25. Callie

The sun fell lower in the sky and my gut clenched as I watched it dipping towards the horizon. I sat beneath the statue, my gaze straying to the sunset over the river more than once.

Magnar and Julius were sparring, but I didn’t join them. I could feel Fabian drawing closer to me as if the missing part of my soul travelled with him too. I fiddled with my mother’s ring, wishing I could put it on to block out the piece of me which cared about him. I didn’t want to be thinking about the colour of his eyes or hoping he might arrive earlier than expected.

Magnar laughed as he knocked Julius on his ass, and I forced my attention onto them.

Julius leapt to his feet and Magnar flexed his muscles as he stood his ground and absorbed the blow when they collided. The earth trembled at the force with which they hit each other, and my lips parted in astonishment as they moved so quickly that it was hard to follow.

“What if I offered to leave with Erik when he gets here?” Montana asked as she finally stopped pacing and took a seat beside me.

The slayers had insisted we stay within their sight, and she’d been raging about it all afternoon. My own anger had begun to wane, and a heavy kind of acceptance hung over me. Magnar and Julius had been waiting for this fight for a long time. Nothing we could say would discourage them now.

“Once the slayers see him, they won’t let him go without a fight,” I replied softly, knowing it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“Then what if I can convince Erik to discuss the prophecy before it gets to a fight?” she suggested hopefully, and I could tell the alternative terrified her. If they couldn’t find some middle ground, no matter how tenuous, it was obvious the whole thing would end in violence.

“Honestly? I don’t think the slayers care about the prophecy. They want justice for their father. I understand that feeling well enough.” I started chewing on my thumbnail then stopped. The old habit irritated me, and I refused to keep doing it every time something was bothering me.

“Then we need to have a plan to stop them if it comes to it. Because there isn’t a way that the fight can end without at least one of us having our heart broken,” Montana said desperately.

“As much as I don’t want to admit it, I think my heart will be broken either way,” I muttered, thinking of Fabian despite my desperation to keep him from my mind. I let out a heavy breath as the vampire prince dominated my thoughts once more.

Magnar glanced over at me, and my gut clenched with guilt as I realised he’d heard that. Julius slammed into him and knocked him to the ground, using the distraction to his advantage. I winced slightly, though any feelings of guilt were tempered by my irritation over the bonds which held me at their mercy.

I wondered how Magnar would manage to regain the upper hand from the ground, but then he landed a boot in Julius’s chest and sent him flying before I could spend too much time considering it.

“Do you think there’s a way to break your link to Fabian?” Montana asked, dropping her voice to try and keep our discussion private.

I shrugged, glancing at the silver cross on my palm. “Maybe...if I killed Idun.”

The wind chose that moment to pick up and swirl around us. Montana eyed it warily as if she thought the goddess might be responsible. And maybe she was, but I was beyond giving a shit anymore. If she hadn’t realised I hated her yet, then she was deluded. And if there was any way to kill a goddess, I’d be more than tempted to try it.

“Or if Fabian dies?” Montana wondered, but she didn’t seem to be saying she wanted that.

My heart leapt with panic at the mere thought of it and I almost snapped at her simply for suggesting it. I clenched my fist tightly, trying to wrangle my emotions so I could give her a sane response.

“That’s obviously what Magnar thinks. But I still can’t bear to imagine it. It’s not like that’s all because of the mark anyway.” I took a deep breath, unsure of how much to tell her. I didn’t want her getting her hopes up about how much I was able to understand what she was going through, but she deserved to know that I was trying. “I listened to what you were telling me about Erik yesterday, but it’s still so hard for me to imagine that he could be...” I couldn’t quite make myself say good. “Not evil.”

“And?” Montana pressed.

“I wanted answers, so I visited Fabian in his dreams again last night.”

“You did?” she asked, her eyes widening with surprise. “What did you ask him?”

“Lots of things, but mostly I just wanted to try and see what you can see. The men beneath the monsters.”

“And did you?” she asked, desperation lacing her tone as she snatched my hand and gazed into my eyes.

“Callie!” Magnar snapped, and I looked around to find him glaring at me. Julius was standing beside him with his arms folded. “Come here.”

I gritted my teeth as I tried to remain where I was. Montana’s grip on my fingers tightened as though she wished to help me break his control too. It was only a little command but the fact that he was wielding his power over me so soon after our night together sent anger coursing through my bones.

