Chapter Forty-Three: Cristian Balescu
Present day
Border of NC and VA
Cristian didn't know what was pissing him off more: the fact that Stef hadn't retaliated – which would have warranted Gideon removing her vampirism – or that Gideon was now fiercely reprimanding him in front of the Coven and an audience of low-life witches. His bellowing was loud enough that even his pathetic stepsister and traitor of an ex-stepmother came out of the meeting room to witness it. Perhaps he should consider his stepsister a traitor too, given that she was now gripping her mother's hand in concern. He might have to consider toying with Ava's feelings for him if he was going to keep her on his side. Despite being a brat, she was still a talented witch.
Cristian kept his distance from Gideon. Being spoken down to like this, he wasn't sure if he was going to allow Gideon his powers back anytime soon. He didn't appreciate being humiliated.
So who would have imagined that the person to save him from further embarrassment was going to be Raid Vaziri?
"Cristian!" Raid stormed, jabbing a finger towards the center of the clearing. "You and me! Duel! Right now!"
Cristian smirked as he tracked Raid's position, stopping exactly where he indicated he would. He was actually serious about this. Maybe he could understand what Stef saw in Raid after all – the guy was fucking hilarious.
As Gideon stepped towards Raid, trying to settle him, Cristian spotted Stef in his peripheral vision, turning in to the tabled area, flanked by her friends. There was a rip in her bodice where the wood panel had penetrated her, blood darkening her already-red dress, but she moved easily, in a way that suggested she'd already healed. She didn't remove her eyes from Cristian, glowering sternly, her top lip slightly curled. He knew that expression as one he often had himself: she was craving vengeance. He felt oddly proud of her.
Cristian had to admit, the moment he'd seen the wood protruding through Stef's chest was the first time he'd ever felt regret in his life. True regret anyway; not the selfish kind he felt whenever he'd landed himself in trouble. Tormenting her was fun. Hurting her was fun. But that split second between thinking she had been staked in the heart and realizing it had just missed? That kind of pain would have haunted him forever.
He didn't understand what had happened. She was matching him, force against force, when she'd just dropped her magic unexpectedly. He didn't mean to hit her with so much power. If he'd gradually worn her down, the impact wouldn't have been so bad. That's all he ever wanted: to wear her down, to submit to him, to stop fucking disappointing him, to stop making the wrong decisions all the time – to love him unconditionally the way she used to. He may have done some shit things to her in the past – and likely will again in the future – but it was all for her own good. He'd always been in control, always had limits to the punishments he inflicted on her, but it angered him to think her giving up was an option. He didn't want a broken, traumatized mess for a future wife. He wanted someone he could crush while they begged for more.
So, yes, he was proud that she was already back for more. As a couple they would be phenomenal. Her displays of magic? The fear she struck in him and others? Frankly, it turned him on. She would never kill him – if she'd wanted that, she would have done it already – so there was still a love for him that the prophecy and disease of vampirism wasn't letting her feel. One day he would cure her of both. In the meantime, he had to be more careful. He didn't want her dead.
The regret burned within him. He couldn't have her believing he tried to kill her. Fuck his pride – Gideon had already obliterated it anyway – he needed her to know it was a mistake. He started walking towards her.
A flash of blinding light whipped in front of him. A thundering crash, loud enough for anyone to believe the building had been struck by lightning, halted Cristian to the spot. Shelves and bottles shattered behind the bar, alcohol dripping onto the floor. Everyone was silent. Cristian turned his head towards Raid, who held his palm out in the direction of the damage.
"Take one more step towards her and the next bolt of electricity I release will go through your fucking head," Raid warned him.
Cristian breathed heavily, stepping backwards. That couldn't have been Raid's powers. Stef's powers he would have believed, but not his. Suddenly Raid's demand for a duel wasn't so funny.
Gideon lost his cool, shouting, "Anymore fucking threats or acts of violence between either of you and this truce is over!"
"Then get that cowardly shit over here for a duel," Raid said. "One round, full force, all animosity swept under the rug regardless of who wins."
