Her Brother, Her Mate

Suzie is in the last cell in the basement, hiding in the shadows away from the fluorescent lighting in the hallway. Her hair seemed to be falling out in clumps. Her balding head is clutched in her hands as she rocks her body back and forth in a tight ball, muttering nonsense to herself.

She doesn’t look up at our approach, but she does stop rocking, a hiss leaves her as she clutches her head more tightly.

“Susan, I believe you owe this man some closure. Come,” Lady Delilah commanded her, forcing Suzie to look up and comply. She is pledged to the Lady still. She can not go against her order.

When Suzie’s haunted red eyes landed on me, a sickening smile spread on her pale, almost translucent face. I can see the infected veins beginning to protrude under her flesh, making her look demented.

“You came! You came. I knew you would. You came to save me. You always save me. I knew it. They said no, but I knew. I knew you would save me. You love me, so you always save me.”

Suzie’s voice sounds raw and gravelly, like she was hoarse from screaming and crying too much, which I’m sure is the case. A rogue vampire doesn’t have healing abilities like a healthy vampire. She probably can’t recover from the fit she threw when being put down here.

I growl at her as she presses herself against the silver bars. She ignores the sizzle of her burning flesh at the contact as she reaches for me. I’m just out of reach. I don’t want her to touch me. If she does, I’ll end up killing her myself.

“I came to condemn you, not save you, you demented b***h. I allowed you to f**k up my life enough. I’m not going to save you. I want you gone. You may have said you were going to kill yourself if I wasn’t with you, and nothing would please me more than you not breathing any longer.”

“YOU’RE LYING!” she screams, “YOU LOVE ME! YOU HAVE TO! YOU HAVE TO SAVE ME! YOU’RE JUST,” she takes a shuddering breath, “You’re just confused because of your mate. If it weren’t for her-”

“I rejected my mate because of you. I rejected the one person I loved above anything else because I thought I didn’t deserve someone like her with you haunting me, and with my dirty past. I rejected Hadley, and I still hate you,” I sneered.

“You rejected her?” Suzie asks, then throws her head back, laughing like a madwoman, “You rejected her for me? You do love me. See. You rejected her for me. To be with me.”

She is seriously crazy. Absolutely insane. “I rejected her because of a lapse of judgment, thinking you would kill yourself if I didn’t. I still love her without the mate bond, and I still hate you.”

She looks at me confused for a moment, “Kill myself? Why would I kill myself? I can’t be with you if I kill myself.”

“You said you wouldn’t live without me. That you would rather die,” I growled. She’s so crazy she can’t even remember her own words, or listen to what I’m saying. It’s going in one f*****g ear then back out the other. “You basically said if I was with her that you would kill yourself. Because of that, I rejected my mate, not wanting your b***d on my hands too. Now, I want nothing more than to rip you apart, piece by piece.”

Suzie’s haunted eyes stare at me, blinking awkwardly as she thinks about my words. Then, she started laughing once again, like a damn hyena in the wild. The sound hurts my ears as I resist the urge to cringe and cover them.

“I was never going to kill myself. That would be silly. I can’t be with you if I’m dead. I was going to kill her. But you rejected her for me. You rejected your mate for me. You do love me. You love me. You rejected her. You rejected her,” she starts mumbling and muttering over and over again, her insanity consuming her.

“If you wish to be the one to kill her, Mitchel, you may. Make it quick for her brother’s sake, but she can die at your hands if that is what it will take for you to find peace.”

I flex my hands at my side, thinking about what I really want. What I need.

I needed to be the one to kill her. I saved her 7 years ago, it’s only fitting that it’s by my hands she dies. I took responsibility for her, and this will fulfill the last of my obligations. She needs to die by my hands. That is the only way to soothe my beast. This is how I start making amends to my mate who I hurt deeply because of this madwoman.

My magic settled in my muscles was starting to buzz with my resolve. It flows through me like a live wire; a current of power begging to be released. My hands started to heat, glowing an icy blue.

The power is pulsing in my veins, flowing into my brain, whispering to me somehow, telling me what I need to do. It shows me how to do what I want to do; rip the heart from Suzie’s body without touching her, without her b***d actually touching my skin. I want to make her heart explode in her chest, blasting it to a million pieces internally, so Carlos has a whole body to bury later, and not her torn into pieces.

The power is whispering, telling me how to do that. It’s telling me how to direct it and move it, what words to say to expel it from my body into hers to wreak its havoc.

I place my hands together, creating a ball of blue energy, growing as I mutter the words the whispers are telling me to repeat. Suzie stops laughing, staring at the ball of energy in my hands with horror-filled eyes. She goes to speak, but before she can, I release it. I released the ball, pushing it towards her, the icy blue orbs colliding with her chest, making her fall with the impact.

My magic expelled can still be felt in my veins. I feel it collide with her heart, expanding at its center, solidifying to cause her heart to explode inside her chest. I feel it the moment her life leaves her, because her vitality is siphoned back into my power, fueling my magic and making me stronger.

I killed her. I used my magic and I killed her. Suzie is dead. I took responsibility for her until the end. I saved her 7 years ago, and now I’m the one that redeemed her sins with her own life. Her life is over, and I will use her vitality to protect my mate. My mate who I wronged. I will right that wrong, and never let anything come between me and Hadley again.

“Thank you, my lady,” I told Delilah, panting as my magic and power returned to me, settling in my core; in my bones and muscles.

“You are very welcome, young one. Thank you for not making a mess,” she smirks. “Now go apologize and explain things to your mate.”

I nodded, about to turn to walk out, when she stopped me.

“Oh, and Mitchel?”

I looked back at her.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“You’re fired,” she smirks, “I believe it’s time for you to devote yourself to your family and loved ones. If you are ever in need, though, I will always be here to aid you and your family in any way I can. Thank you for your devotion over the last 7 years. I’ll be sure to leave you with a rewarding severance package.”

I bowed my head, smiling for the first time since before the s**t happened with Suzie at the bar yesterday. “Thank you, my lady.”

“You are very welcome.”

Now, it’s time for me to get back my mate.