Part 2
For a moment, Darius couldn't recall where he was, or why he felt so good. He opened his eyes, and looked around, smiling at the girl asleep beside him. Ebony was bathed in a soft golden aura from the early morning sun, seeping in through the window.
A flash of memory washed over him suddenly, screaming, food flying, fights, blood, more screaming...he shuddered and shook his head, trying to push away the memory.
Ebony stirred beside him. She looked up at him, her violet eyes sparkling with happiness. "What's wrong?" she asked.
He sighed. "Just thinking..." he shuddered.
She tightened her hold on him. "Don't think," she said with a smile, and kissed him. And then there were a few blissful minutes of not-thinking. Kissing was good for that.
He sighed. "I really should get out of here."
She looked unhappy. "I don't want you to go."
"I don't want to go either, but it's not like I have a choice." He moved away and started to get dressed. He turned to admire her as she lay there, covered only by a pale pink sheet. He couldn't help himself. He moved on top of her, pulling her closer, pressing his lips against hers. She sighed dreamily as she felt his lips moving across her smooth flesh. He reached out -
And the door opened. Ebony gasped, embarrassed, and he turned around to see Thea hurrying inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She looked panicked. "Darius get out of here!" she hissed.
"Why?" Ebony protested. "We were having fun."
Thea's eyebrows raised. "I'll bet you were, but Hannah's on her way to see you with some important news."
"What news?" Ebony asked, alarmed, scrambling off the bed and yanking on a pale blue bathrobe. Darius shrugged helplessly, fumbling around for his clothes. Damn it. Why did something always go wrong for him? The Council wanted him out the way, and now he was losing his soulmate...
They hurried out onto the balcony, just as the door opened a second time, and Darius had a glimpse of a girl with wheat coloured hair and a strange birthmark slanting across her cheek, the colour of pink tourmaline. Hannah Snow, Daybreak's co-leader.
"Ebony? You up?"
~Will you be okay?~ she asked him mentally.
~I'll be fine,~ he said, climbing over the balcony. ~Trust me.~
She nodded. ~Okay.~ He could see the tears glistening in her eyes, and hated it, but knew he had to get away. He dropped to the ground and ran.
* * *
Ebony tried to blink back the tears watching Darius leave. She wasn't sure if she would see him again. She had to pull herself enough together enough to face Hannah.
She went back into her room. "What?" she asked.
Hannah's eyebrow raised a little and she folded her arms across her choice. "I have some news," she said. "You're moving."
Ebony blinked, confused. "Excuse me?"
"Someone very bad has taken a liking to you, and for your own safety Thierry has decided you're going to stay with Iliana Harman in her safe house in North Carolina until it's time for the battle, and then uh - I guess we'll see where we go from there," Hannah said, hesitating slightly as if remembering something she hadn't thought of. "Keller and her team will come and pick you up on Thursday morning. Better start packing."
Ebony stood there, riveted to the spot. North Carolina? That wasn't the plan! Apart from Hannah messing everything up, another sort of anger was boiling up inside her. She couldn't believe they all thought she was so stupid. Did they think she was totally incapable of taking care of herself. She folded her own arms and shook her head slowly, deliberately. "No," she said firmly.
Hannah looked surprised. "No, what?"
Ebony glared at her. "I'm...not...moving," she said, stating each word separately. "Do you want me to spell it out for you?"
"Well I'm afraid you don't have any choice," Hannah said icily. "Thierry's orders. It's for your own good."
"Does any body give the slightest bit of notice to what *I* think is good for me?" Ebony shouted, letting her anger get the better of her. Thea looked surprised at the sudden venom in Ebony's voice.
"Ebony..." she whispered. "Ca - "
"I will not calm down!" Ebony yelled. "You all think I'm stupid. You think I can't take care of myself!"
"That's not true," Hannah said weakly. "It's just - "
"It is true," Ebony snapped. "And I don't even like Iliana or the rest of her team."
Thierry appeared in the door way then, not looking happy. "What's going on?"
"I'm not moving," Ebony said again, folding her arms.
Thierry frowned. "Well Ebony, you don't have a choice. It's - "
Ebony could feel her frustration blooming, no matter how much she screamed and shouted no one seemed to pay any attention to her. She could feel hot tears streaming out her eyes. "Why do you all think I have no idea what's going on? How stupid do you think I am?"
