However, when I said go, and the world restarted again, Taelon’s eyes widened as I was in front of him, and neither he nor another vampire had noticed me move. Seconds later, one by one, the vampires on each side of him lit on fire like torches, their screams the only sound any of us could hear. And I smiled in his face as if I did not hear them.
“Since you will not give me the vampires I asked for, I will take these four,” I said to his face. “And I will continue to take until you all understand something—you do not own these lands. You do not tell us what to do or where to stay. Let one more vampire test the Omeron Coven again, and your father will not need to come here. I will go to him, and none of you will ever see it coming. I promise. So, have a good day, Mr. Swan, and thank you for coming to see us.” I patted his chest before turning away and returning to my coven, where Fiona grinned alongside Rue.
Tate, for the first time, calmed down, and Simone carefully watched me, the bow that had been forming in her hand now gone.
“Is anyone in the mood for barbecue?” I asked them as I walked right back across the creek, this time, my boots splashing in the water.
“Can’t we do something more vegan-friendly?” Jericho asked as he petted the white snake around his neck.
“When did you become a vegan?” Faye asked.
We talked as if we didn’t see them, and soon the vampires all left. The only proof they were there was the scorch marks on the earth.
“Druella, that was awesome!” Fiona exclaimed, running right into me with her shoulder.
“You can move faster than vampires?”
“I’m going to have to ask you to stop going around telling them I am a freaking goddess!” I hollered at her and pushed her away. “What is wrong with you!”
“Is that what you did during the last coven meeting?” Simone asked.
“Let’s not talk here. We need to check on Tala and Adelaide,” Tate said to us, still looking around carefully from the rear of our group as we walked.
I nodded, though I didn’t want to go, not because I didn’t care about Tala or Adelaide but because I didn’t want to face my unc
le or any of the elders.
Maybe it won’t be that bad.
It was that bad.
When we got back to the cliffs, my uncle had everyone else leave. It was only him and me, and the anger rolling off him made the hair on the back of my neck rise. For five full minutes, he said nothing, just stared out into the horizon.
Finally, he exhaled and spoke, “What did I tell you to do, Druella?”
“Your exact words were, ‘Show them our wrath.’”
Turning, he looked at me, confused. “So you heard me. Why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t destroy Taelon because he is the son of the president of vampires. Yes, it would have been a strong message, but then all the vampires in America would have come down on us—”
“Which is why I did not say only destroy Taelon Swan. I said to show them our wrath! Put fear in them to never come here again!”
“We didn’t have a full circle! There were a least a dozen of them, Uncle! It was daytime! That meant they were all Nobles! We didn’t know what their powers could be—”
“And none of that mattered when you took out four of them in a blink of an eye!” he shouted at me. “With ease, you destroyed four! With that same ease, you could have destroyed all of them, but you didn’t! You held back! You decided to talk it out and let dozens of other vampires live another day to terrorize another Wiccan or human!”
“You wanted me to destroy them all?” I gaped. “Without even speaking? Without no understanding of what is happening?”
“That is wrath! That is who you are supposed to be! The destroyer, the witch of vengeance! The goddess of—”
“I am not any of those things!” I screamed, feeling the ground under me shake. “I am not a weapon to destroy anything that stands in front of me! I am a witch who wants peace like the rest of the witches! And for there to be peace, there needs to be understanding! Taelon said it was not their vampires—”
“What in the heaven is the matter with you?” He spat out in disgust. “Why are you even taking the word of a vampire at all? Because he said it wasn’t, you believe them?”
“I am not saying that. I am trying to say we need—”
“We need strength and a witch ready to use it! Which you never seem to be!”