• tab I dropped the man's body and fell to both knees, bent at my waist. I hid my face under my short, dark curls, ashamed. Ashamed- yes because of Lucius, my master who I did not obey- but it was mostly because of Dmitri... My lover.
    tab I should not have joined Hunt. I should not have drunk from that damned human! I shut my eyes wearily. Too afraid to look, I imagined Dmitri in my mind's eye; dark hair the same shade as mine, thick and in his eyes. Those brown eyes that were like black pools in the pale of his perfect face. I heard Lucius crouch, and a shudder passed through my body.
    tab "Stand," He commanded, his aged voice full of power. I slowly stood, back straight with the pride Vampyres were made with. I looked into the ice blue eyes of my master, waiting.
    tab "He has a pulse." I exhaled in relief, but Lucius's next words chilled me to the bone. "But It is a new kind of pulse. He is no longer human. The Change has already begun, and by sun rise, he shall be one of us."
    tab My stomach was clenched in fear. My hands trembled. My whole being shook at his words. Only the Royal Family could make new Vampyre fledglings, only the Royal Family was able to do it... without punishment. Dmitri stayed silent.
    tab "Mercy, you are one of my favorite children, but by choice and not of blood. That is why I have to do what I am about to do."
    tab Oh no.
    tab "You had so much promise, so much potential."
    tab Please God, no.
    tab "My child, may the world demons have mercy on your soul. You are my child no more. I disband you from the Coven of Mironescu."
    tab No.
    tab I kept my face hard, but on the inside, my heart was splitting open, my insides were freezing over, and my lungs were no longer allowing me to breathe. I felt as if I was about to lay down to sleep, but the Eternal and not the nightly. I felt as if I was dying.
    tab Lucius stood to leave, staring at me all the while. "Dmitri, you have been a brave and wise warrior. Mercy is your mate. You shall be missed."
    tab I let out a scream of a sob. He was going to abandon Dmitri- intelligent, beautiful, strong Dmitri. He was going to disband him from the Coven, too, and it was my fault. My fault.
    tab Lucius lifted the human's body, and threw it over his shoulder. He paused in the mouth of the alley, his silhouette black against the moonlight. He bowed his head, and he was gone.
    tab Silence. I fell to my knees, and I wrapped my body into itself, too destroyed to look at him, and know that I had ripped his life away from him, too. My chest was empty. My mind replayed the words gone, and my heart whispered Dmirtri's name. I put my hands on my head, and I dug my nails into the skin. With nothing left inside of me, I screamed into the night, tears of agony falling to the pavement.
    tab Strong arms pulled my face up, and I looked into the eyes of Dmitri. He gently took my hands away from my face, and wiped away tears and blood. His dark eyes were soft and beautiful, and my heart echoed emptily.
    tab "Never hurt yourself. Do not cry for me, because I will always be at your side. Do not cry tonight, because I am here, and I love you."
    tab Eyes wet, I wrapped my arms around him.