33. Callie

Magnar moved among the vampires, leaving a trail of swirling ash in his wake as he killed time and again. Most of them were unarmed and had nothing available to defend themselves with aside from their teeth. But none of them could get close enough to bite him, his swords moving so fast they were little more than a flash of gold between the bodies he was carving a path through.

Idun suddenly released her grip on me, and I sagged with relief, dropping to my knees as I regained control of my muscles, heaving down a breath which I felt I might choke on. I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth to remove the taste of Fabian’s kiss from my lips.

Fabian knelt down beside me, cupping my face in his hands, his dark eyes lighting with concern.

“It’s alright, love,” he breathed. “I’ll never let him take you from me.”

Anger surged in my gut, and I shoved his hands off of me.

“Don’t touch me,” I snarled, though the traitorous half of my soul yearned for the opposite, urging me closer, making my mind rebel against its own desires.

Fabian’s gaze swam with confusion, a frown lowering his brow. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel this,” he said as he reached for me with his right hand, the silver cross glimmering on his palm, the magic which had been knitted between us flaring powerfully.

I tried to slap his hand away, but he caught me instead, pressing his palm against mine and joining our marks.

I inhaled sharply as power flooded beneath my skin and every inch of my body throbbed with desire for him. I needed him. I had to have him, make him mine in every way that counted.

I grabbed the front of his shirt with my free hand, ignoring the commotion surrounding us as I dragged him towards me, so our lips met again.

Fabian groaned with pleasure, pulling me to my feet and tugging my body flush to his, the hard ridge of his cock driving against me, the need to have every inch of him overwhelming all else.

His hands bunched in the fabric of my skirt, tugging at my dress as if he might rip it from me right here, in front of every person gathered in the cathedral just to take me the way he was clearly desperate to.

He gripped my ass in his free hand, lifting me off of my feet and sprinted through the cathedral, carrying me away from the panicking congregation while kissing me with the ravenous hunger of a demon the entire time.

Fabian slammed me against a heavy pillar, his teeth dragging against my bottom lip, fangs almost breaking the skin.

I moaned as my need for him sharpened, my ankles hooking tight around his waist, my spine arching as I ground myself against him and he breathed my name like a curse and a prayer.

Fabian released my hand so he could push his fingers through my hair, deepening our kiss, but as our marks disconnected, I felt like a surge of cold water had been thrown over me, reality crashing back in and reminding me of who I was and what I wanted.

I remembered all of it, every moment of my will being toyed with by that fucking goddess. I pulled away from him sharply, breaking our kiss and bringing my fist up to meet his jaw in place of my mouth.

Fabian staggered back at the impact, dropping me to my feet and I punched him again, splitting his lip open while he blinked at me in confusion, his shirt hanging open where I’d been clawing at it just moments before.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I snapped, advancing on him with my hands curled into fists, fury eating at me. But I found myself caught between the two warring halves of my soul. The half that yearned for him and the half which hated him unable to come to terms with one another.

Fabian frowned at me as he backed away, holding his hand up between us so the mark on his palm stood out starkly.

“What have you done to me?” I demanded. “What the fuck is this?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, and my heart raced faster because I could see he was telling the truth. “But I need you, Callie. We’re meant to be together. Can’t you feel it?”

“I can feel it,” I admitted.

I couldn’t deny the lust, need, and desire which were stirring inside me, but they weren’t mine. He was a vampire. And even if he wasn’t, I didn’t know him at all. I had no reason to feel anything for him and whatever this was, it wasn’t real. It wasn’t me.

“Then come with me,” Fabian urged, not seeming to care where these feelings had come from or even if they were his own. “I’ll take you home and we can be together-”

“No,” I growled. “I don’t know what this is, but I do know who I am. And I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I started to back away from him and his expression darkened, a feral look passing through his eyes as he took a step after me.

“Callie don’t leave me,” he growled, the plea a warning, panic showing in the whites of his eyes.

My lips parted in fear. I had no weapon. No way to defend myself, and it was clear he wasn’t going to let me go.

“I’m begging you,” he said, his voice low. “Don’t go. Don’t make me do something I’ll regret.”

The threat was there, the monster in him shifting to the surface of his skin, but it was the desperation in that demand which had my pulse spiking. Fabian Belvedere was begging at my feet, and to make it worse, a part of me wanted nothing more than to do what he was asking.

I wished I still had Fury. With my blade in my hand, I could have put us both out of this misery with one swift blow. But even as the thought crossed my mind, the horror of the idea consumed me.

How can I live in a world without Fabian?

I shook my head violently, refusing to accept those thoughts as my own. “If you really care about me, then don’t follow me.” I turned and ran from him before I ended up running towards him instead, shoving between a crush of vampires as they sprinted for the exit, buying myself a few moments to steal a head start.

I’d lost sight of Magnar, but it didn’t matter. I only had to head in the opposite direction to the fleeing vampires and I knew I’d find him.

Someone stepped on the train of my dress, and I stumbled as it tore. Reaching down, I ripped the remaining length of excess material off as well, forcing a slit up the side of my leg too so that I could lengthen my stride and run.

I instantly moved faster, putting more vampires between myself and Fabian, racing towards the sound of a battle cry in the centre of the cathedral. If I could just get to Magnar then I knew I’d be alright. He’d find a way to undo whatever the fuck had happened to me. He knew all of the vampires’ tricks. He’d fix this.

I shoved my way between two fleeing females and stumbled to a halt as Venom cut through the air in front of me, narrowly missing my chest, the flash of gold and brilliant red chased by a billowing cloud of ash.

Magnar’s eyes were filled with rage as they fell on me, but they deepened with recognition when he took me in, a snarl twisting his mouth at the sight of my torn wedding dress.

I leapt at him as fresh tears spilled from my eyes, forcing every inch of my will against Idun’s rules so I could fling my arms around his neck and hold him close for half a heartbeat.

Magnar fought her off too. and for the briefest moment, he pulled me against him and everything in the world seemed right again. The stubble of his jaw grazed my neck and he inhaled deeply, growling against my skin.

“I thought I’d lost you, drakaina hjarta,” he breathed.

“Never,” I replied, clinging to him as Idun tried to make me let go, her power forcing me to part from him.

“Magnar Elioson!” Fabian roared from somewhere behind me, and a tremor of fear rolled down my spine. “You will unhand my wife.”