No One Wins In War

  Growing up Harper had always thought her parents were polar opposites and often wondered what had brought them together even as an adult. Her father had always been the mean parent, the one who had her constantly working out, studying the history of Hunters, forcing her and Liam into a strict diet that striped them of a childhood. Her father's sole focus was on becoming a great Hunter and he forced that focus on to the twins even as children. But her mother, her mother was different.

  After long practices Harper's mother would draw a hot bath for the twins to relax their muscles, she would sneak cookies under their pillows before bedtime without their father's knowledge. When their father was out of the country on official business she would even dare to take Harper and Liam to the park where for a few hours they would forget the heavy duty placed on their young shoulders and act their age. Every great memory Harper had growing up was all thanks to her mother, she was her hero and best friend.

"No, you're w-wrong..." Harper whispered, her eyes filling with tears. Her mother wasn't violent, she wouldn't kill anyone. She was kind and loving, she wouldn't! "My mom couldn't have."

  Kiev snorted his disagreement. "You're mother didn't have a shred of kindness in her black heart."

  Clenching her hands into a fist Harper shook her head, memories of her mother's soft smile and loving eyes flashed through her mind. "You didn't know know her, she could never harm anyone. She wasn't like that."

  A menacing growl of annoyance ricocheted around the room as a cool, darkness creeped into the small room. Turning to glance at the dancing shadows on the wall Harper didn't notice the looming presence standing before her until she felt a hand roughly grip her chin and tilt her head upwards. Her eyes widened upon meeting the dark, gleaming crimson orbs that bore into her own. Fear curled around her as she noticed the darkness racing towards Kiev, wrapping around his body as they hissed at her. His fingers tightened on her skin as he lifted her chin higher, forcing her to stand on her knees while gripping the duvet closer to her body.

  His upper lip curled as he released a deep growl, revealing a set of sharp pearly teeth. "No, you don't know her. You don't know how she made it her mission to destroy my family."

  Gulping past the lump in her throat Harper couldn't find her voice to respond as the shadows engulfed Kiev making his handsome features unrecognizable beneath the shadow of hate. Trembling with fear Harper felt the tears glide down her cheeks but made no attempt to swipe the salty streaks away.

"Your mother knew how much mine wanted the war between our people to end. She knew how to manipulate my mom's hope for peace to her own advantage. So your mother slipped a secret invitation to mine during an all councils meeting claiming she wanted to discuss a treaty in private. It would allow both our people to coexist except that wasn't her intention at all. My father forbid her from going, he didn't trust your people and with good reason."

Her chest tightened as fear's cold fingers curled around her already hampering heart. Kiev slid forward and jerked her chin higher. Wincing at the pain Harper kept her tear filled gaze on his, stunned by the raw hatred burning in their pitch black depths.

"Unable to pass up the opportunity for peace my mother snuck out to meet yours. When she arrived at the location she wasn't met by someone willing to end a life long war, instead she was met by three shapeshifters." He hissed through clenched teeth. "It was a trap."

"Why would she do that?" Harper murmured, her voice a soft whisper.

In unison the shadows raced towards her bringing with them a bone chilling wind. They hissed all around her like snakes as they hovered inches away. Her breath hitched fearing the tentacle like shadows would lunge at her when Kiev continued in a tone filled with fury.

"Her intended target was my father but she could never reach him in combat and politics so she decided to take a more personal approach. Your mother decided to take away my father's soulmate, his other half and queen." He continued to retell the story lost in the memories of the past. "My father crumbled from the moment her body, or what was left of it was discovered. His physical appearance changed drastically, his mental statement was fragile, he wasn't himself anymore. You're mother set out to destroy him and she did, everyday he grew worse until one day when he realized he didn't have to."

Kiev fell silent, his gaze set on the top of her head but his mind was no longer in the present with her. His fingers pierced through the soft skin of her chin. A whimper slipped past her lips as she attempted in vain to slip out of his iron like grip.

"My father decided to seek vengeance for his queen. Without telling anyone of his plans he broke into the northern headquarters in search for your mother where he found her waiting for him in an empty practice room. She was waiting!" He spat the last word venomous.

"That's when he killed her." Harper choked out. Her throat burned with the emotions tumbling in her chest as the past and present collide together. "He looked me in the eye asking me, begging me to kill him."

"He was desperate!"

"For what?!" Harper shouted back.

"For death. For the pain to end." Kiev snarled, his gaze taking a hue of crimson.

  A eerie silence fell over the room as crimson gaze clashed with hard caramel. The tension between the two grieving victims of the war of their parents fueling the anger.

