Arturius stood inside the tree line watching the group of vampires. Their witch was calling forth the void. The void where Katrin's soul dwelt. Her vampires had been watching them ever since Alistair had been staked. He wasn't sure if the man who had managed to kill someone that was three hundred years older should impress him. It was almost unheard of.

He stood and watched the show, hidden by witches’ magic. As long as he didn't move from the tree line, he would be hidden from everything. Katrin wanted Aeriaya dead and he would see it to the end. He was here at her bequest, but he would have done it anyway. After all, it was his mistake to fix.

Aeriaya was just as he remembered. It had been hundreds of years since he had laid eyes on her and he could scarcely remember the circumstances, but he would never forget that day he sat with her in that dungeon. His lips on hers, her soft translucent skin under his hard calloused hands. He would never forget the moment he held her head in his hands and snapped her delicate neck.

After so much time, it was hard to separate the lies from the truths. There was never any hope for him. As soon as he set foot in Britannia, it had disappeared forever.

As she vanished into the void with the witch, he remembered the blood between his fingers and grimaced. He had ripped Aeriaya's brother to pieces at Katrin's command. He had no choice. That was the moment when he realized that he would never be able to escape. She had trapped them all.

It wasn't long before he felt a pull at the edges of his mind. He felt disoriented for a moment then the clarity hit him like a ton of bricks. Gasping, he clutched his head. For the first time in two thousand years, he felt free. Aeriaya had done it, as he knew she would. Even he knew that this time was different.

As the void slipped away, Arturius watched as Katrin's curse wailed out into the night and collided with the man who'd killed Alistair. Now he would wait and see what she would do. They assumed that she would save him. After watching them so closely, he knew that she cared for this vampire and that would be her greatest mistake.

Sneering as she knelt over the vampire whispering how much she loved him, he rolled his eyes as she gave him her blood. Stupid woman. He had thought better of her. Vampirism had turned her into something cold and heartless, so how could she justify to herself that this was the right thing to do? Even if she loved him, it would give away everything.

Aeriaya stumbled back towards the tree line where he stood hidden by witches’ magic. He didn't have to do it anymore. Katrin was gone and the compulsion had evaporated along with her. But he would never forget his dead brothers and his poor, dear sister. Men he had known in life and death; brothers in both. He hadn't loved her for a long time.

As Arturius stepped out into the clearing, he caught the eye of the younger male vampire, whose eyes widened in surprise. He didn't hesitate. Plunging his hand into her chest from behind, his hand grasped her heart and pushed it straight through into the humid night air. She would see her death, just as his brothers had.

He wrenched his hand away and let her fall, blood dripping onto the ground. It stained his arm up to the elbow, her heart still clutched in his palm. He threw it nonchalantly to the ground beside him, a sly smile on his lips. “So, the witch made some friends. How quaint.”

The vampire growled deep in his throat, standing over his fallen friend. “And who the hell are you?”

He bared his fangs, feeling his eyes swirl into darkness. “I am Arturius. I was her maker.”