"At the moment, very stupid," Thierry snapped. Everyone stared at him, surprised. Ebony didn't say anything. He looked at her evenly.
"All right Ebony," he said calmly. "You think you know what's going on? The monster that after you? Fine. You don't want to go with Keller's team? Fine."
Ebony frowned, not liking where he was going with this. She remained silent, tears streaming, fists clenched in helpless fury.
"See how well you can take care of yourself when I throw you out if you don't go with Keller on Thursday." And Thierry turned and walked out. Hannah remained staring at Ebony in shock, before she ran after him.
Ebony pushed the bedroom door closed. She felt strangely calm. She could see things so clearly now. She looked over at Thea, hovering by the balcony, looking unhappy, and almost afraid.
"Now what?" Ebony asked.
Thea shrugged, uncomfortably. "Well, maybe...maybe it *would* be better if you went with Keller and co, considering Darius's history and everything. Okay, Keller and Nissa aren't exactly the nicest people in the world, and Iliana's a bit of a dummy, but Galen's nice, and so's Winnie, she's cool." Thea smiled encouragingly.
Ebony opened her mouth, then shut it again, deciding not to waste her breath arguing a battle she wasn't going to win. "Maybe," she whispered. "I'd like to be alone now, please."
Thea nodded and left. Ebony showered and dressed. She knew what she had to do now.
* * *
Ebony made her way through Vegas, pushing between the crowds of daytime tourists, littering the street, spreading like a virus. She shuddered, remembering she hated crowds. But at the moment, she was willing to make the sacrifice. She pushed open the door of the closed down Harman store where Blaise was inside, in the back room. She sat at the table, herbs and crystals spread out around her.
She looked up as Ebony came in. "Now what?" she asked.
"It's all gone to hell," Ebony said angrily, pacing like a whirlwind. "Thierry came into my room this morning telling me I'm going to North Carolina to stay with Keller's team cause someone bad has his eye on me."
Blaise frowned. "That's not good," she said.
"You think?" Ebony snapped. She threw up her hands in dispair. "Everything's going wrong. I'm never going to see Darius again." At the thought tears stared streaming down her cheeks. Everything was a disaster. Her life was ruined. She collapsed into one of the chairs. "What am I going to do?"
Blaise was still frowning, as if thinking. How rare was that? "Maybe I have an idea," she suggested carefully.
That got Ebony's attention. She frowned, looking at Blaise. "Oh?"
Blaise stood up, abandoning whatever she was working on. She took a key ring and pushed her way through the beaded curtain separating the workshop from the main shop. She frowned herself, wondering what Blaise was up to. Blaise came back into the room, and handed Ebony a small one-inch vial filled with a strange green liquid that almost seemed to glow. "What's this?"
"It's a potion," Blaise said flatly.
Ebony glared. "I can see that. What does it do?"
"Take that, and it'll make it seem as if you're dead. They'll have a viewing of your body. While this is going on, I'll get a message to Darius telling him there's been a change in plans. After the funeral - "
"Funeral?" Ebony asked, her eyebrow raising. "I have to admit, I'm not loving this plan of yours."
"Shut up and listen to me," Blaise snapped. "You won't *really* be dead dead. You'll just *seem* dead, and within thirty-six hours you'll wake up. In the mean time Darius will have gotten my message. He'll come and dig you out your grave in the dead of night and then the two of you will run away and find somewhere to hide and live happily ever after."
Ebony stared at the little vial in her hand with the glowing liquid inside. Would this really work. Blaise stood there with her hands on her hips. Ebony looked at her. "And if this doesn't work?"
"Then we've got a problem," Blaise admitted. "After this, I'm all out of ideas."
Ebony slipped the potion inside her purse. She nodded her thanks to Blaise and left, almost smiling. But before she could put her plan in motion, there was something else she needed to do.
* * *
She knocked carefully on the door to Thierry's office. He sat inside, a stack of paper work on the desk. What, Ebony wondered. She guessed even Vampire Lords had to do paper work. Thierry didn't look too pleased to see her. "What?" he said. His voice was calm, as always, but she could hear the annoyance.
Ebony flushed a little. "I - I came to say...I'm sorry," she admitted.
Thierry blinked, and gestured for her to come inside. She came and perched on one of the chairs in front of his desk. "I overreacted," she continued. "I just got upset cause you all seem to think I can't look after myself. I realise you're just looking out for my best interests."
