5. The Last Preutescu Pureblood

-Gabriel-

The moment an ice-cold chill shot through my body, I knew what had happened. I didn’t want to admit it at first, but my body moved before I could think that there had been a mistake. There was no way Myrcella could be dead…there’s no way my only relative would have met her demise so quickly.

But that frozen shard slamming deep into my heart tells me different - the blue Thread of Fate tying me to my family has been severed. I am now the only Preutescu Pureblood left.

“NO! Myrcella!” I cry out when I see her small, lifeless body lying amongst the blood and debris. That shard gets embedded deeper into my heart as I hold her closer to me, feeling no warmth in her skin and seeing no rosiness on her cheeks. 

My little sister is dead.

The sound of an erratic heartbeat snaps my attention to the figure standing in front of me with a gun outstretched, and the guilty blue eyes of Katherine meet mine. I look down at Myrcella, the red dot on her chest telling me that she was killed by a baobab bullet to the heart… a wooden bullet fired from the gun Katherine is holding.

I kiss Myrcella’s head and lower her to the floor before slowly rising to my feet with rage burning in my heart. I invited this hunter into my home, and she had a tracking device on her; I allowed this to happen to Myrcella. This is all my fault, and I am SO. FUCKING. PISSED.

“Gabriel…wait…” she stammers with fear lacing her scent. The gun clatters to the floor as she walks backward with her hands out in front of her. “I didn’t…this wasn’t….”

“You killed my only blood; a swift death is too good for you,” I growl, advancing on her with my fangs bared. 

I have never killed a human, never sucked them dry, never ripped them in two; but right now, I might just change that. Fuck the consequences. 

She shakes her head, her curls flying just as I reach her. “This wasn’t me! I didn’t do this!”

“Do you expect me to believe you after spotting you with a literal smoking gun in your hand?” I chuckle darkly, then wrap my hand around her throat and push her up against the wall. “Your family has killed enough Preutescu vampires; this ends tonight.”

She grabs at my hand, scratching me so deep that she draws blood, but I don’t get rid of my grip on her throat. “An eye…for an eye….” She chuckles, choking on her own saliva as she spews out her bullshit.

Her eyes flutter, and her scratching becomes less violent; I know that she’s fighting against slipping under. Always a fighter, this one, but I’m afraid that this is the end of the line for Katherine Décès.

I’ve played with her enough, and now I’ve paid the price.

A pop sounds to my right, and something gets lodged into the arm, holding her against the wall, and when I look down, I see a wooden bullet lodged in it. I chuckle at the feel of it going numb and rip it out of my arm.

“You missed,” 

“No, I didn’t,” a female’s voice echoes, and Katherine’s head snaps up at the sound. Her eyes widen when she sees the woman holding the gun, and she rushes over to her before the feeling comes back to my arm. 

The woman pushes Katherine behind her and points her weapon at my heart. “This one won’t miss, Priest; let us leave, and this will all be over.” The raven-haired hunter says with confidence even though she looks close to death, but the confidence falters when I laugh.

“Over? Your leader has just killed someone dear to me, little one. This is far from over,” I say with my heart shattering piece by piece at the thought of Myrcella laying dead on the floor.

I shrug, then glare at both of them, baring my teeth. “But since I love a good chase; you better run, rabbits. Nightfall is when you’ll meet your maker.”

Without another word, they scurry out of my home, but I don’t breathe until I hear their SUVs far in the distance. I’m rooted to the spot, refusing to look behind me and admit to myself that the last hour happened and that Myrcella is indeed gone forever. 

I should have killed them both, ripped out their entrails, and forced them to eat it. But I’m too numb to even think about violence right now - the anger will come, I know, and when it does, every hunter in that guild will beg for a swift death. 

Breathing out a long sigh, I turn around and see her little lifeless frame; heavy and bone-deep, sorrow sweeps over my body, and I fall to my knees at the weight of it. I should never have brought that fucking hunter here to play with her; I should have killed her last night and sent her body back to her father in pieces.

Should haves won’t bring Myrcella back, though. But vengeance sounds beautiful.

“Gabe,” Valentine’s broken voice comes from behind me. “Gabe… I’m so sorry. I didn’t protect her as you asked. I didn’t-” I cut his apology off with the wave of my hand and shook my head.

“This isn’t your fault, Valentine; it’s mine for allowing that filth into our home,” I say, then get to my feet with Myrcella in my arms. “They will suffer for what they’ve done; for now, we need to get her into the tomb.”

I know he means well. He’s been at my side since we relocated here in the early 1900s and has been a part of our family for generations. Myrcella was just as much his sister as she was mine, and we will both feel her loss immensely. It’s good that Church isn’t here right now, or he would have ripped everyone to shreds. 

I would have too; but I have other things in mind for Katherine.

“Clean up here while I take her down,” I say as I make my way to the tombs in the basement. 

“You don’t want me to come along?” Valentine asks, sounding hurt, but I shake my head.

“I have to do this alone.” 

With that, I leave him there to clean up the mess while I say my final goodbye to the one I swore to protect. 

Our family tomb is situated underneath our estate. Inside it, the desiccated bodies of my family members lay on separate stone slabs, staring at nothing with their eyes wide open. My entire family is down here, right down to my mother, who was the last to die in the wars. She made me promise to protect Myrcella with my life, and I failed her. 

When I step into the tomb, all the empty eyes of my family stare up at me as if to accuse me of something. The weight of my recent failure bears down on me, and as I lay Myrcella next to my mother, the anguish squeezes my heart so tight that I struggle to breathe. 

My little sister looked like an average twelve-year-old, but she’s lived for over a century. She was a happy child, never complained, a hopeless romantic who dreamed of one day finding her Fated and having her own little Pureblood brood. She yearned for the lakes and mountains of our old estate, and I promised her that I would take her back one day.

I have to make it up to her; I have to make it up to everyone and murder every last hunter in that fucked up guild. Katherine Décès will die at my hand, and so will her father.

Kissing Myrcella’s forehead one last time, I walk out of the tomb with the demon of vengeance slipping inside of me. It’s light out now, late morning, so I can’t exactly waltz outside and rip them in two. But I can plan; so I pull out my cell and dial the one number I would never have thought of to ask for help.

“Priest,” the curt voice of the Lycan Alpha, Fenriz, comes as a greeting.

“Fenriz, glad I caught you,” I say, leaning on an oak table, then pinching the bridge of my nose. “Are you free to talk?”

He takes a beat, then answers. “I am for a few minutes; what’s the problem?” 

I tear the wooden table in two at his words alone and let out a sorrowful roar before I answer.

“The bitch killed Myrcella, Fenriz; I need your help to fucking track her down,” I growl, unable to keep the anguish out of my voice. This man has a sister; surely, he must know how it would feel to lose someone that close to you. 

Then again, he’s killed three of his wives, so I’m not so sure about that.

“Consider it done; I will speak with Andreas and sort something out. Come see us tonight,” he says, stunning the shit out of me, but I feel grateful nonetheless.

“Thank you; I’ll be in your debt for as long as I live,” I say and kill the call before any other bullshit comes out of my mouth. At least I have the fucker as an ally which is saying a lot since we’re supposed to be enemies.

Now there’s nothing left for me to do but wait for nightfall.