I want to scream “no” but I can’t. The will to disobey is eclipsed by the unbidden desire to please her.
Sirens wail in the distance, and Sylvia giggles, drunk off too much blood and high off the thrill of the kill… The slaughter.
“Oops,” Sylvia says through her giggles. “We need to go, lover. They won’t like our pretty bodies like we do.”
My hands move to my hips as I take in the bloody, gory scene before me. And they have the audacity to call us monsters?
“How did they find it?” I ask Chaz, stepping over some of the mutilated remains.
The scent of blood doesn’t even seem to bother me. Having so much of Leah’s blood lately has made me stronger, and she never feels weaker no matter how much I take.
“I don’t know. We took extra precautions and set up spells to keep out anointed members after realizing who Leah was. We didn’t want one of them to stumble into the club the way she did. Somehow they bypassed the safety measures, and now… People want blood for this, Zee. Leah is an Aquarius. Our people won’t just allow her to exist after something like this. They’ll all be like Slade.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
My fist slams through a bloody wall, and I pull it back, trying my damnedest to rein in my anger.
Ella appears next to me, and she walks over to the wall of writing.
“You need to tell Leah about this,” Ella says, motioning to the words that are written in the blood of the slain.
“And make her feel guilty? Fuck no. This isn’t her fault, but she’s got a big heart. She’ll blame herself for this shit.”
Drackus appears suddenly, and he moves by us on the way to read the wall for himself.
“Bring us the Aquarius. We know you have her. Every monster in this town will die until she’s safely brought back. When we find you… We can’t wait to find you.”
“Sick fucks,” Chaz mumbles, moving his eyes over the carnage. “A lot of these people were humans. They died at the hands of the ones designed to protect them, yet we’re the fucking monsters.”
Exactly what I was thinking.
“You should be with Mom and Dad,” Ella tells Drackus.
“They’re tucked away very safely and very far from here. They’re at my old house that was once used to keep me imprisoned back when I was the worst threat to the world. My oh my how things have changed.”
He shakes his head as though he’s genuinely upset about that. Drackus is a blip on the radar compared to what we’re up against now.
“I knew the weaknesses and reinforced them. They still know how to get out in case of an emergency, but nothing will be able to get in. Not even that damn Gemini.”
Ella looks away, and her jaw tenses. I can see the guilt on her face. It’s an easy emotion to recognize. She thought there was redemption for Slade, and now she knows he’s just too ruthless.
“Get back to them, Drackus. They’ll need you and Calypso both,” Chaz tells him, leaning over to examine the remains of one man. “I’ll call my mother to go help out as well,” he adds.
Drackus curses before running a hand through his hair. “I hate this. We’re divided when we’re under attack. It makes us weaker. My daughter needs all of you around her right now.”
“She also needs us to find the threat before it can be a threat… You know?” Chaz vaguely inserts.
Drackus nods. “I’m aware. I’ll get back. Kane just asked me to come out and investigate the damage done here and see what else we’re up against.”
He presses a kiss to Ella’s temple, and she hugs him. “Call me if you need me, little one.”
She just nods against his chest before he dematerializes from the embrace, and Ella hugs herself as we continue to take in the damage.
“They have a lot of bullets. I’m worried they’ve simplified the process of anointing a weapon if they have this much ammunition to spare,” Chaz announces, digging a bullet out of a girl near the back. “It looks like they just busted up and blew holes through everyone, which means they didn’t spare their bullets on the humans either. That’s a scary thought.”
“Why do they want Leah?” I ask, stepping over someone.
“Probably because of the hex.” The foreign voice has us all whirling around.