Aster:
She had to force herself to run away from Declan, because she knew he wouldn’t leave while he could still talk to her. This was the afterlife, heaven, and she was supposed to be happy here. Content. Yet she wasn’t. Her heart ached to be with him, but when she asked him if he was here to bring her back, he said no – if he had said yes, she would have followed him.
Her father and mother looked surprised to see her. “Baby,” Charlotte said. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh…I died?”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Edward said, “it’s not your time.”
“Yeah well.” She plopped down next to Brody, running a hand a through his soft, curly hair. The baby laughed and held his arms out to her. Smiling, Aster picked him up, holding him close.
“Aster,” Charlotte said, “you don’t really want to be here. You will be miserable.”
“Yet, here I am. Declan didn’t want me to go back anyway.”
“Because he want
Declan: When he heard Aster’s voice, he lost his concentration and plummeted several feet before he caught himself and straightened. Declan stared at her in disbelief. He hadn’t felt her at all, and when he reached out to her, there was nothing but a black void. There was no bond between them anymore. He hovered with Matthew in the air, watching the events below them unfold, and then for no apparent reason his brother shot past him to attack Cyrus before he could stop him. He flinched as Matthew hit the stones below, hearing his bones break. Aster stood not far from Cyrus, her black hair blowing behind her like a bridal veil. He felt it all the way up here – the terrible power. She stood with her hands on her hips, her legs planted far apart from each other, a cold, emotionless smile on her face. Cyrus roared with rage and terror, trying his best to move, but he was rooted to the spot like a statue. Aster looked up. “Come down.”
Declan – Part Two: He took her hand and dragged her into the air with him. He had a very bad feeling that she didn’t really want to go back to the battlefield, but no one there knew what had happened yet. “Do we really need to go back?” she asked, as if she could read his mind. “The battles is already over.” “How?” he asked. “When I killed the witch…something happened. The earth…shook. Everyone just stopped, so Rowan and I sent everyone home.” He frowned. “The earth shook? Literally?” “Like an earthquake.” “I didn’t feel anything.” “You were in the air, but Cyrus had to know. I don’t know why it happened.” “The force of her spells breaking maybe.” Aster let go of his hand, and just hovered in the air, looking at him with big eyes. “I don’t want to go back,” she finally admitted. “I know, my love, but we have to. If it’s too much for you, I can go by myself.” “No,” she said quickl
Aster: Declan kicked open the door of a random house, still cradling her close. He looked around the empty front room, then went upstairs. “There’s no one here,” he said. Aster hadn’t ask, and she didn’t care. All she felt was the guilt of the terrible thing she had done, and the loss of their people would haunt her forever, she was sure. Not just Lydia, as she came to learn, but Samuel, Lucy, Elizabeth, and God only knew how many others. If she hadn’t taken a little detour to the afterlife, none of them would have died. She would have gotten to Cyrus in time. It didn’t occur to her that it had to happen that way. That the witch absorbing her power was the only way to kill her. The only way they could finally get to Cyrus. Declan found a bedroom and lowered her to the floor before flicking on a light. Whomever lived here didn’t leave too long ago; there were no signs of abandonment. The place was neat and still clean, and she could sm
Declan: This wasn’t Declan’s first war, and it wouldn’t be his last. Every once in a while vampires would get in a strop and start killing each other. Maybe it was nature’s way of keeping their numbers down. This was the first war that easily killed half his family though, and he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. He lay on his side, staring at Aster, tracing the outline of her face with his fingers. Neither of them spoke, there was nothing to say. Words of comfort rang hollow, discussing the war so soon after it ended was too raw and excruciating, and he didn’t want to talk about his feelings. “I wish I could feel you,” he whispered. “Me too.” He gave her a tight smile and sighed. He didn’t know what hurt worse – the death of his family members, his mother and brother, or the broken bond. It all just blended together into one, big, brutal, open wound. For no reason, and without any conscious thought that he was about to d
Aster: Aster only had one thought running through her mind as she drifted off to sleep. I want him back. Even in her sleep, it was all she could think about, and as she slipped deeper into the darkness, she dreamed about Declan calling to her, telling her to come back to him. ** She hears him calling out to her. He’s somewhere out there in the darkness. “Come to me,” he pleads, “find me.” “Where are you?” she calls back. “I can’t see.” The place is too dark. The kind of darkness that grabs you and won’t let go. The kind of darkness she only experienced once before: in the in-between. “Aster!” Declan screams. “Find me. Come to me.” “I can’t see anything,” she sobs into the darkness. “Why can’t you come to me?” “I’m stuck. Please. Find me.” He sounds so desperately afraid. So lonely. In turn, Aster’s heart cries out to him. She wants to feel his strong, comforting arms around her.
Declan: Declan stood in the dark, overgrown garden, leaning against a tree, watching Aster where she lay flat on her back next to the stream, her hand dangling in the water. It had been two nights since the witch helped them reform their bond, but their connection wasn’t very strong yet. It was like a weak battery, waiting to be recharged, and he had no idea how long that would take. Still, all he could think about was her, which he took as a good sign. After a few minutes, he stepped out of the darkness and walked up to her, squatting by her side. “Hello, beautiful.” Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she gave him a dazzling smile. That smile soothed his aching heart more than she’d ever know. He leaned over and kissed her, feeling the spark trying to ignite the fire in his heart, but not quite getting there. “You still hate it inside the castle, huh?” “Yes,” she answered. “Too many ghosts.” “Don’t they just follow you?”
Aster:Aster strolled through the hotel, greeting the other vampires that not three weeks ago were so scared of her that they could barely look at her, but now finally treated her like family. Most of their allies had left, leaving the hotel mostly open, but the place was destroyed, because there had been simply too many people living in it.When they arrived in Slovakia, Declan asked her to take care of the humans, help as many of them get back home as she could, but a lot of them didn’t want to leave. Their homes weren’t destroyed; it wasn’t a war that was fought with bombs and guns, but many lost their families in vampire attacks. Others came to love their vampires masters, and simply refused to leave, even after their familiar oaths were broken.She walked from room to room, looking at the progress of the renovations and clean-up process. With a lot of the vampires gone, and because most of the humans were injured and traum
Declan: Declan gasped, and dropped his pen. Aster very quickly cycled from jealous to angry to a soul-crushing sadness that threatened to eat her alive. Their connection was growing stronger – it would probably have been completely restored by now if they could spend some time together, but the logistics of Maximillian’s estate and the vampire council occupied him non-stop. She wasn’t in any danger, and she didn’t call out to him. Sighing, he blocked her out and pulled more paperwork towards him. There were hundreds of requests from sheriffs and smaller families in need of help, and Lucas wanted to help all of them. Saw it as his sacred duty as the new head of the most powerful family in the region. Declan had to keep reminding his cousin that the only reason they became the most powerful family, was because Maximillian knew when to say yes and when to say no. Lucas needed a lot of mentoring, and with no elders around to guide him, Declan did