A/N: Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving. If it isn't a thing where you are from then consider it my excuse for being out of touch for a the past few days.

Chapter 15

During the drive back, memories of the day I was exiled ran through my mind as if it were yesterday. After going to find the Ancient Pythoness and emancipating my states, I went home. Every step that brought me closer to my childhood home made me want to cringe. Part of me knew it would always feel as if it had only happened yesterday.

What I felt went deeper than a fear of my father's wrath and disappointment. I had just made Louisiana and Arkansas autonomous states. I was one of the only people who knew how much he had lost into that venture. Years of planning and millions upon millions of dollars had gone into claiming those states.

Those kingdoms, prosperous as they may have been, were naught but a stepping stone. They were the first stop in my epic rule as a breathing, yet undead Queen. Nevertheless, it didn't feel as though I was giving up anything because, in truth, I wasn't. I had battled with it but I could no longer deny the truth. My father had groomed me to perfection. Every lesson, every test, had come down to this. He had done a most outstanding job.

I had everything it took to rule except the heart, and that belonged to Eric. None of this was about Eric though. If I had to be honest with myself, I think that was part of the reason why I refused to let him go no matter how badly I wanted to. He was the first thing that had just been mine. There had been no rhyme or reason in loving him.

I chose Eric for me even when I wasn't myself and he was the best thing that ever happened to me. I would always choose Eric. My only regret was that I had taken so long to make my stand. It would have taken silver and ultraviolet lights to cut through the tension as I entered the home. I didn't have to be called. Sai was here, I knew my father was aware, and that he would be expecting me.

I'd walked these halls countless times. Never in my life had I been afraid no matter how dark it was. The day he made me his daughter, my father showed me around the house and his other properties. He told me that I owned them all, the possessions within them, and the people who worked within. I would never be as safe anywhere else in the world as I was in these lands, within the walls of this home. Today I felt like a stranger, a betrayer, and an outcast.

I turned toward the grand staircase and found two of my brothers, Neiman and Oliver, in my way. To anyone who didn't know them, seeing them seated on the marble steps might seem like nothing. I knew better. A conflict loomed yonder and it was heavy. They wanted no part of it. This was their out. They didn't want to choose sides.

Ultimately, my father had the final word but he cared what we thought, and that was why they were bothering with this protest. Zee was seated beside my father and Sai was standing behind a chair prearranged for me. To say I was expecting the opposite was the understatement of several centuries past, present, or future.

Eric had ended Sai mere days ago. He had to remember that. If not, he at least remembered being detained in Area Five until it had become a Republic. None of that showed as he stood behind the chair meant for me. I didn't even think my father knew his version of events or maybe my dad did, and Sai was in my corner just to trick me. All my inner musings ended when I looked at my father and his expression brought out the child.

"Hi, Daddy," I greeted.

"Sit. Down." My father said.

His jaw clenched and unclenched so fast that it appeared to be throbbing. I knew it was an attempt to keep his fangs from extending. Wordlessly I complied. Not even Divine Intervention could keep me from facing the consequences of my actions. I opened my mouth to justify everything. He waved his hands in an errant, but precise manner. It made no difference because I had no idea how to begin.

The good girl I'd always been had no idea what it was like to not to be on a pedestal. I was shattering the image but I still wanted to remain the apple of his eye. The fact that I was doing the right thing gave me all the courage, but it wasn't enough, not with the way my dad was looking at me. He looked so confused but his fury was brimming and dangerously close to boiling over. It was the first time that I'd ever been afraid of my dad.

"It is because you are my only daughter that your head still remains attached to the rest of you," He said. "How could you do this?"

It was complicated. I didn't even know how to begin explaining it to him in a way that he would find acceptable, so I went for what I knew he would respond to.

"I love you, Daddy," I implored. "I don't want you to be angry with me, please. I want…"

My voice wavered as tears tried to fight their way free. I stuffed them back. Crying would do nothing but hurt my cause. I was raised to believe that tears solved nothing and he had been right. They didn't. This was the real sacrifice and I felt every ounce of it as I faced his unflinching expression.

"I just want you to understand," I concluded.

