CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR

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          EVEN IF THE SILVER AGAINST HER SKIN DIDN'T BURN, SHE STILL PRETENDED THAT IT HURT. The four of them were cramped in a van, five guards on their side as they drove to god knows where. The scent of burned skin was strong as the three vampires struggled against their restraints, Eric getting the butt of a weapon slammed into his gut.

Dakota inched forwards but at the vikings glare she halted, teeth clenched together in anger.

They had been driving for what felt like at least three hours but she wasn't sure, there were no windows in the van and she had no idea what time it was or where they were. The van came to a screeching halt and Dakota pressed herself against the seat so she wouldn't fall. The man beside her got to his feet and opened the doors, revealing nothing but dark sky beyond.

Nora was the first vampire to be escorted out, then Bill and after him was Eric, who tugged himself from their grip with a roll of his eyes. Dakota was last, snarling at the man who grabbed onto her arm to help her from the van. 

"Where the fuck are we?" she demanded, as the five guards led them into what seemed to be an abandoned building. 

"Keep walking," the guard commanded and pushed her to toward the rest of them.

It looked as if there hadn't been anyone alive there for centuries but there were more guards stationed around the large room, ceilings high and windows broken. It was cold and smelt like mould, very much a place where you'd expect to be murdered.

Heels clicked on the cement floor and in stalked a woman, dark hair flowing behind her with a plum coloured dress hugging her curves. She smiled at the small group and said, "Darling,"

Nora took a few steps towards her, "Salome, listen to me. They're more valuable to us alive. I never had any intention of betraying you."

"Shh, fairytales are for children" she whispered, holding a finger to her lips before she looked around the vampire and smiled at Bill. "Mr. Compton, Welcome."

"And you are?" he raised a brow, unimpressed.

The vampire ignored him and peered up at Eric, assessing him as she looked at him up and down. "Mr. northman, you're much taller than I had expected you to be."

"I get that a lot." 

"Ah, life is full of surprises." she muttered before she turned her dark gaze on Dakota, raising a brow in amusement. "And you? You've brought a human to us." Vampires weren't able to smell it on her due to her fae heritage and she clenched her jaw. "A snack, perhaps? Or is this Mr. Northman's plaything?"

"None of your fucking business." said Dakota, tugging on her restraints.

Eric snapped his head toward her in warning but she ignored him, offering the vampire a humourless smile. 

"Hmm," hummed Salome with a smirk.

"Salome," Nora tried again. "you honestly think I would jeapardize my entire career to harbor fugitives -"

Smack!

The sound of skin slapping against skin echoed throughout the chamber and Nora stumbled to the side, eyes closed from the force of the slap. Her cheek reddened immediately but it wouldn't last long, but the sting of betrayal would.

"We'll talk later." said Salome. "Many times, i'm sure."

Salome turned on her heels and began to walk into the other direction, expecting them to follow her as the guards pushed them forwards. They went down a steep pair of stairs and stopped in a musty room, only a pair of rusty elevator doors to the side. Salome pressed her finger on the identification pad beside it, the scent of her blood filling the stale air as it pricked her finger.

The doors opened and Dakota stood beside the viking once they were inside, jaw clenched and leaning into him slightly for comfort. He did the same, making sure to keep their arms brushing against each other.

"Down to reception." said Salome.

"Yes, ma'am."

There was no elevator music only deadly silence, one that could cut through any surface. It didn't even take them a minute before the doors opened again, revealing a marble chamber with a reception desk across from them. It was neatly furnished, much like a hotel.

Ambassador Cole, please report to exsanguination chamber six. Voices echoed over the speakers.

"We're here," smiled Salome, leaning on the desk to the receptionist. "Let the Guardian know."

Dakota didn't have much time to take in her surroundings when they were whisked away again in silence, following after the vampire and the guards down a hall and another set of long steep stairs. Dakota could hear herself breathing from the utter silence among them. 

"In here," said the guard, pushing Bill through a door on their left. 

Cells. It were about five of them and Dakota swallowed when they were locked into one of them one by one. They were made of pure silver, the doors at least, and there were multiple locks on them to make sure they wouldn't get out. Dakota met Eric's gaze from beside her in the cell over and all either could do at the moment was pray they were going to get out of this alive.

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"SO ... ANY IDEAS?" drawled Eric as he lounged on the uncomfortable cot in the cell, hands behind his head. His frame was too large for the bed and he was careful not to touch any of the cell bars beside it.

"Not really."  sighed Bill, pacing around the small space.

"You're the king." scoffed Dakota, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked toward his cell. "Didn't they teach you any political crap before you started?"

"Shh!" shot Nora, knowing the authority was probably listening.

"A little different on this side of the bars, isn't it, Nora?"

The fifth cell on the far right side hadn't seem occupied, but now a vampire covered in burns pushed himself from underneath his cot, smiling wickedly at the woman. His clothes were ripped and dirty and his fingernails were black from rot.

"Friend of yours?" Eric raised a brow as he got to his feet.

"Nigel Beckford." he introduced with a grin.

