Chapter 40

"Open up or I'll break this door down." A bittered, low, feminine voice broke them apart.

A voice that Zezi knew all too well.

She stood up, opening the door with a swing.

"Ah, she is alive," Laura said with a smirk, her eyebrows cocked at her. Then suddenly her face scrunched up in a sinister grimace. "My brother's blood mixed with yours doesn't feel right."

"I agree," Zezi said, still standing in the doorway, trying to give George time to fix himself up. She didn't need any of these vampires seeing him vulnerable like that.

They were enemies, and to them, they must appear strong at all times.

She scoffed. "Pathetic. Anyway, it's time."

But Zezi wasn't done; she still remembered the condition that Gwen had said the pleading had been handed over in. Gwen hadn't explicitly said that she suspected Lady Laura to have tossed it intentionally into the fire, but who else would it have been?

"You almost burnt my plea." She said, folding her arms, giving Laura a slow belittling look as her gaze passed over her high ponytail, white shirt that was tucked into the black leather pants she had on, that had her weapons around it, her black leather cloak, and those black boots.

"What?" She took a step forward, making Zezi have to tilt her head up a little, considering the fact that Laura was a little taller than she was. "You think you can take me? Don't let that tiny drop of my brother's blood in your veins trick you. You can't stand up to me. You are still a wolf, therefore a weak nothing."

"You almost burnt my plea." She said, remaining unfazed. "Why?"

"You could have said I was doing you a favour. We both know you don't deserve to carry my brother's mark, to be the Queen of all these is not your destiny. You are just not cut out for it, wolfie." She clicked her nails, which had now turned into claws together like she had sent a speck of dust into the air.

A grin on her face, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

A silent threat.

"I don't want your monstrous Kingdom, Laura."

She hissed, her smile gone, wiped away from her face like it was never there, the earrings on her ear dangling from how fast she had snapped her gaze back to Zezi.

"It's Lady Laura to you!"

But that just made her want more trouble.

Zezi was a ticking time bomb, ready to blow at any moment. It wouldn't be so bad if she took some vampires along with her too.

She took a step forward, looking directly into her eyes that were shifting between red and black fast.

"Laura." She said with emphasis, bringing the disrespect further to light. "What will you do about it?"

It was fast.

Her back was slammed right into the wall, a force that had the potential to wreck her body, she could feel the brick shift a little behind her.

Her head should be throbbing.

Her bones should be aching as her wolf tried to speed up healing and help it all fit together, but strangely, she felt... fine.

Unfazed, in fact.

She looked up at Laura, whose eyes were still shifting with rage present in whatever shade it was, her face now a mere inch from hers, her aura screaming 'wild.'

When Zezi saw Laura's raised claws, her lips were the ones to curl into a sinister grin this time around.

"Swipe it across me. Across my face where everyone can see it. Don't forget to use silver."

Laura growled, a threatening sound rumbling from her chest.

"Why are you hesitating? Hurt me!" She gritted the last two words, her brows furrowing in challenge before they relaxed in fake understanding. "Oh, I get it. Scared of your brother? Don't worry, it can be our little secret, sweetheart." With a slow swipe over her shirt's pocket square, she continued, "Or you can go right ahead for the bloody treat."

She slammed her further into the wall, constraining Zezi's breathing with the fistful of her gown she held tightly onto.

"Yank my heart out already. I'm sure, it is something we'll both enjoy. Very much."

"I'm going to kill you."

The rage in Laura's voice was boiling over.

As much as Zezi was enjoying this, and hoping that Laura would finally lose it, there was still a need for her to stay alive. Her family was still within the premises, and till they were safe and away, she needed to be a quality guarantee.

"Do it. I'm only afraid your brother won't find it as entertaining as we would. You won't want to upset him now, will you?"

Laura blinked.

Her brother might have decided not to question her about the half-burnt state of the scroll, but she could sense a little coldness in their relationship ever since last night when he had realized that the scroll had originally been given to her to deliver to him.

She hated that. The unspoken friction that was about to build in between them because of this useless wolf.

She was walking on thin ice.

Very thin ice and she knew it.

Although her brother had always protected her, he had recently shown that this creature seriously below them, mattered to him, no matter how little.

He had drawn a thin immunity line around her and she could only push it so far before things would backfire.

She had this stop now.

In fact, she should have never slammed her into a wall in the first place, but there was just so much about this wolf that made her want to yank her heart out and watch her bleed to death or even drain her blood.

Whatever it was to make her stop existing.

"Laura, stop."

With speed, Lady Delice pulled her away immediately, saying something to her before she was suddenly looking alright again.

Zezi squinted her eyes at Laura for a moment, wondering what Lady Delice must have said to her, before she suddenly lost interest again.

"So you are all bark and no bite. Such a shame. I expected more."

"I'm going to show you all the different kinds of bites I have, but timing is of the essence. Soon you'll be losing the immunity my brother put on you, and you'd better pray because when that time comes, you will be at my mercy. And trust me, I'm not merciful."

To Zezi, that just sounded like noise. Besides, she already got what she needed from her. Laura was now useless.

"Laura!" Lady Delice snapped, standing in front of Laura who was snarling to Zezi again.

"What are you even doing here now? You should have been here since to escort them to the cave. If you had, then I wouldn't be here having to talk to this stain of the earth."

"I came, but I realized they needed a little bit of time to say their goodbye." She held Zezi's gaze briefly, offering sympathy before she quickly turned back to Laura.

Laura said nothing, heading straight for the door in front of them. Delice followed after but she stayed a little bit, asking Zezi as she turned away.

"Do you want to--"

"No."

Then she walked down the hallway.

Although she knew that she didn't trust Lady Delice for many reasons, she couldn't help but feel grateful. Even if she had evil plans for Zezi in the future, making her save her family because she needed them alive to carry that plan out, Zezi was still undeniably happy that she had saved them. Besides, after today she wouldn't even be in her way anymore.

"Lady Delice?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Without waiting for a response, with speed, gone was she.

Any moment longer, and she might have caught sight of her family, making seeds of doubt sprout in her heart.

She couldn't risk that.

Slam!

She was back in her room.

It was the late hours of the morning. By this time tomorrow, her family should be far away.

The stolen silver dagger in her hand, tapped against the inside of her left palm, slightly burning her skin at contact, as she sat on the floor right next to her bed.

By tomorrow night.

She would be history.