Epilogue - Laima

My footsteps made a crunching sound over the debris of the castle courtyard. There was destruction everywhere. Bodies of my sister"s coven were all over the ground. A whole generation of some of the greatest, bested by a powerless witch who broke the spell my sister and her family had been keeping in place for two hundred years.

My sister"s family grew too greedy, taking more and more power, playing the field too liberally; taking too much too soon. Her son, Caston, derailed our plans and she let him. I got to a small clearing and saw the heads of my sister and her husband.

I wanted to scream at her for disobeying my orders when I went to go see our sister Moira. When news of her attack reached me, I was too late. She had always been too cocky and it's why we hadn't secured the witches like we had originally planned.

I took a deep breath, grabbing her head and stuffing it in a bag.

"Take this," I said to my right hand. "Did you get her?"

"No," he said. "She has the cat with her."

I turned around to look at him. The air crackled with my power, but as the weeks passed, I was getting weaker. Her vials of Oria only did so much for me, I needed the magic from its source.

"It's only a matter of time before he shifts and tells her the truth."

"I imagine very soon," he said.

"Bring me Taylin and Merrick," I snapped. "I expect them within two days and tell my sister her assistance is needed."

"Yes m'lady," he said, bowing and walking away.

Anger brewed in me, and I knew our mission lay on my shoulders and that of my sister's. We needed to come up with a new plan to secure the Belladonnas. Everything needed to come together as soon as possible before our master came down. We were to carry out his will and when he came down ready to take the Earth, we would lay the world at his feet.

I played the loving mother for too long.

Now, it was time for me to be the bad guy.