I watched as the bones under Vlad's skin continued to shift uncontrollably. I had never seen anything like that before in my life. Between that and my lingering dream, I was not confident that we would survive the night in one piece.
Vlad took in a deep breath, and his eyes practically rolled back into his head. "Have I ever told you how divine your blood smells?" he asked out of the blue, his bright red eyes staring at me like I was a brownie sundae. "It smells like the finest wine. Would you give me a taste? Just a single one? I promise I will make it good for you. You won't even know how you died."
"Thank you, but I will pass. I believe in giving 100% in everything, but I draw the line when it comes to my blood," I said with a smile. It wouldn't be the first time that I had ever bled to death, but there was no way that I was feeding that monster. I would much rather watch my blood run down a drain in an abandoned warehouse than have him get even a drop.
"You know, I could make you," he said, his voice low and hypnotic. "I could make it so that you were begging me to. I could have you on my knees in front of me. I think I would like that," he continued, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
'I need to cut his thread,' I said, calling to the monster inside of me. I didn't know what her problem had been lately, but if we didn't work together right now, then I had a really bad feeling about what would happen next.
'I told you that nothing good would come from this trip. There are no angels left in the City of Angels,' she said from the depths of my soul.
'Was there ever?' I asked with a roll of my eyes. I didn't care about Angels or Demons right now. What I needed to do was kill Vlad and prevent the bloodshed that was surely to come.
'There was a time that only Angels were allowed to live in it. How do you think it got its name? But—'
'That's nice,' I said, interrupting her. I would be more than happy to listen to her later, but I had something that took precedence in front of me right now. 'But about Vlad…'
'If you kill him now, you will be upsetting the world order,' she said dismissively.
'And if I don't kill him right now, he will go and kill hundreds of thousands of people,' I shot back.
'You cannot kill an immortal. It is as simple as that,' she answered, and I could see her shrugging her shoulders, not caring about Vlad or the humans.
'And yet, you managed to kill both my Mother and Baba Yaga, and the world didn't fall to pieces,' I pointed out, no longer caring about her opinion. My mother was a bitch that needed to die, but the only person she was evil to was me. The only person that she killed was me. Her entire focus was on me.
It was not the same for Vlad. Vlad would cheerfully go out and kill cities worth of people without blinking an eye. Maybe he wasn't like that before, but after the curse and my mother, anyone who saw him now would know exactly what he was willing to do to quench his thirst.
"Do you repent?" I asked suddenly, cutting him off from whatever he was in the middle of saying.
"Excuse me?" he asked, his head cocked to the side and his red eyes focused solely on me.
"Do you repent? Are you truly sorry that you broke your oath? Are you truly sorry for all the wolves you killed? Are you truly sorry for the lives you have taken?" I asked, staring at the true monster in front of me.
I could feel the monster inside of me fighting against the hold I had on her, wanting to break free. However, I felt like I couldn't trust her. How could she not see what was happening? How were the people with demons inside of them more of a threat than this thing in front of me?
"Ah, you knew that the wolves were my work. I am impressed. Not even Lucas noticed that," mused Vlad with a smile on his face. "But their blood was better than any human I had ever had. However, I know that yours would be the best. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the wolves you seem to love so much?" he continued, nodding toward where Mathew stood right behind me.
"Why should I sacrifice my blood when I can kill you instead?" I asked, with a smile on my face. I had been so lost in my head lately, trying to fit into a role that I thought I should be. But sitting here across from a monster that has fully admitted to killing hundreds made me feel more like myself. How sad was it that dealing with murders and serial killers really made me relax?
"Even if you manage to kill me, I will simply be back in 31 years. Want to guess just how much I will kill you then? After I've had three decades to plan your death?" he asked with a smug look on his face. "And who would take my place if you killed me? Don't you know the saying… better the Devil you know than the one you don't?"
"And I much prefer the one that isn't stupid enough to threaten what is mine. Hello, Vladimir. Long time, so see," came a new male voice just off to the side. As if one, Vlad and I turned to look at the intruder… make that, intruders.
Five men stood off to the side, but my eyes were focused on the one in the middle, their leader.
"Nicholas?" I breathed, looking at the man.
"Hello, Butterfly. Miss me?"