Gideon scoffed. "I can appreciate your desire for a rematch after Cristian's behaviour, but there is no way in hell I'm letting you two duel each other."
"I'll offer my services to the Witches' Council for a year if I win," Raid proposed, adding, "even if Stef breaks the truce." He looked over at Stef with a wink, confident she would never break it. She smiled tightly and rolled her eyes, a little annoyed with his overly generous offer, but she had no reason to worry. As long as the truce remained intact, he would never be instructed to use magic against her. Not that his magic would stand a chance against hers anyway.
Gideon strode closer, grabbing Raid by the arm and whispering firmly, "My magic has been halved, with one half loaned to Cristian. You've already seen what he can do to a vampire with that power and I suspect he went far easier on her than he will with you. As much as I would like you on my team, Raid, that boy could annihilate you."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Raid said dryly. "Look, do you think Stef would be letting me do this if she thought I couldn't win? Do you think she would be letting me do this if she had any intention of breaking the truce? You know she wouldn't. Plus, there's no way that piece of shit is going to return your powers willingly now. Let me floor him and then you can take them back."
Gideon considered this, glancing briefly back at Cristian. Raid was right. "Fine," he agreed, stepping away, an authoritative finger jutting in their directions. "But afterwards you put this bullshit behind you both."
Raid grinned cockily at Cristian, a sweep of his hand welcoming him to the floor, right before he unbuttoned his shirt sleeves and rolled them up past his forearms.
Cristian reluctantly joined him, fury and nerves at war with each other. He needed more time to figure out what was going on – time he didn't have. There was no way an untrained witch had powers like that naturally. He positioned himself a foot from Raid.
"Uh, no," Raid urged, flicking his fingers at him in an outwards direction. "This close and I'd end you before I even had time to enjoy it." Raid continued the motion while Cristian glared at him as they both took a few steps backwards.
Cristian raised a palm towards Raid.
Raid wiggled a finger. "Nuh-uh," he scolded, raising both of his palms. "I'm a man who likes to use both hands." He flicked his eyebrows up playfully at Stef who bit her bottom lip, smiling between her fingers.
Cristian raised his other palm, copying Raid's posture. His teeth were clenched, more fury than nerves now.
Raid began the countdown. "Three.. two..."
Power exploded from Cristian before Raid expected it, forcing all his magic into a state of defense, blocking a hurricane of domination as flares of energy hissed around him threateningly.
Fucking cheat!
Raid was struggling to keep himself grounded, the power drumming against his shields, causing him to slip further back with every hit. He could sense the rage fuelling Cristian's magic, turning this into a battle to the death. If he fought back with as much vehemence, Cristian would die. Raid couldn't be killed if he lost, but he also couldn't let Cristian win. He was doing this for Stef.
The crowd, normally screaming for a winner, were shocked into silence. There was only one way Raid was going to equalize their powers: he had to cheat too. So, focusing a small portion of his magic onto the large crystal light fixture hanging behind Cristian, he heaved it from the ceiling, bringing it crashing down at his heels.
The shocking distraction barely lasted a second, barely slipped Cristian's concentration, but it was still enough for Raid to get an advantage over him. The power Raid was slowly pushing towards him was literally thunderous. Dark clouds and vicious winds as tall as both of them. Bursts of lightning scorched the wooden floor with a trail of flame. The mix of energy spun, hummed and crackled ominously, faster and faster, as it got closer.
There was a moment of realization in Cristian's eyes. A moment where he fixed his focus on Raid instead of his own magic, which was being obliterated in front of him. A moment when he knew he had to survive rather than win.
With a final shot of defensive magic, lasting only long enough to get him out of harm's way, Cristian threw himself to the side as far as his strength allowed, collapsing at the feet of the spectators while Raid's powers blasted into the wall behind where he once stood. The wall cracked. The remaining crystals on the fallen light fixture burst and shattered.
Cristian, panting in exhaustion, pushed himself up onto his elbows, surveying the damage Raid had inflicted. He snapped his head towards Raid, who was now stepping closer. "That would have broken every bone in my body!" he screamed at him.
