Legacy of Blood

chapter Twenty-Five



I was surrounded by the sweet, floral aroma of Gardenias, Jasmine, Roses, Lilacs, Peonies, and Lily. I took a deep breath in, enjoying the smell, and felt someone lightly caress my cheek.

“Open your eyes, Cion,” Archer whispered.

It took me a few tries, but I obeyed and smiled when I saw his beautiful face above me. “Hi,” I whispered, my voice rough and weak.

Archer closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, I saw tears glistening on the surface. My brow creased in confusion and I raised one shaky hand and placed it softly on his cheek.

“Don’t cry,” I whispered.

Archer leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. “I didn’t think you’d ever open your eyes. I thought I had lost you forever.”

“What happened? Is Amun still alive?”

Archer nodded and sat back up as he took my hand in his. “The sword missed his heart by a fraction of an inch. Thank God it did. How could you do that, Skye? We would have found another way. You didn’t have to try and kill yourself.”

“A life connected to Amun is no life at all, Archer,” I whispered as I slowly looked around the room. I saw that I was lying in Archer’s bed and that the room had been decorated entirely with elaborate floral bouquets.

Archer’s eyes followed mine and he smiled. “Trey has had trucks delivering these for the last five days.”

My head turned back to Archer and I frowned. “Five days?”

“Aye,” he whispered before lifting my hand and placing a soft kiss on the inside of my wrist. “The longest five days of my entire existence.”

My stomach cramped with intense need and I groaned in answer.

“Are you hungry?” Archer asked as he brushed the hair from my forehead.

I nodded my head and watched him stand and flash out of the room. I heard muffled noises drift down the hall from the living room, followed by the sound of someone running. Archer’s door burst open a second later and Trey stood there with the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face.

“You’re finally awake!” he grinned as he flashed to the side of the bed and gingerly leaned over to hug me. “Sakes alive, honey. We all thought you were dead for sure. What the hell is wrong with you, trying to kill yourself like that? Do you know what we’ve been going through around here?”

I returned his embrace and patted his back. “Seamus is dead,” I whispered, remembering the feel of his severed head as it hit my leg. Tears stung my eyes as Trey’s body stiffened and he stood up.

“Yes,” he nodded slowly as tears filled his eyes. “It’s been a tough few days for everyone. Lochlan is taking it especially hard. They were very close, those two. Seamus was like a big brother to him.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to get anyone killed,” I covered my mouth and closed my eyes as tears slid fast down my face. “I did like Amun asked and didn’t tell anyone when I left. All I could think about was saving you.” I opened my eyes and looked Trey over, remembering his horrible injuries. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Trey sniffed as he took my hand from my mouth, holding it as he sat down on the bed next to me. “No one blames you for Seamus’ death, sugar. If you hadn’t come, The Faithful probably never would have captured Amun and I’d most certainly be dead right now.”

“Poor Seamus,” I sobbed. “It’s just so tragic, Trey. I know I haven’t known him as long as you guys have, but I really liked and respected him. He was good to me and always kind, even when I was being a pain in the ass. What was he even doing there? He shouldn’t have been there. I was careful when I left the clu-.”

“Sshh,” Trey patted my hand as he swallowed thickly, the pain in his eyes clear despite his rather calm exterior. “There’s plenty of time to talk about this when you’re well. We don’t need you getting yourself worked up, darlin’.”

“What did they do with Amun?”

“I’m going to let athair answer that one for you. I just wanted to come in and see you for a minute. Archer asked me not to stay long because you still need your rest and I’ve got to get ready for work anyway. You focus on getting better, okay? I’ll come and visit with you again first thing in the morning.”

I tried to sit up and hug him but a sharp pain in my chest and stomach stopped me cold as soon as I moved.

“You lie still now,” Trey tsked as he leaned over and hugged me. “You haven’t fully healed yet.”

I nodded my head as he stood up and gave him a tired smile. “Thank you for the flowers, honey. They’re beautiful. It was the first thing I smelled when I woke up.”

Trey’s face fell and he was silent for a long moment. “I wanted you to be surrounded by something beautiful when you woke up. Ever since you awoke as a vampire, you’ve had to deal with a whole lot of ugliness. I wanted you to have better this time.”

“Oh, Trey,” I whispered as tears fell anew. I was deeply touched by his thoughtfulness. “I don’t know what I did so right to deserve a friend like you, but I’m glad.”

