Leilani.

The atmosphere suddenly felt charged with energies I couldn’t see. All I knew was that they seared their way through my body, and that if I tried to hold back, the result would be disastrous.

So I didn’t.

I simply let it run its course and cried out when I felt too much. Sensed too much. And when the voices in my head became a little too much and a little too loud.

"What are you doing?" That was Keisha. Her panicked voice slipped into my head and I turned briefly to glare at her before turning away from her.

She rose to her feet quickly, took several steps away from me and only returned to my side a few seconds later to jab a large syringe into the back of my neck.

And goddess, as soon as she did that, my body jerked forward wildly. A sensation akin to an epileptic seizure shook through my body, causing my entire frame to quake right before her.

Tears slipped out of my eyes as I fell to the floor and threw my head back, because hell, it was painful. In fact, ’pain’ was too small a word to describe the kind of anguish I felt at the moment.

She hissed; "I cannot take chances with you so that’s another shot of moonveil draught to keep you in check..."

"And yet, you think I am the pathetic one," I hissed through my gritted teeth, biting down on my tongue to stop myself from crying out due to the immeasurable pain tearing through my body.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the triplets— all fully awake and now desperately trying to break free from their clasps while being silent at the same time.

Caelum looked like he was having a seizure with his eyes fixated on mine and on the spot where Keisha had just jabbed in the syringe.

The expression on his face was twisted into that of pain and annoyance, and when Keisha dug in her fingers into my chin, using it to push my face upward, he flinched as if he was the one who had been grabbed.

"It’s a shame that I do not want you dead right now..." she drawled coldly. Slowly. "Do not fret, I still plan to kill you but first, I want you to watch the men in your life die one after the other while you can do nothing to save them, starting with that pathetic wimp, Caelum."

The coldness in her voice made me want to shrink into myself, especially since I am now nothing but a weakling compared to her after that shot.

However, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, it immediately went out the window because something definitely felt different.

Something was strange.

And this has everything to do with the fact that despite being shot with another dose of moonveil draught, I didn’t feel weak. I didn’t feel the heaviness slash drowsiness I had anticipated.

Hell, I felt too good.

Like I was on some sort of enhancement drugs or something.

I feigned weakness and let my head drop to the side, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips when I looked up at her and muttered; "how does saying that make you feel?"

She shrugged. "Good."

"I guess so."

She looked too smug, smiled too brazenly and flashed her fangs too many times at me, annoying me to no end.

"I am glad," she said again, sounding as though she was trying to convince herself rather than talk to me. "I felt as good as I did when I thought I’d killed you in that fire. However, when I learned that the corpse found wasn’t yours but your friend’s, I felt..."

When her voice trailed off, I held my breath, half expecting her to say any of the words:

Bad?

Disappointed?

But she didn’t. Instead, her eyes gleamed as she threw her head back and continued; "Even better!" She finished, causing my heart to plunge deep into my stomach. "Do you know why?"

I shook my head. I didn’t want to know why. I didn’t want to have to listen to her.

Rage slammed into me with so much force until all I could feel and even taste was it. And as if reveling in my pain, she beamed another smile at me and drawled;

"Because I made you experience loss. Because I decided then that death was too easy a way out for you... and that was when I came up with this beautiful idea of making you lose everything you’ve ever loved before I take your life."

"All for what?" I hissed, lifting my eyes to meet her cold ones.

"Because you took everything from me. Jarek! His company! His love! Goddess he even told you about Grace and he never tells anyone!"

The frown that etched its way to my face was instant. It showed just the amount of disgust I felt at the moment. My breath caught when I saw that Kael had somehow managed to slip his hands free from his clasps, but deciding not to look in his direction for too long, in fear that she would turn around and find out, I laughed.

Loud. Mocking.

My voice echoed throughout the space, even causing an unconscious Jarek to stir in his sleep.

I pushed my head back and in response, she leaned close, still smiling brazenly, even as I muttered curse words under my breath.

"Huh?" She snapped irritatedly, "can you not speak out? Are you scared?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Then what the fuck did you say?"

"I said that you’re a cunt," I growled low in my throat, "...and that you were wrong for killing Agnes. She was innocent."

For a brief moment, Agnes’ smiling face danced around my mind’s eye, reminding me of the pain I tried to bury but couldn’t.

My anger soared when Keisha smiled instead. She hissed; "Do you ever wonder what her screams may have sounded like?"

My eyes narrowed.

"How she must’ve cried out in anguish in those last moments of her life."

Now, I was seething.

"I wonder about it sometimes too and trust me, if I did, I would replay it over and over again in my head like it’s my favorite song."

That was the last straw. It was the words— thing— that finally broke the camel’s back. White rage spread through me and before I could think my actions through, I drew my head back and slammed it forward, head butting her in the face.

Her loud scream pierced the air, but I didn’t care much for that.

All I cared about was the fact that she was hurt and bleeding.

"I’ll make sure you scream just as much as she did!" I swore.