Uncharmed

Chapter 24: End

            Alex glanced at Tania to calm himself before replying “Well our circumstances were extenuating as well.”

            “That’s not for you to decide. That’s the council’s job.” Kale seemed to be enjoying himself, if the smile on his face was any indication.

            “But if it concerns the council then the council cannot be considered to be impartial and a different body of people must be chosen to judge.”    Alex was beginning to get the hang of this. Calm, he chanted to himself. Just stay calm. Getting angry is only going to make things worse for Tania and yourself.

            “Well that’s no great matter. I can have such a group put together in no time at all.”

            “No. A third-party would have to be the one to choose the group. One of the other councils might be a good idea.”

            Kale frowned. “No. This is a vampire matter and it will be kept within our race.”

            “Then all vampires would be considered too close to the case to judge fairly and so we must look outside our group.”

            “They won’t agree. They stay out of our business and we stay out of theirs. It’s been the rule for generations.”

            “There is nothing to be lost in asking,” Alex continued after another glance at Tania.

            Kale saw it. Before either of them could react, Kale had launched himself out of the chair and grabbed Tania by the front of her shirt. “Don’t you dare look at him! You’ve done nothing but corrupt him since you got near him you little bitch,” Kale spat, eyes like dark rubies.

            Tania was done being nice and meek. She glared right back at him. “You’re the sick fuck who turned him against his will.”

            His eyes blazing, Kale slapped her across the face, the crack seeming to echo in the room. With a roar, Alex threw himself forward, actually dragging his captors forward several steps before their counterparts on the door came and helped drag him back while he struggled violently. “I’m going to rip your heart out and put it in a motherfucking blender!”

            Spitting out the blood that had come from the inside of her cheek being split by her teeth, Tania flashed Alex a smile. “I’m fine.” The unspoken words were evident. Calm down.

            Turning to glare at Kale, Alex was disturbed by the speculative way he was looking at Tania. “Touch her again and I’ll kill you.”

            “If I remember correctly you actually bit her didn’t you Alex?”

            The chestnut-haired vampire froze. “Don’t you dare. If you so much as…”

            Kale smiled, cutting him off. “Your first bite unless I’m entirely mistaken. Much better than your old method, getting people to let blood into a cup. So messy. So where’d you bite her?”

            “I’m warning you Kale, don’t even think about it.”

            “She’s quite troublesome. Maybe it’d be a good idea if I got rid of her for you. Of course officially it’ll be the rogues who got her, but we’ll both know what really happened.”

            Tania stood very still as Kale pulled her hair away from her neck. Alright, calm down. No need to panic. He’s probably just bluffing, to get Alexander going. He wouldn’t actually…I mean Alexander would tell everyone. The others would believe him. Even Kale isn’t crazy enough to do this. I hope. Oh God. I’m going to die.