First of all, I would like to say that I don't necessarily think that Kalona isn't bad. It's just that, before he killed Heath, I was starting to think that maybe he could be saved like Rephaim. So when he killed Heath, I guess I just felt so betrayed that I had to create a delusion that said he was savable but just did this so that Zoey would destroy him.
Kalona: What, you think I'm suicidal?
Me: No, not exactly. You just want A-ya so much that if you can't have her then you no longer want to be imprisoned on Earth.
Kalona: Who say's I can't have her?
Me: Me.
Kalona: And who are you, insignificant mortal? You don't own me! You do not decide my fate!
Me: Of course I own you!
P.C. Cast: Um, no, actually you don't.
Kristin Cast: Yeah, uh, we do.
Kalona: Ha! Success is mine! *in seductive tone to P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast* So, am I suicidal?
P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: *nervous expressions* Um, sorry, but that information is classified. *Runs away*
Kalona: What? You run? Blasphemous! No one can resist me! Not even my creators! *chases after them*
Me: *left behind in pathetic heap* I don't own him? *sniffles then brightens* But I at least own the series, right?
P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: *shouting back to me while still being chased by the sexy immortal* Nope! That's ours, too! You own nothing but the ideas that originated in your head!
Me: *sniffles again* Well, damn...
Kalona's Point of View
"You call it pretense. I call it another point of view," I told Neferet.
"Which is why you can lie to her and still seem to be telling the truth," she snapped at me. It took effort to keep my cool and not snap her neck. She is still of use to you, I told myself. It was the only thing keeping her alive.
I shrugged. "Zoey wants truth—so it is truth that I give her."
"Selectively," she said agitatedly.
"Of course," I said. If I told her all of the truth there is no way she would come to me. I needed her to come to me. What is the point of being on Earth if not to be with my A-ya? "But do all mortals, vampyre, human, or fledgling, not select their own truths?"
"Mortals," she sneered. "You say that as if you are so far removed from us."
"I am immortal, which makes me different." Stupid mortal. "Even from you, though your Tsi Sgili powers are transforming you into something that is close to immortal." But not close enough, so I can still dispose of you when you have served your purpose. I smiled slightly, but not big enough for Neferet to notice.
"Yes, but Zoey isn't anything close to immortal. I still believe we should kill her." My teeth clenched briefly. Yet again, she speaks of killing my A-ya. Calm, I warned myself. You still need her.
"You are a bloodthirsty creature." I forced a laugh. "What would you do, cut off her head and impale her as you did the other two who got in your way?" She's naive enough that she probably would.
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, sounding slightly offended that I had assumed. "I wouldn't kill her the same way I did them. It would be too obvious." I resisted the urge to let out a booming laugh. Since when did she have a problem with obvious? "She could simply meet with an unfortunate accident when she visits Venice in the next day or so." I took a few deep even breaths, calming myself. Perhaps you should meet with an unfortunate accident as well if you will not keep silent!
"No," I said, my voice ringing with authority. "We will not have to kill Zoey. Soon she will come to me willingly; I've already planted the seeds for that. All I need do is wait for them to bloom, and then her powers, which are vast even though she is mortal, will be at my disposal." My words were dripping with the respect and slight awe I felt toward Zoey's greatness, purposely offending Neferet. I mentally sighed. So easily affected.
Sadly, the same could not be said for Zoey. Though I had, indeed, planted these seeds, they were not going to bloom. Her will was too strong. She felt the longing that she was created to feel and yet she was able to resist. Even when I had done much to convince her that I was "good" and that she could "save me" she didn't believe. I had told the truth, though, on that. I thought that maybe Zoey could save me. And I knew that if she thought she could then she would try. But, obviously, she doesn't. She will not try, so I will not have my A-ya. My whole purpose on Earth has been to find someone who I could love as I had loved my Nyx. I found her, but I couldn't have her, much like how I couldn't have Nyx. Do I really want to be trapped here without my A-ya? If only I had never fallen in the first place.
"Our disposal," she corrected me. Corrected me! The nerve.
In an effort to derail her thoughts and to get her to forget our conversation completely, I reached one of my wings forward, brushing it along her side. She reacted instantly, leaning in toward me. So easily affected. "Of course, my Queen." Then I leaned down and kissed her passionately. She responded with much enthusiasm and our kiss became very heated. Another reason I kept her alive.
