Karizma

Kristopher staggered backwards as Naomi approached Ryleigh’s corpse. No amount of pain that he endured in his three-hundred-years compared to what Kristopher was experiencing now. He had to kill her, and she knew it. She could not remain alive as a captor to Naomi and Nathan; if she did, they would use her to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people, humans and supernatural entities alike. Her death was the way to prevent the slaughter, and to end the search for the final Karizma. Bailey was safe, Kristopher was alive; that was all that Ryleigh had wanted.

Kristopher’s nonexistent heart slithered its pain through the rest of his body. His chest ached, his vision blurred, his fangs burned with rage. Killing her was the right thing to do, but it did not make him surviving through her death any easier. But I have to survive, he thought. I promised her that I would protect Bailey. The next step, before any of that, was making sure that Ryleigh’s corpse was taken back to Lukas. There must be some way to bring her back, Kristopher thought. I have to try; even if I fail, it would be better to bury her than to leave her here with them.

“Why would you do that?” Nathan growled lowly. “She was the key to our plan.”

“Your Mistress is strong enough without that one,” Kristopher said through gritted teeth. “That one hurt me beyond what you could comprehend. I don’t give a shit if you were going to torture her for the remainder of her life, I wanted her dead.” He needed to continue the façade of the spell, that he was so betrayed that he needed to kill her for his own heart. When that was the furthest thing from the truth. All he wanted was to bring her home and hold her, cherish her, and prove his devotion to her, but his devotion was proven through her death.

“He is right, my love,” Naomi said softly. “Besides, she is still here,” Naomi added as she nodded toward Ryleigh’s body. “I can drain her like I have all of the others. Her death will not be a complete waste.”

“I get the corpse,” Kristopher said.

“No,” Naomi said as she shook her head. “I need all of her.”

“No, you fucking don’t,” Kristopher growled as he clenched his jaw. “Take her blood, her magic, but her body is mine. I deserve that much for the shit that she put me through.”

“Nathan—”

“Naomi, drink her dry,” Nathan said sternly. “We do not have time to bicker about the body parts. Her blood is where her magic is, just take that and let the broken-hearted vampire go.”

Naomi snarled in response. She whirled around and penetrated her fangs into Ryleigh’s neck with such force that her body was tossed against the chains. Kristopher inhaled and turned his back to Naomi. Nathan clapped a hand on Kristopher’s shoulder. “All is forgiven, my assassin. You will be of use in the coming war, and you can take your revenge on the human race that birthed the one that broke you so. I need you by my side, brother.”

“You have my allegiance, Master,” Kristopher answered robotically. He feigned lack of emotion, a mask that covered the pain and worry and rage that was swirling inside of him. He needed to get Ryleigh back to Lukas, not only for her resurrection, but to make Lukas aware of the coming war. Nathan wanted only vampires on the planet, which meant everyone, and everything, was at risk. Lukas cared enough for Ryleigh to protect her, which told Kristopher that Lukas cared enough for the human race to fight to protect the rest of them as well.

Kristopher flinched slightly as he heard Naomi rip herself out of Ryleigh’s neck. He turned and saw Naomi dive her fangs into the femoral artery that ran itself through Ryleigh’s thigh. He watched the color fade from his beloved’s body as Naomi’s fangs made quick work of taking all of the blood possible. Resurrection without blood would be tricky, but Bailey and Ryleigh were sisters; Bailey would give Ryleigh her blood in a heartbeat. Kristopher knew that there would be no way that Naomi would give him Ryleigh with her blood fully intact, so the only way he could get her back would be completely empty, devoid of who she once was. Her blood and her magic would be gone, which meant that there was a strong possibility that Ryleigh would only be a Lycan when she woke up; her magic would no longer inhabit her body.

Naomi ripped her fangs from Ryleigh’s thigh and sighed as she tilted her head back. The bloodless holes in Ryleigh’s neck and thigh were hollow, muscle and tissue ripped away from her during the feeding. “More,” Naomi purred lightly.

“There is no more blood, my dear,” Nathan said.

“Her flesh, her heart. More,” Naomi repeated. “She is dead. If he wants her body, what is one missing organ?”

Before either of them could protest, Naomi punched her hand through Ryleigh’s chest and ripped her heart from it. Nathan exhaled in exasperation as Naomi began to devour Ryleigh’s heart. Kristopher’s agony prickled along his skin and goosebumps erupted against it. Vampirism can cure death, but it cannot regenerate organs, he thought. She did that in spite since I killed her. “Now you can’t bring her back,” Naomi purred as the last of Ryleigh’s heart slid down her throat. “Take your corpse and leave, assassin. We will call you when it is time to make our move against the world.”

Nathan sped forward and stripped the chains from Ryleigh’s body. Her nude corpse hit the concrete floor face-first with a sickening thud. Kristopher fought the urge to roar, to attack both of them for what had been done to her, but he masked it all. He could not stray from the façade of a broken heart; it was the only thing that was keeping him alive, and there was a lot more at stake than his vengeance.

Nathan and Naomi promptly exited the building, leaving Kristopher alone in the dark with his deceased and mutilated witch. He knelt down beside her, and his body began to tremble. He gently rolled her on to her back and tried to control his staggered breathing as he gazed upon her. She was pale, her emerald eyes so dull and dim that they were a sick, murky green, rather than the bright emerald that he had been captivated with. He touched her face softly, and he crumbled. Her skin was so cold, so empty, and he could not save her. Not this time. He heaved as centuries of life and pain poured out of him through waves of tears, as the love that he had been fortunate enough to experience vacated his body as her soul had vacated hers. He scooped her into his arms gently, then rose to his feet and broke off into a sprint.

Trees and the night sky blurred together as Kristopher sped past all of it. He clutched Ryleigh’s body tightly to his chest in fear of his speed dropping her along the way. The speed of his sprint smacked his face so hard that the tears were obliterated from it, but he still did not see where he was going. He was moving on instinct, on memory to Lukas’ house, but the vision before him was dark; instead, the darkness was replaced with clips of his moments with Ryleigh. Clips of her life, her smile, her light. We have to bring that back into the world, he vowed. Whatever it takes.

Kristopher barreled through Lukas’ front door and gently laid Ryleigh on to his bed. Lukas entered the bedroom immediately with his canines drawn, his claws extended. Kristopher turned around and faced the Alpha Lycan. “Fix her,” Kristopher spoke, his cracked voice barely above a whisper. “Bring her back.”