"You can't win, little sister. That's the most potent poison in the realm. It's strong enough to kill anything and everything," Gabriel taunted
I gasped for breath as the slow-acting poison spread from my heart to the rest of my body. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything to rid myself of the pain. I couldn't even scream.
"Lillith?" Anton said. I gasped at the sound of my name being called. Anton was okay. "You bastard!" Anton screamed in horror. He scooped me up in his arms and before he'd taken two steps Gabriel grabbed him and threw him to the ground. I flew out of his arms and rolled across the floor. My wound started to bleed even more.
They began to fight. I couldn't see clearly. The poison was blurring my vision. I heard someone being slammed against the ground and I heard a scream before all went silent. I held my breath, terrified that Gabriel was going to finish what he'd started.
"Lilly," Anton sighed as he sank to his knees beside me. I felt so relieved that he was still alive. He took me in his arms and just sat there. I couldn't move to my arm to wipe the tears that were beginning to fall from his eyes.
"I'm so sorry. Forgive me," he whispered and pushed my hair back, exposing my throat. "I love you." I had a moment to realize what he was about to do before I felt a sharp pain in my neck as his fangs sank deep into my skin.
"NO!" I tried to shriek but it was already too late. I could feel the fire start to slowly fade from my veins. I knew what would happen if he sucked out all the poison from my system.
He would die and I couldn't let that happen. But I was helpless to do anything right now. He wasn't only sucking out the poison but he was sucking out my blood too. And if he took too much blood, I would die too.
Darkness started to cloud the edges of my vision. He pulled away. I felt him kiss me gently on the forehead and then he laid me on the ground. He lay next to me, his arms still resting around my waist.
"I couldn't let you die," he whispered.
"I…love…you," I breathed.
"And I love you." His voice cracked.
"Please don't leave me," I said as tears of my own started to run down my face. He didn't reply. I laid there and cried until darkness consumed me.
* * *
I opened my eyes. There was a large window on the west wall, but the drapes were pulled tightly shut. Candles lit up the room and the door was cracked.
"Who are you?" I croaked as my eyes came to rest upon a man that I had never seen before. He'd been sitting in a small rocking chair in the corner of the room, in the shadows.
"My name is Joel. I'm Anton's younger brother," he said. He stepped into the light of a small candle and I could see the same emerald green eyes that Anton had had. My hand automatically reached up to feel the bandage that was now covering the bite marks that Anton had made to suck the poison out of my body.
"So he's really gone," I said. It wasn't a question.
Joel nodded once.
I felt the tears sting my eyes but I blinked them back. "I want to go home."
"You are home. You're the new Empress since Gabriel is dead. My people want to end the feud now that he is dead. We thank you for killing Gabriel and we are grateful to you. No more blood has to be shed."
"I didn't kill him. Anton did," I said.
"No worries, we are offering the entire Nether Realm to you," he said.
I shook my head slowly. "I don't want it. I just want to go home to the mortal realm. That's all."
"Get some rest," he said before leaving without another word.
I groaned and rolled over slowly. I was going to get home one way or another and neither Joel nor anyone else for that matter was going to stand in my way.
I pushed the blanket off me and slowly stood up. I was still weak from the poison and losing so much blood but I made it to the closet. I put my hand on the door knob and closed my eyes. I imagined myself back in my room in the mortal realm, just lying on my bed pretending that none of this ever happened.
I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and turned the door knob. I was half expecting to see an empty closet when I opened the door but instead I saw my bedroom. The sun was shining through the window, making the walls an orange color. I stepped through and closed the door. I closed the door and hoped that no one would follow me because I wouldn't be going back anytime soon, if ever. I pushed my dresser in front of my closet door just in case.
I headed downstairs and sat on the couch. Not five seconds had gone by before there was a knock at the front door. I sighed and got up to answer it. I opened the door and there stood the one person I'd never thought to see again.
"Anton," I gasped. "I thought you were dead."
He smiled and shook his head. "No."
I grabbed his shirt and pulled him toward me and smashed my lips against his. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close.
"I missed you so much," he said. "I thought you weren't going to make it."
"But you saved me. I love you."
"I love you, too."
He was here. This wasn't a dream. He was mine and would be forever.
"If you ever scare me like that again, I swear—" I never got to finish my sentence because his lips cut me off and I didn't mind in the least.