Page 99 of Blood Moon
Abba smiled. “Good. Now, one more peep, and I will sic them on you, and they will rip you apart.”
I beheld the cloaks, sharp teeth on display.
“Mirabella Anise Owens, you are here on behalf of the sins of your ancestors. Hundreds of years ago, on the night of a Blood Moon, your people deceived us, leading the Elites to us. Because of it, Blood Lycans were murdered and wounded, even after the vampires had sworn to fight with us to the very end. Do you know what it’s like to have someone go back on their word?” Indubitably. He stood two feet away from her.
I groaned. “What are you talking about?” I begged, my voice weak, scratching at my throat.
“Enough with the parody, Mira. You must know that you are the last known living descendant of the vampires that turned their backs on the Blood Lycans. We can smell it all over you. Not only will you pay for the sins of your ancestors, but you will pay for the sins of your mother.”
I frowned, pissed. More data was revealed. A history I knew nothing of. Another reason they detested me. All of them had originated from vampires who caused mass destruction and chaos to these lands, but so did I. The caveat being that my bloodline stemmed from the specific coven that betrayed the Blood Lycans. My mother descended from those who promised to keep the peace after the treaty. What a hand to be dealt.
“Unless …”Abba paused, waving her hands dramatically, the dagger catching the crimson light of the moon. “… you can tell us where she is.” A pearly white smile appeared as she waited.
“I haven’t seen her in years.”
The smile vanished. “Well, that is just too bad,” she said, and I laughed, the sound wretched and rolling from my belly like a boil. I laughed and cried, hiccupping at the cruel gag that was my life. All the answers I’d begged for were here, unfurling before me, and I was dying for it.
What a sadistic game.
Abba shouted, dismayed by my reaction. “Do you think my sister’s death was a joke? Fourteen years ago, Elena set out to find your mother. To kill her to pay for what her family had done. Instead, she found you.” Abba glowered, pointing the dagger at me. “Do you know how rare dhampirs are? They come around once every thousand centuries, and each time they wreak mass destruction and havoc—something you’ve already done. You are a monstrosity,” she said, and I bit down, wishing I were the monster she said I was. Because if I were, we’d be standing in ruins.
Abba sighed, as if bored by her own story, and she eased the dagger to her side. “Thus, when Elena found you, she resolved to slay you both. Two birds, one stone, they say. Only, she wanted to kill you first, Mirabella. You couldn’t have been more than four or five, a feeble thing. But Elena wanted your mother to feel what it was like to lose everything. To suffer how we suffered. You haven’t the slightest idea how many of your people killed us in the dead of night. Dozens gone in the blink of an eye, and for what cause? To return to the Elites? To be more powerful, perhaps? And now, here we are, more than a decade after Elena’s passing, finally finishing the job she started.” She grinned manically. “It is strange how life takes a turn, isn’t it?”
Rena killed Elena to protect me. That was why she wanted me hidden, because of who I was, because of the price on our heads.
I choked on tears until Abba snickered at the sight of me. I leaned forward, spat. It landed right before her shoe. She growled and launched toward me with sheer rage in her eyes.
At this, Julian glanced up, looking at me for the first time. He moved forward, a breath from Abba, and I watched him whisper something. It was insistent enough to hinder her.
She folded by two steps. Straightened her stance, chin tilted high. Then Abba turned to Julian. “Come now, my son.” She extended a hand, and he took it, cloak falling to the ground. Abba kissed him on his forehead and placed the dagger in his hand. “Blood for blood,” she whispered. Then she repeated, said it louder. “Blood for blood!”
Julian gripped the dagger, but his focus was on her. He was commendable in a way. Soulless, black eyes appraised Abba. Shoulders set back. Head held high. Destined Alpha. A midnight prince. Perhaps, by sunup, he’d be their new leader.
Abba approached the altar, picked up the chalice, and raised it above her head. “Blood for blood,” she said, and she took a sip before passing it to everyone down the line.
They partook, wiping their mouths on a delicate ivory handkerchief offered by Abba. Julian was the last to sip from the chalice before Abba turned to me. The Blood Lycans glowered with red eyes, lingering on every move she made.
“You will drink the blood blessed by our ancestors,” she said adamantly, and she held the cup to my lips, plugged my nose. I was forced to finish it. The blood thick and salty like the sea. It slid down my throat, cold and sludge-like, igniting a flame behind my ribs, filling a hidden place beneath my skin, beneath my bone.
Blood dripped from my lips, down my chin, and splattered onto the white gown I wore. She didn’t offer me the handkerchief like she’d offered everyone else. Instead, she set the emptied chalice on the altar and beheld Julian.
A transferal of something happened then. All at once, my vision became clearer. My heart thumped at a rate that seemed lethal. A tingling skittered through my marrow, making me cold and hot. Fingers bent as I warped in an unforgiving pain.
“Your mother killed my sister like the undead thing that she is,” Abba started, and I screamed, my own voice shocking me.
“She was protecting me!” I cried. “I was a child!” Faces filled with shock as they stared. Heads moving left to right, murmuring. This time, when I jolted and moved, I heard a tear. Leather ripped.
“Kill her!” someone shouted.
Abba stomped a foot. “I have it under control!” She faced me. “Let me finish!” She insisted, spit spraying from her mouth. “I willnotbe made to look like a fool.”
My only want was to scream, to protest as they made a mockery of me. As they crucified me.
“Your mother will come running!” she yelled, and I recoiled, wondering if she was already on her way. Could she be? Did she know? “When she receives the news that herbête noirehas died. She’ll fall straight into our trap. How do you think you got accepted into Lakeland University in the first place?” Abba roared in laughter. “It was almosttooeasy. Making a deal with a Fullblood, the dean of students. Sending you an acceptance letter with a scholarship amount that was too good to be true, watching you arrive on campus with your worthless human father. Truly, I could do that in my sleep.”
At the mention of Bobby, I gritted my teeth, pulling, pulling, until something split. No one …nothingwould hurt him.
Abba continued her monologue. “I am just thrilled we were able to get to you before the werewolves did. Noticeably, they have their own set of plans—sloppy, albeit—with some of their newborns losing control in the city. You’d think they’d know how to handle a full moon by now.Amateurs,” she said beneath her breath. “But that’s a concern we’ll deal with on a different day, one you’ll no longer be around for.”
