Tears of the Fallen Ch. 23

She was almost at the road when she heard another noise. This time it didn't fade when she stopped, and her heart sank as she spun around to see who was pursuing her.

"There is some satisfaction in being proven right though I admit in this instance I wish I had been proven wrong for Liam's sake," Pietro hissed, fury dancing in his mismatched eyes.

Reasa's heart leapt in her chest, dismay overwhelming her as she gazed at the scarred vampire. "No! You can't be here. Go back, Pietro. Now!"

His face twisted into a grimace, his scar stretching as his eyes bled black. "And let you get away?" he sneered, loathing dripping from every word. "It's a shame Liam has to learn what a treacherous bitch you are, Thereasa. He deserves so much better than you. Fate has truly fucked with his life."

She had to make him leave but she didn't know how. If he was here when Michael arrived, there was no telling what would happen. "Please, Pietro. Please. For Cassia, for Liam and the rest of the pack. You must go back. You must let me go."

"The only place you're going is back to the pack, so get used to that. Now move, Thereasa."

"No...you don't understand!" She tried again, urgency making her words tumble over each other. "You're in danger, Pietro. You have to leave here right now. Please...before it's too late."

"How touching..."

Michael's cold words echoed around them, and Pietro spun around, talons at the ready. They were completely encircled by close to two dozen elder vampires, the blond vampire lounging against a large tree trunk.

Reasa moaned in fear, her gaze flickering frantically around them for some avenue of escape. There was none, and no matter how good Pietro was, there was no way in hell he could take on all of the vampires and win.

"I didn't tell you to bring a friend, Thereasa."

She moved to Pietro's side, her gaze locking with her former coven member. "He followed me. He isn't supposed to be here. Forget about him, Michael. I'm the one you want."

The blond vampire moved forward, amusement shining from his eyes. "You still try to protect this vampire? I never understood why you were so intent on protecting him in Europe and here you are doing the very same thing. Are you fucking him?"

Pietro hissed revulsion crossing his face. "I am mated," he growled, appearing more incensed at being linked with Reasa than being surrounded by so many enemies.

"Our mission wasn't to kill him," Reasa spat out, ignoring Pietro's outburst. "It was information gathering only. You broke Louis' command. You should have been punished as Bruce was. I was weak to leave you alive."

"No, you were too busy following your own agenda and betraying your coven," Michael hissed back, venom in every word. "You've gone from hero to zero, Thereasa. Louis has sanctioned your death." He laughed at her expression, glee blazing from his eyes. "Yes, you no longer have his protection. You're mine to do with as I please."

Reasa swallowed down her fear, keeping Michael focused on her and away from Pietro. "So be it," she answered, her voice calm despite the fear threatening to overwhelm her. "You know how Louis feels about his coven members taking the law into their own hands. My own situation is testament to that. If you harm this vampire beside me and bring his friends to Louis' door, your death will be a certainty."

She could see that had him thinking so she pressed on. "Think about it, Michael. You know what I say is true. Let Pietro go and you can do whatever you want with me." She could feel a subtle tensing of the vampire beside her, and knew without looking that he had glanced down at her. She had to keep Michael engaged though, so she stared straight ahead.

She thought she had him for a moment and then his expression hardened. "Do you think me stupid, Thereasa? Do you think I am gullible enough to allow him to leave and bring the rest of his pack down on my head? No, he chose to follow you so he will meet your fate. He should have died in Europe anyway. It's obscene to know one scarred such as he sullies our people."

"Michael...Michael, please don't do this. I'm begging you. You don't want to do this." Reasa knew it would appeal to him to have her beg. It would buy her a little time...time enough to try to save Pietro. As she spoke she pulled on her newly learned dream walking skills. She slid into the mind of the vampire standing at her side, whispering a mental apology that she was once more invading his soul.

"Pietro...we have little time. Forgive me for doing this..."

"NO!" he roared, pushing at her psychic form, trying to dislodge her from his mind.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry but you must call to Cassia. I am too far from Liam to reach him but you have the mate link now with Cassia. Call to her, Pietro. Warn her of this danger, and then try to fight your way through them. I will do my best to keep Michael occupied." She slipped from his mind before he could answer, praying he would do as she asked.

