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Chapter TwentyTwo - Tides of Change
Olivia faced her mate over the decimated body of their foe. Before her was the image of himself that Lucian had not wanted to her see, though she could not understand why. He was beautiful to her eyes, magnificent. His white fur was silver tipped, his strength beyond measure. She tried to step towards him, but the shock of her change and of what she had just done, caught up with her and she collapsed to her knees.
Lucian was there in an instant, kneeling before her, pulling her in close to his body, taking the chill away from her. She rested her weary head against his immense chest, letting the sound of his beating heart soothe her. It was a moment before she realized he was holding her with only one arm. His other one was hanging limply at his side.
"You're hurt." Olivia exclaimed, reaching out to touch his injured limb.
Lucian backed away, cradling his arm. Olivia thought he was withdrawing in shame from her and she tried to follow, but he shook his head, motioning for her to stay put. Within two heartbeats, he had changed from wolf to man.
"My arm will heal." His voice was rough from the change, but Olivia had never heard a more welcome sound in her life. "I'm so sorry that I did not get here in time. Can you ever forgive me?"
Olivia placed gentle fingers against his lips, noting the stark difference between her Hybrid skin and his own. "Hush, darling. You're here now and that's all that matters."
"But…" Lucian stammered, tears in his eyes. "What of our child…is he…"
Olivia reached out and took his hand, placing it gently against her belly. "Lucian, your son is alive and growing stronger with every minute that passes. He will be a warrior to contend with, just like his father, when he's grown."
Lucian pulled her to him with his good arm, nestling his head against her shoulder and let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "I had feared…"
She murmured to him, "I know, but it's alright. Everything is fine now."
After a couple of moments had passed, Selene approached the couple with Markus' discarded robe in her hands. "Lucian…" She raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"Thank you." He murmured, a soft smile flitting across his features. "One of the drawbacks to being Lycan. We tend to go through a lot of clothing."
"I suppose I'll have to learn to sew then, won't I?" Olivia remarked, helping Lucian into the robe.
"Master!" The shocked cry drew their attention as Eston raced to Markus' lifeless form. Hatred filled his eyes as he looked to Olivia. "What have you done? What will become of us now, with no Elder to lead us? The Coven has been destroyed!"
"You don't need to worry, Servant." Olivia said icily, staring down at the kneeling figure. "You're time with the Coven has effectively come to an end. Sunrise will find you staked out in the courtyard…next to your beloved Master's remains. May you both burn in Hell for what you have done."
Selene and Michael jerked the Vampyre to his feet. Eston struggled against them, but was no match for the combined strength of the Death Dealer and her Hybrid mate.
Intent on Eston and his struggles, none of them saw the figure that detached itself from the shadows until it was almost too late.
"No!" The female voice rang out sharply and, as one, the group turned to find an attractive blonde Vampyress pointing a gun towards Lucian.
"Erika! What are you doing?" Selene spoke in astonishment. "Put down the bloody gun!"
"Kraven…" Erika whispered.
"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Kraven was standing not fifteen feet from Lucian with a six foot, silver tipped pike held at the ready.
"Why did you have to follow me here, Erika? Everything would have worked out perfectly, if you had just done what you were told. But, no! You've always been so damned curious, always sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong and now look at what's happened!" Kraven gestured manically towards Olivia, his rose rising to a fevered pitch with every word he spoke. "She was meant to be my Queen, a Vampyre of Corvinus descent, sired by me. Now she's been tainted by that lunatic Hybrid. Even worse, she's breeding…by a Lycan! The Coven can't be ruled by her!"
Olivia gave an astonished laugh, "So you're Kraven…the lying, thieving, back-stabber I've heard so much about. Funny…you're nothing like what I pictured." All the laughter deserted Olivia's voice and her eyes grew hard. "The Coven will be ruled by me. As for you, Kraven…" She turned to Lucian, "What do you think we should do with him, love?"
Lucian eyed the Vampyre with distaste, remembering all the deals he'd been forced to make with him and the subsequent breaking of those deals. He remembered the pain of being pumped full of silver nitrate, of seeing everything he'd worked so hard to build come crashing down. "I'd like nothing more than to tear him limb from bloody limb with my own two hands. Unfortunately, there's a lot of others who I'm sure would love to do the same."
"If I'm about to die, I'm not going out alone!" Kraven lifted his arm back, preparing to pierce Lucian's body with it. "And I'm going to make damn sure you stay dead this time!"
"Kraven, no!" Erika screamed.
"Stay out of it, Erika. This doesn't concern you." Kraven said, glancing between his prey and his lover.
"Drop your weapon, Kraven." Olivia ordered, wondering if she could move fast enough to stop him from launching the pike at Lucian. For Lucian to have survived the worst that Markus had to offer, only to fall at the hands of this cowardly bastard was unthinkable.
It suddenly seemed as though everyone was shouting at once. Orders were hollered, curses were flung. All the words blended into a cacophony of unintelligible sounds. Olivia saw Kraven's arm come back, saw him heft the pike, balance it in his hand...
Gunshots rang out, silencing everyone at once as though a switch had been thrown.
Kraven looked stunned as he fell to his knees, his hands grasping the edges of his shirt, tearing it open. A gaping crater marred the flesh there, iridescent blue flames licking at the skin.
"Erika?" He spoke the name quietly, questioningly. Then the UV reacted, eating away at him from the inside out despite his angst-filled screams. Within seconds, he had collapsed into a worthless pile of bones and ash.
"Holy shit." Olivia's blunt statement broke through the silence. "What the fuck just happened?"
"I can't believe I just did that. Selene, why did I do that? I shouldn't have killed him…he loved me, I know he did, in his own way…it's just that I was so angry…and…he lied…and…" Erika burst into hysterical tears and Selene wrapped her arms about the inconsolable woman.
"Where did you find the UV bullets?" Selene asked quietly when Erika's tears had slowed. She had taken the gun from Erika's trembling hands and was examining the clip of glowing bullets.
"After the last battle…when so many Death Dealers died, I snuck into Kahn's office. I wanted a weapon, some way to protect myself in case the Lycans…" Erika swallowed convulsively, glancing at Lucian. "…well, I thought they would be coming here next. I couldn't find any silver nitrate bullets…but I thought that if they came…I wouldn't let them take me…I'd rather…" Erika's hands fluttered helplessly as her gaze came to rest on Kraven's ashes.
"God, what have I done?" she whispered, looking to Oliviawith haunted eyes.
"You did the only thing that could be done. Kraven wouldn't have stopped until he had destroyed us all." Olivia answered. Then she dismissed Lucian's would-be killer from her mind and turned to address the others.
"Gather up all the survivors, both Lycan and Vampyre. We'll meet in the courtyard within the hour. There are things that need to be dealt with before dawn."
Olivia's reign had begun.
