The bats in the sky soon turned into people as Silas and his group landed in front of a huge mansion. The mansion overlooked the entire city. Silas moved through its halls; every time someone saw him, they stopped and bowed before resuming their tasks.
Silas mentally commanded Lenore, who was holding the Grimoire, to take the book to the mages to begin unlocking its secrets. Lenore bowed her head and quickly broke from the group, going down a different hallway.
Silas led them into a room that looked as large as a banquet hall. Large tables surrounded the room as various people moved about.
Overseeing the tables was a throne, which Silas quickly took a seat on. As soon as he stood in front of the throne, everyone in the room, except Cassian, dropped to one knee, facing the throne.
Cassian quickly took his place standing to the right of the throne, deemed Silas's bodyguard in case something happened. Cassian looked at the small group he had managed to assemble as he decided to give a speech.
"Vampires and those aligned with us, our time in hiding is soon coming to an end!" Silas declared, his voice loud throughout the room as the others began to mutter. "As we speak, our mages are working to crack the secrets of the Grimoire, and soon we will all be free!"
Cheers went through the room as they finally tasted the promises Silas had given to them coming true. Waving his hand, the various members stood up off the ground, quickly resuming either cleaning or other activities.
A person dressed as a maid brought a wine glass to Silas. Once the glass was in his hand, she cut her palm, filling the glass halfway. Smelling the blood, the scent excited Silas. He reached out to the maid before slicing her neck open.
Blood rained from the stage as some vampires came to lick the blood off the ground. The excitement Silas felt at the raining blood left him exhilarated. Soon he could do things like this every day in a kingdom based on his rule.
So far, Silas had completely taken over Havenswood during the rebellion years ago. Though how he did it was a story for another time, being the secret behind all the corruption was enlightening, but he wanted more.
The Lamia had brought the kingdom to its knees! He was next to inherit, being one of her most trusted generals, the first she turned into a vampire.
They could've won, but she betrayed her own vision. Hating the pain she was causing, she locked them all away like animals. The glass in his hand began to form cracks due to how hard he was holding it. Relaxing his hand, another maid came, replacing the glass before quickly leaving.
Controlling his anger, he leaned back in his throne, swirling the blood in his wine glass. Escaping the seal was an accident, and soon he'd be in control of the demon army once again. With the Grimoire, he could easily just rewind the seal to when it didn't exist, allowing the portal to open back up.
His eyes glowed dark red as he kept thinking about the future of his kingdom, starting with the death of Lamia.
Lyra stayed by Sami's side, holding his hand as Sami kept shaking. Sweat poured down his face as his fever began to rise through his body. Sami's body was covered in bandages; most of his body was cut deep by the wind blades.
Akio thankfully had a friend who had a house close to the shrine, so they rushed Sami there to tend to his wounds. Thankfully, Kim's summon was willing to carry all of them because Sami wouldn't have made the walk.
Everyone either went to sleep or, in the case of Akio, went and prayed as the sun rose. Lyra, not tired, stayed by Sami's side, either dabbing his forehead with a clean cloth or making sure his wounds stayed clean.
"My students, I am back—" Anna trailed off as she stared at Sami's damaged body.
Lyra didn't even acknowledge Anna as she kept her gaze on Sami's resting form. The anger Lyra had for Anna not being there was great, but being upset right now wouldn't save him.
Anna looked at Lyra with worry on her face. "Lyra, what—" she began.
"What happened?" Lyra interrupted. Her tone was neutral as she kept her eyes on Sami. "What happened was our team leader decided to do nothing in the middle of a mission. Our team leader decided that we deserved to be thrown into jail without you there to help."
"Lyra, I'm so—" Anna tried to start.
"Sorry? I allowed you to apologize when you almost killed me during multiple training exercises," Lyra ranted, her voice slowly rising. "You made me go on hunts by myself when you should've protected me. I never held that against you. But this time was worse."
"I was busy with a mission," Anna tried to explain. "Mercer assigned me something very important to take care of."
"I already can guess you set us up. You knew that guy was stalking us, and it just so happened Poke was sent on a protection mission in the same city. I almost…" Lyra's voice cracked as the danger of the night finally got to her. "We almost died. Look at Sami; he could've died because of the things we fought. Of the vampires, and you weren't there to help."
"Vampires?" Anna questioned in shock. "What do you mean by vampires?"
Lyra refused to say anymore as she quickly dabbed the rag in the bucket before wiping down Sami's face. Thankfully, as the sun began to rise, Sami's shaking began to slow.
"Leave the children alone," Akio said from behind Anna. A frown on her face as she stared at Anna. "If you can't help them, then don't come back. My daughter has been through so much, and so has that young man."
Anna took a look at Akio, remembering her from when she was first assigned to train Lyra. Realizing the room was beginning to feel cramped, Anna gathered her energy to teleport back to the Academy.
"Anna," Lyra called out, her tone still neutral.
Anna stopped her movement as tears came to her eyes, hurt that Lyra just called her by name instead of "teacher" like she usually did. "Yes, my little butterfly," she replied.
"I used to look up to you. You and Mercer were everything I wanted to be, everything I dreamed to be. Thank you for opening my eyes to who you truly are," Lyra stated.
The room grew quiet, with the only sound being Sami's labored breathing. Akio hobbled past Anna as she went and knelt next to her daughter.
Lyra looked up with anger in her eyes as she glared at Anna. "I realize I don't need you anymore. You don't have to pretend to give a shit anymore. Also, don't worry about Sami; I'll train him myself. You guys have failed so far in protecting the kingdom. At least I can make sure we can live."
Lyra finished talking as she went back to staring at Sami's body. Anna, not having anything to add or say on the matter, teleported back to the academy. Her mind was in full turmoil as she realized how badly they had screwed up so far.