Chapter 196 - One Hundred And Ninety-six: Impersonators.
Chapter 196 - One Hundred And Ninety-six: Impersonators.
It was night, but a figure could be seen carrying a corpse on his shoulder as he sped further into the woods.
Reaching the desired spot, he dumped the dead auburn-haired woman roughly and sped away only to return moments later with a shovel in hand.
The moon shone brightly and fully on the earth, it's light causing the trees to form eerie shadows but a certain vampire who was immersed in digging up a grave wasn't bothered by it.
The task of digging a six feet grave which would have taken at least two men about five or four hours to complete was taken on by Iark.
According to orders given by Raphael, he had to ensure the witch was buried tonight before her fellow sisters sensed her disappearance. Once she was buried without the proper witchy ritual, she wouldn't return to earth as renewable magic and her soul untraceable.
So here he was standing inside the grave and heaving dirt out of it when he felt something scratch his feet.
He scrunched his face and reached for that spot with his hand only to discover the blood.
What the ….
He was still examining his ankle when he felt something scratch his other feet.
What the hell was happening?
Suddenly, he began to receive multiple scratches and lashes all over his body.
Sabrina awoke with a startle, her hands moving to the necklace hung around her chest with deep relief. A huge sigh left her mouth.
She had a weird premonition that Raphael was going to go back on his word since Ravens weren't exactly the most respectable when deals are involved.
But she never expected that that greedy vampire would plan to take her out too. Thankfully she too came prepared and wore a protective charm, so when they killed her thinking she was dead, the charm preserved and kept her alive.
Staring down at the vampire who had no idea she had awoken instead, was busy with the grave he wanted to dump her in, made anger course through Sabrina's body.
There was fire in her eyes as she began to summon a spell without chanting it, sometimes the pressure of a situation could either kill or make one stronger.
Iark knew this wasn't ordinary when tree twigs began to climb out of the grave and wrap around his wrists, legs, and stomach. He destroyed as many as he could but the more he cut off, the more they crawled out.
That moment he looked up, his eyes connected with the witch's fierce orbs. He should have known, this was her manipulation. A cruel smile played across his face, she didn't die but he would grant her a painful death then.
Iark was about to jump out of the grave when a twig with thorns wrapped around his neck, choking and stabbing into him.
He tried to rip it off but his hands were hindered by other twigs leaving him incapacitated. The twig continuously tightened around his neck, slicing his skin while he released a pained scream.
With her thoughts, Sabrina controlled everything going on. More twigs grew out of the ground and wrapped around him, constricting and digging into his skin until his head rolled off his body.
Sabrina released a sharp gasp, falling back to the ground exhausted but not without setting the vampire on fire - she didn't trust those creatures one bit; today's lesson had made sure of it.
She messed up big time, where was she going to start to correct her mistakes? Yes, she had to guarantee Asher's life first of all.
The witch stood to her feet while brushing the dirt off her body and willed the grave to bury Iark.
The dugout sand flowed back into the hole of its volition till the vampire was buried six feet deep - forever.
Knowing Raphael was waiting for his return, Sabrina called forth her magic and transformed into the dead Iark.
Until she could right every wrong, she would stay by the enemy's side and right every wrong.
With that determination in mind, Sabrina found her back to Asher's place while fury and remorse hardened her heart for the journey ahead.
"What took you so long?" Raphael - now in Asher's body questioned her with irritation in his voice.
"I'm sorry, I had to confirm the witch was really dead" Sabrina bowed her head in apology but inwardly, her heart was sizzling with anger.
It took her everything not to reach out and rip that heart out! But she couldn't at the moment, that's Asher's body. Lia would hunt her down for eternity if she found as much as a scratch on his body when she returns.
Lucky for her, she had performed this spell with a strand of Iark's hair giving her the ability to possess all of his memories. So unless she was stupid, there wasn't supposed to be any slipping up leading to her cover being blown.
