Chapter 19 Cedar #3
“It's a soul siphon,” I forced out through the knot in my throat.
“And what does it do?”
My eyes traveled to Aurelia, who gave me a pitiful look. We needed to force his hand, so I needed to play this up. I needed to twist it in a way that would leave him no choice but to take action.
“He has been stealing the souls and magic of witches to make himself stronger. Stronger than any other vampire out there,” I replied.
Flashbacks of my parents in the middle of the rune back at the coven flashed through my mind.
The similarities were too striking. “You don't want his blood.
It will poison everyone here and inject dirty magic into them. Their bodies won't be able to take it.”
That was when the general knew that things weren't going to go well for him. He tried to escape, but her brother was there, holding on to him.
“And why would you need to do something as radical as this? What does Kyan feel about this?”
I was finally starting to see Aurelia’s plan. The general had two options: he would either confess that the council had been stealing the souls of witches in front of everyone and threaten to pull us into war, or admit he had been doing it for himself, and if that was the case…
“She doesn’t know,” he said, his eyes looking ahead.
“So you did this for yourself? Why, when you already have such a good position? Unless… you want to overtake someone more powerful than you?”
This was it. This was how Aurelia was going to pit them against each other. Even through my fear, my pride for her skyrocketed.
Adrian was said to be crazy. Truly and deeply deranged. He killed his own people left and right for no reason. Now, if he let the general go without punishment, it would seem weird to everyone here. Weak.
His hands were tied.
In seconds Adrian had his hands on the general’s head, attempting to pull it from his shoulders, but magic burst from him. I clapped my hand over my mouth to stop myself from gagging as the feeling of it washed over me.
Vesper was ready to take off toward them, but I took her hand, unable to stop the tremors.
“Don’t! He’s too dangerous, and you’re not healed.”
She shot me a look. Anger burst through the bond.
“But Aurelia—”
“She’s got it. Look.”
She and Caspian were already moving toward the right side of the room and away from the fight. Everyone was inching away from them, not wanting to get caught in the crosshairs.
The general pushed her brother off, his movements fast. Almost too fast for my eyes to make out, but I could tell that they were evenly matched.
Her brother recovered fast, grabbing his clothing and forcing him to the ground.
More magic started wafting from him, and I had to hold Vesper to steady myself.
This much magic… Dozens, if not hundreds, of witches.
How could this happen right under our noses?
Lee pushed himself up with ease and sent a punch straight to Adrian’s stomach, who just let out a crazed laugh.
“Don't do this to me,” he yelled. “Don't let them get in your head. You know why—”
“I know you want to overthrow me,” Adrian cut him off and pushed him away.
That's when I saw it. General Lee was changing. The veins started spreading through his body, his eyes starting to glow. But not the red of a normal vampire. It was green. It was magic.
Magic that went straight into the new Castle king and sent him flying.
A move like that would have killed any other vampire, but not him. He got up and ran at the man, sending his fist flying to his face, backing him up right into a trap.
The Castle guards finally joined in and grabbed the general. Their strength was no match for his, but there were enough to push him down to his knees.
Adrian laughed.
“I'll spill everything!” the general yelled. “If you think this is sickening, the family has been doing much worse since the beginning of—”
“Shut your mouth.”
Grabbing his head, Adrian placed a foot on Lee’s chest and pulled. The general let out an animalistic scream as the guards held him, some even falling to their knees to try and keep him in place.
“Such a fucking pity.”
This time, when he pulled, the general couldn’t fight him. It took an immense amount of strength, but he did it, just before he waved the head around, leaking magical blood, like it was a trophy.
How many lives were stolen for this magic? How many witches had their magic sucked out of them until their souls gave out? How many of them screamed to our gods for help, but no one answered?
It was scary to think about. But the most frightening part was how easily her brother killed him. Because it meant that he, too, had done something to change his body. A confirmation that the vampire we were dealing with was far from ordinary.
He turned to me, his smirk in full force, and threw me the head. I caught it by reflex, but as soon as I did, a sharp wave of nausea ran through me.
“I’m sure you two know a good drop-off place for that. The council or the covens, I don’t care. Make sure you send a message.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I forced out. I was going to throw up.
The head was plucked from me by Vesper, who held it to her other side and as far away from me as was allowed in this situation.
I had been so concerned with my own reaction to the magic that I hadn't realized what I had been feeding into the bond. I had been forcing them to live my disgust. It couldn't have been easy for them.
I definitely didn't want her holding that thing either.
“It's not safe. The magic—”
“Let me handle this,” Vesper whispered.
I looked back at Aurelia’s brother, feeling my stomach drop.
Is there another reason he allowed me to stay by her side?
I sure hoped not.