Before you read this chapter I want to thank you all for reading my book. It has been so much fun. I don't know really what else to say other than thank you. I hope you stay around for the second book in the series, Blood Tainted Love. Thank you all again! Now enjoy the last chapter!
Ryker killed the last guard that was in his way. Apparently since Kern announced the heir to the throne security for Mio was heavier than originally thought. Covered in blood he made it to the door that led to Mio’s room. Knocking on the door, the young princess opened the door. Ryker was surprised that this demon was related to such a heartless man. Her presence seemed to give off a warm glow. Her blond hair didn’t come from him. But the blue eyes did, yet again a soft warmth was in them. Mio was such a stunning girl that her beauty itself was enough to want Kern to keep her a secret. Smiling she took Ryker inside her room. From this room you could clearly see from the window the burning city. The sun was rising higher and higher. Mio opened her closet revealing many stunning dresses. What she took out were two backpacks filled with items she wanted to bring along with her. Ryker couldn’t believe that she was this prepared to leave. How did she know? How did she know someone would come to save her?
“How did you know I was coming?” asked Ryker staring out at the window, the burning city with people fighting and dying everywhere.
“The maid knows all,” said Mio jokingly. “Well to be honest I had a feeling. The bombs woke me up so I figure Lotus would get me. Where is she?”
“Going to kill your father,” said Ryker, closing the curtains. He had enough at looking out the window. “Sorry about that.”
She didn’t say anything, just looked down at her feet. Popping her head up she knew it was time to go or they would be dead meat. “Well let’s hurry,” she said opening the door. “Because once my father is dead, so am I.”
Now he understood why he kept her secret for all these years. If Kern were dead this girl would be in danger of death as well. Taking her by the hand he led her down the hallway running down the staircase over the dead bodies. Mio noticed all the dead Guards and knew it was Ryker’s doing. Still there was no time to worry about them. Coming down to the end of the staircase they made it out to the main courtyard. There were several other bodies that Ryker didn’t attack. A man approached them. Ryker knew who he was. The white hair and red eyes made him only one man. This man is the father of Lotus and Yasha Storms, Kione. The demon boy thought he was on the demons side, but he noticed Aria was on his back barley hold on to life. Leah was behind him, covered in blood. To Ryker is let him know he was fighting for the humans.
“What happened to Aria?” asked Ryker coming up beside her. He could see all the wounds she obtained from the battle. “Is this what Hares was talking about?”
“Yes,” replied Leah. “She managed to kill Hana Snow. Is that Mio Silver?”
“Bingo,” said Ryker. “Now you need to take care of Aria. I’m going to help Lotus.”
Kione grabbed one of Ryker’s arms. “You know Louts? Where is she?”
“We’ll discuss this later,” replied Mio taking hold of Ryker’s hand. “Come on.” Both of them ran away from the injured three to where Lotus was. His first priority was to protect Lotus from whatever danger was after her. Mio seemed to know what she was getting into when she was running with him. She was completely sound in mind and body about choosing against her father. Soon that little girl led the way since she knew it like the back of her hand. Ryker was fearful that his dreams meant something was going to happen to her, that he might not save his little flower. Ryker had to protect Lotus before she was gone for good.
Backing away from Yasha, she stared at the blood. He managed to break through her armor. How was that possible without feeling the armor break itself? He could be a fake again, but his eyes were his own. They weren’t fake eyes. This couldn’t be Yasha. He wouldn’t betray her like that. Laughter came from behind the large chair in front of the fireplace. Standing up was a man with dark black hair and blue eyes. He wore elegant clothes, which meant that he was none other than the king, Kern Silver. The trigger that started this war and the demon responsible for Lotus losing everything she head dear, was right in front of her, laughing. He came behind Yasha holding her special blade that they blacksmith made for her. Her brother stood there as Kern came in front of him. Realizing that he was about to attack, Lotus went behind a pillar in the study. He chuckled a little.
“Did you honestly think that I was going to attack you?” asked Kern in his dark voice of hers. “I just wanted to look at you a little longer.”
“Ha,” Lotus laughed sarcastically. “That’s very believable. Wish I could say the same about you.”
“You are like your father,” said the king. “However your beauty came from your mother. That may be the only trait of hers that I truly admired.”
“So, tell me,” began Lotus. “Did you know I was coming?”
