NINETY-TWO | HAPPY BLOODY BIRTHDAY

Paris is just staring at our Grandmother, her emotions dying down into a muted wave as shock takes over. I fight my own numbness, struggling against the wash of hers threatening to infect me and take a deep breath. Grandmother turns to face me, sensing my renewing energy, and narrowing her eyes.

"I know what you're thinking," She warns me, her ancient face twisting into a bitter snarl as I rush to throw up the mental barrier between us. A surge of power washes over me - gripping my body firmly and effectively ordering the muscles in my body to stop working. I crumble to the ground, the jarring end of everything in my body echoing with each beat of residual energy through my heart as the muscle quiets.

I blink, my whole being straining to remain conscious as darkness begins to creep into my vision.

Grandmother's already narrowed sapphire eyes begin to glow, a vein coming to life on her forehead as she strains to continue her grip on my body. I feel my back hit the wall behind me, the progression of darkness making it hard to concentrate. Nothing wants to work. My heart won't beat in my chest. My lungs refuse to do their job. Even my muscles won't listen as they begin to burn from the oxygen deprivation.

My head swims, every blink becoming slower and harder to manage as I try, over and over, to open my mouth and breathe. No matter how hard I try, nothing happens. Icy dread sits heavily in my stomach as my vision blurs.

*So this is how it ends. Not in a roaring battle, but with Grandmother's control. Always in control.*

The bitter and disjointed thoughts turn the icy ball in my stomach in anger. The heat of the emotion boiling and bubbling in me, even as my eyes flutter shut. The world falls silent around me, the ache in my body fades, and I get the distinct feeling of floating. As though I've passed right through the floor and am rising from it all at once.

My body thrums with an unnatural fluttering. I'm weightless. Euphoric. No pain, no body, nothing tethering me. It feels like nothing I've ever experienced before - better than all the visions, better than the power from being a vamp, better than Blue's blood- *Blue*. Sadness fills me at the thought of leaving him, twisting through the veil of darkness and shocking through me.

Blue's face burbles through the darkness, his silvery grey eyes wide - horrified - as though he see's what's happening to me now. A surge of power breaks through the endless darkness, warmth floods my suddenly there body and I feel like I've just been slammed into the side of a building. I jolt upright, gasping as bright lights, smells, and electric pain overwhelms me.

Paris stares at me, Grandmother just as I left her, though now she's on one knee, gripping at her chest. I hack up dust, doubling over so my head hits my knees, and everything rushes at me. Sights and sounds, smells and reverberating pains in my body. I let out a string of curses and every awful thing I've ever heard as my suddenly stuttering heart begins to beat more regularly. I wince as I slowly regain my strength, feeling like I've just touched a live wire as I sit up.

"N-not p-p-" Grandmother stutters, glowering at me. Paris stands stock-still, her eyes going between me and Grandmother and back again. Her shock is gone, a stilted confusion and amazement and curiosity bringing her out of her head. "You were dead." Grandmother finally hisses, annoyance and surprise coloring her tone. I ignore her as I struggle to my knees and push up from the floor.

My body sways, aching and burning, but real. Alive. How the hell am I alive? Blue's face flashes in my mind and I make a mental note to talk to him later. If there is a later.

"And now," I pause, trying to ignore the pulsing of my cells, the thirst trying to reclaim me. "I'm not." I finish, gritting my teeth and leaning back against the wall. Every cell's humming in me, crying out for sustenance. Life. *Blood*. My aching jaw and burning cold bones won't be ignored. "What's it going to be, Grandmother?" I ask her, trying to keep the pain from my voice as I try to restrain myself - and the red curtain now threatening to coat my vision. "How do you think this will all end?"

"End?" Grandmother's recovered now, her eyes full of disgust and annoyance, the hysteria taking a slight back seat as she stands straight. But I can see a slight tremor in her body, the veins in her forehead haven't cleared, and her eyes are going in and out of focus. She's barely keeping it together. "This is only the beginning." She asserts shakily, the hysteria slowly rising to the forefront of her mind. I can feel it in the bond, creeping like a dense fog and threatening to take over. I shiver, noting the way Paris' eyes are slowly glazing over.

"Stop it." I growl at our Grandmother, fighting through the mess in my head. The frenzy of my cells increases in response, blanketing me in another sort of cold. It fills me with power and strength. I wince, half-expecting the red curtain to slip into place and make me seek out blood. But it doesn't.

