“It’s you we want, Duran,” Rook continued. “Give yourself up or I slit her throat and Norman burns your pretty little Blood Witch alive.”
Xander stilled as Norman wrapped a hand around Adriana’s throat and brought the flame closer to her face. His eyes shifted back to their usual brown, she could see the fear swimming within them as he loosened his grip on his powers. Adriana knew that he wouldn’t be able to tear into Norman’s mind fast enough to control him, and even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to save Katie from Rook’s knife.
The adjacent set of doors swung open as a group of men and women stepped through. Adriana didn’t recognise them, but as they made their way towards them, one of them handing over a set of heavy chains to a Liberator, she saw the flame-like markings along their exposed arms. Norman’s descendents.
“They’re coming,” the man who’d carried the chains announced. “The Courts followed us, just like you wanted. The dogs took one look at our brands and recognised us from the old pit fights.”
“Good,” Norman nodded, before turning his attention back to Xander. “You attack anyone and I kill your lover. You attack me and they kill the Prime Minister, and my descendents will set your little Blood Witch alight for me. You can’t save her, Xander. You can’t save anyone.”
“You were my brother,” Xander replied, the anger and disappointment thick in his voice. “You wereourbrother, Norman. Now look at you.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up. I stopped being your brother when you kicked me out, when you took my life away from me! Let’s not forget that you are the reason any of us are like this. You led us to Lilith that day, you helped hold us down.Youmade me this way!”
Xander’s shoulders dropped at Norman’s words, the obvious guilt of the truth weighing heavy. “And I have regretted it every day of my life,” he softly spoke. “None of us wanted this, and I am sorry I played a part in it.”
“Enough!” Rook roared, his knife pressing into Katie’s neck and drawing a thin line of blood. “If you don’t give yourself up before your disgusting Daemons get here, they both die. Make your choice, Duran!”
“You let them go,” Xander spat out. “You can take me in, but you let them go.”
“Duran, don’t—” Katie began, but Rook cut her off.
“Surrender first. I will free them both after.”
There was no way Rook was telling the truth, and Adriana knew Xander would never trust him to keep his word, but he had little choice left. She knew he was intent on saving her. And she could only stare, powerless, as Xander gave her a small lopsidedsmile, one that contained so many unspoken words. He let out a long breath before he turned to face the Liberators and held his arms to the side as he knelt down, allowing them to cuff his wrists and chain them behind his back.
The same doors the Lamiae had come through reopened as the rest of the leaders of the Courts rushed in. One by one their eyes landed on Xander kneeling on the floor with his hands bound, and then behind them stood Cass, her gaze fixed on Adriana.
“Stand down!” Xander ordered, as Deion stepped forward to take the lead. “It’s over. Do not make a move, do not put their lives at risk. All of you, stand down.”
Deion stopped in his tracks, his face twisting against the compulsion Adriana could hear within Xander’s words. None of them would be able to resist his Manipuli power, not when they had left their minds open for him to walk through. And so they stopped advancing, and allowed themselves to be surrounded by Norman’s Lamiae.
Rook let out a laugh as he nodded to his Liberators that stood around Xander. One of them hit him hard across the head with a baton, sending him falling to the floor on his side. They all continued to beat him as he lay on the ground, the whacks of their batons and clubs making his brothers flinch as they watched helplessly, but they were still clearly unable to make a move against Xander’s control.
“Stop!” Adriana yelled, thrashing against her bindings as Norman stepped away from her, the flames in his hand extinguishing with a snap of his fingers. “Don’t hurt him, please don’t hurt him!”
Rook laughed, gesturing towards her with his knife. “You’d want to spare the beast who murdered you? The one who made you into his own foul monster? Oh yes, Norman told me all about you.”
Adriana continued to sob as she watched Xander squeeze his eyes shut, his grunts of pain growing louder as he struggled to stay quiet. After what seemed like an eternity, Rook finally called them off, and the Liberators stepped away from Xander as he coughed blood across the floor.
“I admire your selflessness, Duran,” Rook continued. “Really I do. And now, I will free this poor woman from your clutches. Just as I promised.”
Xander raised his head just in time to watch Rook slit Katie’s throat open with his knife.
“No!” he roared out, struggling to get to his feet.
As soon as he stood, Norman appeared in front of him. He grabbed Xander’s shoulder, holding him still, as he stabbed him in the gut with a large hunting knife. The cry of agony that escaped him as the knife twisted deeper into his stomach made Adriana feel sick, as if she could feel his pain as her own.
She saw Katie’s body drop to the floor, her eyes fluttering shut as her blood pooled around her. The Court leaders screamed in protest, but even in his current state, Xander’s hold on their minds clearly still remained strong. Adriana knew that whatever he would be made to endure would never matter to him. He would take the fall, he would take all of the pain, if it meant there was a chance at saving the people he loved. A chance at saving her.
Norman pulled the knife from Xander’s stomach and moved to stab him again, this time aiming for his heart, when Rook’s voice stopped him.
“Wait! Do not kill him, Norman. There is another who has been waiting for far longer.”
Norman pushed Xander to his knees again, his hands pushed down firmly on his shoulders to keep him on the ground, and turned to Rook with a look of confusion. However, Rook offered no explanation as he wandered over to them, taking theknife from Norman and bringing it up to his eyeline to inspect Xander’s blood as it slid along the blade and dripped to the floor.
Rook closed his eyes and began to mutter quietly, “I provide you with the blood of your enemy, the blood of Lilith’s first creation.”
The ground and walls shook as darkness seeped into the room from every door, every window, every crack in the floorboards. Xander’s shouts and his brothers’ pleas were drowned out by the sound of thunder echoing across the room. Adriana could see the fear in all of their eyes, including the Liberators and Norman, as the darkness began to grow.
