Forbidden Blood

Chapter 26: Vincent

"Feel free to stay here for the day. Our place is open to you as long as you follow our rules."

"Of course." I say.

"Rule number one, no fighting. We can't have a small argument turn into a massive rebellion. Rule number two, mind your own business and take care of yourselves. We're not here to babysit you." Rina laughs.

"Oh please, hon," she gestures towards the girls, "They're the ones who need babysitting, not us." Agatha shoots Rina a dirty look.

"Rule number three, respect your leaders." Hana glares at Rina. "What we say and do goes, nothing else."

"We'll respect your rules as long as we're here."

"Great. Now the sun's about to come up, so I suggest you come inside. It's getting late, anyway. We'll reconvene tomorrow morning and go from there."

We head inside, following Hana, Jak, and Martha. Their cave seems much bigger than ours, and that's probably because they have more people. Jak and Martha separate from us, leaving us with Hana to show us to our rooms. We follow her down a small hallway and into a circular area with a lot of door openings. She stops and turns around.

"These are your rooms. You can sleep in whichever one you like; they're all the same. Someone will come and wake you up tonight once the sun goes down. Until then, you're free to go." And with that, she leaves us in peace. I hear her footsteps echoing across the rock as she walks down the hallway. Zarro looks at us.

"Well, I guess that's it for tonight. Rina and Zoë, why don't you stay with the girls tonight? Vincent, Johnson, and I can stay in another room."

"Sounds good to me." I say. I start to tell Clara good night as everyone leaves, but she seems tense. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just tired.That's all." she says, not looking me in the eyes.

"Okay. I love you."

"Yeah. I love you, too."

She walks into her room, leaving me outside. No other vampires are around, so this must be an area that isn't used much. My eyes start to feel heavy and my body becomes tired. I walk into the room that Zarro and Johnson chose for us. They are sitting and discussing plans for tomorrow morning. I try not to listen to them as I fall asleep, but with super hearing abilities, it makes it kind of difficult.

"I don't know how we're going to get them to stop. They seem pretty determined."

"Do you have any ideas for a plan?"

"No, do you?"

"Well, I was thinking exile. They shouldn't be a part of Authern anymore if they're causing this much trouble." Zarro says.

"Do we even have the ability to exile them?"

"I don't know. We aren't witches, and I'm assuming only witches can exile other witches. It's probably something Clara and Agatha would know."

"But do you think exile is the best option?" Johnson seems uneasy.

"If they refuse to back down on their threats with the vampires, then yes, it is."

I haven't heard anyone talk about exile in a long time. This must be serious for Zarro to bring it up. Usually when someone is exiled, they are stripped of all resources and sent to a smaller island just off the coast of the eastern side of Authern. No one has been exiled in a very long time. Tarynn and Adriana wouldn't stand a chance if they got kicked off the island. It's almost worse than killing them on the spot.

"When was the last time someone was sent off the island?" Johnson asks.

"It was a long time ago. A guy named... Asher, I think. When I was younger, he wanted to overtake our leader. He tried to kill her for the power, but the in-lines wouldn't let him. He was too caught up with the power and couldn't get it out of his head. The in-lines and the leader got together and decided the best way to solve the problem was to exile him. No one has heard from him since he left the island."

"Do you think he's still alive?"

"Hard to say. On that island, probably not. But you never know."

I can't believe Zarro remembers the last time someone was exiled. That was years ago. If Adriana and Tarynn get exiled, they'll have no one on their side. I'm not sure if we should banish them, but then again, they'll be out of our way for good.