Isidor’s voice faded into that of a child’s – a giggling child. I looked around and I was in the Murka Tunnels again, and I could see through the fog this time. It was as if it wasn’t there. I saw Luke run past me and as he did, he sent me flying against the wall. He didn’t look back. He was so intent on finding Coanda – the last person who stood in his way. The person who had raised a resistance against him, the resistance that was now circling the Light House and battling his army.

Seeking out Coanda in the murky gloom, Luke wasted no time in removing Coanda’s heart. Then, once dead, Luke dipped his forefinger into the hole in Coanda’s chest and inscribed the message above the wall. Luke knew I could hear the Elders, but fearing I might believe them to be the ghosts of the insane that were rumoured to be blindly wandering the tunnels, he had to make sure I followed them as they would lead me – him – to the Dust Palace.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

With those flashes of light fading like lightning during a summer storm, I pulled my lips from Luke – Elias Munn – and stared into his eyes.

“I saw it all,” I whispered. “I saw everything. But how come I didn’t see it before – how come I didn’t see you?”

Still holding me close, Elias Munn, for that was his real name, smiled at me and said, “The problem with you, Kiera, was you were only ever interested in what you could see at your feet. You were always looking for the smallest of clues on the ground, but you never looked up, you never saw the big picture. That was your mistake.”

Looking into his eyes, I said, “And your mistake was Potter. You never saw him – me and him together. He stopped me from falling in love with you. Just like my mother said, Potter got in the way.”

“But now he is dead,” Elias smiled, “and we are alive.”

“I’d rather be dead,” I told him.

“Kiera, you are meant to see things,” he said. “You’re meant to be a visionary, so why can’t you see what it is that I have to offer you?”

Squirming from his hold, I looked at him and said, “I can see, alright. I know what it is that you have to offer me. A lifetime of war, bloodshed, and heartache.”

“There you go again,” he half-smiled at me as if I were a child who just didn’t understand. “I could give you the world, Kiera. You have it in your power to destroy the human race and let the Vampyrus live above ground – to create a kingdom. You can decide right now, Kiera.”

“And what sort of kingdom will you rule over?” I spat. “A kingdom where you murder and kill those who don’t believe in your twisted view of freedom? That isn’t a kingdom, that’s a dictatorship and I can’t be a part of that.”

“And if you chose the human race over the Vampyrus, then you become what you most despise – a killer!” he barked at me. “If you let the humans live, they will only continue to fight amongst themselves, destroy the planet and in turn, us!”

“You are no different from them. Look what you have done!” I yelled at him. “You’ve started a war. You’ve turned your own kind against each other. You’re destroying the world that you live in. Your army is raging war over the Light House, the very thing that brings light to your world. Humans and Vampyrus are not so different. They just need to learn to accept each other.”

“There you go again,” he roared, and I could see anger and hate for me in his eyes. “You just don’t see it! If only you could find it in your heart to love me, Kiera, then I could take the decision away from you. It would become my burden. It would be me who would have to carry the guilt of killing the entire human race.” Then reaching out and stroking my face, he added, “Let me show you how much I love you, Kiera, let me make that decision for you. I can feel your anguish and unhappiness at the thought of making your choice. I can take that from you – relieve your pain.”

I slapped his hand away, and hissed, “The only pain I feel is the heartache for the deaths of my friends Murphy, Kayla, Isidor and the man I was in love with, Potter. You wouldn’t feel any pain at the thought of destroying the humans – you hate them because one of them rejected you. That’s what this whole thing is about. It’s about your pain – the pain you felt when your lover turned away from you. And the saddest thing of all is that you are hurting more than anyone because you have never known what it is like to truly be in love.”

“But I loved her!” Elias roared, remembering how he had been rejected.

“If you had loved her, you would’ve set her free to find true happiness with someone else. But instead, you ripped out her heart and ate it so she could never give it to another.” Then, stepping close to him, I looked into his eyes, and added, “I see you, Elias Munn. I see into your heart and pity you, because you will never know happiness.”

I had nothing more to say to him, and I knew in my heart the choice I was going to make. So, staring up at the Elders, I said, “I’m ready.”

But before the Elders spoke again in their childlike way, Seth roared, “Kiera, behind you!”

