Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Cassandra Pope.

I burst through the front doors of the mansion with my idiot for a brother, trailing close at my heels.He had a grin on his face all the way from the restaurant. Couldn’t believe that I was so unlucky to have run into that idiot of all places. Luckily, he didn’t have the time to slither his way into my meeting with the Elder—it could have turned disastrous. I just had to keep my wits about me and wiggle myself out of my slip-up. Not too difficult though, my brother wasn’t the brightest spark in the universe.

Just as I was about to walk toward the grand staircase that snaked upward toward the upper levels of the mansion, the blood maiden, who was impersonating my sister-in-law, walked out of the living room. Oh, I loved my life. (Note the sarcasm.) Just being in her presence made my fingers itch. I couldn’t believe that my brother actually touched her. She was, after all, a walking corpse.

When Aveny rebelled against my father, the wretched old man ordered a coven of blood witches to create a bloodmaiden. This was to keep the Blackthorns fooled as to what happened to the real Aveny. My father couldn’t lose the support of the Blackthorns on the Council. So, an innocent young girl with the same height and body figure was then killed and reanimated using the blood of the target she was commanded to impersonate.

Aveny’s blood allowed the blood witches to transform the girl into her image. They also used the memories stored in Aveny’s blood to give the bloodmaiden the ability to become Aveny in every way possible. It was nearly impossible to distinguish one from another. It is because of this that bloodmaidens and bloodbrothers were so dangerous; they were the perfect sleeper agents. There was no way to detect them with regular magic. Only blood magic could undo or detect them. And since no respectable witch or warlock would dare to use blood magic, their existence remained unnoticed until it was too late.

“Good evening, Cassandra,” said the walking corpse in a jovial tone that made the blood veins in my temples nearly burst a leak.

How dare she speak to me through those lips? It was an insult, to say the least. I wanted to do nothing else but strip the flesh from her body and to offer it to the real Aveny as retribution. Gross, I knew, but I was furious.

Go back to the cemetery they dug you out of, bitch!

“Brother, tell your mangy corpse not to address me. I don’t want to soil the clean floors with my lunch,” I spat out my venom in his direction. I took a step onto the staircase but a hand yanked me back down. “Don’t talk to her that way, sister. Or you’ll regret it,” Ethan warned me.

My laughter echoed throughout the large foyer. Oh, that was funny. He thought that he could intimidate me. How cute... I yanked my wrist out of his slimy grasp and turned to him. “Ahh. How cute... You really think your threats mean anything to me? When father gave you the task of pretending to love this thing,” I threw a dirty glance at the corpse,” father didn’t mean you actually had to hump the woman, did he?” A sly smile crept across my face. “But regarding you, my dear brother... it’s the only way you’d be able to get laid since no living thing would dare to touch any part of you.”

An enraged snarl left his thin lips. Ethan lifted his hand to hit me, but a well-placed knockback spell flung him across the wooden floor. He came crashing down onto one of the silver armored suits that stood beside the front door. The clatter of an armored suit falling to the floor drew the attention of the rest of the coven. Curious eyes peeked out of the living room.

“Now, now, my dear brother. Pick yourself up before you make a fool out of yourself.”

Out of the corner of my eye, the walking corpse ran to my brother’s side and helped him to his feet. “Baby, are you alright?”

My brother dusted off his pants, glaring at me with fire in his eyes. “You’ll pay for that—”

“What’s the meaning of this?!” my father’s voice boomed out.

The members of our coven quickly scampered for cover.

Oh, goody. Here we go.

“Answer me.” My father walked down the stairs, holding a glass of liquor in his hands.

One of my father’s favorite toys stood behind him. A young boy no older than nineteen with messy blond hair and blue eyes stared at me with terror written all over his baby face. Several bruises and cuts decorated his small frame. He had only a pair of black boxers on. I shook my head. Great going, father... Mother is probably trying to dig herself out of her coffin right now to wrap her fingers around your throat. Not that she would have cared, I guess. She probably wanted to kill him, not for his betrayal or the times he cheated on her, but for what he had done to this coven and her children.

He took several steps toward me. “I said, what the hell’s going on here?”

“It was her father!” Ethan pointed his finger at me. What a child. “She insulted—”

“Enough of your prattling!” my father interrupted him.

Ethan instantly recoiled and hid behind the fake Aveny. What a loser.

“I just showed him what would happen if he dared to raise his hand against me, that’s all,” I replied calmly.

My father’s eyes hardened on me. “Well knock it off. You’re disturbing my peace. The next time I won’t be lenient.” He twisted on the spot and stomped up the steps. He shooed the frightened young man up the stairs.

“Father! Wait!” Ethan cried out. He walked around his human shield and smirked at me.

How predictable... Fine, brother. If you want to play with me, then let’s play.

My father turned around and said, “What is it?”

“I want Cassandra to tell me why she had a meeting with Elder Vance. She’s been dodging my questions since I ran into her at the Black Orchid lounge.”

My father’s eyes lit up and landed on mine. “Is that so? And pray tell my daughter why you’d have a meeting with him?”

I gulped, trying to calm my beating heart. “It’s simple, father. I wanted to confront him.”

“Why?”

“Father, do you recall the interest we enjoy in our agreement with the dwarves of Deepveil? The contract we signed with them pertaining to the enchanted bracelets they use in their forges?”

