Page 26 of Losing The Vampire King

I could attack her. I could attack the woman. The choice is mine.

Whatever I decide, it will change my life forever.

Chapter Fifteen

Bianca

My magic didn’t work. It managed to bring him here, but it didn’t make him remember anything. I feel like all is lost. I failed him. I tried my best and I feel like it still wasn’t enough.

He is too much under Gala’s influence. Too much time has passed. She has been feeding him nightshade for too long, and I can see that he is slowly starting to lose grip with reality. His mind is erasing his memory little by little, and I’m afraid that he might not be able to find his way back, even if we do manage to reach him in time.

He is in pain, which means that his body is slowly shutting down. The poison is too strong, too deadly. I knew this. The healer explained that this is one of the deadliest poisons known. Whoever resorts to it, wants quick and painful results. Even if he does manage to remember everything, I wonder if the tea I brewed will be enough to heal him from all the poison that he has already ingested.

I try not to allow these depressing thoughts to take over me. There is always a chance, even when we least expect it. It is always darkest before dawn. I have to believe that there is still a shred of himself left inside. He hasn’t been completely poisoned. She could have made him forget everything, even me, but she could never make him forget about his own child. That is my last resort, but I have to wait for the perfect moment.

“What are you waiting for?” Gala shouts, and the aggressiveness of her voice makes the whole cave implode with noise. “Kill her!”

I listen to her words, and they fill me with dread. I look at Eddie. He is standing in between. I can see that he’s not sure which way to turn. That means I still have a chance to remind him of everything. As for healing him of the poison, I will think of that later. Right now, I need him to remember.

I have a plan. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s my only chance. And I have to do it in exactly the right moment, when he is closest to me, almost ready to attack.

“You know who your enemy is, Eddie,” I tell him, although I’m sure that my words at this point mean nothing to him. They can’t penetrate the veil of lies and deceit Gala has built up inside of him. “If you think that is me, then come and get me.”

I take another step back, feeling the back of the cave behind me. There is nowhere to run. If he really attacks me, I will try to defend myself, but I know I stand no chance against the vampire king. He can tear me with one swing of his hand.

“You are a vampire,” I tell him. “Show yourself to me!”

His eyes widen at my words. He turns to Gala. She shakes her head.

“She’s lying!” she tells him. “You are not a vampire! You are a skin walker! But you’ve been poisoned, and you can’t shift. Don’t listen to her! She is just trying to confuse you! Focus on what needs to be done! Kill her! Kill her now!”

His eyes are on me again, confused and infuriated. What lies has she been feeding him?

I realize that she doesn’t care about any of us, other than herself. This has been her plan all along, to have him kill me, and then she would probably kill him herself, which would be easy, because he has already been weakened by the poison.

“Come and kill me then!” I echo her words.

I’m deadly afraid of having him close to me, of having his hot breath on my neck, because he could kill me easily. I know he could. But I’m hoping I would manage to reach him by the time he tried.

He slowly approaches me, his every step calculated. I dare not move. I dare not take my eyes off of him. He is so close to me now that I can feel his hot breath on me.

“What are you waiting for?” Gala screams. She has lost the little patience that she had. I suppose she didn’t really imagine it like this. She probably thought that by the time this final chapter played out, Eddie would be too weak to resist the poison and the lies she’s been feeding him. She expected him to attack me on sight. But he isn’t. He is fighting this order. I can see it in his eyes. He doesn’t want to attack me.

At that moment, he lunges into me, his hands grabbing at my wrists, his thigh between my legs, pushing me against the wall. I am rendered motionless. I can hear his heavy breathing. I can see the look in his eyes, staring me down. A part of him wants to do as he is told. It is the part controlled by her, the part that has poisoned who he truly is.

But another part of himself, the real Edmund, is still in there, fighting to come to the surface. I can see that he wants to come back to me.

I don’t know if this is the perfect moment that I’ve been waiting for, but I guess it’s as perfect as any other. I try to lean closer to him, but it’s difficult because he is controlling my entire body.

“I am here, Eddie,” I whisper to him as softly as I can. “I see you. I hear you. I can tell that you want to come back to me, but you can’t. I know it’s hard, but you have to fight.”

He listens to me. I try to see whether there is any sign of a recollection in his eyes. Still nothing. He is still deciding what to do.

He is slowly starting to bare his teeth. I have to tell him now.

“Orien is waiting for you,” I finally say our son’s name. “He’s been asking me about you every single day and I keep telling him you will come back.”

Suddenly, he stops. His grip on my wrists loosens but only a little. His canine teeth withdraw back into his jaw. His head tilts. He pulls away from me, but only a little. However, it is enough for me to see that something is happening. Something is changing.

---