Michael
Marcus was already sending Brylee communications. Nicholas and the general were in a very defensive stance, waiting for our next move. The werewolf on the ground started chuckling. It was a mistake. My patience was zero… "How do we get the net off?" I asked. Juliet took the gun I had pressed into my pants. She turned it around and demagnetized the clasps. My arm stretched out to grab hold of Brylee's husband. "No. Michael!" Juliet halted me. My head snapped at her. I was already a vampire… Juliet stepped in between the wolf and me. Challenging eyes dared me to do something.
"Juliet, stop it!" Louis snapped at her.
"Make me." She was using my own words against me. "We need to know what you will do. And if you kill me… Honey. I'd like to know when it's going to happen… I don't want to sleep next to you, and you strangle me in my during the night."
My manifestation didn't want to go, and the wolf kept laughing… I pierced him with a predatory gaze. He growled and, in a low voice, said, "You know… There is so much you don't know about the brandings. The more people you kill, the more you lot are left in the dark. Why don't you get it over with? Kill Juliet! We can all see what you want." His laughing eyes mocked me. "You're all a bunch of children… Brylee played it just right. Confusing the situation… In the end, the three of you will die."
The problem was the need to prove myself as a werewolf, yet on the other hand, I wanted to take over and rule everyone as a vampire. In my Riphath form, I couldn't care less about who died. I didn't trust Brylee or her husband. It could be a ploy, and I would kill her and also die, so I traveled back to Palmyra. If I couldn't kill Juliet, I would kill Brylee and be one step closer… I went back to where I left Mateo, in his father's room. Brylee was livid, screaming at him. Mateo was on his knees, head tilted up to his mother. It seemed that he was waiting… I was debating with myself whether to help… It happened so fast. Brylee lifted a hand, and the wolves around him stabbed into him. One at the base of the neck. One into his heart. The other sliced his throat. I recoiled at the site. Even in my vampire state… It went against my nature to kill your own child… So cruelly… It was one thing having your own moral code and fighting to the death for it… But having none… I took the opportunity... Brylee wasn't expecting it and had walked off to the side. The guards were busy with cleaning.
I put Brylee down with her husband. The one thing he shouldn't have said was Brylee had used me as a weapon… The other thing was Juliet being afraid to sleep next to me… I should never have done it… I was the wrong choice. Why did Chris not want to do it? I didn't want to think about hurting her anymore.
The rest didn't expect me back. I exchanged Brylee for Juliet. She didn't struggle and threw her arms around me. Chris and Louis tried to stop me. They didn't trust me, but it seemed she did. I took her to Chris's house, where it was quiet and I could think. Into his room where we sat that one day when it was only the two of us… I didn't like my vampire face... She was right. I needed to test myself. Not avoid her more… She joined me on the bed. "Are you going to kill me?"
I shook my head, remembering what Louis told me to do. Juliet had eaten once a week, maybe even two or three times initially. She was so desperate. How could I have thought that I would be different? To my body, it was even worse. "I had PTSD symptoms." She seemed surprised that I was sharing. "It was unexpected. My mind is a mess again… Fear completely took over. Human freaking emotions…."
"Can I touch you?"
I turned and opened my arms. Juliet rested her head on my shoulder. "Do you really feel I'm not doing enough?" I asked softly.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry I said that. You did so much for so long. I should be doing everything for the next seventeen years."
A victory cry came from outside. Juliet and I stepped out. Riphaths were traveling back from the west in droves… Shumaan had won. "Michael, we have to go back. Please… I have a bad feeling."
***
Louis
I was angry that Michael had taken her. It irritated the living daylights out of me that he and Chris could pick her up and freaking disappear. All I could see was my mother's smug face after desperately trying to get a hold of Juliet. Chris wouldn't be able to leave to go after them. Not that we needed his protection, but we were vital in Juliet's survival. No one would take the chance. Brylee and her husband reconciled, hugging each other. I had only seen the woman one time in two hundred years. She was less my mother than Agatha or Cindy was. I felt nothing for her and the way she handled her life. I had also lost my father but didn't turn into a raving maniac. "Louis! What will you do with us?" Brylee asked, turning to me.
