Sun & Moon

Chapter 40 - Rio

I leave Alex to guard Astrid's body, making my way back to the grand hall to see Valentina for myself. Sure enough, she sits curled up, head between her knees, in the middle of the enchanted circle, no black shroud in sight. As her eyes lift up to me, I feel the disappointment of staring back at her dark eyes. How did the tides turn so quickly that I would feel disappointment at not having the First Son in my home?

The three mages stand ready at either sides of the circle, with Bianca joining them, her arms crossed, chewing on her lower lip anxiously. Kobe isn't too far behind while Ganzorig peeks out of a curtain, watching the heavy showers outside.

Demi, with a tablet in hand, walks up to me.

"Where is he?" I ask.

She taps around on her tablet, her eyes dart around the screen searching for answers.

"I don't know," she responds. "The internet is unusually quiet."

"That's worrying." I realize the irony in my statement. "How's the vampiress?"

"We fed her a little, enough to keep her awake."

"Feed her more."

At the sound of this, Valentina's eyes perk up. All three mages turn to look at me. Even Bianca, at the far end of the room, breaks away from her serious contemplation.

"Are you sure?" Demi asks.

"Yes," is my absolute answer. "Better we have him here than Goddess knows where."

"I agree," Bianca utters, the White Wolf with a vendetta of her own. "I'm itching to fight the bastard."

Demi sighs but nods and follows my order.

The tension in the air is palpable of the risk I propose to take. The three mages eye me displeasingly, the fiery Helena at the forefront of their disapproval. As Demi approaches the enchanted circle with a blood bag, Helena steps in front of her. My Delta looks at me and I give her a reassuring nod.

"This is foolish," Helena remarks at me, but stands down and lets Demi pass.

Demi tosses the bag in. We watch silently as the plastic rolls against the marble floor around the runes, landing five feet away from Valentina. She weakly crawls towards it, but snatches it with more gusto and devours the blood hungrily. As she flickers her gaze open, the chocolate warmth of her irises returns.

"Do you feel...him?" Bianca asks her.

A few seconds pass and she shakes her head slowly.

"I don't..."

If the air could shift in this dark and closed room, it does so, pulling every molecule with it and every one of us feels it. Those of us who have seen Er first hand take on an immediate defensive stance, while the others who have yet to meet him tremble with anticipation.

All three mages begin to chant in unison, words from the Ancient Greek dialect. I sense an aural shift raise itself around the borders of the enchanted circle when black smoke rises from Valentina's skin. No sooner do the mages finish their mystical chant than does the smoke instantly puff out to reveal the invisible spherical barrier keeping Valentina within the protective circle.

The smoke clears to reveal porcelain skin turned a shade of sickly grey. Valentina's black-and-white hair flutters about her in a wild and unruly fashion as her devilish black eyes observe her surroundings. She takes a deep breath in as we hear the sound of the many voices of the First Son wheezing through her inhale. She reaches a hand out to touch the invisible barrier and a blue spark zaps it away.