The seconds dragged and sweat started to bead on my temple but eventually, I caved. My fingers slipped through Montana’s and I stalked towards Magnar with a scowl on my face.

“What?” I asked angrily as I came to a halt before the two brothers.

“Did I hear that right?” Magnar demanded. “Have you been cavorting with vampires again?”

“Cavorting?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him irritably.

“Do I need to spell out to you the laws of our people? Did you think that when you swore to destroy all vampires there was a loophole which encouraged you to try and understand them?” he asked, his tone dark.

“You didn’t seem to mind me breaking the rules so much last night when it came to cavorting with you,” I replied evenly.

Julius snorted a laugh then quickly schooled his expression.

For a moment, I could have sworn Magnar was trying not to smile too.

“That is a separate issue,” he said eventually.

“Not really,” I replied. “I see it all as the same issue. I don’t like being bound to rules that I didn’t choose for myself. I don’t like being told what to think without being given the opportunity to question it. And I don’t have any intention of playing along willingly. So if you feel the need to bind me to your will, then do it. But just know that I will fight it and fight it until I break it and I will remember what you did.”

“Shit Magnar, you couldn’t have chosen a more compliant woman?” Julius teased. “There is so much fire between the two of you that I’ve no idea how you don’t simply burn up in it.”

My lips twitched with amusement and Magnar sighed.

“I hope we will clash less once I no longer have to be your mentor,” he said, his tone softer. “And I’m glad that you are so determined to break my hold over you because I would like nothing more than for this bond between us to be gone. But in the meantime, I swore to protect you. So I have to do what I think is right, even if you don’t like it.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have control over my dreams,” I replied, wondering what he was trying to get at.

“No, I don’t. But I do have control while you’re awake. Give me your mother’s ring.” He held his hand out and I stared at him in total confusion. Why would he take it away when he’d already commanded me not to use it?

“Once Fabian arrives, I’ll be drawn to him. I assumed you’d let me use it once they got here,” I protested as I pulled the chain which held the ring over my head. “Without the ring, how am I supposed to stop myself from going to him? Why would you want to risk that?”

“I’m sorry, Callie, but you can’t use the ring when the Belvederes are here. I’ve no doubt the gods will be present, and you cannot wield its power while they are watching.” He placed the chain over his own head, and I could see how much it pained him to have to allow my connection to Fabian to remain in place.

Magnar hesitated and Julius laid a hand on his arm. “Do what we discussed, brother. It’s for the best,” he urged.

“Do what?” I asked, looking between the two of them in confusion.

“Julius, why don’t you give us some privacy?” Magnar snipped, and his brother tipped his head to me in farewell before walking away from us to join Montana.

I watched him go and waited for Magnar to answer my question.

“I’m sorry about this, Callie,” Magnar breathed. “But I hope you understand why I have to do it.”

“Do what?” I demanded again, my heart fluttering as I sensed a trap.

“When it comes to a fight between us and the Belvederes, you must not intervene in any way,” Magnar commanded and I felt the power of his words binding me. “And if at any point it seems that we may lose, then I command you to run.”

Ishook my head as the force of his words washed over me and I realised the other reason why he’d taken the ring from me. He wanted to maintain his control over me. He was making sure I had no choice but to bow to his commands in this.

“You think I could run from you if I thought you might die?” I breathed in horror. The idea of being forced to do such a thing making me sick to my stomach. It was a betrayal of my free will that cut so deeply, I could hardly breathe.

“No. Which is why I have compelled you to do so.” His eyes burned with a ferocious intensity, and I could see how much he wanted to protect me from this fight but it shouldn’t have been his decision to make.

“And how would you expect me to live with myself if I’d run from you when you needed me?” I asked, anger replacing some of the horror in my tone. “If I left you to die alone?”

“If that were to happen and you didn’t run, then Fabian would claim you once more. And I could not bear to die leaving you in his hands,” Magnar growled.

“But you could bear to die?” I spat. “What about trying to figure out the prophecy?”

“Do you really think you’ve unravelled the prophecy in the space of an afternoon when others have tried and failed for over a thousand years? Your answers are little more than guesses. This day cannot end in any other way than bloodshed.” His voice was soft, and I could tell that he truly was sorry for the fact that doing this would hurt me. But I knew he had no pity in his heart for the vampires he was planning to kill.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I breathed. “Are you really willing to die for this? When we could be so close to finding another way?”

My words hung between us, and Magnar dropped his head as if he knew what his response would do to me. “All men must die, Callie. I do not wish to leave you, but if my time has come then so be it.”