Thierry sighed and put his pen down. "Ebony we don't do these things just to make life more unbearable. The guy with his eyes on you is destined to takeover the Night World council, he's a monster. He's almost as bad as Maya."
Bad as Maya? Was that true? Ebony hadn't given much thought to Darius's past. But she didn't care, she told herself. No. All that mattered was they were soulmates and he loved her. He could change. For her, he'd said he would. "Thea's given me the gory details." She shuddered. "I didn't realise that. I didn't know who."
"The guy you danced with at the party?" Thierry reminded her.
The memory of the first touch of the soulmate connection filled her, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to make sure she didn't smile or sigh dreamily. "I didn't know who he was," she said in a soft voice.
"That's okay," Thierry said gently. "The sooner we get you out of here to somewhere safe the better."
Ebony stood up and nodded. "You're not mad at me?"
He smiled and shook his head. "I'm not mad anymore. You're forgiven."
Ebony smiled. "Thanks." And left the office. She found Hannah and apologised to her, and hurried back to her room. Plan Stage 1 complete. It was Stage 2, taking the potion that scared her. What if it didn't work? What if it killed her? What if it worked and Darius didn't get the message and she was buried alive? A parade of what ifs were running through her mind. She shook her head, only one thing to do. Try and see.
* * *
Thea was confused. She didn't under stand what all the commotion was about. There were a few Daybreaks hanging around upstairs near Ebony's room looking very surprised, Gillian was crying on David's shoulder. Blaise watched dispassionately. Hannah looked as if she'd been slapped. Thierry came out the room then, and shook his head slowly.
"Oh no," Hannah whispered. "She's really...?" She trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.
Thea wondered what they were talking about. She could see ambulance people around, and a doctor, and some police officers too. She started to move closer to ask, when she heard Thierry say, "I'm afraid there's nothing any of you can do now, please just go back to your rooms or whatever you were doing." The small group of onlookers shuffled sadly away.
Thea didn't understand, and no one would let her get closer to look. Had something happened to Ebony? Had one of Darius's former friends come back and hurt her? She frowned, and hated sitting around not being able to do anything. It was driving her crazy.
Later that afternoon Hannah came and knocked on her door. She was dressed in a black suit, looking as if she were going to a funeral. "There's a viewing at the funeral home now," she said sadly. "Then the funeral will be tomorrow."
Thea did not like the sound of that. She changed into respectable dark clothing and went with Hannah and the rest of a crowd of very depressed and sad Daybreakers over to the local funeral home. She looked over at Blaise, who just shrugged helplessly.
The funeral home was full of people, witches mainly, she recognised a lot of them from her Summer Circles. A lot of people were crying. She could see elaborate flower arrangements, candles burning sombrely. She didn't even know who was dead yet, and a sinking feeling was growing worse all the time. She felt as if she were falling, falling and it would never stop, she would never come to an end...
But finally she reached the coffin, and froze in horror. "*Ebony?*" she whispered, feeling tears rising to her eyes and begin to spill out her cheeks. Could Ebony have...no! No, Ebony wouldn't have killed herself! But she had been so unhappy that morning, had it pushed her over the edge?
What was she going to tell Darius? It would kill him.
Ebony lay in a coffin of dark wood, on a bed of red satin, roses and dahlias surrounding her. She looked so peaceful, as if she were asleep. Thea stumbled away from the coffin, and before she knew she was running, running away, not wanting to stay, not wanting to see more. She heard Blaise and several others call out after her, but didn't care. She got to her car and drove, all she could think of was getting to Darius.
He was going to find out sooner or later, and the sooner the better. Then what? She didn't know.
* * *
Darius was pacing. He glanced around the cheap motel room, wondering what to do. He didn't know how he knew, but he felt sure something was wrong. Everything had gone wrong for him since he'd come to Vegas.
He used to be so sure of himself. He felt certain that humans and witches were the enemy, and vampires were all that mattered. The most important thing was taking over the world at the millennium.
But now...his whole perception of life had changed. Ever since he'd seen Ebony for the first time he'd been looking at things differently. She'd changed his life dramatically. She was his soulmate, his one and only.
Nothing would ever be the same without her. He knew he would never be the same if he lost her. He would rather die than live without her.
At that moment he looked out the window, seeing a car come to a screeching halt in the parking lot. He frowned, watching as Thea got out. She looked around, and saw him. She of course, knew where he was staying. She'd been the only one he'd trusted enough to tell apart from Ebony. She was supposed to tell Ebony, then Ebony would come and they'd run away and live happily ever after.