“Me too,” Trey managed a small smile as he gently patted my ankle.

“Dinner is served,” Archer said as he entered the room carrying three bags of blood.

I watched Trey walk out and then turned to Archer with wide eyes. “I can’t drink bagged blood.”

“It’s fresh,” Archer smiled. “I just drew it from your three feeders. They’ve been here all afternoon. I wanted to make sure you had food in case you woke up.”

Archer sat down next to me and handed me the first bag. “Í think the citrate phosphate dextrose preservative solution that’s in most collection bags is what makes you ill after consumption. The citrate, when combined with blood calcium, acts as an anticoagulant. This blood here is additive free.”

I sucked on the tubing that was still connected to the bags and drank deeply. The blood had only cooled by a degree or so, but it was delicious just the same. I quickly polished off the three bags and felt stronger almost immediately.

I tried to sit up again and Archer gave me a hand. The pain in my stomach and chest were still intense and I lifted my nightgown to see that I was heavily bandaged. The gauze was tinted in two areas with my blood.

“Why haven’t I fully healed yet?” I lifted my eyes in confusion. “I don’t understand. I’m supposed to heal faster than any of you.”

Archer frowned as he looked at my bandages. “Amun’s cuts were inflicted by the Sword of Saint Patrick. It is not a mere sword, Skye. If you had not been half Day Walker, you would not be here right now. It’s a miracle you survived and I’ve thanked the good Lord every chance I’ve gotten.”

“If I’m healing, does that mean Amun is healing too?”

Archer nodded his head and explained what happened after I drove the sword through Amun’s chest.

“We thought you were dead. You stopped breathing and your heart stopped beating. Amun, on the other hand, had signs of life so Ruarc and his men withdrew the sword and carried his body to their van. They heavily chained him in silver and draped him with rosaries. Ruarc thought there was a chance you were still alive because Amun was, so he refused to kill him. Ruarc’s remaining men helped me carry you to the car before they gathered their fallen and left for the airport. Trey, Hagan and I brought you home and Trey cleaned you up while I called Jameson. I needed him to come heal you, even though I wasn’t sure if you were alive or not. Jameson immediately chartered a private jet from New Orleans and was here less than three hours after I called. As soon as he touched you, your heart started to beat. After he healed you the first time, your head wound was gone and you were breathing steadily again.”

“Jameson came?” I whispered in shock.

“Aye,” Archer nodded. “He is still here. He’s been healing you every 6 hours for the past five days.”

“Oh crap,” I cringed. “You took him away from his tour? Is he mad at me?”

“Yes I took him away from his tour,” Archer said, raising his voice a little. “What part of ‘we thought you were dead’ do you not understand? I’d trek through the nine circles of hell and fetch the devil himself if I knew there was any chance of saving you, Skye.”

“What about his tour, though?”

“He rescheduled the last eight stops,” Archer sighed. “You are far more important to us, to him, than some bualadh craicinn concert.”

“At least he isn’t mad at me,” I whispered and worried at my bottom lip. “How did he take finding out that I was a vampire?”

Archer sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Not well… not well at all.” He was quiet for a few moments and then began speaking again. “He was angry at first that I had turned you but when I explained what Amun had done by sharing his soul with you, he calmed down; he realized that I didn’t have a choice. Jameson was also angry that no one told him that you had joined the family. He’s very upset with me over that… and I probably don’t have to tell you that he’s upset over our relationship. He is hurt… and rightfully so.”

I pushed back the covers and tried to get out of bed but the pain was too much. I gasped and leaned back against the headboard as Archer stood and covered me up again. “You can’t get out of bed yet, baby; don’t even try. You still have two gaping wounds. What do you need? I’ll get whatever you want.”

“I need to speak to Jameson,” I whispered tiredly. “I need to… apologize to him.”

“No, you need to rest right now,” Archer frowned, tucking the covers around me and fluffing the pillow behind my back. “You can talk to him when he comes to heal you again in two hours.”

I sighed unhappily but didn’t have the strength to argue with him. “Come lay down with me?” I whispered with pleading eyes. I just wanted to be close to him.

Archer slipped off his shoes, gently adjusted me so that I was lying down again, and crawled into bed beside me. He propped his head on one hand as he ran his fingers soothingly through my hair with the other. “I can’t wait until you are well again. It’s been so hard not to touch you these last five days. I want nothing more than to take you in my arms and kiss away the memory of your brush with the final death. I don’t care what happens in the future, Skye; you will never, ever do something like that again.”

