The Good Daughter

Twenty three

Soft music played lowly in the background. I downed another drink. This time it was enough to soothe the ache in my chest.

Stefan was safer this way. I shouldn't have gotten so close to Mystic Falls, especially with Tyler. I had to let them move on without me.

Elijah would never stop. No matter how I might fight or plead with him, all that he could focus on was keeping the family together.

"Please." The girl had continually repeated over and over. She screamed as I thrust my favorite dagger between the bones of her forearm.

"You had one job. Now I have to make you suffer before I gift you the sweet release of death."

The boy beside her was trembling like a leaf, his hands bound and strung up over his head. His feet barely grazed the ground below.

She was similarly tied.

No reason for them to comfortably sit in a chair. They'd die anyway. I kept my identity close to my chest. By the time my followers met me, they were dead.

Yet their loyalty never faltered.

It felt kind of good to sit atop an empire.

Addicting.

I could see why Nik was so obsessed with chasing that feeling.

Parker crept through the door. "Uh boss?"

"Busy."

"I know. It's just you got all pissy last time and I want to avoid that."

I rolled my eyes, but did pause. The girl let out a relieved breath. "What."

"I've gotten reports that Damon is alive. He's with Stefan."

How was that possible? "When did you learn of this?"

"Five minutes ago, but it's clear he's been back for a bit. Our vampires think not long after you left. I waited for confirmation that it was indeed him. It is."

I paused, picking up a towel to wipe at my blood stained hands. "Double the protections on Whitmore and the surrounding area. I want to know if an Original fucking sneezes in that direction."

Parker took a hesitant step forward. "If we do that, it'll weaken the spell preventing Freya from finding you. We've spared all the witches we can. Any more and she'll break through, it's already fracturing."

Fuck.

I was still far too close to my brothers for Elijah not to be suspicious. "Fine. Pull in the witches. Send the wolves."

"That's a bad idea. Our wolves and vampires don't get along-"

"I suggest you use the power I pay you for, and find a solution! If my brothers die, it'll be your head." I took my dagger from the girl's wrist and thrust it into her shoulder. "I'm quite certain you do not wish to join our friends here."

She screamed.

Parker audibly swallowed. "No."

"Do what you must." The knife went between the boy's ribs. "Have care not to disappoint me."

"Right. Yes boss. I'll update you by nightfall."

"Within the hour, darling."

He nodded, pulling out his phone and dialing. He rushed out the room.

Parker was... well he was a goon. He was useful. Until he wasn't. I'd be able to kill and replace him without a second thought.

He was a piece on a chess board.

The queen to my king.

The boy begged me to stop, his voice already hoarse. First I'd take his fingers, then forcefully heal them wrong. That was always a fun experience. In the past, Parker would take the dismembered bodies of failed followers and display them as a warning to any who dared disobey an order.

All marked with the same butterfly.

The very one I wore on my shoulder.

I had a reputation to maintain after all.

Damon being alive complicated things. If one of my brothers was going to start poking their nose in my business, it'd be him. He'd want to see me. Especially since Stefan knew I was alive. He'd tried to contact me the most out of everyone.

God.

And Enzo.

He hated me for my fucking family. It got on my nerves. When were people I care about going to realize I wasn't them?!

The girl's screaming became grating. I took her heart from her chest and deposited it at the feet of the boy. He promptly vomited.

Unfortunate.

I was done for the night anyway. I grasped his jaw, forcing eye contact. "This is what happens to those who disappoint me."