Darcia's pov

"Talia?" I called her name out loud.

I pushed through the immortals to get to her as fast as I could. With the mask I had on, no one could easily recognize me. Even though they were wondering why I suddenly barged in.

When I looked at her, her whole mouth covered in blood, and only the desire for it, I saw my reflection in her. But then the realization kicked in. I still couldn't fully accept what I just witnessed, but that was the absolute truth. Talia is now one of us.

The look on her face was one of pure panic. Seeing a tear run down her cheek enraged this huge knot within me. The one I've been holding in for centuries.

I grasped the mask from my face and tossed it into the air. I ripped the black cloak from my body with my claws, and only shreds remained. Almost everyone collectively gasped out loud. Some stayed confused about my reveal. The music slowly subsided.

Elvira stood up from the chair, and instead of a shock on her face at seeing me there, the corner of her mouth lifted up. She planned this, I thought to myself.

She knew I would come here tonight. She knew I would see Talia in such a state. She knew I would immediately run to her to take her away. It was her wish for me to see what she had done to her.

"What have you done?" I asked quietly in a helpless voice.

Elvira lifted her hands with fake confusion. I returned my stare back to Talia as she held the boy's body, yet still her eyes were attached to me. Her ruby eyes pierced through mine. Sadness overtook her stunning face. I kept on looking at her to fixate the image of her in my mind. Unless this succeeds, I might not be able to see her again.

My eyes moved to Elvira again. Her faithful friend, standing on the right side beside her, and an unknown immortal on the left side. They stood still, waiting for the command she would give them.

Espen must have been shocked that I changed our original plan, and now everything has changed with it. Nicoli is somewhere here, however, I don't know his exact location because there are numerous vampires in this room to catch his smell. We are all fighting on our own.

I proceeded to grab the sword from my belt and yank it out. Everyone who was close to me shifted to the edge of the ballroom. No one can interfere in a fight of immortals, let alone fight with a pure-blood vampires. But they can all stand and watch as we bring war into this room.

"You will be dead by the end of this night," I promised with a dulled expression.

"Try to accomplish it, my little sister." She provoked, and a burst of maniacal laughter escaped her mouth.

"Ohh, I will!" I smirked.

I super-speeded toward Elvira as fast as I could. Noen crossed my plan immediately by bringing me to the ground. I used all of my strength to get back on my feet. Elvira and her new friend stayed in the same position, as they knew I had no chance to defeat them alone.

I swung my sword, aiming for Noen's head, but he dodged my every hit. Suddenly he disappeared from my sight, and I was cut by his sword on my back. I fell to the ground, feeling like my back was in flames. I slowly raised up, staring into his red eyes. There was complete silence in the room. No one dared to take a breath.

As I was about to strike with my sword again, Espen's tall body hovered over us, and with only one swing of his sword, he chopped off Espen's head and only the sound of his rolling head was heard.

I peered at Elvira, and her peaceful face instantly disappeared once she realized her friend was now dead.

Her new friend moved in front of her, shielding her with his sword and small knives in his other hand.

We exchanged looks with Espen, knowing I am the one who should kill Elvira since I possess the Elemental Dagger. He knows he isn't the one who should bring her down, except without his help to achieve that, there won't be any vengeance that he seeks for. He overcomes his desire to kill my sister first and targets Elvira's new friend next.

"Don't be such a coward! My sweet sister, why don't we have a duel like we did centuries ago?" My voice deepened as I yelled at her.

She stayed hidden behind the immortal for a while, but then she shifted to the center of the ballroom, where Talia was located.

"Touch her, and you will burn." I threatened.

I caught a breath, seeing her grab her by her long golden hair. Now she has awakened the devil in me.

"Espen, finish him," I commanded, and he nodded, heading his way. I super-speeded, kicking Elvira into her stomach. She fell onto the floor, a few meters away from Talia. I didn't glance her way because her state would distract my ability to fight.

Elvira laughed again. "Is this all you've got?" She asked.

