CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

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I was the Immortal. The change had happened. I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t change it and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.

That was the truth.

Ask me on another day how I was handling it and I’d have the same answer. I had no idea in hell how I was handling it.

“Hey,” Kates murmured hesitantly behind me. “Where’s your roommate? I don’t want to be murdered right now.”

The shirt that I’d been folding was placed back on the bed and I turned, just as hesitantly, to face my childhood best friend. I took in the sight of her. Her dirty blonde hair looked messy—or it would’ve been messy on a normal human. Kates just had the sexily tussled look going for her. Even her voice was raspy and throaty. All the guys went for that voice.

She struck a cautious pose in my dorm room entrance with one hand in her back pocket. Her simple white shirt and tattered jeans looked like a model spread.

Oh well—it was a little comforting to know that some things would never change.

I felt dowdy in my green tee shirt and jeans, but hey—I was barefoot. That was a little exotic, right? I doubted it.

“Hey,” I murmured back. “She’s at the hospital. They wanted to keep her for a little while, make sure she’s not traumatized or something. I don’t know. Blue’s with her. So…,” I didn’t want to talk about Blue, not yet. “You’re heading back home?”

I felt off.

Kates jerked her head in a nod. “Yeah, I figured…Lucan’s disappeared. I don’t know,” her hand jerked, “where he went and I figure that if he wants me to find him, he’ll find me instead.”

My eyes were knowing, “Plus, Roane will be hunting him.”

“Yeah,” Kates breathed out in surrender. “There is that…it’s a little sticky, you know.”

“I know.” I so did.

“I mean—you’re the Immortal. Roane is Lucan’s twin brother and I’m…I’m still a slayer. And I can’t slay so what do I do? You know.” The words jerked out of her, awkwardly.

Meaning—no decree had been changed. Roane was still the Hunter. Kates was still the slayer that couldn’t slay. And the vampire who’d tried to destroy it all was now a human. Plus, he was Kates’ lover and Roane’s brother.

Sticky.

“So what are you going to do now?” Kates asked me.

And then there was my situation.

I sighed and yearned for the normalcy of folding laundry. My fingers twitched to take the shirt again. I shrugged, jerkily, “I have no idea. College…I guess…”

“You’re not sounding so sure there, slick,” Kates drawled with a glimpse of her old sassiness.

What could I say? I had no idea what was to come.

“You and Roane…you guys…?” She left the question hanging for a reason.

“You heard Lucan. Roane loved her and a part of her is inside of me.”

“That’s utter crap!”

Startled, I looked back. Our conversation felt off-balanced, like neither of us were sure of what we were saying. Except this.

Kates was enraged—I loved it. A part of me calmed at this certainty.

She seethed, “You and him—that’s not you and her. I know that much. I heard stories. They were all lovey dovey, but it wasn’t the electrical currents that I get zapped by whenever I’m in the same room as you two. And, besides, they weren’t even together for very long before he became a Hunter.”

That was news. I asked, hesitantly, “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know? He was supposed to protect her. That was the gig he volunteered for. Anyway…it lasted until they did the deed. That was the end of it. The Roane Eldership found out and Roane was shipped off to become a Hunter. I can’t believe you didn’t know about this.”

“We haven’t really talked about the …him and her.”

“Yeah, well—he protected her for years, but I don’t buy their forbidden love crap. You and him, that’s a different story. You two are damn near combustible. I’ve got a hard time seeing him pining for her for the rest of his eternal life, besides…she wasn’t worth it, if you ask me.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was weak, Davy.” Kates said it so matter of fact. “I couldn’t respect anyone weak like that and you—you might like to think you’re made of weak stuff, but you’re not. You stand up when you’re supposed to. That says a lot about you. And Roane—he wouldn’t love someone who couldn’t do that. That’s my two cents on your ghost love triangle.”

Ghost love triangle—how true those three words were. And speaking of loves, I really needed to make it right with what I’d done to Lucan.

“And talking about love triangles…bad segue. Sorry.” I would’ve flushed if it’d been on a normal day. Too much had happened, too soon ago. It’d been only a day since I’d turned Lucan into a human. Only one day—everything was still confused and chaotic.

Kates frowned, slipped a hand in her back pocket, and saw the emotion in my eyes.

