Anger consumes Eliza’s features and Rebecca whimpers at my side when the vampire dives for me. I let go of Rebecca’s hand and push her away, just as Eliza’s hands grip onto my neck. My face goes red as I struggle for air, but she’s holding on too tightly, suffocating me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I hear Ethan’s voice demand, and Eliza’s hold loosens as I fall to the floor. I cough to catch my breath.
“Your human whore has been playing you this whole time,” Eliza sneers, turning to face Ethan.
Ethan gazes at her in confusion, and it’s only now that I notice Whitfield standing in the doorway too. “What in the world is going on here?” he asks shrewdly.
“Father!” Eliza exclaims. “I caught her trying to take the girl. She’s been working for Pamphrock.”
“Pardon me?” questions Whitfield. I have never before heard those two words uttered with such cold, reserved rage.
Ethan’s incredulous dark eyes lock on mine, disbelief colours his expression. “Tegan?” he says, my name passes his lips like a question. My heart is falling apart with guilt for what I’m doing to him, and also with fear for what Whitfield will do to me now.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, as a solitary tear runs down my cheek. My apology confirms it’s the truth and Ethan’s face inexplicably hardens. I have never seen him look at me this way before, not even when he’d been really angry with me. Another irreparable crack forms in my heart. Everything we had together is ruined now, there’s no going
back to that place, the place where he might have loved me.
“Did you know about this?” Whitfield snaps, focusing on Ethan, who just about manages to tear his eyes away from me.
“Of course I didn’t Jeremy, don’t be so ridiculous.”
“I don’t know,” says Whitfield. “I have always held my doubts about you Ethan. You are a strong and fierce warrior, yet you coddle that abomination of a sister of yours as though she were truly one of us.”
Oh no. Poor Delilah. Whitfield really does plan on getting rid of her, just like the rest of the dhamphirs on the North side.
“What has Delilah got to do with any of this?” Ethan asks in exasperation.
“Everything.” Whitfield replies. “She is a sign of your weakness. She represents the fact that you do not share my vision for the future.” Ugh. Here we go again, Jeremy Adolf Hitler Whitfield.
“I have fought by your side for more than a century Jeremy, I have saved your life countless times and you mine. How can you accuse me of plotting against you?”
Whitfield leans back against the wall now, observing Ethan. “Show me that you are loyal then.” His eyes flick briefly to me. “Kill the girl. She betrayed you. Punish her.”
Eliza rubs her hands together in glee. I really want to slap her. Ethan’s inner struggle doesn’t reveal itself on his face, but I know he must be having one because he stands glued to the spot, gaping at Whitfield.
“Is there something wrong Ethan? She’s a blood donor who went behind your back. Kill her, I’ll get you another one just like her.”
The only outward sign of Ethan’s fury is how he clenches his fists at his sides. Something brushes my hand softly, it’s Rebecca. She takes my fingers into hers, perhaps to comfort me. Wait a minute, my hands, the sparks. Maybe I can get us out of here.
Ethan speaks then. “Jeremy, you don’t understand…”
“What don’t I understand?” Whitfield hisses. “She might have taken the girl if Eliza hadn’t caught her. You know how important the girl is.” The emphasis he puts on that last sentence makes me tense. Whitfield knows. He knows what Rebecca is because she didn’t have a witch mother who could cast a concealment spell on her like mine could. I hold tighter onto her hand now.
This news hardens my resolve to save the both of us. I’m not going to allow anyone to hurt this girl because of her blood. She is just like me and for some reason it causes my protective instincts to kick in. Instantly, I feel the tingles in the palms of my hands. I let go of my hold on Rebecca so that I don’t unintentionally hurt her.
“Oh for God’s sake,” Eliza moans. “If Ethan won’t kill the bitch, then I will.” She advances on me, I let her get up real close before I open my palm and then slam it into her face. The sparks fly right out with the contact and sizzle into her skin. She wails and leaps away from me. The side of her perfect face melting.
“Witch!” she screams hysterically.
Both Ethan and Whitfield stare at me in horror, trying to comprehend what’s just happened.
Finally Whitfield speaks, “She can’t be a witch,” he pauses to shake his head. “We would have smelled it. She smells abnormally desirable, but still, in essence her scent is human.”
I motion for Rebecca to stand close to me now, and she does so while smiling up at me. “You’re a super hero,” she whispers, and despite everything, it makes me smile. I suppose it would seem that way to a little girl, seeing sparks fly out of my hand.
I turn to the vampires. “Stand back away from the door,” I demand, one hand still raised in front of me. “Or I swear I’ll do a lot worse than what you just saw.”
Ethan seems fascinated and furious all at the same time. Whitfield simply appears monumentally pissed off. Still, the both of them do as I say and stand away from the door. “Further back,” I tell them, and they move further into the room.