Chapter 15: Ambush

Before you begin on the journey of revenge, dig two graves. ~Proverb

"Toni, you're not leading this mission. A lot of people here would be devastated if you were killed." I rolled my eyes at Ethan's statement, "Robert will be too distracted being outraged by our ambush that he won't lay a hand on me." I said it with no hint of doubt…Even though I felt consumed by it.

"I'll be fine, Frazer. I already called Stephanie. She'll be our werewolf power. Plus…" I sighed, not wanting to continue, "…Stephen's coming. He wants to be the leader."

"Then let him, Drake."

"I don't trust him with my life." I shook my head and added, "Hannah's coming too. I have no idea why our own secretary, who has no experience whatsoever, would want to with us, but she is." Ethan frowned and sighed, "Toni, you shouldn't be going. What if…Henri comes?" I stifled the urge to wince and replied quickly, "He's not in the city, remember? He won't be coming back." Into my life, I added mentally.

"Drake, you done talking to your boyfriend? We gotta go soon." Stephen's voice boomed into my earpiece. I ignored his mocking tone and answered, "Yes, Stephen. Let's do this." I stopped and added, "And Ethan's not my boyfriend."

"Sure."

"Toni!" I whirled around. It was Micah.

"Micah?"

"Toni, Stephanie's been injured. You need to help her," Micah exclaimed, coming over to pull on my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow, "How could she be injured? She's a werewolf." Well, if the weapon, I could see her being hurt. Micah didn't explain; he just dragged me toward the staircase.

"Micah, Micah. Hold on. Where is she?"

"The court room." I started toward the room, Micah leading me. I turned on the earpiece that connected me to Stephen and Hannah.

"Guys, meet me in the court room ASAP. It's an emergency." No one answered. I wasn't upset at that. I felt confident that they would understand. After a few minutes, we all met outside the court room.

"Why are we here and not off to kill some vampires?" Stephen grumbled.

"One of…"

"Toni, hurry. Go now," Micah pressed. It must've been urgent or…I opened the doors and froze. Oh, no.

"Antoinette," Gavin laughed my name. There were three vampires in the room, and they all smiled at me. Giselle…Gavin…and Robert. Shit. I backed up, but Gavin caught me and swung me forward. My uncle sat in Ryan Church's chair, Stephanie, bound and gagged at his side. My blood ran cold. I looked back at Micah.

"You bastard! You…IDIOT! You played us." I didn't get another word out because Gavin squeezed my arm tightly. I let out a gasp of pain, and he pulled me against him.

"Antoinette, how are you?" I glared at my uncle. Looking at his smug face, I wanted so badly to kick him. Kick him so hard, he would never forget it. Micah, the little snitch, had sold us out. His leader, his alpha, was in the clutches of my uncle, and Micah pledges his loyalties to vampires. Wow.

"What the Hell do you want now?" Giselle had Stephen by the back of the neck. Hannah was lying at her feet, unconscious. I swallowed.

"I wanted to talk." Ever heard of a cell phone?

"So talk before I lose it." Too late, my conscience muttered. Robert smiled at my discomfort and leaned forward in his seat, beckoning me with a finger, "Come here." No way. I planted my feet on the ground, but Gavin pushed me forward like I weighed nothing. Stupid vampire strength. Soon, I found myself parallel to my uncle. We were eye to eye. I wanted to spit in his face, but my mouth was drying fast. My throat constricted and I swallowed again.

"Sit," He commanded and gestured to the chair on his left. I curled my hand into a fist, but sat down beside him. Gavin went to stand beside Giselle and lifted Hannah to her feet. She was barely conscious. Stephanie stirred, but stayed silent as Robert stood. I tensed.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to wish you a happy 18th birthday, Antoinette. I was a little busy planning." I heard him walk behind my chair.

"Planning what?" I asked, my voice unconventionally shaky. Robert chuckled, and then I heard the hiss of metal. A large knife (Like a sword), from what I saw in my peripheral vision. My breathing hitched, and my heart pounded in my ears.

"Antoinette, do you really think I'm going to kill you in front of your friends?"

"You could if you wanted to."

