Forbidden Lies

12

The sounds of heels echoed throughout the room as the woman walked towards the pale-haired vampire. Her hair was styled in a tight knot of braids that wrapped around the crown of her head. Her eyes were icy blue, but it was not her eyes that made Selena gasp. A scar took over her bronze face, the thick scar ran from just above her left eye all the way down to her neck. She had suffered a deep wound that did not heel correctly.

"You have lost control of your own child." The woman mocked. She sauntered closer to the vampire. "The council will not forgive this. Ana has disregarded formal commands. It was easy enough to sentence your own sister to death, will it be the same for your spawn?" The woman oozed venom in her words. There was an old wound between the two vampires that never healed, that was clear by the way she looked at him.

"Watch your words Claudia. I sit at the head of this coven. Do not forget yourself." The vampire straightened his body and held his head high as he glared at her.

"You sent the team out during daylight? What is the meaning of this, Ramious?" Claudia hated the monster in front of her. Not only had he sentenced her dearest companion to death, but he had given her the wound that had scarred her face for decades. Of all the vampires she hated, Ramious was the one she wanted dead. Claudia had long decided she would make Ramious regret sparing her life, even if it took centuries. Claudia was no stranger to the pang of patience, but she had been patient for long enough. Anna's little revolt may help her in her quest.

"I do not answer to you. Your council title was stripped from you long ago. Or should I give you another reminder of it?" Ramious did not like to be questioned, even in the days of old, when he was a human Prince, he despised being questioned. Ramious was born into royalty and even in the afterlife he continued his reign, who was Claudia to question any of his decisions.

"No need, the one you previously gave me is sufficient." Claudia clenched her teeth, holding back all that she really wanted to say.

"Is there a reason for your presence?" Ramious asked.

"Every now and then I like to know what goes on with the coven's affairs. Also, I think you are putting good men at risk. Let Anna fend for herself. She can die out there as a worrier or a martyr or whatever she thinks she wants to be. This one is not worth an entire team." Claudia was well aware of how close Ramious and Anna were. Anna was more than Ramious heir, she was to be his legacy.

"She needs to be brought back alive! She must answer for her disobedience. There are rules we must all abide by. We have not survived over millenias by rebelling. She will be a lesson and reminder to the coven. We must follow the coven rules!"

"I think you made a good lesson out of Alessa. I have not forgotten, and neither has the coven. The beloved sweet Alessa, whose heart you impaled. She was dealt a poetic death. Who could forget that?" Claudia reminded him.

"She was a traitor with conspirators! A treacherous serpent who crawled through the marred cracks of the coven. She was properly dealt with." Ramious suddenly stood. "Go back to the hole you crawled out from."

Claudia's eyes gleamed as she scoffed. Her heels echoed as she left the dark room.

The scene blurred and Anna came into view. She sat in a corner of the dark room, waiting for the sun to set or for her to be captured. She had made a mess of things, and the worst part was she could do nothing but replay it all in her head for hours while she waited. For several hours she sat in her own self wallowing, when finally she heard the metal door slowly open.

She jumped up onto the small pipes, being careful not break them. She would go down with a fight at least. Cassian's tall figure stepped in and quietly closed the door behind him.

"Ana?" He called out. He looked around confused.

Ana jumped down and pounced on him. She grabbed him from behind and twisted his arm backwards to immobilize him.

"Are you alone?" She demanded.

Cassian half chuckled and half scoffed at her brazen attack. He put all his weight into his arm and swung her over his shoulder, making her hit the wall and fall to the ground.

"Yes, do not do that again." Cassian expected a smart response back, but instead Ana struggled to get up and her breathing became hollow.

"I hardly tossed you, hey are you okay?" Cassian walked towards her, and she recoiled back in response.

"What's wrong? I didn't mean to hurt you." He crouched down to help her, and that was when he noticed the color of her skin. Although the room was mostly dark, there was a sliver of light coming from the cracks of the door so that one could see glimpses of the room. The glimpse he caught of her skin was enough to see she was not doing well at all.

Her skin had become translucent with some of her veins showing through. He carefully helped her into a sitting position.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked.

"I need to feed?" She lazily answered. Her eyes flickered, and she struggled to stay awake. Cassian gently shook her to make her stay awake.

"Will my blood help?" Cassian offered, not really thinking about what this meant to either one of them. Ana's eyes widened and she pushed away from him.

"Never." She managed to say with repulsion.

"It's just blood." He pressed on.

"Our species can never exchange blood. It's forbidden and seen as the ultimate treason. Besides, it would be a gamble, we might die." She explained.