1st Person POV

My head felt like it was about to split into two. Countess De Ville led the operation. One of the oldest, most powerful supernatural creatures in the world needed me to convince 124 humans to change their minds.

None of this made any sense.

Soon after I'd made that revelation, she'd escorted me back to the doors I'd stepped through. She'd then called for Raphael, who'd come to the foyer, miraculously unscathed. Her eyes were glued to my back with all the intensity of a laser as I followed Raphael through the door.

Before I could step through though, she grasped me by the wrist and leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"To sweeten my offer, I can kill him if you wish it, for what he did," she said.

A full shiver wracked my body as she let go of my hand. Her eyes drifted over to Raphael with devious intent and she raised a single brow. I shook my head mutely, dumbstruck by fear at this point, before yanking Raphael out of there.

We'd actually gotten out of her lair alive.

"What did she want from you? Who is she," Raphael asked.

"You don't talk to me," I said lowly.

He shut up immediately but glanced my way every ten seconds. The woods surrounding her house didn't seem to have an end in sight and both of us were dead on our feet. It was close to sunrise as well, judging by the small amount of light in the sky.

"We'll stop somewhere here, continue in the morning," I said curtly.

He nodded and settled at the base of a tree. I took up a similar position across from him, feeling a weariness that ran deep into my bones. When would all of this become too much?

It was a miracle I hadn't reached my limit already.

"Why didn't you kill me on that roof when you killed Laura," he asked.

I debated not answering but I needed this conversation to keep my mind off of the Countess, even if the conversation was with Raphael of all people.

"You were Cassius' to kill if he wished it," I replied coldly.

"You think my brother would actually kill me," he asked.

He sounded afraid and I realized he still thought he could fix this, regain his brother's affection. He didn't even realize the depth of the wound he'd struck. Cassius had always been fiercely loyal, and he put the people he loved and trusted above everything else.

He'd do anything for them regardless of what it cost him, and Raphael had been so incredibly lucky to be one of those people. But to throw that in his face, to make a mockery of the loyalty Cassius offered so generously, wasn't something Raphael could crawl his way out of easily. Cassius may forgive him but I didn't think the two of them could ever go back to the way they'd once been.

But I couldn't look at those green mournful eyes, identical to Cassius', and say those words.

"You hurt him far more than you hurt me," I replied.

"I know," he replied.

I heard the unspoken words. And it's killing me. But I couldn't muster anything more than the barest sympathy, too starkly reminded of all the damage he'd done. He was part of the reason I was sitting in these damned woods after all.

"Why would you do it? Did you really believe making everyone human would make everyone equal," I asked.

The human world was blissfully ignorant of our world for the most part and they suffered with inequality every day. You couldn't change that with something as simple as a box of chemicals. Inequality was bred from something far deeper than biochemistry.

"Not at first. My dad was only a part of it because of money and he'd pulled his sons into it, minus Cassius because he was in school. I didn't want to be a part of it but my whole family was, and it was hard to stay away," he explained.

I probably didn't look impressed.

"Look you're thinking of Cassius, you're thinking he would have found a way to bring them all down despite the fact that they were family and you're probably right. But I'm not him. When we were younger, my brothers would always bully him for being too soft and friendly, and it hurt him but he never changed for them. I went along with whatever they did, only going to comfort him behind their backs," he said.

It wasn't much of a surprise. I knew Cassius had always wanted his father's approval but when it came down to what was right and what was wrong, Cassius always chose the right side. It was why he'd challenged his father after all, why he still stood by me.

"I didn't approve of what my family was doing but I didn't stop them either. Then Laura came. She was the chemist, with her whole team and she knew more about the operation than my family did. They didn't listen to her talk about them but I did and the way she spoke about equality, about peace. I wanted to believe it, believe her," he said.

The heartache was clear in his voice when he spoke of her and this time, I did feel something more than sympathy. I'd killed her in front of his eyes. He'd actually held her as she'd bled out in his arms.

And it was clear, the way he spoke about her, that he'd been sucked into all of this because he'd fallen for her. Was that a good enough reason? Was there room for redemption there?

I didn't know and I honestly didn't care enough to ponder it.

Raphael curled up more comfortable against the tree he leaned against. There was enough light for me to notice the few stray tears that had fallen from his eyes.

"Love's not a reason to do the wrong thing. In the end, it was still your choice. When you start accepting that, maybe you'll find the forgiveness you're looking for," I offered.

When I finally managed to drift off to sleep while Raphael kept watch, Laura entered my dreams, followed by Annabelle, and the Countess and so many more. I woke up screaming only to find that Raphael had drifted off during his watch. He didn't stir as I wept under the first rays of daylight.

I didn't weep for Laura, or Annabelle's loss, or the human the Countess had once been. I wept because they had good intentions, dreams of a free, equal world, a vision worth fighting for.

But they were dreams that would probably never come to fruition in the way they hoped it to.

3rd Person POV

Cassius didn't think he was fully awake when Catherine arrived at Rafia's house with his brother in tow. And then her scent hit him, his wolf stirred and he couldn't contain his unbridled joy as he got up off the porch step to pull her into his arms. He didn't so much as look at Raphael as he stepped into the house, keeping her hand in his.

Her eyes were bloodshot, like she'd been crying and he hoped his brother hadn't been the cause of those tears.

Azriel peeked out from the kitchen, almost dropped the mug of tea in his hand in shock before pulling Catherine into a relieved hug as well. Desmond was still asleep, along with Rafia and Talia. Sensing a discussion brewing between him and his brother, Azriel slipped off to wake them.

