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“Raised me? You call that fucking raising me? YOU ABUSED ME. Did you stopMotherwhen she had me murder my childhood friend to keep me in line? Or when she murdered your daughter for being too soft? How about the secret love child you covered up?”

The blood drains from David's face as his head whips between his son and Amelia and starts putting it together. Sebastian takes a step back and looks to Amelia. She smirks, and in a turn of events I didn’t see coming, she steps closer to David.

“Hello Dad. Bye-Bye Dad.”

Amelia pulls out her gun and, in a move eerily mirroring Sebatian’s, puts a bullet in her father’s skull. Like brother, like sister. David’s body collapses to the table next to his wife’s, and Amelia claps her hands, like this outcome thrills her more than we could realize. I won’t miss David either. He’s a callous bastard who looked the other way each time his wife did something horrible. No wonder there are no tears for either of the Vance’s this evening. Amelia walks around the room like a teacher, like she didn’t just execute her father and drop a bomb on everyone in this room.

“That’s so much better now that those horrible excuses for parents are gone.” She lovingly looks at Sebastian as she starts her speech. “Now,” she purrs, “let me try this again. Meet your new head of the Rogue empire, Sebastian. As I’m sure you’ve gathered, I’m not human, and it’s been prettyshitty pretending to be one. I’m the“secret love child”in question. I have every damn right to be here.”

Amelia pauses as she walks over to Alyssa’s lifeless body and spits at it before she continues with her monologue. “Alyssadidn’t want you to know that, of course. She took every precaution to make sure my existence was kept a secret, and I could have dealt with that if I didn’t know how she was abusing my brother. You all saw her cruelty towards him but did nothing to stop her. He was a boy that deserved your protection, and you all loved your power more than doing what was right. You deserve to die for your choices. But I’ve been convinced to try a different option.”

While I knew it was coming, chills run through my body as I listen to the siblings explain it all. It’s something I would never admit out loud, but at times, Amelia comes across as dangerous, more than the rest of us and slightly…unhinged. I didn’t know who she was when I hired her, but after I was brought in on the plan, so many things started making sense to me.

Together, the siblings have given me hope for a future I never thought possible. My sisters deserve better than this. I deserve better than this. We want a different life where we can help people instead of destroying them. While it’s tough to sit through this, these are the reasons I keep at the front and center of my mind so that my magic doesn’t waver. Everything I do is for my sisters.

Amelia paces the room before she asks us, “Do you know what it’s like growing up amongst humans, being made to feel like you’re food or livestock for breeding, knowing you’re different?” My eyes dart to Jude because she has to understand this in some way with her empathy. Then, my eyes move to Luca because I know she and Amelia have a complicated history. Luca’s face pales as she realizes how much was hidden from her.

“It took me a long time to figure out why I felt different, and what was wrong with me. Obviously, I wanted to be Supernatural. Most of the Human Faction does, but never did I imagine, I would actually be one.” Amelia pauses as she gives Sebastian a genuine smile.

“One day, I was bullied by some humans at the Faction and Sebastian was visiting. We bonded over his compassion to help me overcome my bullies, and when we got talking, Sebastian started suspecting something was different with me, too. Apparently, I look just like Saige, the sister Alyssa had “put down” like she was some rabid animal. Remember her everyone? The kid you didn’t help, either?”

The silence is deafening.

“We didn’t actually think the tests would come back a match for Sebastian, but they did. I had enough DNA in common with him to be a sibling. We all know Supernatural blood breeds dominantly, and that I’m not Alyssa’s, so that leaves only one culprit.”

Her hand waves towards her father's dead body, and she folds her arms across her chest as Sebastian takes over. My job is to keep everyone in place with my magic, so they will listen to this speech. It’s actually incredible to see how they’ve come up with this plan to overthrow our empire, and no one saw it coming.

Clearing his throat, Sebastian begins, “We had always spoken about trying to change our lives, but we weren’t sure how, until I figured out that my mother was the one that had Lexie murdered. When I asked her about it, of course she denied it, but it was her choice of wording that made me doubt how truthful she was being. I suspected she went with a lie of omission, so I investigated, and eventually, Ifound the truth. Alyssa thought she had covered her tracks, but she kept forgetting she taught me all her tricks.”

Jude butts in with her disbelief, “So you’re telling me, you fucked me, and KNEW who had murdered my sister all this time and lied to me? You cried about Kyla to me, and you just said nothing? I don’t know how you sleep at night, knowing you betrayed me again. I can’t believe I fell for it,again.”Jude struggles against the bindings created by my magic, and I double down on my efforts to keep her locked in.

Sebastian flinches and I don’t miss the desperation all over his face, because he knows he’s losing Jude all over again. Amelia jumps in, responding to Jude’s accusation with a sickly sweet look on her face, “I sleep very well on silk sheets, thank you. Preferably with company.” And I don’t miss the look she throws Luca’s way as she says that.

Frustrated that she’s not seeing his way, Sebastian tries again. “What would you have done if you had to choose between lying to me and saving Brooklyn? Because that’s the choice I had. Save Amelia or lose another sister. The choice was impossible, but I had to make it. If I had told you, and someone had heard us? Or any of our reactions gave it away, what then? Kyla will be my biggest regret because we timed it wrong, and I couldn’t save her.”

