Diamond Legacies: Part 16

 

------------ ------------ ------------

Chicago, August 2226

------------ ------------ ------------

Nova Cullen

------------ ------------ ------------

I was barely home when my phone rang.

It was my mother, telling me I needed to go see her tomorrow morning as soon as I could. I wasn’t sure why, but I gathered it was something to do with the new cult staying at the Volturi.

What I didn’t expect walking through the door of my childhood home was to see my twin sister sitting at the piano.

“Eden?” I asked and she lifted her head to smile at me.

“Hey twinny” she said in Bulgarian. Twinny was a rough translation of what we called each other in our mother tongue. Although it wasn’t a direct translation, it was a term of endearment we had called each other since children. Eden moved to stand up from the piano bench and I was over by her in a second. Hugging my sister was an unbeatable feeling. She was my soulmate and even if we didn’t get along most of the time, even if we didn’t like each other, I still loved her more than anything else in the universe. Even more than Lucan, though I’d never admit that to him.

“Do you know what’s going on? Mama said I had to come home immediately. What happened?” She asked, our telepathy opening immediately to let the other in our heads. I showed her what happened yesterday when I tried to find our parents at the Volturi.

Luna disciples? She asked.

Sounds cult-y, doesn’t it? I asked.

Definitely. She responded as our parents came down the stairs to greet us. My mother smiled widely. A smile only reserved for us. She loved it when were in the same room.

“What’s going on mama?” Eden asked in English.

“Come” she said reaching for both our hands and giving each of us a small squeeze as she led us to the seating area in the open living area.

“Matthew Cullen is coming over. He needs to take away a memory to protect you, to protect us all” she explained but I frowned and looked to my father. I saw Eden form the same thought as I did the second our mother said it. We were almost identical in expression as we stared up at our father by the decorative non-functional fireplace

“You told us never to take anything without consent.” I said for Eden. Whilst I couldn’t take anyone’s aura, Eden could. It had been drilled into us from childhood to use our abilities for good, to never do anything without consent from the other unless there was no other option.

“This isn’t something that’s up for discussion girls. It’s for your protection, it’s for your grandmothers.” My father answered and I turned to look back at my mother as the doorbell went.

“What are you making us forget?” I asked emotion clouded my mind, Eden was level-headed as she always was, but I was scared. Would I know I’d forgotten something? Would I wonder? My father let Matthew in as my mother reached for both our hands on the couch.

“Nothing you’re going to miss,” she said with a soft smile, but I looked towards Matthew who was coming over to us.

“Do you even know what he’s taking from us?” I asked in shock.

“Yes, he’s taking it from me too,” she said, and I saw her swallow her emotion for a moment.

“Eden, Nova, I’m sure you’re both aware of the visitors we currently have at the Volturi.” Matthew began as he sat on the small armchair, he leant forward over his knees as he spoke to us.

“Yes” I mumbled in response.

“They’re devoted to Esther’s bloodline and the power of the moon. They’re obsessed with any and everyone linked to her. Now, both of you are already protected, and we are confident those wards will uphold but there is one thing we didn’t plan for when Esther went into her sleep and that was a group of fanatics hell bent on finding where she is.” He said and paused.

Nonna. Eden thought and I turned to look at her as her mind worked out what was happening.

He’s going to make us forget about Nonna. She realised and I stared at her in horror. Tears quickly welled up in my eyes. Eden sat poker faced, motionless as usual and so I turned around to speak for us both.

“You’re not going to make us forget her. No, she’s our grandmother. You can’t make us forget about our Nonna!” I said, my voice rising in hysteria after each word. My mother reached instantly to wipe the tear that fell onto my cheek.

“No Nova, I wouldn’t do that. I’m not making you forget about her, not your memories of her or who she is to you. I’ve seen what that does to people. I wouldn’t do that, not again.” he explained quickly.

“Then what?” I asked.

“I have to make you forget where she is, what she did, why she did it.” he explained.

“How does that protect us?” I asked my voice still shaking but glad I wasn’t about to forget one of the most important people in my life.

“It’s a need-to-know piece of information. Only a select few are going to remember where she is.”

“Who?” I asked with a frown looking at my mother, surely, she’ll be allowed to know where her mother is right?

“Just Axton and Alena.”

“They’ll be the only people in the entire world that know where the most powerful creature on the planet is?” I asked. This was the stupidest idea I’d ever heard. Eden agreed but as always, she was letting me be the voice of our mind.

