Page 54 of Ever Dark Academy, Vol. 7

Lawson roared as he leaped onto another Mer, rending the screaming, helpless wretch to pieces under his claws and teeth. His Master stuffed his face into the Mer’s throat and ripped out a huge chunk of flesh. He lifted his bloody maw, still chewing. The sheer over-the-top violence of this had Ryder’s heart going icy in his chest.

Something has happened to all of these people. This was not how we were! The War changed everyone.

Vampires were predators. They were killers. They hunted and enjoyed taking down prey. But for food. For protection. This was just sheer bloodlust. There was no need to do what they were doing to these Mer.

It’s a slaughter. Did we teach you this? Is this what we made of you?

But there was also personal responsibility. For all the mistakes the Immortals had made, the Vampires beneath them–especially those not turned as soldiers or meat for the grinder–had a choice. They knew right from wrong. They knew what Vampire society could and should be. Not this. How could Dani or anyone that participated in this behavior judge anyone else for their crimes in the War? The hypocrisy was stunning.

It’s not just us that has to heal and make amends, he realized.

As if hearing his words and perhaps finally seeing what was happening, he heard Dani call out, “Enough! That’s enough! They’re running!”

“We can’t let them get away! They’ll tell what happened here!” Another voice cried.

“We protected our kind. We have their weapon. It’s enough!” Dani shouted.

“You don’t give the orders here,” Lawson growled.

His old Master had shifted at some point. His lips, cheeks and chin were stained red. His hands, too, were covered in gore. Lawson was licking it off of his fingers.

Ryder knew–of course, he knew–that Lawson was Legion’s Childe. And Lawson had been bad in all sorts of ways when Ryder had known him. But this was different. Here, Lawson was like some kind of beast. Because that was what Legion would want. That was what Legion would reward. And, as frightening and depressing as it was to consider, the Lawson that he’d known was likely an improvement on this version. He’d managed to suppress his more animalistic urges.

This is why I rejected my animal forms and all the joy they offered me. Because I feared becoming something else.

He saw those forms in his mind’s eye, much like he had that fight with Lawson, all facing him. They were beautiful and elegant. There was nothing about them–not even the ones that would have been called monsters in many eyes–that was quite as depraved as what these Vampires had done.

It’s not the animal in us that makes us like this. It’s us. We’re what’s wrong.

He embraced those animal forms with his heart and mind. He felt them draw nearer to him with sympathy and love. He had kept them far away from himself. Not just as Ryder, but even as Weryn back in the day. He had not drawn strength from their support, but only from their abilities to attack. Now he knew better. He was connected to all life. Even the Mers. He could feel them in himself. He could feel the humans. He could feel everything that lived and breathed.

I need to protect them, too. I am here to protect them if I can help it.

Dani’s voice was arctic as she retorted, “Yes, I am. These people work with me.”

“You work for the Order,” Lawson contradicted. “And Legion is–”

“Legion is only allowed to live out of Tanis’ kindness,” Dani said. “They have no power over Confessors.”

Tanis? She is keeping Legion on? How strange. Well, Kaly is, undoubtedly, the one that’s truly keeping him on. Some Kaly slice that is above Tanis in the pecking order.

“You say that with such certainty,” Natasha drawled as she too licked blood from her fingers.

Both she and Lawson were nude, of course. Lawson’s eyes hooded as he gazed upon her lithesome form. He immediately went over to her and slid his hands up her arms until he was cupping her face. She smiled at Lawson with a lazy, almost drunken look upon her bloody face.

Blood drunk, Ryder thought with a snarl of disgust.

“You may have thrown in your lot with him, Natasha, but not me and not mine,” Dani said with a sweep of her Confessor’s robes that had the other two remaining Ashyr Vampires at her sides.

Natasha tsked, “How sorry you Ashry Vampires are now! That two of you fall against Mers for goodness sake. Pathetic. I suppose you were always relying upon the Weryn to keep you safe.”

Dani’s expression became a mask. “We only tolerated you animals because our Immortal loved yours. For some unknown reason,” she muttered the last.

Lawson bared his teeth. “You dare to speak ill of Weryn?”

Why do you care, Lawson? Ryder thought. Legion has me in his pocket right now. But perhaps you don’t know that.

“Our Immortal bedded your cold star,” Natasha sniffed. “That doesn’t mean that you get to insult us and get away with it.”