Michael was laughing loudly, his confidence so high he didn't consider that possibly there could be wolves close by to hear. "Oh, you beg so sweetly. I find I like hearing you beg, Thereasa. Are you sure you're not fucking Pietro because you plead for his life as if you were." His laughter cut off, cruelty replacing his amusement. "I think we shall kill him first...seeing as you're so partial to him."

He signalled to his men, and a handful of them raised their arms. Reasa stared mutely at them for a second, her terrified mind trying to register what they held in their hands.

"I came prepared with Amort." Michael's smile was nothing short of insane. "I really liked watching the flesh putrefy on Pietro's body. I want to see it again."

Pietro moved then, a bellow of utter rage dragged from the depths of his soul. At supernatural speed he incapacitated two vampires, throwing hacked off arms at a third and decapitating the fourth.

Michael sprang out of his reach, roaring at his men. "Kill him!"

Three vampires flew at Pietro, knocking him to the ground. Reasa jumped on one of their backs, holding on as he tried to shake her off. He shook her so hard her teeth rattled but she held on like grim death, trying to buy Pietro some time to defend himself. Sharp talons sliced her thigh and she screamed in pain, releasing her hold and rolling to the forest floor.

The pain was excruciating but it wasn't half as terrifying as seeing blood spurt all over her and chunks of flesh being ripped from Pietro's body. He was outnumbered and outmatched. There was no way he could fight them all off though he was able to inflict some damage. She prayed he had listened and got a call out to Cassia, because it was only a matter of seconds before they were both done for.

"Enough!" Michael roared, and the vampires peeled away to leave them lying bleeding on the ground.

Reasa spared a glance at Pietro, tears falling as she saw the damage to his body. His arms and legs were mangled, and it looked like his spine had been crushed. He would never heal in time; the damage was far too great. She had tried to protect him, tried to atone for her past sins and now she was taking him to her grave.

"I'm so sorry," she wept, dizziness threatening as the blood pumped too quickly from her leg wound. Her human body was letting her down, and if her last words were to be to this wounded warrior, then she wanted him to know that she was sorry for all the harm she had ever done to him.

Puzzled, pain filled eyes met hers, confusion warring with his hatred. Pietro stared up at her, willing his body to heal, frowning as he saw her vision blur as tears fell down her cheeks. "Thereasa?"

"Oh, how touching." Michael's tone was bored as well as amused his expression a twisted, ugly mask of sincerity. "Let's end this, shall we?" He picked up one of the fallen guns, smiling as he pointed it at them. "Stay with me a little longer, Thereasa. There is enough Amort on these bullets to eat Pietro alive in a matter of minutes. It will be such fun to witness."

The gun cocked, and time seemed to stand still. There was no question in her mind, no second-guessing of what she must do. It felt as if she had waited for this moment to come, so that she might buy him some extra time and she might find some peace in the afterlife. "Forgive me," Thereasa whispered, throwing her body forward as the bullet fired.

"NO!" Pietro screamed, his arms coming up to catch her as she fell forward onto his chest, the bullet striking her squarely in the back. Hot, wet, sticky blood coated his hands, Reasa's breath rushing out as her head fell against his neck. Pietro screamed again, and then again, his voice joining with the screams surrounding him.

Breath brushed his neck weakly; a heart beat against his chest slowly. He could hear his name being called. He could hear frantic cries for Reasa, but all he could do was lay there, as a heart slowed with each beat and a breath caught with each gasp. "No," he whispered, tears blurring his vision. "Stay with me, Reasa, please stay with me. I forgive you. I forgive you..."

*****

Cassia flew out of bed, terror filling her soul. "Pietro! Where are you?"

"East quadrant, beside the road. Two dozen vampires...Reasa is here. Am hurt. Hurry!"

"Mom! Dad!" Cassia ran from her room tears running down her face. "Pietro and Reasa are being attacked!"

Her parents were already grabbing clothes as she ran from the house hurrying to Rafe's. She was so distraught she didn't even noticed there were lights on or question why Caleb and Annie were there. "Pietro...Reasa...the east quadrant. Vampire attack!" She gasped the words out, stumbling as she swung around and fled back outside.