“I do. I had to waste two weeks of my time groveling in front of the dwarven king to wring loose the contract.” He rubbed his forehead. “What of it?”

I walked up to my father until I stood next to him. “Two days ago, I was informed by Elder Amrose that the Council was going to hike the taxes on the contract.”

“What!?”

I smirked internally, while putting up a mask of unity with my father. “I know, father. After all the trouble you went through, the Council, under the influence of Elder Vance, is trying to screw us over. They proclaim that we’re not paying our dues to the Council, so they demand a tax hike. It’ll cut into our profits considerably.”

My father threw his glass at my brother, hitting him on the head. He yelped and fell backwards while the glass shattered into a million pieces. I took everything within me not to burst out laughing.

“What are you planning to do about it?” said my father.

“I tried, father. One of my agents informed me that the Elders were meeting at the Black Orchid Lounge. My intent was to confront them about the contract but it fell on deaf ears. They ignored my—”

Before I could say another word, my father slapped me in the face. My hands clutched onto the railing just in time to prevent me from falling down the steps. My eyes watered while my cheek burned. Well, that was better than being tortured to death. At least the decoy problem that I used reflected the truth of my meeting with the Elder. I could live with the pain.

“Incompetent! All of you!” shouted he, throwing his hands into the air. The young man behind him flinched. “Give the paperwork to your brother and I’ll take care of it myself. Get out of my sight!” He stormed up the stairs, grabbing his toy under the arm and yanking the boy with him until they disappeared.

***

I rushed into my bedchamber only to have my heels dig into the purple Persian carpet. A young girl, with brown curly hair tied into a ponytail, stood in front of the freestanding mirror talking to Aveny in a heated discussion. She was no older than Alex. They didn’t hear me enter.

A wave of dread trickled down my back.

Nobody knew that Aveny was in my room. If they did, it could turn their suspicions onto me. As far as my father and brother were concerned, they believed that Aveny and I hated each other. But the presence of this girl might jeopardize our plans. I slowly entered the room, ready to attack the girl. I could knock her out and then wipe her memories of seeing Aveny in my room. I silently closed the door and stalked my way to them, ready to pounce.

But just as I was about to, Aveny caught my eyes. Her eyes widened. “Cassandra!” The young girl’s head snapped around, threatening to pop off her neck. Fear filled her silvery eyes as she saw what I was about to do. “Cassy! Stop! Don’t hurt the girl. She’s with me,” pleaded Aveny.

The glow of a red mist enveloping my right hand dimmed as I halted my attack. My hand relaxed on the spot as I lowered it. I didn’t realize she had anyone else to talk to. My father ordered the rest of the coven to ignore her under the threat of death if he caught them talking to her. The young girl clung onto the cabinet next to the mirror to steady herself.

She clutched her chest. “Sorry, Mistress. I didn’t mean to intrude—”

“Oh hush, dear. Cassandra didn’t mean to scare you. She didn’t know about you. It was just a misunderstanding,” said Aveny in a motherly tone of voice. “Celeste, why don’t you continue on your way and deliver the message to my son. I’ll see you soon.”

The young girl quickly nodded her head. She rushed over to a bucket filled with cleaning products, picked it up and then ran out of the room without glancing back at us.

“You do know how to impress people, don’t you, Cassy?”

I turned to Aveny with a scowl. “I didn’t mean to scare her, but you should have warned me about your little mouse. I didn’t even know you had a spy in our midst.”

“And I want to keep it that way. It’s the only way I can keep in contact with my son.”

My head imploded at her words. Did Alex know that my father had imprisoned Aveny? My father made my brother swear to him that he’d never tell Alex. My father wanted to keep Alex in the darkness. Wanting Alex to believe that the bloodmaiden impersonating his mother was the real deal.

“So Alex knows the truth, then?” I asked as I began to undress.

“Yes. I needed him to know who and what his father and grandfather really were. I couldn’t allow them to poison him against me...”

The crack in her voice pierced my heart. The fact that she could never hold her own child in her arms was torture far more brutal than death. How did she last this long? I would have gone crazy by now, but she’s always been a strong person. One of many traits I loved about her.

I quickly slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a white t-shirt before walking over to my desk. I had to search for the damned file I used to divert my brother and father’s suspicions. I could only count myself lucky; the lie I told wasn’t actually a lie. The Council did screw us over.

Just as my fingers wrapped around the file that I needed, a knock echoed through the chamber. I glanced over at the mirror as I walked to the door. It was empty. Aveny had disappeared. Good. I flung open the door to see my brother’s ridiculous face. He was mad, to say the least, and he was sporting a bruise on the side of his head. Served him right.

I shoved the file my father wanted into his hand. “There. Be a loyal lapdog and give it to him. Let’s see if father can succeed where I had failed.”

A smirk lit up his face. “Do you doubt father, Cassandra?”

I knew what he was implying. Doubting in my father was seen as a sign of rebellion. And the old man didn’t take that lightly. Not after half of the coven members decided to abandon the coven.

“No, you oaf! I have no doubt that he’ll succeed. I just want to see how he does it.” I smiled at him. “Stop trying to worm your way into his right hand—it will never work.” I slammed the door closed in his face before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I was exhausted and the next couple of days would test my resolve to plunge the dagger deeper into my father’s back.