"He was a nurse practitioner in Mass General's maternity ward." Nora cocked her head to the side as she looked at the vampire in disgust. "Instead of delivering babies, he kept eating them."

Dakota scrunched up her nose at the thought of it, glancing away from the vampire. His burns were so severe they must have happened before he turned into a vampire or he'd have healed by now. The skin was raw and raised in pink marks.

"Newborns!" cried Nigel as he now fully got to his feet and shot towards the bars. "I mean, just so succulent!"

"Psychopath," muttered Dakota and Eric looked her way with a similar look of disgust on his face. The sound of static filled the room and a second later there was a male voice coming from the intercom.

'Mr. Compton, Mr. Northman, welcome to New Orleans. Of course, we all wish it were under better circumstances. Tell me, Mr. Compton, why did you and Mr. Northman make contact with Chancellor Gainsborough?'

Dakota guessed she was low enough as a human to not have been addressed, but honestly she didn't care.

"She was my prisoner." stated Bill after a moment of silence as he peered up at the camera on the wall. "She's done absolutely nothing that would, in any way, compromise her position and her loyalty."

'There were others aligned with you, waiting to aid and abet. We killed nine of them. Where were they taking you?'

"No idea," sighed Eric, jaw set as he, too, stared at the camera.

"Sir," began Bill. "I urge you to release Nora, Sheriff Northman and Dakota. They were following my orders. They deserve mercy."

'A noble gesture, Mr. Compton.' silence. 'But a lie, we both know.'

There was a click and the lights began to dim and Dakota furrowed her brows. Nigel cradled his face in between his hands as he cried, "Oh, you just fucked us!"

Nora dropped towards the floor immediately. "The UVs!"

Suddenly, the room was lit up with purple bright lights from the large uv on the ceiling. Neither Eric or Bill were prepared and as the light came into contact with their skins they began to burn as if under the sun. Eric tried to hide underneath his leather jacket but it was no use. Dakota clung to the bars of her cell as she watched the viking cower in pain.

"Eric!" she yelled, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop this. She couldn't reach him nor could she protect him from the lights. 

The scent of burning flesh filled the small room and all four vampires were trying to protect themselves underneath clothes and the cots. It was perhaps a minute that had felt much longer when the light turned off again and she let out a long breath.

"Eric!" Dakota tried again as she tried to reach him through the bars. His skin was slowly starting to heal as he sat on his cot, exhausted. 

And then the lights turned on again.

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DAKOTA SAT ON THE FLOOR OF HER CELL, KNEES PULLED UP TO HER CHEST AND EYES TRAINED ON THE WALL AHEAD OF HER. Nora was gone, taken somewhere else as were both Bill and Eric. She had no idea where they were or if they were okay. 

Eric had been in a lot of pain about an hour ago, but now she felt nothing from him but the pull that he was alive.

Nigel was still there, cowering in the corner in fear that the UV's would turn back on. Dakota had learned to drown him out as she picked at the skin around her fingernails. This place was heavily armed and realistically she wouldn't be able to escape without endangering herself or the others and she didn't want to risk that.

"Why do you smell so good?" whimpered Nigel, face now pressed against the silver as he tried to get closer to her, but there were two cells between them. He hissed from the silver and shot back, eyes wide as he stared at her. "Just need a taste."

"Fuck off," muttered Dakota as she closed her eyes in frustration.

"They're going to kill them." he continued. "The lot of them and then you'll be here all alone for the rest of your life. Better let me get a taste. I'll make it painless."

"I thought you had a knack for babies?"

The door on her other side burst open and in came two guards, eyes trained on her frame. Dakota stayed where she was and tilted her head, keeping their gaze. One pointed his weapon at her, the other opened the cell door and stepped inside.

"You're required." was all he said.

Her heart missed a beat as the anxiety that she had already been feeling bubbled up in her chest even more. Dakota didn't know if she could handle torture and she didn't know what would happen when they'd figure out she wasn't all that human after all.

"Get the fuck off of me." snarled the blonde when he grabbed her arm roughly. "I can walk myself."

Dakota glared at him before she stepped around the guard and into the hallway, out of her small cell. One was in front of her, the other with his gun still trained on her, followed behind. She wanted to make a run for it, she knew she could take them but what would happen? She didn't even know where they were leading her and if this was going to be her imminent death.

The blonde memorised the the path they had taken since leaving the cell and she noted every single exit, elevator and closed door as they went. "Where are you taking me?"

"Keep walking." The butt of the gun was pressed into her back to urge her on and she decided to keep her mouth shut.

Down another hallway they went and as the door opened into the large room, her eyes were in the viking immediately. He seemed fine, no injuries and no blood. His eyes widened when he saw her but he quickly neutralised his face.

"Ah, there she is."

Dakota lifted her gaze away from Eric, whom was sat on the floor on his knees beside Bill in the middle of the room. They were bound at the wrists, some type of iron. The woman let her eyes move about the room freely until she stopped on the table at the left of her, where five vampires were seated, one standing at the head of the table. All their eyes were on her and she let out a slow breath.

"Welcome, Miss. Elkins." he said, dusting off his suit as he stepped around the table. "What a sight you are."

