Not Over Yet

‘August 3rd, 1875’

‘London’

Eve

My vampire ritual had happened three centuries ago.

I lived at the manor with Solomon until he died. I watched him marry and have a son of his own.

It was a good life. It would’ve felt normal. ~I~ would’ve felt normal. If I hadn’t been thinking about Snow every minute.

She was the first thing I saw when I woke up, the last thing I saw when I went to sleep, and the only thing I ever dreamt of.

All I could do was fantasize about getting her back.

I tried everything to find her—to find Barron—but nothing worked.

My power as a vampire, the one I’d earned through my ritual, was telekinesis. I was able to move things with my mind.

But even with that magic, I couldn’t find her.

I couldn’t move myself to her, no matter how hard I tried.

After Solomon died, it was too difficult for me to stay in the place where I’d lost my daughter and my brother.

Solomon’s wife understood. I said goodbye to her, and to my nephew, and then I took off for London.

The last time I’d lived in London, I had been Angeline the maid. A nobody.

I was forced out of the city, pregnant and alone, and made to think that I was destined for a life of shame.

But now… now I was Eve Knox.

I was powerful. I was determined. And I had nothing to lose.

The minute I got back to London, I began the mission I had given myself.

The mission to learn as much as I could about Barron Von Logia, because the more I knew about him, the easier he would be to find.

And once I found him, I could destroy him.

It didn’t take me long to get started.

Because of my looks—the looks Farrah, my guardian at Maynard Manor had told me would get me in trouble—I was able to secure myself a lord in no time.

Lord Hayden was a quiet man. He was a human looking for companionship, and he had a beautiful property and wealth to spare.

He was taken by my beauty, as most men were, and not long after meeting him, I became his lady.

We were never intimate, but Lord Hayden was kind to me. All he wanted was someone to talk to, and all I wanted were the resources to continue my search.

We were perfectly content together.

When Lord Hayden died, I inherited his manor.

As soon as the men in London heard my lord had passed, they began lining up outside my front door, begging for the chance to court me.

I wasn’t interested in courtship. I knew that I would never love again.

After what the Alpha of the Millennium had done to me all those centuries ago, the idea of romance filled me with dread. So I built walls around my heart until concrete filled my veins.

The only one allowed inside was Snow.

She lived in my heart. She was the reason it continued to beat. So I used my suitors to find her.

Every man that came to the door, I would speak to. Because maybe one of them would know something, something that led me to her.

“There’s another one here for you, Lady Eve,” Agatha, my faithful maid, called from downstairs.

I finished my glass of wine and walked down the staircase, wondering what I’d find this time.

Another eager young man, stuttering with nerves?

A successful businessman thinking he was up for the challenge?

Or perhaps a widower, like the last, looking to rekindle the heat in his heart with the most beautiful woman in London?

I cleared my throat, and he turned, looking at me. Then he jumped to his feet.

He was well-dressed, probably around twenty-eight, with dark locks falling into his eyes.

“Hello, Lady Knox,” he said, rushing over to me and taking my hand. “My name is Harold. Harold Trotter, of the Trotter Estate.”

“Hi, Harold. What can I help you with?”

“Behind you, Lady Eve,” Agatha said, and I reached behind me to take fresh glass of wine from her hands.

“Oh...nothing. You can’t help me. You see, I was hoping to take you out. For dinner or to see a show, the opera, maybe...”

I held a gloved hand up, and he fell silent.

I smiled the same smile I’d given to every suitor for the past three hundred years. “Harold, have you heard the name Barron Von Logia before?”

His eyes squinted at me, like he was confused. He shook his head. “Barron Von Logia. No. No, I don’t think I have. Why...”

I sighed. “I’m sorry, Harold. Sadly I’m not looking for new friends.”

“Oh, I don’t intend to make you my friend,” he managed to get out, but I was already walking back to the staircase.

I heard Agatha lead him to the door, opening and closing it with a thud. But then I heard a knock.

I was almost up the staircase when I turned, watching as Agatha opened the door again. I couldn’t see who she was speaking to.

After a moment, she turned back to me.

“Lady Eve?”

“What is it, Agatha?”

“There’s… another one.”

“Another? At this hour?”

“I tried to tell her, Lady—”

“It’s a ~her~?” I asked. Now I was intrigued.

“Yes.”

“I’ll be right there.”

I finished the rest of the wine in my glass, tightened the belt of my long dress, and proceeded back down the stairs.

Agatha had shown the woman to the visitors’ room, and I greeted her there.

The woman was dressed in a long black cloak, her head and body mostly covered by the thick fabric.

“Sit,” I said to her, and she unraveled her cloak and sat.

I took in her thick black hair. It fell to the floor in an impossibly long braid.

Her features were beautiful, delicate and soft, but her bone structure was all hard angles and tight muscles. I’d never seen anyone like her before.

Before I could say a word, she spoke, her tone firm and steady. “I am androgynous,” she said.