Pain spiralled through my chest in a never-ending torrent which filled me up and overflowed until all I could see were stars dancing before my eyes and a chasm of despair waiting to swallow me whole. How could he do this to me after everything?

I stepped forward and punched him as hard as I could, forcing his head to wheel aside as the blow struck his jaw and pain lanced through my hand. Then I turned and strode away from him, not looking back once. Fuck him. Fuck him for thinking that his idea of what was best for me meant more than my own free will. Fuck him for using his control over me again even after spending the night in my arms. And fuck him for the way my heart was pounding with terror over the idea of losing him now. This was why I had never let anyone get close to me before. This was why I had kept my guard up and refused any hint of what I now felt for him, because the loss of it was far worse than the prospect of never having held it at all. My worst nightmare was coming true, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Montana jumped up as I reached her, and she fell into step beside me as I marched away from the statue and headed to the far side of the island where I could scream or curse or rage without Magnar breathing down my neck.

How could he talk about leaving me so casually? How could he even consider that possibility after all we’d been through?

The wind picked up again and my hair whipped around me as my anger grew into its own storm within my chest.

It took me several more minutes of furious pacing before I realised there was more to the breeze than was natural. A heaviness had filled the air and my lungs began to struggle with the effort it took to breathe the tainted oxygen. It felt like trying to inhale syrup.

Montana caught my hand and we looked about wildly. The waves lapped the shore before us in a rhythmic pattern which began to sound wholly unnatural.

I turned back to see if Magnar and Julius had noticed it too, but they weren’t there. The door to the room beneath the statue was closed and I was fairly certain they were inside.

“What’s happening?” Montana breathed, and I gripped her hand more tightly.

A thick mist built above the waves, growing into a swirling cloud which blocked our view of the city.

“Oh no, no, no,” Idun’s seductive voice purred on the crest of a wave. “This won’t do at all.”

Montana cried out as heated raindrops began to splatter over us, scalding our skin as they struck our bodies.

My feet were glued to the ground, and I wrapped my arms around my sister as we were trapped in the maelstrom Idun had created. We clung to each other as the rain grew heavier, burning away our clothes and painting us in new ones.

I scrunched my eyes shut as the acidic rain pummelled us and fear washed through me. Not for myself, but for Montana. I tried to shield her with my own body, but the rain drenched us both regardless.

It took me several long seconds to realise it didn’t hurt. Though I could feel the scalding heat of it, no pain raced over my skin. In fact, I felt weirdly...dry.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times as the rain stopped falling, the burn of it fading to nothing.

We slowly pulled away from each other and I stared at Montana in surprise. Her clothes had been replaced with a white dress made with folds of overlapping fabric. It clung to her body, revealing her curves and dropping to her feet. Around her waist was a silver rope with a crescent moon suspended from it. Nightmare hung from her hip in a leather sheath, and I ached to have Fury by my side too.

Her dark hair was no longer lank and dirty from her dip in the river but hung in perfect, tumbling curls. Upon her head was the crown she’d been given at the wedding just days ago.

It took me another moment to realise I was dressed exactly the same as her. It reminded me of when we were tiny and our mom had liked to make us match. But the rope around my waist was golden and a sun dangled from it instead of a moon.

I reached up to touch the crown upon my head and my lips parted in wonder at the power the deity held.

“What is this...” Montana murmured as she stared at my transformed appearance too.

“Prizes must appear at their best if they are to be fought for,” Idun laughed and the air around us seemed to tremble. “Prepare to greet your husbands, ladies.”

I felt her presence withdraw, though I was sure she was still close enough to observe us.

A dark speedboat broke through the mist and Montana gasped as she spotted Erik standing at the wheel, guiding it towards us. Fabian was at his side, the two of them dressed in black outfits which matched the darkness in their eyes.

My heart stilled as I gazed at the man I’d been forced to marry. No, not man; vampire. I ground my teeth as the power of my bond with him began to whisper false feelings through my body.

The boat spun about, and a wave washed over the shore as Erik cut the engine.

Though I felt drawn to look at Fabian, my eyes snagged on his brother. Erik was staring at Montana like she was the reason the world kept turning, his relief in being reunited with her clearly plastered over his face. And though a part of me still wanted to blame the mark which bound them, in my gut I knew it was more than that.

Somehow, impossibly, she’d been right when she’d said he cared for her. I could feel his love in the air like a living thing.

