Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Warren
The rage in me was a blazing furnace, burning, burning, burning, until it exploded and I destroyed everything in my wake. In a mere few moments, my volatility ruined everything I had spent years building. Friendships, my relationship, my control…all of it gone.
As Levette left, trailing after his boy-toy to tend to his wound, I unleashed my fury on whoever was closest. Blood had soaked into my clothes, darkening the white into an obscene shade of crimson.
There were layers of it over my skin, too, dried and cracked, while fresh splatters coated it.
I stared at my hands, seeing the vulgarity of it, but I could not stop; my body did not feel like my own, yet my killing spree persisted.
A vampire crashed into me and snarled as though it was my fault. Grabbing him by his hair, I forced him onto his knees and took his jaw in my hands. With a simple twist, his neck snapped, and his body crumpled.
Any humans who crossed my path were prey, an easy target that delighted the monster inside me as I tore into their flesh. Their blood fueled me, spurring me on to kill the next and the next after that.
My mouth twitched before it transformed into an unashamed smile; my razor-sharp fangs fully descended. Somewhere within the madness, part of me knew that I would regret such brazen cruelty later, yet the present was providing such unadulterated pleasure that I could not stop myself.
A satisfied laugh left me then, a vibration in my chest that sounded almost like a feline purr.
I held my hands out in front of me, admiring the way the red stained my pale skin.
It only encouraged the insatiable hunger in me, and I felt a twinge in my fangs as though they, too, were ready for their next victim.
“STOP!” Lena’s voice reverberated around the room, the unyielding dominance in it so strong that the vampires dropped to their knees.
It felt as though her command was possessing my body, unable to do anything but kneel as my hands remained pinned to my sides. I shook as she stalked forward, fire in her eyes and her lips curled in unconfined disgust at our depravity.
“You despicable creatures,” she sneered, stepping through the pooled blood as though it were abhorrent to her.
Some of our coven trailed behind her, some shocked and some looking almost regretful over having missed the spectacle.
“The world looks at us as though we are monsters, and you had one opportunity to prove that we could coexist! You selfish creatures, unable to control yourselves—are you fledglings? If it were up to me, I would burn you all and start afresh with people who deserve this gift. You are all a waste of immortality.”
She turned around, facing the coven members behind her. “Dispose of the dead mortals. Any who are still alive: feed them enough blood to ensure they survive, then send them off. As for the supernaturals, round them up. Take them to the cells and chain them up. They can dry up as a punishment.”
My coven members—my friends—followed their orders, starting with the humans.
I watched Lena whisper under her breath and then the vampires collapsed.
Lena set her sights on me, schooling her face into her usual coldness as she approached.
I could still see the ferocity of her wrath simmering behind her eyes.
“Get up,” Lena commanded, releasing her hold on my body. I sighed in relief and got to my feet, but Lena did not look at me again, instead turning her back to me. “Follow me.”
I followed her in silence as she made her way to her house on the outskirts of the city. The quietness hung heavy between us, a false sense of peace before the storm that was about to hit. I knew that I had pushed her too far this time; I could sense it in her detachedness towards me.
Once we reached the house, Lena led me inside and into the living room. I closed the door behind us, listening for the footsteps of our coven, but there was nobody else on the property.
“Lena, I—”
I felt the wound on my cheek quicker than my eyes caught up to her hitting me. The sharp crack echoed in the silent house, and I stared at my best friend in surprise. My skin stung from the impact of her hit, and I pressed my hand against my cheek, rubbing the area.
“What the fuck, Lena?”
Lena laughed, the sound so wrong and bitter in my ears that I winced.
Her white hair was astray, wisps of it flying around her face with an invisible wind.
That coldness she exerted was replaced by so much hurt and anger that I stepped back, fearful that I had pushed her to her limit, one mistake too far.
“You ignorant, selfish bastard,” Lena snarled. “I warned you! I told you how much I needed this and you chose to destroy everything I have worked so hard to build. How could you?”