I chuckled, "I only began," I said, and I swung my sword against her arm, leaving a perfectly straight cut line. She placed her hand against her almost healed arm and the corner of her mouth turned up. She pulled small daggers out of the belt around her thigh, ready to throw them at me. I dodged the first two, however, the third one hit my leg.

I focused my super-hearing on Espen and heard how he was still fighting with the unknown immortal. I just think to myself, where the fuck is Nicoli?

Elvira suddenly jumped directly at me, which made us fall to the ground again. I got hold of her forearms so she couldn't attack me with her other daggers. She kept on hissing at me, and showing her sharp fangs.

I forgot how strong she really is and that it isn't easy to win against her. As I struggled to keep those sharp blades away from my face, a black bat gracefully landed on Elvira's head.

Then the black bat tore itself apart, and long snow-white hair tickled my face. Elvira was crushed to the ground beside me by Nicoli's hand as he pushed her away from my body. I stared at him, amazed, as I didn't know he possessed such unbelievable power to transform into an animal.

He observed the whole room, and his eyes widened at the sight of Espen fighting the unknown immortal.

"Brother?" He quietly whispered, and only the three of us could hear it.

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Wait, is that his brother?

"Espen, don't kill him. He's my brother!" Nicoli shouted that a vein on his neck had popped out.

Espen smacked the immortal down, pressing his foot onto his back as he got defeated. Nicoli kept on strangling Elvira, so she wouldn't have a chance to get back onto her feet.

"Go to your brother. We will drag this to the end." I said it sternly. After seconds of silence, he nodded and exchanged places with Espen. With Espen's strength, it was easy to hold Elvira down. No one came to rescue her, and no one could or wanted to defend her.

"Chaos runs in our family, dear sister." She said, coughing.

"No one hurts my Talia and lives. No one." I declared, looking into her eyes.

I snached the Elemental dagger from the belt around my waist, aiming with it in the air at her heart.

"You think you could kill me with that? Don't be ridiculous." She laughed despite Espen's hand around her neck.

I moved closer to her, so I could whisper. "The witches despise you. This is their gift for you." She glanced at the dagger I held tightly in my right hand as she realized it was not an ordinary one. Her eyes searched back to mine, and for the first time in my life, I saw glimpse of fear in her eyes.

When we were little, often a mother and a daughter visited us. They were witches. They had some sort of deal with my father. I never got the chance to talk to the little girl, yet she seemed like a peaceful, joyful person. But Elvira, on the other hand, hasn't thought so.

She said that she was only pretending, and they wanted to kill us all. So, one night when they were staying over, Elvira kidnaped the little girl with Noen, and together they tortured her in the most crucial ways.

Oh, and the mother got maddened. Her last words were, "The witches always pay their debts."

I stared at my vulnerable sister. No one was beside her side anymore. But I wasn't pitying her, I was angry at myself that I hadn't had the chance to kill her a long time ago.

I stabbed her deeply in the location of her frozen heart, and the Elemental dagger turned into a liquid form of a one-of-a-kind poison. Her chest, which was revealed due to the dress she was wearing, exposed the poison, turning pitch-black. It spread like a plague all over her decolletage, and as I shifted my gaze to her eyes, they no longer held the wine-red color, but blackness took over.

I looked at my now-dead sister and felt nothing. No pain, no anger-just nothingness. She was never like a sister to me. She never made me feel like a part of a family. She couldn't make me feel what Nicoli and Talia made me feel. Security, friendship, and love.

The immortals in the room started to whisper things to each other.

"How could she kill her own sister?"

"What a disgrace. Shame upon her."

"There will be punishment awaiting her."

I ignored all their rotten tongues and searched for the girl that I couldn't save sooner from these monsters.

Talia was still lying on the ground with her eyes wet and her mouth bloody. Her hands were also covered in blood. Despite that, I could see her innocence. She never wanted any of this. Her life turned out like this because I landed my eyes on her.

I super-speeded to her, touching her hand, but her eyes looked away. My eyebrows rose at her reaction, as I thought she would be more pleased to see me again. Did she, while I was creating a plan to save her, come to hate me?