Jude clenches her jaw and glares at him before she asks him a follow up question. “Why pretend to be shocked or help investigate or any of that?” Amelia rolls her eyes at Jude’s question, but she waits to hear Sebastian’s answer. “How would it have looked if I didn’t? I would have been under suspicion and I needed to play my part.”

“But why was murdering Lexie important?” Luca murmurs, and I’m shocked it’s taken this long for them to ask. Amelia looks at her lover, sadfor a moment as she says, “Because Lexie knew the truth. When Alyssa first found out about me, she tried to have me assassinated. Instead, my mom was murdered because she died trying to save me.” Her voice wavers for a moment before she clears her throat. “Sebastian was the one that came up with the idea to hide me in plain sight at Tao. He knew you would protect me, just neither of us actually counted on us falling for each other.”

For the first time this evening, Amelia acknowledges the Rhodes, and looks at Edie as she says, “Lexie was my friend. She treated me like I meant something and wanted nothing in return. She was a good person, and this bitch,” Amelia waves a hand at Alyssa’s body, “killed her. I told Lexie about my secret, and from what I’ve been able to put together, she planned on confronting Alyssa to make sure I got my share of the Rogue empire. Instead of Alyssa being publicly embarrassed by her husband's indiscretions and losing her power, she placed a hit on Lexie.”

I can’t decide if Jude looks more heartbroken or enraged, but her voice rasps with emotion, “So you’ve been lying to Luca and me this whole time. Why? Is this some sick ploy so we can be together, Sebastian?” Amelia steps into Jude’s space and leans into her face and points the gun right under Jude’s chin. “I don’t like you. You’re selfish, and you make everything about you. The only reason I’m not putting a bullet in your skull right now is because of Sebastian. You’ve been a pathetic friend to Luca, so don’t flatter yourself. This was about change, like we’ve said. Or haven’t you been listening?”

Sebastian’s face softens as he sees how hurt Jude is, “I hated lying to you. It killed me. But it was necessary because if I was going to pull this off, protect you from my mother,andhelp Amelia while creating change where we can truly be together and be safe; I had to do this. Can’t you see?But I swear I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you’ll let me.”

Jude turns her head away, and I don’t know why Sebatian can’t see she doesn’t accept that answer. Edie splutters, “I’m sorry for what your parents put you through, Sebastian, but this is not the way to resolve disputes.” He raises his gun to her head. “Give me a reason, Edie. I will pull this trigger. Don’t test me.”

Amelia looks amused as she tells us, “Alyssa was an excellent liar. She hired a human hitman and told him exactly how to kill Lexie so she could never be implicated in the process. In case anyone is wondering, the hitman is dead too. But I copied him. It's been interesting watching you all squirm trying to figure out what’s going on. I’ve been picking you off one by one and none of you even stopped to think about working together until now. When it was almost too late.”

Jude turns to me and says, “And you, Dom, clearly you’re the only one not shocked tonight. How do you fit into all of this?”

Keeping some attention on holding my magic in place, I explain, “I’m here to protect my sisters and make sure they have a future that I never got the option to have. All I ever wanted was a chance to be treated equally.”

Luca finally pipes up, her body trembling with the effort to contain her rage. “I’m guessing you’re behind my mom? Is she still alive?” Amelia’s face hardens. I know her well enough by this stage it's a front. She will prioritize putting the people she loves first, even if it’s the unpopular choice.

“No, Luca, your mom is dead. One day, I will tell you about the things she was doing behind your back, but for now, all you need to know is she was holding you back under the guise of love. I made the choice so you didn’t haveto.”

Luca’s enraged scream fills the room, and it seems we’re all not so far removed from emotion because most of us flinch when we hear it. Eric's eyes narrow as he listens to that declaration, and he thrashes at my restraints as he yells, accusing Amelia of being a hypocrite. Luca’s bloodlust takes over as well, though I’m amazed she held out this long, and she snarls at Amelia as her fangs snap loose. It's an effort to keep my magic in place with Luca’s strength fighting me so wildly, but with a bit of straining, I manage it as Eric starts with his insults.

“You accuse us of being heartless, yet you execute anyone who doesn’t agree with you. How does that make you any better than us?” Amelia laughs with a tinge of sarcasm as she directs her next question to Sebastian. “Why aren’t we killing him again?”

With a half-hearted smile, he replies. “Because being an asshole is his only crime, and he doesn’t deserve to die for that. Yet.”

Nodding vaguely, Amelia answers Eric’s question. “Because despite our repeated attempts to reason with you all, you’ve never listened. A show of force was our only option.” She then turns to Luca, raising her voice over the snarling and repeated threats, and tells her, “I prioritized you when no one else would. Hate me if it makes you feel better, but eventually, you will see I was right to protect you.”

Her face hardens as she looks away from Luca and back through the room. “Just like with the Human Faction members that turned up dead, no one has been innocent. It goes against everything we stand for to harm the innocent. Now that you’ve heard the truth, let's work together to create a new world. Dominic is going to let go of the magic, assuming you’ve all calmed down by now?”

No one says anything, so naïvely, we take that as a yes. After a beat, I release the spell. Of course, that’s when all hell breaks loose.

To Be Continued…