Thea looked around and their eyes met. He moved to the door, and let her in. "What's happened?" he asked, seeing the expression on her face. Her blonde hair was wild, her brown eyes filled with tears, her cheeks puffy and red. She'd been crying. She looked shocked. "Is Ebony all right?"
She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She shook her head.
"What happened?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"She...she's...sort of...deadish..." Thea stammered.
Darius blinked, not sure what he thought he'd heard her say. Deadish? Dead? Ebony was...
No. No. No. She couldn't be. No.
He looked over at Thea. How upset she seemed. She wouldn't lie to him. Not about something so serious.
Ebony was...gone? Really gone?
No.
Everything was going into slow motion. The world seemed to stop moving. It seemed pointless now. Everything was meaningless. Rage and anger and dispair were boiling up inside him.
A howl of dispair came out of his mouth, a sound he hadn't been aware of being able to make. Thea stepped back in alarm. He shoved past her, his mind focused on one thing. He stormed out the motel room, jumped into Thea's car, started the engine and roared off heading back to Vegas. The hell with it all. He was going to join Ebony, death seemed like the easy way out.
* * *
By the time Darius arrived back in Vegas it was night. He stopped outside the funeral home, breaking the lock on the door and walking inside. The place was sheathed in candle light, candles of all sizes, shapes and colours were burning. Flowers were everywhere. It was deserted, apart from the coffin at the front on the display table.
Darius moved down the long walkway, lined with a red carpet, as if he were a soldier returning from battle, coming back to green the Queen. The coffin was closed, one of dark wood. He undid the gold clasps and stared at the figure lying inside.
Ebony lay there, on a bed of red satin. Her violet eyes were closed. His fingers reached out, and he ran them gently over her smooth dark skin. He could feel his lip tremble, and didn't care about the tears streaming down his cheeks. What did it matter now?
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." This was all his fault. If he wasn't so bad, so evil, then maybe everything would have been different. But his nature had been decided long ago, and he'd changed too late. There was nothing he could do to bring her back now.
But maybe if he couldn't bring her back, then he could join her. He kissed her lips softly. "I love you," he whispered.
He pulled a wooden knife out of his belt and plunged it into his heart. It was over now. He would be with Ebony forever.
* * *
Ebony's eyelashes fluttered. She was confused, unsure what was happening. She could feel a gentle hand touching her. She smiled, recognising Darius's touch. She heard him whisper he loved her. She opened her eyes.
Only to see something was wrong. Darius's skin was going leathery. The light had died out his wonderful multi-coloured eyes. His form had collapsed in on itself. And he fell to the floor.
Ebony stared, not wanting to believe what her eyes were showing her. A sob came out of her throat, echoing in the empty funeral parlour. No. No. He'd gone. He'd left her all alone. She saw the knife he'd used, sharp and wooden. Lucky thing sharp wooden knifes killed witches as well as vampires.
She slowly struggled her way out the coffin. She knelt down by the form of her lover. She reached out to touch the leathery sack of bones. She took the knife, and a smile crossed her face as she stabbed herself. Now she would be with him for eternity.
* * *
Epilogue
The rain poured as the ambulances moved away with the two bodies inside. The Daybreaks crowded around the funeral home, not caring about the rain soaking into their skin.
"'The sun, for sorrow will not show his head,'" Blaise muttered from beside Thea.
"I can't believe it," Thierry whispered, shock clear in his dark eyes. "Why didn't anyone tell me what was going on?"
Thea shrugged. "I guess because they thought you wouldn't understand," she said. It seemed so hard to believe. The plan had all gone to disaster, but no one had expected that both Darius and Ebony would die.
"'Hence forth, go talk of these sad woes,' " Blaise quoted.
Everyone stared at her. "What?" Hannah asked.
Blaise sighed. "You can't tell me no one else has noticed the familiarity of the set up," she snorted. "I should have figured out before I gave Ebony that potion. I didn't know until after she'd gone. But by the time I figured out what was going on, it was too late."
"They were soulmates?" Thierry asked.
Thea nodded. She thought back over to how dreamy Ebony had been since she'd first seen Darius looking at her, how happy she had been after the discovery of the soulmate connection. But now...
She managed a brave smile. "At least they'll be together forever now."
"For never was a story of more woe, than this, of Juliet, and her Romeo.'" William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.
