Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 5 (17 page)

"Thus making it easy to win
their support," Morgan stated.

The Sovereign agreed by
saying, "Indeed it was easy. It's amazing how blind people can be
and how easily they can be manipulated. Finding allies, however,
was just the first stage of my plan."

He circled Morgan as he went
on. "After helping them seize power helped me to see where they are
most vulnerable so in case they ever turn on me...well let's just
hope they will never be that stupid. More importantly, it leaves
all their resources at my disposal from their weapons to their
battles tactics."

The Sovereign paused as he
snapped his fingers and from behind his throne a huge map of the
world appeared. He then strode boldly to the map and smiled at all
the places marked out. From France, to Rome and even all the way to
Africa a special label was on them. The label showed a white rose
dripping with blood.

"Henry Tudor's symbol was a
rose so I figure he would be proud of me," The Sovereign muttered
under his breath.

"All these territories
marked by my symbol have been conquered," The Sovereign said in a
smug tone, "or won over etc. All that remains is a small portion of
America."

"If I may ask Sovereign,"
Morgan inquired as she stood, "why wait so long to conquer
Salem?"

The Sovereign looked back at
her and contemplated hitting her. Shrugging his shoulders, he
decided it wasn't worth his time.

"I have my reasons," He
murmured as he once again snapped his fingers. The map instantly
disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"As for now," he stated as
he swung his cloak around him, "we should only focus on the killing
of the old leaders who oppose me."

"What if we cannot convince
the new leaders to join us?" Morgan asked.

"Who says we give them any
choice!" The Sovereign snarled.

Inevitably, Aradia had to
get new clothes especially when Saul told her that he was planning
on taking her to New York for a concert. One of Aradia's new
favorite bands, ironically called Vampires Are Everywhere! was
going to be playing in Central Park. She had to look her best but
the thing of it is though she had no money. She knew she could ask
Saul but her pride wouldn't allow it. She was going over her
problem as she walked down the street when she passed a clothing
boutique. It was on her way to meet Saul at another club where she
saw in the window a bright diamond necklace. She also saw in the
dim lights leather pants and tops lining up all over the shelves.
Although iron bars covered the glass window Aradia could see all
the fancy tops and skirts hanging out in plain view. She wrapped
her hands around the bars and looked longingly at all of it. She
noticed the security camera at the back of the store. She noticed
the exquisite jewelry, the cute handbags, and shoes
available.

What I mean is with your
powers you don't need a job. You can just take whatever you
want
, Aradia remembered Saul's voice in her
head ringing and repeating as loud as a cathedral bell.
You can just take whatever you
want
.
You can just
take whatever you want
.

She looked back at the club,
reminding herself she had an appointment, and then back at the
window.

There are so many lines I am
crossing
, Aradia thought to herself,
is this going to
be one of
them?

"Hey baby," Saul said as he
wrapped his arms around Aradia, "where have you been?"

Aradia just shrugged.
Shayde, Whisper, Thorne, and Eventide were already sitting at their
special table.

Let's hear for it slaves to
routine
, Aradia thought and then chuckled
darkly.

Saul's arm was draped around
her shoulders as he steered her straight towards the table. They
didn't even say hello before Saul dropped another bag of
pills.

Aradia groaned inwardly.
While the others greedily took their share.

"You know," Thorne remarked,
"the strangest thing happened tonight."

"Ah here we go," Eventide
said as he rolled his eyes.

"I bumped into one of our
fellow Night Shadow members who looked like he had taken one hell
of a beating," Thorne explained as he powdered the pill with the
back of a spoon. He went on as he began mixing it with water. "He
was covered in blood and bites. I was like 'dude! What happened to
you?' And he was like "nothing' and I was like 'it sure don't look
like nothing!' He was like he didn't want to say nothing but I was
like I wanna know so I got it out of him eventually. He was
patrolling the streets with his crew when they smelled a werewolf.
A werewolf on vampire territory! Thought it was pretty weird a
werewolf walking on vampire turf but his chick said they were
looking for someone and..."

"What did they look like?"
Aradia interrupted.

The others looked at her,
stunned.

Aradia, however, maintained
her look of seriousness. "Was it an African American girl with long
braids and a Hispanic boy?"

Thorne grew quiet for a few
moments. "I think it might have been."

"Are they hurt? Are they
okay?" Aradia demanded.

The group stared at her in
surprise.

Thorne, however, shrugged
and say, "I don't know."

"Why are you asking? What's
up baby?" Saul asked.

Aradia didn't reply. She
just raised her beer to her lips and drank.

As the party went on, more
of the drug was passed around. Aradia pretended to take some of it
by slipping the pills into her sleeve instead of swallowing it.
Saul already took a heap so by the time they got back to the loft
he was hanging off Aradia's shoulders like a common drunk. Somehow
she was able to help him into his grey coffin located behind the
iron stairs. She paused long enough to use the crystal ball
summoning power.

She then dashed out the
front door muttering, "Roy's house, duh!"

Melina lay in Roy's bed,
wearing one of his oversized shirts. She snuggled next to him while
Roy's arms wrapped around her protectively. They looked so peaceful
together at least until a loud ring tone of Be Remembered by Kat
DeLuna pierced the darkness. Although Roy winced at the sound, he
made no sign of waking up. In the end, Melina was the one who
looked over at the two cell phones that lay at the beside table.
Hers was the flip-top job and was currently ringing. She then
grunted and slowly reached out to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she
muttered.

