Chapter 1

Declan

“No,” Declan said. “You made me a promise all those years ago. You can’t ask me to do that. Ask Samuel…or Matthew. I can’t…no…never.”

“They already have several brides between them – Edward Montgomery doesn’t want his daughter to…share.”

“Joel then.”

“Joel? You are joking right?”

Declan shrugged. He was angry, trapped, and a like a caged animal he’d do anything to get out. “The bond is strong enough to override his sexuality – it’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be so damn stupid,” Rowan said. “Why would you do that to him? To the poor girl? Eventually, she won’t be enough.”

He deflated – his father was right. It would be unconscionable to force Joel into a union with a woman, and the poor woman would be miserable … it would be an awful existence for the both of them.

Declan grabbed an expensive crystal goblet from Rowan’s ornate oak desk, and sipped on the exquisite cognac, trying to calm his nerves, but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. He got up from the plush, brown leather armchair, and started pacing around the room, his shoes click-clacking on the black granite tiles. “What about Katelynn? I can’t just…abandon her.”

Rowan snorted. “She’s a human you’ve refused to wed. How much do you really love her?”

“It’s because I love her that I won’t do it…the risks--”

“Are worth taking if you love someone enough.”

“Bullshit. A short human life with the person you love is better than an eternity blaming yourself for killing them.”

Rowan pushed away from the desk and walked over to Declan. “You have always been a romantic. I do not blame you for never taking a bride – it’s not in your nature, I know, but this needs to be done.”

“I can’t do it--” Declan’s hands balled into fists, and he had the overwhelming urge to punch something --“Please, father, don’t ask this of me…why can’t you take her?”

“I am sorry, but no. Edward was very specific. He is a man of great wealth and power, and we need him. For now, we have to try to appease him. She is the only weapon we have against him. If you don’t do it, the council will take steps to ensure Edward gets what he wants, and when that happens, well, I won’t be able to guarantee Katelynn’s safety. They will tear her limb from limb and make you watch.”

Declan roared and threw the glass against the wall. The crystal shattered into a thousand pieces. The light caught the shards and cast rainbows against the wall. He stared at the multi-coloured patterns for several minutes

“Look, you can always…dispose of the troublesome girl later on – when we’re done with her. Then you’ll be free to be with Katelynn.”

“You know it’s not that easy.” He was trapped and he knew it. There was no way out, unless he sacrificed Katelynn, and he couldn’t do that – she was the first human he loved in decades. Just the idea of seeing her tortured to death as retribution against him was something he couldn’t stomach. “Do I have time to say goodbye to Katelynn?”

Rowan nodded. “You have tonight. Apparently, the Montgomery girl is quite ill, and time is running out fast.”

“Will she even survive the transformation?”

“Possibly. If you heal her first.”

“She’s that sick?”

“As I understand, yes. Last days from what Edward told me.”

Declan decided to grab hold of this one little sliver of hope. “I can’t just heal her, and be done with it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Rowan lifted and dropped one shoulder. “She’ll be a valuable asset down the road.”

The last little bit of hope he had left evaporated. “Fine. I don’t want to wait. I’d just as soon get it over with.”

Rowan’s lips curled in a smug, self-satisfied grin. He clapped Declan on the shoulder. “Cheer up, son, there’s hope yet…maybe she won’t survive the transformation.”

“Then why don’t I just kill her outright? Spare us all the pain and misery. Who’ll know?”

“I’ll know. It would be better if she survives. For all of us. Is that clear?”

Declan couldn’t speak anymore. A fist had curled around his throat and paralysed his vocal chords; all he could do was nod.

“Go be with Katelynn. I will see you tomorrow night.” With that, Rowan dismissed him from his study.

Slowly, Declan walked through the mansion to the kitchen and out the back door into the herb gardens. There his heavy heart gave out and he sank to his knees. How was he supposed to tell the woman he loved more than himself that things were over between them; not because he stopped loving her, but because he had to betray her?

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Aster

Aster sat with her face to the sun, soaking in the last of the day’s warmth. Despite the all-consuming pain that was now a constant companion, she had a small smile on her face as she listened to the chirping birds, and the little babbling brook that ran through their property. She was happy, content, because she had decided that today would be her last day on earth.

This morning, after he had bathed and dress her, one of her many nurses took a seat on the bed next to her. He took her hand in his, and with a serious expression, he said, “I have something important to ask you.”