“You invited him! Did you think that would go well? I’m sorry I messed up the event for you, Lena, but you messed up! Not me.”
Lena snorted, shaking her head. She looked at me like I was insane, and it only irritated me further. How could she not possibly understand?
“You really cannot take responsibility, can you?” she asked, sighing. “It is always someone else’s fault. Poor Warren cannot get his life together because the world is out to get him. Have you ever considered that the world is a dark, horrid place, but we all do what we can to get by?”
“Like working for the people who cursed you and killed the woman you love? Forgive me if I do not want to be someone’s pawn for the rest of my life,” I snapped back. The second the words were out of my mouth, I knew that I had crossed a line that I would be hard-pressed to get back.
Lena stared at me for a second, almost confused. She tilted her head, watching, trying to confirm if she’d heard right. Then the heaviness of the words landed, and any light she had left in her eyes dimmed, slowly fizzling out. She averted her gaze, as though to look at me was a worse fate.
I watched as the muscle in her jaw ticked while she clenched.
She squared her shoulders, straightening her back.
It felt like a wall had gone up between us, all sense of familiarity and friendship ripped away.
She was putting distance between us, shielding herself from whatever I had to say next. No anger, just pure, broken hurt.
A thousand apologies flew through my head, but nothing was enough; no genuineness or regret could fix what I had said.
The words were meant to hurt her, a sharp barb that would pierce through her coldness.
Instead, they had disintegrated the trust and love we’d built, leaving only a husk of what once was: history, pain, the echoes of life and laughter.
There was nothing I could say to take those words back or to fix the devastation I saw flash across her face.
Minutes passed, no movement or interaction. I kept my gaze on her, waiting for the moment she looked at me again, but it did not come. She blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling, the floor, above my shoulder—anywhere but in my eyes.
“I need to go. I have to meet with the Authority. You know, those people whose pawn I am.” There was no malice in her words, nor did she allow her hurt to seep into her voice.
It was facts, a bitter truth we both wished we had not spoken aloud.
“You will remain here until I return. Let us see if I can attempt to cover for your mistakes. When I return, I’ll decide what should happen next. ”
“Princess, please—”
“Be quiet!” Lena screamed. With a wave of her hand and a few silent words, Lena paralyzed me, keeping me rooted to the spot.
“I do not want to hear your voice again, Warren. If you say another word, I will not attempt to keep my control. Neither of us wants that. So, please, keep your fucking mouth SHUT.”
Lena brought me to the basement of her house, one where we had frequently locked insubordinate coven members in until they knew how to behave.
She kept her spell on me, my body fully under her control.
I wanted to be angry, to rage against her hold, yet I had been with Lena in this room so many times that I knew something that prevented me from doing so; Lena could end me without saying a word, but she was choosing to hold me instead.
Part of me knew, even if I was not ready to admit it, that she was using her powers to protect us both.
After chaining me to the wall with my arms above my head, Lena left to go speak to her bosses.
Hours passed, and the horrific scenes of the night replayed on a loop in my mind.
The longer time passed and the blood burned from my system, the more rationality came back to me, and I understood just how badly I had ruined everything.
It was difficult to tell how long it had been before Lena returned, though my body had weakened knowing that the sun was rising at least twice during her absence.
By the time I heard her footsteps on the stairs and the click of the cell unlocking, I was sure that all the blood had been purged from my body, revealing a new wave of hunger and a tsunami of disgust at myself.
I inhaled sharply as she entered the basement cell.
Her blonde hair was matted with blood that I could scent was hers, her face beaten and bruised so badly that it was taking her double the time to heal.
I listened hard and could almost hear her bones trying to snap back into place, tendons stitching back together.
She held her side where there were at least two broken ribs, staggering into the room.
“Lena,” I tried to whisper, but the spell was very much still in place, keeping my mouth pressed shut.
She winced, dragging over a metal chair to sit in front of me. In all the time I had known and worked with Lena, I had never before seen her look frail. Seeing her hurt, knowing I was to blame…shame reverberated through my body.