I listened to his every word, and I wondered if any of what he was saying could ever be possible. Since meeting Finn for the first time, my life had spiraled out of control, sliding from moderate happiness into a black pit of despair. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to get my life back on track, especially after everything horrible I had seen and been forced to do.
I had been abducted by the Council, and again by Andrew. I had learned that my mother used her powers to bring me back to life before I was even born. I had killed my birth father on the rooftop of the compound, and lost my mother a second time, and for good. Lately, the bad in my life was outweighing the good.
But there is still good, even if there isn’t a lot of it…
Even though I had originally been taken to the compound against my will, I had made friends with Tanya, and Ezra, and Holly. Even though I had been abducted by Andrew to be used in his evil plans, Finn had risked his life to save me, and the two of us had bonded together because of it. And even though I wasn’t happy about my powers and probably never would be, I was training my powers so I could someday use them for good.
“Ronnie, I know you have a lot on your mind right now, but you are still bleeding. Badly. We need to get you inside so Tanya can take a look at you.” I nodded my head, but I couldn’t find the words to speak. So when Finn’s strong arms scooped me up and held me to his chest, I didn’t protest, even though I probably should have. I buried my face in Finn’s neck as he carried me into the compound and out of the rain. Finn and I would have to sit down soon and have a long talk, to just get everything out in the open.
*****
Tanya bent in close to examine the wound in the side of my neck, and she hissed in sympathy. When she pulled away, her bright, turquoise eyes peered into mine, and I could see the pity in them. I should have been sick of seeing so much pity, but I couldn’t bring myself to care right now. “I think the only reason you haven’t passed out from blood loss yet is because part of my healing magic was still lingering in your body from when I healed your other zombie bite.”
“Can you fix this or do I have to go to one of the healers here?”
“I think I can do it,” Tanya said. Her short, slender fingers began to glow with a blue light that matched the color of her pale wings. The magic in her hands caused my skin to tingle as she brushed against my chin, turning my head to the side so she could catch a better glimpse of the torn, bleeding wound. The slight movement caused the pain to flare up and I bit my lip to keep from whimpering as she probed the wound with her magic fingertips.
The skin around the wound began to cool as her magic transferred into me. Her lips began to move as she silently chanted a spell of some kind, and I closed my eyes as the bleeding stopped and the torn flesh began to knit together again. Once again, the healing process hurt almost as much as the original wound, but I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore most of the pain. It was over almost as soon as it began, and when I was healed, Tanya sat back with a satisfied smile on her face.
“You’re all better. It won’t even scar.” She sounded so proud of herself I reached over and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Thanks, Tanya,” I said, putting as much gratitude into my voice as possible. “You’re getting really good at controlling your magic. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to leave this place.”
She beamed at my compliment. “Ronnie, I’m not leaving this place until you can leave, too. As long as you, Holly, Finn, and Ezra are here, I’m here, too.” She wrapped her thin arms around me, hugging me with everything she had, like I was her best friend in the whole world. “And as long as you’re living this day to day nightmare, I’ll be here to support you in any way I can.”
I hugged her back tightly, suddenly overcome with emotion. I could feel the tears threatening to overwhelm me, and I fought to push them back. “Thank you, Tanya,” I said, pulling away so I could look at her. “Thank you for being such a good friend to me.”
“Ronnie, please don’t cry anymore. I just wanted you to know that we’re all here for you,” she said, looking upset over my tears. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, trying to dry my face. I had already cried enough tonight; I didn’t need to start crying again.
“I need to see the Council right away,” I said, trying to disentangle myself from Tanya’s thin arms. “I’m sure they’re waiting for me right now.”
Ezra moved up beside Tanya. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and put the other lightly on my shoulder. “Ronnie, maybe you should just rest for a bit and take it easy. You’ve been wounded and healed twice today. I’m surprised you’re still on your feet.”
“I need to get this matter taken care of. Now. I won’t live with the threat of Tabitha hanging over me any longer. One of us has got to go, and it won’t be me. I’ll get her location from the Council, I’ll track her down, and I’ll finish this for good. Once Tabitha is gone, everything can go back to the way it was before. The sooner this all ends the better it’ll be for everyone involved.”
Finn sighed. “She’s right. She needs to straighten everything out with the Council before things get worse.” He looked at me and frowned. “I’ll take you down there. Anything they have to say to you they can say in front of me.” Finn hadn’t said anything since he carried me in out of the rain, but his offer didn’t exactly come as a shock. I knew that there was little Finn wouldn’t do for me, and this wasn’t exactly new ground for us. He had accompanied me to the Council meeting room several times already. We knew the drill by now.
Finn stared at me until I nodded my head. “Thank you, Finn.” I met his pale blue eyes, hoping he realized how much I was really thanking him for. When he inclined his head ever so slightly, I knew he understood what I was really trying to say.
“Do you want us to come with you?” Holly asked.
I shook my head. “No, but thanks for offering. To be honest, I don’t know what will happen in there. I might snap and lose it, and I don’t want any of you to have to see that.”