She cleared her throat, “So…look, I can see that you want to change the topic. It’s not going to happen, but you know me. I’m for the short statements. They’ll have to do because it’s not going to be long drawn out. I loved Lucan. I still do. He’s messed up. I know that. I don’t care. I’m a slayer. I get messed up. I understand that stuff. So—that’s me on me and Lucan. I’ve already said my piece on you and Roane. And…”

The me and her?

This is what I’d wanted to talk about, but the words felt awkward to me. I knew I was fumbling. I didn’t care. I wrung out, “You…you had a light behind you.”

That had thrown Kates for a loop. She looked taken aback. “What?”

“Before,” I gestured unhelpfully, “in the room when you thought Lucan was going to hurt me, you had a light.”

“A light?” Still confused.

I rolled my eyes. “I can’t explain better, but I saw you. And I was the Immortal—“

“You are the Immortal,” Kates interrupted me, strongly.

“What?”

She stepped forward, insistent, “You are the Immortal, Davy. I saw it yesterday. And I think I knew it before yesterday, but I didn’t realize it…you’re talking like you were the Immortal yesterday and you’re not now. You’re the Immortal…now. Now. I don’t know what you saw yesterday, but I know what I saw. I saw you and you were amazing.”

My breath had effectively been taken from me.

Kates smiled, radiantly, but I saw the shadow there. She added, huskily, “I am in love with someone dangerous for me. I know this. I know Lucan’s faults, but he’s it for me. I’ve already said it—I can’t explain it, but I know it. And I’m at peace when I accept that. But you…you’re not dangerous for me. You’re the other one in my life. I am not a good best friend for you, but you are my best friend. And I couldn’t get anyone better. Ever.”

All these compliments…what’s a girl to do…

“Stop it!” Kates snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Stay here and listen to me. You’re my family. And yesterday, when it came down to you or Lucan—I was going to choose you.”

That was the candle behind her. I did know it, but hearing her say it…I felt it. Tears choked my throat, but I gasped out, raw, “I know. I knew it. That was the light, Kates.”

In some ways, Kates was the more grounded one of us. And in some ways, she wasn’t at all. She never touched it, but what’s a best friend to do?

So I said instead, “I know that I give you hope in life. I don’t understand it, but I know that I do. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been friends since we were little kids or because…I don’t know. But yesterday—you weren’t choosing me over him. You chose me over you. And as your best friend, I’m not okay with that. You were going to step in front of him. Lucan was ready to rip into my neck. He was going to drink it all as fast as possible. He wouldn’t have been able to stop himself in time—that means that you were going to die for me. You weren’t choosing me over him yesterday.”

“Yes, I was. He wouldn’t have gotten you. Roane would’ve gotten you out in time…”

“And you would’ve been dead. And Lucan could’ve tried it again. You weren’t choosing me over him. You were looking for a way out. That needs to be on the table. Do you want to die, Kates?”

I hadn’t really understood it, but as I said it—I knew it was true.

Kates drew in a shuddering breath. Her face had been a storm of emotions, but at my words—something flashed across her.

Finally.

That’s what I’d read in her eyes. Finally someone had said it outloud.

She closed her eyes swiftly, bowed her head, and I literally felt the burden lift off her shoulder. “Do you?” I persisted.

Her head jerked up and down, but she denied, “No, of course not.”

“You’re lying. Roane says that I lie to people, that’s I’ve got a façade with people. That’s you, Kates. Or it’s you too…I don’t know, but you can’t lie about this. If you want to die, either stop wasting your life and do it or decide to get out of it. If you don’t, you want to be miserable for the rest of your life? Really? Because that’s gotta suck.”

My words were forceful and harsh. I knew my hotline supervisor would’ve keeled over in horror, but I was so angry. Kates lived a life wanting to die. She deserved better than that. She deserved a life wanting to live.

And like that, the remaining battle was wiped from her. She crumbled—literally crumbled. She fell to the floor and I heard a deep sob escape.

I was—I hadn’t expected this reaction. And certainly not from Kates.

Kates was indestructible. She was sexy. She was brave. She was bold. Emily had a few other words to describe my nolstage, but in the end…Kates was my family too.

I knelt beside her and took her in my arms. Kates clung to me, she wrapped both arms around me and held on for dear life.

Her sobs wracked her entire body and I gasped. I’d gone inside without meaning and I felt her pain blaring back at me.

I felt physical pain. I wished to be stabbed, cut up, or something. That pain would’ve been less, it would’ve taken away from this suffering. It was suffocating.

