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His words are quiet, but I have never heard two more gut curdling sentences in all my life. Having a vampire who is hundreds of years old focusing all of his rage on you will do that.
Ethan grabs my arm and pulls me several feet away from Whitfield, before placing himself in front of me.
Whitfield stares at him like he’s an idiot. “You defend the one who betrayed you? Have you no self-respect?”
“I have plenty. You’ve lost this round, Jeremy. Walk away,” Ethan tells him in a sharp voice.
“I will do nothing of the sort,” Whitfield retorts, swinging his sword at Ethan and we back away further.
It’s only now that I have a chance to look around and see the carnage. During the time that I’d been fighting Eliza, so many vampires and slayers got killed. The evidence of their deaths coats the ground in a sea of blood and lifeless bodies. As quickly as I can, I scan those still standing, ticking off each person I lay my eyes on. Seeing that Whitfield is gunning for us, Rita gallops over, flashing her white light on him. He notices her coming too soon and she misses him as he glides out of the way.
“Ah, is this the witch who caused so much damage to my lovely home?” Whitfield asks. I’m surprised at how quickly he manages to pull himself together after discovering I killed his daughter. Maybe he’s used to loss, given his age. A tiny sliver of guilt tries to force its way into me but I push it back. There’ll be time for that later, I’m sure.
Rita stands before him, all cocky. “Yeah, what of it?” she asks with a slanted grin.
Whitfield’s eyes pass over her, travelling to Noreen, Gabriel and Alvie and then back to Rita. In the moment when his eyes locked on Noreen, I saw them light up in recognition, like he somehow sensed she was Rita’s mother.
“What of it?” he repeats back at her with a bite to his words. “Well now let me see. I do believe I have torn men limb from limb for lesser crimes.”
Rita’s cocky stance turns a little wary. She levels her palms in front of her, preparing for an attack. “Just try it and see what happens,” she goads him, unable to help herself.
Whitfield looks her up and down. “Perhaps I’ll spare your limbs and simply obliterate your heart.”
Rita stares at him in confusion, but before she can react Whitfield uses his vampire speed to vanish. When he reappears he’s standing directly behind Noreen. In a flash of movement he raises his sword and then plunges it right through her body. She falls to the ground with a throaty gasp, blood seeping quickly from the wound, as Whitfield pulls his sword out of her and thrusts it back in a second time. Gabriel and Alvie stare at Noreen’s prone body in confusion. Whitfield approached them so fast that they barely even registered his presence and now Noreen is lying on the ground bleeding.
Nobody moves a muscle, all of us in shock. Whitfield’s cold stare meets mine as he says, “She destroyed my house so I killed her mother. Wait and see what I’ll do to you for murdering my daughter.”
Then in one fell swoop he and the vampires left standing are gone from the scene.
“Mum…” the one word tumbles brokenly from Rita’s mouth. I feel the grief of it in my gut. She rushes to Noreen’s side, taking her into her arms, blood going everywhere. Whitfield stabbed her right through the heart. Tears spill from my eyes, because I know that there’s no saving her now.
I run to Rita, throwing myself to the ground beside her. Noreen’s death comes fast. I can practically see the life leav
e her body between one second and the next. There’s no time for Rita to save her like she saved Finn in the church. Her eyes are still open, but they’re unmoving, and moments later I know she’s truly gone. Rita clutches her desperately. I can tell that she’s crying but she barely makes a sound. Alvie, on the other hand, is holding onto Noreen and loudly bawling his eyes out. She’d been just as much of a mother to him as she’d been to Rita.
Gabriel throws his arms around him and tries to calm him, but Alvie pushes him away, lost to his anguish. Suddenly, I feel Rita’s body begin to shake. Her gaze cuts to the people around her and my heart stops when I see her eyes. They’ve gone completely black, with a swirl of purple in the centre.
Her voice comes out low at first, when she whispers, “Get away from her.”
I’m the only who seems to have heard her. Fury seeps from her every pore. “Get away from her, all of you!” she wails, her voice reverberating throughout the entire street.
I still haven’t moved, but Rita’s sudden anger gets me going. I start to feel hot, like my skin is burning from the inside out.
“I said MOVE!!” Rita yells, and we finally get the message.
As we scramble away, a wall of magical fire begins to rise up around her as she clutches tightly onto Noreen’s lifeless body. The flames are all purple, just like the swirls in her eyes.
Ethan grips my shoulders and pulls me further away from the fire.
“What’s wrong with her?” I cry out helplessly.
“She is grieving,” Ethan answers. “The grief of a witch can be a powerful thing. It makes itself known in unimaginable ways.”
Everybody else stands around, staring in awe at the cocoon of fire that Rita has constructed around herself.
“She’s going to burn if she stays in there,” I say in panic.
“She won’t,” says Gabriel. “The fire belongs to her. It will only burn the people who try to get past it. We need to leave her to her grief. She’ll drop the flames eventually.”
