Page 138 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

With a final tug, she dragged him toward the rift. The sky above them roared, the cosmos shifting once more as the gods prepared to deliver judgment.

Turning to Dolly, Aries nodded. “Prepare for Lucio. Unite with my sisters. The Draquria must fall. I am not worthy of this battle. This worlds balance now hangs for you. The Chosen.”

Her gaze softened as she faced Kaida and Liora, who stepped out of Charmaine and Sonya who were down on the ground. They were ethereal then physical, changed into the same regal attire as their sister. Aries stepped toward them, her voice trembling.

“I betrayed you,” Aries wept. “I can never undo it. But I have paid my penance. Will you forgive me? It’s all I need.”

Kaida and Liora exchanged a look, then rushed their sister with a unifying embrace that was tight with forgiveness. “You were lost,” Kaida said and kissed Aries. “But now you are found.”

“Of course we forgive you my sweet sister, you are the uniter of us, the truth that was destroyed. You were the Defender of the Balance between darkness and light, and you have served that purpose well,” said Liora

Aries wept as they held her. The three sisters, once divided, were family again. And then she let them go. She looked at Shakespeare and Tristan. “I see you have chosen mates,” said Aries through her sniffs. She glanced to her husband still wailing in agonizing screams. She spoke to the consiglieri. “Do not ever betray my sisters, because Draca in you will tempt you both.” Her gaze leveled on Tristan. “You were a man of faith. You resisted temptation before. Do not ever divide my sisters because I will return. Hold true to your vow to Charmaine. No matter how much you are tempted not too.”

Shakespeare frowned. He looked at Sonya and then Tristan. Tristan looked to Charmaine. The goddesses Kaida and Liora gave Aries one final hug and returned to the sisters.

With a final, radiant smile, Aries stepped into the rift, pulling Phoenix behind her. The light swallowed them, leaving the battlefield stunned, awed, and silent.

The fight wasn’t over. But hope, once distant, now burned brightly in their hearts.

The goddess Aries was gone.

Though the guardians Kaida and Liora had returned to their hosts everyone still remained trapped by Phoenix’s magic. Aries could only take Phoenix from the battle but not free the lot. Doly looked to Charmaine. “Do you have it?” she asked.

A jewel—the golden scarab—radiated both beauty and energy in Charmaine’s hand. Its ancient power pulsed with terrifying potential.

Without hesitation, Charmaine found the strength to hurl the scarab toward Dolly. Time seemed to slow as the jewel spun through the air and then hit the ground. It exploded into a massive, writhing creature—a golden beetle with long, spindly legs. Its armored shell gleamed brilliantly under the moonlight. Its mandibles clicked ominously, and its many black eyes locked onto the vampire brothers Marcello and Sebastiano.

“No! You will obey. Free them. Release them!” Dolly commanded. “We need them to defeat Lucio’s Dragon. Do not?—"

But it was too late. The beetle’s legs shot out with terrifying speed. Each latched onto one of the brothers slamming them about, pinning him to the cobblestones. Marcello and Sebastiano thrashed violently, their power flared in dark bursts, but the scarab drank it in with greed. It grew larger with each second.

“It’s going to kill them. Take them! As it did Nzinga,” yelled Charmaine to Dolly.

“It’s blocking our energy. We can’t help!” shouted Sonya.

The ground beneath them began to tremble and crack. From the depths of the earth, a swirl of darkness rose—a portal to the Underworld. Dolly closed her eyes an tried to summon her light. Tried to reach into the cosmos for the power to keep the darkness from winning. But there was something stronger than her charging through the beetle. She did not want Lucio to lose his brothers. She would need everyone to save her lover.

Marcello’s face twisted in horror as the scarab dragged him toward the widening abyss.

“I won’t! I won’t go!” Sebastiano screamed, his voice shredded in both English and Sicilian. “Vaffanculo!You can’t do this to me!Maledetti!I am a supreme! I am the servant of Draquria! I?—”

His words dissolved into agonized cries as the scarab yanked him closer to the eternal darkness. The others were freed from Phoenix’s binding spell now, they staggered to their feet. Tristan helped Shakespeare up, who immediately rushed to Sonya, cradling her as her wounds healed.

Dolly’s force grew greater. She raised an orb of light and shot it deep into the gaping hole of the scarab that it was intent on feeding the vampire brothers. Both vampires were immediately released.

Out of the swirling blackness, a figure materialized—Domencio, flew up from the blackness carrying her sister, Darlene, in his arms.

Darlene.Her twin. Her heart. She was alive.

The underworld’s screams echoed in the background as the scarabs’ legs trembled and the beetle began to shake as if imploding. Dolly rushed forward, her legs trembling with exhaustion, but her resolve stronger than ever.

Darlene stirred, her eyes fluttering open. Dolly fell to her knees as Domencio gently lowered her sister to the ground. For a brief, sacred moment, the world stood still.

“Darlene,” Dolly whispered, her voice breaking. “I thought I lost you. I thought you were—” Then they touched. In that moment she learned the truth. All of it. From the deal with Papa Legba to the love affair that bloomed as children between Domencio and Darlene. Shocked Dolly blinked at her sister in disbelief. The twins embraced, their tears mingled as they clung to each other, their reunion a fusion of joy and sorrow over all the betrayals and past hurts. Everything they had lost, everything they had fought for, seemed to collide in that embrace.

“What the hell was that thing?” Domencio’s voice was hoarse, his body sagged from the exertion.

“Is it true?” Marcello demanded; his voice strained with emotion. Blood tears streaked his face as he looked at Domencio, then Sebastiano. Marcello approached faster, his body ravaged not from the attack launched against him by his own consiglieri and mentor, or the scarab but from grief. “Did you know that Phoenix betrayed us and chose her over saving us?”

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