The absence of violent pain in their bond spoke the truth of the witch’s words—her spell had worked.
Aleric couldn’t care less if he never found some human girl to fuck with his mind like Thea had with Warin. Marie’s revelation that she’d cursed their entire bloodline seemed more like a blessing. He had no interest in losing himself like Warin nearly had. No, if the witch had ensured neither of them would ever suffer this soulmate bullshit ever again, perhaps the visit to London had been worth it after all. Even if he had no doubts Zet would call on him to fulfill his debt at some point in the future.
“Brother!” He called out at the sight of Warin’s slumped form resting against a building. He walked to his side at human pace, fighting the urge to use his supernatural speed to get to him quicker, and clasped a hand to his shoulder. “Have you fed? Are you ready to leave this hellhole of a town? I can’t wait to get as far away from any and all Ancients as we possibly can!”
Warin slowly turned his head toward him, his blank face devoid of the usual zest for life that had adorned it since the day they escaped to the wilds together. “I am not hungry. We can leave if you wish.”
Aleric frowned at the apathy in his brother’s voice. Warin’s usually vibrant blue eyes were flat, deadened. It struck him that, despite their undead state, he had never seen his brother so devoid of life, as if he truly was nothing more than a walking corpse.
You think just erasing his memories will heal his soul? It’s been rent in two, vampire. He is lost. Forever.
The witch’s words rang through his mind as he stared at the husk of the man he’d known and loved all his undead life, sick dread burning in his gut.
Warin seemed to notice his stare and smiled softly. “What has you so worried, brother? Tell me you didn’t bed the Ancient’s bonded human, or something equally Aleric-like.”
Relief flooded through Aleric. He returned Warin’s smile with a grin and squeezed his shoulder. “Would I do something like that? All I’m saying is we should probably get out of town before dawn.”
His brother would be all right. It might take him some time to heal from the impact of such a strong spell, but he would pull through.
One month of hunting through the deep forests of the continent and no remnants of Thea’s curse would be left from their time on the Isles.
No soulmate would break his wild brother.
Epilogue
Warin
2017 - Chicago, IL.
“There has been another disappearance.”
Warin sighed as he put the pen down on top of the pile of paperwork stacked neatly on his desk.
“Who?” He lifted his gaze to look at his second in command.
The woman walked closer to his desk and placed a folder on top of his other paperwork. “A youngling. His Sire says he felt their bond die last night.”
Warin flicked the folder open. A photograph of a blond young man stared back at him. His cocky smile reminded Warin of Aleric and a wave of unexpected sadness washed through him. He hadn’t felt much of anything for a long while, he realized. Not since he and Aleric parted ways more than three decades ago, once his brother also reached the status of an Ancient.
Having two such powerful beings within the same territory for any length of time had a way of upsetting the fragile balance within the vampire community, so Aleric had been forced to leave his side. He now ruled the territory of Denver and the surrounding areas. A strong territory for such a relatively new Ancient, but he wasn’t surprised. Aleric had matured into a shrewd politician in the past few centuries, some of his attention turning from women and battle to intrigues and political plots. He’d even had a not insignificant part in the War for Independence back in the eighteenth century, and again during the Night of Revelations in the 1970s.
How long had it been since they even spoke?
Warin stared at the photograph of the youngling and wondered if his Sire would Embrace a new Child, or if the wound left behind from their broken bond would drive him to insanity. If it did, it would be Warin’s job to give him his Final Death. He’d had to do it once before in his capacity as Night Lord of Chicago and the surrounding areas. A Sire lost her Child and lover and went on a rampage through central Chicago that’d nearly gotten the humans’ army called in.
This new disappearance was the third in his territory within the span of six months.
“I will tell the Guard to find those responsible and punish them accordingly,” his second said, motioning toward the folder to retrieve it.
“No.” Warin closed it, hiding the smiling youngling from view. “The Guard has failed me enough. If these disappearances keep happening, then clearly they have not gotten to the root of the problem.”
“My lord—“
“I will deal with it. Personally.” He stood up, fingertips resting lightly on the mountains of paperwork that had kept him behind his desk for the past many months. Years, if he were to be truly honest. It had been years since he had so much as visited his own city. Not since he’d had to kill that grieving Sire.
“I… as you wish,” his second said, bowing her head. “How long will you be gone?”
“As long as it takes. I am certain Chicago will be in good hands under your watch.”
And, Warin thought as he slipped out of the stately mansion where he kept his small court, if he ended up not returning, perhaps she would be the one to show the youngling’s Sire his Final Death. She was older than most of their kind at just over six hundred years. She would be able to handle the responsibilities that came with his position for as long as she needed to.
He was duty bound to find the culprit for these disappearances—they had happened under his watch. But after that… maybe it was time that he, too, disappeared. Aleric was an Ancient now with responsibilities of his own. Once he put an end to the disappearances, there would be no more obligations left. No more reason to continue an existence that had had little to do with living for the past many centuries.
Warin left the quiet suburban neighborhood that unwittingly had hosted his nest for more than a decade, deciding to investigate the place of the youngling’s disappearance on foot while avoiding the attention a car would draw. The humid air felt pleasant against his skin, and for a moment he wished he was barefoot—like he had been many centuries ago when he and Aleric would roam the wild forests of Europe.
* * *
He didn’t notice the raven perched on the phone wire outside his front gates, watching him disappear into the night.
Wicked Soul
Warin’s story continues
WICKED SOUL
Ancient Blood - Book One
He saved me... And then he blood-bonded me.
Now I'm his.
My first meeting with a Chicago vampire went better than expected.
Up until that night, all I knew about vampires was limited to a few common facts: they drink blood, they get a mean sunburn and if you find yourself alone with one, you’re dead.