22. Montana

Iwatched from the window as the sun rose slowly on the horizon, struggling to penetrate the thick clouds. Perhaps Valentina was keeping the weather this way so that her biters could remain out in the city. Was she still hunting for us right now? I didn’t understand why she wanted Magnar. Was it just out of revenge? But if that was the case, why wouldn’t she have tried to kill him when we’d encountered her before?

Julius had mentioned that Callie and Magnar were upstairs but as the scent of cooking oatmeal filled the air, they appeared.

I glanced over at Callie and her cheeks flushed as she stepped away from Magnar’s side. Her shirt was torn at the hem, and I was fairly sure she didn’t have a bra on. She wouldn’t meet my eye as she hurried to the fire and took a bowl from Julius.

Magnar took one too, sitting beside Callie and wolfing the oatmeal down.

Julius eyed them curiously. “Hungry, Magnar? I only ever see you eat that quickly when you’ve worked up a real appetite.”

Magnar shrugged and Callie’s cheeks turned scarlet.

“What’s going on?” I asked, moving away from the broken window and dropping down in front of the fire.

“We’ll talk later,” Callie whispered to me as Julius’s gaze swung between them, seeming confused and excited.

“You’re both still bound by the vow, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d assume you’d just fucked each other’s brains out.” Julius grinned and Callie half choked on her spoonful of food.

“Well you do know better so shut the fuck up and eat your breakfast,” Magnar said, but his eyes danced with mirth.

Julius smiled casually, scooping a spoonful of food into his mouth.

The phone rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound.

Julius plucked it from his back pocket, scowling at the screen. “Fuck off, Belvedere.” He stamped his thumb down to cut off the call and I scowled.

“How do you know it’s a Belvedere?” Magnar demanded as the phone started ringing again.

I ground my teeth as Julius looked to me, fronting out whatever he was about to say. “Because someone’s been calling her vampire husband.”

“You didn’t!” Callie gasped, staring at me in horror.

Heat poured through my veins and I raised my chin. “Yes, I did. And can you just answer the damn phone, Julius? Erik might have something important to say.”

Julius didn’t respond, but Magnar nodded. “Answer it.”

“Why?” his brother balked.

“Because I said so,” Magnar snarled. “He might spill some information that allows us to go find him and rip his head off.”

I rose from the floor, furious at both of them as I strode toward Julius and held out my hand for the phone. He didn’t pass it over but tapped a button on the screen and Erik’s voice sounded out loudly through the speaker.

“I assume this is one of my enemies answering and not my beloved wife?” he asked casually, and a ripple of heat spread through my stomach at his reference to me.

“You assume right,” Julius growled. “And if you’re hoping to speak to her again, permission denied.”

“Stop being such an asshole,” I snapped at Julius and Erik’s low laughter filled the room.

Magnar bristled, rising to his feet with his hands curling into fists. “What do you want, parasite?”

“I want to offer you something you can’t refuse,” Erik said, and my heart started beating wildly in my chest.

“Your head on a silver platter?” Julius asked.

“Better,” Erik said.

“All of your family’s heads on four silver platters?” Julius suggested, and my scowl grew.

“Or in a sack?” Magnar added and the temperature in my veins somehow increased.

“I am thoroughly amused,” Erik said dryly. “Even decapitated, I am sure my wife would still prefer me to you, Julius Elioson, so how about you listen to someone she actually gives a shit about?”

Julius fell unnaturally quiet, glaring at the phone.

“Go on,” Magnar hissed.

“I’m offering you the chance of a duel. Man to man. The two of you against me and Fabian.”

“No way,” Callie snapped. “If you’re fighting, I’m fighting too.”

“No deal,” Erik said smoothly.

Magnar and Julius shared a glance, and I stared between them, fearing them agreeing to this.

“I sense there’s more to this offer?” Julius asked.

“There is,” Erik confirmed. “Whoever wins – as in whoever kills their opposition first – takes the twins. If I win, I get my wife back and her sister, too. If you win and we die, then your vendetta against me is done.”