I understood the pressure Marcus had been under with Qadir and his grandfather. But I wouldn't hesitate… Or would I wait until it was needed, or until it was too late? Until Juliet got hurt like Marcus had done, or one of us got taken. Killed off-planet and die.
"We want you off, Zoreah. Take everyone and order them back." Marcus suggested, sitting down across from Nicholas at the table. "Get out all the vampires, and we will destroy the teleporter." Marcus's gaze was fixed on Brylee.
The doors burst open, and another vampire joined the crowd. Behind him, the hall was filled with werewolves waiting to protect Brylee. It was the guy we marooned on that planet with no wives and no women to work in his factories. He was why Ahasuerus could manage to build it so quickly. "You have to know that we would never accept Juliet as our queen. We will come back to take over En-gannim."
"I don't care what you do on your planet, but from today. The tech will be withheld from you. Ahasuerus's army can stay with you. Their loyalties are clear to me… You forget that I'm also there. Juliet and I are connected."
"We all know that you are ruled by that woman. The connection means nothing."
Marcus's gaze flickered over to me. It wasn't only the two of them. It wasn't about the fact that we were another clan that could challenge Ahasuerus. And no one seemed to take it seriously. Or thought we had more rights on a planet ruled by supernatural customs.
"We're one person away from ruling four planets. It seems like none of you know how the brandings work." I spat out.
"I know exactly how they work," Brylee said. "Michael will kill you all and take over himself… We are ensuring that Ira is on our side. Michael will have a hell of a time killing all of us."
"Will you live in fear, mother? He has a supernatural beacon for the rulers of these planets… Who knows if he will have to other rulers. He can manifest in front of you even if you're well-guarded."
"I WILL DIE TRYING!" She roared. "You know nothing! I will kill every one of you… Until even little Sammie's lifeless body is in my hands."
Chris didn't need to react. I was her father more than he was. I took out my real gun, aimed it at the useless man sitting on the ground, and took the shot. Brylee was ready for a fight and still too quick. She had pushed the gun out of my hands. The weapon had popped, and a fight ensued between the two of us. The room stood back so we could have it out. With my training and my strength, she was no match for me. Without guards, she was useless. I pressed her down to the ground.
"We could have ruled together… If she got on board with me… We could have taken over Zoreah in a heartbeat. Earth would have sided with whoever she wanted." My mother tried to reason.
A sardonic laugh escaped me. "You're so stupid. She would never go against Chris!" I laughed even more. "Do you think I allowed any other men near her for no reason… Juliet wouldn't be able to live without him… Your mistake was going against Ira in the first place. He knew how to keep them apart… And you walked right into that trap, thinking Michael would kill her!"
I held out my hand for the gun lying on the ground. I was bluffing. Right at that moment… I didn't know if Michael would do it. A week ago, he was close. But Chris had also been that night. If Sita and I were not there… I still don't know what he would've done. But it would be like blaming a child for spilling his milk at dinner. It was our responsibility to look after him. I took the gun Marcus had handed me. I pressed it against her head, wavering.
***
Chris
Louis wasn't going to do it. Marcus ripped the gun from his grasp and shot Brylee point blank. Louis jolted back, but there was no time… That was why Louis was wavering. The wolves went ballistic. Even her lazy husband stood up. Guards flooded in, and we were fighting a funnel of werewolves attacking the room. "Get the others, Chris. We need help." Louis hollered. He was on the other side, and I couldn't get to him.
Marcus and I jumped out the window. Louis was on his own. I traveled with Marcus to the cave. We needed that teleported destroyed. If all of them died that day… It was how it would be… We ended up in the underground control center we had rigged with explosives. Vampires and wolves were trying to dismantle the bombs. I left Marcus there... He was on his own… It would be chaos in a second, but it was the safest place.
"I'm going to Shumaan. We need Silvanus." I said before I left.
"Get him out, Chris. If something happens to Louis… She won't survive."
"There's no time! If something happens to him, she'll be dead... It wouldn't matter." I left, hoping Louis was clever enough to hold on.
With his mother dead, we needed Michael. I didn't think they would automatically listen to him or how their customs worked when a queen died. Her husband was still alive.