"Why not do himself than? Why did he ask me, beg me to end it?" Harper voiced the question that had been haunting her for years.

"He couldn't it's apart of the curse."

  Her brows furrowed in confusion and her lips parted in question when Kiev's agitated growl interrupted her. "Do you know nothing!"

  Flinching from the tone in his voice Harper felt his fingers dig further into her chin in an attempt to keep her still. The faint stench of blood tickled her nose as she felt a warm ness trickle down her jolted chin. Forgetting the duvet and the modesty she had hoped to keep Harper clawed at his hand that held her in place without explaintion. Oblivious to her pain Kiev shoved her backwards causing her to fall on to the bed on her back.

  Fighting back tears Harper swiped at the blood on her chin with the inside of her wrist. Anger and hurt coursing through her veins as she tilted her gaze up to met his.

"No one told me anything about that incident. I showed up to meet my mom for training and that's when I found your beast of a father standing over my mother with her own knife. Everything I know is what I saw with my own two eyes."

  Kiev's gaze darted to the inside of her wrist where the blood from her chin was smeared like the paint stroke of an artist.  A muscle in his jaw ticked as the shadows quietened down even as they circled their master, entwining themselves with his body. She thought she saw a flash of empathy in his eyes but wasn't certain, too relied up by the past and current pain she felt. She didn't care that he was calming down and realizing he had over reacted, she was livid! Her blood boiled in her veins as she stared up at Kiev with pure fury that caused her entire body to tremble.

"So why don't you tell me about this curse. This curse that had a full grown demon on his knees begging a terrified child who just lost her mother to end his damn life?!" Harper yelled, tears escaping past her full lashes and down her face.

    The red hue evaporated from his twin orbs as a midnight black cloud washed the anger from his gaze. His body -although still rigid- relaxed a bit as he released an exhausted sigh. With his gaze trained on her wrist Kiev lowered himself onto the bed bringing with him the icy cold shadows with him. He didn't speak as he sat on the edge of the bed, a far away look in his eyes. For a second Harper thought he wouldn't answer her and considered leaving him to mope alone when his emotionless voice pierced her thoughts.

"Demons are fated to have only one true love. Once we find our other half and officially mate under demon law the death of our soulmate has the power to kill us. I don't mean from sadness but from true heartache and the loss of half of our heart. Apart of the curse is that after suffering through losing your soulmate your health declines, mentally and physically. You began aging, barely feeding to sustain your body but you can't no matter how hard you try, you can't take your own life."

  Dying from a broken heart? Her brows pulled together recalling she had heard something similar that that in school but had assumed her teacher was pulling her leg. At the time and even now the idea of the death of someone you love killing you seemed a bit drastic but the look on Kiev's face was proof to the old 'curse'. 

"So, he wanted me to end it for him?"

  Nodding Kiev continued in the same flat tone. "He wanted it to be your mother but she refused the small act of mercy."

  A wave of nausea washed over her as images of her mother's bloody body flashed in her mind. Is that why her mother had told her not to do it? A seed of doubt flourished in her mind as she took in Kiev's words and what little she knew already. The gaps she had tried to fill in her memory were beginning to be filled and along with the answers she craved came a terrifying truth. Could her mother have been that cruel? To plan such a vicious attack and possibly drag Harper into it?

  No. That wasn't who her mother was. She was the woman who comforted her at night after a long day, the one who kissed her goodnight each night, the same woman who would stand up for her when her father called her out for her lack of enthusiasm for the Hunter community. She's also the one who pulled you out of class for a one on one training out of the blue.

  A cold shiver of fear skittered down her spine as she recalled her mother informing her to skip history class and meet her in the west wing study room. At the time Harper was relieved to get a break from studying and all these years she had assumed she had stumbled upon an attack but now.

  She was waiting for him.

  Kiev's words repeated in her head, taunting her for never questioning her involvement in that day. She had always thought it to be a coincidence but what Kiev was saying made sense.

"How do you know all of this?" She asked him.

  Squeezing his eyes shut he swallowed hard as a look of pain crossed his features. "The witches questioned my father before his sentencing where he told them everything."

If the witches knew than her mother had done nothing wrong otherwise the Hunters would have been punished for her recklessness. Did Kiev lie or was his explanation from the point of view of a grieving man who missed his parents?

"Your mother orchestrated the whole attack by the rules, leaving barely any evidence behind other than my father's word against hers. The only reason the witches had mercy on your people was because of you."