Raid stopped and stood over him. "You always would have had the option to have vampire blood," he taunted. "Never know, you might have come back as a vampire." He held out his hand to Cristian, offering to help him up.
Cristian stared at Raid's open palm for a moment. None of his plans had worked. He was exhausted. He was overpowered. There was no other option for him except to accept the peace offering... for now. But it didn't mean he had to like it. He took hold of Raid's hand just long enough to pull himself into standing. "If it ever comes to that, just let me die instead."
Raid slapped a palm on Cristian's shoulder. "Let's hope it never comes to that then."
A huffed chuckle came from Cristian's lips. It wasn't intentional. The idea of Raid caring whether he lived or died was just amusing. "I guess a celebratory drink is in order for the newest member of the Witches' Council," he suggested. "Are you sure you won't join the Coven?"
Raid laughed, shaking his head. "If it ever comes to that, just let me die instead," he jested.
Cristian focused behind Raid, where Stef was now approaching them. She didn't once look at Cristian – not once. She only had eyes for Raid. He couldn't be angry about that now. He didn't have a plan and, until he did have a plan, he needed to pretend to play nice. Everything would work out for him in the end... he just had to be patient.
When Raid spun around to find Stef behind him, he scooped her into a hug, slipping his hand around the back of her neck, returning all her powers to her.
Cristian groaned. He needed anything but this right now. He needed noise, he needed distraction, he needed a hell of a lot of alcohol. Unfortunately, the shocked and stony faces of everyone else in the tavern wasn't providing him with that. He needed to energize them. "Show's over! Let the truce begin! Blast some music and start celebrating our newest council member!" he yelled eagerly, pumping his fist in the air.
The witches cheered, many copying his fist pump, as the music started to blare loudly.
Cristian kept his eye-roll minimal. Fucking morons.
Gideon followed Cristian as he headed towards the bar. Cristian knew exactly what he was after. He was probably disappointed that he didn't get the opportunity to extract it from him while he was dying. There wasn't much point in keeping the Splits anyway, knowing Raid could easily beat him regardless. He slowed his pace, grabbed Gideon by the wrist and allowed the borrowed magic to return to him. He then continued to the bar and filled up half a tumbler of straight vodka.
Gideon joined him, pouring himself a smaller glass. "That's the first time I didn't have to ask for my magic back," he commented. "Has this duel finally given you some perspective of your place in the world?"
"It's given me some perspective on how weak your magic is getting," Cristian ventured back dryly. The vodka burned as it went down his throat. He needed that right now.
Gideon ignored his remark. Cristian had finally submitted and that was enough.
Stef and her friends came up behind them in jubilant moods. She slapped her hand over Gideon's shoulder, and bounced her other hand in the air, counting off the drinks required imminently on the bar counter. He suspected – since they were orders of bourbon, and Adam, Zara and Flick didn't drink alcohol – that they were all for her.
Gideon slid one of her friend's empty glasses along the counter and handed her an unopened vintage bottle she'd been eyeing all night. "Go nuts."
Stef squealed in delight, uncorking the bottle, filling her glass, and taking a satisfying gulp.
The moment she swallowed, she slammed the glass back down on the counter, violently coughing into her hand.
"Hey, are you okay?" Raid asked, squeezing himself next to her and patting her on the back.
She waved a dismissive hand, embarrassed. "Must have gone down the wrong way," she wheezed, clutching her chest and taking deep breaths to clear the sting in her throat. It took a moment to fully recover her voice. "I'm fine now, honestly."
"Well, I'm not fine, I'm starving!" Phoenix grumbled, slumping over the counter. "Adam is looking tastier by the second."
"Try it and you'll find yourself with a broken neck," Zara snapped, causing Adam to grin smugly and stretch his neck tauntingly at him.
An arm reached between them, placing a cooler on the counter. "Shut your whining, Phoenix," Gabe said. "Dinner's served."
"Gabe, you beautiful man!" Phoenix exclaimed, throwing open the container, passing the first blood bag to Flick, who was sitting on the counter behind Zara, then taking out a second for himself. "I take back everything bad I ever said about you!"