“What?” I gasped in disbelief. He was placing a fucking wager and we were the prize. He had no goddamn right. “No way-”

“Silence,” Magnar commanded, and I stared at him in shock.

“You can’t actually think we’re going to let you agree to that?” Callie half-laughed, but she looked concerned when the brothers didn’t join in.

“We’re not some fucking trophy to be won,” I snarled.

“I’ll give you an hour to decide. If you agree, we fight at sunset,” Erik said then the line went dead.

I folded my arms. “Well that’s not happening.”

“Exactly,” Callie agreed, moving to my side in solidarity.

Magnar ignored us, staring at his brother. “We have waited a thousand years for this fight. We will win it.”

“Um, hello? Are you not listening?” I demanded. “You are not fighting Erik. And we are not the reward for some insane brawl.”

“I know, brother,” Julius answered Magnar, ignoring me entirely. “We shall drive our blades into their hearts and finish this at last.”

“Excuse me,” Callie growled, planting her hands on her hips. “We aren’t agreeing. We’re not allowing this. The answer is no.”

“I am glad it’s Fabian joining Erik, he has wronged you deeply, Magnar. And when they’re dead, we’ll finish the rest of their siblings.” Julius nodded firmly.

Magnar beamed. “We’ll kill them all together.”

I gaped at Callie and she shook her head, clearly as pissed off as I was.

“You aren’t fighting,” I insisted. “This duel is not happening. We’re not going to stand and watch while you offer us up to be some fucking prize.”

“Exactly, and if there was a fight, I’d damn well be a part of it,” Callie snapped.

Magnar and Julius finally gave us their attention, not seeming particularly bothered by our reaction.

“We will win,” Julius said with conviction. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about?” I cried, taking a step towards him. “You’re talking about killing Erik. And I don’t care what you all think of him, I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Details.” Magnar shrugged and rage burned a hole right through me.

I drew Nightmare from my hip, pointing it at him. “It’s not happening, Magnar.”

Callie took my arm, slowly lowering it to my side. “Don’t worry, Monty. They won’t do it.”

“Psh.” Julius waved her off. “We’ll do what we like.”

“You can do whatever you want with your meaty ass, Julius, but you don’t get to decide for me and my sister,” Callie said in a steady tone. “We’re not going to be a part of this fucked up game.”

“We should be working with the vampires to break the curse,” I implored. “This is madness.” I couldn’t believe Erik had suggested this, but then again, how could I really be surprised? His promises meant shit. He had broken them before, and now he was breaking them again. He’d let me go, but now he was reneging on that promise with some bullshit centuries-old duel that he thought he had the right to use me as a wager for.

“That’s never going to happen,” Magnar said icily, fixing me in his gaze.

Julius sighed. “We can’t expect them to agree to this, brother.”

Magnar eyed him, nodding slowly. “It seems like a wasted opportunity to refuse, but it appears we must.”

I glanced between them suspiciously, unsure why they were backing down so quickly now. Were they really seeing sense?

Callie straightened her spine. “Maybe we should keep trying to figure out this prophecy. It could end all of this before anyone has to fight.”

“Enjoy your endeavours. I’m going to check the wards,” Magnar said, striding off toward the exit. After a beat, Julius followed him, whistling softly to himself in the most obvious, unsubtle way known to man.

“They’re lying,” Callie said, giving me an anxious look.

“Yeah, no shit,” I breathed. “What can we do?”

“Well we’re not going to be sitting ducks here. If they think we’re going to be the trophy in their fight, they’re going to be sorely disappointed.”

“So what are we gonna do?” I hissed again, gripping her arm.

Callie chewed her lower lip. “I guess…if we figure out the prophecy before sunset, maybe we can stop this.”

“How are we going to do that?” I ran a hand into my hair, anxiety burrowing into my core.

Callie dropped down to the floor, patting the space beside her. I sat, folding my legs as I gazed at her, clinging to this slim hope even if it was futile.

“What do we know so far?” she asked.

I recited the prophecy slowly so Callie could absorb it.

