Megan dashed up the stairs to the main level two at a time, trying to ignore the nausea rising inside her. Shana wasn't dead, but she was dying. She doubted anyone would believe her story without Shana's confession. Reaching Ramon's quarters she banged three times on the door then entered without a response and threw back the curtains, startling him awake.

He jolted into a sitting position. "What's going on?" His eyes slowly focused on Megan standing next to the window. "Megan?"

Megan grabbed his clothes that were draped over the back of a chair and tossed them into his lap. "Shana is the traitor. She released Thranus and admitted a very dangerous member of the Society into the preserve."

"No." Ramon stumbled out of bed, tangling himself up in his covers. "It can't be. She could never do that."

"Believe it." Megan walked towards the door. "She's currently locked in the dungeon. She is fatally wounded. It was the only way to apprehend her. Clayton Drake, the man she snuck inside, is dead. His body is in the catacombs. I'll wait for you in the hall." She turned around to see Ramon slowly pulling on his pants. "And you might want to hurry. Shana doesn't have much time."
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Ramon crouched over his pale daughter, fighting back tears as he watched blood gush from her stomach. Shana took short haggard breaths. Dallen's body lay crumpled in the corner.

Ramon cupped her face in his hands. "Shana, What have you done?"

She grimaced as her body shifted. "What I had to."

He released her and stumbled back as if the words had been a physical blow. "Why?"

Shana inhaled sharply as she forced herself to sit up. "None of you are willing to embrace the truth. We can't hold back the storm that's coming. We might as well embrace it."

Ramon shakily stood, seemingly unable to hold his own weight. "You are not my daughter. She would never betray us."

"Sorry to disappoint you, father." She smirked, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. "I guess you don't know me as well as you thought."

Shana's chest heaved and she started coughing up bloody bile. She inhaled frantically, unable to breath. Ramon backed out of the cell, tears rolling down his cheeks. Megan couldn't blame him. Traitor or not, she was still his daughter. He turned away.

Megan forced herself to watch as Shana jerked and convulsed. Finally, she went limp, her eyes staring at nothing. Crimson tears leaked from her eyes – blood. It was over. She was gone.
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Megan guided Ramon back to his room. "I'm so sorry." 

He heaved a sigh as she helped him sit down on the bed. "It wasn't your fault. She chose to betray us."

Megan sat down beside him. "I know, but I should have found another way to stop her."

Ramon wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You were in danger. You made the best decision you could think of. It's impossible to see all the options, especially when you're in peril. I don't hold anything against you."

Megan rose to leave. She understood his sorrow. He needed some time and a lot of rest. "Try to get some sleep."

As she opened the door to exit the room, Ramon muttered almost to himself. "Thank you, but no promises."
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The next morning, Megan woke with a splitting headache. Her vision blurred black and her limbs felt way too heavy. She was deathly cold and she couldn't get warm. Yet she could feel the sweat running down her back. She managed enough strength to close the curtains, because the Sun burned her eyes. She muttered nonsense under her breath.

When Ramon came in to check on her after she had missed breakfast, he found her convulsing on the bed. He tried to hold her down, but that only made it worse. Soon there were two others in the room holding her arms as Ramon tied her to the bed.

Suddenly, there was a rip of pain through her body and she screamed, the sound tearing through her throat before everything went black.