Page 41 of Rose and Shadows
“He’ll see! He’ll know it was you!”
“On the contrary, he’ll have no idea. I’ll ensure it.”
The vampires moved in.
My mom fired her power.
It hit two of them, knocking them back.
But it wasn’t enough, and then one of them snapped her wrist, making her scream.
My sister’s lavender power ripped one of them off their feet, and then she punched another in the gut, screaming at the vampire to leave them alone.
“You’d kill your own daughter?” my mom called to Morien desperately.
“She’s useless to me. She was meant to be a necromancer, but your weak magical genes took precedence there.”
I clenched my fists.
And then it happened, the vampires descending on them as Morien stood leaning against the wall watching on with a sadistic thrill in his eyes.
I looked away, unable to stand seeing my family taken from me and in such a brutal fucking way too.
Commotion over where past Remnant and my younger self were took my attention, as Remnant held tight to him as he screamed into his hand, flailing and his young power sparking wildly, Remnant absorbing it all, although not without damage as the agony in his eyes made clear.
A roar from Morien rang out, followed by the sharp sounds of necks snapping rapidly, and I chanced looking back at the house to see he’d murdered those controlled members of The Shadowed, and they were now sprawled out, their rapidly desiccating bodies covering my mom and sister.
He smiled to himself, then took off in a burst of teleportation.
Remnant released my younger self, and the latter turned around to face him.
“I wouldn’t have been strong enough to stop it, would I?”
“Not yet, no.”
“And if you’d tried to speed them away, my father would have caught you in his Undead Domination spell? I felt it extending outward, so he’d figured you might come.”
“That is correct. I am so very sorry for all of this.”
“It’s not your fault.” My younger self collapsed to his knees then, sobbing uncontrollably, magic sparking, but not harming.
Remnant didn’t shy away.
Instead, he knelt down and stroked his back in comfort. “You will go on, I promise you that. I will help you. You will not be alone, young one.”
“No,” he spoke to Remnant, lifting his head, eyes rimmed red, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“No?” Remnant questioned.
“My mom’s fears…”
“Unfounded fears. You are not Morien.”
“I can’t trust in that. Not yet. I need to study and learn. I need to be stable. But that time isn’t now. I could zone in on your vampires being the ones who actually did this to my mom and sister, especially if I can’t find my dad to get justice that way. I might go after the next best thing if my magic starts to corrupt me. And my mom has told me how important The Shadowed is to the world. I won’t hurt it. I won’t hurt you—you spared me. But, like with my father, power can twist things if you can’t handle it.”
Remnant went to protest.
“I can’t remember it this way. I can’t take the chance. It has to look like an attack by enemies that were already dealt with. So then vengeance won’t get its claws into me.”
