Chapter 42: The Powers That Play On

Victor’s POV

I was frozen to the ground for a long time. I didn’t rush or move or run towards Sidus and Luke as they laid one final clamp of both of their jaws in my father’s neck.

In a show of defiance, maybe even greed, maybe they wanted to torment me further and were languishing in their displays, they turned to look at me and stare at me and open their mouths, my father’s blood dripping from their maws, and gloat at me.

The blood dripped, and my eyes followed each and every droplet from their sharp canines to the rotten dirt beneath their paws.

Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.

I felt a warmth rush over me–Tara’s shield–and still, I didn’t move. It was too late for my father, I could sense that the moment his power and influence washed over to me. I could tell the very moment, the exact second, that his heart stopped beating and he was no longer amongst the living.