He didn’t say anything, just walked closer to where she was. “Yes, yes I did. I knew about all of this. Why else did you think I killed that half-breed? Why else do you think Yasha is here?”
“Enough talk.” She said coming out of hiding, attacking the demon king. Kicking him a few times he managed push the half-breed off to get her far enough away. Lotus felt something brush against her cheek as a loud banging rang through the room. Touching it, blood was on her hand. Kern was holding a gun in his hands. But of course the one she had to kill own a gun. Clearly killing him would be no easy task. After trying to get close to him using her fans, she looked to the second level of the room. Kern fired his gun at her again, this time she climbed on a ladder near by her to the second level. She ran close to the edge of the railing the demon fired more shots at her. Some how the bullets only hit the armor and didn’t harm Lotus. Jumping up she almost got away from Kern’s sight. As he turned around the metal fan came close to him. The sword that belonged fell to the ground. Swiftly she picked up the sword and hid behind a pillar.
This sword was intended to be used to kill Kern, then she should be able to handle it. But her hand began shaking. Taking out some bandages of her armor she wrapped it around her hand. But it still shook. What was she going to do? Her fear was holding her back from using this blade. This time and place is not where fear should be. Yasha’s life was on the line, along with the life of every human. Staring at the pillar she was behind, she began to hit her arm against it. Figuring if it were numb it would shake. Soon the shaking stopped after hitting her arm a few times. Now she could kill Kern without having any fear. Lotus came out and attacked him with all the force she had. She managed to cut him up a little. During an attack Yasha came in front of her holding out a sword to reflect hers. She kicked her younger brother when she attacked the king again.
Another shot was fired. Lotus stood there frozen with fear knowing what had just happened. Pain went all throughout her arm from the bullet. However Lotus couldn’t let pain control her mission. Charging at him, Kern shot her again, but Lotus missed. Kern kicked Lotus against the wall. Throwing his gun aside he walked over to her. She got up, attempting to cut off his head, but Yasha came back taking the blow with his hand. It didn’t slice off any fingers, but he was cut. She tried getting the sword out of his hand, but he hand onto to it tightly. Kern laughed at her. She was not ready to fight him, nor was she prepared for this mission.
“The humans had too much faith in you,” said Kern taking hold of her hair. Only then did Yasha let go of the sword. His hand was bleeding, but it healed fast. “Lotus, you never had the chance to defeat me. It truly is such. Than was right. But you chose to waste your talents for the wrong side.”
He kicked her against the wall, cracking some bones. Lotus screamed in pain as he kicked her over and over again. He stopped kicking the girl, dropping her almost lifeless body he walked over to window. He watched his city being destroyed by the flames. This kind of destruction could only be cause by war and he was the king. Yasha said something to Kern that turned his attention back to Lotus. She was still alive crawling towards him to try killing him. Laughing, he picked up the bleeding girl by the neck bringing her to the window. They looked at each other face to face. Lotus was bleeding through the mouth looking like a mess. Kern remained virtually unharmed, with his cold expression at the girl. The window he held Lotus against began to break. Piece of glass shattered everywhere. Piece became embedded into the skin of the half-breed. As she fell to her death she looked up.
Flashing before her eyes were all the memories of her past, the people she met, and all that could have been. If she had killed Kern she would live back in her mother’s hometown with Yasha. But that was only “a what” if moment. Before hitting the pavement, she looked up at the broken window. Standing there watching his sister fall was Yasha completely emotionless. That’s right. I didn’t save you, thought Lotus falling on the pavement. Her entire world became dark with no sign of life. She too has become a casualty of war.
Ryker was running with Mio along secret roads to the King’s Study. Coming to a dead end, Ryker began hitting his head. She had led them to down the wrong path to nowhere. Now Lotus was going to die. But a large door opened up revealing something that looked very much like an armored car, but more sleeker. It was red and it didn’t have a roof on it. “It’s a convertible,” said Mio getting in the diver’s seat. “Get in.” Ryker had no choice; he went in on the passenger side. Mio explained how before the war started cars like these were driven sometimes. They were just for enjoyment, but now they were used for war reasons. Staring up the engine Mio began to drive the car towards the King’s Study. Where Lotus was hopefully alive.