"I don't," Gabe muttered to himself, putting his arm around Winifred as she cosied up beside him. "There's only one each for now. Zakariah is still escorting Dimitri around other hospitals, so I'll get more in the morning." He swept his head around the rest of the group. "So, what did I miss?"
There was a moment of awkward silence before Adam piped up with, "Well, Raid sold his soul into service to the Witches' Council for a year."
Gabe was surprisingly perky about this. "Congratulations, boy!" He held out his hand, shaking Raid's, then pulled him in close to whisper in his ear. "Keep an eye on those sneaky bastards for us." He received a whack on the shoulder from Stef, who overheard and decided Raid was not going to play spy for Gabe.
Phoenix finished his blood bag within seconds, releasing an orgasmic moan afterwards.
"Damn, man, get a room," Raid ribbed.
"You know, that's not a bad idea, let's all crash here tonight!" Phoenix declared, then peeked around his friends, trying to catch Gideon's eye. "Hey, Gideon! Any spare rooms going in the tavern tonight?"
"Sorry, most have been taken up by the Coven. They're heading back to Mystic Falls tomorrow," Gideon replied. "I've only got one room left... with one bed."
Stef glanced at Raid.
Raid glanced back at Stef.
They pinched back their tempted smiles.
"Fuck that," Phoenix complained. "I'm not staying here alone, surrounded by the Coven." He whacked Raid on the arm. "Let's leave soon, I just want to have one dance with the most beautiful girl in the room first." Phoenix hopped from his stool, standing in front of Zara.
Zara sighed at the inconvenience of having to turn Phoenix down yet again. "Phoenix, you know how I feel –"
Phoenix reached a hand over Zara's shoulder, helping an excited Flick jump down from the countertop. He led her onto the dance floor, casting a wide grin back at Zara.
A sharp "Oooooo" emitted in unison from the rest of the group. Air was sucked between gritted teeth, the second-hand embarrassment strong.
"Shut up!" she snapped in the kind of tone that got instant results. She crossed her arms contentedly. "This is a good thing."
Adam stepped in front of Zara. "What if I think you're the most beautiful girl in the room? Would I get a dance?"
Her lips quirked, but she stubbornly remained in sulk mode. "I'm not in the mood."
Raid reached Adam's side, backwards tapping him against the arm. "Hey, come on, let's show her what she's missing."
Adam raised his eyebrows. "With you?"
Raid held his hands up. "I promise I won't start twerking."
The moment Raid pulled him out onto the dance floor, he immediately broke that promise.
"That's it, I'm out of here," Adam said, attempting to walk away despite Raid clinging onto his arm, throwing himself to his knees to act as deadweight.
Stef and Zara couldn't stop laughing as they watched Adam struggling to escape. Zara looked at Stef, balling her hand into a fist, smirking. Stef did the same. They then banged their fists rhythmically against the counter, chanting, "Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!"
Finally, Adam whipped his arm out from Raid's grip, straightened his jacket, and returned to the dance floor, demonstrating to Raid how twerking should be done.
Stef and Zara laughed until tears came to their eyes, whooping and clapping encouragingly as Raid pulled Adam into a theatrical close dance that they most definitely rehearsed some point as teenagers. Every so often, Raid got a little too close just to annoy Adam, earning him a shove before resuming the dance for the sake of his two eager fans.
Raid was watching Stef's smile.
Cristian was watching Stef's smile.
Finishing his glass of vodka quickly, Cristian walked over to Stef, his face an expression of seriousness contrasting with her gleaming joy. "Can I talk to you privately for a second?" he asked her.
Stef's smile already began to fade. "Can I trust you enough to talk to you privately?"
He made two slashes across his chest. "Cross my heart," he said, attempting a weak smile.
Stef raised her eyebrows. "I wasn't aware you had a heart," she bit back. Then, after seeing Gideon give her a stern look, she finally caved. "Fine, but not behind closed doors," she said, pointing to the quietest area by the outside wall of the meeting room. As she headed over to the location with Cristian, she held up a finger to Raid – who hadn't stopped watching her – indicating she was fine and it wouldn't take long.
