Nikolai
We were running out of time. Today was the last day to get an abortion.
Malone had found a book a week ago that was filled with ways to open a portal to another dimension. It didn’t guarantee anything, there was no sure shot way to do that but Ava and him had taken it upon themselves to try out every single method. In the beginning, I helped them out enthusiastically but all I could offer was moral support. Malone told Ava what to do and she did so without any success. And as time went on, my hope diminished. And the more powers Ava used, the weaker she got. Those power suckers inside of her were taking up most of them and to use her own powers, Ava said it felt strenuous. I had a feeling that it had to be because of those spawns of Satan and their dislike towards anyone else who used those powers, even Ava herself.
After these sessions, Ava usually felt extremely tired so she ate something and drank blood before sleeping for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then she continued in the evening. It was excruciating to watch Ava hurt like this.
I looked at her. She had lost weight over all but her cheeks had sunken in considerably today. The glow on her face was gone. She looked tired and worn out.
My eyes slid down to her belly. My baby was in there-no babies. Two. Two of half me and half Ava. Made out of love. There was nothing more I want in the world than to be a father. And when I first realised she was pregnant, for a second-a split second, I was the happiest man in the world but then I remembered that these babies are going to kill my baby, my Ava.
And I love Ava more than anybody else in this entire universe.
As I concentrated on her belly, I heard the heartbeats. My heart squeezed as I heard the soft but firm beats.
How am I supposed to kill them? I felt like the worst person to want my own children dead.
But they will kill Ava if I don’t kill them.
I looked at her face. She looks so determined as she listened to whatever Malone was saying. She acted there was nothing wrong in the world, like this was a problem that we would solve easily and everything will be alright. But the fact was, everything was wrong and it broke my heart. How long will she live now? A month? A month and a half?
I’ll never be able to see her again. To hold her in my arms again.
Even that thought hurt me too much. No. I can’t live without her. I just can’t. It will be too painful. I need to find a way. I need to find a way to make sure that she lives. There has to be a way. And I’m going to do everything in my power to find it.
But what if I can’t?
I’m not living alone.
My eyes slid down to her belly again.
And then I made a decision. If I find a cure, then I’ll be the happiest man in the universe. But if I don’t, I will have to kill them. I know she will be mad at me, furious actually. But I had centuries to make it up to her. I’ll beg for forgiveness till the day I die. But having her angry at me was better than her not being here at all.
Ava mattered more to me. And she still had a lot to live for. We still had to kill Adrik. We had so much to experience together. She hasn’t even begun living her life. She can’t die.
And then I finally made my mind. Yes, this was the best plan of action. But I wasn’t going to tell her about this. She’d never agree. I know she wanted to have kids. She didn’t care about her life. She was selfless like that. And I’m the most selfish bastard to ever walk this planet because I was ready to kill my own kids for my happiness. And I was fine with it. I never claimed to be a good person. I knew I was a monster. And I was fine with Ava seeing who I really am if it meant that she’ll not have to close her eyes forever.
Yes. It’s decided.
“… you have to truly want it.” Malone finished and Ava nodded.
“So basically, I just need to find the strongest faye energy I can find in the universe, that feels like mine and it will be King Faelerns?” Ava asked.
“Yes,” Malone looked at the book in his hand and nodded, “and the fact that you have seen him will help. You need to imagine him, his presence and then teleport yourself to that location. I really have a good feeling about this one, Queen Avalyn. If this one doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.” Most of them needed spells and witch power so we had to brainstorm to come up with ways for Ava to use without the spells. This was the first one we came across that didn’t need spells.
“Okay,” Ava nodded and all of us stood up. Ava extended her hand, I took it and held on tight. The very first thing Malone told us was that there were infinite dimensions in the universe and we could easily get lost. And if we didn’t hold on to each other tightly, I could fall off somewhat in the middle and be lost forever. So making sure we stuck together was of utmost importance.
Ava closed her eyes and did her thing. We waited for ten long minutes as she concentrated, and as always, nothing happened. Her expression turned pain, as if it was physically hurting her to use her magic. And then she snapped her eyes open and let out a small breath of relief before falling back on her seat.
“You okay, Love?” I sat back besides her and caressed her back, pissed at those little power suckers.
“Yes, Nikolai,” Ava smiled tiredly. She never once complained. Especially not when the reason were those spawns of Satan.
“On to the next then.” Malone murmured in disappointment before he began reading the next way. He had almost reached the end of the book. Nothing had worked until now.
Ava leaned against me and I wrapped my arm around her and softly caressed her back. “Do you want to rest for some time?” She really needed rest.
“No. Let’s keep going,” she replied, disappointment heavy in her voice before she called out, “Eli. Hand.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Eliyah came forward and extended his hand, in front of her mouth already knowing what Ava meant. Ava bit into his wrist and drank his blood. Eliyah stood motionlessly, as if it wasn’t affecting him at all. The only expression on his face was of devotion and worry for Ava.
That gave me an epiphany.
After Ava was done drinking, she healed Eliyah as always before he stepped away.
“Everyone out,” I announced.
“I want to keep trying, Nikolai,” Ava protested.
“We are going to try again. You and I.” I answered. “Everyone else can leave.” I announced and the whole entourage of witches who were assisting Malone and helping us, along with the slaves left. I looked at Malone before he too bowed and left, leaving the whole living room balcony to us.
“Why did you ask them to leave?” Ava frowned.