“Oh, Kates,” I breathed out and rested my cheek on the top of her head. She clung tighter and burrowed into me as if seeking shelter.

This was the hope that I was to her. This was the candle that I’d seen burning inside of her yesterday.

I understood now.

I closed my eyes and rocked her back and forth.

We stayed there for another hour. Kates wept the entire time until exhaustion settled in and the sniffling eventually led to sleep. I stayed with her because I was reluctant to move. I feared the connection would’ve been lost, but I knew it’d have to be done.

Still. Since she was asleep, I went back inside of her. I wasn’t sure if I could do what I wanted, but I tried to herd all her pain in one spot. It was overwhelming. I felt the same suffocation that I knew Kates felt ten times worse.

Slowly, somehow, I was able to gather most of it together. And then I envisioned encircling it with two arms to scoop it against me. When I had enough, the majority of it, I pulled out of her.

I fell out of her choking and gasping. I struggled to breathe. My tears felt like daggers inside of me, but they weren’t mine. They were Kates’.

It didn’t matter.

I couldn’t move, but I was able to hear Kates beside me. She slept, peaceful. I heard a lessened hitch in her breathing. I managed to peak underneath burdened eyelashes. She even looked more content—I grinned against the pain.

I’d done that. Because I could.

We were both on the floor. Kates was curled into me and I just laid there, powerless against the onslaught that I’d taken with me.

“Davy?”

I reacted instantly and whimpered, in need.

Roane was beside me instantly. He’d sounded shocked at the sight of Kates and me, but as his arms slipped underneath me, I knew that Roane understood what I’d just done.

“Why in hell…haven’t you done enough?” He asked almost savagely, but it wasn’t in anger. He was exasperated.

He closed the door and then laid me down on the bed. As he started to move again, I pleaded, “Please. Stay.”

I needed him. The urgency was so strong inside of me.

As his arms encircled me again and he moved to curl behind me, I closed my eyes once more. It was a strain to keep them open, but I didn’t dare not look until I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.

And then I fell asleep.

“Welcome to our last conversation.”

I sighed in irritation and turned, but stopped in surprise. I looked around and noted, “We’re not in the dark anymore.”

The Immortal me stood before me and our background shimmered in white. It was beautiful. I was reminded of the crystal that I had manipulated the day before.

“No, we’re not because this is the end, Davy.”

I titled my head questionably, “What are you talking about? I thought we were immortal, together for eternity?” I teased, lightly.

Silver eyes flashed back at me. I almost missed seeing my almond eyes, but I’d have to get my hair like that somehow. It was always so sleek and perfectly arranged to brush against my shoulders. It was like seeing a potential me that I knew I could achieve—motivation. Someday, I vowed, to look like that.

“Stop thinking about trivial things. You don’t need to distract yourself anymore. You’ve done it again, Davy.”

“What? Escape my present reality? It’s what I do,” I shrugged it off, but something prickled at me. It was in the Immortal’s voice—my voice. And then my eyes widened as I comprehended everything.

It was my voice talking back to me. It wasn’t the annoying Immortal or the lecturing Immortal.

It was me.

Finally.

“What…what have I done again?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

The Immortal me smiled, assured and strong, “You’ve pulled something inside of yourself that wasn’t yours to bear.”

Huh?

“I did choose you, Davy, but I didn’t go to you. When you reached inside of Talia, you pulled me out and inside of you. There’s a part of you, a part that is magnificent and strong and amazing and noble. That part of you that you don’t even know is inside you—that’s what pulled me into you. And that same part of you took away your friend’s pain just now. She’ll be able to ask for her own help now. You allowed that by taking her burden.”

That had been my plan…the entire time…

My attempt at self-sarcasm was pathetic.

The other me continued, “There’s a lot about being the Immortal that you don’t understand. It’s too much for you to know everything, but things will be revealed as you go. You have a destiny and others will help guide you as you go. My part is done.”

“What part was that?”

“My job was to help you accept who you are, who we are together. You accepted the Immortal, but you don’t know the consequences. You will learn them as you go. I won’t be the voice for those lessons.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. The annoying Immortal was leaving, but what’d I get instead?

“You’ve changed, Davy. You’ve fully changed and become something new. This world is yours for the taking and you can make it better. There is a reason why the Immortal was created. You’re not a fairytale. You’re real and you are a force to be reckoned with. Do not let anyone take that from you. Do not!” She gutted out the last words, forcibly, urgent.