Then, as if time had slowed down, I spun around to see Elias Munn lunging through the air at me. With my claws before me, I punched my fist into Elias Munn’s chest and curled my fingers around his heart. With it pumping in my hand, his mouth dropped open and he looked down at the blood that was now pumping from him.

“Kiera,” he gasped, raising his head to look into my eyes. Then, his body began to shake as it distorted before me. His face changed shape, and it was as if someone else was looking back at me as I gripped his heart. Elias Munn’s hair turned blond, brown, and grey. He had blue eyes, then brown, hazel, green. His face changed shape, plump, thin, long. He suddenly had a beard, a moustache and then a goatee. And as he changed in front of me, I knew I was witnessing the many guises that he had taken over the hundreds of years he had lived. Then at last, he looked like Luke, just as he had when I saw him for the first time, dripping with rain in the front office of the police station in The Ragged Cove. That boyish look, with his glistening green eyes, chiselled jawline and jet black hair. But it had just been a mask.

“I love you, Kiera,” he breathed, and just for the briefest of moments, I thought I saw him smile.

Remembering what I had seen, how he had murdered Kayla and Isidor, and knowing that Potter lay dead at my feet, I ripped Luke’s heart from his chest and said, “I know.”

I watched him drop to the floor, his chest soaked black with blood, and I knew that in a sad way, he had loved me. Dropping his heart, I turned back to face the Elders.

“How do you choose?” one of them asked, and it was the one who sounded like a six-year-old girl.

Before answering, my mother came forward and threw herself at my feet. “Please, Kiera, choose the Vampyrus, I don’t want to die.”

I tried to kick her away, I didn’t want her near me, I couldn’t bear to feel her touch. But she gripped hold of my leg and began to sob.

“Please, Kiera, don’t let me die,” she wailed. “You wouldn’t let your mother die…”

Gently, I prised her fingers free of my leg, and holding her face in my hands, I whispered, “My mother is already dead.”

Snivelling, she crawled away towards Jack Seth who stood nearby. And even by his own murderous standards, he must have been sickened by her, as he moved away. I looked at him, and he stared at me with those yellow eyes.

“You might want to get out of here,” I told him.

Shrugging his scrawny shoulders, he flashed his broken teeth at me and said, “Doesn’t bother me which way you choose, I ain’t human and I’m definitely not a Vampyrus.” Then chuckling to himself, he added, “I didn’t ever think I’d see the day when I was grateful for being a werewolf! No, knock yourself out, you make your decision. I’m gonna hang around for a while, me and the Elders have some unfinished business.”

I looked one last time at Potter as he lay dead at my feet, and with tears in my eyes, I smiled at him and whispered, “I love you, Potter.” Then, raising my head, I stared at the hooded Elders and said, “I refuse to choose.”

“Oh, Kiera,” the boy said. “You must choose – it is the path that you were born to take.”

“I won’t do it,” I said flatly. “I will not decide.”

“But you must,” one of them giggled, “Even though Elias Munn is dead, his armies will still invade above ground. Munn will soon be replaced by another.”

“I’ll help them to find peace,” I said, refusing to budge.

“But, Kiera, that has been tried before,” the girl said. “That is why you were chosen, a half and half of both species to finally choose which race would live and which would die. A half-breed would understand.”

“Choose the Vampyrus,” I heard my mother whimper from the corner.

Ignoring her, I continued. “I will not be responsible for destroying an entire race of people.”

“But by refusing to make a choice, you are destroying two races,” one of them giggled again. “The Vampyrus are already creeping from the sewers, flooding the subways, and the crater is complete. Thousands are poised to attack above ground in moments. You must choose now, Kiera. Now!”

Then, looking at them, I said, “I’d rather die!”

“You can’t die,” one of the Elders mused. “Who is going to kill you?”

Turning my back on them, I slowly crossed the chamber and headed towards Jack Seth. His eyes met mine, and I stared straight back into them. They spun the brightest of yellows as if on fire. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and breathing into his ear, I whispered, “I’m all yours, Jack Seth.” Knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop himself once I had offered myself to him, I stared one last time into his crazy eyes and said, “Kill me!”

I heard a howl of murderous passion, felt razor sharp teeth sink into me, and then everything went black.