They stopped outside the meeting room and Stef crossed her arms, waiting for Cristian to talk.
"Hear me out," he started. "You have the talisman. Remove the vampire stone and go back to your old life." He increased the speed of his voice, already sensing he was losing her. "I'm not asking you to do this for me. I'm saying you need to do this for yourself. Put yourself first for once. You are going to sacrifice everything by staying a vampire. You are already losing your family. You'll never have a family of your own. Shit, is that really worth it, Stef?"
"I'm not killing anyone, Cristian," she told him.
"They wouldn't even know it was you," he urged. How was he going to get through to her? "It's just a vampire."
"I'm just a vampire too," she seethed. "Their lives may not be important to you, but they're important to me." She had already had enough of this conversation and turned to walk away.
"You're important to me," he emphasized, grabbing her by the arm to stop her. He wasn't finished talking yet.
Stef yanked her arm to free herself.
It remained in his grip.
She yanked again.
He held on.
Cristian's eyes widened. "Where's your vampire strength, Stef?"
She put her opposite hand over his arm, trying to push and pull at the same time, but his grasp on her didn't loosen. She couldn't answer his question. She didn't know the answer. She started to panic.
"What's happened to your vampire strength, Stef?" he repeated firmly. "Are they dead? Is the vampire dead?" Cristian pulled her into him, gripping her chin within his hand, looking deep into her eyes, ignoring her struggles against him. The whites of her eyes flickered and quickly faded in and out of being bloodshot. She was still a vampire. A vampire trying – and failing – to transform.
What the hell was happening?
Suddenly, Cristian was being shoved back by Raid, who then positioned himself protectively in front of Stef. "Keep your hands off of her!" he snapped.
Cristian was too filled with confusion – too filled with questions – to be angry with him. "Something is wrong with her!" he insisted, hoping Raid would have answers. Hoping anyone would have answers.
"Something is wrong with you!" he responded.
Stef grabbed at the top of Raid's shirt, pulling him down to whisper nervously in his ear. "No, Raid, something is definitely wrong with me. I need to leave."
Raid reacted immediately – no questions – and put his arm around her, leading her carefully back to the group. "Get your shit together, we're leaving now," he told them all. He didn't wait for them as he strode towards the door with Stef, but his sense of urgency meant none of them hesitated to follow him, and they left quickly without any goodbyes.
As soon as they were gone, Cristian stumbled back to the bar in a daze.
"Tell me you didn't fuck anything up, Cristian," Gideon demanded.
"I didn't fuck anything up," he mumbled quietly, just as surprised as Gideon was.
Cristian leaned against the counter, his mind racing. When? When was the last time she used her vampire powers? She'd healed herself, so it had nothing to do with the injury. What else? What else had she done? He retraced her actions from that point onwards. Hugging Raid? No, that wasn't it. Her hand on Gideon's shoulder? Hell, if he had that kind of power then it would have been used long ago. What else?
She was coughing. She'd drunk bourbon and started coughing.
Cristian quickly located the bottle, inspecting it. "Was this open?" he asked Gideon. He was sure it wasn't. Maybe he wasn't so sure if he had to ask.
"Stef opened it," Gideon replied. "Why?"
Cristian didn't answer. His eyes roamed the counter, locating the glass she had drunk from. He picked it up, bringing it to his face, studying the remaining, untouched liquid within it. Golden amber, no discolouring, nothing suspicious. He held it up to the light.
It was then he noticed something.
"What are you doing?" Gideon groaned, exasperated with all of Cristian's behaviour today.
"You passed this glass to Stef. Where did you get it from?" Cristian asked him urgently.
Gideon shrugged. "I don't know, it was on the counter."
"Whose glass was it?" he demanded. "Was it Stef's?"
Gideon huffed, looking over the seats, trying to remember where everyone was situated. "I think it might have been Raid's. Why?"
It all suddenly clicked into place. "Raid's," Cristian nodded, smiling. He placed the glass back up to the light, watching the small red droplets bob around, barely distinguishable from the rest of the liquid.
Small red droplets... of Phoenix's vampire blood.