The authority.

There was a child seated at the table, fangs out as he hissed in her direction once he inhaled her scent. Salome was there, too, but she didn't recognise any of the others.

"It is polite to offer a greeting in return."

Dakota felt the vikings intense stare on the side of her face as she stood before the unfamiliar vampire. The woman kept her mouth shut, swallowing away her fear. 

"Hmm," he hummed, smirk playing at his lips. "My name is Roman, I am the authority. What does a human girl like you do with a vampire king and a sheriff? It's odd, isn't it? Unless ... you're a plaything, but I doubt it. Tell me Miss. Elkins, which of these killed Nan Flanagan?"

Dakota blinked but kept her face neutral, though she doubted the increase of her heart rate went unnoticed by them.

"I don't know who that is." she said.

Roman narrowed his eyes and tutted at her, shaking his head. 

"Why would you console with a human?" snarled the child.

"Human's are our friends." shrugged Roman, but that was far from the truth. "And I could always glamour it out of her."

Good, let them try.

He took another step towards her and inhaled deeply, but his fangs stayed where they were. He searched her eyes and she let him, pretending to be trawled by them. Dakota could lie, or she could lie.

"Tell me, which of them killed Nan Flanagan?" 

Dakota knew Eric was going to receive the true death and even if she didn't care for Bill that much, she didn't want to see him death. She would never do that to her cousin. She'd do anything for Eric. "I did."

"No!" it was Eric.

Roman blinked away his glamour and furrowed his brows. A human that was underneath a glamour could not lie and he had not expected the outcome. It was supposed to be the viking, they wanted to get rid of them and this would have been the tip of the iceberg and Dakota knew this. She refused to meet her makers eyes.

"A human?" Roman raised a brow with curiosity. "A human killed a member of the Authority?"

"She was already on her way out." said one of the vampires at the table.

"She is lying." Eric didn't care anymore, there was no way in hell he was going to let her do this. Not for his pathetic long life. "I killed Nan."

"You mean to tell us the human lied?" Salome quirked a brow at that as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Under a glamour?"

"That's exactly what I am saying." he snarled, fighting against his bounds at his wrists.

Roman clenched his jaw and after staring at Dakota for another moment, he turned and went back towards the table. "I do not appreciate liars and I certainly do not accept a human has killed one of our own without the help of a vampire." He took a dark wooden stake from a silver box, covered in gold swirls. "Do either of you have anything to say before I pronounce sentence?"

All of them kept quiet and Roman narrowed his eyes as he took a step towards Dakota, intending for her to be the first to go. 

"I offer you an exchange!" bellowed Eric once he figured out what was about to happen. "Our lives in return for Russell Edgington."

Dakota felt the muscles in her neck strain by the quickness of her movement as she snapped her head towards him. The table erupted into fits of laughter as Roman said, "Russell Edgington is dead. Nan Flanagan assured me of it. She assured the world of it on camera."

"Sheriff Northman and I consigned him to the ground," added Bill. "we did not kill him. Tragic mistake."

"Because he has now broken free." Eric stated.

"That sounds like a lie to me." Roman narrowed his eyes.

"But it is the truth." Eric shook his head. "Whether we live or die, you will find out soon enough."

Eric would not meet Dakota's gaze as she stood frozen to her spot, hammering within her chest as the blood had drained from her face. He didn't want to look at her because he knew he'd find it there. The betrayal and he didn't know if he could face that.

"Well," said Salome as she came up beside Roman. "they have every reason to lie, but I must say that I am intrigued."

"Russell wants nothing more than anarchy." continued Bill. "If you would like your entire mainstreaming agenda, and your administration with it, to be completely obliterated, then by all means ignore me."

"The only thing Russell wants more is to see us dead." said Eric.

"Why?" wondered Salome, taking her seat. 

"He pissed me off. Then I pissed him off. You know how these things go."

"No, I don't." snarled Roman, pacing back and forth. "Why would you keep Russell Edgington alive?"

"After what he did, we felt the true death was too good for him. We wanted him to suffer."

"You 'wanted'?" demanded Roman. "You disobeyed the Authority to satisfy your feelings?" Dakota blinked and a second later Roman stood behind Bill, holding his head from behind with his stake raised. "I feel like staking you so fucking much right now!"

"Guardian!" Eric shot. "I was the one that did it."

Roman growled at him and turned to Bill. "You're a king and you allowed him. Lilith help me, I am going to stake you! Unfortunately, unlike the lot of you, I understand there are a great many things more important than my ... personal desires."

"Guardian, I promise you, now Russell is free, he will stop at nothing to find us." said Bill as Roman walked away. "And when he does, you will be there to put an end to him, as we should have. I offer this to you as a final gesture of solidarity. I, like you, believe that mainstreaming is possible and essential, but Russell must be stopped. I fully expect to meet the true death, either way."

Roman stared at the king, mouth shut. But Dakota hadn't looked at either of them for the entirety of the situation. The blonde had been staring at her maker, her Eric. When he finally met her gaze, it wasn't betrayal that he found, no it was rage.

season five is my least favourite season so i am trying to do it justice