I nodded my head and looked over at him. “I’m sorry, athair. I just wanted to make Amun pay for everything he’d put us through. And to be honest, imagining eternal life connected to that monster is not very appealing.”

Archer gently leaned over, his face hovering inches above mine. “Imagining the rest of my life without you in it wasn’t very appealing either. I love you, Skye Morrison; I love you from the deepest part of my being. I never want to go through what I’ve been through in the last five days ever again. It was soul crushing not being able to look into your eyes or hear your voice.”

“I’m so sorry, baby,” I whispered as I cupped his cheek and gazed back and forth into his beautiful ice blue eyes. “I didn’t-.”

Archer silenced me with a slow, sweet, toe-curling kiss. My body responded automatically and I fisted my hands in his soft brown hair. All too soon, he pulled away before things got any more heated between us. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I nodded my head in understanding and closed my eyes as he resumed running his fingers through my hair. “How did you find me at Mount Bonnell? I made sure no one saw me leave the club. Amun said he’d kill Trey if I told anyone.”

“It was luck really. An Dilis and I pulled up moments after you left. Hagan came out the back door looking for Trey and said one of the dancers saw you running out. I knew something had to be wrong so we took off after you. One of Ruarc’s men used his Divine Power and finally got a hit on which direction you were heading. It wasn’t hard to find you after he got a lock on you, but we were several minutes behind because we had headed in the opposite direction at first. It’s a good thing Ruarc’s man was with us or we never would have found you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to all these powers everyone has,” I shook my head. “It’s crazy to think about, from a human standpoint.”

“Well, good thing you aren’t human anymore,” Archer whispered as he kissed my forehead. “Those powers saved your life, baby. The sooner you accept and embrace all the wonders of our race the better.”

I nodded and grabbed on to Archer’s hand, taking it away from my hair, and kissed the palm of it. “What happened to Amun? What did Ruarc do with him?”

Archer sighed and for a minute, I didn’t think he was going to tell me. “They flew to their US headquarters in Massachusetts and put his chain-wrapped body in a specially made, silver-lined coffin. After he was secure, they flew him to Ireland and placed him in a secure location. Upon your death, which I pray is never, they will administer the final death if he happens to live through it.”

“Amun got out once. What are they doing to make sure he doesn’t again?”

“Baby, you have to trust they know what they’re doing. No one knew when Cináed entombed Amun the first time. Now that An Dilis are aware of his existence and know full well what he is capable of, Amun will never see the light of day again.”

“I hope so,” I whispered as I closed my eyes, suddenly exhausted.

Archer was quiet for a long time and I had begun to drift off to sleep. “I think there is something you should know,” he whispered.

“Hm?” I mumbled tiredly.

“During the battle with Amun, someone had Lorcán take you away for your safety. Lorcán informed us you were in the parking lot with him, almost to the van, when you suddenly just vanished from his arms,” Archer explained, caution in his voice.

I slowly peeled my eyes open and glanced over at Archer. “I remember seeing a bright white light one second and then the next, feeling myself hit the ground. What happened?”

Archer’s eyebrows rose fractionally and he took a deep breath before slowly blowing it out. “You teleported.”

“I what?” I asked, confused; my eyes now fully alert.

Archer nodded his head and then he shook it in astonishment. “You actually teleported from Lorcán’s arms at the bottom of the mountain, to a mere ten feet away from Amun who was at the top. One second you were with Lorcán, the next with Amun. It completely shocked the hell out of everyone. No one, in the entire history of our race, has ever been gifted with Teleportation as their Divine Power.”

I drew in a quick breath of air. “Teleportation? That’s… crazy. You mean I actually have a Divine Power?”

“It would seem so,” Archer nodded slowly. “Ruarc figures your ability to absorb one’s Divine Power, and your rapid healing, are merely a byproduct of whatever Amun is. That being said, the only other thing left as an explanation is that you were given a divine gift. As far as we know, Amun can’t teleport so we’ve ruled out his influence. It looks like God has indeed gifted you with something truly remarkable. You are the first of your kind, Skye… in many ways.”

I sighed deeply and closed my eyes again; the conversation completely draining me. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet, Archer.”

“It will always be a good thing, Skye. You are a good person and you have to start believing it.”

“I’ll try and start later, baby,” I mumbled and yawned. “I’m sleepy.”

Archer chuckled softly and his soft kiss was the last thing I felt.