Chapter 60: Chapter 60

Chapter 59:

Sanaya’s P.O.V

“Martin?” The King asked with a frown, his hands still holding me down on the bed.

“I’m trying but nothing seems to work on her.” Martin looked at me confused before chanting another spell…but once again, nothing happened.

“What the hell are you doing, you useless bruja!” Nathaniel yelled at Martin and the next instant, he was being slammed against the wall beside the bed, allowing me to untangle myself from the bed sheets and scurry away. When I noticed that Martin and Nathaniel were focused on each other, I got off the bed and rolled under it, away from their sight. I needed to plan my escape but I had to get away from their line of vision first.

“Martin!” Nathaniel spoke a warning, but Martin didn’t loosen his hold. I didn’t know what happened next but very calmly, Nathaniel told Martin to loosen his hold once again and this time, Martin let him go slowly and put him down on the ground as I saw Nathaniel’s feet just a few feet away from the side of the bed.

When I looked at Martin from under the bed, his forehead was drawn in harsh lines and perspiration beaded his entire face. With a start, I realized that Nathaniel Eustein had been using his Incubus powers of mind control on Martin and from what he had said earlier, about controlling creatures to take over other dimensions; I understood that mind control was Nathaniel’s power…and it didn’t work on me, just like Martin’s power wasn’t working on me.

I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but I had a theory. My transition into a vampire was affecting my immunity. Acelin had told me I was born with this immunity to immortal charm, but it had mostly applied to Incubi and vampires. I had never tested against Mage power. Sophia had told me she could sense my mood but mood and immunity were different things. So if my theory was right, my transition must have caused my immunity to heighten. That was what my power was as a vampire. Immunity.

A plan formed in my mind just as Nathaniel said, “Where did that ditch disappear to?”

“Under the bed.” Martin spoke almost robotically.

“Under the bed?” Nathaniel’s laughter was like nails being dragged down a chalkboard. “I thought she had more brains than that.”

Suddenly, the covers were thrown off the bed and Nathaniel peaked under with a sinister smile. “Peek-a-boo!”

Yelping in horror, I rolled away from him on the other side and scrambled to my feet, but my back hit the wall with no route left for escape. Nathaniel and Martin were blocking my way out and the door was shut tight, so I couldn’t call the guards outside for help. Come to think of it, I had screamed several times but the guards hadn’t burst in yet. So either the room was sound proof or Nathaniel had done something to the guards that I didn’t want to think about.

“Come here, little girl.” Nathaniel said in a horse voice, the same voice that he had used on Martin a few seconds ago. “Don’t be afraid…come here.”

I frowned…I didn’t feel anything. No magic force and definitely no compulsion to go near him…but he didn’t know that.

Hesitantly, I took a step forward…and watched his smile widen. It confirmed two things. Firstly, I really was immune to both Incubi and Mage powers. And secondly, neither Nathaniel nor Martin had any idea about it.

I stepped forward, keeping my pace slow as Nathaniel spoke encouraging words to me, feeling confident with each step I took that he had been successful in controlling me. I rounded the bed and walked towards him, crossing Martin on the way. He didn’t even blink or try to stop me. As I walked, I kept my eyes on the vein pulsing in Nathaniel’s neck. It was thick and blue and I don’t know if it was an illusion created by my thirst or not, but I swear I could hear the vein pulsing with his heartbeat. It made me salivate…and my canines seemed to lengthen inside my mouth, touching the gums of my lower jaw.

Just when I was only a few steps away from him, the door to the room was flung open so hard that it hit the side walls with a bang. Nathaniel got momentarily distracted by the sound as he turned his head towards it, but I didn’t waste any time.

Crossing the distance between us in a blink of an eyes, I caught a hold of his shoulders and sank my fags into his neck, right at the pulsating vein. My only satisfaction was seeing his eyes widen in horror when he realized what was happening.