THE END.
For a moment, Darius couldn't recall where he was, or why he felt so good. He opened his eyes, and looked around, smiling at the girl asleep beside him. Ebony was bathed in a soft golden aura from the early morning sun, seeping in through the window.
A flash of memory washed over him suddenly, screaming, food flying, fights, blood, more screaming...he shuddered and shook his head, trying to push away the memory.
Ebony stirred beside him. She looked up at him, her violet eyes sparkling with happiness. "What's wrong?" she asked.
He sighed. "Just thinking..." he shuddered.
She tightened her hold on him. "Don't think," she said with a smile, and kissed him. And then there were a few blissful minutes of not-thinking. Kissing was good for that.
He sighed. "I really should get out of here."
She looked unhappy. "I don't want you to go."
"I don't want to go either, but it's not like I have a choice." He moved away and started to get dressed. He turned to admire her as she lay there, covered only by a pale pink sheet. He couldn't help himself. He moved on top of her, pulling her closer, pressing his lips against hers. She sighed dreamily as she felt his lips moving across her smooth flesh. He reached out -
And the door opened. Ebony gasped, embarrassed, and he turned around to see Thea hurrying inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She looked panicked. "Darius get out of here!" she hissed.
"Why?" Ebony protested. "We were having fun."
Thea's eyebrows raised. "I'll bet you were, but Hannah's on her way to see you with some important news."
"What news?" Ebony asked, alarmed, scrambling off the bed and yanking on a pale blue bathrobe. Darius shrugged helplessly, fumbling around for his clothes. Damn it. Why did something always go wrong for him? The Council wanted him out the way, and now he was losing his soulmate...
They hurried out onto the balcony, just as the door opened a second time, and Darius had a glimpse of a girl with wheat coloured hair and a strange birthmark slanting across her cheek, the colour of pink tourmaline. Hannah Snow, Daybreak's co-leader.
"Ebony? You up?"
~Will you be okay?~ she asked him mentally.
~I'll be fine,~ he said, climbing over the balcony. ~Trust me.~
She nodded. ~Okay.~ He could see the tears glistening in her eyes, and hated it, but knew he had to get away. He dropped to the ground and ran.
* * *
Ebony tried to blink back the tears watching Darius leave. She wasn't sure if she would see him again. She had to pull herself enough together enough to face Hannah.
She went back into her room. "What?" she asked.
Hannah's eyebrow raised a little and she folded her arms across her choice. "I have some news," she said. "You're moving."
Ebony blinked, confused. "Excuse me?"
"Someone very bad has taken a liking to you, and for your own safety Thierry has decided you're going to stay with Iliana Harman in her safe house in North Carolina until it's time for the battle, and then uh - I guess we'll see where we go from there," Hannah said, hesitating slightly as if remembering something she hadn't thought of. "Keller and her team will come and pick you up on Thursday morning. Better start packing."
Ebony stood there, riveted to the spot. North Carolina? That wasn't the plan! Apart from Hannah messing everything up, another sort of anger was boiling up inside her. She couldn't believe they all thought she was so stupid. Did they think she was totally incapable of taking care of herself. She folded her own arms and shook her head slowly, deliberately. "No," she said firmly.
Hannah looked surprised. "No, what?"
Ebony glared at her. "I'm...not...moving," she said, stating each word separately. "Do you want me to spell it out for you?"
"Well I'm afraid you don't have any choice," Hannah said icily. "Thierry's orders. It's for your own good."
"Does any body give the slightest bit of notice to what *I* think is good for me?" Ebony shouted, letting her anger get the better of her. Thea looked surprised at the sudden venom in Ebony's voice.
"Ebony..." she whispered. "Ca - "
"I will not calm down!" Ebony yelled. "You all think I'm stupid. You think I can't take care of myself!"
"That's not true," Hannah said weakly. "It's just - "
"It is true," Ebony snapped. "And I don't even like Iliana or the rest of her team."
Thierry appeared in the door way then, not looking happy. "What's going on?"
"I'm not moving," Ebony said again, folding her arms.
Thierry frowned. "Well Ebony, you don't have a choice. It's - "
Ebony could feel her frustration blooming, no matter how much she screamed and shouted no one seemed to pay any attention to her. She could feel hot tears streaming out her eyes. "Why do you all think I have no idea what's going on? How stupid do you think I am?"
"At the moment, very stupid," Thierry snapped. Everyone stared at him, surprised. Ebony didn't say anything. He looked at her evenly.
