"Oh, sweet Asta," someone mutters from above me. "You know that you're stronger than this. You have so much power and you just need to use it."

I know the voice, but I can't be bothered to pry my eyes open enough to see who it is. A hand strokes my cheek and pushes back the hair from my face.

"It's not your time yet, sister. You're only sleeping, but you have to wake up. Go back and fight, you know what you have to do."

Aimilios presses his hand to my chest. He pushes down with incredible force, almost like he's a defibrillator. It sends an electric jolt through my body and suddenly I'm soaring through the air. It only takes a second before my soul returns to my body, slamming into it harshly.

Waking up, I take a gasping breath and push at the vampire who's still attached to my neck. Coughing, I open my eyes and I look to see she's gone. Cautiously, I lift my body and see her standing meters away. When I trail my eyes over her... she's doomed. A hole remains where my hands pushed her away. While I know vampires are mostly immortal, something about this is different. The wound glows, fighting against the vampire's healing abilities. She staggers, drops to her knees, then dies. A cloud of dust is left behind as she turns to ash.

I get to my feet and look around. Rory is still in his lycan form and he's holding his own against the vampires trying to defeat him. Alexei fights strong and hard, showing no mercy for those who used to look up to her. She's a right beast, but now is not the time to admire her.

Turning, I feel a pull in the back of my head. It tells me to go somewhere, or better yet, follow the pull. So, I do just that. Leaving the chaotic battle ground, I walk into the fiery forest until I'm deep inside and the fire is no longer eating at the trees. I walk until I reach an opening, a meadow.

There stands the woman of the hour, Ameri. Her back is to me and she wears one of her infamous gowns. With her head tilted back, her long hair brushes against her behind. Her bare shoulders barely move as she exhales slowly.

"Witch indeed," she says, turning to look at me. Her red eyes are outlined by a bold cat-eye. Turning her body fully, she takes slow and deliberate steps towards me. "Well, it's a good thing I have my own."

"You've never been one to play fair, have you?" I ask as Cytherea stumbles through the trees. The witch has the valor to appear confident and without a hint of remorse on her face. Her hands are placed against her hips and she struts to us as if she's on a walkway. "And you... I guess you have a thing for vampires making you their bitch."

The words come out of me in throngs of word vomit. I don't know where this courage is coming from, but half of me hates the way I'm speaking and the other half doesn't care. They make me feel like a completely different person, disgusting me and causing a clenching in my stomach.

"You have no idea what my motives are," Cytherea tells me, scoffing. "Everything is on the line for me and I'm sorry that I won't put some little girl above myself."

Shaking my head, I glance at Ameri who stands with her hands pressed together against her lips. As our eyes connect, she laughs. Despite the beauty before me, I feel nothing but disgust and hatred for the vampire. All I can see is death and destruction as I stare at her and I want to erase her from my memory.

"Let's hurry up and end this. I have a castle waiting for me," Ameri starts, wiping a fake tear from her eye, "because that's what queens get."

From the corner of my eye, I see Cytherea lift her hand in the air. Turning to face her, I watch her mouth move as she mumbles an incantation. My mouth becomes dry as my throat begins to constrict and I presume it's by the hand of Cytherea. I begin gasping for breath as I drop to my knees. My hands fly to my throat as I try to claw at the invisible strings that are choking me, but I only meet air.

Death is clutching at me, but something stops it. Before I can succumb to darkness, words infiltrate the haze in my mind. They tell me that I'm stronger than them, that I need to fight. And I don't know what happens, but the effects of Cytherea's spell vanishes. My airways open up and I can breathe once again.

Lifting my head, I steel Cytherea with an icy gaze that's filled with nothing but hatred and a promise. She pauses, her eyes widening in confusion and disbelief. Slowly, I lift off of the ground until I'm on my feet once again.

"What the hell is happening, Cytherea?" Ameri crosses her arms over her chest, but I can't focus on her right now. I can only keep my eyes trained to the treacherous witch. "Why is she getting up?"

"I—I don't know. This isn't supposed to happen. She should be dead by now," Cytherea answers and I can feel the panic in her voice. She shakes, her voice shakes, and she passes a troubled look to Ameri. "She's not right, she's not normal. I can't help you any longer."

Cytherea drops her head and turns on her heel, taking off between the trees. Every single noise disappears around me; the shuffling and whimpering of animals, the crickets rubbing their legs together, and Ameri's angry shouts. I focus on the retreating back as the witch disappears between the thickness of the forest.