“It’s a necessity” Matthew explained with a nod.

“You’re okay with this?” I asked turning to my mother.

“If it keeps the people I love safe, yes I’m okay with it.” she said with a nod.

“And how are we going to bring her back if people have forgotten what she did and why she’s gone?” I asked now. Matthew sighed in response to this question and looked up to my father at his side. This time Micah knelt down in front of us.

“Not all of us are forgetting why she’s gone. It’s an extra clause just for you two.” He said looking between us.

“Why?” I asked, my voice was cold and icy. I wanted to know everything I was about to forget and why.

“Because,” he said his voice rocking with emotion before he paused and swallowed. He looked once at our mother before turning back to us.

“Because you both deserve a normal life. It’s all you’ve both ever wanted, to be normal. Eden, you’re excelling in your craft, you’ve made a life for yourself, and I can’t be any prouder of you. And you Nova, you’re just starting. You’ve just passed some of the hardest exams in the world to start a career that I know you’re going to be brilliant at. You have so much potential to do so much good. And you’re both… you’re both so headstrong and have learnt to navigate the human world better than anyone in this room.” He said and his hands reached to replace our mothers. “You are the very best of us both,” he said looking to our mother and back at us. “You don’t deserve to live in a jail cell, you don’t deserve to have to look round every corner or worry about who is after you for your name or your blood. You don’t need to be a part of this world; you will be far safer out of it.” he explained.

“These people…” Matthew said interjecting for a moment. “We don’t know their powers, we don’t know their full intentions, we don’t know who they are, we don’t know how far they will go to get what they want, and we don’t know who they will go through to get it. You are Esther’s legacy, her most precious and vulnerable progeny. If they find out about you… you will never live a day of your life in peace again. This information puts you at risk. It puts your parents at risk worrying about you or who will use you to get to them.”

“So what? We live our life thinking Esther left us? That she didn’t do this to save the world?” I asked.

“I will fabricate an alternative story in your mind. You will still know she’s in a deep sleep under countless protections, but you won’t know why, or where, or what for.” He explained.

I think this is for the best Nova. Eden thought and I turned to scowl at her betrayal.

Of course, you do, you just want to get back to your life away from here. I responded and I saw the flash of hurt but she covered it up quickly.

Nova. Papa is right. She reasoned. I turned back to Matthew.

“Just do it” I sighed in response. There was no use arguing. I wouldn’t be able to convince a leader of the Volturi and my parents alone and Eden had already made her mind up.

My father leant forward to kiss my forehead as he stood out of the way of Matthew. My mother stood to join him by the edge of the room and Matthew nodded.

I had never seen his ability work, so I had no idea what was going to happen, but it felt like nothing had happened at all.

The only reason I knew he had made us forget something was the aura of guilt that surrounded his heart.

I knew better than to ask, so did Eden. Whatever it was, we must have agreed to it, and I guess it didn’t matter now anyway.

Matthew left, after speaking privately with both my parents.

Are you going back to New York? I asked my sister as we watched Matthew leave our home.

I have a flight booked for this afternoon.

Wont you stay? Just for another day? I asked. I knew she didn’t have work until Monday. She would be doing nothing tomorrow except read or hang out with her friends.

I don’t know. She responded as our mother came back into the room with the same big smile as before.

For mama? I asked now as I turned to look at her. She was watching our mother with regret and fondness.

“Girls, since you’re both here why don’t we go do something fun?” she asked hopeful as she reached us in the room.

For mama. Eden agreed and I smiled triumphantly that I had persuaded her to stay for another day.

She didn’t see what our mother went through, she had left and abandoned me to deal with it myself, to be the lifeline our mother needed. I hoped a weekend with both of us would renew her spirits just that bit more.

I knew my parents were worried that weekend over the Luna Disciples, but they tried their best to enjoy the days with us. I knew they appreciated how rare it was for us all to be together and didn’t want anything else getting in the way of that. At least they tried. Whilst we spent all day Saturday together, Sunday they were called into the Volturi and so Eden and I decided to do one of the only things we both enjoyed. Shopping.

We had only been in Seattle for an hour when I saw the familiar frame of my boyfriend entering the store.

I sighed and Eden caught it.

“What’s wrong?” she asked but I nodded towards Lucan heading our way. She rolled her eyes and turned away to continue looking at the clothes.

“Hey babe” he grinned as he reached us.

