Chapter 7

Roge turned to the young woman, looking tense and terrified. Maeve smirked and growled , her fangs out and eyes glowing :

- then, nothing to say for your defense?

He smiled pitifully :

- Hi , Maeve sweetie . . .

She stared at him, frowning.

- Don' t Sweetie me , Roge .

He sighed and gestured to her to sit at the table with him . She turned to Gabriel :

- Can you - can you go to the cafeteria please ? I' m sorry, but I think my uncle and I need to speak , alone . Find Alexia or Terence. They're my best friends .

Gabriel didn't wanted to but went nonetheless , feeling that they needed some alone time . He crossed the building and found the cafeteria, where he was greeted by a stream of hissing and shouting. The wizard who accompanied Maeve to the party stood in front of him, a smirk on his face and holding out his hand.

- Well , well , well ... If it isn't the little new prince of our kingdom . Gabriel Daine , am I right ? Maeve' s little protegee .

Gabriel gritted his teeth , but smiled , refusing to let the redheaded sorcerer win, and shook his hand .

- Yes , I'm Gabriel . PRINCE Gabriel .

The sorcerer's smirk grew wider as he made a parody of a bow .

- Nice to meet you , PRINCE Gabriel . I am Terence , sorcerer , sentry and Maeve's best friend .

And given how he talked about it, Maeve 's occasional hook up . The tension escalated from second to second between the two men. Suddenly , it evaporated as the cute little vampire he also saw that day with Maeve jumped between them , a big , genuine smile on her face .

- Hi ! Glad to meet our Maeve' s mission ! I'm Alexia , Maeve 's other best friend ! Don't let Terence impress you , he's just grumpy because he's hungry and he misses our friend .

Taking a deep breath, he smiled at her :

- nice to meet you , Alexia .

She frowned her brows :

- Where is our lil' Maeve by the way ?

A guy chuckled next to them :

- let' s just say that Roge is probably having a bad , bad time right now .

Alexia threw him a look and he went still . Visibly , despite being way more friendly than Maeve , the two friends were both as frightening as beautiful . Terence intervened :

- Calm down , Xia .

She pouted, then took Gabriel's hand in hers, walked over to an empty table. She didn't let go of his hand as she asked :

- Is it true that my Maevie dolly has been unconscious for practically a whole day ?!

He hesitated but answered nonetheless :

- Yes , and even though this morning she was as healthy as one can be , I am still worried about her .

Xia bit her lower lip and said :

- Ok , so I probably shouldn't say it , but the truth is that Maevie is ... kind of a unique specimen , because of her lineage .

He shrugged his shoulders :

- Yeah , I know , her parents were my parents' bodyguards and excellent sentries .

- The truth is that there's more : her mother , Cara, was ... Solas' daughter .

He blinked :

- Solas as in Solas ... The god ?

She nodded and his eyes grew wider as he realised how dangerous his bodyguard was , and how much in danger she could be if bad people happened to know about her genealogy . Gods' Childs were rare and powerful, but a child of Solas with vampire blood ... The league , an anti-interracial relations group , would find a way to kill her at any cost. And that purple light ... It could only mean that she had a variant of Solas' sun and light power . Solas was one of the most powerful and revered gods and, unlike the others , so rarely took a mortal form to conceive a child that there were only two known children of the Solar god . And now the third child has birthed a hybrid with light powers ... If the league knew , they would endlessly try to have her dead . Clenching his fists, he promised himself he wouldn't let this happen.

- Roge , I want the truth now .

Maeve was facing the man that had raised her after her parents' death and was honestly scared of the answers he was about to give her , but she needed to hear them . He sighed .

- What truth do you want to know , Maeve ?

She stared deep into his gray -blue eyes.

- Why did my parents really die , Roge ? And don't tell me it was an accident .

He looked unsure and stressed , but he sighed and started :

- Maeve , sweetie, are you sure you want to know that ? Sometimes . . . Ignorance is better , at least you can sleep at night .

She gritted her teeth .

- I know , Roge , but I need to know , you understand ? I need it . Plus, if you don't want me to beat the shit out of you , you better tell me what you know .

He smiled sadly , even if there was pride in his eyes .

- When did you get so violent ? Where's the little girl that wanted hugs all the time ?

