eyes set against ridiculously fat cheeks.
My angel.
She smiles up at him, smiles a big, mostly toothless grin, then rolls herself over to crawl into his lap.
"Are you hungry, my gem? Is that what has you fussing a bit?" Zan pulls a goat skin flask from his bag, then what appears to be a glass bottle with some sort of makeshift tubing in the top. "You drink this up like the good girl you are and I'll give you a treat after."
Her eyes light up as she watches Zan fill the glass with milk before he produces two small vials from the bag. He pulls the cork from the first and I instantly recognize the smell of my blood as he pours it in with the goats milk, but when he opens the second and I see a silver substance mingle with the others I know without doubt it is his blood. Zan replaces everything in the bag then shakes the bottle briefly before handing it to my light.
"Ah, wait now, my gem. Aren't you forgetting something?"
The babe frowns for a minute and my heart swells at how adorable my angel was, then she leans up and presses a sloppy baby kiss to his cheek.
Zan chuckles. "Thank you, but that is not what I meant."
Baby Cora frowns again then her eyes brighten as a smile takes over her whole face. Her tiny hands grip the bottle tightly and after a few seconds they begin to glow red, the liquid inside bubbling just a bit while the glass fogs up against the cool night air.
"Very good." He beams with pride, and kisses the crown of her head. "Very good, my gem." He repositions her in his arms, holds her close to his chest while he uses the blanket to cover her. "Drink up, my queen, you need your strength. We have a long road ahead of us yet, Cora, and very few opportunities left for you to receive this kind of nourishment."
She snuggles into him, and as her eyes drift closed, baby Cora takes her bottle as her tiny fingers close around Zan's much larger one.
"You will be safe soon, my gem. Safe from those who wish to cause you harm, safe from the monsters lurking in the dark." He tilts his head back and closes his eyes. "I will keep you safe as long as I can, keep my vow to those that loved us both, but one day, one day I fear I will no longer be able to keep you at all."
I watch them for a few more minutes before the scene fades and shifts.
Zan delivering Cora to Josef and Anastasia. Paying them a ridiculous amount of money to take her, promising Josef a place in the human kingdom for the trade off.
Another shift shows me Zan watching over my angel from afar—a toddler, a child, an adolescent and teenager. I watch as Cora grows, watch her turn into the beautiful woman I fell in love with, watch every horrible story she's ever shared with me about her youth play out in all too vivid detail, Zan watching from the shadows the entire time.
