Page 97 of Our Little Monster
A jolt of betrayal pierced me sharper than any blow. Not them. The very thought constricted my chest like a vice. They were the reason the vampires knew where we were that day…
The moments I shared with each of them, moments I cherished, places that meant something to me, soured into poison in my veins.
“You’re lying,” I managed, though the certainty in my heart wavered. I didn’t want to believe it, but it made sense. Victor had been controlling them for a time… it wasn’t their fault. They didn’t have a choice.
“Am I?” His smirk widened, feeding off my turmoil. “Consider it… a strategic alliance. They did what they needed to survive. Just as you would.”
“Survive?” I scoffed, rage bubbling up within me, hot and fierce. “You mean they danced on strings for you like puppets? You controlled them! They would never have done the things you have done.”
“Stringscanbe pulled in many directions,” he said cryptically. “But enough chit-chat. Let's conclude our little story, shall we?” Victor continued. “It worked out perfectly. You see, I’m a patient man, Serina. I’ve wanted to take out the hunters for years, since the very first line started, but I had no way of doing it, not with most monsters wanting to respect the boundaries of humans and monsters…
“Until I realized thepowerI held. It truly came out of nowhere, or perhaps I had it all along but had never tried it… I started turning people, leading them, having them take out hunters’ family lines slowly to avoid attention…”
His words brought back the memories of hunters' families and friends that had started going missing last year.
“You know how I love to build up the fear, the anticipation. What was it you said,play with my food?” He grinned, showing me a hint of his fangs. “I was told you had died alongside your father that night by some of my most trusted men. And then, when all those killings started happening shortly after John died, I just felt like something wasoff.
“And then a little birdy told me I was right. The great Serina Velika was alive and well. And to think, it was my own men who saved her off the side of the road that night. My own men who betrayed me over something as insignificant aslove.
He tsked, shaking his head in disdain. “And a mortal, no less… Damn, the story just kept getting better and better.” His lips curled into a sneer.
“What?” the question came out as a whisper more to myself. They were the ones who saved me…
“Oh, they didn’t tell you? Bastian, Thorne, and Nox were the ones who saved you that day. But of course, they reported something very different to me. Unfortunately, they couldn’t save poor ol’ daddy… but alas, it doesn’t matter. Here we are… And unlike them, I will finish you off myself.” He smiled wickedly.
I lifted my chin, defiance etched into every line of my body. If Victor thought revelations of betrayal using his sick ways of control would weaken me, he was sorely mistaken.
The pain was there, yes, but it only stoked the fire of my resolve.
I wouldn’t allow Victor to do this to anyone else. I was here to end this. For my father, for myself, for them.
No more running.
I raised my weapons with my heart thundering in my chest, readying myself to face the grim dance with death.
Victor's words still echoed in my mind.
They had saved me… they had fallen in love with me… and in this moment, I knew just how far I’d be willing to go for them. I loved them, too.
Adrenaline surged through my veins as I readied for a fight, the air thick with overwhelming tension.
“Time to end this,” I sneered, more to myself than to Sam or to his circling vampires. I readied for a battle.
But before I could step forward, a searing pain exploded in my torso, ripping a gasp from my lungs. Looking down in disbelief, I saw the blade—dark and slick with my blood—protruding from my center.
It was the same blade Sam always kept on her hip.
I stumbled, my grip on my weapons faltering as the cold shock of betrayal settled into my bones.
“Sam…?” My voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
Her eyes met mine, wide and tormented. Tears streamed down her cheeks, carving tracks through the grime there.
Sam's lips moved silently, a desperate plea for forgiveness that required no sound to be understood. Her gaze held mine, a silent scream against the strings that had ensnared her will.
“Victor,” I spat his name like a curse, understanding crashing over me with the weight of a thousand stones. “You used her… all along.”
“She really should’ve gotten that tattoo,” Victor crooned, twirling her necklace around his fingers. “Remember that power I mentioned before? It’s not spells or curses… it’scompulsion, love, but not only to mortals like any other Vampire. No, I can compel any being.