"What are you doing here," Cassius asked.

Raphael was flushed with guilt and for the first time, he couldn't meet Cassius' eyes. He didn't even reply. It was Catherine who intervened.

"It's a long story," Catherine sighed out.

It was then that Desmond came downstairs, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Talia followed looking much more awake. Catherine smiled, a tired smile but a smile nevertheless, as she pulled a shocked Desmond into a hug.

She'd barely drawn back when Talia turned on her with a scowl.

"Where's my sister? What's going on," she asked.

"I'll explain," Catherine started.

"You abandoned back there didn't you? The only reason she's in this damned mess is because of you and you actually," Talia started angrily.

Desmond kept a protective hold around Catherine as the she-wolf took an angry step forward.

"I didn't abandon her. I was taken. You didn't think I'd abandon her did you? I care about all three of them, more than you know," Catherine bit back.

Talia looked flustered and muttered a low apology before taking a seat on the couch. Everyone maintained a wide berth around Raphael. Azriel sat next to Cassius, keeping one hand firmly in his as a show of comfort.

The betrayal still stung, so much worse than Cassius could even put in words.

"I was taken by the operation. We were passing Raphael's cell and they let him out to come with us, though now I don't really know why. She clearly knew you'd switched sides," Catherine started.

Cassius couldn't stop himself from interfering before Raphael spoke.

"Maybe she thought he'd switch again. Offer him enough money and loyalties go for a toss with this one don't they," Cassius said bitterly.

He kept his eyes on his squirming older brother. There was a moment of awkward silence before Catherine pressed on. Once she'd finished explaining the whole story, everyone just sat there, stunned.

It was enough for Cassius to even forget about his brother's presence entirely. Rafia had joined them at some point and even she looked pale at the mention of Countess De Ville. She was a ghost in the supernatural world, with stories to her name growing crazier by the century.

Many had had doubts of whether she was even still alive.

"I don't want those people's blood on my hands," Catherine said.

She looked incredible distressed with the added weight on her shoulders as she sank into Desmond's hold.

"She's not going to hurt humans," Rafia said firmly.

"You knew her," Azriel asked.

Rafia nodded gravely, like the mention of the vampire had sucked twenty years off her existence. Raphael looked scared as she sat beside him, and he ought to be considering how powerful Rafia was. Cassius streamlined his thoughts back to the mission at hand as Rafia spoke.

"We met over two centuries ago in Paris. It was a short-lived affair, ended before it really even started, but strong for the time it lasted. I'd found her at a hard time and she'd shared her story with me," Rafia explained.

Many origin stories had been written for the Countess, both by humans and by the supernatural world. She'd been found in a town surrounding by a hundred dead humans. After that she'd roamed the earth, turning others. She was the devil in the scariest of stories told to children, the heartless witch that killed for sport even.

But these stories gave no insight into the woman she actually was.

"The first thing she ever remembered was when she was around five years old and she'd woken up one day, surrounded by the bodies of everyone she'd known and loved, including her parents, her five brothers and two sisters. Ever since then she'd sworn never to hurt a human. Later, when more vampires had been created and had fed on the vein, she'd been the one to step forth and outlaw vampires from feeding directly from the vein, under a false name. When she met me, she'd been trying to escape the supernatural world and live amongst humans because she hated the bloodshed and violence," Rafia said.

It took a minute to process and to realize that this was the same woman that had created the operation.

"She was so cold, so distant when I met her," Catherine said.

"Time changes people," Rafia said simply.

Cassius hadn't realized just how much time could change someone until then. Had Rafia been the same person then that she was now, amongst them? Would Azriel and Desmond be the same people they were now way into the future, when he'd be long gone?

The thought came as quickly as Cassius banished it but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"If you're saying time changes people then we have no idea if she's capable of killing humans now. It's not a chance I want to take," Catherine said firmly.

"Right," Rafia muttered.

She excused herself right after and disappeared into the kitchen. Azriel was quick to follow. Catherine looked around guiltily but Desmond was quick to reassure her than she'd done nothing wrong.

Cassius redirected his attention to his brother.

"I don't trust you," Cassius said firmly.

"I never wanted to hurt you," Raphael said in return.

Cassius could see that he meant that but the fact of the matter was that he had, badly. It was like someone had pulled the carpet from under his feet and he'd free fallen, with only Catherine, Azriel and Desmond to cling to. Family had meant everything to him despite the fact that they'd never treated him right.

And Raphael had shattered that like it had meant nothing.

"But you did hurt me," Cassius replied lowly.

They sat in silence until Azriel returned to the room once more, sitting beside Cassius once again to take his hand.

"Sometimes the years come down on you hard. It happened to my father a lot," Azriel explained vaguely.

Rafia returned to the room a few minutes later, looking like her old self once more. Everyone glanced between her and Catherine, waiting to hear the next move. Both of them looked mildly defeated.

"I don't know what to do," Catherine said honestly.

"We take care of the trial first and keep Catherine out of sight so she isn't arrested again," Talia insisted.

Nobody argued with that, but everyone knew it was just a way to avoid the bigger issues at hand. 

Another chapter! Sorry for the slight delay guys, it's been a busy week. I was thinking of putting off the reunion to another chapter, but I figured I'd split them up enough times at this point. Catherine and Raphael have a tense conversation, which was super interesting to write. Rafia spills a few more details about the Countess. How do people feel about her? Can the end justify the means? Are her good intentions enough for possible redemption?

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment down below. Let me know how you're doing this Friday the 13th. The next chapter will be up soon. We're nearing the big 50! 

Until the next chapter, 

LOVE, 

ASH