His right hand twitched ever so slightly. I knew that he was fighting the command that would send Sai on a war path. The only reason that he didn't give the nonverbal order for attack was because he wasn't sure I would survive. I shut my mouth so as not to add fuel to the fire. The silence continued and it took another five minutes before my father spoke.

"You have lost your mind," he said quite reasonably. "¿Como qué? You think I have lost mine, eh, mija?"

"Dad…" I began, shaking my head.

He waved his hand and I knew to stop talking. He had let me say my piece and I should let him have his. I was also very sure he was having a hard time not killing me.

"My daughter, the one I raised; she would never break my trust or confidence. She would never put anyone or anything before her family, her own blood. She would never, not ever, lie to me, plot against me, and then expect me to 'just understand' when there is clearly no reason to be found in her method. She would know that this is madness. She would know that she had lost her way and she would turn to me."

Yes. I would have when I saw the hurt on his face, I knew I should have. He was looking at me as if he didn't know me anymore, as if I was a strange and horrible monster. That hurt more than I ever thought possible. In my mind I had been braced for a blowout, his fury, his harsh judgment but living it wasn't something for which I could prepare. What made it worse was the fact that there was nothing I could say.

I hadn't shared the information my father had confided to me but I had used it to Eric's advantage. It hadn't cost him anything more than money but it was still a betrayal. The loss of money was a win because I had been trying to prevent bloodshed or other forms of irrevocable harm.

Then Eric had attacked and ended Sai. I hadn't disclosed all the siblings I had that my father wanted hidden, not even to my husband. When he saw me in a screaming match with a vampire that he didn't know, he reacted like any other vampire would. It had been my fault. Not even when I was fighting the memories of my true self had I ever felt so torn apart. I was trying to keep faith with two people whom I loved that were on opposing sides of a fight. It was impossible.

"You think that would I allow you throw away all the time, money, resources, and energy I spent raising you?" He shook his head. "That is not an option. You will not ruin your life..."

God! He had no idea. What was more frustrating was that he really didn't have to. He raised me to serve my family and I had accepted that when I was kid. Now, I didn't want that.

"This has nothing to do with Eric." I said as calmly as I could manage. "It's me. I'm not a little girl anymore. My life no longer revolves around your approval. I know what I want and it isn't a throne. Please, enough."

It wasn't the fact that several vampires had been used and manipulated and others had died. It was the fact that I didn't want this as badly as they did. I simply took it because I was able to but it didn't mean as much. It was a waste. It might all come full circle and, just as Zee had said, I would regret jeopardizing my name but I was willing to take that chance.

All I knew was I loved Eric. I wanted to be with him. I wanted my father to accept it. I couldn't control what my father did and the worst mistake I had ever made was thinking I could try. As I stood before my family, I still didn't know the rest, but I had forever to find out.

"I have never asked for anything," I begged, unable to keep my tears unshed. "Let me have this one thing, please, Daddy."

I was clinging to anything I could and it only made him more furious. A frightening kind of cool settled into my father's posture, yet he looked absolutely disgusted.

"You ungrateful…little brat!" he hissed. "Name one thing you have ever wanted for?"

I tried to think, but other than this, I had nothing and it was as if he could read my mind.

"Of course you have never asked anything of me. I have given you everything! Every single thing you needed, wanted, or even gazed upon with interest; I made it yours! And this is what you do? Your efforts have been for naught. Eric needs to go."

"No. He is my husband.," I said this as a fact because that was the truth. "I love him, but you are my father. You made me what I am, for better or for worse. So you know that there is no way you can end him and keep me as I am. You kill him and there will be nothing left of me for you to salvage."

He stared at me and I stared right back. I knew when I'd won because he didn't seem able to look at me anymore.

"Get her away from me," He ordered. "Get her away, I swear I do not know what I will do!"

He waved his hand but instead descending like the Reaper, Sai walked over to me like a referee and led me out of the room, out of the house, and off the property. I was led to a dump and I spent time in a dungeon. As far as dungeons went it wasn't horrible, but my mind and heart were so torn that I felt as if I would never be whole again. I wanted Eric and I wanted my father to love me again. I had neither.