"All right Ebony," he said calmly. "You think you know what's going on? The monster that after you? Fine. You don't want to go with Keller's team? Fine."
Ebony frowned, not liking where he was going with this. She remained silent, tears streaming, fists clenched in helpless fury.
"See how well you can take care of yourself when I throw you out if you don't go with Keller on Thursday." And Thierry turned and walked out. Hannah remained staring at Ebony in shock, before she ran after him.
Ebony pushed the bedroom door closed. She felt strangely calm. She could see things so clearly now. She looked over at Thea, hovering by the balcony, looking unhappy, and almost afraid.
"Now what?" Ebony asked.
Thea shrugged, uncomfortably. "Well, maybe...maybe it *would* be better if you went with Keller and co, considering Darius's history and everything. Okay, Keller and Nissa aren't exactly the nicest people in the world, and Iliana's a bit of a dummy, but Galen's nice, and so's Winnie, she's cool." Thea smiled encouragingly.
Ebony opened her mouth, then shut it again, deciding not to waste her breath arguing a battle she wasn't going to win. "Maybe," she whispered. "I'd like to be alone now, please."
Thea nodded and left. Ebony showered and dressed. She knew what she had to do now.
* * *
Ebony made her way through Vegas, pushing between the crowds of daytime tourists, littering the street, spreading like a virus. She shuddered, remembering she hated crowds. But at the moment, she was willing to make the sacrifice. She pushed open the door of the closed down Harman store where Blaise was inside, in the back room. She sat at the table, herbs and crystals spread out around her.
She looked up as Ebony came in. "Now what?" she asked.
"It's all gone to hell," Ebony said angrily, pacing like a whirlwind. "Thierry came into my room this morning telling me I'm going to North Carolina to stay with Keller's team cause someone bad has his eye on me."
Blaise frowned. "That's not good," she said.
"You think?" Ebony snapped. She threw up her hands in dispair. "Everything's going wrong. I'm never going to see Darius again." At the thought tears stared streaming down her cheeks. Everything was a disaster. Her life was ruined. She collapsed into one of the chairs. "What am I going to do?"
Blaise was still frowning, as if thinking. How rare was that? "Maybe I have an idea," she suggested carefully.
That got Ebony's attention. She frowned, looking at Blaise. "Oh?"
Blaise stood up, abandoning whatever she was working on. She took a key ring and pushed her way through the beaded curtain separating the workshop from the main shop. She frowned herself, wondering what Blaise was up to. Blaise came back into the room, and handed Ebony a small one-inch vial filled with a strange green liquid that almost seemed to glow. "What's this?"
"It's a potion," Blaise said flatly.
Ebony glared. "I can see that. What does it do?"
"Take that, and it'll make it seem as if you're dead. They'll have a viewing of your body. While this is going on, I'll get a message to Darius telling him there's been a change in plans. After the funeral - "
"Funeral?" Ebony asked, her eyebrow raising. "I have to admit, I'm not loving this plan of yours."
"Shut up and listen to me," Blaise snapped. "You won't *really* be dead dead. You'll just *seem* dead, and within thirty-six hours you'll wake up. In the mean time Darius will have gotten my message. He'll come and dig you out your grave in the dead of night and then the two of you will run away and find somewhere to hide and live happily ever after."
Ebony stared at the little vial in her hand with the glowing liquid inside. Would this really work. Blaise stood there with her hands on her hips. Ebony looked at her. "And if this doesn't work?"
"Then we've got a problem," Blaise admitted. "After this, I'm all out of ideas."
Ebony slipped the potion inside her purse. She nodded her thanks to Blaise and left, almost smiling. But before she could put her plan in motion, there was something else she needed to do.
* * *
She knocked carefully on the door to Thierry's office. He sat inside, a stack of paper work on the desk. What, Ebony wondered. She guessed even Vampire Lords had to do paper work. Thierry didn't look too pleased to see her. "What?" he said. His voice was calm, as always, but she could hear the annoyance.
Ebony flushed a little. "I - I came to say...I'm sorry," she admitted.
Thierry blinked, and gestured for her to come inside. She came and perched on one of the chairs in front of his desk. "I overreacted," she continued. "I just got upset cause you all seem to think I can't look after myself. I realise you're just looking out for my best interests."
