Iris had been left weakened after the bond was broken. She drained what remained of her supply slowly and the witch had let her stay while the vampire recuperated. Iris forced herself off the bed and set her feet on the ground, with much effort she was barely able to pull herself up and walked to the full length mirror across the room. The wound was now completely closed but the angry red scar still remained.
The raven haired vampire pulled her shirt on, picking up her helmet on the way out. Circe frowned as soon as she saw the vampire wander down the stairs, leather jacket thrown across her shoulder and helmet in hand.
"Where do you think you're going ? You need time to heal. You still have a week before the execution. That should give you enough time to get your mate out" the witch spoke matter if factly
"No time is enough for a dead man walking. I can't just barge in. Besides, Sekhemet should be expecting my return by now, I've been away for too long" Iris explained and nodded her gratitude to the witch.
After a brief exchange between them, concluding their business transaction, the vampire made her way into her bike and set out to go back home.
The ride was long and strenuous given the recent events but Iris made it anyway. She had no time to waste, with that in mind she made her way into the training compound to find Carmen, the woman she'd sired when Gabriel had brought the woman to Iris.
She remembered that night. How a panicked Gabriel came to her with a bloody mess of a woman in his arms. His face was streaked with tears and reddened by the cold outside. She took pity on him and turned the woman. she had agreed to sure her only if Gabriel attended the academy because as it appeared even under her tutelage, He was unable to control himself.
She scoffed at the thought, even Sekhemet and Zhi-Ming couldn't teach him control. It was either he didn't want to control his urges or he simply didn't have the will power and Iris didn't know which was worse.
How could she have known the wounded soldier she rescued would have so little control, or was it more of a conscious choice for Gabriel?
Every time she began to think these very thoughts, her doubt in the nature of her soldier grew tenfold. Was it always there? How could she have not known? Has she always seen it and chosen to ignore it?
Frustrated at her turmoil the onyx haired vampiress tightened her jaw. She had to find Carmen and now.
It didn't take her long to walk into the compound as if nothing had happened, most of them didn't know about her bond to Sekhemet being broken and so they welcomed her with open arms.
Carmen was in her office just like any other day, it helped that the brunette woman was a dutiful cop in her previous life and had carried the trait with her new identity. Once Iris had set foot in the office, Carmen was up on her feet greeting her site. The formalities forsaken for the moment, iris sat at the chair facing the desk with a heavy thud. The stress catching up with her once she relaxed her muscles.
"Iris, I...didn't expect to see you back, not for a while" Carmen smiled wearily
"Everything is on schedule. I'm here to ask for your help. I broke my sure bond to Sekhemet" the raven haired woman announced in a hushed tone.
Carmen furrowed her brows pensively "why did you do that iris, what do you need me to do? Are you leaving the compound? And what about my bond?" the brunette, so used to asking questions, began firing one after the other.
"Calm down Carmen. The bond between Gabriel, yourself and me is still intact but we've been severed from the rest of the clan" the onyx vampire spoke with a sigh
"So you know where they're keeping Gabriel? I want to talk to him" she added leaning back in the comfortable chair
Carmen's eyes widened in realization. Iris didn't know the execution was pushed up a week because the human was dying. She didn't know Gabriel was already dead and most probably buried by now.
"Iris...he's in the clan Crypt" Carmen started carefully "the execution...it was pushed up a week because the human he attacked is dying" the brunette explained softly, her voice an odd mix between apologetic and sympathetic.
Iris blinked for a moment, it took her a few seconds before she could process the information. She should have felt the bond breaking shouldn't she? A mate dying is similar to losing a part of your soul. The severance is painful and traumatic and few even survive it. Yet she felt nothing but the frailness caused by the dagger to her heart.
"When...?" it was all iris could utter, stuck between a mild twinge of sadness at the soldier's death and a conflicting feeling of apathy, a numbness, that seemed to flow through her.
Carmen could see the cogs turning in her sire's mind, flashes of contradicting emotions swirling in her chocolate eyes.
Iris shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Meet me at my loft later tonight. I have people to call" her eyes were void as she spoke. It all blurred after that, her exiting the compound, speeding along the streets, weaving between cars, iris disnt even remember how she got on her bed with her phone in hand.
