Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
The last thing that little girl saw was the beast in my childhood nightmares. Biting my lip to keep from crying, I choked out the words, “Rest now, Lucy Ming—”
“Druella!” Theseus grabbed my hand before I could destroy her and pulled me to him. “Listen to her first!”
“I will not!” I hollered at him. “She killed Magdalena! She drank from Magdalena! She was so little and so good—”
“Druella, listen!” He grabbed my shoulders. “You were upset with your coven not listening to you, not giving you a chance to explain. Do not do the same! Listen.”
I ground my teeth together in anger, and I looked back to Lucy, Taelon holding her hand.
“Talk then,” I spat out. “Did you kill her? Did you enjoy drinking from her? Explain, vampire, so that I’m not a hypocrite and can say I at least listened.”
Lucy stared at me, eyes wide, and exhaled. “I was…I…did drink from her. I did end up killing her, but—”
“You!” I screamed, but again, Theseus pulled me back. “Let go. What else do I have to hear? She admitted it!”
“Your witch was already dying!” Taelon hollered at me.
“What?” I shook my head. “You are lying. Why would Magdalena be dying?”
“What do you think attracts a Lesser Blood vampire? After your little demonstration, no other vampires wanted to come on your lands anymore. But Lucy did just a few minutes before sunrise, risking being burned by the sun! So many dangers, yet she went anyway. Why? Because she could not control herself! Why? Because the scent of blood was too strong!”
“Blood? Magdalena was bleeding? Why?”
“She was,” Lucy spoke up. “I was mad with blood lust. I barely remember what happened. But when I came upon her, she was already dying on the ground, covered in her own blood. I remembered because I-I knew I had to drink fast or she’d—”
“Shut up.” I shook my head because this didn’t make sense. “Maybe another vampire got there before you.”
She shook her head. “There was none—”
“Didn’t I say shut up?” I wanted to yell, but I didn’t have that type of strength. “Let’s say something was wrong, that she was hurt already. You still killed her. If not for you, we would have found her, healed her, saved her. So, I don’t get why you are telling me this. It doesn’t change anything. You are a murderer, and I am going to kill you.”
Taelon growled, stepping in front of Lucy, his nose flaring as he glared at me. Not that I cared. They were messing with me, confusing me. She killed Magdalena as I’d thought, and I wouldn’t let her get away with it.
“Druella,” Theseus said gently, stepping in front of me and blocking Lucy and Taelon from my gaze. He brushed my hair off my face. “I understand you are upset and want revenge. Nevertheless, keep listening.”
“I am listening, but nothing is changing.”
“Taelon, tell her the things you’ve told me. The things you’ve discovered,” Theseus ordered but still made me hold his gaze. It was so clear he was trying to get me to calm back down and relax again. I hated that it was working. When I was calm enough for him, he let go of my face and stepped out from in front of me.
I glared at Taelon, waiting. “Well?”
“It is my duty to keep records about our lands, mostly for the number of vampires and the number of mortals in them.”
“Okay?” Why did I care about his vampire job?
“Lately—well, not exactly lately for you as it has been a few decades now—I’ve been keeping track of the covens in our lands, how many Wiccan within a coven, the birth of new witches, their family history…things of that nature. And nothing stood out until almost three decades ago.”
“What happened?”
“The mortality rate of one coven started to spike,” he said, walking over to a desk at the end of the library. There, he pulled out a black leather ledger, worn so badly that the leather had started to rip and stretch in some parts. “Normally, we’d only see this type of spike during a witch trial or a witch hunt. But none were happening at this time. The deaths didn’t make sense. Do you know which coven I am talking about?”
I shrugged. “How would I know?”
“It’s the Omeron Coven,” he replied. “Out of nowhere, despite the fact that you all have almost no differences to any other coven, nor do you live nearer or farther from vampires, witches of your coven were dying.”
“Being murdered,” I corrected. “Our coven has been under attack by vampires for generations. It doesn’t really make for a long and happy life, especially when we are out trying to fight back.”
“Your coven called it vampire attacks, but I do not think it is true. Why would vampires only attack you more than other covens in surrounding areas? The Denholm Coven is only one hundred miles from your coven, which is barely a short run for a vampire, and yet they were not losing witches as you were. On the days your coven claimed attacks, not one other coven had an issue.”