Distorted Affliction

Chapter Thirty Six

The sound that escaped my throat resembled a wounded animal as Kettelie released her grasp on Vanessa's body, allowing her to fall limply to the ground. Everything inside of me shifted, every ounce of magic in my blood responding to my emotional outburst. Before I had a chance to utilize any of it though, Lucas pulled me back to his feet forcefully.

"It's time," Kettelie announced, the Priestesses beginning in a low chant that grew louder with every word. I didn't understand what they were saying, or what language it was in, but I felt the transfer of magic as it moved through the air around me. It wasn't the same as the incantation they had used to subdue Vanessa and I, but it still felt heavy against my skin.

When I glanced up, I met the eyes of Lazarus again, my stomach twisting at the grin spreading across his face. He was reveling in my pain, thriving in my suffering as he watched me squirm under Lucas's grasp. My eyes searched for Seline, but she had stepped far enough out of my line of sight that I couldn't see her. I wondered if she had felt the loss of our sister, the sharp tearing as a piece of each of us left with Vanessa's soul.

Somewhere beyond, I could hear Demidicus urging Sin up, but I couldn't see them either. The Priestesses had blocked off my view of them, though I wanted nothing more than the comfort I always found in the sight of my two Mouri. The more I struggled, the tighter Lucas gripped my hair until I was certain he might rip it right off my scalp and the pain was too much to fight against.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the worst of the pain to come. The Priestesses chant grew louder until it reached a level of ferocity that I had never witnessed in a spell before. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I wondered absently about the health concerns related to heart palpitations, though I knew that was certainly the least of my problems in that moment. Kettelie's next words sent panic through my entire being.

"Drink," she urged Lucas. He leaned down before sharing a glance with Lazarus, who gave a swift nod. Lucas's breath was warm against my neck, something I wasn't sure I would ever get used to from the living dead.

"This is going to hurt," he whispered, his fingers brushing the skin where my carotid artery was. He was using his compulsion, the way Lazarus had in the grand library back in Montana. "This is going to hurt you more than me."

If Lazarus wanted to see me in pain, I was certain he was satisfied when the scream left my lips as Lucas bit into my flesh. There was no pleasure, nothing peaceful about the way his teeth felt as they pierced my neck. I was suddenly brought back to the feedings Lazarus had allowed his army to take part in as I writhed against Lucas again in an attempt to break away from him.

Somewhere beyond I heard the sound of Sinclair and Demidicus fighting their way to me, though Lazarus was quick to command his army to subdue them. I imagined it took the majority of his Mouri to restrain them, knowing full well the ease of which Sin had taken down his prey on previous occasions. I wanted to tell them not to fight, to restrain themselves, because regardless of the blood curdling scream escaping my throat, this was a sacrifice I was making for my son.

Lazarus would win regardless, we had been foolish to think otherwise. If someone needed to die at his hands, I vastly preferred he take me over Silas. This was a fate I would take over losing my son again, and one I felt I deserved. There was already so much blood on my hands, even outside of Vanessa. If Lazarus had gotten to the coven in Wyoming, though I still hadn't been sure how Kettelie even knew about them, then I seriously doubted he would leave them in one piece when they offered him no answers to his questions.

I could feel the blood leave my body, taking with it the magic that lived inside of me. My vision blurred, but I blinked in an attempt to hold my own. If I was going to die here, then I would die every bit of warrior that my bloodline expected me to be. As Lucas drank though, my ability to hold myself up vanished, and I felt him kneel beside me as he drained me.