Page 52 of Last Hope
Anya nodded. “Go to him. I will protect you.”
Isis let out a relieved breath, and then touched her forehead to hers. “I love you,” Isis said before turning and running towards her brother.
* * *
Azizi walkedto the edge of the building and looked down at the people below.
It’s time.
He projected his voice so that even from far away, they would hear him. “Do not be afraid. It will only hurt for a moment and then it all becomes clear.” He turned to his machine and pressed a small, red blinking button. The machine whirred to life; the fan inside of it spinning, causing clouds of vapor to swirl out of it and descend down to the people below. Soon it would take effect.
Soon he would grant his Master’s last wish.
Soon the world would be changed.
He smiled and took a step back, unaware of the sound of his name being shouted over and over.
* * *
“Azizi!”The closer she got to her younger brother the more she felt as though she might pass out. This was it. This was the moment she’d be reunited with her younger brother. Isis could only wonder how he would react. He’d be shocked, for sure. But would he stop his madness? Would he listen to her, turn himself in to the police?
She saw Azizi press a blinking button on his machine causing vapor to spit from it and then descend from the building and to the people below.Shit!She cursed. He had started his machine. She was so close to him! She ran faster, calling out his name. She jumped on to the same building as he, rushed towards him…
“Azizi…”
Whatever emotional scenario she had conjured up in her head about his reaction, she realized, had been farfetched. If she had expected him to turn at the sound of his name, at the sound of hervoice,act surprised, then run to embrace her... she would have told him it was all okay, that she was alive and that he should cast away all advice Caesareon had given him. He would have agreed and turned himself in to the FBSI.
But nothing happened the way she’d expected.
The moment she whispered his name, he whirled around and without sparing her a glance, Azizi attacked.
27
Isis hit the ground, the force of it causing her entire spine to vibrate and her head to rattle. Azizi fell on top of her and clawed at her chest, digging his nails deep into her skin, extracting blood. Isis pushed him off of her easily then stood on her feet. The wounds had begun to seal closed but the pain was great.
“Azizi,” she whispered.
At the sight of her, the red in his eyes diminished into their dark chocolate hue, a mirror image of her own, of their mother’s. And it was as if his craze diminished and he appeared to be seeing her, really seeing her for the first time. He shook his head back and forth as if to clear a haze in his vision.
“I—I—Isis?” He took a fearful step forward. His voice was shaky, young again. “Can it be?”
Isis let out a small breath. “Yes. Yes, Azizi, it’s me.”
His eyes widened and she could see the boy he once was, could see the fear question if this was reality. She could see all that he thought he knew falling down to pieces in the darks of his eyes. “But, how? You’re dead. You died.”
Isis felt her eyes fill with tears. She smiled through them and stepped toward her brother. “I didn’t die. I’m here, I’m real and I’m alive.”
“But Caesareon said—”
“Caesareon lied,” Isis said firmly, stopping in front of him. “He lied to us both, Azizi.” She dared to put her hand on his shoulder. He was cold, as most Made vampires were and it broke her heart. He would never grow up, never leave that childhood body and become a man, have a family. But touching him, being able to physically come into contact with him after so long was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
“But, why would he do that?” Azizi asked, his voice breaking.
Isis squeezed his shoulder. “Because he was a manipulative bastard. He used us for his own gain.”
Azizi’s eyes swept back and forth, something he had always tended to do when he was heavily thinking.Please,Isis thought,please come through…
He shook his head violently back and forth and took a step away from Isis, shaking her hand from his shoulder. “No,” he growled. “You’re lying. You’re not Isis. You’re a shapechanger! My sister isdead!”
