Chapter Thirteen

Her chest was on fire but the aching in her body had gone. The battle was no longer hurting her. Rolling to her side, she glanced over to see the woman she saw whenever she had to accept and use her power. The woman was beautiful and striking—however, she was also evil because she walked amongst the dead. The darker power was inside Poppy in order for her to survive this world. Poppy knew that and understood it.

This was the warning she’d received in the bedroom back at the Valentines’ mansion. She’d have to make a choice between good and evil. In that moment, Poppy knew there was something a lot bigger than her going on.

“Until you came along we were doing great. She was starting to accept what she was and even bring forth the connection allowing me more and more control.”

Had she been doing that? Poppy coughed and stared up at the stars. The correlation reminded her of that fateful night so many years ago. She’d lain there on the table while they’d killed her and brought her back with their blood. For a few seconds, she’d been dead.

Adam—I want him. I love him.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about him. She loved him so damn much and he loved her.

Life is so unfair. I want him.

Closing her eyes, she heard her mother’s voice from the following morning after she’d been transitioned.

 

“You’re a true necromancer now. You’re in control of your own fate and destiny.”

“I don’t want this, Mum. I just want to be me,” Poppy said.

“Honey, accept who you are and you’ll never be different. Being a necromancer is a gift, not a curse. You can love and let love into your heart.”

 

Poppy opened her eyes. Why had she forgotten her mother’s words? Days after her ceremony, the remaining necromancers had been wiped out in an ugly battle, leaving only Poppy alive. Fearing for her life, she’d severed herself from death only joining the connection when absolutely necessary.

Poppy gazed at Lewis then back at Adam, her other half coming into view behind him. She watched as her necromancer half took hold of Adam and held a knife to his throat.

“You were told you’d have to make a choice. This is your choice. Either accept who you are and stay among us, or Adam dies.” She watched Adam struggle in the monster’s hold. The person she’d kept inside herself ever since the sacrifice had occurred and all those men had given her the power of the necromancer. She couldn’t allow this bitch to kill the only man she’d ever loved. Adam was not going to die because of her.

Lewis placed a hand on her shoulder.

“This is your choice. She is as much a part of you as you’re a part of her,” Lewis said.

“But giving this calling up—”

“What exactly are you giving up?”

His words penetrated her confused brain. What was she giving up? The only life she’d been living was a life without love and of constantly walking through the world alone. This life meant she’d never know what it was like to love. Poppy stared at Adam. She loved him. She had from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him. He loved her. They wouldn’t be able to have a traditional blood bond, but their bond would be unbreakable. She felt it in her heart and soul—Adam was meant for her.

“Can you accept me without a bond?” she asked him.

“I accepted you the moment you followed me down the alley.”

Opening the gate to her soul and heart—which she’d kept closed for so long—Poppy gazed at the dead soul of herself.

The woman dropped the blade as she stared at Poppy with shock and fear in her eyes. She knew the power she was using was scary and the energy pulsing off her was hard to resist.

“How dare you threaten me?” she said.

The men moved out of the way while Poppy faced her fear. She’d been scared of this woman for too long. Poppy knew her fear was based on being pure evil. The woman before her was the true necromancer. This was what she could become if she lost control.

She used her power and sucked the energy of her fear back. With every path between each other open, Poppy accepted her fate. She accepted her fate with love in her heart. She thought about her parents and the dead, everyone and everything that affected her. Poppy opened her arms and welcomed every sensation and emotion with warmth. This was her life and from now on she’d do what she thought was necessary. No longer would she be controlled by her fear of her other half. The true power was her—it had always been about her.

Poppy opened up and the evil soul disappeared. She gazed down and looked upon her chest where the criss-cross scar lay. The vicious cuts had vanished, leaving only one scar down the centre. This was the true divide between the living and the dead. All this time she could have accepted her other half and the scars would have gone. She had been the cause of her own pain by refusing her other self. The darker power filled her. Poppy felt it and it tasted bitter on her tongue.

You can control this darker power. You don’t need your other half to control it.

Adam charged for her and swung her up in a bear hug. Lewis hugged her too.

“I’m guessing you have much more to do on your travels and I’ve got a mate to go and find.” Lewis shook their hands.

“I can call James and you can finish what you started, but I need you to ask me to do it,” she said, wanting him to have his say.

“Yes, you could, but my mate would forever walk the dead alone. She has no one to fight. I left her once and caused so much heartache. My body, my heart and soul shall walk and lay with her in the ground.”

Poppy went through the motions to settle down his body. She pulled his soul from within it, giving him a proper burial with his mate. The darker magic made it easier for her to deliver a proper burial without draining herself. She was stronger than ever before and the power pulsed beneath the surface.

Adam caught her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “You had me scared for a minute there.”

“I scared myself. At least now I’ve put something right. Lewis and his mate deserve to be together.”

“They deserve so much more.”

“I agree, but we must remember that James will have his judgement and then justice will be served for them.”

“Are we in Beyer West?” he asked.

“Yes. Your house is only over there.” She pointed in the direction of the south.

“Before we go back and tell them the news, can we return to our motel and have some time for us?”

Poppy laughed. He laid a line of kisses along her neck.

“Are you sure you don’t want to give the news straight away?”

“What will another day matter?”

Poppy giggled and transported them back to the motel they’d been staying at.

The wolves were lying low and she had accepted her darker power. What was the harm of another day to deliver the news?

 

* * * *

 

In Beyer West

 

Rose was humming to the mirror when the first blast ricocheted through the house. The low, angry growls made her hair stand on end. A brutal scream followed by one of agonising pain sounded down the hall. In seconds, she was out of her door and to the staircase in time to watch Sophie being flung over the side. Sophie’s cry filled the air. The startled cry made Rose freeze in place.

The baby! She charged for the railing, intent on following her.

A hand caught her around her stomach and pulled her away. The arm was trapping her.

“Let me go!” she screamed, her fists flaying out, trying to hurt her attacker.

“Rose, stop.”

No. It couldn’t be. She gazed up into Lewis’ eyes and her world fell apart. The human man looking back at her was no longer human but feral—the change had already started in him. Before she could do anything, he tilted her head to the side and ripped into the flesh of her throat. She screamed out for help.

No one came. Her limbs became heavy and her eyes began to droop.

“I’m taking this one,” Lewis snarled to another man-wolf. He picked her up and all she wanted to do was fight his hold.

He carried her through the chaos. She watched through the slits of her eyes as Sophie lay sprawled on the floor. Her sister-in-law was not moving. Dawn was fighting but her attackers outnumbered her. Lewis left with her over his shoulder. The last thing Rose saw was Katie going down. Dead, they were all dead.

This was all her fault. She had led them here because she had trusted a man whom she’d thought cared about her.

I’ve killed my family.

 

* * * *

 

William and Robert—the two mate-bonded men—collapsed together on the hard floor. They looked at each other then at the men around them.

“We’ve been fooled.”

Robert sensed Sophie’s pain. He saw her gripping her stomach and his gut tightened. Closing down the emotional barrier between them, Robert knew he had to get to his mate.

William stumbled as Katie went down. His mate had been struck by what could be a killing blow. Both men prayed for Adam and Poppy to hurry.

One more day could see them dead.

They all made it back to the Valentines’ manor. Nothing could have ever prepared them for the destruction they found.