“What are you doing here? I thought you had training.” I said with a frown.

“Well, it’s funny actually, I was training at the Volturi with Amirah right. Your mom notices through the window, next minute she’s outside in the courtyard demanding to speak to my alpha. Amirah and your mom have this glare off and Amirah suddenly turns to me and dismisses me from training and gives me another mission to come to Seattle to protect you both. Apparently, you told your mom I was coming with you shopping?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. I sighed and turned to my sister, she shrugged in response and turned away from us again.

“Well, I guess you can carry our bags” I grinned at him. He smiled back; he was always genuinely happy to help me out which only made me love him more. He took the bags from my hand and went to stand by the door to the store.

“Why did you tell mama he was coming with us?” I asked Eden when I caught up to her.

“Because she wouldn’t have let us go alone,” she responded but wasn’t looking at me.

“You can’t do that to her,” I said reaching for her arm to make her look at me.

“What?” she asked with a frown.

“You can’t lie to mama, not anymore,” I said feeling frustrated.

“We didn’t need protection. We’re fine,” she said with an eye roll.

“Eden,” I said, my voice shook. “You haven’t been here. You haven’t seen what mama has gone through. You don’t know what it’s like to get a phone call at 6am from papa asking to go see her because she’s having a bad day. You don’t know how broken she’s been. Yes, the last few years she’s been doing better. But I will never forget that first year. I will never forget seeing my mother in that much pain. You can’t add more stress onto that. I won’t let you.” I said with a glare.

“Nova, she’s the mother, not you” she said with a frown.

“Show some empathy once in a while” I scolded her and walked to the exit of the shop.

“Nova?” Lucan asked as I grabbed his hand and left. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked when he realised how much I was holding back my tears.

My sister had run away, she never saw the pain of Esther’s absence. She never saw what it was like here. What its like every day. She got away. She was free. And I hated her for it.

I took a deep breath to stop any emotion bubbling up to the surface. Eden never had troubles with emotion. She was oh so calm and collected. I felt all the empathy for both of us and I despised it.

Lucan could see I was a mess. He stepped towards me, and his large arms engulfed me in a hug. I buried my face into his chest and took in three deep breaths. His scent surrounded me. This was the best part of the imprint right here. Even though it controlled my life, even though Lucan barely ever left me alone or let me make my own decisions. It was all worth it. For this feeling. The unbeatable feeling of protection, of tranquillity. He was my safe space. I felt truly immortal in these moments. Like no one in the world could hurt me. Not even my twin sister.

We waited like that outside the store until Eden left. She saw us standing there and I saw the flash of guilt on her aura but decided to let it go. There was no use in arguing or trying to get Eden to see my side of things. We’d never seen eye to eye our whole lives. I knew she felt guilty about our mother. Her whole aura was coated in it when she was around her. I knew it was just her way of coping. I had always been the maternal one. I had always been the familial one. She had felt out of place her whole life, it was only now in her new life she felt normal, and I wouldn’t judge or blame her for that. We were two different people, and it didn’t mean she loved our mother any less. I just wish she understood me better. We were soulmates and yet since Esther left us I had never felt so alone.

“There’s a new dance shop on market street. Shall we go see what it has?” I asked her, pulling away from Lucan. Her face lit up with a smile as she agreed.

We fell into a normal conversation as if nothing had happened as we walked the two blocks to the store. This was normal for us. To pretend. Lucan stayed by my side, his hand in mine as he made patterns on my hand with his thumb.

When we got there, it was packed with people. It was advertising a popular brand of dance clothing and Eden said it was hard to get so she wasn’t surprised so many people were in there. It also didn’t help when a little girl almost screamed at the sight of my sister. My sister wasn’t exactly famous, at least not in the wider world but in the ballet world she was well known to a select few groups. She had been one of the youngest soloist in the history of the New York Ballet, having only been in the company a few months before being promoted. I knew it was a big deal when my sister told me about it, but I didn’t know how big of a deal it was to little girls aspiring to be ballerinas. Lucan and I decided to stay outside the store and wait instead of being lost ducks in a pond full of swans.

“Let’s take a walk” Lucan murmured and pulled me down the street. We didn’t go far, just up and down the street a few times, but it was nice to not be surrounded by pink and squealing little girls and their mothers fawning over my sister.

It had been nearly fifteen minutes, so we turned back to walk towards the dance shop again. We were just talking casually when something caught my attention down one of the alley ways between the shops on the street.