"**This doesn't end until they're all dead**." Grandmother hisses, the burning blue of her eyes pure insanity and power. "**Every last Azure man, woman, and child**." Power surges behind her words and icy dread fills me as the command ripples through the bond. My muscles begin to itch, despite the new control in my own body, I feel the pull to do her will. To follow her orders. The orders of an Alpha.

And in the back of my mind, I feel the reverberation and control affecting the entirety of the Reinier Pack.

Paris blinks behind our Grandmother, her glazed eyes clearing slightly, then clouding back over. Over and over again, and I know she's fighting it as her knuckles audibly crack in the resounding silence. She's sick of fighting. Just like me. Sick of it all. I feel it in the bond.

Now that Paris has the power of the Alpha-ship, she can fight the order. I watch as she tries, sweat beading on her forehead, the skin wrinkling and smoothing in the internal battle of wills.

"Paris, do as I command." Grandmother growls, her gaze focused on me now. I can feel her physical limitations are becoming too much for her to handle, the tremoring in her body and insanity are pushing her too hard.

Paris grits her teeth, the grounding of her molars audible. Her body completely still.

"Insolent child," Grandmother whirls on my cousin and strikes her down, the already bruised side of Paris' face blazing a mottled reddish-black. Paris doesn't move for a moment, just lays on the floor, still fighting the power of Grandmother's control. She can't fight her both mentally and physically. I see the flash of pain and hurt in her eyes seconds before she shuts her eyes, resigning herself to a death we both know is looming closer by the second.

And suddenly, I know what has to be done. While Grandmother's distracted, I push off the wall, pulling my fingers through the air and tugging hard on the strings of time.

It fights me, just like before, the shivering strings becoming tangible and sticking to my skin painfully as I move forward. I ignore them, pushing myself harder, going against their hold while stilling the ones in my hands. I hang on to them as time sputters to a rolling crawl. Thick and prickling my skin now, the fly-paper strings begin to eat away at my flesh as I push through them.

I know I need to hurry. Every second I hold this power, it threatens to rip me apart. I'm not strong enough to control it anymore.

My hands stretch before me, as I move, coming up to grip the shoulders of a woman who helped raise me. A woman who effectively ended my life, while promising me the world at the same time. Her cruelty knew no bounds, and still... *Can I really do this?* She's my Grandmother. Part of my family, no matter how much has changed. *Doesn't that count for something?*

And then I think of my friends. Everyone I've met and my allies. My mother, father, Mikyle, all the Azures, and Blue. *Would I be willing to risk their lives for my Grandmothers? She won't stop until they're all dead. Every last one*. She's already given the order. Even now, I can feel the pull of it on my body.

But I already know my answer.

I shove Grandmother away from Paris before her claws can tear into my cousin's throat. A flicker of shock reverberates in Grandmother's eyes as she sees me, moving through time, and freezing on her face as my own hand thrusts into her chest. Through her skin, muscles, and bones. Deep until I feel the stuttering organ beating in her and rip it out.

Time slams against me with it's usual cruel roar, almost making me wish I were dead again as searing pain courses through me. But it's done. And that's all that matters now. The still beating thing in my hands gives a quivering pulse as it seems to realize it's no longer attached to the body it belongs to. Hot, sticky blood streaks down my arm, calling to me with it's sweet and irony aroma. *Drink me. Drink me*. Each faltering pulse whispers against my skin.

Grandmother's staring at me, that shock twisting into something else. I block out the expression of grudging respect, squeezing the heart in my hands and ruining the thing before she can move to reclaim it. And then she crumples to the ground, the bond in my head confirming what I had assumed. *She's dead*.

Outside, somewhere, I hear the sad and lonely song rising in the air. The singular howl turning to a mourning hymn as other Reinier's join in. I lift my head to the ceiling, the pull to join pulsing through me as my own wave of emotions slam into me. I let out the bubbling things in one long breath, my aching heart swelling as relief and conflicting terror echoes in me.

Then, as quickly as it started, I feel it stop. I take a deep, shuddering breath as I release my hold on the now still fistful of muscle in my hand.

I stand over the body of my Grandmother, fighting the tears as they threaten to spill from my eyes. *Happy bloody birthday, Scarlett*.