Page 80 of Loving Amari

I respond in our native tongue, my voice cold and precise. “Anta tatahaddath ‘an ash-sharaf al’an? You speak of honor now? You, who betrayed our people?”

I switch to English so Carla can understand every word of his condemnation.

“I read your journals, Nathaniel. Carla gave them to me. Every page. Every confession.” I stop in front of him, looking down at the pathetic creature he’s become. “You and your brother were traitors of our culture, exchanging information for power with the Spanish invaders. You gave them maps of our city. Names of our leaders. Locations of our defenses. Yet you blamed me for not lifting a finger.”

Nathaniel’s head hangs low, unable to meet my eyes.

“Our people valued loyalty above all else. In Al-Andalus, we lived by a code. Honor your family. Protect your community. Stand firm in your faith and principles.” My voice grows harder. “You violated every single tenet of our culture for personal gain.”

“I was desperate,” Nathaniel whispers.

“We were all desperate!” My voice disappears into the void. “Granada was falling. The Reconquista was crushing us. But we stood together. We fought together. We protected each other. That is what our people did.”

I pace around him slowly. “I was bound by my sire, by the law of the vampire. He commanded me not to interfere in human affairs, and as a fledgling, I had no choice but to obey. It is the most sacred law of the vampire.”

I stop directly in front of him again. “But I would never turn on my own people the way you and Henry did. Even as a vampire, I still stand by our culture’s ethics and morals. I am Moorish before I am vampire. I carry Granada in my heart, honor it in my actions.”

Nathaniel looks up at me with desperate eyes. “I made a mistake.”

“A mistake?” I laugh bitterly. “You sold out Granada for promises and riches from the Spanish crown. You gave them everything they needed to break through our final defenses. You were the reason our people fell. The reason families were slaughtered. The reason children were ripped from their parents’ arms.”

Tears stream down his face but I feel no pity.

“You blamed me for not saving them when you were the one who doomed them.”

“Please,” Nathaniel begs, his voice breaking. “Just send me to hell. End this.”

“No.” I step back, my voice final. “You don’t get the mercy of hell’s fires. You get something worse.”

I look up at Verto waiting in his web. “Feed.”

The command is simple, but the execution is brutal.

Verto descends from his web above.

Nathaniel screams as Verto approaches. The spider’s legs are like tree branches, his body covered in coarse bristles. His many eyes reflect Nathaniel’s terror.

I turn and walk back up to Carla, taking her hand as Verto begins his work. Nathaniel’s screams echo through the void, inhuman sounds of agony and fear. But I don’t look away. Neither does Carla. We watch together as justice is finally served.

Verto’s fangs sink into Nathaniel’s spirit form. Unlike physical death, this is different. Slower. More complete. Verto is consuming his very essence, erasing him from existence piece by piece.

The screaming continues, then slowly fades. Nathaniel’s form dissolves, breaking apart like ash in wind, pulled into Verto’s massive body until nothing remains except his head.

When it’s over, silence fills the void. Pure, complete silence.

Verto brings Nathaniel’s head to the throne, holding it gently in his mandibles. He places it at Carla’s feet, bowing low before his mother.

She reaches down and touches Verto’s head affectionately. “Good boy.”

Verto takes the head to his collection in the web above, adding it to the others who’ve faced Carla’s judgment. Then he settles in to rest, satisfied.

I squeeze Carla’s hand. It’s over. Finally over.

I look at her. “Can I come back when you do Alexis?”

She giggles. “Of course. Now, you were saying about that bear fuck? Want to do it here, or home?”

I look around the dark void, then back at my beautiful mate sitting on her throne. “Home. I want you in our bed where I can take my time with you.”

“Good answer.” Carla stands from her throne gracefully.

She opens a portal to our bedroom and I pull her through with a seductive look, already planning exactly what I’m going to do to her.

The portal closes behind us and we’re home. Together. Finally balanced between our two worlds.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

THE END