“Was that your plan all along?” Pierce asked, his voice quiet and dripping with fury. “To use my child’s blood to strengthen yourself?”
Her face twisted into something inhuman and ugly. She hissed, “I deserve to live more than it does! A dhampir’s purpose has always been to serve vampires!”
“You sicken me,” Adriel muttered.
“You should be glad I don’t kill you right now,” Pierce growled. I’d never heard him sound so angry. “What is your choice? Die here with your family, spending your last time on this earth trying to make amends? Or die by fire on your own?”
The hatred in Margaret’s eyes glittered like knives. For the first time, I saw her for what she truly had become - a desperate, evil creature whose only purpose was to survive, even at the expense of other people’s lives.
“I see,” Margaret wheezed. She flashed her fangs in a twisted, sarcastic smirk. “My own children are threatening to kill me now.”
Pierce and Adriel said nothing. Their expressions were cold, likely hiding the pain underneath the surface.
Margaret scowled. “Fine. Let go of me, Adriel. I would rather die by the sun I was born under than spend a single moment longer amongst you ungrateful fools.”
My stomach flipped. Was she really implying what I thought?
I didn’t want to look at her anymore. I couldn’t.
Adriel didn’t release her. Instead, he and Pierce escorted her to the front door.
The door slammed open. Footsteps. Then, a sizzling sound. Screaming began.
Theo stayed behind in the hall, his face pained and on the verge of tears. The rest of us humans remained with him, huddled in a confused and terrified circle.
Outside, Margaret’s screams were quickly cut off with ashrknoise. I assumed one of the oldest brothers couldn’t bear to let her suffer any longer and put her down before the fire could finish the job.
The door slammed shut, and Pierce and Adriel returned with a gloomy aura. Both had grim expressions. A thin wooden dagger was clutched in Pierce’s hand - the one he has given me as a safeguard when we first met. I realized he must have used it to finish Margaret off.
“It is done,” Adriel said quietly. “Margaret is no more.”
A moment of stillness descended on us. There was no going back from this now. Margaret had attempted to kill my child, and in turn, she was killed.
A hand on my shoulder made me flinch until I saw it was only Pierce. “Are you all right, my love?”
I held Lark closer to my chest. She fussed, but otherwise remained quiet. I was glad the sudden chaos didn’t make her cry.
She’s strong,I thought proudly.
“Why would she do that?” Theo asked, tears brimming and threatening to overflow. I didn’t know vampires still had the ability to cry, but I was grateful for it. Sometimes a good cry was what you needed to deal with your conflicting emotions.
“She hid the truth from us,” Adriel murmured. His face was stony. “She pretended she was excited to be a grandmother up until the very end, when her true intentions were revealed.”
“But why?” Caleb cried. He was less shaken than I thought he would be - maybe he was trying to hold it together for my sake. “Why would she eventhinkabout doing that?”
“She said something about a dhampir’s purpose being to help vampires,” I muttered bitterly. “Maybe that’s what she wanted all along.” I met Pierce’s gaze with a frown. “Maybe she only wanted you to produce a dhampir heir so she could…” My voice caught, and with some difficulty I forced myself to finish my sentence. “So she could drink its blood to rejuvenate herself.”
Caleb shuddered. Maxwell, who must have been the most confused out of all of us, looked on in horror.
“You may be right, Benji,” Pierce said with a heavy sigh. “I only wish I’d seen the signs sooner.”
“How were you supposed to know?” I countered.
“Her personality completely changed upon finding out you were pregnant,” he said, his eyes flashing. “She did everything in her power to keep you safe and comfortable. Not for your sake, and not even for the sake of the baby - but to ensure her own future.”
He growled deep in his throat and clenched his fist. I placed my hand on his, trying to soothe him.
“I, too, was foolish,” Adriel admitted. His eyes squeezed shut, like he was furious with himself. “After she struck me, I should have known she was too far gone. Not stable enough to be anywhere close to a newborn baby.”