“Okay,” she said, even though she didn’t feel like talking. She was tired, and just wanted to sleep.

“Do you want to die?”

At first, the direct way in which he asked the question took her by surprise, but it quickly faded. Finally, someone had asked. Finally, someone who didn’t pretend that she was somehow going to get better. “Yes,” she answered. “I am so tired. I can’t do this anymore.”

The nurse nodded. “We have mastered the ability to keep people alive for a long time – even when living has become nothing but suffering.”

Aster started crying. The nurse wiped her tears away and gave her a drink of water. Then he pulled something from his pocket and showed it to her. It was a syringe filled with a clear liquid. “I’ve been saving this for you. When you are ready, just stick it in your port.”

“It won’t hurt?”

The nurse gave her a soft smile. “No. You will just drift off to sleep.”

“Thank you,” she said and started weeping again.

“Maybe I won’t see you tonight.” He smiled and very lightly squeezed her hand. “Godspeed, Aster.”

If she could still walk, she’d go in the opposite direction, towards the waterfall her father had specially built for her when she was a little girl. It was a present for her sixth birthday. Behind the waterfall was a snug little cave where she could hide from the world and the thousands of eyes that watched their every move. People envied her, even hated her for growing up rich, but despite all appearances, it wasn’t the charmed life they thought it was. Her little cave was her haven. She wished she could see it one last time, but that wasn’t possible.

Aster shifted on the overstuffed lawn chair, groaning loudly as dull hammer blows pounded through her skinny body. The mountain of pillows didn’t do much to ease the sharp bony pokes that threatened to break through her skin.

Closing her eyes, she leaned back, and tried to will the pain away. These days, even sleep didn’t bring release.

“Darling?” he father asked from somewhere far away.

She struggled to open her eyes – it happened all the time now whenever she closed them, and every time, she wondered if she had been falling asleep or dying. “Yes, daddy?” she mumbled.

Maybe she didn’t speak loudly enough, or only said the words in her head, because her dad sounded panicked as he grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her way too hard. “Aster! Wake up.”

“Ow.”

Immediately, her father relaxed his grip, “I’m sorry, darling, I thought…”

“It’s okay, daddy.” It wasn’t okay. He forced her to stay, when all she wanted to do was die and be rid of all this suffering. He wanted her to smile and tell him that everything was all right, that she really wasn’t in pain, that she wasn’t sad or lonely and terribly afraid.

She finally managed to open her eyes, and look up at her father. At fifty, he was still strong and handsome; his dark brown hair dusted with salt and pepper, still tall and fierce – but she could see the toll her illness had taken on him around his eyes where deep worry lines had started forming.

“How are you feeling today?” her father asked. “Good day or bad day?”

“Good,” she lied, because that’s what he wanted to hear. She hurt so much that she couldn’t even cry anymore.

“That’s great, darling, it really is, because tonight a gentleman, a healer, will be visiting. He says, he guarantees he can help you.”

Aster’s heart sank. Her father had taken her from doctor to doctor, specialists all over the world had poked and prodded her, and when they couldn’t cure her, her father started grasping at straws, paying every hack, shaman, sangoma, and faith healer to do the same. But now she was done. She had had enough, and all she wanted to do was rest. “Daddy, no, please, I’m so tired.”

“This is the last one, darling, I promise.”

“It won’t work.”

“We have to try.” His voice and face were filled with anguish.

His whole family was gone – she was the only one left. For the last nineteen years, ever since her mother and brother had died, it was just the two of them. When she finally died too, he’d be all alone. She could give him the comfort of trying one last time – that way, when he found her dead in her bed tomorrow morning, he’d have peace knowing he did everything he could. “Fine,” she finally said, “but daddy, promise me this is the last one. No more.”

Relief washed over his face. “I promise, darling. This will be the last one, because he’ll be successful.”

Her father sounded very sure of himself, but Aster knew that it was just another futile attempt. Every time a new healer came to their door, her father was sure this was the last one, that this one would be able to fix whatever was broken in her. She’d do it though, because she worried about him all the time. Edward Montgomery leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Even the slight flutter of his lips on her skin burned like acid. “Rest now…and just hang on a little longer. Please. For me.”

“Yes, daddy,” she said, but quietly hoped that between now and tonight, she’d just drift off … away from this life, away from the suffering and her weak, useless body.