But it was taking a toll on her, the vampire possessed centuries-old memories that were flooding her head at the moment.
"Where is your body?" Sabrina asked, fighting the urge to succumb to darkness.
"Sent back to father as planned" Raphael replied, still admiring his new look in the mirror, everything must seem surreal to him.
Just then she winced as a memory popped up in her head, an action the sharp Raphael didn't fail to capture.
A memory of Raphael and his father Ezekiel planning this unexpected attack played out in her head.
"Oh my God " Sabrina panicked internally, the target was Lia.
Asher was foolish to have accommodated his brother Raphael. This was a plan set in motion the moment they heard rumors of him having a mate - after the supposed Iark she was impersonating induced the truth out of Gideon.
Raphael was getting revenge for his father! Antonio had stolen his father's mate resulting in Asher's birth, so it was an eye for an eye.
But this time, it wasn't just his mate Raphael wanted, but Asher's life; body, clan, everything.
Everyone knew ability-wise, Asher was five times stronger since his power was suitable for combat unlike Raphael's which was most favorable for evading attacks.
If she hadn't stepped in, it was obvious Asher would still defeat him and his men without help. No wonder the vampire was cocky to stay all by himself with his men gone - because he had faith in his capability; he just never premeditated her betrayal.
Sabrina was dumbfounded, she thought she would go crazy from the memory surging her head and the realization she helped a villain achieve his life dream - she was indeed stupid.
The memory continued playing in her head: Once Raphael's body arrived at the Raven Clan, Ezekiel would in the guise of punishing his son for a crime committed imprison Asher until his son accomplished whatever he wanted in Little Town.
By the time he would be released, Asher has nothing to return home to; no mate, no friends, no clan, and no identity because Raphael would take away all of it.
Then he would have no choice but to remain in the Raven Clan and live the rest of his immortality as Raphael, no one would know the truth at all.
Well, their plan was about to be busted, she knew and would never allow that to happen, Sabrina resolved.
"What is wrong with you?" Raphael who noticed the sudden change asked.
"I forgot to tell you but the witch didn't die immediately" Sabrina who was impersonating Iark confessed.
Raphael smirked with an unsurprised face, "Not surprising, Sabrina is a tough witch "
"Though I ended her but it was a tough battle, she did this to me" Sabrina lifted her shirt and exposed a gaping hole in her stomach - an illusion she cast with her magic.
Sabrina didn't have Iark's truth inducement ability since this was not his body -only mimicked him - her magic would make up for it - just hoped her powers were sufficient for this battle.
"No wonder you look like something a dog threw up" Raphael wrinkled his nose to show his disgust," That's messy and would take time to heal, go get some rest cause we have a big dream ahead of us "
"Raphael's right brother, you should have a break " His brother Ozark placed a hand on her shoulder and she found that gesture suspicious and it was further confirmed when he asked
"Brother, can you guess what I am thinking at the moment ?"
Sabrina snorted, "As if I can access that dumpy brain of yours "
Ozark pushed Sabrina into his arms and embraced her while patting his shoulder," Thanks for surviving, brother"
Sabrina didn't feel an ounce of sympathy when she thought about the fact the fool was embracing his brother's murderer. They started this, she would see it to the end.
How did she know the answer? Simple, from the memory in her head. Ozark was a mimicker, thus it was hard to access his mind enough to draw the truth from him without getting confused.
She pulled away, "What about you? Why aren't you coming with me?"
"I still have a job to finish. That witch Sabrina, I have to imitate her else Dan finds her disappearance suspicious"
Oh my God, Raphael was a monster. He had everything perfectly planned out.
Ozark couldn't practice magic but Dan wouldn't suspect a thing cause apparently, Sabrina lost her magic.
Wonderful, just wonderful.
Her secret has come to bite at her, she never told anyone she regained her powers.
"For how long? "
"What ?"
"How long are you going to keep up with that pretense?"
"Long enough to break up with him "