Page 163 of The Book Reader
Tate wraps his arm tight around Maggi’s neck; he tilts her head to the side and licks down her neck before inhaling deeply. “Mmmmm, I miss the smell of fear; it’s like cakes just baked from the oven.” he nuzzles her skin.
Maggi’s lips start to wobble, scared. Tears begin to run down her cheeks. “P-please my lord,” she stutters with fear. “Don’t kill me.”
Tate grins against her skin before he sinks his fangs into her neck and drinks deep. Maggi cries out, her hands try to hit him, but some kind of invisible power snaps her arms down to her side, holding her in place.
Gaelan steps down from the stage, his anger rolling off his body. “Tate, you’re not welcome here. Leave before I make you,” his voice low and dangerous.
Tate pulls back from Maggi’s neck. Blood dripping down his chin onto the floor, I wait for Maggi to drop to the ground, buther body stays stiff; the same force that held her arms down is also keeping her in place.
Tate moves away and smirks at Gaelan. “Do you not remember what happened to your father?” He almost sounds bored as he wipes blood from his lips with a little hanky that he pulled from his pocket. He then licks his fingers clean like he’s just eaten some fried chicken, making a sucking sound when each one is pulled from his lips. “Delicious,” he hums.
Gaelan snarls before he shimmers in front of Tate and punches him clean in the face. His other hand grips his shirt, and Gaelan lets out an onslaught of punches, hitting Tate repeatedly.
We need to evacuate the villagers from here. Gaelan is holding Tate now, but something tells me this isn’t going to last long.
My eyes flick to Leah. I give her a slight nod, a signal to get everyone out.
Mark is nowhere to be seen, and for that I’m grateful, one less to worry about. I hear a roar of anger from Gaelan just before Tate smashes his fist into Gaelan’s side, making him stumble back.
Tate chuckles, rubs his jaw, then flings his arm out, sending Gaelan flying. I lift my hand, freezing him, stopping him from crashing into the wall. I settle him softly to the ground, Tate’s head snaps to me, and he growls at me dangerously.
“You won’t win here, Tate. Leave before I make you.” My voice is stern. I don’t care what he rules over; he will not hurt anything that belongs to me.
Tate grins. “She said you had more powers this time, fascinating.” He muses.
“Tell me, Arianna, how is your beautiful aunt May? It’s been a while since I have seen her.” The arrogant way he asks me this tells me he knows she is dead; how does he know her?
He raises his eyebrows, then moves to sit in one of the chairs. “Did she not tell you? I’m not surprised. She was a great lover; I think I broke her heart.” he sounds like he is gloating.
I think back to one of our last conversations with my Aunt May. She told me about a man she dated who didn’t end well. That couldn’t have been Tate, could it?
As I look at the smug look on his face, I know it was him. I try to keep the astonishment from my face, but the grin he gives me tells me he sees it. Gaelan is next to me now, his chest heaving with his anger, but he is holding back.
“And your grandfather? He was such a good fighter, it was fun killing him, his blood was so sweet, I kept him alive for a little while before I drained him completely,” he says matter-of-factly. I can feel tears pooling in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.
“The day you were born, I was going to steal you away, but your family had other ideas, hiding you from me. No one hides from me!” he yells, the last part making everyone scream and move further away.
“My Rose, careful, he is trying to bait us both; he is powerful,”I hear Gaelan in my head,
Tate may be powerful. But so am I.I say to myself.
My hands are at my sides. “I’m not going to ask you again. You need to leave.” I move closer to him, and I push at his body with my powers a little, making his chair move back slightly from the force of it. He sneers at me, then stands up fast. He lifts his hand and sends a bolt of black lightning toward me. Aiming for my chest. I lift my hand, curl it, and the lightning turns to gold smoke before fading into the air.
He had meant to hurt me with that, if I wasn’t the book reader, if my powers didn’t outmatch his. I would have been hit by it.
I smile sweetly.
“You won’t beat me, Tate, not like before, your daughter should’ve told you that.” I pause and pretend to look thoughtful for a moment. “Oh, she can’t, can she… I killed her,” I smirk at him.
His lips curl back, giving me a deadly glare. He tries his powers again. I want to roll my eyes at him, by now. I thought he might have gotten it. Clearly not.
I whisper,“Acentdies,”and a barrier comes up, wrapping around everyone in this room. It is iridescent, with gold, just like the bubble protecting Westery. This one will protect everyone here from any powers he might use on us. I know he can feel it, and it makes him scream out in rage; the anger on his face makes me smile.
I step closer again, challenging him.
“Leave” is just one word. If he doesn’t listen, I will kill him.
“Leave Tate, this realm will never be yours; you are not a lord, it will never belong to you,” Gaelan says. He is next to me again, and I know that both of us will fight him if we must.
