Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊

• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

"What the fuck was that," Kite asked, angrier than I'd ever seen him before. He stared down at me, his arms crossed to unsuccessfully hide his shaking.

Luca murmured something to Meredith, to which she nodded and looked at me before turning to leave. I was hoping she was leaving the castle and going back to her home. There was nothing in this castle for her besides a likely angry ruler.

I grabbed Kite's arm and pulled him behind me, assuming the others would follow. I couldn't tell them why I forfeited out in the open. Out of everyone who should have known that, it should have been him. But maybe he was too angry at me to see reason.

Once we got to the room, I motioned for Kite to unlock it. He stared at me incredulously, but unlocked it and allowed us inside before he started going off.

"How in the hell could you just forfeit?" He turned on me after he shut and locked the door to his soundproof room.

Luca, Noah, and Seraph stood just inside. The only one that didn't look confused or angry was Noah. Almost like he knew I had an ulterior motive, while the others thought I gave up that fight for giggles.

"Believe it or not, Zero is the lesser of two evils right now," I said, narrowing my eyes. I looked at Kite. "Zero said your father had plans for me after I was done killing him. He said he'd use me until I'm nothing but a husk."

"He would have said anything to get you to let him live," Luca chimed in.

I had thought that too for a minute. The moment I had forfeited, I wanted to take it back. There were too many what-ifs, and I didn't have enough time to think through them all. But I had plenty of trust in my own abilities, and I knew I could have killed him in a second if I tried. I couldn't, however, kill Titus where I was strength-wise.

I'd seen the look on Titus's face. Seconds before the careful mask slid back over his features, he looked confused and somewhat angry. The fight hadn't gone the way he wanted, nor the way he expected. Like his plans were ruined.

Kite's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at the others like he couldn't quite figure something out. Like maybe they'd be able to put the pieces together.

"What was Zero's side of the deal?" Seraph glanced at me. "He couldn't have just told you not to kill him. He would have wanted something."

"He wants to kill Doyle," I said. "The truce is six months. Zero won't touch me or anyone I care about, as long as I leave his father to him."

Noah blew out a breath and ran a hand over his face. I wanted to ask if he was angry at me or the situation, but I was afraid of the answer.

"My father turned you," Kite finally said, his voice quiet. "He was there seconds after it happened, like he knew..."

"He did know," Luca said, his eyes widening. "He had to have. Why else would he have been on that side of the castle at that exact time? He barely leaves the throne room."

There were things slowly clicking into place for them, and I was still confused as all hell. At least they didn't seem angry anymore. There was a sort of realization dawning on Kite's face while the others suddenly started looking somber.

Kite sighed, a quiet curse coming from his lips.

"Care to explain," I finally asked.

The way it sounded, Titus had known Zero was going to kill me and he had already planned on making me a vampire. I didn't know Titus like they did, but if he rarely went to that side of the castle, then why at that exact moment? I didn't remember seeing him - I was already too far gone. But by the sounds of it, he was there seconds after I died.

But the question was why? Why was he there? What did he gain from changing me?

"Over the past few months, there have been instances where my status was questioned," Kite said. "There have been many instances where I wondered who in power was turning their back on me. Allowing Zero to kill your kids, for instance. I had people making sure he didn't touch them, yet it still happened."

I had always wondered how he kept Zero from them for so long. It couldn't have just been Zero's word. Zero's word didn't mean shit to anyone.

Kite finally looked at me. "It's my father."

I blinked. "Your father?"

"His father is the ruler, but he put Kite as the face." Seraph spoke up. "He's undermining Kite, and slowly turning people against him. He had made a comment earlier about you taking the throne instead of Kite. He was practically telling everyone he no longer sees Kite as the face of South District."

It finally clicked. His father was the one turning his back on Kite. His father allowed Zero to kill my kids. His father was the reason behind everything. But why wouldn't he be? Though at the same time, why would he do that?

"I don't know why my father does what he does," Kite said as if he'd heard my thoughts. "But this can't be anything good. He's been at this for months, and I think turning you was a big part of whatever plan he has."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"I know this is probably a stupid idea," Noah said, "but if Zero seemed to know what was happening...maybe we should ask-"

"No," Kite snapped, cutting him off.

But even he couldn't deny the fact that maybe asking Zero was the only option here. Doyle seemed somewhat close to Titus - or at least as close as one could be to a tyrant ruler. If Doyle ever slipped and told Zero what Titus was planning, maybe Zero was our best choice.

I wasn't planning on allowing Zero to roam free for six months. I'd done it to protect myself and the four men in the room with me, but who would shame me for using him?

Seraph narrowed his eyes at me. "Stop it."

I raised my eyebrows. "Stop what?"

Luca, Noah, and Kite looked down at me. A frown creased Kite's face and he narrowed his eyes.

"No," Kite said again.

I looked between the four of them, then threw my hands up. "What?"

"You're so easy to read." Luca smiled slightly. "No saving the day for you anymore today, Mae. We have time to figure it out before resorting to Zero."

It wasn't going to be that same day. We did have time, but I was planning on using all of my resources to not only train, but eventually take down Titus. And Zero may just need to be one of those resources.

*****
A/N: I've been having an insanely bad bout of writer's block. When I say I've been writing this chapter a little every day for the past few weeks I haven't been posting, I'm being serious. I've tried nearly everything that usually helps me get over it and it's not working - so instead of stressing out I think I'm going to take a short break, gather my thoughts, and figure out what's going on here (I know to you guys I've been on a break for a few weeks but I promise you I haven't been). I know what I want to happen, it's just getting there. So bear with me. I'm working on it.