She surprised me by pulling away, looking rather angry to have to do so.
"No. You can't make love to Zoey in her dreams, and then again with your eyes in front of everyone, and expect me to open my body to you." Actually, I did. That's pretty much all she was to me anyway. A good lay. I looked up and down her body, lingering on the curves that she was practically throwing in my face. Yet she said she wasn't obvious. "I won't be yours tonight. She is too much between us." I wanted to scoff. Us. She backed away from me, looking very much like it pained her to do so. I smiled at her and I knew it took everything she had not to come back into my embrace. It astounded me actually. I didn't think her will was that strong. Still, she was breathing fast and heavy from my incredible kiss. "I know I am not immortal, nor am I Zoey Redbird,"—that's for sure—"but my powers, too, are vast, and you should remember I killed the last male who tried to claim me and her." I wanted to laugh in her pathetic face. For her to think she has any control over anything I did was simply amusing. She spun around and marched away from me. She waved her hand to part the hedge in front of her, then stomped through angrily.
It was about then that I noticed the human hiding behind the wall. I'm sure he had heard everything but it's not like it mattered much. As I said, an existence here, without A-ya, is not one I care to endure. I know she won't come to me, so for him to go tell her everything that had happened might, actually, be better…
I think I had known this would be the way it would end from the very beginning but I was just so set on getting A-ya that I didn't even pay it much thought.
My existence could go one of either two ways. Variation one: A-ya would accept me as her lover and walk the Earth by my side. We would destroy the insignificant humans together and live in a world with just each other and our vampyre minions. I would be King and she would be my Queen.
Or, the future that it looks like I now have, Variation two: A-ya and her friends destroy me, sending me on to whatever place I belong. She would live her life happily and I would no longer be stuck in this Earthly prison.
The only problem with it, is that I had already tried so hard to convince A-ya that I was good and could be saved. What if she believed it enough to not annihilate me? She will not stick up for me or try to save me herself, but what if that was enough that she would just leave me alone? I couldn't allow that. I need her to get rid of me.
A heartbeat quickened, reminding me that I was not alone. My considering had only taken a second, but I now knew what had to be done. I was slightly remorseful of what I was about to do, but not too much.
"So, little human, you now have a story to tell my Zoey." I said this to aggravate him. Maybe scare him a little. He was imprinted with A-ya. Surely she would feel his distress and come running. If not, she would know it was I who did this.
He stepped out from behind the wall. "She's not your Zoey," he said calmly.
"Ah, but she is."
"Nah, you don't know my girl." I gritted my teeth. Maybe I wouldn't dread what I had to do so much.
"Your girl's soul belongs to me and I will not allow Neferet or you or anyone to change that," I nearly growled. I started creeping toward him. I heard footsteps behind me and knew that A-ya was coming to save her human. Good, so she will actually see me do it. It will make her that much angrier. "What is that expression the vampyres use?" I asked, amping up his fear to make her move quicker. "I believe it is 'curiosity killed the cat'. It seems particularly applicable to this situation."
I was nearly in front of him now and she was almost here. I reached up and grabbed his face in my hands when I was almost positive that she could already see me. I heard more footsteps behind her, glad that perhaps it was her friends and we could end this tonight. In one, swift movement, I snapped the humans neck. He went limp instantly and I dropped his lifeless shell.
"No!" I heard her screech. The fierce agony in her voice actually had me whirling with the surprise of it. The noise scarcely sounded human and I was briefly ashamed for having hurt her so badly, but this was how it was supposed to happen. I caught sight of her face, broken and empty, and the worried, anxious one of her warrior, right before a glowing ball was hurled toward me.
Please let this be it, I begged. It hit me in the chest, launching me backward with the sheer force of all of that life essence. It felt like I was being burned but it was cold, white hot. I was flung from the clearing, over the wall, and into the ocean below. The icy water was a concise relief from the burn. Reflexively, my wings opened, catching on the breeze and lifting me above the water, into the sky. They didn't get me this time, but I had to keep it up if I ever wanted to be free.
The last thing I saw, before I disappeared into the sky, was the warrior crying over my A-ya.
Blessed be and please review!
