Consequences

After leaving Amaranth's I head for the docks I call my bow to me before the guard has the chance to stop me, he's down.

Fie stands over him, eyes glowing two curved swords in his hands, "You'll die," he says.

I walk past him and down the narrow passage, "I don't need you."

"That's where you're wrong."

Several masked figures rush towards us, I pull back the bowstring and fire four arrows zoom out followed by four more, Fie's there to take out anyone that manages to slip by.

"What is the meaning of this!" Fake Cora has a gun aimed at my head.

I strap my bow to my back and call my sword to me, "Hello Zinia."

She smiles fangs gleaming under the crystal lights, "So you know who I am, tell me what gave it away?"

"Besides your stench, Cora would have asked more questions about my appearance about who I am not who he is," I say just as Fie appears behind Zinia and knocks her out.

Shadow chains wrap around us then we're back in Amaranth's manor. Fie places shadow chains on Zinia's arms legs and neck anchoring her to the walls and floor. I walk over to the window and tear the curtains down thank the Underworld for Fay strength I bend the metal covering from one of the windows. Soon the sun will rise and it will burn.

I walk back to Zinia and set my sword on the table opting for a wooden leg from a broken chair, "Wake up," the wooden leg connects with Zinia's face her nose breaks black blood trickles out, "I said wake up," I walk around her and strike her back wood cracking as it comes in contact with her spine.

"You bitch," Zinia hisses, she tries to pull free but the shadow chains remain true. Unless Fie sets her loose she won't be able to break free. Like most things about the Shadows only they can control them while there is no Shadow Queen the bloodlines remain most are mixed but a few are still pure old enough to be considered Ancients.

I snap the wooden leg in half and thrive it through her spleen, "Why did you kill Cora?" I walk around and thrive the other half through her abdomen, "why wear her face?"

"I'm not telling you anything," she screams the moment I pull the wood out her wound had started to heal with it still in her abdomen.

I bring it up and pierce it through her shoulder with enough force I hear the wood splinter inside, "that's alright, see there's this method I learned back when my magic had a damper over it. But now that it's been removed and I have access to all of it, "I take the knife tucked into my boot and run it down her face, "I can simply enter your twisted little head, or I could have him do it for me," Fie walks over the curved swords strapped to his back. With one look everything inside Zinia's head is projected from her childhood to the moment she was turned.

There the great Andreas leans down whispering sweet nothings in her ear as he drains her of existence then feeds her his blood. The images continue to play out until one catches my eye, she was there the night Andreas hunted Amaranth down they had been following her from the moment she set foot in the old Vampire Realm. Zinia thought Amaranth was nothing more than a meal she hated that Andreas turned her hated that he showed so much interest in her. So, she told Amaranth the truth, she told her how there was no rouge vampire how they had hunted her down drained her and at the last-minute Andreas changed his mind and turned her.

Zinia hated Amaranth to the core but she didn't count on Andreas's wrath when he learned Amaranth had left. She found a witch and had her change her face to resemble Amaranth but Andrea's wasn't happy he wanted the real Amarnath and when he found her, he made sure she'd never leave. As punishment, he desiccated Amaranth and instructed Zinia to keep her alive just a few drops of blood here and there. The moment she was certain he wasn't coming back she stopped feeding her and left her to die.

"Since this face isn't yours," I run the blade down her jaw, "I don't think you'll mind," Fie pulls out of her head, as I begin to carve her face off she screams until no sound comes out, but the moment the first rays of sunlight sip through the uncovered window she loses it.

She screams and pleads hot angry scorch marks begin to form on her exposed skin. I tear the back of her shirt open the sun burning her instantly. Fie throws a shadow wall up and just as she's about to thank him lets it fall the rest of the covers flying of the windows. Zinia screams until she is nothing but a piece of chard vampire the shadow chains disappear and her corpse hits the ground crumbling into ash.

"Andreas is one of the twelve vampire lords," Fie says.

"I'm aware of who he is," I say, "burn this place down."

###

The moment we're back in our hotel room I head for the bathroom and turn on the shower setting it on cold. For a while, I just stand there my head pressed against the wall then realizing I'm still fully clothed I take my boots then the rest of my clothes. I scrub until my skin turns pink, I turn off the water and step out dripping water onto the flowery tile floor. Fie stands next to the bed I walk past him and climb in not caring that I'm naked, not caring that he's seen me, nor that I'm still wet. I close my eyes pull the covers up and fall asleep.