Day In Court

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE

As Josephine regained consciousness, Oliver watched her closely. She was a little foggy, but he knew the cunning warlock was still a serious threat.

"Where am I?" Josephine demanded as she opened her eyes and looked around. She struggled against her restraints, but she couldn't escape from the chair she was tied to. Oliver had always been exceptionally skilled at tying knots.

"You're in a safe room," Oliver replied. "Your magick won't work in here."

"Oliver Blackrain, you have some nerve-"

"Okay, save the family squabbling for later," Zanna said. "Why are you after Maddie?"

Josephine paled as she studied Zanna's features. "Suzanna Beth?" She asked. "Is that you? We heard you were dead."

"I'm not," Zanna replied without elaborating.

"Listen, Suzy-Beth, you shouldn't trust Oliver."

"I don't. Just like I don't trust you."

"So your daddy brought you all the way to New York City, huh? We expected Salem, where his parents lived, but no one ever thought he'd take you to his cousins."

"We're not here to catch up," Zanna replied sharply. "What do you want with Maddie?"

"She's the vampire of prophecy. It seems she comes from an extremely powerful Sire line, and she already had extraordinary power within her before she was turned. She'll be an incredible asset to her chosen allies. Our family intends to be the ones in control of her."

"She's not some puppet for you to manipulate," Zanna said firmly. "What do you know about her Sire?"

"If you want information, work with us, Suzy-Beth."

Zanna moved so quickly Oliver barely saw it. In seconds, she had a ritual knife pressed against Josephine's throat.

"Call me that again and I'll slash your fucking throat," Zanna said in a matter-of-fact tone. The lack of emotion attached made her words significantly more threatening.

"She prefers to be called Zanna now," Oliver explained helpfully.

"You cannot continue to deny your heritage, Suzanna Elizabeth Blackrain! You are Emerald's only child," Josephine insisted.

Zanna looked like she was ready to murder her. Oliver gently touched her arm. "We need to know what she does. You can kill her after we find out," he pointed out.

Zanna glared at Josephine. "Make it worth my while, bitch," she said.

Josephine looked nervous then. "Her direct Sire's identity remains unknown to us, but he is among the last of one of the strongest lines in history... The head of the line is Nikolai Sokolov."

Zanna's eyes widened in surprise, and Oliver could understand why. "Nikolai is one of the oldest vampires walking the Earth," he said. "He has a tremendous amount of lore attached to him. No one's seen him in centuries, though."

"Not true," Josephine replied. "People have seen him, but they haven't lived to tell the tale."

"If Maddie has some huge prophecy attached to her, that might be enough to lure Nikolai out of hiding," Zanna said. "She can't face off against someone like him... None of us can." She shook her head. "I need to talk to the Master of the City."

"You've got the Master's ear? What have you been up to, Suzy-Beth?" Josephine asked.

Zanna pressed down on the ritual knife and drew a bit of blood. "For the last fucking time, it's Zanna," she said as Josephine let out a startled gasp and a soft cry of pain.