Chapter Thirty One

Okay, so probably not my best attempt at comforting, but harsh honesty was better than pretty lies! Though this is definitely further proof I would never be the one people came to for comfort.

Sera shot me an incredulous look, but before she could rip into me for the blunt statement, Isabelle backed away, face dropping through disbelief, fear, and acceptance at a rapid pace.

“No, he can’t be… I’m alive, so he must be too.”

Her jaw tensed, a glint sparking in her eyes that immediately sent sirens of alarm screeching in my ears. Fuck, damage control, quick!

“No, you didn’t survive the fire, we brought you back, but-.”

She whipped around, hand still fisted in my shirt as tears trailed down her cheeks, devastation burned brightly in those eyes as she shouted. “Why?! If he’s dead then I have no business being alive!”

Then, she seemed to realize something, her free hand drifting to her stomach before another round of grief hit. Her shoulders shook with bitten back sobs as she shuddered. “They’re both gone.”

A lump formed in my throat at the naked loss, but I pushed on. “Yes, they are.” That was true and unfortunately children couldn’t be brought back, even if we had more of the components.

Isabelle looked at me, eyes wide with pleading and the desperation of a parent whose child was gone as she brought her other hand next to the first, shaking me lightly. “You said you brought me back? Please, bring him back. If not both of them, at least him. I can’t live while my son is gone. Please!”

The word dug harshly into my chest, but before I could try to explain why we couldn’t do that, Vladimir took over. Carefully pushing off Seraphina, he moved to stand in front of Isabelle, sympathy marring his face.

“I’m sorry, but that is impossible. Children’s souls can’t be brought back. They’re too weak. Trying would shatter them. I barely managed to pull you across the veil.”

Sorrow deeper than the ocean and sharper than a blade dawned as she shook her head, releasing my shirt to face Vlad. “That can’t be possible. If you need some kind of sacrifice then take my life, but please bring him back.”

Vlad forced his legs to hold him, shaking his head with a frown. “I can’t, nor can anyone else. For what little its worth, I’m sorry.”

Slowly, realization dawned. Isabelle’s face twisted in agony, her head falling with a silent thump to Vlad’s chest as her hair covered her eyes like a veil. Tears trailed down her cheeks, jaw clenched tight as she sobbed.

“Why? Why did you bring me back? Have I not suffered enough under him?” An edge of fury came then, sharpening her tone even as she kept her forehead pressed to Vlad. “Now I have to live without Gail and even the child I never met? What did I do to deserve this?!”

The shout echoed through the clearing, her chest heaving for air between sobs as Vlad answered, hand hesitating over her back. “You’ve done nothing, I’m afraid. For some reason, that man took an interest in you and we need to know why.”

He paused, choosing his next words very carefully. “It could save thousands of lives, those like your sons’. Innocents who did nothing to earn this, nothing but being a pawn to a cruel man. We brought you back because we need to bring your children’s’ murdered to justice.”

Despair rolled off the woman in waves, dousing the air until I could all but taste it, before something else peaked out. Like molten lava, energy–magic, I realized with stunned disbelief–lashed around her as she finally picked up her head.

I’d seen people angry in my lifetime–I was fairly good at pissing people off after all–but this? The near feral glint to those silver eyes that promised death-no, promised vengeance on the one who’d wronged her?

It was an unholy wrath, one I’d never seen the likes of, and without a doubt, I knew that Isabelle would be a force to be reckoned with should she survive the first year of turning.

Vlad didn’t flinch despite her stare leveling on him, her tone dripping with poison as she snarled. “I don’t care that he killed me, I’ve been begging him to for years, but he touched my sons. You say I have information that can bring him down? You’ll have it. You’ll have anything you need, but promise me that he’ll die. As bloody and painful as you can possibly make it. Swear to me on whatever you consider holy that. He. Will. Pay.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Vlad smiled, a slow and grim thing, and nodded. “On the grave of the daughter I lost two centuries ago, you have my word.”

My head whipped around at that, shock and pity flash mobbing me. He’d lost a kid?! Jesus, our entire group needed therapy…

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me though, magic was hereditary, yes, but it the child didn’t inherit they had the same lifespan as any other human. It was the reason why most people refused to even try for kids. The chance of watching their offspring grow old and die was too great. I couldn’t blame them, even if I’d had a serious partner in the past, I wouldn’t have considered kids.

Though that did bring a different question up. If Dimitrius and I ever had children, would they inherit his longevity? He had said that kids of incubi always inherited the ‘demon’ parent’s genes.

Shelving that for later, I watched Isabelle nod, a slight wobble to her jaw before she swallowed back that and the tears clearly visible in her gaze. “Alright, what do you need to know?”

