“Thanks for that, mate.” I sneered in Kai’s direction as a gentle yet firm hand landed on my shoulder. “Glad to know whose side you are on.”
“Verena ismyaunt,” Arwyn reminded, the press of his hard body a steady wall behind me. “And because of that fact, I will be joining you.”
“No the fuck you will not,” I refused, growing all too familiar with that singular word. “How about we ask Verena to re-confirm if she is comfortable with speaking alone with me.”
Arwyn’s warm breath tickled my neck before he lifted his gaze to his aunt and spoke. “Well, are you?”
Verena lifted her chin, eyes boring through me where I stood. “I amverysure.”
Before anyone else could refuse me, I made a turn for the stairs, and commanded for Verena to follow. Romy was continuing to argue against it, and Kai was agreeing. Arwyn, however, stayed silent and non-wavering as he watched me lead Verena to somewhere more private.
We didn’t get that far.
I was halfway up the stairs when Romy screamed my name. I spun, the world shifting slightly, as a flash of metal caught my eye.
Verena lunged for me. It happened so quickly that Emon didn’t even have time to respond. Her mouth was split in a silent cry as she hoisted an athame over my head, the handle gripped in both hands, and plunged it towards me.
I’d wasted the precious seconds to protect myself. All I could do was watch the tip of the blade move towards my chest with clear aim. The best I could do was shift my weight and fall into the bannister. Wood cracked. Splintered. Pain scorched up my arm, sending a flash of white-hot agony through my flesh.
I lost my footing as Verena threw herself on top of me. We both went down on the stairs, Verena trying to ram the athame into my body, whilst I tried to squirm away.
“How did you know!” she shouted, except her voice was different this time. Deeper, almost.
Where the stair had smashed into my lower back, it drove the breath from my lungs. I couldn’t reply even if I wanted to.
In my last-ditch effort to bid time for someone to help. I lifted both arms up before my face and crossed them. My gathered wrists stopped Verena’s next attempt to stab me. I used my weight to fight against her, but she was far stronger, her position giving her the better opportunity.
Arwyn was running, my name called out in fury and panic.
Romy and Kai shifted in the corner of my eyes, trying to help.
But everything happened too quickly.
“I don’t want to die,” Verena snarled over me, yet her eyes were soft with grief. “Everyone else is dead. I don’t want to be…”
Verena couldn’t finish her sentence.
Arwyn was on her back, hoisting her off me with ease. But before he could unleash his pent-up emotion upon her, Emon attacked. He loosened his tightened grip on my arm, coiled his jet-black body, and sprung.
My neck burned with empathy as my demon sunk his fangs into Verena’s soft, pliable flesh. An artery severed, blood exploded. A hot gush of red gore showered over me, filling my mouth with its acrid taste. For a few moments I was utterly blinded. Panicked at what I was missing, and rather disgusted from being covered in someone else’s blood, I gouged fingers into my eyes just to clear a path to see what was happening.
By the time my vision cleared, the chaos had calmed.
Hands grasped for me. “Are you hurt?” Romy leaned over me, dark curls shielding the view of everything that happenedaround us. When I didn’t reply fast enough, Romy lifted her voice, and asked again. “Did. She. Hurt.You?”
I shook my head, hating every slick dribble of blood that was staining my face. “I’m fine.”
The relief didn’t last long on my friend’s face. It broke me, to see it. How her care for me outweighed anything else.
“Answer me!” Arwyn’s rage-fuelled voice bellowed around us, rocketing through every inch of the room. I leaned up to get a better look at him, but it was wasted effort. Until Romy moved, I wouldn’t be able to see anything worthwhile.
“Is she dead?” I asked.
Romy grimaced, and looked behind herself. “No, not yet.”
Answers. I needed answers. Apparently my wants matched the same desire that Arwyn had.
“Help me up, please.” My back ached, my arm burned. On the step beside me, I noticed the athame that had been used to try and kill me. It was left festering in a puddle of blood.
