Page 62 of Ever Dark Academy: Volume 6

“Like hell it is,” Fiona grimaced.

Fiona grasped Grayson’s shoulders with both her hands. She closed her eyes so tightly. She whispered a prayer and something like, “please, please, please let this work.”

Someone tried to get through the door. Khos body slammed it shut.

Ryder called out, “Do that again and you’ll find Artemis in a soul gem!”

“You can’t do that to me. And Ashyr is too weak to do anything at all,” Artemis laughed, blood bubbling on his lips.

Charlie lifted up a soul gem between two fingers of his right hand. He advanced upon Artemis and slammed his left palm against the Kaly slice’s forehead. He pulled all the essence he could, adding to what he had already taken from the three others. His face and body morphed. Artemis stared with horror mixed with derision as he stared at his own face.

“You might look like me, but you aren’t me,” Artemis sneered.

The soul gems began to glow and a seed of doubt sprouted in Artemis’ eyes. “I am me and I have all the power of yours I need.”

“Fiona?” Ryder asked, his voice breaking. “Charlie, is anything happening? I’m not feeling anything!”

Charlie’s eyes darted back to where Grayson lay. Nothing was happening. Fiona’s eyes were squeezed shut, but it was clear her powers were not working or she couldn’t make the time change work or something. It was going to be too late. It was already too late.

But then there was a breeze. A small breeze. A drop of blood left Grayson’s parted lips. It flowed upwards as if towards an invisible wrist. More of the blood pulled out of Grayson. The red that painted his tongue, teeth then lips then chin disappeared. Fiona let out a ragged scream as she tried to rewind time. The wind died. Fiona keeled over him, breathing raggedly. There were still a few drops of Artemis’ blood on Grayson’s lips. But had any gotten inside? Did it matter? It was not enough to turn him. Not enough to make him Artemis’ Childe. He didn’t think so anyways. He hoped not.

“Ryder, go now! Give Grayson your blood! I will handle Artemis,” Charlie told him.

Ryder nodded and was moving swiftly to Grayson’s side. Charlie heard him say, “Oh, my love, forgive me for this. I wanted it to be so different.”

“You cannot do this,” Artemis croaked. “You cannot. It has been foreseen.”

Charlie stared at the Kaly slice just as he pulled his goddamned soul into the soul gem in his hand. “We are doing this, Artemis. We make our fate. We are us.”

Connection

Death was an old friend. Grayson was surprised by how familiar it was. Even how familiar the act of his blood being taken was despite it being drunk by Artemis. Though he had never experienced being drunk dry, he had asked his fledglings about how it felt and they had been right in their halting, ecstatic descriptions.

Death was light.

A lightness that had him feeling as if he was rising up from the divan and floating. The sensation of separating from his body like a balloon filled with helium and bobbing up into the air was as close to how he could describe it. There was no pain here. No exhaustion. No mortal body to weigh him down.

Death was light.

It wasn’t frightening or painful or really anything at all. He felt calm. Serene. That word truly made sense to him in this space. The only thing that distressed him was Ryder. Ryder should be doing this to him Ryder should be giving him the blood of everlasting life. But it was Kaly. Or rather, Artemis.

He thinks I’ll be loyal to him when this is over. But he is wrong. I will destroy him.

And that’s what Grayson was waiting for. The return of weight. The return of strength. The power in his chest would burst into a roaring fire. And when Artemis let down his guard–if only for a second–Grayson would have him. He would rip him molecule from molecule. There would be nothing left. Even if that meant he would die and have to be born again as he could not feed but from his “Master”, he would still do it. For he would never be beholden to someone that would compromise his loyalty to Daemon. Artemis did not understand this. But he would. In the end.

The dark and bloody end.

He was so light. So very, very light. And the darkness was so very, very dark. He tasted Artemis’ blood on his lips. It pattered on his tongue. It slid down his throat. He did not even have the strength to swallow. It just flowed into him against his will. It pooled in his stomach. Heavy and hot and almost sweet. This turning was not his will. But he held onto the fact that once he was reborn he would have his revenge.

Just wait. Just wait. I will have you, Artemis Alucius.

And it was good not to think of him as Kaly. Kaly was Caemorn. Kaly was waiting for him back in Nightvallen. He could almost picture Caemorn’s brow furrowing as time was passing and they had not returned. He knew that Caemorn would never forgive Artemis for this. Grayson’s determination to shred him was likely nothing compared to what Caemorn would do.

But his dreams of revenge were ripped away from him as everything changed.

Artemis was gone from on top of him and Fiona was there. She had his shoulders. She was gripping him and he suddenly felt very heavy again. Artemis’ blood was starting to sizzle in his veins. Turning him. Turning… turning…

“Hold on, Grayson!” she begged.