Thierry sighed and put his pen down. "Ebony we don't do these things just to make life more unbearable. The guy with his eyes on you is destined to takeover the Night World council, he's a monster. He's almost as bad as Maya."
Bad as Maya? Was that true? Ebony hadn't given much thought to Darius's past. But she didn't care, she told herself. No. All that mattered was they were soulmates and he loved her. He could change. For her, he'd said he would. "Thea's given me the gory details." She shuddered. "I didn't realise that. I didn't know who."
"The guy you danced with at the party?" Thierry reminded her.
The memory of the first touch of the soulmate connection filled her, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to make sure she didn't smile or sigh dreamily. "I didn't know who he was," she said in a soft voice.
"That's okay," Thierry said gently. "The sooner we get you out of here to somewhere safe the better."
Ebony stood up and nodded. "You're not mad at me?"
He smiled and shook his head. "I'm not mad anymore. You're forgiven."
Ebony smiled. "Thanks." And left the office. She found Hannah and apologised to her, and hurried back to her room. Plan Stage 1 complete. It was Stage 2, taking the potion that scared her. What if it didn't work? What if it killed her? What if it worked and Darius didn't get the message and she was buried alive? A parade of what ifs were running through her mind. She shook her head, only one thing to do. Try and see.
* * *
Thea was confused. She didn't under stand what all the commotion was about. There were a few Daybreaks hanging around upstairs near Ebony's room looking very surprised, Gillian was crying on David's shoulder. Blaise watched dispassionately. Hannah looked as if she'd been slapped. Thierry came out the room then, and shook his head slowly.
"Oh no," Hannah whispered. "She's really...?" She trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.
Thea wondered what they were talking about. She could see ambulance people around, and a doctor, and some police officers too. She started to move closer to ask, when she heard Thierry say, "I'm afraid there's nothing any of you can do now, please just go back to your rooms or whatever you were doing." The small group of onlookers shuffled sadly away.
Thea didn't understand, and no one would let her get closer to look. Had something happened to Ebony? Had one of Darius's former friends come back and hurt her? She frowned, and hated sitting around not being able to do anything. It was driving her crazy.
Later that afternoon Hannah came and knocked on her door. She was dressed in a black suit, looking as if she were going to a funeral. "There's a viewing at the funeral home now," she said sadly. "Then the funeral will be tomorrow."
Thea did not like the sound of that. She changed into respectable dark clothing and went with Hannah and the rest of a crowd of very depressed and sad Daybreakers over to the local funeral home. She looked over at Blaise, who just shrugged helplessly.
The funeral home was full of people, witches mainly, she recognised a lot of them from her Summer Circles. A lot of people were crying. She could see elaborate flower arrangements, candles burning sombrely. She didn't even know who was dead yet, and a sinking feeling was growing worse all the time. She felt as if she were falling, falling and it would never stop, she would never come to an end...
But finally she reached the coffin, and froze in horror. "*Ebony?*" she whispered, feeling tears rising to her eyes and begin to spill out her cheeks. Could Ebony have...no! No, Ebony wouldn't have killed herself! But she had been so unhappy that morning, had it pushed her over the edge?
What was she going to tell Darius? It would kill him.
Ebony lay in a coffin of dark wood, on a bed of red satin, roses and dahlias surrounding her. She looked so peaceful, as if she were asleep. Thea stumbled away from the coffin, and before she knew she was running, running away, not wanting to stay, not wanting to see more. She heard Blaise and several others call out after her, but didn't care. She got to her car and drove, all she could think of was getting to Darius.
He was going to find out sooner or later, and the sooner the better. Then what? She didn't know.
* * *
Darius was pacing. He glanced around the cheap motel room, wondering what to do. He didn't know how he knew, but he felt sure something was wrong. Everything had gone wrong for him since he'd come to Vegas.
He used to be so sure of himself. He felt certain that humans and witches were the enemy, and vampires were all that mattered. The most important thing was taking over the world at the millennium.
But now...his whole perception of life had changed. Ever since he'd seen Ebony for the first time he'd been looking at things differently. She'd changed his life dramatically. She was his soulmate, his one and only.
Nothing would ever be the same without her. He knew he would never be the same if he lost her. He would rather die than live without her.
At that moment he looked out the window, seeing a car come to a screeching halt in the parking lot. He frowned, watching as Thea got out. She looked around, and saw him. She of course, knew where he was staying. She'd been the only one he'd trusted enough to tell apart from Ebony. She was supposed to tell Ebony, then Ebony would come and they'd run away and live happily ever after.