I gulped. I didn’t want to know who’d be able to try and take that away from me.

I had so many questions…so many new revelations…so many…so many of everything. I wanted to know it all, but then she said, at peace, “Welcome to your destiny. It is the beginning.”

Welcome to our last conversation.

I thought those words and woke up with a gasp.

I was disoriented at first, feeling something warm around me, and hearing honking. Slowly, I sat up and looked around.

I was on the roof, probably my dorm, and a blanket had been draped over me. I sat up and smiled at the couch cushions that I’d been laying on.

“I brought you up here. Kates needed to sleep and I wanted some privacy.” Roane moved from the building’s edge and stared at me.

His eyes were still the same coal black, but there was something searching in them. His hair seemed softer. He hadn’t put gel in it and I liked it that way. It made him softer, slightly, but his outfit didn’t lend to the same theme. Black leather pants with a crisp black buttoned shirt that wasn’t tucked inside. With his hardened jaw, he looked like a ruthless vampire—and he was.

His hand fell to his side and something flashed in the moonlight.

I stood and gestured, half-heartedly, “You took that before. It’s a leaf thing? What’s it mean?”

He lifted it and stared long and hard.

“I don’t think it’s going anywhere, Roane. You’ve got it nice and captured.”

He frowned still and murmured, distantly, “It was my brother’s. I took it from him when I fought him. It was when Talia became the Immortal.”

Oh. So much of that statement didn’t sit well with me.

“I see…”

Roane took a deep breath and turned back to gaze over the city. The lights spread out for miles and as I moved beside him, the sight was breathtaking. Cars honked in the distance. People laughed. More lights flickered, but there was a stillness in the city.

I wasn’t sure if it was Benshire or if it was me.

“I need to meet with the Roane Elders and give them this necklace.”

“Why?”

“I have to tell them what happened. I have to tell them that my brother is human again and then I’m going to ask for the job of finding him. The necklace will be used to hunt him, for whoever is given the assignment.”

Again…oh. I suddenly felt a sense of dread.

“Davy, things have happened that aren’t understood.” And everything about that statement didn’t bode well with anyone. I knew that things went smoother when things were understood.

“How long do you think it’ll take for you to find Lucan?” How long was he going to be away?

“I don’t know. It might take a few hours or months. He’s human, but he still knows everything. He’ll be even more dangerous. Lucan liked being a vampire. He’ll want to become one again. I need to stop that from happening.”

He needed his brother to have a soul.

I nodded jerkily.

“They’re not going to understand how you turned him human. That’s not known by anyone and my Family were the ones entrusted to protect the Immortal. This is…this will not sit well with the Elders.”

“What are you talking about? Do you mean…am I in danger from them?” From you?

“I don’t know. When word gets out what you can do, you’ll be feared by vampires. There aren’t many who’d like to be human again. And you’re Immortal. They can’t kill you, which is what their first reaction will be. My Elders might want that too, but I’ll argue on your behalf. I think they’ll realize the foolishness of that. It’ll just piss you off.”

It would. A small part of me warmed inside. Roane understood me.

I frowned as a different question formed in my head, “Roane, who is Jacith?”

His shoulders stiffened and he asked, harshly, “Where did you hear that name?”

“He was in Blue’s head. And the Immortal mentioned something about him.”

Roane didn’t like hearing any of that and he really didn’t like my vagueness, but he didn’t comment on it. He just replied, “He’s a very powerful witch, possibly the most powerful I’ve heard of.”

“What does he have to do with the Immortal thread?”

Roane didn’t answer right away, but eventually he admitted, strangled, “He created it.”

Oh—whoa. I blinked in shock, but I remembered the Immortal’s words. Jacith thought he was powerful, but I was more powerful.

Somehow, I didn’t think this Jacith would enjoy learning that information.

“Did he create the prophecy? Or just the Immortal thread?”

Roane had looked back over the city, but he whipped around once more to me. I was slightly worried about whiplash, but then again—he was a vampire. He could handle it.

“What?” I automatically asked, a little defensive. He had an accusing look in those dark eyes.

“What are you talking about? Jacith created the Immortal. You talk as if the prophecy and the thread are separate. They are not. I assure you. My Family has volumes of Immortal lore. We were entrusted to protect the thread.”

Except they didn’t know all of it. And they didn’t need to protect me. And I knew about the separation from the Immortal. I didn’t say any of that, but I pointed out instead, “Except that you didn’t know that I can turn vampires into humans again.”