I traveled to the command center. The watchers and the Riphaths were celebrating. Shumaan wasn't under attack anymore. The tent was filled with all the important people. "Ira, we need to travel into the city. Brylee's dead. Get ready at the spot."
I pressed my finger into Carl's torso. "You have five minutes. Bring the choppers first and as many watchers as possible."
I opened my arms. Silvanus turned human and jumped in. I was going to drop him in the middle of a war zone… Not knowing what had happened in the last few minutes.
Michael was raging and raving, blood-covered and his mouth out, killing everyone he thought could come through the door. The dead werewolves were mounting up behind him. Silvanus dove right in. I could not see Louis. My head jerked all around, looking for Louis. He was nowhere on the floor, and I couldn't ask Michael… I lifted bodies to try and find him. When I picked one up, Nicholas's dead face looked up at me. I clutched his armor for a moment, but there was no time. I thought about Marcus all alone in the cave. I walked towards a window. There was no sign of Ira or Carl. The city was quiet. It was still peaceful down in the harem camps.
In the distance, the millions of soldiers were waiting for orders. Ones they would never get. It was our chance to kill them all.
The cave was still full of werewolves and vampires. Nothing had changed. Marcus was nowhere. "What the..." It was a lot of back and forth, but I had no choice. Someone touched my arm. I jerked around, hoping it was Juliet. Caleb came back out of an invisible state. I jolted back. He was holding on to a bruised Marcus. "How could you leave him here. You can be glad I was here when you left."
"I'm fine, Caleb," Marcus said.
I grabbed his ear, and it seemed that the three of us had disappeared as the wolves came at us. "What is wrong with you? Why are you here and not on Earth with Sammy? Didn't I take you back a few minutes ago?"
He held up the glass plate. "I didn't want to tell you… about my ability." I had a flash of Ira's and my relationship. It was never what I wanted for him. I threw my arm around his neck and pulled him in.
"Aaaa, how sweet," Juliet said next to us.
I grabbed at her in desperation, Louis right next to her with not a care in the world. We were all invisible. I clenched my fist, retracted it, and hit Louis in the face. "That's for that night outside her house. For making me pick up dead people to find you." Louis got ripped out of Juliet's grasp. Visible. "Seriously, Chris." She yelled.
"I let go of them and started killing wolves. I was tired, irritated, and needed to vent. They didn't stand a chance. No one even came close to Caleb, who sat invisibly watching.
Marcus started teleporting in the watchers. Riphaths and different armies from Earth. We heard the bombs dropping. When his communications with Carl were finished, we joined the fight outside.
***
Their beasts were unleashed inside of the city, each with a handler. Jamal, Selena, and I stood together. We had trained for it and fought them one by one. We had never dealt with whatever they were. Palmyra had things that I had never heard of. "I wouldn't mind having one of these," I said to Jamal.
"Train it to go on patrols… Seems like they know how to domesticate their beasts." Jamal said as we teleported and fought, finishing one after the other. Helping Selena when she cried out.
***
In the end, we destroyed Ahasuerus's army. With the Riphaths and the watchers, they didn't stand a chance. Together with Juliet's army, it didn't take really long. The backup from Earth were only normal humans with guns who finished off those who came through the front lines.
When it was only the harem werewolves left. Ira wanted to kill all of them, but Juliet couldn't do it. The two of them fought for some time, and I decided. "Juliet, I'm going to take you away… It's going to happen."
Irate, she scratched at me. "Did all of it not happen because I saved one of them. You want to kill a thousand babies! I will never allow it!" She yelled.
She was the only one that felt that way… Her eyes tried to find someone that would side with her. How would she get over it? Jessy stepped towards her with a tube. "You wouldn't?"
"You don't want your breast covered with that skin… You won't be able to handle it. Look at your shoulder." Her chest rose and fell heavily as her other arm started covering.
"Now!" Marcus yelled. Jessy stepped forward and stabbed her. I tightened my hold and traveled her away. I didn't stop until we were in France. Jessy followed faithfully, not saying a word, having finally done the one thing he had never wanted to. But she didn't have the Emblem on… Marcus did. I locked her up in Louis's room, sitting down on the bed at her feet. My blood-soaked hands stared back at me, and I still had to go back to finish what I started.