"Melina? Are you
okay?"

The voice was like jolt of
electricity being shot through her system. "Aradia!" Melina
practically shouted as she sat up, "is that you?"

"Well it ain't Sabrina the
teenage witch."

It took every ounce or self
control for Melina not to scream into the phone. "Where are
you?"

"Look outside."

Melina jumped up and rushed
to the window. She quickly pulled up the windowsill and stared down
at Aradia who waved sheepishly.

Melina quickly threw down
the phone and raced out of the room. A few minutes later, she was
out the back and flung herself into Aradia's arms.

"Oh Aradia, how I've missed
you!" Melina cried.

Aradia hung back, looking
embarrassed.

Melina didn't seem to notice
as she hugged her tighter.

"So," Aradia started
awkwardly, "what's up?"

Melina eyes shot open as she
drew back. At first she glared at Aradia in anger but she forced a
smile.

"Nothing much," she finally
managed to say through gritted teeth.

Aradia didn't seem to notice
her anger in the first place because the first thing she did was
say,"what the hell were you thinking Melina? Going into vampire
territory?"

"How did you know it was
us?"

"Who else could it be?"
Aradia pointed out, "what other Hispanic werewolf has a black
girlfriend that would be reckless enough to go into vampire
territory?"

"Well we wouldn't have gone
if you had returned any of our phone calls," Melina
snapped.

Aradia sighed. "I
just...don't want to come home Melina. I am sorry but no matter
what you say I am not coming home."

She then turned to leave but
stopped as soon as Melina said, "that's not why we were looking for
you."

Aradia paused. "Then
why?"

Melina sighed heavily.
"Aradia, we need your help."

"Roy's alpha is dying but
they don't know why," Melina explained, "what's worse is in order
to choose another Alpha they will force the Morales family to fight
each other."

"What?" Aradia slowly
managed to gasp.

"And I am not just talking
about Al and D. Roy in addition to Robbie and Johnny and even their
father will be forced to fight each other until they practically
pass out from exhaustion."

"Well," Aradia started to
say, "I see nothing wrong with that..."

"You know what it's like
when werewolves fight! Whether it's the full moon or not they can't
always control themselves. Roy told me that in the last leader
tournament several of his relatives actually died!"

Aradia's eyes
widened.

"But that's not the worse
part," Melina continued, "sometimes the death can be a blessing.
You of all people know the magnitude of a werewolf's strength they
could very easily tear off limbs and things. All quite by accident
but it would make no difference and such injuries cannot be undone.
What's worse is this is all happening this summer! In two months's
time, Roy and his entire family will basically be forced into a
Hunger Games fiasco!"

"Well what do you want me to
do about it?" Aradia demanded.

Melina's jaw dropped. "What
do you mean?" She sputtered.

"What I mean is...well what
do you want me to do about it?"

Melina struggled to speak
but her rage and shock was practically choking her. "Aradia, what
the hell is wrong with you?! This isn't the girl I know! This isn't
the girl who once wanted to promote tolerance among the hidden
races and was willing to protect a werewolf from her evil abusive
husband. What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"The girl you know is dead
Melina!" Aradia shouted back. "She is dead! She is never coming
back. She spent most of her life helping people and what she did
get in return? Nothing! Nothing except harassment and
heartbreak!"

"Oh for the love of God! Are
you still upset about what Dax did to you?" Melina cried
out.

Aradia didn't
reply.

Melina took a few deep
breaths before speaking again. "Aradia, I know he hurt you sweetie
but you can't let that ruin your life."

"What do you know?!" Aradia
demanded, "you don't know anything about me!"

Melina's laugh was cruel and
bitter. "Of course I do! You stupid bitch! I know more about
heartbreak then you can imagine!"

"Oh screw you!" Aradia
shouted, "screw you Melina! I don't have to justify myself to you!
I don't have to do anything for you!"

She too sighed and quickly
spoke before Melina could. "Face it Melina! The girl you knew is
dead! Furthermore, she never should have existed! She is the
absolute last survivor of a forgotten people and has nothing left
but bitter memories. She is the heir to a legacy of death. She has
no one and nothing left! She is alone!"

"Moreover," Aradia
continued, "she is done pretending to be something that she isn't.
She is not human. She can't and will never be human. A family, an
education, a life, and a future that is all human folly and I am
not human!"

Aradia then spun on her heel
in an effort to leave.

Frantically, Melina said,
"if you leave now Robbie and Johnny might get hurt. Worse! Roy
might get hurt. I know you don't care about Dax anymore but what
about Roy? Don't you care about Roy?"

A tense silence filled the
cricketing woods.

"And what about me Aradia?"
Melina asked softly, "Don't you care about me?"

Aradia looked back at Melina
who was standing barefoot in the darkness pleading silently with
her eyes.

For what seemed like ages,
Aradia just stared over her shoulder.

"Oh go put on some pants!"
She snapped.

She then raced off into the
woods and didn't look back.

Aradia couldn't sleep. No
matter how much she tossed and turned she couldn't stop remembering
Melina's pleading expression.

I don't care about her. I
don't.
Aradia kept arguing with
herself.
She hates me. She stole Roy from
me. She gloated when I got punished last year. She is a selfish,
and self-serving wench! She doesn't care about me. Hell! The only
reason she contacted me in the first place was because she wanted
something from me.