"But I'm not going to."

"T-then what's the b-big knife for?" My voice betrayed me. It revealed how utterly scared I was. And I don't get scared easily. Okay, I actually do. Huh.

"Why, your friends, of course." I opened my eyes. Robert was no longer behind my chair. He was between Giselle and Gavin. Stephen was struggling with everything he had, and Hannah was crying. I looked at them and knew what my uncle was about to do.

"S-stop!" I cried, surging forward, out of the chair. In the blink of an eye, Gavin's fangs ripped into Hannah's throat and Giselle snapped Stephen's neck. I fell to my knees, my eyes already clouding with tears. No…

"Why?" The word was ripped from my throat, and left in a choked sob. Robert grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. Gavin didn't stop his feeding. Stephen lay at my feet, his eyes wide and unfocused. It all happened, and I couldn't stop it.

"Antoinette, you could've stopped this." I closed my eyes and pulled away from him, but his grip tightened.

"You killed them…"

"They won't be dead for long." My eyes snapped open. What the Hell?

"No!" Robert only twisted my arm behind my back and pushed me to my knees. He forcefully grabbed my hair and jerked my head up, facing my dead friends.

"Which one should be turned into a vampire, hmm? Will it be the Order's golden boy, or your beloved secretary?"

"Neither." I kicked my uncle hard with all my strength (Which, by the way, isn't much). Caught by surprise, I released my arm from his grip and punched him in the chest. Robert growled and dragged his fingers into my side. It broke the skin, and soon, I was bleeding. Damn it. I tried to punch Robert again, but he grabbed my legs and pushed me to the ground. Before I could fight back, he had me pinned, his arms locked on my shoulders. With one hand, he pushed the loose hair from my face, his smile triumphant.

"Don't fight me, dear. It'll only hurt more." I gasped as his fingers lightly touched my bleeding wound. My breathing labored.

"St-stop it!"

"Choose the next member of my clan and I will. It can always be you instead of them, Antoinette." That what this was all about. He wanted to play the hostage card again. I'd already lost that game in the past.

"Give me an honest reason to join you." Robert chuckled and whispered into my ear, "Family."

"You're not family. Not anymore." I tried to get up, but my uncle pressed harder on my side. I bit my lip to surpress the scream of pain that was threatening to escape my throat. No, I wouldn't scream for him.

"Then one of your friends will join the clan. So, who will it be?" I glanced at my friends. Gavin had Hannah in his arms, but she was dead.

"Choose someone now before I kill someone else." That someone else would probably be Stephanie or Micah. I sighed and swallowed hard, "It's not my decision."

"Fine," my uncle chuckled again, and looked at Giselle, "Then the boy will become on of us." Stephen. I almost felt sorry for him. How would Ryan Church take his son's death and vampirism? Not good, I guess. Robert started toward Stephen's unmoving body. Giselle came to stand in front of me, her evil bitchy face smiling down at me. She then kneeled down and grabbed my face roughly.

"It's a shame your friends aren't here to hear you scream of see you cry." She leaned closer, "Just like you did when you saw Henri kiss me. Did he tell you that he kissed me back? Let me just say he is a divine kisser." She caressed her lips with her free hand. My anger was building. I was about to blow.

"Between you and me, Toni, I have to say that, in the past, he just couldn't keep his hands off of me." She grinned.

"Bitch!" The build up exploded, and I tackled her. She was so caught off-guard that she didn't react immediately. She just stared at me as I shot my fist into her face as hard as I could. I got to my feet, so blind with rage that I felt none of the pain. I tried a roundhouse kick, but Giselle saw it coming and ducked. When she finally tried to hit me, I sidestepped and grabbed a nearby chair. A quick plan raced through my mind before I threw the chair against Giselle's back. She groaned on impact and glared up at me. Maybe I hadn't exactly thought that through. I grabbed one of the shards of wood left of the chair as Giselle stalked toward me, her eyes full of pure hatred. Shit. She swung at me, but I ducked. Surprised by my swiftness, she didn't even notice that her chest was right in my range. Without hesitation, I plunged the wood into Giselle's chest.