We last read Chapter 40, in which Mavis Ladair a.k.a. Red Fang, her husband Garson, Lily Ladair, Theo Ladair, and the Talking Skull all square off against Prince Boripedes and his associate Virulis within their underground island hideout following the tragic, abrupt, and unceremonious murder of Mavis's father Lord Balfort Ladair at Boripedes's hands. In the midst of the scuffle, Lily sacrifices the sound quality of her flute in order to incapacitate Virulis with the nickel contained within, Red Fang thoroughly defeats Prince Boripedes and confronts him over how his thirst for vengeance has consumed him—while also utterly blasting him for finding a cure to the blood curse but not sharing it with the other vampires—and Garson, Red Fang's husband, manages to locate the Bloodstone.....but not before accidentally setting fire to the underground island base in the process. Garson alerts Red Fang to his discovery of the Bloodstone, then pins Boripedes to the back cave wall with a crossbow bolt and pulls Red Fang away from Balfort's body before leading the party in escaping the burning base mere seconds before it succumbs to the flames and crumbles apart.....with Balfort, Boripedes, and Virulis still inside.
This time, Red Fang, Garson, Lily, Theo, and the Talking Skull deal with the aftermath of the confrontation, and discover that they're not quite out of the woods yet.....
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Mavis Ladair a.k.a. Red Fang, her husband Garson, her adopted sister Lily Ladair, and her biological older brother Theo Ladair all regrouped at the bottom of the temple ruins stairs outside of Prince Boripedes's hideout proper, having successfully escaped the infernal destruction of the base and saving the Bloodstone from the prince's clutches. Additionally, the Talking Skull was also safe, having been hooked up to Lily Ladair's left arm for practically the entire fight.
Though Garson, Lily, Theo, and the Talking Skull took the time to catch their breaths after having barely escaped with their lives—especially Garson, since he was but a normal human—Red Fang outright collapsed onto the sand and sobbed hysterically, finally letting her agony and sorrow out after having just seen her father die right in front of her.....at the hands of her uncle, at that.
Though Theo was also one of Balfort's biological children, he wasn't much for showing too much negative emotion on the outside; instead, he ultimately dealt with it in his own way, and at the very least, he still had his secret lover Lily at his side. In other words, Red Fang was feeling exactly the same thing that Theo was feeling.....it was just that Theo was feeling it exclusively on the inside.
Garson took the crossbow bolt out of the barrel of his weapon, slipped it into the quiver on his back, then bent down so he was about neck-and-neck with his spouse. He didn't even verbally say anything at that moment, knowing that this was going to be a very tough time for her. Instead, he silently wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her inward, allowing her to rest her head on his left shoulder and continue crying.
Eventually, Red Fang reeled herself in somewhat, and sniffled.
"I suppose.....I now know how you felt....." the vampiric heroine said softly. "I just never thought that it would happen.....like this....."
Garson nodded sadly. "Sometimes.....it's the people closest to you who can hurt you the most."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Dragul meu (dear).....Lily, Theo, and I are here for you if you need us. But....." Garson then took out the Bloodstone, holding it in his hand and gazing at its beauty. "We need to get this back to your people now."
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Red Fang II
Vampire~PARAGON CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: PHASE 3, BOOK 3~ *This novel serves as the 3rd novel of Phase 3 and a sequel to "Red Fang".* "My brother was weak. He favored optimism over realism.....when deep down, he KNEW that wasn't how the world worked. Am I suppo...
