Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale (MxM)

Chapter 15: Divergence. [Edited]

[Note form the Author, moa: This is the foyer of the mansion I envision.]

Cassandra Pope.

I burst through the front doors of the mansion with my idiot for a brother, trailing close at my heels. He had a grin on his face all the way from the restaurant. Couldn't believe that I was so unlucky to have run into that idiot of all places. Luckily, he didn't have the time to slither his way into my meeting with the Elder—it could have turned disastrous. I just had to keep my wits about me and wiggle myself out of my slip-up. Not too difficult though, my brother wasn't the brightest spark in the universe.

Just as I was about to walk toward the grand staircase that snaked upward toward the upper levels of the mansion, the blood maiden, who was impersonating my sister-in-law, walked out of the living room. Oh, I loved my life. (Note the sarcasm.) Just being in her presence made my fingers itch. I couldn't believe that my brother actually touched her. She was, after all, a walking corpse.

When Aveny rebelled against my father, the wretched old man ordered a coven of blood witches to create a bloodmaiden. This was to keep the Blackthorns fooled as to what happened to the real Aveny. My father couldn't lose the support of the Blackthorns on the Council. So, an innocent young girl with the same height and body figure was then killed and reanimated using the blood of the target she was commanded to impersonate.

Aveny's blood allowed the blood witches to transform the girl into her image. They also used the memories stored in Aveny's blood to give the bloodmaiden the ability to become Aveny in every way possible. It was nearly impossible to distinguish one from another. It is because of this that bloodmaidens and bloodbrothers were so dangerous; they were the perfect sleeper agents. There was no way to detect them with regular magic. Only blood magic could undo or detect them. And since no respectable witch or warlock would dare to use blood magic, their existence remained unnoticed until it was too late.

"Good evening, Cassandra," said the walking corpse in a jovial tone that made the blood veins in my temples nearly burst a leak.

How dare she speak to me through those lips? It was an insult, to say the least. I wanted to do nothing else but strip the flesh from her body and to offer it to the real Aveny as retribution. Gross, I knew, but I was furious.

Go back to the cemetery they dug you out of, bitch!

"Brother, tell your mangy corpse not to address me. I don't want to soil the clean floors with my lunch," I spat out my venom in his direction. I took a step onto the staircase but a hand yanked me back down. "Don't talk to her that way, sister. Or you'll regret it," Ethan warned me.

My laughter echoed throughout the large foyer. Oh, that was funny. He thought that he could intimidate me. How cute... I yanked my wrist out of his slimy grasp and turned to him. "Ahh. How cute... You really think your threats mean anything to me? When father gave you the task of pretending to love this thing," I threw a dirty glance at the corpse," father didn't mean you actually had to hump the woman, did he?" A sly smile crept across my face. "But regarding you, my dear brother... it's the only way you'd be able to get laid since no living thing would dare to touch any part of you."

An enraged snarl left his thin lips. Ethan lifted his hand to hit me, but a well-placed knockback spell flung him across the wooden floor. He came crashing down onto one of the silver armored suits that stood beside the front door. The clatter of an armored suit falling to the floor drew the attention of the rest of the coven. Curious eyes peeked out of the living room.

"Now, now, my dear brother. Pick yourself up before you make a fool out of yourself."

Out of the corner of my eye, the walking corpse ran to my brother's side and helped him to his feet. "Baby, are you alright?"