“Just know that we’re all here for you,” Ezra said, pulling Tanya closer. She and Holly nodded in agreement, and I felt the strangest urge to hug each and every one of them. The hugs would have to wait though, because right now I had a date with Marcel and the rest of the Council. And this time, they were going to answer my questions or there would be hell to pay.
I followed Finn out into the hall, careful to avoid the stares of everyone around us. It seemed that once again I was being talked about, only this time it wasn’t because of what my mother had done. It was what had been done to my mother. I quickened my pace to keep up with Finn, hoping our fast walk would keep me from thinking too hard about my mother. As devastated as I was over what had happened tonight, I couldn’t afford to think about it right now. As usual, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
We reached the double doors leading to the Council room in no time, and Finn pushed them open and walked in without waiting for an invitation. Marcel was sitting in the middle of the table that was set up above our heads so the Council members could look down at whoever they were speaking with. Strangely enough, I briefly wondered if the three of them ever left their chairs for long. It seemed like they were always ready and waiting for me.
“Veronica, this Council is very sorry for the pain you’ve had to endure today,” Marcel said, folding his hands together on the table as he interrupted my observation. “We would understand if you needed to take some time and rest before we got down to business.”
I shook my head. “I’ll rest later. Right now, I need to know what’s being done to locate Tabitha. She attacked a preschool today; she’s getting far too bold. We have to find a way to end this before anyone gets hurt. Next time we might not be there to keep those little kids safe.” I looked Marcel in the eyes. “A plan of attack would be great.”
Marcel sighed. “I’m afraid we still don’t have enough information on your sister. We don’t know how many people she has working for her, and we don’
t know what her final plans may be. It would be far too dangerous to act rash now. We need more information.”
“How long will it take to get this information?” I asked, frowning. “She’s just a teenage girl. It’s not like she’s a hardened criminal with experience in evading capture.”
“Our problem is that she doesn’t stay in one place for very long, Veronica. I’m not sure if she’s using threats of violence or maybe coercion, but somehow she’s getting people to help her. Of course, she may just be using her age to fool people into thinking she’s harmless. We’ve had Andrew’s place under surveillance since his death, but we don’t believe she plans to return there, and we don’t know of any other places she could go.”
“So what’s our next move?” I asked tiredly. Both of the healings I’d had performed on me today added with the exhaustion of crying over my mother’s body were quickly sapping what was left of my strength. I knew it was only a matter of time before I crashed. The sooner we ended this Council meeting, the sooner I could just collapse into my warm bed and never wake up.
“We have two werewolves on her trail as we speak. They’ve been tracking her scent from the compound after she led your mother’s body here, but we are not sure if they’ll be able to locate her. If they find her, they are to return here and inform us. Then we’ll lead an attack on the place. If all goes according to plan, we’ll capture Tabitha and she will be brought back here to await judgment from the High Council.” Marcel sighed heavily, looking much older than he was in the process. “When she is found guilty of treason against her own kind, she will most likely be hung by the neck until dead, and her body will then be disposed of in an unmarked grave in the woods.”
Before I could stop it, the mental image of my baby sister hanging limp from the end of a noose flashed across my mind. I shuddered at the horrible picture in my head and tried to banish it before it could give me nightmares. With the knowledge that my mother was no longer here to look out for me, I figured the nightmares would be coming more and more frequently, and I would have nobody to watch over me and protect me.
“I can see this is upsetting you,” Marcel said quietly. “You don’t have to hear this if you don’t want to.”
“I already knew what would happen to her when she was caught. Tabitha knows it, too. She’s determined to finish her plans and come out on top. I don’t think the idea that she could possibly die has crossed her mind. I mean, I know she realizes it’s a possibility, but she honestly can’t envision a scenario where she doesn’t win. She’s getting cocky, and it might be her downfall.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, digging up my mother’s grave and using her against me was a personal attack. We already know she’s the necromancer we’re after. We already know what she’s capable of, and we already know part of her plan–causing chaos and exposing us. She’s finished that part of her plans and is moving into the final stages. This little attack was against me personally, and it didn’t have to take place. It was like a final fuck you that she wanted to give me. I think she’s trying to goad me into using the darker side of my powers, hoping it will somehow turn me evil. It was sloppy and careless of her, because now we have a trail to follow, and I don’t think she realized that would happen.”
Marcel nodded. “I see what you’re saying. This act doesn’t accomplish anything and it leaves her possibly open and vulnerable. Perhaps she isn’t as cunning as we originally thought if she was willing to jeopardize her hidden location just for a chance to get under your skin. If our wolves can locate her, we may have a chance to end this before things get even worse for all involved. For now, you need rest; you’re practically asleep on your feet. Go back to your room, and we’ll summon you if we learn anything in the next few hours.”
Chapter Sixteen
The graveyard was mostly dark, except for a patch of bright moonlight that highlighted the gravestones in the direct center of the barren patch of land. My hands brushed against the cool stone wall of an old, abandoned church, and without telling them to, my feet carried me over to where several figures were kneeling on the ground. They were looking at the dark dirt under their knees, and even though I couldn’t see their faces, I knew exactly who each of them was. The largest of them looked up at my approach, and Finn’s eyes widened in surprise.
