Eighty

Yasmin continued to slice onto Satake Crow's skin, ignoring his screams for help and the obvious opposition that has managed to sneak past a coven of vampires and her maze of chaos. Crimson blanketed over her hands reminding her she was executing a sin. A moment of relapse causes her to look back into the eyes of the dying relic. She could tell he was begging for mercy even when his mouth couldn't move.

"You have come too far," Yasmin told herself. "You can't back out now." The witch reminded herself that Lilith would have the intruders cornered in no time. The scythe sliced through Satake's flesh and bones like it were butter and soon, Yasmin noticed his beating heart. She spared Lilith a look for security. The countess of death had her hands on the now unconscious attribute's throat. Her eyes however were not on the Aloha werewolves who had broken in. Her gaze lingered on the vampire she had sired as he too was unconscious. The bright side to things though was that Lilith had the werewolves; two of them cornered. With the life of his mate on the line, Jason refused to take a step further and Sofiane who Yasmin recognized as the bane of the Crow's Alpha's existence did the same. Yasmin could barely comprehend why an enemy of Jason was by his side. Not to mention that they seemed to be accomplices now but she didn't probe. She has one job; harvest the heart of the relic.

Yasmin returned her attention to the dying relic. The floor and her sneakers were soiled with his blood but his heart was still beating. Yasmin muttered the necessary spell for the ritual before immediately thrusting her hand through his ribs with the sole aim of ripping his heart out. As her hands braced the beating member, Satake awakened. His body twitched violently as if he were being electrocuted. A white foam-ish substance erupted from his mouth while his eyes recoiled behind their sockets. In seconds, the relic would be no more.  But just before Yasmin Maplewood could finish the job, the wall of wood opposite her exploded, propelling fragments of splintered wood scattering across every corner of the room. A startled Yasmin turned to look in the direction of the chaos only to be hit in the guts by a ball of brilliant green light. Yasmin's body sauntered in the wind before gravity put her back in her place. Her body slammed against the hardwood. The force of the offensive spell caused her to somersault twice before her belly hit a pillar, cracking it.

"That is about enough," David said, ignoring the presence of all the opposing parties in the room. His attention remained exclusively on Satake. He ran towards him. His eyes gaped at the open wound of pinkish flesh.  Satake's heart was still visible and the sight of it all greatly worried David. Muttering to the goddess for strength, David picked up the glowing sickle that had slipped out of Yasmin's hands when he had attacked her and sawed through the ropes that bound Satake. The weary kitsune collapsed into the arms of the warlock tainting his clothes with crimson.

"Are you alright?" David inquired.

"Be–hind you." Satake alerted.

A current of gust washed over David, sending cold tremors and the cool clench of terror down his back.

"You shouldn't have fucked with me." The hysterical voice whispered.

The speed at which she walked, the threat in her tone of voice, and the precision of it all. He knew it too well. Her cold breath greeted his throat with mist. Without a juncture of hesitation, David threw his elbow at the female. A cracking sound followed by the rung of his own screams pierced the room. Satake collapsed to the floor. David took a good look at his elbow. It was now a mess of shattered bones, torn flesh, and blood. Lilith didn't let the insult of his attack slide. She swung her backhand at David's throat. As David flew across the room with the grace of a turkey. The hard floor broke his fall and of course a few ribs. Blood splattered from the recesses of David's throat as he tried to mutter a protective spell. No words made their way out. In a state of horror, David had to concede that his voice box had been damaged and a witch without its prayers was utterly useless. Lilith charged at him for a second round. He expected another attack so he reached out to his pocket where his trump card resided. A bottle prefilled with his own voice. A bottle stacked with every dark incantation known to the Blossom family. It would be a reckless move that could cost many their lives but at the point in time, all that crossed the Blossom warlock's mind was survival.

"How are you still alive?" The countess of death demanded as she stalked David in a circular movement. David wanted to speak. He really wanted to do but all that left his lips when he tried to form words was the claret that ensured that he was alive. Lilith mused watching him struggle. His failing attempt at speech seemed to cement whatever suspicion that Lilith had. A wicked smile curled its way to her mouth. "That is it, isn't it?" She said, diverting her attention to the Alphas in the room who had now run towards Olamide to free her. "You have linked your life to them. I clearly remember shattering your neck. With the damage I have inflicted, you shouldn't be able to walk even if the goddess decides to show you her good graces."

David recoiled. Lilith had figured it out in such a mundane manner. He didn't even have time to consider if she knew the downside of the spell. He clutched harder to the bottle and prepared to pull it out at any second. With the momentum and grace of a hummingbird, Lilith grabbed David by the throat and slammed him against a wall. His body convulsed as he did so. The crimson glint in her eyes terrified him. It was like looking death in the eye and extinction appalled David. Lilith forcefully pulled out his hand from his jacket and retrieved the bottle of scattered voices. "This is your trump card, isn't it?" She then turned in Olamide's direction for the second time. They had managed to free her but it didn't matter to the vampire countess anymore. This time she had the upper hand.

"Leave the boy and we might let you live," Jason promised, clutching his mate close. Strangely, Sofiane did the same thing. The strange case only drew Lilith to further conclusions.

"And why in the world would I do that, Jason Crow?" Lilith stepped carefully forward, still clutching to David's throat as he yanked at her hands and clung for dear life. "I clearly have the upper hand. So I implore that you drop the attribute and take a good step back. Perhaps I will have mercy and spare three of you of the worst kinds of death."

"We have what you want Lilith. You do not get to make the demands here."

"You talk all big and mighty Alpha Jason. Something tells me all those tall tales about what a terrible individual you can be when messed with must have gone over your head if you aren't even putting your life into consideration at this moment. I mean, all it takes is for me to rip the heart of this worthless warlock and all three of you become history. You know that, right?"

Lilith felt it. The goose pimples that erupted from Jason's skin and the exact moment his heart stopped beating. Fear. Undiluted terror. That was what it was and it cemented all the wicked things Lilith wanted to do.

Jason lifted his chin and exhaled. The things sporadic men did. It was almost pitiful for Lilith to watch.

"That won't work," Jason assured Lilith with a conviction that would have rendered her theory useless if she had not dealt with this kind of situation before. This only instigated Lilith to understand a tale falsehood had been rendered.

"He's the only witch here, isn't he? He is the literal essence of this hive. If I rip his heart right now, you all die like bees without a queen."

"What..." Jason choked out, tightening his fist. He took a good look at his team and then he saw it. The guilt was all over their faces. He stopped latching on to Olamide. His mate would have collapsed to the ground if Sofiane hadn't put her weight on himself. "You lied to me... I can't believe you both lied to me..."

"No," David finally spoke. His voice was tiny and almost hollow. "I wanted to tell you but I knew you wouldn't let me help if that meant your life was on the line. I am sorry. I just couldn't sit out knowing Satake was in danger."

"Argh!" Lilith whined in frustration. "All these therapy session is making me sick." With that, the vampire countess swung her hand through bone and muscle, her steel clutch meeting resistance only so long as it took for them to reach the heart. It took seconds. Lilith's ready hand squashed the beating element rendering the warlock stone cold.