Fractures of Eternity

The moment the building collapsed, Loki bolted towards Oswald before picking him up in his arms, and I grabbed onto Zephier. Emma and Zoe ran over to where we were, as glass shards had cut into the witches as well.

They were too close to the clothing store when the windows blew out. Luckily, their injuries weren’t life-threatening. Either way, it appeared like they cared little about them while they rushed toward us.

"Oswald!" Emma called out to the unconscious prince, who showed no signs of waking up.

Probably a slight concussion. Crap! Why is this happening now, out of all the times?!

"Vivian? Are you okay?" Zoe asked.

Shaking my head, I locked my eyes on the blue light that consumed the store. The only thing that snapped my eyes away from it was Loki's voice.

"We have to run now!" he ordered, as I quickly turned away from there before bolting out of there.

There was no doubt in my mind that a soul cairn gate had opened there. It was normal for them to spawn in our world randomly, but it was never this sudden. With the technology Loki’s grandmother made, we always had a buffer zone between the alarm and the gate slamming open.

Loki probably could have flown away if he wanted, but he wouldn’t leave us behind. After running a couple of meters away from the origin of the chaos, we found ourselves in a small plaza where he handed Oz to Emma.

“Take care of him.” He breathed as she pulled up the sleeping warlock into her lap before pressing a cloth onto the injury in his head.

“Oh… I know you’re a pain in the ass, but this…” Her voice trembled as she bit her lip.

A soft sigh left the vampire’s lips before he gazed at Eli, who nodded at some unspoken words before growing a few sizes and coiling around us protectively. Stepping away from his brother, Loki turned his gaze towards where the chaos had erupted.

Huh?! You can’t seriously… No!

Instinctively, I launched myself at him, gripping onto his shirt, preventing him from going as people ran by us screaming.

"You can’t go there! Please, let’s just keep going!" I declared, burying my face into his chest.

No matter what, you can’t go back there! You just can’t! I can’t protect you from things I can’t kill!

More screams filled our space when the sound of buildings cracking also traveled through the air.

No! This isn’t supposed to be the way you die! I can’t allow you to go there!

“Vivi… I have to—” He started as I shook my head.

"No! Cerberus officers will come here soon enough! There isn’t a need for you to play hero!" My voice quivered, holding onto him dearly.

It wasn’t long until he embraced me back as I trembled in his arms.

"Hey, I’ll be fine. I’m a lot stronger than I appear, and I can’t let all these people die, sweetheart." Loki breathed as I clung to him tightly.

No one else matters! Only you and Oswald are what’s important here! Everyone else can die for all I care!

"No! You can’t go!" I stood my ground, prompting another sigh to leave his lips.

You don’t even drink enough blood to fight these monsters! You can’t!

I couldn’t count the number of times that came up in arguments with Asher. This vampire barely tasted blood, and without it, his true magic was dormant.

"Hey, I promise it’ll be over before you know it, Vivi," Loki assured me.

Are you insane?! You can’t go! You won’t stand a chance! They’ll…

He was blissfully unaware of the danger, but then again, he wouldn’t have cared even if he knew. Unlike me, his soul was purer than the sky above us. Even though he showed no pity to those who fought him, he wouldn’t stand by while innocent people got hurt—something I couldn’t understand.

"No, you can’t leave me!" I pleaded, voice breaking.

My gentle vampire drew me up to face him as his eyes were full of an emotion that eluded me before he closed them, leaning into me. My eyes widened when our lips met briefly before he drew away, smiling.

"I’m not going anywhere for long, Vivi, and I’m not leaving you, ever," Loki promised, cheeks rosy.

Eh… What’s…

I didn’t know what my expression was, but his wings were covering us from the prying eyes that surrounded us.

“Adorable,” He breathed, cupping my cheeks in his palms before closing the gap between us again.

This time, though, his tongue licked my lips as if he were asking for permission to enter. Without even realizing it, I opened my mouth, allowing him to find my soft, spongy muscle. In an instant, everything around us melted away, leaving us basking in each other.

My mind could barely comprehend what was happening, giving in to the warmth that was surging within me.

Ah… I can’t. This feels too good for it to be bad.

Grabbing onto the back of my head, he pressed against my tongue as mine quickly tangoes with his. Saliva dripped down my chin as I couldn’t tug away from him, wishing for much more. A soft groan left his lips as I pressed on while my grip loosened on his shirt, losing myself in our kiss.

A little more… Just a moment more… Please, don’t leave me. Please!

Screams, though, caused Loki to draw away from me slightly, allowing a string of saliva to connect us. His cheeks were rosy, slanting in again to lick the string that connected us. For a moment, I wore my heart in my throat as words suddenly were so hard to come by.

“L-Loki,” I mumbled, shaking where I stood as a gentle smile crept onto his lips.

“Sorry, love.” He breathed, shoving me into Zoe, who was standing behind me, unaware of what we were doing, thanks to his wings.

When I caught myself, I turned around to see that he was gone. I felt my heart snap into two as Eli, the size of a small house, stayed behind, coiling protectively around us. Zoe helped me find my footing, as my emotions were a complete mess.

My lips burned hotter than ever before as I stood there struggling to catch up. Luckily, it didn’t take long for me to realize Loki did that to catch me off guard so he could leave, leaving me scorched.

Argh! You stupid vampire! Why?!

It was a struggle to move past the feeling the kiss had left me with, as I was tingling all over and was barely able to get my thoughts straight. I gazed to the side when Zoe spoke to me, but it was all incoherent for me while I held Zephier’s tiny body in my hands.

Oswald was in Emma's arms while she wiped the blood off his face with another cloth. Luckily, he didn’t crack his head as the bleeding was coming from his broken skin. His chest was also rising and falling, which only left me to wonder how long Loki’s would.

"He’s breathing." Emma's voice trembled.

But for how long…