Sacrifice in Blood

Chapter 64: The Aftermath

It was over.

For now, at least, the voice at the back of my head added.

I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Talon. I kissed him and he pulled me into a hug, his chin resting on my head. We stayed like that, clinging to each other.

Somehow we'd survived. Well, we had died. But the Goddess had brought us back to life.

"Leina!" Ava exclaimed and I let go of Talon to embrace her. Ava had cuts and bruises and a particularly nasty bruise around her neck but she was ok.

"Oh my Goddess, I'm so glad you're ok. You were dead!-" she blurted out. I nodded and hugged her back tightly, not sure where to begin explaining what had happened.

I saw Al approach Talon and they shared a manly-warrior shake and hug. Al looked pretty beat, like he had taken on a gang solo. His clothes and blonde hair were matted with dark blood, but he looked relieved; happy his oldest friend was still kicking.

Zara was there then, hugging her son, Elias embracing them all. Elias turned to face me and gave me a sharp nod that read: Thankyou. I nodded back in respect.

Bridget was there then, pulling me into a tight bear hug. Happy tears were falling as I hugged her and Ava, not caring that I was still in the torn dress and that I was covered in my own blood. It must have been a pretty macabre sight.

The rest of my coven were standing nearby, to my relief all of them seemed alright, albeit frightened and shocked. They were taking stock of their injuries- there was blood and some broken bones but they were all alive. They shot me glances but looked like they wanted to keep their distance. To their credit, I was surrounded by the royal vampire family.

Past my friends I could see Severus' followers watching on, eyes wide, confused and unsure what to do now.

What was left of the Witches High Council were gathered, talking amongst themselves.

The whole clearing was a battlefield. There was blood, the aftermath of magic, dead and injured vampires and witches scattered around.

My gazxe found Camille then; her eyes had returned to their normal hazel and she was watching Talon, looking shaken. Her eyes met mine and she quickly composed her face and glowered. Then she lifted her chin and disappeared into the night.

Severus' followers began to flee then too, deciding it was better to not stick around. Some stayed behind, perhaps to beg forgiveness from their king.

Ava and Bridget were talking to me, but I was distracted by the council. They were leant over two of their members which had been killed and were attending to wounds of the others who had been hurt. Marguerite was talking, a stern look on her face and Luke was answering back rapidly. The whole council seemed caught up arguing under their breath.

"So what now?" I called to them, making everyone around us quieten as Marguerite and the rest of the council turned to face me.

"You can't lock me up again." I said, feeling Talon come to stand next to me protectively.

"She is under our protection." Zara said then, surprising the crowd as she stepped beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder in support.

"Stay out of it, vampire! This is a witch matter!-" Lewis said, rearing his snarling head. Zara sent him a cold stare which would have sent humans running in fear. Lewis just glared back.

Someone had managed to clock him as he was bleeding down the side of his face. This made me internally smile. It shouldn't have but it did. He was not a nice person, or rather he hadn't shown me anything to believe otherwise.