Thea looked around and their eyes met. He moved to the door, and let her in. "What's happened?" he asked, seeing the expression on her face. Her blonde hair was wild, her brown eyes filled with tears, her cheeks puffy and red. She'd been crying. She looked shocked. "Is Ebony all right?"
She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She shook her head.
"What happened?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"She...she's...sort of...deadish..." Thea stammered.
Darius blinked, not sure what he thought he'd heard her say. Deadish? Dead? Ebony was...
No. No. No. She couldn't be. No.
He looked over at Thea. How upset she seemed. She wouldn't lie to him. Not about something so serious.
Ebony was...gone? Really gone?
No.
Everything was going into slow motion. The world seemed to stop moving. It seemed pointless now. Everything was meaningless. Rage and anger and dispair were boiling up inside him.
A howl of dispair came out of his mouth, a sound he hadn't been aware of being able to make. Thea stepped back in alarm. He shoved past her, his mind focused on one thing. He stormed out the motel room, jumped into Thea's car, started the engine and roared off heading back to Vegas. The hell with it all. He was going to join Ebony, death seemed like the easy way out.
* * *
By the time Darius arrived back in Vegas it was night. He stopped outside the funeral home, breaking the lock on the door and walking inside. The place was sheathed in candle light, candles of all sizes, shapes and colours were burning. Flowers were everywhere. It was deserted, apart from the coffin at the front on the display table.
Darius moved down the long walkway, lined with a red carpet, as if he were a soldier returning from battle, coming back to green the Queen. The coffin was closed, one of dark wood. He undid the gold clasps and stared at the figure lying inside.
Ebony lay there, on a bed of red satin. Her violet eyes were closed. His fingers reached out, and he ran them gently over her smooth dark skin. He could feel his lip tremble, and didn't care about the tears streaming down his cheeks. What did it matter now?
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." This was all his fault. If he wasn't so bad, so evil, then maybe everything would have been different. But his nature had been decided long ago, and he'd changed too late. There was nothing he could do to bring her back now.
But maybe if he couldn't bring her back, then he could join her. He kissed her lips softly. "I love you," he whispered.
He pulled a wooden knife out of his belt and plunged it into his heart. It was over now. He would be with Ebony forever.
* * *
Ebony's eyelashes fluttered. She was confused, unsure what was happening. She could feel a gentle hand touching her. She smiled, recognising Darius's touch. She heard him whisper he loved her. She opened her eyes.
Only to see something was wrong. Darius's skin was going leathery. The light had died out his wonderful multi-coloured eyes. His form had collapsed in on itself. And he fell to the floor.
Ebony stared, not wanting to believe what her eyes were showing her. A sob came out of her throat, echoing in the empty funeral parlour. No. No. He'd gone. He'd left her all alone. She saw the knife he'd used, sharp and wooden. Lucky thing sharp wooden knifes killed witches as well as vampires.
She slowly struggled her way out the coffin. She knelt down by the form of her lover. She reached out to touch the leathery sack of bones. She took the knife, and a smile crossed her face as she stabbed herself. Now she would be with him for eternity.
* * *
Epilogue
The rain poured as the ambulances moved away with the two bodies inside. The Daybreaks crowded around the funeral home, not caring about the rain soaking into their skin.
"'The sun, for sorrow will not show his head,'" Blaise muttered from beside Thea.
"I can't believe it," Thierry whispered, shock clear in his dark eyes. "Why didn't anyone tell me what was going on?"
Thea shrugged. "I guess because they thought you wouldn't understand," she said. It seemed so hard to believe. The plan had all gone to disaster, but no one had expected that both Darius and Ebony would die.
"'Hence forth, go talk of these sad woes,' " Blaise quoted.
Everyone stared at her. "What?" Hannah asked.
Blaise sighed. "You can't tell me no one else has noticed the familiarity of the set up," she snorted. "I should have figured out before I gave Ebony that potion. I didn't know until after she'd gone. But by the time I figured out what was going on, it was too late."
"They were soulmates?" Thierry asked.
Thea nodded. She thought back over to how dreamy Ebony had been since she'd first seen Darius looking at her, how happy she had been after the discovery of the soulmate connection. But now...
She managed a brave smile. "At least they'll be together forever now."
"For never was a story of more woe, than this, of Juliet, and her Romeo.'" William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.
THE END.