Closing my eyes, I imagine her face. A feeling blossoms in my chest and if I didn't know any better, I would say it was hate. But it's something else, because when I open my eyes, I'm standing in front of Cytherea.

She shrieks as she stops herself from colliding with me. "How are you here?" she yells at me, stepping back, but I move closer.

"You would have let my mate die," I say, tilting my head to the side. "You would have kept him in that spell-induced coma until he succumbed to death."

"No," she denies, shaking her head. "No... that wasn't my plan. Everything was for my coven! Ameri threatened me and she threatened my whole entire coven. I couldn't let her slaughter them, please. You know what it's like to have a family."

Growling, I reach out and grip her arm. Pulling her into me, I bring my face to hers in a cloud of disgust and anger. "I don't care. You would have let my mate die and you need to pay for that."

"No," Cytherea cries and it's a strange sight to see. Dropping to her knees, she grips my bare legs. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I needed to do it—"

"See, that's what you people don't understand. You never need to do anything... it's pure, unadulterated want." Getting on my knees in front of her, I grip the female in a hug. Her body shakes in my arms from her cries. "I don't need to kill you, but I want to kill you."

Without hearing her cries, I lay my head upon Cytherea's shoulder. I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I feel my body grow in strength. Power surges through me, overwhelming me. It feels like life is suddenly filling me to the brim as Cytherea's hold on my body loosens. When she's no longer gripping me, I let go of her and look down. What remains of the witch is basically a skeleton with dried and thin skin. Her true age shows with her death and I know what I've done. The lifeforce was sucked out of her with my hug, filling me instead.

Sighing, I make my way back to the meadow and it's much further than I thought. My adrenaline is starting to wear out and I begin limping. The pain is slowly starting to register in my feet with each step I take. My neck hurts from when the vampire attacked me and when I was getting choked out. My arm throbs in pain and I think it may have dislocated at some point before realigning from each time I was tackled to the ground. A dull ache has started up in my back and nothing sounds better than a hot, relaxing bath.

"Finally. Is the girl dead or not?" Ameri asks when I break through the trees. Her back faces me just like before, but her hands are on her hips.

"Not," I answer her. She turns sharply and eyes me, concealing the disbelief in her gaze well. "Are you surprised to see me?"

She shrugs, but I can just barely see through her facade. Something is there and I believe it's scaring her to her core. But she continues to hide. "Maybe not. The witch was useless, a fool who was in love with my sister for some odd reason. She would have never completed the job because she's weak. Really, she reminds me of someone else I know."

Her words are meant to hurt me, but they don't. I won't feel threatened over Alexei's past relationship, especially when the woman is now dead. There's no point. Just like there's no point in believing her subtle way of calling me weak. I know now that I'm anything but weak.

"Anyways, where is the witch? Did she run off?"

My answer is simple and blunt. "I killed her."

Ameri pauses and for the first time, she looks gobsmacked. Perhaps she doesn't see the lie in my eyes and that's why she looks as flabbergasted as she does. Smiling at the sight of her, I nod and shrug. I think I can see the moment where she finally realizes that I'm just as much of a threat to her. Her eyes darken and her shoulders tense up.

But what she doesn't know is that I'm much more of a threat to her than she is to me.

"And I suppose you're here to finish your job?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm here to give you a fair fight."

Ameri scoffs and laughs at my words. "Right, a fair fight. I can see what my sister sees in you, you're pretty fucking funny."

"Well, I'm not really joking. You're right, I'm here to finish the job." I drop any sign of a smile, replacing it with vexation and revulsion. It's time for us and this world to be rid of the likes that is Ameri whatever her fucking last name is.

"Well." She glances at her nails before gazing at me again. "May the best woman win."

I don't return her parting words. Instead, I brace myself for whatever is about to happen. In my chest, my heart beats erratically, so much that it almost hurts. Blood rushes around my head, making me feel light headed, but I force myself to be okay. Lifting my hands and closing them into fists, I prepare for a fight.

Thinking of my mates one last time, I smile over at the vampire. This is her queue. She grunts as she runs for me and I remain silent as I do the same. The air passes by me and my hair whips around. Keeping my gaze steady on the vampire, I wait for impact. Our bodies are quick to connect, creating a deadly reaction. Light explodes from the two of us and I can just make out the heavy swaying of the trees like an atomic bomb has just been dropped. Air whooshes loudly around us, filling my ears with the sound.

Then... I see nothing but blackness.