As they we driving Ryker saw something fall out of the window from the study. His eyes widened once he realized who was falling. His nightmares came true. Kern killed Lotus. Ryker didn’t protect her. He couldn’t save his beloved. “Mio, head in that direction,” shouted Ryker pointing at the broken window. Obeying his command they went that direction. Ryker prayed and hoped that she was still alive, that there still might be a chance to save her life. Some half-breeds have the ability to heal fast, but it takes longer. He just hoped hers was faster than he thought.
Stopping the car a few feet away from the body, Ryker ran out and grabbed her mangled body. She was covered in blood and glass was still in her skin. Lotus looked like a helpless little girl, just like how she looked when Ryker first met her. Now as he held her in his arms he began crying. He made it a habit not to cry in front of anyone. He couldn’t control himself anymore. Coming back in the car he held her lifeless body close to him. Mio couldn’t believe she was dead, but there was no time to moan her death. They needed to leave quickly. Ryker kept crying over her body, as tears fell on her face. A hand rubbed against his cheek, comforting him. Lotus was still alive, looking at him. He held her closer, so that she would feel safe.
“I failed,” said Lotus. “It’s my fault. Nothing I say will change anything.”
“Things will change,” said Ryker rocking her back and forth. “Please don’t die. Please don’t leave me. I lo…. too much. I lo….”
Lotus couldn’t hear what all he said. Things were going black and she no longer knew sounds. Closing her eyes she left the side of Ryker and coming back to her mother. She held open arms to greet her little flower. Yasha was not there since he was still alive, but he was. Still the same old sweet him. This was the place she wanted to be. At least here she can be at peace.
Lotus woke up in an unfamiliar place, where she was hooked up to a machine with wires to monitor her heart rate. The constant beating annoyed her to no end. Sitting up she unhooked herself from the machine, but not the painkillers they were giving her. But the machine didn’t stop making noise; instead it started beeping louder. It was saying that her heart had stopped. Ryker rushed in to see Lotus holding the wire connecting her to the machine. A sigh of relief came over him as he unplugged the machine. Wrapping his arms around her, Lotus thought he smelled good. He was wearing new and clean clothes. Releasing her, a familiar laugh came from the other bed. Aria was sitting there with her right should in a sling. Lotus noticed on her cheek that there were scratched on them that would soon turn into scars. As she got out of her bed, Aria walked over to Lotus, taking a chair beside Ryker.
“If you wonder where we are we are at a secret base near the ocean,” said Aria sighing sadly. “We lost good men. At least here there aren’t any murderous demons around. This is the best option for now.”
“I forgot we lost Terra,” said the half-breed trying to get out of bed. Looking down at her legs she had broken one of them. It happened on impact. “How long have been asleep?”
“About a week and a half,” said Ryker. “You were in really bad condition. They had to put you through surgery to remove the bullet and fix your ribs and some other stuff. You also broke your leg.”
“No wonder I’m so soar,” said Lotus gripping her waste. “Now we are just hiding.” She began crying thinking about all that happened from what seemed like forever.
“We are only surviving,” said Aria. “That’s the way of life. Look up though. Our third roommate is just now waking up.”
Turning to the other side of her, the grumbling of a boy waking up. He was Setsuko and he was alive. Joy came over Lotus that he wasn’t killed during the final battle. “Lotus you are awake,” said Setsuko happy to see her, but still a bit confused. “You would not believe who saved me. Tanya Walls protected me. I always thought she hated me though.”
“Where is Tanya?” asked Lotus.
“Dead,” said Setsuko. “Before she charged off against the army her final words were ‘at least I’ll be with my family again.’”
Lotus felt guilty over losing someone so strong. “She knew what she was getting into,” said Aria trying to comfort her. “Just like Jiro did. He knew it better than anyone.”
Jiro was still dead. His family was probably in the base somewhere. More guilt overwhelmed the girl. Match came into the room to see Lotus. Hugging her, Ryker backed away from her. Match began tell her the details of the Terra. Aria left the room because she knew all the details. Walking down the hallways she saw Drew watching over Chiyo and Lorelei. Standing beside him it was like they could read each other’s mind. Just how they looked at one another they could tell what one another was thinking. Like they were saying how they felt guilty that they couldn’t protect Jiro a little better for the sake of Chiyo and her daughter.
Both of them left the mother and daughter alone. As they walked down they saw Ryker packing up his items. They knew that he planned on leaving once Lotus woke up. It wasn’t their job to stop him, but why wait for her to wake up? Why make her suffer his leave? They didn’t know his reasons. Nor did they want to know.