Thank goodness. For once I knew something that Roane didn’t. I felt a small bit of smugness over the entire vampire nation.

Roane opened his mouth, but he couldn’t argue my point. He closed it again as a look of mysticism crossed over his face.

I loved it. I never thought I’d see that.

“I thought I knew everything there was to know about Immortals. I’ve realized, and reminded as of recently, that I do not. It’s a little unsettling. I won’t lie, but we’ll figure out what’s happened. I promise, Davy.”

Little did he know…I took a deep breath for bravery and then started out, hesitantly, “You don’t understand, Roane. I…there’s a prophecy that I think you don’t know about. Someone created the prophecy and later someone else created the Immortal thread. I…I came to be before Jacith created the thread. I don’t know why that’s important, but it is. And I know this because the Immortal told me. I told you before that we have conversations. She/it/me told me this…and someone else is going to guide me now.”

Roane turned and touched my shoulder. He turned me towards him and spoke insistently, “Davy…the Immortal thread was created by Jacith. I know this, but…you’re correct. He has never spoken about the ability for an Immortal to turn vampires into humans. If, in your conversations, you learn more you must tell me. The Immortal is crucial to the vampire nation. We must know everything you know, I am sure of this.”

Something didn’t sit well with him. I saw the slight hesitancy and I asked, huskily, “What is it?”

Roane lifted up his head, gazed over the city’s lights before he answered, solemnly, “I was with Talia for years, Davy. I watched her grow up and she never once talked about a conversation with the Immortal. It’s so different. I…I don’t know what to make of it. She would have odd dreams sometimes, but that was it.”

I wasn’t sure what stung me more: Talia and Roane or the lack of conversations. I could’ve done without those conversations, trust me. Still, I was pretty sure it was the reminder about Talia.

“I’m the last, Roane,” I whispered the last bit. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt it was warranted. “The Immortal told me. I’m the last one to be the Immortal. I’m not a carrier for the tread. I am the Immortal.”

“Do not let anyone take that from you.”

Roane was silent.

I continued, “It’s just the beginning, Roane. I know that your next step is finding your brother, but it’s just the beginning for me. There’s so much more. I can feel it. I know it. And I think…tomorrow’s going to be a new day that I won’t be ready for.”

But I hoped to be…and I hoped that he would be too.

I just wasn’t sure.

Roane looked at me gravely. He stared long and hard. He didn’t try to slip inside. I didn’t try to slip inside of him either and together, we just stared at each other, in our own bodies. No powers. No thought reading.

Huskily, I murmured, “Are you looking for my soul?”

Slowly, he shook his head and took my hand. His fingers slid against mine and our hands were entwined. I closed my eyes and savored the feeling.

Strength radiated off of him. Strength for me, strength for himself, and strength for what was to come.

Whatever it would be I knew I was ready for it, just as I stood.

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THE END

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Holy...wow! I don't really know what to say except that I'm freaking proud of this story. A lot of people want the storylines all resolved, but I knew early on that I wouldn't be able to do that within a marketable quantity of 300+ page novel. And because this story is just so rich in character, plot, and everything that I love in stories--it'll be turned into a series. I'm already grinning widely about the second book. There'll be the same angst, but there'll be just as much comedy.

Here are some things to look forward to:

* Davy and Roane are still going to be figuring out their relationship. Talia's a huge obstacle. I'll have to see what I shall do about her.

* Emily is going to start dating a werewolf. I'm already laughing about some of the situations that Davy's going to get into because of this.

* Emily and Adam still don't know Davy is the Immortal.

* Kates is...M.I.A, maybe?

*And who exactly is Blue again? This will be divulged further.

Plus...* there's that pesty Immortal stuff about prophecies and someone's going to guide Davy? What's that all about?

Also...* How is Davy going to balance out college life with the Immortal life?

Okay. Really. I hope that I ended this story on a good note. The ultimate plot was the Immortal stuff. I wanted the climax to be about Davy's Immortal abilities and about her accepting who she was now.

Please review and let me know thoughts!!!!!

Last thing: THANK YOU TO ALL THE REVIEWS THAT I GOT AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER!! Really, truly, madly, deeply. I was amazed, but so fulfilled as a writer. I don't write for reviews. I write because I've got these ideas and emotions and messages in my head to get out. However, reviews keep me keeping on as a writer. They tell me that I'm being read and that it's all worth it. Thank you!!