Before I could start questioning, Dimitrius stepped forward, sending me a look of mild reproach. “While I understand that haste must be made, we should discuss this at my home. Vladimir needs rest and so do you. Being pulled from the grave is no minor feat and you should take some time to adjust.”

Isabelle tensed, looking ready to argue, before reluctantly deflating. “Fine…” Before she could move though, Vlad stripped his outer jacket and offered it.

“Here, it isn’t much but it will cover you until we’re back and you can cloth yourself accordingly.”

She blinked, glancing down as she just seemed to realize she was naked. Taking the jacket numbly, she mumbled her thanks while tugging it on. It swamped her, but she didn’t react.

Vlad nodded. “It’s nothing to thank me for. As the mage who raised you, you’re my responsibility and I won’t shirk that. Should you need assistance, just ask. If you have questions, I will do my best to answer them, and if you need aid, you will have it.”

Wanting to add my two cents into the mix, since it was partially my fault she had to go through all this crap, I threw in. “And you’ve for more than him. Apologizing does nothing, but all the same, I’m sorry for dragging you back into this hell. You’re part of the twisted family we got going here. If you want to be, that is.”

Isabelle paused, taking us all in with a slow sweep, hesitating over Dimitrius warily for some reason, before shaking the brief uncertainty off. “Thank you, everything is overwhelming now, but I appreciate the offer. Once everything is settled, I’ll have to talk to you more. For now I just want to sleep.”

More than fair, I was sure Vlad would do the same after all.

“And you’ll have your chance. its a few hours flight back the house and then you can take all the time you need.” Vlad said, offering an arm that Isabelle took, letting him lean partially on her as they walked.

She’d agreed to give us information, Vlad was right that we didn’t need it now. While we would need to move things along soon, we didn’t have a countdown over our head either.

It was only on our way back to the airport that I realized something important we’d forgotten, my hand raising to smack my forehead with a loud clap.

“Curse my memory to all seven layers of hell, you asked who we are right? I’m Julian, the woman you talked to before on the phone.”

Understanding lit Isabelle’s eyes as she nodded. “My name’s Isabelle Collins, though I guess you already know that. It’s nice to meet you…” She hesitated, realizing the lie even as I chuckled.

“It isn’t but that’s alright. We get it. Very few people are happy to meet us and in your case, there are special circumstances.”

Isabelle blinked, surprised, before she shook her head. “For now, you’re right, but once that bastard is in the ground I’ll be a lot happier to be around you…if that helps.”

A wide, blood thirsty grin curled my lips. “Oh that works just fine for me, I fully plan to rip that sick fuck to shreds for what all of this.”

Silver eyes glinted with a mirroring viciousness as Isabelle nodded. “You…you and I are going to get along just fine.”

Yeah, I got that feeling. Poor Seraphina, that’d make two chaotic dumbasses for her to keep track of. As if thinking the same, the pinkette groaned as Elle watched from her shoulder, occasionally nudging Vlad worriedly.

“Dear God, there’s two of you now.”

Vlad patted her shoulder sympathetically. “I’m here to help keep them out of trouble.”

Oh, I couldn’t just not chip in there! “Actually, Dimitrius is going to be keeping me out of trouble, so you just have to worry about Isabelle.” Sending a smile back to the amused blond, I shrugged apologetically. “Sorry babe, you’re stuck with babysitting duty.”

He hummed, a chuckle just on the tip of his tongue as he kissed my temple. “I consider it part of our relationship, so no apology is necessary.”

Cuddling back into him, I heard Sera’s playful gag. “Ugh you two are insanely sweet. I can feel myself getting cavities from here.”

Not pulling away from my spot cuddled into Dimitrius’s chest, I shot back. “Then have Elle turn her head, I’m not stopping because of your delicate sensibilities.”

Nudging my nose further into his throat, I felt his rumbling laughter as Sera snorted from behind me.

“Go back to cuddling your lover and behave. No getting freaky on the airplane either. I’m one of the two people here who haven’t seen you naked and I’d like to keep it that way.”

I flipped her off without a word, the gesture pulling a sharp bark of laughter from Sera. “There’s the brat we know and love. In all seriousness though, we should probably get some rest. These next few hours are going to be killer and you in particular–Vlad–have used more than your fair share of energy.”

The man hummed, exhaustion clear as he barely kept his eyes open. Isabelle glanced over him worriedly, gripping his arm as if to keep him awake. Maybe focusing on him will give her an outlet for her grief for now…

Shaking that to the side, I leaned into Dimitrius and let go of the tension rolling in my gut. One thing down on the agenda, with any luck the rest of our little quest would go as smoothly.