Page 65 of Midnight Whispers
“You get your life for a life. That’s what all of this is about, right?”
“Do you think you’re really in a position to argue with us, Finnian?”
“Eudora, I don’t mean to argue. The law states it's a life for a life. Flora is offering herself to take Lillia’s place.”
“He has a point, Tave.” Griffith sighs. “We might as well just let him change this Flora girl and move onto other matters.”
He’s widely known to be the most agreeable of the four, where both Octavia and Balthazar are known to be the harshest. Eudora follows Octavia’s lead over all else. The hate in Octavia’s eyes burns holes through my skin as she stares at me.
Flora moves further away from the three of us and closer to the Counsel, clearing her throat as she stops movement.
“Look, I know I’m not part of this world. Obviously, I don’t know how things work, but I do know that Lillia has been the most constant thing inmyworld since I can remember. Let me take her place, with an agreement that she will be turned another time. We will come back with proof later, or you can come visit us in the town we live in.”
The four of them look back and forth between one another, Octavia and Balthazar staring at each other for longer than the others. After what feels like the longest moments of my life, Balthazar stands and clears his throat.
“We accept the life of Flora in exchange for Cedar. Finnian, you will change her today and then you guys will be free to go home. As for Lillia, she will need to be changed within a calendar year. If she is not, there will be hell to pay. You willnotsee it coming, is that understood?”
“Yes.” The four of us respond out of sync. Griffith looks pleased with the outcome of the meeting, but Octavia’s eyes are seething with hatred as she looks at me.
“Proceed.” Balthazar gestures toward me, his eyes looking between Flora and me. My shoulders sag with the feeling of remorse that floods through me with the heaviness of what is about to happen. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.
I wish there was another option.
Flora was adamant that Lillia shouldn’t be forced to change, and the points she made are valid. My girl had suffered enough trauma without addingbeing forced to become a vampireonto the list. It was important to both Flora and I that she be given a well-thought-out choice.
Lillian sobs in the background, begging Flora to change her mind.
“You’ll be changed when you’re ready, Lil. I know you well enough to know that you need to heal emotionally, and youcan’t do that if you’re also trying to juggle wanting to kill everyone.”
Flora turns away from Lillia, wiping her tear drenched cheeks with the back of her hand, and nods at me.
“Any day now.” Eudora groans.
“Ready?” I whisper to Flora.
“Yes. If everything you told me was true, then I’ve prepared myself.”
In a quick movement, I bite into my wrists. Exhaling and closing my eyes, I lift my wrist up to Flora’s mouth. She looks at me and it’s almost like she’s sayingplease don’t fuck this up somehowor something with her eyes. She places her mouth to my skin and begins to drink, my blood and venom dance together and course through her body.
“Flora, that’s enough.” I whisper, she fights against me and pulls my wrist closer to her mouth. Asher snarls and begins to move closer to us. I hold up my free hand, signaling him to stay where he is. Reluctantly, she loses grip on my arm and withdraws her mouth from around my wrist.
“Sorry.” She says, wiping my blood from her lower lip.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Your reaction was nothing short of natural.”
“Getonwith it already.” This time it was Octavia whose impatience was evident.
I look at Asher and without any instruction needed, he turns Lillia away so that she wouldn’t have to watch her best friend die.
“Will it hurt?” Flora whispers.
“Only for a moment.” I respond, unable to remember how it felt when I died. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, to prepare herself for something she’ll never be truly prepared for.
“Okay. I’m ready.” Swiftly, I lift my hands around the base of her head. I make sure her death is as quick as possible.
The sound of a neck breaking is never something I believe I’ll get used to. In fact, it’s one of those sounds that still send a chill up my spine. Lillia turns and runs toward us as I lay the lifeless body of her best friend down onto the cold floor of the throne room. She pulls Flora onto her lap, cradling her head as she sobs over her corpse. I don’t know if she realizes it or not, but she's rocking back and forth to soothe the overwhelming feeling of grief that is flooding her body right now.
“When… When will she wake up?”