Honestly, I was surprised I didn’t smell the blood. Maybe if I had I would have been able to stop what was about to happen. Maybe I would have been able to lead Lucan away before his instincts kicked in. Maybe I would have been able to save him.

“Why would you want to make out in an alley way?” I frowned my eyes catching a man and woman intimately tied up to our right. I wasn’t even sure it was just making out they were doing; the man was leaning over the woman possessively.

Lucan followed my gaze with a curious smile, but the smile dropped instantly.

“They’re not making out” he growled. His body began to shake. I knew the sight all too well. He was about to phase.

“Lucan calm down,” I coaxed him, but my senses weren’t as strong as his. It was only at the sight of Lucan shaking in front of me that I realised I could smell blood. Full flowing from the vein… blood. My head span to the couple and I realised it was a vampire, feeding on a girl.

Lucan had already stepped away from me, he did a quick scan of his surroundings before he kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head.

“Lucan you can’t take it on alone” I panicked realising what he was doing.

“It’s just 1 little vamp. I got this.” He said but before I could talk him out of it. Before I could scream at him not to, the familiar grey fur appeared in front of me. He took running to the vampire down the alley way.  I wanted to scream after him, but his name caught in my throat. I would draw attention to him, and the vampire would see him coming. I couldn’t scream or Lucan would die.

Go get help. I said turning to look at Eden who had just left the dance shop. No one else leaving the shop would see the events in the dark alley. They would all pass oblivious to the horror that was mere meters from them. I was grateful for this, if the humans walked away they wouldnt wonder what was going on. They wouldnt be risking their lives like Lucan was. Eden was smiling as she waved behind her to the humans. In response to my thought she turned to observe what was happening. It only took her a moment before she pulled her phone out and took off running down the street towards where we’d parked the car.

Don't follow him in Nova. She responded. I could see her thought process as she realised there was no use trying to get me to leave Lucan. She understood the imprint better than that. All she could do was get help quickly. Every instinct she had was to stand by my side to protect me but she fought against it, knowing there were much stronger and more capable people to deal with this situation than two second generation Luna Bambini children. 

I was grateful for her calculated thoughts. Help was coming. I just had to keep Lucan alive until then.

I turned back to look at Lucan in the alley way and the panic rose in me like nothing I had ever felt before. Lucan had never taken a vampire on alone. I knew there were legendary wolves that had, Jacob Black. Leah and Zac. Just to name a few. But that was a long time ago. Before the days of The Guild pack. Before there were more wolves than needed. Lucan had only ever taken on a vampire with 2 of his brothers at his side. Leah and Zac had made it a rule to ensure no wolf was ever alone. A wolf could win against a vampire but most of them came out hurt, and some even died. It wasn’t worth the risk, not when you didn’t know what kind of gifts each vampire had. Lucan hadn’t been trained to do this.

I stood there frozen as I saw Lucan collide with the stone body of the vampire. The vampire looked shocked for a moment before he slipped into an offensive stance. The pair ran at each other, and I was frozen in shock. I just hoped there was a wolf close by that had heard his thoughts and were on their way.

My eyes caught on the girl who slumped to the floor. Her hand caught her weight and I saw her gasp in pain. I ran to her, knowing there was no way I could help Lucan and I needed to focus my efforts somewhere else before the worry drove me insane, or killed me. The imprint would see to that, I was sure.

“Hey” I coaxed her; the smell of her blood hit me strong. I took deep breaths, letting the scent coat me, touch my tongue and throat. I let it take over, just as my father had taught me. If I wanted to be a doctor, I needed to be able to handle an injured girl on the street. I took it in for a moment, I felt the pain and then I swallowed it back and focused on the injury. Like it was a simulation. I would be face to face with real blood in just short of twenty-four hours. I would have to get used to this.

“What’s your name?” I asked her, trying to keep her awake. The pain of the venom was too much for her. She was slipping into unconsciousness. My hand went to her neck to stop the blood free flowing. She cradled her hand in her other as she sat against the stone wall, I could see her fighting the pain.

I heard a whimper and my head whipped around to see Lucan limp as he went to attack the vampire again.

“Evera” The girl whispered drawing my attention away from the fight happening mere meters from us.

