"They're not as incompetent as they seem. And neither am I."
"Yeah, well, I guess we'll see about that," I said with another glance behind me. Was it just my imagination or was the electricity binding Tanise and Ellara already beginning to fade?
"All done," Riley said, cutting through the last bit of rope. Shaking, Sienna reached up to remove the gag. "Uh-uh, I don't think so," Riley shook his head. "Leave it in."
Sienna groaned through the fabric and stamped her foot but did as she was told.
"Listen, I'm gonna get you out of here, but you have to help me with Juliette. Can you do that?"
Sienna nodded meekly in reply.
I watched as they made their way to Juliette's prone form. Together they hoisted the Vampire off the ground, supporting her weight between the two of them.
"Hey, Riley, you know what to tell my family if... if..." The words were there - I could find them. I just didn't have the strength to say them aloud.
"Shut-up. It won't come to that. Ok?"
Quietly, I nodded.
"Remember, Tamsyn, ten minutes."
"Ten minutes," I repeated, watching them begin the trek to freedom, while I stayed behind to wait with death.
* * *
I sat with my back against a tree, the Blade of Woe in my lap, counting down the minutes and watching as Tanise and Ellara continued to writhe in pain. The spell that Riley had used was a powerful one, which showed that maybe, just maybe, there were things I could learn from him after all.
If I survived.
"Why... is it so damn hard to kill you?"
I grinned bitterly at Tanise's question and stood up, brushing off the seat of my jeans.
"I dunno. Maybe you just suck at your job." I replied, walking forward until I reached my Aunt. She was sitting up in the snow, little threads of electricity still sparking from her skin and clothing every few seconds. But for the most part she seemed no longer affected. Calmly, I raised the blade until its tip was level with her throat, just centimeters from coming into actual contact.
"I should do it - I should kill you right now," I said. "Because if I don't, the Society will anyway. I'd be boing them a favor."
"Then go ahead," she snarled. "Do it."
Silence.
"Do it!"
"Am I wrong for wanting to?" I whispered back, going so far as touch the blade to her throat. "Because somehow, that seems just as bad as actually doing it. Maybe worse." Tanise said nothing. She looked up at me with those hardened eyes, but for the first time I saw actual fear. Even those who are ready to die are frightened by the permanence of death.
"I mean let's face it - it's not like you wouldn't deserve it right? You ruined Dean's funeral by hurting my sister, you led my father on, and to top it off you let Psycho Barbie go on a killing rampage."
Silence reigned again as the wall of hate between us rose ever higher.
"So what's stopping you?" she spat.
I looked down at the blade, fighting hard against the answer. But all the while I was losing to a ghost.
"My mother," I replied, lowering the blade and stepping back. "You loved her and she loved you - which is more than you deserve. But I won't kill you. I'll let the Society do it."
"To show me mercy after everything I've done to you..." Tanise's face softened. "Is very stupid." She got to her feet, brushed off her clothes. "And I should kill you for it..."
"But?" I said.
"But... I'm a Knight. And hard as it maybe for you to believe, I am familiar with honor. I have respect for your choice, so just this once I'll return the favor. "
"So that's it? You're just gonna turn around and walk away?"
Her lips twitched as if maybe she was holding back a smile.
"Yes... for now,"
"Fine. Good. Quit the law firm while you're at it. And stay away from my dad."
"Fair enough," she said with a smirk. "And what about her?"
I tossed a quick look behind me, where Ellara was still writhing like an idiot in the snow.
"Do you care?"
"Not particularly, no,"
"Then I'll handle her,"
Accepting this answer, Tanise turned and began to make her way from the clearing, selecting a path opposite from the one that Riley and Sienna had chosen. But it didn't matter anyway, because ten minutes had come and passed. They were long gone.
Tanise made her way to the edge of the trees, and paused at the last second.
"You may not believe that Westley killed your mother, Tamsyn, but in time you'll come to realize that you were wrong about him. He's vermin - the biggest monster of us all. And one day, when he thinks you're not looking... he'll prove it to you."
And with those final, parting words, the Queen's Knight disappeared into the woods.
* * *
My final opponent of the night had finally risen to her knees. From the look on her pretty, defeated face I could see that she was furious, but Riley's spell had left her with a nasty, continuous twitch that reminded me just how weak and powerless she had become.
"I used to admire you," I said quietly, looking down at the blade in my hands. Though it was made for such an ugly purpose, it was still a beautiful instrument. "You got me through some pretty tough times Coach. I believed in you and you helped me to believe in myself."
Coach rolled her eyes but continued to listen.
"I trusted you, just like your victims did, but you turned out to be nothing more than a lying, murderous coward -"
"I wouldn't expect you to understand," was Ellara's icy reply. "But I made my decision. When I chose the Dark I knew there'd be consequences I couldn't escape from. I did what I had to."
"You know, had you paid any attention, you could've learned a lot from the Humans. The smart ones will tell you you shouldn't listen to what calls from the dark."
Ellara looked away.
"Then leave me to the Society. Leave me to my fate."
"The Society doesn't hold your fate, Ellara. I do."
Ellara's gaze returned to mine, revealing her sudden shock and disbelief.
"But... but the Knight - you let her go,"
"That was different," I said quietly. "She was family. You aren't."
"You can't..." she shook her head, stuck in deep denial. "You wouldn't."
"You killed people. And then on top of t it you took their souls. I won't let you get away with that. I can't."
Ellara's breath suddenly rose in high sharp gasps that I found no pleasure in earning. Within an instant she had turned into a wild, cornered animal.
One that needed to be put down.
Without a word she turned and took off running - her Nike track shoes propelling her across the snow. I sighed, and for just a moment longer I imagined her as my Coach, sprinting across the field in a winter practice.
I permitted Ellara to make it to the edge of the clearing, just far enough to shield me from the mess I knew I was about to make.
Ellara screamed as she was swept high into the air, floating, helpless, beside the tree tops.
"NO! MERCY! PLEASE!"
A small part of me did hesitate, inclined to listen and to show such clemency. But a bigger part of me was reminded of Jacob, and Rebecca, Dean, and the others. There had been no mercy for them.
"On second thought, Coach, maybe sometimes you should listen to what calls from the dark."
Ellara never got the chance to respond. The air inside her body began to expand, causing her body to stiffen, her eyes to bulge, her breath to cease, until like the Slaugh she finally exploded, sending a volcanic spray of blood in every direction of the night. Feeling cold and empty, I watched as clots of blood and tissue, and bits of bone fell to the forest floor in soft, wet, thumping noises, staining the snow pink and red. And that's when the lights appeared - dozens of them, out of nowhere. Immediately, large, globular balls of stunning golden light were released to dance and spin on the air. They were so beautiful and so surreal that for a second I forgot about what I'd just done, thinking only of the souls that had finally been released.
While the other lights began to spiral upwards, one broke away from the others, floating gracefully towards me. At once I began to cry, overcome by a flood of mixed emotions: relief, sadness, grief, joy.
The light stopped short, hovering before my face, and with a single, shaking hand I reached out and touched it, feeling an instant surge of warmth and love and peace.
"Good-bye Dean," I said for the very last time, and tilted my head upwards, watching as his soul finally took to the skies.
* * *