I was pushed aside, Montana’s hand wrenched from mine as Idun’s power separated us. The mist swept towards the shore, swirling into the space which divided us and hiding my sister from view.

Fabian leapt off of the boat and reached out for me, snaring my attention. As soon as he left Erik behind, the mist swallowed him too so that we were left alone. I could feel Idun’s amusement on the wind as Fabian advanced on me and she waited to see what would happen.

The warring halves of my soul disagreed on what to do, but I managed to step back before he could lay a hand on me.

“Don’t,” I breathed.

I felt totally unprepared for the closeness of him. I’d forgotten the pull I experienced when I looked into his eyes. Or how my blood heated when my gaze fell to his mouth and... I wanted to punch him in his stupid jaw.

I closed my hand into a fist and forced my face to cooperate so I could glare at him. I ignored the piece of me which was begging me to reconsider and throw myself into his arms.

“Even when you visit me in my dreams, you do not look so captivating as you do in the flesh,” Fabian said in a low voice, filled with desire.

“I hope you don’t think I got dressed up for you,” I replied, trying to put some venom into my voice and failing. “You can thank Idun for this nonsense. And you can have this back too.” I took the crown from my head and tossed it to him. I’d left it behind on purpose the last time I’d taken it off and I certainly didn’t want it back.

Fabian’s face fell as he caught it and I reached towards him as if I might try to comfort him before managing to force my arm back down again.

“I... I brought you something,” he said, seeming to lose his composure for a minute. I hated how easily I could disarm him. It seemed to go against his nature entirely and whether I thought he was a monster or not, I didn’t like having that power over someone else.

“I don’t want anything from you,” I replied. Except to feel your mouth against mine and the touch of your-

I clenched my fists so hard that I was sure my nails were drawing blood from my palms. But I didn’t care; the pain helped me to force out the desires I refused to recognise.

Fabian hesitated again then raised a box I hadn’t noticed him holding. It was heavy, made of lead and inlaid with carvings of runes. I tried to decipher them and got the feeling they were designed for containment and protection but before I could look too closely, he flipped the lid open.

I gasped in delight and a wide smile lit my face as I grabbed the golden blade from inside it.

Hello, Sun Child, Fury purred, and I could have kissed it.

I leapt at Fabian, wrapping myself around him before I could consider what I was doing. His arms closed around me and he held me tightly, inhaling deeply as he pressed his face into my hair.

“I’m so glad you like it,” he whispered, nuzzling my neck.

I felt his lips brushing my skin as my pulse raced and I froze, suddenly terrified. His fangs were so near to me, it would take nothing at all for him to bite down. And there would be nothing I could do to stop him.

I was at his mercy.

A tremor rolled through my body, but I didn’t dare move. He seemed to notice and his grip on me loosened ever so slightly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently, like he was afraid he might scare me away.

I felt the movement of his lips against my neck and a whimper escaped me. He was the monster who’d haunted my dreams since I was a child. I felt so out of control with him and now I’d managed to put myself into the most dangerous position imaginable. This wasn’t like a dream. I had no power here and even with Fury in my hand, I didn’t think I’d be able to stop him if he gave in to the basest part of himself.

“Let me go,” I breathed, hoping that his false feelings for me outweighed the call of my blood.

Fabian recoiled as if my words had been a blow to the face. He released me and I stumbled back, raising Fury between us as I regained some sense of myself.

“You thought I was going to bite you?” he asked, a frown pulling at his brow.

Yes. No.I didn’t even know anymore. Being around him was the sweetest form of torture.

“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?” I asked and my hand shook as I tried to draw on my ancestors’ strength but failed.

Fabian seemed so lost and confused, like he couldn’t understand what I was saying. But our bond was different for him. He hadn’t grown up fearing and hating me. He wasn’t in love with someone else. Perhaps from his perspective, it did seem simple. And I doubted there had been many things he’d wanted during his long life which he hadn’t simply been able to take. But I would never surrender to my feelings for him. I’d keep fighting no matter what it cost me.

Before he could answer me, a strong wind pushed against us, and I was forced back as Idun grew bored of watching us.

The mist surrounded me and I lost all sense of my place in the world for several long seconds.

It moved away just as quickly and I found myself beside the statue in a glimmering golden cage. I moved to grip the bars in fear, waiting for Idun to release her hold on my sister and Erik. Once she’d had her fun with them, the real challenge would begin.