Raven's P•O•V

I was awoken by someone yelling. My eyes fluttered open as I looked around in confusion. The clock on my bedside table read 1:09. Who would be up at this hour? I turned on the lamp beside my bed and heard someone yell outside in the hall once again. This time what they had said was much clearer,

"He's gone!" The deep male voice exclaimed in bewilderment. The voice was distant as he must have been down the hall from my room.

I pulled the covers off of myself and got up from my bed. I grabbed my silken robe quickly, pulling it on over my shoulders and I hurried out my door.

Down the hall was a guard standing with Alec. Alec looked fully awake although his hair was tousled and he had a disheveled look as he stood there in just a pair grey sweat pants. Obviously he had been woken up from the man shouting as well.

"I went to do rounds and when I went to check the holding cells - he was gone!" The guard shouted, like this had never happened. I approached them and came closer. Piper had come out of her room and Irina and Dimitri both had appeared.

I held my robe tighter around myself, as it was colder inside the hall.

"Andrei, who is gone?" Alec asked firmly.

"DeMalo." The guard, Andrei, said. "DeMalo is gone."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Everyone froze. Alec stepped back from Andrei and looked at him with wide eyes.

No one said anything. Alec stared at Andrei with a flabbergasted look.

"Gone?" Alec's voice raised. "How could he possibly be gone?!" Alec snapped at Andrei. Andrei visibly flinched.

"I don't - I don't know sir... I went to check on his cell and when I approached it, the cell door was opened and the hawthorn branches were ripped off of the bars." Andrei told him. Alec gave him an incredulous look, his expression one of disbelief.

"The hawthorn branches? But that's impossible. No Vampire can get past them." Alec stated.

"No Vampire can... but a Mortal can." Andrei said. I furrowed my brow in confusion. So did Alec.

"What are you saying? Do you really think a Mortal has something to do with this?" Alec asked him. Andrei was quiet for a second, then spoke.

"I think there's something you need to see..." Andrei muttered and lead us.

We arrived in a dark basement after a couple minutes of following Andrei through the winding corridors. The walls were stone and worn foundation. Andrei lead us through an aisle of holding cells made of steel bars. All had branches of brittle hawthorn tied to them.

He paused at the end of the aisle where we had to turn right down to the next aisle. He clenched his jaw.

"What are you waiting for?" Alec said with an irritated tone. Andrei closed his eyes and sighed. He stepped back and let us walk through, then we all saw it.

A girl. Maybe seventeen. Just a couple years younger than me. She was laying in a pool of her own blood, looking drowned in it as it must have spilled out of her torn throat, making her look neck deep in the dark crimson liquid.

She looked peaceful though. Her eyes were shut softly and her lips together in a straight line, not a frown. If not for the blood, I would have thought she was sleeping soundly. But nothing was peaceful and sound about how she had gone...

I could feel myself go pale as a chill filled my body. Yes, I had lived in a big city where murders happened more often than most places, but I had never seen a dead body so close. I had never seen a dead body so fresh after the fact either...

Horrific didn't even come close to what this was.

"She's a servant. DeMalo must have compelled her to let him out then killed her..." Andrei murmured. I felt my throat dry.

"How come we couldn't smell it when we came in?" Piper asked.

"It's the hawthorn. We smoke the room with it so whoever is in here can't use their abilities..." Andrei explained quietly.

"Then how would he have been able to compel her?" She questioned. This made us all wonder.

"Someone sent her." Alec put it together and we all looked at him.

"Are you saying...?" Dimitri trailed off.

"Someone else is involved. There is another vampire who wanted DeMalo out." Alec continued and looked at his father. They shared a look.

It grew quiet as we all took this in. I broke the silence.

"What was her name?" I said in a quiet tone. Irina sighed and walked over to the girl. We all watched as Irina knelt beside her and brushed the hair from her face.

"Mariana. I've known her since she was just a small child." Irina answered me sadly, not looking away from her face.

In Mariana's hand was a folded piece of paper. Alec approached her and took it from her hand gently. Everyone was dead silent as he did so.

Alec opened the note and looked at it. His eyes lifted to look at all of us, then they finally rested on me. It was the first time in the past couple days that he had met eyes with me.

I swallowed hard, and looked away so he wouldn't see the tears brimming in my eyes.

"What does it say?" Dimitri urged, asking the question all of us were wondering.

Alec didn't say a word, but just turned the paper around and held it out for all of us to read,

I want her. And I will have her and my crown soon enough.

- DM

♱

I stood in the corner of Dimitri's office, not paying attention to anything that was around me. I just looked down at my shaking hands and tried to stifle everything swirling around in my head.

The whole family had been called in. Dimitri's brothers were gathered around with their wives. I noticed Zachariah's white haired mistress, Akantha, I had met the night of my introduction, was not there. It simply must have to do with her just being his mistress and not part of the family.

Vega was sitting at Dimitri's desk. I instantly could tell that the brothers only respected her to be the most high in the room, even when Dimitri and Irina possessed the crown.

"So you're telling me that DeMalo is fighting for the crown?" Vega asked Dimitri. She looked to Alec as well since it was his crown at stake. Dimitri sighed and answered her,

"I'm afraid Alec's crown isn't all he's after, Mother..." He said and looked to me. I folded my arms across my chest uncomfortably and wished I could shrink into the corner.

"Well what else could that greedy boy want?" Vega exclaimed. I took in a shaky breath.

"He wants me." I finally spoke for the first time since we had gathered here. Everyone turned to look at me. Dimitri's brothers looked at me in confusion. Word must not have gotten to them yet...

Vega furrowed her brow at my statement.

"Dimitri what is going on? Why haven't you told me about all of this?" Vega asked seriously, now turned to Dimitri with a confused expression.

"This is DeMalo we're talking about. You know what he's like. When he came after Raven, I thought this was just another one of his reckless decisions that would resolve itself after a couple of days." Dimitri told his mother, sounding almost guilty.

"He came after you?" Dimitri's youngest brother, Luca, turned to me and asked. I nodded simply and looked down, avoiding their stares.

"This isn't just some random rogue Vampire," Vega sighed, "DeMalo is one of us. He's part of the royal family. And now I'm being told that he's threatening our own family and his own brother's Soulmate?" She said exasperatedly. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"DeMalo isn't one of us anymore." Alec spoke up, looking at no one in particular. His tone was low, almost scary. He looked up and met everyone's gaze.

"He can't be trusted. He killed a servant in cold blood and defied our order. As of now he's plotting to take my throne and my Bride." Alec growled possessively. I felt my throat tighten at the way he spoke.

His eyes were bright, fiery red but the irises were dark as a night's sky. I was fearful of the rage that shone in them.

"For that, I say DeMalo is no longer family. He is no longer one of us," Alec set his eyes on his grandmother.

"He's a conspirator who thinks he can take what is mine. And when I find DeMalo and whoever is working with him, they're going to beg me to spare them the luxury of a holding cell." He grit his teeth together as he spoke, his words dripping with anguish.

I gulped and watched Alec leave the room with the slam of the door, then we all fell silent.

😂

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