"Me?" Harper questioned wondering what she could have possibly done to spare the Hunters from the merciless wrath of the witches.

"The witches were shaken by your state of terror and shock. For such a young child to witness the dirtiness of a war from decades ago was wrong to them so they had mercy on the Hunters because they had pity for you."

  The shadows trembled as a soft hissing sound filled the room. Entranced by the swirling of the cold darkness between them Harper watched as the room was engulfed in a pitch black cloud and a chilly mist. The shadows entwined themselves around the bed, their icy tentacles grazing her bare ankle. Suppressing a shiver she twisted around stunned as she found herself completely submerged in darkness. She could still feel the mattress beneath her indicating they hadn't left her apartment but nothing else was familiar or rather nothing else could be seen.

Everywhere she turned was darkness and Kiev's haunted face. Reaching a tentative hand out her fingers grazed the shadows causing the cool darkness to pull away from her touch with a soft hiss. Kiev shuddered as if she had touched him and snapped his eyes open revealing his tear filled gaze.

A part of her yearned to trace the contours of his sober features and swipe her fingers across his slightly wet lower lashes. Her fingers twitched to do just that. No, it isn't time for that. Reeling in her wayward emotions Harper placed her hand on her lap in an attempt to keep her distance. Beyond his tears was the darkest emotion she had ever seen, the pure loathing towards the Hunters and possibility her as well.

  "My mother's sins are not mine." Harper found herself speaking out loud.

  A sharp pain jolted through her chest, the familiar aching in her chest returning with full force. With a grimace she gently rubbed the area beneath her collar bone unaware the shadows had slowly crept towards her, circling around her form but not daring to touch her directly.

"No, they're not." Kiev replied. The cold, detached tone he used sent a shiver to skitter down her spine.

Dropping her hand back on her lap Harper tilted her head up finding his gaze trained on her face. Sliding forward he lifted a single finger up to her tear streaked cheek and down along her jaw, pausing by her chin. A voice in her head screamed for her to pull away, the huntress within her sensing danger as he softly grazed his index finger back up her face. Searching his face for a hint at what he was thinking Harper found herself just as puzzled by his impassive expression and steel black eyes that guarded any emotions.

"You have her face though, her blood." He whispered softly.

The voice grew louder, screeching for her to get as far away from Kiev as possible. That would have been the sensible thing to do but Harper couldn't separate common sense from pure stupidity . Her hurt sunk as her saucer like eyes took in his dazed expression. She would have loved to say she wasn't scared as Kiev stroked her faze but that would be a lie. She was scared, petrified even.

  Kiev never answered her before on whether he was planning on killing her and with him sitting before her with all these shadows surrounding her Harper was wondering if that moment was now.

"How can you be so much like them yet not?" He mumbled.

  Intending to respond Harper's lips parted just as the pad of his thumb rubbed across her bottom lip. Her mind was wiped clear of any words as Kiev placed his hand on her neck. His long, sun kissed skin splayed across her erratic heart beat.

"We could end it all right now."

  A shuddered breath escaped her lips echoing the hallow throbbing in her chest. She wanted to say that his words didn't affect her the way they did. She wished her shoulders didn't tremble as she struggled to hold back a sob. Wished her eyes didn't blur with hot tears as she watched with a heavy heart as Kiev considered the thought.

   Deep in his stone cold eyes revealed the inner turmoil beneath his freakishly, calm mask. She could just barely make out the two sides of the argument, watching helplessly as he contemplated between both options. His fingers flexed over her throbbing pulse and in that moment as her eyes fluttered closed Harper realized just how much of her heart she invested in him. Only in those few seconds did she really acknowledge her feelings for Kiev were further along than she thought.

  His thumb traced the contour of her lips, the bed groaning under his weight as he shifted closer. Fear sliced through her as those same strong fingers that had only minutes ago been pleasuring her were now tightening around her throat. As reality sank in Harper found her eye lids slowly reopening in one last rebellious act.

  Face to face with Kiev she dared to tilt her head upwards causing his grip to tighten further as their gazes clashed. Her soft caramel eyes shimmering with tears, his pitch black orbs concealing any indication of any genuine emotion. His eyes widened as she kept her stare trained in him, his jaw clenching in annoyance.

"Close your eyes." He demanded in a threatening hiss.

  Shaking her head Harper felt the warmth of the bands as they came to life. The silky heat slowly increasing as they tightened across her entire body.

"Close them." He repeated louder causing the bands to unexpected squeeze around her bare skin.