Those thoughts consumed me as I sat in that cell. I didn't know how much time had passed, but the doors opened and I hadn't decided what hurt more, losing my father's love or missing my husband. I was still thinking about it when I met with my father later that day. I saw him and my life as his sole-pampered princess flashed before my eyes but I didn't let that show. I don't know what he saw but it made him speak first.

"You are stripped of your title," The King said.

His words were inflectionless but they broke my heart, not losing the title but knowing what would follow. I held the little breath that was in my lungs, and even then it still felt like someone had thrust their hand into my chest and was trying to rip my heart out. I tried to breathe through it, but nothing in my life had ever prepared me for this. I knew what I was giving up and what I was gaining, but it still hurt. I could face fear. I could look my enemy in the face and laugh. This…was impossible.

"Henceforth, you are banished from this Kingdom and all others that will fall under my rule and those you once called brother. Get out of my sight."

I was out the door with my footsteps echoing behind me. I looked back even though I knew there was nothing more for me here. None of my brothers looked as if they could see me. It was like a switch had been flipped. My father didn't look back. He was moving onto something more important. Growing up, it was instilled in me that a true ruler is never without options as long as they have the strength of will to make sacrifices. That was what this was. I made my sacrifice and my father had made his.

Even as I walked off with nothing but the clothes on my back, I knew I'd made the right choice, I knew this wasn't about Eric. As far back as I could remember I'd always been afraid of losing my father's love. I was the one that had to always be hidden because I was human. It was me that had to be carried because I couldn't fly. I didn't always have fangs either. I'd felt like he was tied to my brothers by making them, but his love for me was conditional upon my greatness. I never let myself want to be anything but great, but then I met Eric.

Eric was the one thing I wanted more than anything. I feared losing him more than everything else, so I walked into my dad's office building. Yet, he couldn't even look at me. He looked through me, not like a window but like a ghost, like he didn't know me. To show me how far I'd fallen he had Victor there to witness my shame. Victor didn't verbally gloat but he was dripping with glee.

Caspian didn't intrude on my thoughts until he had gotten me back to the dorm. He must have been picking up on my mood because that was the first he'd spoken even though I knew he had been dying to ask about the vampire in the sun.

"You don't have to do it, you know," He said. "Hunt this person;kill him."

"He killed Chari, had her tortured and…"

"I am not saying he doesn't deserve to die, I am saying you do not have to be the one to do it because it wouldn't be justice, it would be revenge and it would make his death more valuable than your life."

My emotions were running high and I knew if I engaged him any further I would lose it.

"You can bring an entire species back from the brink of extinction," He said.

Unlike Colman and Niall, Caspian didn't just want me locked in the lab or a bubble so I could work. I felt he really believed what he was saying and he wasn't just trying to talk me out of a fight because I was their last hope. He understood the scientist part of my mind. I needed to make clear the vampire.

"I can also bring death," That was exactly what I going to do.

The agents were awake and less than happy at what I'd done. They could get in line.

"Get Tom on the phone," I said to one of them.

"I need a satellite comm. link to Intel as well as a tactical unit on standby," I rattled off.

They moved in a flurry of activity.

Having no good reason to lie to him I told Lattesta what Nim had told me. While I was away he would dig up what he could find about Matthew Ward. Someone higher ranking than his Senator father had to be helping him. If anyone could find out whom, it was Lattesta.

I heard back from him an hour later. "According to all reports, he died in a car wreck over twenty-five years ago. It was closed casket due to the severity of the scars. We could begin searching in the…"

"He's here." I told him.

I couldn't believe I had been so close to him and hadn't picked it up in his mind. Hate of this magnitude, the kind that caused someone to cut down this many lives was impossible to hide, but then I hadn't been able to account for his mental abilities. Matthew Ward had been there in the dive bar the night Caspian, Colman, and I had gone to see the local drug dealer.

"And I know exactly how to draw him out."

Eric called that night while I was in a tactical meeting with Lattesta. I ignored it. I had another day to stop this psycho. I needed to get to Matthew Ward because if he came for me again—and I knew he would—more innocent people would die.