"Aaron, lock down the pack now!" Rafe roared, flying from the house with his sister and her mate beside him. He shifted to wolf form as he leapt down the stairs running at full speed towards the attack. He didn't stop to see what the rest of the pack was up to. They were well trained and knew what to do in the face of an attack. Instead, he ran, fury filling his soul that someone would dare harm his pack.

The scene was carnage when he arrived, body pieces everywhere, Andrei and Alexei reigning death down on all they could reach. Wolves were hacking at fallen vampires, working in concert to take heads while avoiding being bitten. Off to the right he could hear more vampires arriving, the Vârcolac and Praetorians were on their way.

"Reasa! Reasa!" Liam's anguished scream cut through the night and his head swung to the right so see figures lying on the ground.

The pack appeared to have the vampires under control, so he shifted back to his human form, kneeling down beside Liam. "Oh God, no," he breathed out, sorrow filling his soul as he stared at the woman cradled in Liam's arms. "Liam...Liam...she's gone, son. She's gone."

"NO!" Liam screamed, holding her close, rocking her body against his as tears rolled down his face. His anguish was transmitting to everyone present, his grief causing tears to fall down everyone's faces. "She's not gone, Rafe. She's not gone. She can't be. She can't be!"

Frantic eyes searched wildly, finding the one person he sought. "Help her, Annie. Help her. Make her wake up again...please."

The redhead knelt beside him, gently pushing the Alpha to the side. "Oh, Liam...I wish I could, sweetheart. I truly do..."

"She's there, Annie, I can feel her still there," he wept, his eyes pleading with her. "I can feel her in there, she isn't gone."

"Let me through," Mallen ordered, the doctor pulling open his bag as he joined the group. "If Liam says she's there then I'm not going to argue with him, not after he just brought six seemingly dead vampires back to life. So, I'll work on the physical side and you can do your mental shit. Come on, people, we don't have a lot of time here." His stoic pragmatism seemed to shake off some of the stunned grief they were experiencing and the group parted to give them room.

"Clear up this mess and then do a sweep to make sure we got them all."

Pietro gently disentangled himself from the bear hug Cassia had wrapped him in since she'd found him among the melee of body parts. Keeping a hold of her hand as he sat up gingerly, his body protested the movement but he had to see the bodies. "There's no sign of Michael," he hissed out, fury invading him that the main instigator had gotten away.

"Fan out, do a full search of the area," Rafe ordered. His gaze fell on Mac who was staring down at Reasa's body. "Mac, can the Praetorians run a sweep of the city? I don't want any of the pack away from our borders until we're certain the coast is clear."

"We're on it," the Praetorian leader answered, glancing down at his mate.

"I want to stay with Liam," Lily said quietly, scrubbing at her wet cheeks.

"Is that wise?"

"He just made us cry a little," she sighed, leaning in to give him a hug. "Liam's in control, Mac. Nothing bad will happen."

Her mate wasn't so sure of that but he had to go with what she wanted. Her pack needed her right now, so this was her place to be. "Stay here until I come get you." He kissed her lightly and then turned to gather his people. If this Michael was anywhere in the city to find, then they would find him.

*****

The pain was gone and it felt so amazing. Reasa slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the harsh whiteness that surrounded her. Where was she? Glancing around in confusion, she tried to clear her head but it felt kind of fuzzy, as if what she was looking at wasn't real. The last thing she remembered was being in the forest and the next she was here. Was this what the afterlife looked like?

Michael had shot her at point blank range. There was no way her fragile human body could have survived that kind of trauma. She only hoped that her sacrifice had given Pietro the precious seconds he'd needed to heal enough to protect himself. Maybe it had been enough time for the pack to get there and help him...if he had called to Cassia as she'd told him.

"Was it a hard choice?"

Reasa spun around, her mouth opening in surprise as she stared at the beautiful woman standing watching her. Her thick red hair was pulled up in an intricate design, and she wore a flowing deep purple gown cinched at the waist by an ornate silver belt with a crescent moon clasp. Reasa was certain she'd never seen the other woman before and yet, she appeared familiar somehow.

"Annie?" Even as she breathed the name, she knew it wasn't Rhianna standing there. They shared the same colouring but their faces were different.

"Was it a hard choice?" the woman asked again and this time Reasa listened to her words, understanding what she wanted to know.