  A gasp of shock tumbled from her lips as a lava like ribbon wrapped around her neck beneath his steel like grip. Her hands lifted to reveal some of the pressure but halted just as her fingers grazed his wrist. Dropping both arms back to her side Harper decide she wouldn't struggle against him but she wouldn't make it easy either.

"If you're going to kill me then do it while you look me in the eye." She managed to sputter out against the pressure around her throat.

  His lips curled above his teeth in a vicious snarl that shook her to the core. "Close them!"

"No."

  Darkness began to circle her vision as her lungs burned with the need for oxygen. Curling her hands into a fist she fought her natural instinct to fight back and cowering to his command. If this was her last moment she'd make it memorable for Kiev.

  After her body is found she wanted him to remember this. Long after she was placed in the ground -if her father could find an ounce if empathy to actually bury her- she wanted Kiev to have this moment seared into his brain. For the image of the life draining from her eyes to haunt him. To hurt him every time he closed his eyes the way he was hurting her. That would be her revenge.

"I'll do it." Kiev seethed. He leant forward, pressing his forehead to hers.

   The darkness screeched after him, echoing his threat. Between her head spinning from lack of oxygen and the struggle to resist the urge to fight for her life Harper didn't respond or rather she couldn't. Her vision blurred as the dry burning of her lungs grew as did the searing burning of the bands across her flushed skin. Everything hurt from her head to her toes but above all the burning sensation Harper could feel the piercing pain in her chest as Kiev's fingers enclosed around her throat adding to the strangling feeling from the ribbon of heat around her neck.

Despite her best efforts a broken sob bubbled from her lips. He was actually going to do it. The tears she had tried to keep at bay were too much to handle while her heart broke in half and the salty drops were gliding across her trembling lips and down his hand. A cold tingling sensation washed over her causing her limbs to go limp as a heaviness settled over her body. This is it.

"Close your fücking eyes!"

Kiev's thunderous voice was drowned out by the sound of her frantic heart thudding in her ears. Her lids slowly began to close as her head lolled to the side but she fought to keep her hooded gaze on Kiev's. The bands scorched unbearably against her skin, the stench of burning flesh surrounding her. It was all too much to bear even as she screamed in her mind to remain strong in her final seconds she found her body disobeying her last request as the pain overtook her sense pride. Her lids felt like thick lead as they ever so slowly closed despite her best efforts to stop them. Her head drooped against the solid hand cradling her cheek in wordless defeat.

Despite her reluctance to give in her body could handle no more and she loathed it. She loathed how she had leaned against him for support as his fingers stroked her tear streaked cheek or how her fingers had found his knees and subconsciously clawed at his skin in a feeble attempt to stop him. Exhausted from fighting Harper willingly closed her eyes completely accepting she would get no revenge from the man who had no trouble kissing her one second and then strangling her the next. This was partly her fault, she allowed him a small opening and he slipped through. She should have been more careful around him with her and her heart.

"Harper."

The soft whisper of her name barely reached her ears as she remained still and tried to figure when she had lowered her guard and permitted this to happen. She regretted it, regretted giving him a chance to do this to her. To make her a victim of this ridiculous blood war.

"Harper, open your eyes."

The voice grew louder and urgent. For a sliver of a second the bands dispersed and returned with a warm and looser fit. Despite the command Harper couldn't for the life of her open her eyes not that she would have if she could have. Although the scorching heat had drastically lessened the dull ache hadn't left her body. Her body still under a numb cloud that had her body pinned against his as if a weight were on her. Her mind was a mucky mess of what ifs to understand the hand around her throat was now gripping her shoulder, gently shaking her limp figure. The throbbing heartache didn't lessen nor did the dry burning of her lungs as she struggled to draw in a much needed breath.

Her name was repeated again, this time the voice sounded far away and more frantic. Harper felt hands gripping her arms, another pair turning her head but it didn't feel like her body. The darkness engulfed her in its warm welcoming arms beckoning her to submit to unconsciousness and she wasn't putting up much of a fight. She was too exhausted to fight anymore, not now to stay awake or against the hands that shook her limp figure. She didn't want to fight anymore. With that thought Harper allowed herself to fall into the warmth of the darkness and let go of reality even as a voice yelled for her to hold on.

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Hey guys I know I said I'd upload sooner but I'm not going to lie to you this chapter was hard to write. The emotions were overwhelming and I have to admit I cried a lot, like ALOT!!! I didn't intend for this chapter to end like this but the characters seemed to have led the way and I followed them.

I'm excited to see/read what you guys have to say!!