The Four Protectors

Fifty Two

1st Person POV

I felt the same fear I'd felt before crawling down my spine as I faced the woman. Around us, the battle raged on. A quick scan told me that the boys were safe, still fighting.

For a moment, that was all that mattered.

Although Cassius looked beyond broken and another quick glance revealed the cause of it as his dead brother, lying at the vile woman's feet. Most of my care for Raphael had stemmed from my love for Cassius. Seeing him hurt only renewed my hatred for the cold woman standing before me.

She might have been good once but right now, she was death incarnate.

"You finally came," she mused.

"You said you wouldn't hurt any humans," I replied.

Rafia was scrambling back up to her feet behind me to reinforce the dwindling wards. Azriel went to help her and Cassius seemed to have stirred from his shock enough as he defended them while they worked. Desmond and Leila fought a good distance away, but they were tiring.

And I could tell that the Countess knew she was winning this battle as a small, practiced smile covered her face.

"I said I wouldn't hurt the humans if I had another choice," she said.

She sounded like she was discussing the weather, and not the slaughter of over a hundred people.

"You do. You can still walk away from all of this," I pleaded.

"And you'll change those people's minds, reverse the decision made at the meeting," she asked.

I wanted to agree but I bit my tongue. Those people inside had been willing to die for this and had told me as much. I had to respect that.

Even if I didn't want to die now that I was actually standing before this woman.

"Why are you doing this," I asked breathlessly.

She could tell I was stalling but she still replied, knowing she had the upper hand.

"You know why I'm doing this," she replied coolly.

"I mean why do you care so much about that particular motion? It doesn't instantly reverse the damage you did," I argued.

And then it clicked. Until then, I'd thought the cure was something of fantasy, something we'd invent maybe ten years down the line when it was too late despite the doctor's claims at the meeting. The motion had been more about making a statement but it had rattled her more than I'd ever anticipated.

Because she knew the cure wasn't that hard to make, because she'd already made it.

"You know how to make the cure," I said aloud.

She stepped closer, blue eyes gleaming alarmingly. She hadn't expected me to puzzle that out. She still had the upper hand but just for a second, I'd caught her off guard.

If I hadn't been practically quaking with fear, I would have patted myself on the back for that one.

"I'll give it to you if you let me pass. I could give you your old life back. You won't have to cower behind their backs anymore. You can fight by their side like you were always meant to," she whispered.

She stepped even closer and I stood there frozen, partly in fear but partly because of something else as well, something I didn't even want to acknowledge. Her words were poison but I couldn't stop myself from listening to them for just one moment. I couldn't stop myself from dreaming of how much better it would be, if I could transform into even a damned fly and fly up this woman's nose to piss her off.