Singed (The White Rose Vampire Series) book 2

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hello, Lovelies,

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday!  Thank you so much for reading Singed.  I am so glad to have you here.  It means more than I can say.  

News: I am self-editing Sparked.  After that, it will be going through professional editing with my editor, Kim Young.  I appreciate everyone who has read the first draft of it.  Your support means the world to me.  After Sparked is finished with editing, I will be putting Burned through the same process.  Every other book I've written will go through the same process but those will be the first two.  Also, I won Nano!  50k in 30 days.  Thank you to everyone who checked out my Nano submission.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.  If you do, please let me know.  Votes and comments are great ways to do that.  If you have any questions, comment or send me a message.

-XXXX Amanda 

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I walked downstairs, holding Jonathon's hand in mine, trying to give him the strength to speak to Dimitri. For the duration of his trials, he would essentially be in a sleep state which put him in more danger than the rest of us. Bethany would be with him with Mrs. Claiborne locked in a secret room in the manor.

Dimitri stood beside Bethany and Mrs. Claiborne facing our family his brows furrowed. The tension in his face caused the muscles in his jaw to flex as he gritted his teeth.

"I appreciate everyone who is in this room," he said, straightening, "I want you to know that before I give you my decision about the demon trials. Regardless of what happens, you are my family and I will sacrifice anything to make sure you are safe."

Bastian's eyes darkened, "Dimitri-"

Dimitri put his hand up, stopping whatever Bastian was going to say, "There is no other way to defeat Margaret or whatever her name really is. I will undergo the demon trials."

A tear fell from Bethany's eye and I noticed Dimitri moved to hold her hand. She stared up at him, her bottom lip trembling as she took in his face. Still, she remained silent.

"Jonathon will be the one who runs the manor and makes sure everyone remains organized," he said, glancing at Bastian, "Bastian will be his right hand and Gilliam his left. I expect you to listen to their guidance. Gilliam, I'm trusting you not to act rash."

Gilliam nodded, swallowing. Tears already rested in his eyes and I knew though they had not always seen eye to eye, they loved each other like brothers.

"Our missing brothers will be arriving over the next three days," he said, frowning, "Monroe and Yves will be here tonight," he said, turning to Mercy, "You'll find that Monroe is a family member of yours. He is where your last name started. I was going to tell you when he arrived but I won't be here to introduce you as cousins."

She nodded, the prospect of having blood-related family shining in her eyes, "Thank you for letting me know."

He nodded once, "I must prepare for my absence," he said, glancing around the room once more as if taking everyone's face in for the final time, "Stay safe and no matter what happens fight to survive."

He said nothing else. Instead, he turned and left the room with Bethany and Mrs. Claiborne following behind him. Jonathon tugged my hand, beckoning me to follow so he could help send Dimitri off into a place that he may never return.

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As we entered the secret room, Bethany stepped forward, tears streaming down her face. Panic was banked within her eyes.