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Enforcers poured from the surrounding doors, moving in to surround us. Hunter grabbed my bicep, but I shook my head at him. There was no more running. Our people were here and there was no getting to them fast enough.
I let our true forms take us over as I faced my enemy. Tessa’s hands reached for the arms of her thrown and I watched her knuckles turn white while tears rolled down her cheeks.
“That is not your true form,” she said, wiping them away. “You are not Marko. You are an imposter. Show yourself to us and confess your crimes.”
I laughed under my breath, giving her a smile. “Ma minette, somewhere deep in your mind, you know who you face. It is why you cry. The man you sat by is not me. He is Aetas. Aetas,” I repeated louder for all to hear. “You’ve all been deceived. This man is none other than our leader. He did not die the day you placed him to rest, that was me. Me! Think back to Margo and Gina. Think back to the predictions made before their deaths. They knew this was going to happen. It is why he killed them. Isn’t that right, Aetas?”
“Aetas?” he repeated.
The members turned his way, but kept still as shock began to settle into their features.
“Do your lies go so deep?” he continued. “Aetas is dead. Everyone saw him before he was laid to rest.”
“Saw me! See.” I changed into Aetas form and gasps filled the room. “It is easy to become anyone when you have the power to. Isn’t that right, my dear ruler? How am I able to do this if I were not pure of blood like you? It is because we’re bonded. I grow because you grow. It is time to end this charade. You have hurt our kind long enough. I am the one who gathered the survivors to save. It wasn’t you. You care not for us. You have killed us. You have committed treason and by your own law, and I say you should be arrested.”
Laughter filled the space as he stood. Regardless that he felt this was a joke, the enforcers around me were humming with energy. My words were enough to confuse them, I just hoped what I was doing worked.
“No one here has committed treason except you. You held an uprising to overthrow your king. You have your rebels—”
Aetas’ words died off as a group of vampires came walking from the hallway that led from the City of the Dead. Mistress Price walked side by side with Niko and with each second, more followed.
“What is this? Are you all so ready to face your deaths?”
“No.” Niko walked around an enforcer and came to stop next to Hunter. “We’re here to watch one, though. Or an arrest. Either works for me. As long as it’s you.”
“How dare you speak to me like that!”
I threw up my shield just in time to deflect Aetas’ power. The blow was like a punch in the gut and I gritted passed the pain.
“How can I do that if we aren’t equals?” I stepped closer to him, glancing at Tessa as she scooted to the edge of her chair. “It’s over Aetas. Your reign is finished. You must submit and go with the guards to lockdown. I’m asking nicely. You would be smart to take me up on my offer. It beats the alternative.”
“And what’s that?”
He stepped down, walking toward me. Footsteps pounded from behind and I could feel the enforcers closing in.
“Admit you are not me, or you will find out.”
Tessa stood, rushing toward us. My hand shot out for her to stay back, but she didn’t stop. She only widened her steps away from us.
“What is this? Is it true, Marko?”
Aetas glared at me and slowed as he turned to face her. “You love me, yes?”
“…Yes.”
“Tell him I am Marko and you love me.”
“You are not me! Tessa is my concubine, not yours, and what you have done is also against your laws. Now admit who you are Aetas and submit to your fall. You have failed us—killed us. You are guilty of treason.”
“NO! I am not him! I am not Aetas.”
A frustrated sound came from my mouth and I looked down at my hand, watching a knife appear. In one strike, I let the blade slice through my forearm. Blood simultaneously poured from our skin, trickling to the floor. The steady downpour that left both of us mingled with the whispers that were exploding in the room. “I am you. You are me. We are one. Do you remember that, ma minette? You once said that to me. Now I say it to him.”
I cut through my arm again, deeper this time. Aetas growled, holding to the wound as he lunged for me. Hunter jerking me back was the only thing that saved me from getting caught in his grasp.
“Admit who you are,” Hunter said, putting half of his body in front of mine.
“I should have killed you instead of made you in my creation. You betray your maker!”