There was a gag across his mouth and his hands were tied behind his back, but he tried to speak anyways. I crouched down beside him and brandished a knife in front of his face. He stopped trying to speak, but his pale blue eyes that were glowing in the moonlight softened. I reached out and slipped the gag out of his mouth, and he took a deep breath before speaking.
“Ronnie, please don’t do this. This isn’t you.”
I tilted my head to the side and smiled at him as sweetly as possible. “Of course this is me, Finn. I’ve finally come to my senses and realized what was best for me was right in front of my eyes all along.” Tabitha walked out a nearby patch of darkness and smirked as she took her place beside me. “And now I’m not alone.” I got to my feet and turned to Tabitha. “I’ve never tortured anyone before. How do we start?”
“The best torture will be forcing them to watch each other die, but we can have a little bit more fun than that,” Tabitha said, sliding a knife out of her sleeve. It was long and serrated, and I noticed flecks of dried blood encrusted on the handle. Tabitha saw me staring at her knife and she smiled. “The best tools are the ones that can be used over and over again. This one has seen quite a bit of action.”
My smile mirrored her own as I looked down at the people on their knees in front of me. “Now, who wants to go first? Any volunteers?” Tanya sniffed, and I looked at her. “Let’s start with the fairy. I think she’ll break first. Not to mention it’ll cause her disgrace of a boyfriend the most pain.”
Tabitha gripped Tanya’s thin arm hard enough to bruise and yanked her forward, sending her toppling to her stomach in the dirt. Tanya whimpered–whether in pain or fear I couldn’t tell; either way it excited me–and I crouched down beside Tanya. I shifted the knife in my hand, wishing mine was serrated like Tabitha’s was, and I gripped one of Tanya’s light blue wings that shimmered with the color of moonlight. Before she could even plead, I stuck the point of the knife through her wing, smiling as it tore like tissue paper.
Tanya screamed into her gag as I sawed away at her wing, ripping entire chunks away with my bare hands after making each incision. Tabitha set to work on Tanya’s other wing while Ezra, Finn, and Holly were forced to watch their friend be mutilated beyond repair. Ezra fought his bonds with everything he had, but he couldn’t break free to save her, and he was still struggling as Tabitha dug her knife into the skin of Tanya’s thigh. Her blood soaked through the fabric of her leggings, before spilling over into the dirt beneath her.
Tanya was struggling to breathe through the tears and the gag, so I took the gag off and waited for the begging to begin. She sucked down a deep lungful of air before turning her turquoise eyes on me. “Ronnie, why are you doing this to us? Please, we’re your friends!”
I laughed darkly, loving the effect I was having on her and the others. “Friends? I don’t need friends. I have power, and I have my baby sister. Together, the two of us are going to rule the world, and all who stand against us will be destroyed until there is nothing left but obedience. Starting with you!” I said, drawing the blade of my knife across her throat.
There was a split second where nothing happened. Then blood began gushing from the slit in her throat, and she started to gurgle. Her eyes rolled back into her head as Ezra screamed against the gag in his mouth. He and the others watched in horror as Tanya slumped forward into the dirt and didn’t move again. As she died, what was left of her wings began to turn gray and shrivel up, before blowing away like ash in the wind.
“Well, I had wanted to spend a little more time with her,” Tabitha said regretfully as she examined the bloody knife in her hand. “But I have to admit, that was pretty cool. Watch
ing her bleed out like that was fascinating, and I can’t wait to do it all over again.” She turned her head and looked at me. “Which of them should we do next?”
As the two of us deliberated over our next victim, Ezra screamed into his gag over and over again while Holly just sobbed quietly to herself. Ezra’s muffled cries for Tanya were the only sound in the graveyard and I listened to him whimper pitifully as he tried to convince himself that she was gone for good. I was thoroughly enjoying his pain and anguish, and I could tell Tabitha was as well. The two of us just stood in the darkness, reveling in my newfound power and energy. I could feel that evil energy coursing through my veins, filling me from head to toe with immense power.
Finn closed his eyes and turned his head away from us, refusing to even look at me. He didn’t want to see what I had become, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. After all, it was his fault that I had changed my allegiances, and he had to know it. If he didn’t, I was going to make sure he knew it before Tabitha and I left this graveyard. I put my hand under his chin, gripped it tightly, and yanked his head up until he and I were staring each other in the eyes. His eyes narrowed a little bit, but he didn’t try to look away from me like I thought he would.
“Poor Finn. It must suck having to sit here helpless while your friend is tortured and murdered in front of your eyes.” I took the metal blade of the knife and lightly pressed it against the muscle between his neck and shoulder. He hissed in pain as I drew the knife slowly across his neck, just deep enough to slice through the skin and reach the muscle. “You brought this on yourself, you know.”
“What is wrong with you?” he asked through clenched teeth. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing this because I can,” I said simply. “Is that reason enough for you, or would you like something a little more personal?” I asked him as snidely as I could manage. “How about I’m doing this because I was sick and tired of having my heart broken over and over again by a thankless, horny beast like you. I’m sick of having to watch you parade around with other women even though you knew how it made me feel!”
Dark Heritage Trilogy Page 35