“I’m Nova” I said softly and this time the whimper was a howl. A howl I never wanted to hear in my life. “Hold the wound” I said quickly as I dropped her neck and span to see Lucan collide with the wall. I saw blood and a lot of it. The injury forced him to phase back to human and he was defenceless. He had collided and slid down the wall. He landed on the ground on his side, the side that was exposed was cut open. A long slash from his armpit to his hip. It was an injury that would kill most humans almost instantly. Blood came out like a fountain.

I knew I stood no chance. This was a full vampire; I was barely more than human but I ran anyway. Putting myself between the love of my life and the most dangerous predator on the planet.

“Please” I begged. I held out my hand, not realising it was the one covered in the girl’s blood. “Please don’t” I cried. The vampire paused. He was tall, pale skinned, blonde hair and had sharp cheekbones. If he wasn’t about to take the love of my life away, I might have registered his beauty but to me he just looked like the devil. He cocked his head to the side at the blood on my hand.

“I am Nova Cullen. The granddaughter of Carlisle Cullen. You cannot kill me, or him. He is a wolf of the guild pack. They are probably already on their way.” I said hoping I could get this vampire to run rather than kill us anyway. It was a stupid decision really. I was supposed to be laying low, not telling strangers who I was but in the face of danger I had to use anything to survive.

“Anyone can claim they’re a Cullen. It doesn’t mean you are one.” The vampire hissed; he was still on high alert attack mode.

“Esther Josephson will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if you hurt us. I can promise you that.” I hoped he wasn’t going to call my bluff.

“Esther Josephson is a myth” he sneered. There were three types of people in the world, those that admired my grandmother, those that despised her and those in denial. He obviously fell into the latter group.

“Do you really want to test that theory?” I questioned and I saw his face flicker. “Is it really worth it? You’ve had your meal; you’ve done your damage. Just leave. Go now, because you may not believe Esther is real, but the pack certainly is, and they’ll already be on their way.”

This was enough. Luckily. The vampire took one last look at Lucan on the ground and fled.

The adrenaline, the rush I had been feeling faded instantly. I span and fell on my knees next to my wolf.

“Lucan” I sobbed. He was still breathing, and the blood still spouted from his side, but he was unconscious.

Nonna. I cried in my head; I opened my mind out of habit, but I knew she wasn’t there. She couldn’t hear me. She couldn’t help me. I needed her and she wasn’t here. She may as well have been a myth. I sobbed at the thought. I had never in my life wanted my grandmother more than in that moment. I wanted to hear her voice, I wanted to be in her arms. I wanted her to tell me everything was going to be okay as she had so many times before. I missed her dreadfully and it was possible, without her, I was about to lose someone else important to me too.

Uncle Eddie’s coming. Eden responded to my plea, and I sighed in relief as I saw her memory of talking to him on the phone

Eddie was fast, faster than anyone other than my Luna Bambini grandparents. He was there in moments, but I worried as Lucan lost the colour in his cheeks. He had lost too much blood.

Eddie assessed the injuries quickly and walked over to stop as much bleeding as he could.

“He’s a fast healer but he’s going to need help. The arteries are ripped open-“ He spoke but I knew he wasn’t talking to me. Whether it was himself or someone in his head I wasn’t even sure.

“Nova, we need to help the girl. She can’t be left. I’m going to carry him back to the estate, okay?” my uncle turned to look at me, but I was in shock. I just sat there on my knees, covered in blood. The girls, my wolfs. I was watching as his chest rose and fell in front of me, petrified that each one was his last.

“Nova. Listen to me.”

“Where is the pack?” I wondered suddenly. Had they not come to save him?

“They’re chasing the man that did this. They can’t help Lucan here, neither can you. Your fathers on his way to get you, but you need to help that girl. Can you do that?” Eddie asked me frantically.

“Nova.” He said urgently. “Concentrate for me. We will save him. I promise you. He will not die. But that girl needs help. I know it’s a lot to ask of an imprintee, but I can’t do both.”

I nodded softly. Realising I needed to pull myself together. I was never good at that. Eden was the twin that you wanted in a crisis. Not me. I tended to fall apart. Cry and close my eyes and wish it was all over. It was Eden that took charge, that was brave and knew what to do. It was ironic really. I was the outgoing one, the one that spoke for us both on a day-to-day basis but the second there was trauma, the second there was tragedy and I shut down. I couldn’t process trauma very well, at least not my own. I hoped I would do better as a doctor. I hoped I could learn to be a better person for others, to be someone like my sister.

The cries of the girl as she felt the pain of the venom rock through her body knocked me out of my trance.

