Most of the people were gone from the room, only the hybrids remaining with their pack mates and a few of the vampires. Most of the younger vampires were gone, whether this was a precaution or whether more had been damaged she didn’t know. Her gaze turned to the woman who had hurt her and was now at her staring intently.
“You have done well, Thereasa. Though you came here with death in your heart you have performed a service that would grant you a stay of execution, had that option still been on the table.” The vampire queen walked around the kneeling couple slowly, her electric gaze meeting the eyes of loved ones as she passed them.
In some she saw confusion, in others she saw hurt. In Caleb’s eyes, she saw cold bleakness. She paused before him, read each minute detail on his beautiful face. A boundary had been crossed that should never have been. Only time would tell if they would be able to recover from the damage done this day.
Damage that wasn’t over. There was still one more thing that needed to be done. If Rhianna had been present she would have begged her other half not to do this, but she was subsumed by a will six thousand years older and with a power far superior to hers. This last act had to be done and there was no one who could do it apart from her.
Anakatrine turned back to Thereasa, a small movement of her hand urging Liam to release the woman.
“Anakatrine… please.” Liam didn’t want to release his mate, his eyes pleading with the woman who held their fate in her hands.
“Trust in me, Liam.”
He opened his mouth to speak again but suddenly found himself outside the circle they had been in, looking through what appeared to be a shimmering wall of air. Rafe was immediately at his side, holding him in a tight grip. “Don’t try to get back inside. It’s electrified or something. No one can breach it. We have to trust she knows what’s she’s doing, Liam. I know it’s hard, Lord, do I know just how hard that is, but there is nothing else we can do but trust in her as she asks.”
“She can’t hurt her,” Liam ground out, sinking back to his knees, his heart thumping, his gaze never leaving his mate. “Please someone, do something. Don’t let Anakatrine hurt my mate.”
Silence greeted his words, though his brethren joined his thoughts, Elina sinking down beside him and holding him close. They all stared at the two women so close and yet so far away. Foreboding filled the room as everyone was rooted to the spot, waiting for an impending tragedy to unfold.
Anakatrine knelt down before the vampire, a finger reaching out to brush away a lone tear. “You understand your actions cannot go unpunished, child. You have caused untold harm here this day, not just to the Vârcolac but to the very heart of all I have worked so hard to create.”
“Who are you?” Reasa choked the words out, her entire body almost paralysed with terror at the being before her. She looked so small and fragile and yet, she appeared invincible.
“I am Anakatrine, last Queen of Vampires. I was murdered by my people six thousand years ago, along with my King, Callain, the rather irate male drilling holes in my back.”
Reasa shook her head, denial crossing her face. “We don’t have a queen. You North Americans have that stupid Council thing but we have never had a monarchy.”
Anakatrine smiled, shrugging her shoulders. “Believe what you will, child, it’s a moot point. You asked me who I was and I answered. Choose not to believe right now, but you will by the time this day is done.”
Standing she looked down on the vampire, a small amount of compassion filling her heart at the fear she saw in her eyes. She had no room for manoeuvre though. The die was cast and Thereasa’s fate had been chosen. And Heaven help them all.
Reaching within, Anakatrine delved deep, searching for the most hidden repository of stored knowledge she had. As she delved, she began to summon her magic, calling on every element and sucking the energy into her mind to join with the knowledge she sought. The air crackled loudly, sparks beginning to fly from her auburn curls as it whipped in the air by an unseen wind.
Reasa tried to cower away, her terror mounting as power engulfed the vacuum she was imprisoned in with the other woman. There was nowhere to hide though, her way blocked at every turn. She could hear Liam calling her name but she was too afraid to take her eyes from Anakatrine. She had no idea what the vampire queen was going to do, but she knew it would be something that would wound her deeply, if not kill her.
For the first time, Reasa truly questioned if she had done the right thing in coming here and trying to wipe out the abominations. Louis, the other covens in Europe, they had no idea what they were up against if they continued to produce the Amort poison and tried to bring down the vampire Council. They were outclassed and it was only now that she was realising that.
“Thereasa of the European Covens, you have been found guilty of attempted murder of one or more under my protection. You have been found guilty of causing untold mental harm to those under my protection, and you have been found guilty of being the catalyst to Liam Eriksson’s mental break, which has caused the destruction of minds under my protection. Punishment for each of these crimes is death as decreed by my mate, Caleb. However, a conventional death is something that cannot be granted because of unforeseen circumstances.”
The sparks erupted louder and brighter, contained within the circle with the two women. None of them touched Reasa, though they came close as her terror mounted. There was so much power encased in the tiny space with them. There would need to be an outlet for that power and she was certain where it was going to come. Glowing lavender eyes connected with hers as she began to weep silently.
“For saving Liam and those he loves, I grant you one lifetime to right your wrongs. Choose your actions wisely henceforth, Thereasa, for you shall be at the mercy of all those you have wronged in the past.”