Page 117 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Charmaine blinked, dazed. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Darlene’s gone—” Dolly began.

“Tristan?” Charmaine’s gaze switched to Tristan, who was covered in her blood. “What did we do? Did we do this? How did this happen?”

“I don’t know, but something definitely happened to all of us,” Dolly said.

Charmaine crawled over to Tristan; her hands shook as she began chest compressions. She pressed her joined hands against his cold chest and felt nothing. She closed her eyes, focused, and tried to reach into the light he carried deep within. The source was still uncorrupted by his Draca. She had to heal him the way Dolly had healed her. Tristan remained still, unmoving.

“Go!” Charmaine shouted. “Wake Sonya! Now!”

Dolly wasted no time. She sprinted out of the room to the door across the hall, her heart pounding. Inside, the scene mirrored the last. Sonya and Shakespeare lay in the same lifeless state. Dolly knelt beside Sonya, but this time, when she tried to summon the light, it faltered. Sonya’s connection to darkness repelled her.

Dolly cursed under her breath. “I can’t do it….”

Behind her, Charmaine staggered into the room, supporting a pale and weakened Tristan. She had pulled on a robe; he had pulled on his briefs. They held each other up. “Is she okay?” Charmaine asked.

“I need Darlene,” Dolly said, tears now flowed down her cheeks. “My light’s not enough. I can’t do it by myself. When we were one, we could pull on each other for the greatest source of power. Now we are not. She is not my guardian. A guardian’s power comes from the source. The source for Sonya, and Kaida is Darlene.”

“Don’t panic,” Charmaine urged. “Tristan, help her.”

Tristan looked drained and confused. “Me? How?”

Charmaine nodded, her eyes pleading. “Sonya needs the pain. She is not going to take it from me and Dolly. She’sconsumed too much of it from Shakespeare. You have enough darkness in you from your Draca to reach her.”

“But she’s dead. I’m a vampire.”

“Kaida is not dead. Sonya is in the void. Kaida is there. You need to take her,” Charmaine said.

“What do you want me to do?” Tristan asked. He was so confused he stepped back instead of forward.

“Touch her, bite her. We’ll use the scarab to reach Kaida.” Charmaine’s voice trembled, but her resolve was clear. “It’s from the realm. We can amplify its power to heal her while you… bite, join with her.”

Dolly’s eyes widened. “Join?”

Charmaine left them to return to the room before either could reject her plan. She found a robe for her friend to cover her naked body. She grabbed the artifact. She then rejoined them.

“Join?” Dolly asked. “If he bites her, and Kaida surfaces, they will mate. It is the law. Your bond is… it could sever.”

Charmaine’s face hardened. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t have a choice.”

“I have a choice!” Tristan’s eyes darkened. “I told you Charmaine. This is real. Not something I’m ever let go of. I will never mate with anyone but you. No matter the cost.”

“Tristan! Please it’s my sister!”

“What about us!” he shouted at her.

Charmaine wept. Dolly looked at the two of them and then to Sonya and Shakespeare. “I understand Tristan. When Lucio chose Darlene even after my love it was the greatest pain I ever felt. But somehow, I found a way to through it. Somehow our love remained. If Charmaine is yours, nothing can change that,” Dolly said.

The weight of the decision pressed in on Tristan. He didn’t want to sever his bond with Charmaine. He’d never had a love so pure.”

Charmaine read his thoughts. “You told me what we have is real, that it’s not just magic. Well, here’s your chance to prove it. Because Tristan, no matter what I will never choose any one but you. Ever.”

Tristan's gaze turned to Sonya. Now torn and heartsick, he could not decide. Even his Draca resisted. They had both made their heart choice. It was Charmaine or nothing.

“I can’t do this. I don’t want any connection with anyone but you,” Tristan mumbled.

“Please Tristan, she’s my sister. If she is gone so am I, you will lose me forever,” said Charmaine.

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