Should she? Or was it considered a betrayal? The vampire heaved a sigh and dialed...
The phone rang once, the seconds seemed to span into hours. Then it rang a second time, and the clock seemed to stop ticking altogether. And it rang once more, iris couldn't breath, her breath seemed to be caught in her throat. When the forth ring came around, the vampire considered hanging up.
As she was about to pull the phone away to hang up, a voice she'd become familiar with answered with a soft "hello?"
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Everyone had left, with the exception of Asha and Cheyenne. The hematoma spread even further and faster than the doctor had expected. Black, blue and purple covered Alexandra's chest, running up to her shoulders and wrapping around her neck.
It was a horrid sight to behold, but Asha wouldn't move. She pushed up one of the chairs next to the girl's bed, intertwining their fingers together. The blonde's pulse was weak and barely thruming below her bruised skin.
It was hours that Alex slept, barely breathing, with the redheaded vampire by her side.
When dawn was upon the horizon, the blonde stirred weakly, her eyelids fluttered open to the sight of Wilde red curls sprawled onto the edge of her bed.
Alexandra smiled weakly, somehow she was still alive, not for long she mused humorlessly, but long enough to realize Asha was there to save her again.
A once over around the room told her she was in the same bed she'd woken up in the first time, the red covers were just as soft as she remembered.
The blonde ran her pale fingers through the vampire's hair which led Asha to purr softly. Alex let out a shaky laugh in disbelief, big bad vampire just purred in her sleep. How ironic.
Asha sat up slowly, rubbing her puffy eyes after a night of crying. Once her vision had cleared from the bleariness, Asha's kryptonite greens had collided with Alexandra's steel ones. Her breath caught in her throat, Asha stared speechless as Alex leant up as far as she could go place a gentle kiss on Asha's lips.
"Asha, I..." Alex sighed "I'm sorry I stormed o-" she was interrupted by the vampire, shaking her head.
"Don't worry about it Alex, it was a lot to take in, I don't blame you"
"No. Don't make excuses for me Asha, I know I'm dying. I've felt it before and I need to say this so I can die with no regrets" Alexandra spoke with all the conviction she could muster but her voice still broke.
"You can't die on me Alex, I've barely found you!" the vampire whispered frantically "we can get a healer or I can turn you and you wouldn't have to die"
"No. No Asha. You won't turn me. I won't become what he is. I know he's a bad example but in my mind he will always haunt me" Alex explained in a pained voice "you found me in this life, you'll find me in the next"
Asha's eyes were wide in surprise, Alex would rather die than become a vampire as if it were the plague. But the redhead couldn't blame her after her first impression with Gabriel.
"Asha, I love you. I really do love you but I won't lose my humanity for this. Eternal life isn't worth it if I outlive the few friends I do have" Alex wasn't going to changer her mind and Asha could see that as clear as day.
"I need you to promise me that no matter how hard it is, that neither you nor any other vampire gets to me"
Asha nodded silently casting her gaze away from the dying blonde. The two women spent the next few hours together, between gentle nips and playful banter, it was almost perfect.
If it weren't for this chasm growing in each of their respective chests, Asha would have considered this the perfect day.
They eventually fell asleep, Alex cuddled into the vampire's side. Alex was a shivering mess, cold sweat pooled beneath her soaking the sheets. She knew it was time, so she pulled away from her beloved vampire and laid flat on her back. It hurt to breath, her chest felt right and her lungs burned for oxygen. Paralysis had slowly set in within her limbs and kept creeping up higher.
This was it. One more labored breath.
"I love you Asha. Find me in another life" the blonde had exhaled her last words and with them, her final breath.
The coldness of the body in her proximity worried Asha, she twisted her body to face the blonde but the sight was enough to unravel her.
Asha bolted upright and tried frantically to find a pulse even tho she could neither feel nor hear one. The blonde's lips had turned blue and her eyes were shut and unmoving. Asha realized, as sorrow blossomed in her chest, that Alex was gone.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I know please don't kill me!! Trust me it's not the end. I promised a love story but all fluff and no drama is boring. Please do stick around to find out what happens next. I promise it's good ;-)
Much love â¤
Reddy
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