My uncle had already lifted my large boyfriend into his arms. He was merely a feather in his arms. I blinked and Eddie was gone. I turned to see the girl screaming louder as the venom hit her arteries. I ran over to her, helping her adjust her body so she was lying flat on the ground, she gripped my hand, her eyes snapped open, and they frantically looked over my face.

“I’m so sorry” I said to her as she held my hand tightly. She squirmed, her legs kicking and her other arm hitting the wall beside us.

“Nova” I heard my father’s voice and shock as he saw the girl on the floor.

“She’s transitioning.” I said sadly “the venom is already in her arteries. It’s too late” I frowned. I wasn’t sure I could have done it anyway. It was never a good idea to try and suck the venom from an attack. Especially if it was a stranger.  A loved one, someone you had an attachment to was a possibility. There would be a reason to stop. A stranger? The taste of human blood? It was too strong. I didn’t know this girl, if I had tasted her blood and tried to suck the venom out to save her. I’d probably have just killed her faster. At least this way she lived, sort of.

“Let’s take her back to the estate where she can be comfortable and have everything explained to her” he said reaching for her. “Can you relax her?” he asked me.

“I can try” I frowned. I had mastered basic emotions but giving someone serenity when their essence was screaming pain. I wasn’t sure I was capable of that. My father lifted her into his arms, but she still withered in pain.

“It will be easier to carry her” he said frustrated as he tried to pin her arms down. “I’m trying to help you” he coaxed to her, but she probably couldn’t register his words over the agony. I reached out, placing my hand on her shoulder for a moment concentrating on what serenity felt like. My father had lots of it. My grandfather Carlisle had the most. So, I focused on the colours, the feeling of the emotion and I drew on what I could that the girl already possessed. The girl began to relax, and my father could grip her safely in his arms.

“Well done, Nova” he smiled proudly at me. “Well done. Let’s go” he said, and we took off running, my pace back to the estate.

“How do you do it?” I asked realising I wasn’t cut out for a crisis.

“Practice, lots of practice.” He said to me with a fatherly smile as we reached the estate. The atmosphere hit me like someone had thrown a brick. The place was eerily quiet. Eric, the guy on the desk tried to hand us some robes but my father shook his head, carrying the girl through the double doors into the throne room. There was blood pooled in the middle.

My father was already leading me towards the medical room. I had only ever been in here once, but I remembered where it was from the hundreds of times Eden and I would play in the halls of this mansion.

The smell of my boyfriend’s blood got stronger as we made our way to the room.

“Micah.” A voice came behind us. It was one of the guards of the Volturi. “We’ll help her” he said reaching for the girl in my father’s arms. He nodded, handing the stranger off and taking my hand as we made our way into the room. I noticed there were barely any vampires in sight, and the one that had taken the girl was one of the eldest in the guard. One of the ones with the most control.

In the room was my mother and my uncle Eddie.

“Where are Annie and Lidy?” I asked for my aunts, surely, they were needed for this.

“He’s not dead Nova.” My father whispered to me as he dropped my hand and walked over to my mother. She was inside his torso, her hands and forearms soaked red.

“His skin is healing faster than his arteries. I keep having to cut him back open to help him heal” my mother whispered low to my father, but I heard her. Eddie was coming in and out of the room, bringing blood bags and hooking them up as my mother worked on my boyfriend.

“This isn’t a sterile environment” my father commented.

“I’m working on keeping the infection out with my ability” my mother answered as my father went over to the sink to wash his hands.

“Why isn’t he awake? Why isn’t he screaming?” I asked, emotion overwhelming me at the sight of Lucan on the bed. He was so pale. He looked dead.

“Because we put him under anaesthesia” My mother said without looking up at me. She paused, the bags of blood lined up now and ready to be replaced as his body needed. I watched my parents working over my boyfriend.

“Papa,” my mother said looking up to her uncle. He nodded.

“He’s on his way.” He responded and it was mere moments before my grandfather was in the room. He paused at the sight. His daughter stained with blood. My clothes, Eddie. All of us were covered in it. The room was full of it.

My grandfather looked at me, I don’t know what it was, maybe it was the tears in my eyes, the look on my face. The blood on my clothes. But he visibly swallowed. I saw his nose flare at the smell and his eyes connected with Eddie.

“He’s family” Eddie nodded. He nodded back and walked over to the bed. My mother and father stood back; their bloody hands outstretched as they made way for Aleksander to heal him.