“Pardon me?” My eyes stopped scanning the woman and shifted up to meet her gaze.

“A mix between a male and a female. I am both and also neither. A third category, if you’d like.”

“I see. That’s all very interesting. But it is late,” I said, rising.

The woman didn’t move.

“I hear you’ve been asking after Barron Von Logia,” she stated.

I sat back down. “Who are you?”

“My name is Llinos Von Logia.”

“You’re his sister?”

“No,” she chuckled. “And also yes. We are the Deities. Connected and against each other, all at once. Barron is a bad Deity, but you already knew that.”

“He has… he has my…” I got out, my heart racing.

“I know. But that’s not why I’m here,” she said, resting a hand on my knee.

Her fingernails were long and painted black. Like her hair. “I have a request of my own.”

“So you’re a good Deity?” I asked.

“Oh no,” she said, shaking her head with a chuckle. “No no. Not good. Not bad. I am neutral. I maintain balance. You see, I have the power to give life, to save life, but I also have the duty of taking life away.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nature needs certain things from me. To maintain its balance. And that’s why I’m here.”

“You’re like… the Grim Reaper,” I said, eyes on her. She looked the part.

“I suppose I am,” she responded. “And I’d like your help.”

“With?”

“Nature needs me to wipe out the entire race of vampires. Your race,” she said, her expression giving nothing away.

“But I have no interest in destroying so many. When Barron told me of you, I thought...”

“No. No way, absolutely not,” I said, cutting her off.

Deity or not, she was not going to come into my home and order me to wipe out my own race. Especially when I was busy with my own mission, rescuing my daughter.

“Thank you for stopping by. It was illuminating. But I will not—”

“Barron is strong. Some think he’s the strongest Deity in the world,” Llinos started. “You might be a vampire, but you’re not close to being powerful enough to defeat him.”

I stared at the woman across from me.

“If you help me with this, Eve Knox, I will help you get your daughter back.”

“How?”

“When the time comes, when all of the vampires are wiped from the earth, I will find you. And I’ll bring you to him. I’ll bring you to Barron.”

I inhaled sharply.

That was an offer I couldn’t say no to. If Llinos was who she said she was, that meant she had the same Deity strength as Barron.

That meant she could find him.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“About who I am?”

“For one. And about repaying me after I complete your mission.”

Llinos smiled, her eyes narrowing. “Eve Knox, I’ve never lied about who I am. I’m far too unique to get away with that. And when it comes to paying my debts,” she said, getting to her feet, “I’m nothing if not fair.”

She grabbed my hand, and the next thing I knew, I was being pulled down the hall. “Do you agree to the terms?” she asked me.

My mind was reeling, but I nodded anyway. “Yes.”

“Good. Then I’ll grant you the powers now.”

“The powers?”

“The powers you’ll need to exterminate. The Devil’s powers.”

She pushed me to my knees. “Ow!” I cried out.

Agatha ran into the hallway. “Excuse me, what are you doing?” she demanded, a look of terror on her face.

“It’s okay, Agatha.”

“Leave,” Llinos ordered her. “This house must be empty. Now!”

I nodded at Agatha, and, trembling, she walked out the front door.

Immediately, Llinos brought her hands to my temples. And the most brutal pain I’d ever felt in my life hit me, all at once.

It was excruciating, like a thousand rocks being whipped at my mind, leaving crushed skull in their wake. And it went on for what felt like hours.

I couldn’t talk or scream, not even if I wanted to.

I managed to open my eyes through the pain. I saw Llinos, her eyes closed, her face showing nothing but serenity. Like she was at peace.

And then I felt a searing pain course through my shoulders, like knives, with blades engulfed by fire, cutting through me.

A warm liquid fell down my back. My eyes were squeezed shut again, but I knew it was blood.

My blood.

My back kept splitting open.

My blood kept pouring out.

My eyes kept squeezing, my whole body shaking...and then darkness.

Just darkness.

When I came to, I was splayed out on the hallway floor.

I could feel new limbs sprouting from my back. I turned my head, seeing wings, black as night.

As soon as I realized the wings were there, they disappeared back into my skin.

I could control them with my mind, pop them out whenever I wanted.

“It’s done.” I heard a voice from beside me.

I turned my head to see Llinos, crouched next to me. “You’re now responsible for wiping out every born vampire in the world.”

I nodded. I couldn’t feel anything, not right now.

“One more thing,” she said, removing a beautiful silver ring from her finger.

She placed it next to me, on the cold floor. “This is for you. It will come in handy. When you need it, throw it into the air. There’s no situation it can’t handle,” she said with a wink.

And then she stood. “Oh. And enjoy your new hair,” she called out, almost at the front door.

~What?~

I pulled my long hair in front of me, eyes growing wide at what I saw.

My long blonde hair—it was gone. There would be no gold on my head from this day forward.

No, now my hair was black. Black as tar, black as ink.

Black as my heart.