Chapter 218: A Selfish Bitch

Leopold jerked awake the moment he felt like he was being covered in ice. His bones rattled and shivered from the feeling, and his breath tore out of him.

The first thing he saw was Adelaide, again.

Standing in front of him with that same aura and those same cold eyes. So, he hadn’t dreamt about the blood pact and her saving him. He must have passed out at the cell before she got him out of there.

“I’m glad you could join us,” She said and stepped out of the way, revealing a few other people in the room.

Just like him, they were all seated and strapped down tightly. He recognised every face instantly, especially that of his ex-bride. The moment he saw her, his eyes shone bright with relief.

But she stared back at him with the same look she’d given him last time. Annoyance. Irritation. So much of it that it was making her physically recoil.

“Why is he here?” Beatrice asked.

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough,” Della replied and then she walked up to Leopold again.

He looked like he had a lot to say to Beatrice, and the love that reflected in his eyes made Della want to puke. The goddamn idiot already knew that Beatrice was only using him, so why on earth was he still so obsessed with her? Della could never understand that.

“I saved you from Moonfire. I’ve done my part of the pact,” Della said, and then she whispered, “Now it’s time you fulfill yours,”

Beatrice blinked, “Blood pact?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll understand soon enough,” Della said with a smirk, then she turned back to Leopold and undid the straps holding him down.

He watched her, wondering why she was freeing him. Once his hands and legs were free, he tried to stand up but wobbled on both feet.

He could barely feel his wolf. There was still a lot of poison in him, and even his vision was slightly blurry. Fuck, if he had enough strength he would have attacked Della and killed her. Maybe that would win him Beatrice’s favour and attention again.

“I told you you were gonna kill someone for me to fulfil your end of the pact,” Della said, and then she stepped back again.

Right there, between the path from Leopold to Beatrice was a small dagger. Beatrice took one glance at it, and her face went even more pale.

It was the same dagger she’d stabbed Della with, over and over again.

Leopold stared at the dagger for a second, then he looked at Beatrice, then at Della who was pretty sure she had just made the message very clear.

“What do you mean?!” Leopold asked, his voice trembling, “You…you can’t be serious!”

“Oh, but I am,” Della replied, “Pick up the dagger, Leopold and fulfil your own end of the pact. Or you will die by your blood,”

“No!” Leo yelled as he looked between Della and Beatrice again.

Beatrice seemed terrified, but once she saw that Leopold wasn’t willing to move, she remembered his obsession with her and her expression changed into something between relief and pride.

It was Leopold Astridge. He would never lay a finger on her, even if it would cost him everything.

“Fuck you!” Leo roared again, his head pounding as he struggled to remain standing, “You cannot make me do this. You cannot! I will not!”

“Alright,” Della said. She wasn’t surprised. She’d very much expected this. No one here was surprised. And that was exactly what she wanted. “Then I guess we’ll just have to watch as you die,”

Leopold staggered back, the pain in his head becoming worse. He fell back on the seat, and everyone watched as what started as clutching his head slowly started to spread.

His veins stared to glow, like his blood had been set on fire. Eyes bulged so wide like they were going to pop out, and he started to shudder.

His blood was killing him. He swore to something he couldn’t keep. He probably wouldn’t have if he knew Della would ask him to kill Beatrice.

Too bad.

“Ouch,” Della murmured, looking almost sympathetic as the man started to twist and his breathing became more and more swallow.

Then, she turned to Beatrice and nudged her head toward the suffering man, “Go and help him out of his misery,”

“W…what?” Beatrice groaned, still clutching her side.

“Pick up the dagger and do to him what you do best.” Della said casually and pointed at Leopold this time, “If you kill him, I will let you walk away from all this…alive,”

That piqued the maniac’s interest immediately, and something flickered past her eye as she looked down at the dagger then back up at the convulsing idiot across of her.

Blood was pouring out of his mouth, and his groans were getting louder by the minute.

“You’re lying!” Beatrice said, staring at Della, “I know you won’t just let me go just like that.”

“But, I will,” Della replied, “Unlike you, I keep my promises,”

“No!” Beatrice shook her head more adamantly, “You are lying! You won’t just let go of someone who did such horrible things to you!”

Silence swallowed the room for a moment. Well, except for the violent splutter of blood that just came out of Leopold’s mouth and splashed all over the floor.

“How about a blood pact, then?” Della suggested.

Beatrice’s eyes widened slightly, “What?”

“Like I did with him,” Della explained, “If I don’t keep my end of the pact, my blood will kill me, and you all will be free of me. Isn’t that what you want?”

Beatrice looked surprised, but she was starting to consider the possibility.

“It’s a Win-win situation for you,” Della said, trying very hard to keep the evil bubbling inside of her out of her tone, “You kill him right there, and I let you walk away. You kill him and I try to hurt you anyway, and I turn into a bloody, dying mess like him and you still get to walk away. How does that sound?”

Beatrice’s eyes were sparkling again. This might be a trick, but she was confident that she would mark every box to make sure it’s not, especially the blood exchange part. She would make sure Della doesn’t try to use fake blood like they did to her in the past.

“Fine,” Beatrice nodded, “But I’ll be the one to cut you open myself, and I’ll choose what part of your body to injure,”

Della paused for a moment, and Beatrice watched her carefully. Then, Della agreed, “Alright. I’ll do anything to watch you kill that fool,”

“Wait, what?!” Jaime spoke this time, and stared angrily between the women. Honestly, Della didn’t even realise he still had enough strength to talk with his body looking like that, “Y…you can’t leave us,”

God, his jaw was going to fall off soon.

“If she lets you go, what about us?!”

“You’re so fucking selfish!” Beatrice retorted, “I mean look at you. Look at all of us. We are all on the verge of death, and honestly, I don’t wanna die here,” She seethed in pain again, and blood pooled more beside her, “I have a chance to get out of this place and heal properly. I have a chance to live, so fuck you, Jaime. Fuck you!”

Evangeline was staring at her daughter in disbelief. Before she could even say a word, Beatrice spat at her too, “Fuck you, Mother. Fuck you all.”

Della badly wanted to laugh.

Beatrice has always been a selfish lunatic. Everyone in the family knew it, but they had never really experienced it properly.

Now they were.

“Alright then,” Della said calmly and approached Beatrice.

She stopped in front of her sister, and their eyes met again. Usually, this was the part where she would start recalling their memories.

Memories of their childhood and teenagehood.

Laughter. Smiles. Love. Everything.

Now, all Della saw was a rotten, selfish, maniac sitting in front of her.

“Shall we?”