Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny Series Companion Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

sadness, and, yes, relief.
Sofia turned as she stopped in front of a door.  Her dark eyes darted between Amir and myself. "What you will see…it will not be pleasant.  If you make any attempt to save her, it will mean your death as well."
Her warning brought me back to the reality of the situation I had put Solveig into.  There was no way out for her…or for me.  Nodding in agreement, my shoulders slumped.  "Let us in."
Sofia gave me a final wary look and pushed the heavy door open.  The metallic odor of blood was heavy in the stagnant air of the room.  My eyes darted around the dimly lit space until my eyes found her.  My maker was chained to a table, both of her arms torn from her body.  Every inch of exposed skin was covered with deep cuts, her pale skin covered in blood that dripped to the stone floor below her.  They were slowly bleeding her dry, inflicting wound after wound until she had no more blood left to bleed.
Her cobalt eyes were crazed as they met mine.  "Are you going to stand there and watch me perish?  Is that what you wanted?  Then you should be happy, Steafedn.  Yes, you have achieved freedom from my command yet now…now you are as much of a prisoner as I am now."
Ignoring the others, I stepped closer to her side. Averting my traitorous eyes, I stared at the floor instead.  "This was not what I wanted, Solveig.  There is always a price to pay when you willingly break the rules of our kind."
I was amazed at how easily I shifted the blame from myself onto her; at how effortlessly I was able to bury my guilt away at her bitter words.  My actions may have set this into motion, but her misdeeds had caused her death.
She let out a maniacal laugh that echoed in the sparse room.  "I should have known you would bring my final death upon me.  What I agreed to that night brought my death, even though it took over two centuries.  You are no better than the Council with your protestations of right and wrong.  We are vampires, Steafedn.  We should have no rules to follow."  She laughed weakly, and I could feel the intensity of her hate-filled gaze upon my skin. "I thought you were my greatest creation but instead…instead you were my harbinger of death.  Even angels are capable of concocting wicked schemes."
I tried a final time to speak to her, to make amends.  "Solveig..."
"There is nothing more for us to say," she whispered through gritted teeth.  Her fangs had been ripped from her gums, her teeth stained with her own blood.  She was finished with life, with me. "If we do, it will only be lies from both of us. You are not sorry and I…I will not offer you absolution.  I can only wish that my final words will haunt you for centuries to come, and that is payment enough to me. There will be a day you know the truth about your own change.  Then…then you will see things differently...and your anger will be my final revenge."
Solveig's eyes closed and tears lined her dirty, blood-caked face.  When she finally spoke again, her face turned up towards the ceiling and acceptance had settled over her.  "Finish me.  I want no more of this."
The bigger of the two men stepped forward with a torch in his hand.  As he threw it at her prone body, I watched as it quickly consumed her.  The orange and white flames grew hotter and brighter as they licked over her immortal flesh.  Thick smoke began to fill the room. Its putrid smell became almost too much to bear.
As I watched my maker burn, I risked the chance and peered at Amir.  His ebony face was filled with joy, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.  He made no effort to hide his satisfaction at seeing her die.  I both detested and envied him at that moment.  He did not care who witnessed his happiness at her death.
Feeling the weight of my stare, his topaz eyes met mine.  Neither of us spoke; only his smile increased in size.  He was taking too much joy in suffering and pain for a man of God.  I expected to see mercy, sadness and