“Where the hell is he?” I heard yelling in the corridors outside. I wasn’t even sure who it was. My eyes were focused on the sight of my grandfather’s marble white hands on my boyfriend’s skin and my mother as she changed the blood bag to a new one. The empty bag made a slapping sound as it hit the ground.

I focused on the small details of the room, so I didn’t go insane with panic and break down crying again. He would be okay.

And if he wasn’t. My aunt Anelie would bring him back and he’d be okay then.

All of this would be okay.

It had to be.

“Mia, let them work,” I span to see Amirah Cullen enter the room. I had little to no contact with my boyfriend’s pseudo alpha. Zac and Leah were still officially alphas in the pack mind from what I could tell but they were busy people and often weren’t even in the state. Zac was technically I suppose my cousin. Or first cousin once removed. I’d just never met him. His side of the family didn’t even know I existed, the only reason he knew was because of Lucan. They ran their operation from various parts in the country. There were bases for the wolves in many states, Leah and Zac were often wherever there was something going on and that didn’t even cover the preparations they were doing for the demonic war. Most of Lucan’s orders came from the pack mind, not necessarily in person. Unless it was Amirah Cullen of course. She had a unique connection and ability to alpha the Guild pack even above Zac and Leah’s orders. I didn’t pretend to understand wolf politics. All I knew was my boyfriend was being trained for a war.

A war that would return my grandmother I hoped. The absence of Esther was striking. We all knew how she would have taken charge of this situation, how she would have been in here with us if she was here. How my boyfriend wouldn’t still be suffering if she was here.

“Eddie?” Amirah asked him. Everyone was turning to Eddie. He was Esther’s replacement in so many areas of her life.

“He’ll be fine. He just needs rest.” He explained. Amirah gave one swift nod and turned to me. Before she could speak my grandfather spoke.

“It’s done. He needs more time to heal but he can be woken up.” He said looking to my mother. Ivana reached for the wires connected to Lucan, and he woke slowly after a few minutes.

“Nova” he whimpered, and I was at his side in a moment. The bed was sticky with blood, but I didn’t care. It was everywhere at this point. I took his hand and leant over to kiss his forehead.

“You’re alive” I whispered, and his eyes focused on me before he smiled.

“Did I get it? Did I kill him?” he asked.

“No.” Amirah answered before I could. I looked up at his alpha across the room.

“Please tell me the pack ripped him apart.” I said to her.

“He evaded our advances, but we will find him.” She answered. Lucan groaned but turned to look at Amirah.

“I’m sorry I failed” he said softly.

“You took on a full vampire by yourself and got out alive. I wouldn’t call that failure” She responded.

“I should have been smarter about it but all I saw was red. I couldn’t let him kill that girl” Lucan said sadly.

“We’re going to go clean up. We’ll be back in a bit,” my mother said kissing my forehead. “Are you okay?” she asked me. I nodded at her and she tried to take my hand and make me leave with her but there was no way the imprint was letting me leave that room. I shook my head in response.

“I can’t leave him,” I said but she turned to look at Amirah in the room.

My mother didn’t like my boyfriend’s pseudo alpha. I remember my grandmother telling me as a child that sometimes when people are just too alike, they can’t get on. Amirah and my mother were both born with exceptional power and responsibility, they just disagreed on how to use it.

“I’ll be okay mama,” I told her in Bulgarian. She paused for a moment before giving me a small nod and leaving the room, but not without giving Amirah one last look. The second we were alone she turned on us.

“You went against your training and attacked a vampire without backup. You’re very lucky you made it out of there alive. You’re not immortal Lucan.” Amirah scolded him.

“My aunts would never have let him die,” I said before Lucan could accept the reprimand off his alpha.

“Not everyone has direct access to the Life and Death twins. Lucan is the exception yes, his connection to you means he has a lifetime of second chances but how many times do you think you can go through this pain Nova? How many times do you want to be ripped open?” She asked looking between us both. “You also told a stranger who you were, you both have to be more careful, especially in the light of the current situation.”

I felt like I was being told off by my mother and by the look of Lucan’s face he certainly did too.

She was right. I felt emotionally exhausted. Even though I knew deep down, Lucan wouldn’t be gone forever if he had died. The emotional pain of seeing him injured, the mental pain of wondering how many pieces he’d be in and how we put him back together was maddening.

As the realisation of what had happened crashed down on me, I knew.

Amirah was right. I don’t think I could go through the pain of today’s events again. Not ever.