Katie brought her attention back to Rook and the cameras. “No,” she sternly said. “I will not step down, I will not abandon my country and leave my people in your incapable hands.”
The room sat in silence, the only sound coming from the quiet whirring of the cameras. Rook’s face slowly turned red as his whole body seemed to shake with anger. “If you are not here to accept your defeat, then you will watch this girl burn. And the world will know it was your fault. Are you really prepared for that?”
Katie said nothing, her face completely unreadable except the small bead of sweat that Adriana could see running down the side of her face. It was clear she was struggling with her decision, but it was one she had to make. This was the right thing to do for the future of the country, for the future of the entire world. And as Adriana thought about the last century, of the years spent in hiding and running from her duty, she wondered if perhaps her death would mean more than her life. Perhaps her inevitable end would make up for everything she had done… and everything she hadn’t.
Rook waited a few more seconds, before he looked to Norman and nodded his head, his silent command clear. Norman grinned as he sent a small flame to the torch that Ieuwan held, his gleeful eyes never leaving Adriana. She knew he couldn’t wait to watch her burn, he couldn’t wait to get revenge on Xander for destroying his life and removing his place in the world.
Adriana closed her eyes, clenching her jaw in the hope she’d be able to remain silent for as long as possible. She didn’t want them to hear her, they didn’t deserve her screams.
As she felt the heat of the flames in front of her, she noticed Ieuwan had hesitated, the torch inches away from the pyre. It was painstakingly clear that he didn’t want to do this. Adriana didn’t know much about him, but from the way Xander used to speak of all his brothers, it seemed Ieuwan had always been theweakest link. He was the one they never really relied upon for anything, an underdog that wasn’t too bothered about stepping up. And now that he had chosen a new side, a choice that was likely dictated by Norman, he couldn’t back out.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to Adriana, before he slowly lowered the torch.
Adriana sucked in a breath, choking on a sob as she tried to remain calm, waiting for the flames to start. The pain would be excruciating, she knew that, but she hoped it would only last a short while before the flames burned her nerves. Maybe the Lupus venom would mean she wouldn’t feel as much. Maybe she could try to shut it all out.
But then, as she attempted to close her mind off, alarm bells began to ring out. Not within her mind, but throughout the entire building.
Her eyes flew open, looking around the room as everyone froze at the sounds. Rook grabbed a radio from one of his men, switching to the different channels to get a report from someone, but there was no response. He passed through static when finally he heard an agonised scream.
The shriek seemed to echo around the room, coming from multiple entrances. And Adriana realised it wasn’t just one voice on the radio, it was several throughout the building. Screams of terror, panic, pain, and desperation rung out all around them—the distant sounds of Liberators pleading for their lives before they let out a final wail. It was music to her ears.
Rook noticed her quiet giggles and threw his radio to the floor as he ordered his men to barricade the doors. He rushed over, pushing Ieuwan out of the way before punching Adriana across the face, but it only made her laugh louder.
“You’re all fucking dead,” she chuckled, blood dripping down her chin from her new split lip. “You’re a dead man, Rook.”
The screams grew closer as Rook swung his fist again, this time punching her square in the stomach. She coughed and wheezed in pain, but she continued to laugh as she saw the fear flash across his face. In that moment, she swore to herself that she would see that fear in him again, only next time she would be the reason for it.
“You’re right to be scared of him,” she whispered, as she sensed an all too familiar presence approach, one that seemed to tug at something deep inside her chest. “He’s coming for you. He’s coming for all of you.”
Almost instantly, one of the barricaded doors flew open as waves of darkness pooled into the room, and standing at the source of it was Xander.
He threw his shadows to the Liberators that stood by Katie, letting them choke on the darkness that entered their bodies and destroyed their senses. As the others charged towards him at Rook’s orders, he slowly stalked towards them, not even attempting to look bothered by their ambush.
His eyes were bottomless black pits, his ears pointed high through his hair, his fangs were sharper than Adriana had ever seen them. This wasn’t her loving Xander, nor was it the monster that Lilith could control. This was the Pureblood Lamia they told tales about, the first deadly Daemon to walk the earth. This was Xander in all his dark glory; unburdened, unchained, unleashed.Free.
They tried to attack simultaneously, but Xander threw another wave of darkness, making them fall out of formation and lose their only upper hand. He slashed his claws across the throats of the two closest to him, cutting so deep their heads were barely attached to their bodies when they dropped to the floor.
He fought a few of the others in hand-to-hand combat, easily overpowering them and flinging their bodies across the room. One of them pulled a gun on him and aimlessly shot him in thearm, but he didn’t even flinch. He only smirked as he turned to them and overtook their mind, forcing them to shoot as many of the remaining Liberators as they could until they ran out of bullets. After that, Xander grabbed the gun and crushed it in his hand before slamming it into the owner’s face so hard it embedded itself in his head.
“Shield your minds!” Rook shouted from the corner of the room, pushing his terrified soldiers in front of him. “Put your barriers up, don’t invite him in!”
Adriana noticed Xander’s jaw tense, the sly smile disappearing from his face. It seemed Norman had taught the Liberators a thing or two about sealing themselves off from Xander’s reach. Focusing his efforts onto tearing their shields down would be pointless, especially if they had been trained well. But only a few of them remained now, and Adriana could hear the cries in the rest of the building growing closer. Xander had not come alone.
As he stretched his arm, shaking out the bullet in his bicep with ease, he headed towards the last of the Liberators in the room, before snapping his attention to a figure trying to slip past him. Ieuwan.
Before Adriana could shout to tell him to let him go, to focus on the task at hand rather than allow his anger of his brother’s betrayal to take over, Xander charged at him. He grabbed his throat, pinning him against the wall, and glared down at the trembling man who still held the lit torch in one hand.
“I always knew you were a fucking coward,” Xander growled at him. “And now you will die a traitor.”
Ieuwan, in a final desperate attempt, raised the torch high, clearly intending to bring it down on Xander. But before he could even pull back enough to strike, Xander’s arm shot forward in a terrifying, forceful thrust. A sickening wet thud echoed through the room as his fist tore through Ieuwan’s chest.
The torch Ieuwan held froze mid-air, his muscles seizing as he gasped a strangled sound. Adriana could hear Xander’s hand delving further into his chest as he searched for what he was looking for. After finally finding it, he tore his hand back, and in his palm lay Ieuwan’s heart, still beating.
Iewan’s bright green eyes remained fixed on Xander, only briefly flickering to the side with an odd look of confusion, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what was going on. Even from the pyre, Adriana could see the centuries of poor choices and the guilt of his cowardice flashing through them. And then, as the last spark of life left him, Xander released his grip on his throat, letting him fall to the ground in a crumpled heap, torch still in hand.
“That’s enough!” Rook shouted from across the room.
Norman’s hand appeared before Adriana, a ball of fire hovering above his palm as he stared at Ieuwan’s body with an unreadable expression. To the side, she saw Rook holding a knife to Katie’s throat as another Liberator restrained her.