She smiled back .

- she disappeared when you made me climbed that mountain when I was fourteen . Now , tell me the truth .

- Maeve , first I want you to know that your parents loved you , so much . Now here 's what happened .

- It all started like any other mission, and your parents were on their way home, when they were ambushed . It was the League , an extremist group that is against interbreeding between different races. I still don't know how , but it occured that they learned abour your ... Lineage , and weren't exactly happy about it . So they ... They ... They tortured and kill your parents , trying to get to know your position . Cara and Stem , They held on as long as they could, like true sentries , heroes . We found them too late , after they've been tortured for hours . Then , " it " happened .

A memory emerged from Maeve 's brain , the kind of memory she thought only existe in her nightmares . As she strated remember , she stopped listening to Roge's words .

The family quarter was silent , so silent . The little Maeve felt shivers down her spine , while the older Maeve screams to the little girl to not leave her bed , that she doesn't want to see it . But nonetheless , The little panther leave her bed and approach her parents' room . She push the door : they're not here . Maybe they're at uncle Roge' s room , she thinks . So she goes wandering into the base she known her whole life . Suddenly , she's hit by a smell that makes her shivers deepen : tears , and blood , and ... Dad ? Mom ? The older screams , begs her younger version not to go there , but the young girl follows the scent and push the door . This is a nightmare ;Her parents ... they're dead . But they didn't die peacefully . Her father 's head has been placed next to his arms , and little maeve can see each of his fingers cut , his hands separated from his arms , his arms from body , as are his legs and feet . But the worst is her father' s facial expression , frozen in pure agony . Her mother is not better , and Little Maeve's eyes are filled with tears as she understands what is happening . Her mother as a wooden stake planted in the chest , right next to her heart . Her anguish must have lasted hours while the poison coming from the wood was making his way through Cara' s body . Her mother' s head roll on he side and a tears roll down the decease's cheek . At this view , Both Maeve start screaming in horror and in pain , as the room is slowly filled with their light . Purple light , as bright as the sun , suddenly explode and the adults start screaming too . Draping herself in that light , the little panther become invisible , an run away , voices screaming in her head : monster ! monster !

she snapped back onto reality , tears steaming from her eyes , rolling down her cheeks , and clenching her fists so hard that her claws had sunk in her palms . she muttered, pale as a ghost :

- it was my fault ? all along ? They didn't died on a mission , but because of me .

Roge grabbed her hands and forced the young woman to open her bloody clenched fists , whispering :

- No , no Maeve , It's absolutely not your fault. Your parents loved you and protected you but it's not and it has never been your fault.

Maeve was feeling on the verge of the biggest breakdown she'd ever had : her breath became uneven , her magic was pounding inside her skin , begging her to set her powers free , and the young woman ran away , ignoring Roge' s pleading to go back. She ran as fast as she could , not even bothering to check where she was going : her inner panther knew and to be honest, she didn't cared at all . she just wanted to be alone .

the voices kept screaming inside her skull : Monster ! Monster ! You killed them ! your fault ! Monster! And her , she kept listening to them , even though every word broke her . She ended up in the last place she wanted to be : her old family quarter . But she didn't left , because at least in here , she was alone . So , she let herself go against the wall , crying and grieving her parents .

Gabriel felt that something went wrong when he saw Roge coming into the cafeteria without his bodyguard. If Maeve wasn't with Roge , then where was she ? He got on his feet and started following her incredible scent. He followed it into the base corridors , and froze in front of a close door . From where he was , he could hear her broke voice as another sob escaped her lips . He didn't think twice as he opened the door and found her , curled up against the wall , crying her heart out . That view of the so , so strong Maeve broke his own heart and he threw himself at her , wrapping his arms around her in a reassuring embrace . She didn't even do as much as lifting her head and kept sobbing. after a while that could have been hours , she lifted her head and looked at him with those watery violet eyes of hers , bitting softly her lower lips . Gabriel knew it was absolutely not the right time , but even felt his lower part rise as he saw her biting her sweet , luscious and red lips. He took he deep breath : gods , he wanted her . her nostrils flared , she had smelled his arousal. soon enough , the sad look in her eyes was replaced by an hungry one , and she kissed him .