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“I am Lucy Ming,” she said sternly, her voice annoyed. She was annoyed with me? “Taelon, it’s all right.”
“Do you not see she is still holding me by the neck?” he snapped at her.
When I looked at him and saw the concern, the fear in his eyes, I knew that, somehow, this older woman was her. So I let him go.
“Everything has consequences, and I will own up to mine. Show my real self,” she demanded.
“Lucy,” he whispered. When she smiled and nodded, he sighed, his shoulders dropping.
It felt like magic because it was magic. There, before my eyes, the older woman became young again, with perfect skin, bright-pink lips, and long, beautiful, black hair. In my mind, for a split second, I remembered the monster I had seen as a child. Not all cleaned and polished like she was now in front of me, but snarling, her clothes and mouth covered in blood. They were one and the same—this vampire and the beast that tried to kill me. The beast who…who killed Magdalena.
The last thing that little girl saw was the beast in my childhood nightmares. Biting my lip to keep from crying, I choked out the words, “Rest now, Lucy Ming—”
“Druella!” Theseus grabbed my hand before I could destroy her and pulled me to him. “L
isten to her first!”
“I will not!” I hollered at him. “She killed Magdalena! She drank from Magdalena! She was so little and so good—”
“Druella, listen!” He grabbed my shoulders. “You were upset with your coven not listening to you, not giving you a chance to explain. Do not do the same! Listen.”
I ground my teeth together in anger, and I looked back to Lucy, Taelon holding her hand.
“Talk then,” I spat out. “Did you kill her? Did you enjoy drinking from her? Explain, vampire, so that I’m not a hypocrite and can say I at least listened.”
Lucy stared at me, eyes wide, and exhaled. “I was…I…did drink from her. I did end up killing her, but—”
“You!” I screamed, but again, Theseus pulled me back. “Let go. What else do I have to hear? She admitted it!”
“Your witch was already dying!” Taelon hollered at me.
“What?” I shook my head. “You are lying. Why would Magdalena be dying?”
“What do you think attracts a Lesser Blood vampire? After your little demonstration, no other vampires wanted to come on your lands anymore. But Lucy did just a few minutes before sunrise, risking being burned by the sun! So many dangers, yet she went anyway. Why? Because she could not control herself! Why? Because the scent of blood was too strong!”
“Blood? Magdalena was bleeding? Why?”
“She was,” Lucy spoke up. “I was mad with blood lust. I barely remember what happened. But when I came upon her, she was already dying on the ground, covered in her own blood. I remembered because I-I knew I had to drink fast or she’d—”
“Shut up.” I shook my head because this didn’t make sense. “Maybe another vampire got there before you.”
She shook her head. “There was none—”
“Didn’t I say shut up?” I wanted to yell, but I didn’t have that type of strength. “Let’s say something was wrong, that she was hurt already. You still killed her. If not for you, we would have found her, healed her, saved her. So, I don’t get why you are telling me this. It doesn’t change anything. You are a murderer, and I am going to kill you.”
Taelon growled, stepping in front of Lucy, his nose flaring as he glared at me. Not that I cared. They were messing with me, confusing me. She killed Magdalena as I’d thought, and I wouldn’t let her get away with it.
“Druella,” Theseus said gently, stepping in front of me and blocking Lucy and Taelon from my gaze. He brushed my hair off my face. “I understand you are upset and want revenge. Nevertheless, keep listening.”
“I am listening, but nothing is changing.”
“Taelon, tell her the things you’ve told me. The things you’ve discovered,” Theseus ordered but still made me hold his gaze. It was so clear he was trying to get me to calm back down and relax again. I hated that it was working. When I was calm enough for him, he let go of my face and stepped out from in front of me.
I glared at Taelon, waiting. “Well?”
“It is my duty to keep records about our lands, mostly for the number of vampires and the number of mortals in them.”
“Okay?” Why did I care about his vampire job?