"I hope you all enjoyed the show, but unfortunately for you and fortunately for us, it's over, so get the fuck out!" I yelled, scanning every immortal in the ballroom.

All of them collectively left the ballroom, and guards appeared instead. They recognized me immediately. Then they noticed Elvira's motionless body on the cold floor.

When a vampire loses a fight, nothing can be done. Elvira lost to me in a fair fight. Three against three.

I focused my mind back on Talia, as I didn't care what the guards thought. I crouched down and pulled a sedative out of the small bag hanging from my belt to make Talia fall asleep. I stabbed the needle into her neck, and as she slowly started to fall to the ground, she managed to say, "Take her with us. Lia needs to come too." And then her eyes shut.

"Espen, search the whole castle, find a girl named Lia, and bring her to me," I commanded. Espen nodded, putting his sword back into his belt and left the room instantly.

I took Talia into my arms and caressed her soft hair. She slept like a baby in my arms.

"You're safe now, sweetheart."

***

I trailed my fingers through Talia's long hair. My fingers gently touched her jawline and then her neck. When her eyes were closed, it looked like she was still a human. Part of me is saddened that she will no longer live as a human, but the other part of me is incredibly delighted that I'm able to spend eternity with her. How selfish of me, right? Because that's who I am. Selfish and cruel.

"So, you're Nicoli's brother. How did you end up in this castle? If I remember correctly, the Zalatoris residents is many parts of woods from us." I asked the now-known immortal as we all sat in my old chamber, drinking a glass of blood that we found in the kitchen.

"I left after Nicoli disappeared." He answered, except indirectly. How did my sister and him get together?

Nicoli was quiet the whole time, just staring out of the window. There wasn't a lot of resemblance between the two of them. Only their lavender eyes exposed it. Oh, and of course, the long ass hair.

"How could you have done that? Being at Elvira's side?! Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Nicoli turned to him, shouting.

Suddenly, the door to my room spread, with Espen bringing in the girl Talia was talking about.

"I found her hiding inside the kitchen cabinet," Espen announced.

"You don't have to worry. We're not going to harm you. Sit somewhere in the back." I assured her.

If I don't help this strange girl, Talia will be furious. And since she's now a vampire, she can use her power to simply leave and go back for her.

I returned my gaze back to Nicoli's brother. "At what side are you on, Lucian? Because if you're against us-" I glanced at Nicoli, who was already staring at me. My words must have alarmed him.

"I followed Nicoli after he left the castle. I saw how the two of you met and how you decided to stay together. I knew why he never wanted to see this place again, but he abandoned me. He left me completely alone in this chaos and didn't mind looking back." Lucian quietly confessed it as if he were embarrassed to admit it.

"This was your revenge." I realized it out loud.

"Yes, it was." He confirmed it.

Nicoli's face now looked worried and not enraged anymore. Leaving his sibling behind, who had nothing to do with his lover's killing, was not the nicest of him. But was it selfish to care about himself and forget others when he was hurting?

Lucian switched sides in the expectation that one day, when we return together, we will see that Elvira is not alone, and Lucian got her back.

Our families knew each other, I suppose. The Zalatori family is the closest to us of all of the other immortal rulers. When I was younger, I didn't know much about their family except that they all had snow-white hair. That means that Lucian must have colored his hair.

"I sincerely apologize, brother. I shouldn't have abandoned you when you needed me the most." Nicoli suddenly said, gazing at his brother.

Lucian cleared his throat. "And I apologize for not being with you in your worst time. I know how much she meant to you."

After a few seconds of quietness, they both glanced away, and Nicoli concentrated back on looking outside while Lucian stared at the floor.

"Anyhow, how well do you know Talia?" I wondered when I remembered how devastated she looked when he appeared next to her.

"I helped her with self-control. After she killed that one human, I couldn't help myself and taught her how to control her thirst." Lucian explained.

My worst fear came true. She already has her hands covered in blood.

I peeked down at Talia, lying peacefully on my thighs. How this innocent girl will be able to live with such a pang of guilt spreading inside her?

And I am the one to blame.