Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖞

A/N: I don't know if I have to warn you - but hey...there's a cliffhanger.
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• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

Zero stepped up beside his father, his smile still in place as his eyes met mine. He tilted his head slowly, scanning me. Taking in my expression. The way I stood.

Then his eyes moved to the four men against the wall and it looked like he was holding back a laugh.

"Doyle has made a convincing argument," Titus said, pulling my attention away from the fucker who killed me. "You're not dead, and his month and a half in holding should be sufficient amount of time for his...crimes."

I was dead. He killed me. My heart no longer beat in my chest. What in the world did he mean when he said I wasn't fucking dead? No amount of time would be long enough for his crimes. If this had been pre-takeover, he would have been put away for years.

I didn't argue though, because by the twitch of Titus's lips, he had been told my thoughts.

Zero looked the same, but he held himself differently. I couldn't put my finger on what it was that was different. He was no less insane, I'm sure. A month and a half of isolation wouldn't have changed that. Hell, I wasn't sure a lobotomy would have changed that.

"You don't seem happy," Doyle said, and his voice made my back stiffen. It was deep and guttural, but he seemed pissed. Far past anger. Far past resentment.

Zero's father despised me.

I turned to him. "Why would I be happy to see my killer?"

My killer. My tormentor. Someone who had admitted to wanting to put a collar around my neck and keep me as a pet.

Zero snorted. "Oh, I'd say you're doing just fine, Maeve. I've heard about your cute little exploits."

"Which ones?" I tilted my head, goading him. "I've had so many."

His smile fell and he glared at me. "Of course you have."

I crossed my arms, a small surge of satisfaction coursing through me at his anger. I didn't like it when he smiled. He didn't have the right to smile. To be happy. He deserved to fucking rot. He wanted a collar around my neck? I wanted a noose around his.

And I allowed him to see it. I pushed an image into his mind of him hanging by his neck in front of everyone - still alive, of course, because a noose around his throat wouldn't kill him. But I'd keep him there, hanging with his neck broken.

His eyes widened, then narrowed and he bared his teeth at me.

Titus raised his eyebrows, then leaned back in his throne, waiting silently. I half wondered if he'd seen it too. Likely, but I hadn't aimed my thoughts at him.

Doyle glanced between his son and me. Seconds passed and Zero rolled his eyes and sighed before slowly making his way down the stairs. He slid his hands into his pockets and locked eyes with me, raising an eyebrow.

'If you come within spitting distance of me, I'm going to kill you.' I thought to him.

He stopped just outside of spitting distance.

'You want to know something, Maeve?' He thought, and his voice almost made me recoil. He looked over at the four men against the wall, a smirk twitching his lips before he looked back at me. 'Your children were cannon fodder. I wanted to see how far I could push you. And all you did was run like a scared little bitch.'

I didn't react, because I honestly expected all of this from him. And while the way my children died still hurt me, their smiles when I died was enough to tell me that they were happy now. Happier than I'd ever seen them. Happier than they'd ever be within the confines of a vampire district.