I stood there, completely stunned, as two monsters stood in front of me, the web of life glowing in the background.
One monster, the one that I had just come to accept not that long ago, wants me to kill Nicholas. Kill Nicholas, and I get Viktor. Kill Nicholas, and I rid the world of another demon.
Could I actually kill him?
Fuck no. I would much rather kill myself than ever harm a hair on that man's head.
And if I lose Viktor in the process, then at least I know that he was never mine to begin with.
'Who are you?' I asked the voice in the shadows. It honestly felt like I had an Angel and a Devil on each shoulder, whispering to me what I should do.
'I am you,' she said.
'So am I,' snarled my monster, Moirai.
'No. You are a spirit, a Goddess that entered the body when a human decided to throw a tantrum and unleash all the evils on the world,' retorted the second voice… the one without a name.
'Look. You two can hash it out. I really don't care right now,' I snarled, no longer interested in listening to the two of them bicker. 'You,' I said, pointing to my monster—Moirai. 'Who needs to die?'
'Nicholas. Thou shall not suffer a demon to live,' came the automatic reply.
'You,' I continued, pointing to the shadows that I knew housed something. 'Who needs to die?'
'Vlad,' she replied almost as fast as Moirai. 'The crimes that he committed in the past will pale in comparison to what he will do in the future. Never judge an individual on what they have done in the past or who they are. Look to the future and judge who is worthy and who is not.'
'You win,' I said, snapping back into the real world, only to see Nicholas kneeling in front of me.
"Butterfly, are you okay?" he asked, his grey eyes staring into mine.
"Fine," I said with a smile. "Just talking to myself like always."
"Are you sure?" he asked again, the grip of his hands tightening against my own.
"She is sure. She just said that she was sure. Can you stop paying attention to the bitch for five minutes and look at me!" screamed Vlad, coming to his feet. Each of Nicholas' men pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
"Like that is going to do anything," sneered the vampire, looking down on the human weapon.
"The bullets are made of garlic and brimstone," said Nicholas as he continued to study my face. "They might not kill you, but they will make you hurt."
"You would do something like that to me? But I loved you! How could you not have loved me back?!?" raged Vlad, the red of his eyes glowing in intensity.
"I told you, I had a mate," sneered Nicholas, never really paying the vampire any mind. "I told you that I was never interested in you, that I only pitied you. But you never listened to me. You had me killed! Do you know what it was like living 200 years and not being able to go back to your fated mate?!?"
His words caused my stomach to plummet, but I didn't know why. Logically speaking, this man was my brother… but the idea that he had a fated mate made me want to puke.
Mathew and Dem, feeling my emotions, placed a hand on my shoulders while Nicholas let go of me and rose to his feet.
"You were meant to be mine! There is no such thing as fated mates! Especially not before the curse was unleashed," sneered Vlad, pulling himself together and sitting back down. As soon as Nicholas paid him any sort of attention, he was back to being his charming self.
'He is right,' called out my monster. 'There is no such thing as fated mates. Only lust pretending to be love.'
'You know nothing,' I growled at her, pushing her deep into my mind and locking her in. She was not as willing to be caged now that she had been freed, but that didn't mean I couldn't put her back in it with some effort.
"But that reminds me… how are you still alive? I ate your heart," said Vlad, looking more than a little confused.
"Because I am not human," smirked Nicholas, walking toward Vlad, not at all caring about the danger posed by the unstable vampire.
"Bullshit, you are not human," responded Vlad, becoming a bit breathless as Nicholas continued to approach him with slow, steady steps.
"Nope, not even a little," Nicholas assured the vampire.
"But if you aren't human, does that mean that Elena is still alive? I mean, if both you and Natalia are alive, it only stands to reason that she is, too." There was a hush as every monster in the room looked at Nicholas for his answer. If Elena was still alive, then that meant that they had been cursed for no reason.
No one was going to take that lightly.
"No, she is very much dead. Can't do much to save a human from a torture like that," shrugged Nicholas, not at all acting like he was talking about his older sister.
"But if you aren't a human, and I assume that your father was not a human, then…" trailed off Vlad, a smirk appearing on his face. "Then Elena is not your father's daughter."
"Correct," nodded Nicholas. "And that changed nothing. She still died by your hand. The curse was still enacted because you refused to come forward and admit your crimes. Everything is a direct result of you."
"Fuck that!!!" screamed Vlad, as he shot to his feet. "This is all the punishment that you deserve for not loving me back like you were supposed to! Everything that happened after you turned me down is not my fault! It's yours!"