"No," she answered quietly, reliving that moment in the forest once more and knowing if she had to do it over again she would make the same choice.

"Do you know who I am, Thereasa?"

Knowledge came to her in an instant, awe overwhelming her. "You are Anakatrine, last of the great Vampire Queens." Tears came unbidden and the need to subjugate herself to the woman who had taken everything from her and yet, in the process, had given her back her most precious possession. Reasa knelt down on both knees, bowing her head. "Thank you, my Queen, for the gift of my soul. I didn't deserve it but I am grateful for your generosity."

The Vampire Queen let out an inelegant snort, so surprising Reasa's head shot up to see open amusement on the other woman's face. "Oh, stand up, child," Anakatrine laughed, holding out a hand. "Do you want to know a secret that only Callain and Gard know? I used to bespell my audience chamber to turn the tiles into cushioned pillows. It still looked like it was tiled but it was soft when my subjects knelt. It used to confuse the hell out of them but I always worried that their knees would get sore with all that kneeling. I never could abide all that kneeling malarkey."

When Reasa only gaped at her open-mouthed, she laughed again, pulling her to her feet. "What? I'm not what you expect of a Queen? I can be many things dependant on the circumstances. Sometimes I am benevolent, others I am a warrior. There are times when I must make the most painful of decisions and then there are times like these, when I can just be one woman talking to another."

"I don't understand what's happening here," Reasa whispered, her confusion absolute. "Am I dead like you are, living in someone else's mind?"

Anakatrine's gaze turned serious, her hands squeezing Reasa's tightly. "You are between worlds...in a place only Callain or I can walk. Unfortunately, we cannot walk in the same moment here, but I can feel an echo of him behind me sometimes."

She waved her hand at nowhere in particular, a graceful arching of a limb that was so beautiful it made Reasa catch her breath. "Out there, Mallen is working to stabilise your body with the Vârcolac donating their blood to help repair the damage. In your mind, Liam is wading through your shattered hallway, searching desperately for the pieces of your psyche to hold your mind together as they work. In here, it is just you and I, two women having a pleasant talk. Why don't we sit for a while? You've had a busy night and must be weary."

Bright red, high-backed armchairs appeared out of nowhere, and Reasa allowed herself to sink into one as the vampire Queen settled into the other. "Why am I here, Anakatrine? Why are we here?" It seemed like the most important question in the world, one that she had to have answered.

"Why do you think, Thereasa?" Was the cryptic response, confusing her further and yet, opening up her thoughts too.

"I am being judged."

Anakatrine snorted once more, laughter dancing across her face. "I am not judging you, child, I am merely spending some time with you while you make your decision."

What was she talking about? What decision was she required to make? "Please...I don't understand...can't you talk without riddles."

The smile the vampire queen gave her was one of fondness though there was more than a hint of ruefulness about it. "I have spent eons talking in riddles, child. Sometimes it is hard to break the habit. When I stripped you of your immortality, I told you that you had three souls to save, Thereasa. Name those souls and our time here is done."

Everything Rhianna had told her was true, it had been the vampire queen who had taken her immortality. She had known it at the time, known it when she knelt before this woman, and she now knew the answer to the question just posed to her. "Liam," she breathed seeing his beautiful face as if he was standing before her.

"I forgive you..." a voice echoed in her mind, the last sound she could remember hearing. "Pietro..." Tears fell down her cheeks, the emotions within demanding an outlet.

"Was it a hard choice...?" The question from the vampire queen, the one she had answered without needing to think..."No..."

Anakatrine was watching her closely, glowing lavender eyes brimming with a love that was so fierce it was incandescent.

"Thank you for my soul..." Reasa's voice, her words uttered only a few breaths before as she knelt before this wondrous being...

"My soul..."

Heat radiated throughout her body, a soft warm glow that wrapped her up and embraced her in a safe cocoon. She wasn't afraid of it, she didn't understand it, she just knew that it would do her no harm.

"Thank you for Liam's soul, sweet child. Thank you for Pietro's soul, fierce vampire. While I grieved that I had to take such dire steps to lead you home, I had faith that you would one day find your own soul once more. Never forget who you are, Thereasa. Never let mistakes of the past define you. This is who you are now, a woman who has saved countless innocent lives. A woman who was willing to give her life to save another. Welcome home, child."