Kern looked in the room where Mio was staying in. She was nowhere in sight. He knew that those humans took her and that she was in danger. Than looked out the window and began to laugh a little. Kern did not like his laughing, but he knew why he was laughing. Lotus had managed to escape from Ryoku. Yasha was in there as well looking at the dresses in her closet. He seemed a bit lost looking at the dresses. Almost like he was wishing that he could have seen her again. Kern Silver knew that the old Yasha still lurked inside this new one, wishing for an escape. This could not happen. As long as Lotus was still alive and breathing his weapon would not be perfect.
Walking down stairs he saw the dead bodies of his Generals. Yu Snow was mourning the death of his older sister, by holding her lifeless hand. However Kern had two new Generals lined up. Yu would be taking the place that belonged to his sister. As for the place of Gash Thrills there was a young boy that showed promise.
“Wow,” said a voice coming toward Kern. “Two dead Generals. Let’s see first Kei and now these two. Guess that mean I’m moving up?” This boy smiled. This boy was tall with blond hair and amber eyes. Not exactly what a General in line would look at, but he was supposed to take Gash’s place.
“Yes it does,” replied to king. “Once we recover from this war we will hunt down the humans that attack our city.” He laughed a little thinking about Lotus. “Even my old friend escaped. Doesn’t matter. He might be mourning Lotus’ death.”
“That is, if she died,” said Than coming behind. “I’m sure she is dead though. Now I will make it my personal mission to find and retrieve Mio.”
“You do that and bring her back unharmed.”
He shook his head before vanishing into shadows. Kern left to go back to his room for some quiet. He did not care to stay around the dead forever. As you know Kern at one-point friends with Kione, but because of their differences they became enemies. Because of a threat Kione made he has lived in fear that his children will kill him. Because of that fear he has been searching for a way to control those children. Looking at an old picture of his old family, his real family. He looked at it smiling happily for the first time. “I finally avenged you.”
Leaving her room, Lotus limbed down to see Ryker. She had a crutch to keep her up. Opening the door there was no sight of him anymore. He vanished out into thin air. Heading towards a doorway to find him, she noticed he was staring at the sunset. His backpack was wrapped around his shoulder. Ryker was going to leave her without saying goo-bye? This can’t be. Hobbling towards him, she made a loud crashing noise when she went out the door. Ryker turned around to see her try so hard to get back to him. Tripping, she fell into his arms. These warm arms protected her from anything evil in her heart. In a strange way they were her security blanket. So if Ryker was going to leave her she should say sorry to him. Sorry about not kill Kern, sorry about not saving Jiro, sorry about everything. These were things she had to tell him before he would leave her behind.
“I’m sorry,” said Lotus holding him as tight as she could. “Sorry won’t help anything. I couldn’t save him and he died. Everything is my fault. I shouldn’t have lived. I should have died. Jiro should have lived. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save him. I should have die…”
Ryker held her chin in his hand, looking down and smiling. “Don’t say such things,” said the demon. “Don’t hate yourself. Because you are alive I am happy.” He leaned down, kissing Lotus lightly. This mad her leg that was working shake. Ryker picked her up. This was something she had never experienced with Ryker. It was something unsuspecting from him. But this kiss was special. It was warm, soft, and different. It felt natural to kiss him.
Ryker took Lotus to her new room, where she lied in his arms. Because of the drugs it felt like he was saying such silly things. They needed each other more than the other thought. They were almost perfect for one another. When the painkillers kicked in a little more, her world became a blur. Ryker tucked her in bed. Eyes closed all she could hear was Ryker walking around the room. He leaned down to the sleepy girl and whispered three simple words that were deadly, three words that should not be uttered. “I love you,” said Ryker kissing her cheek. Lotus didn’t react because she was tired. All that she could focus on was sleep. She did not say anything back to him, just fell into the deep darkness of sleep.
Waking up the next morning, Lotus desperately began to look around her room. His backpack was gone and so was he. Ryker had really left. There was no point in looking around the base. Lying back down in her bed, she cried a little. Sitting up straight what Ryker said last night rang in her head. He knew never to say those words and yet he did. What shocked Lotus the most was that there were words she wanted to say back to him. It wasn’t that she hated him, no. But that she felt differently about him. But fear became known. Her hand wrapped around her mouth a she said those four terrifying words silently.
“I love you, too.”