Blood, thick and warm poured into my mouth. It made my stomach launch in repulsion at first, but the second it touched my tongue, the repulsion was gone and I was latching on to him like a leech, sucking harder on the vein to get more of the thick liquid down my throat. It didn’t taste sweet or anything like the words depicted in fantasy novels. It tasted of iron. But the more I drank, the more it quenched my thirst. It felt like I had been wandering in the desert for ages and had finally found an oasis.

Nathaniel struggled at first, pushing at my shoulders and pulling at my hair. But the more he struggled, the more I drank, latching on even harder. Slowly, I felt his struggles ease as the thirst diminished, until there was no more struggle and he started leaning all of his weight on me.

My fangs started retracting from his neck and once they were completely gone, I no longer felt thirsty. Gasping, I removed my face from his neck and let go of his shoulders, no longer able to carry his weight and his body fell to the floor heavily with a thud.

It was the first time since the door had been flung open that I was able to look around the room. Almost everyone was there, staring at me. Lance, Acelin, Amber, Queen Valleria, Miaka, Erick and even Tanya. I had expected anger or disapproval in their gazes but they all seemed oddly pleased.

“Sanaya?” It was Erick who spoke first. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.” I nodded my head, moving my hair out of my face and realized that I was covered in blood. Nathaniel’s blood had dripped down my chin, onto my peach colored full sleeve turtleneck sweater; on my dark grey sweatpants and even on the crème colored carpet on the floor. Nathaniel’s body was motionless at my feet, his eyes closed; and I didn’t feel an ounce of pity for him.

“I feel good.” I told them, wiping my mouth with the sleeve of my sweater. “Really good.”

Lance didn’t say anything as he came forward first and wrapped his arms around me. Slowly, everyone in the room came forwards and made a semi-circle around us.

“Where’s Martin? What happened to him?” I asked Lance.

“He was detained thanks to Tanya’s help.” Lance informed me. “He has been taken to prison where he will be kept under close watch until his powers are gone.”

“But wasn’t he human?”

“He was.” Tanya told me. “But he used sacrifice as a method to gain power.”

“You did a good job.” The Queen smiled a sinister smile, looking at her husband’s motionless body at our feet.

“Is her dead?” I asked her.

“No,” she tilted her head slightly to the left. “But he will be soon. Asmara just confirmed several of his crimes before she died. He even killed her unborn child and sent her to Shadowland.”

“Her too?” I gasped. How much lower could he have gotten. “Acelin…I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Acelin frowned.

And then I told them everything that Nathaniel had revealed to me. From killing Dilayla and her unborn child to planning on using the creatures of Shadowland to capture other dimensions. Everyone listened with solemn expressions on their faces and their hate for Nathaniel grew. Erick confirmed my theory that immunity might be my vampiric gift as well but as to how many species I was immune to, that was a good question.

“Rip out his heart and burn the body until nothing is left.” The Queen ordered; no mercy in her voice.

“Mother?” Acelin touched her shoulders gently but she shook her head.

“I’m not being emotion, my son. In fact, for the first time, I am thinking clearly.” She sighed. “I should’ve seen this a long time ago but I kept hoping he would change one day. But I cannot ignore his sins anymore. Take care of him before he wakes.”

“Miaka?” Lance held out his hand and Miaka instantly took it. A spark passed from Miaka’s hand to Lancelin’s before he withdrew and stepped away from me.

Moving at phenomenal speed, Lance knelt down and punched a hole through his father’s chest and ripped out the still beating heart. I stumbled back and Acelin was there to support me, but I didn’t look away. And then, right in front of our eyes, Nathaniel’s body caught fire and within just a few minutes, the fire engulfed him completely, leaving behind nothing but ash. Surprisingly, the fire didn’t touch anything other than the body and I might have to ask Lance someday how he did it, but for now, staring at Nathaniel’s ashes, I felt an odd kind of relief.

When I looked around the room, the sentiment seemed to be mirrored by everyone, even Lance and the Queen.

It was finally over. The man who had taken countless innocent lives, destroyed and toyed with so many more was now reduced to nothing but ashes. He would no longer harm anyone ever again.