“A warrior born but monster made, changes fates of souls enslaved. Twins of sun and moon will rise, when one has lived a thousand lives. A circle of gold shall join two souls, and a debt paid rights wrongs of old. In a holy mountain the earth will heal, then the dead shall live, and the curse will keel.”

I turned over those words in my mind, knowing it was time to reveal what I knew about the first line. The truth I had ignored but had been following me into my nightmares and showing me as that creature with blood staining her lips.

Callie wasn’t going to like it one bit, but we had to lay everything on the line now. It was our only chance to stop this fight to the death.

“Julius and I think a warrior born but monster made might mean me turning into a vampire,” I said thickly. “And Andvari basically confirmed it.” I cleared my throat and Callie glared at me in utter horror.

“What?” she gasped, grabbing my hand. “That can’t happen. I won’t let it.”

“I know,” I said through my teeth. “It’s not like I want that, Callie. Shit, the thought is terrifying and I hope it’s not true, but I had to say it.”

Those words hung between us, Callie shaking her head in refusal of them and I ached to take them back. But there was no time for lies or half-truths anymore. We had to face the possibilities of what Andvari wanted from us.

“Let’s just focus on the next part,” I urged.

She looked ready to fight me but gave in at my pleading expression. “Which changes fates of souls enslaved,” she murmured the next line. “So if you turn then that could set things in motion maybe? It changes the vampires’ fates...for the better I guess.” Discomfort crossed her features at the mere idea of that happening and my chest twisted with it too.

I nodded, having nothing better to offer and wanting to move swiftly on from that part of the prophecy. “Then twins of sun and moon will rise...Nightmare whispered that to me at the wedding. So I suppose that’s what that means? We’ve risen because we married princes? That makes us royal too. Princesses.”

Callie nodded, delivering the next part. “When one has lived a thousand lives - that was when I took the vow. I have access to a thousand lives, a thousand memories as if I’ve lived them all.”

Excitement grew in me. That was over half the prophecy already. “Okay so...it’s the rest we’re unclear on. A circle of gold shall join two souls. And a debt paid right wrongs of old.”

Callie fiddled with Mom’s ring hanging from her neck, her brow heavily furrowed. “Could it be this?” she asked, glancing away awkwardly. “I put it on last night and it seemed to break my bonds for a while. My link to Fabian and the power holding Magnar and I apart just disappeared.” Her cheeks flushed and I realised what she meant.

“Callie,” I gasped. “Does that mean you and Magnar...?”

“Yes.” She suppressed her smile, placing a hand over her mouth.

“How was it?” I whispered, grinning at her, relieved she had found some light in this godforsaken world.

“Good,” she breathed. “Better than good. Monty, he’s everything. I can’t get enough of him and now this ring gives me a way to be with him.” She took it from her neck and my heart swelled as I reached out to it.

As my fingers grazed the metal, my mind exploded with images.

I was trapped in a vision, torn from the room and propelled high into the sky above the statue. My stomach lurched and a silent scream got stuck in my throat as I flew over New York City at high speed. I felt Callie’s presence right next to me and we seemed to merge into one being, watching the land sweep beneath us at a colossal pace. We sped across great forests and ruined towns until the landscape shifted into a dusty red desert. It grew wider and wider, all the way to the horizon until the only thing I could see was crimson sand.

The world whipped by in a blur and suddenly we were standing before a huge mountain, rising from the ground and dominating everything in the land. It disappeared high up into the clouds like a looming beast. Something about it was unearthly, its aura powerful and forbidding.

A ring of gold joins two souls, a whisper filled my ears. Mount Alma awaits.

I was yanked back into the room and the ring fell between us, tinkling as it hit the floor.

“What the hell was that?” I gasped and Callie shook her head, tentatively picking up the ring again.

“I don’t know,” she panted, resting a hand against her heart. “But did you hear that voice?”

I nodded, my breathing finally steadying out. “Do you think that mountain we saw was the holy mountain the prophecy mentions?”

She nodded quickly. “It has to be.” She sprang to her feet, ushering me up. “Come on, we have to tell the others.”