Back inside the building, both Roman and Griffin were breaking everything that came in their way while also trying to break each other's bones with utter enthusiasm.

  The fire had spread around the first floor, leaving charred objects behind.

  "Is that all you can do, Moltenore?" questioned Griffin, a smirk appearing on his face. He had landed a blow on Roman, and he only hoped that he was winning this time. To kill Roman, there was so much satisfaction in it.

  "For a person of your caliber, I believe that is more than enough," responded Roman, running his tongue across the side of his lips and tasting blood on his tongue. "I thought your ability is good, but it doesn't seem like it is of any use. Same as you, useless," he taunted Griffin.

  "I would like you to tell me the same words once I am done with Julianne. I am sure it would be quite a sight to see her lifeless body on the ground and catching fire," Griffin said, and he laughed in the end. "Seems like everyone who is close to you dies. Your family, Piper and soon it would be Julianne Winters."

  Bloodlust coursed through Roman's veins, and Griffin's words were enough to provoke him to use the flames to capture Griffin.

  Julie, still on the ground floor, asked Cillian, "Why is it not turning bigger?"

  "Truthfully, the size of the markings have never been any bigger than what you see in front of you now. I doubt anyone has ever tried to increase the size of the pentagon markings than the usual size because it was never required before," replied the Corvin, looking back and forth, where he stood close to her. Previously, when he had tried to move away from her, to take a look, his twig-like hand had caught fire.

  "I think it would be best for you to step out of this place, lest you plan to end your life here," came the advice from the Corvin. And as dull as it sounded, in truth, it was filled with concern.

  Julie's gaze returned to look at the circular markings she had made, and she closed her eyes. It took a couple of seconds when the pentagon's circle and lines started to glow with light. Though the light couldn't be seen that well because of the fire that surrounded them, the circle slowly started to move in an outward direction. Moving past the flames that were on the ground, slowly and steadily.

  Julie had used her soul energy to manipulate the size and nature of the pentagon. When she opened her eyes, she felt a chilly air pass by her even though the place was raging with flames. She exerted force and pressure because the circle had stuck to a moderate size, and she still needed it to grow larger.

  The more she used her soul energy, the more it felt like it was being torn from her body and would leave a shell behind. In the background, she could hear the continuous crash and fight taking place, and Cillian warned her,

  "Be careful how much soul energy you use, you won't be tired but you will end up dying if you exhaust all of it."

  Julie's face flinched, feeling the ache in her body, which was worse than what she had felt earlier when Griffin had tried to use his ability on her.

  Taking a deep breath, she finally pushed the pentagon to grow bigger where it moved past the walls of the building.

  Outside the building, on seeing the flames, Roman's friends had joined, and so did Elder Remy.

  "She's growing stronger," Remy softly spoke on seeing the witch's power being exhibited. And the circle lit up brighter in the darkness before more light filled itself and the flames slowly settling down.

  The fire finally disappeared, and so did the pentagon, and the people who stood outside quickly stepped inside, noticing the burnt floors and walls and the burnt furniture. Ms. Dante closed her eyes, taking a deep breath so that she wouldn't blow her head over. It was only two weeks ago that she had gotten the walls painted and floors polished.

  "I guess this place will finally need to be rebuilt and refurnished," commented Castiel as he stepped in the corridors with the rest of them. The place was left in darkness because of no light except for the ones that came from outside the windows.

  With the flames that had disappeared, Griffin finally decided to take advantage of the situation and used his ability back on Roman. This time he used all his force, and Roman fell on the ground and on his knees.

  Roman threw up black blood, his hand reaching for his heart as if he was in pain.

  "Looks like you have no more strength to fight, and here I thought you would give me the best fight. It is good that you have a beating heart, isn't it? Pity," huffed Griffin, and he brought his hand forward, ready to twist it further.

  Roman stared back at Griffin, his eyes vacant and his face dull that the other vampire very much enjoyed.

  "Griffin!" came Ms. Dante's furious voice, and her eyes looking back and forth between Griffin and Roman. "What do you think you are doing?!" demanded the vampiress.

  Griffin cursed himself internally, forgetting that the fire must have alerted the people who were outside, and he dropped his hand to his side. Turning to her, he said, "I did it on Elder Luciano's orders, Ms. Dante. Roman has decided to go against the orders by protecting the witch who has been colluding with the Mortimers or the hunters."

  "What are you even speaking about, Griffin?" Ms. Dante glared, not liking the sneaky approach that had been used by the boy.

  "It is the truth, Ms. Dante," Griffin was quick to reply to her question, and he said, "Elder Luciano has ordered me to get her to him, but she has been trying to attack me and the guards. She's working with this morm right here," he said, jerking his head towards Caleb.

  Caleb's eyes widened, and he said, "I don't even know what he is talking about colluding. Julianne and I were in the restricted forest to check the cameras because their positions were changed. When this asshole decided to attack us."

  Griffin glared at Caleb, who was quick to take shelter behind Castiel. He said, "I caught them moving the camera's. Why would I ever dare to do—"

  "To the Elder's mansion. Right now," ordered Ms. Dante trying to keep her calm and not wanting to hear more story. "You too, Roman. Where is Julianne?" as she didn't find the young witch here.

  Julie sat in the corridor, on the other side of the building, with her back leaned against the wall, and her legs stretched out as she tried to get her breath back.

  "You tried your luck," commented Cillian, and Julie didn't respond. But she did open her eyes and turned to look at the Corvin, who stood in front of her. "It was your first time using that amount of your soul. You could have killed yourself."

  "We couldn't leave the fire like this. It would cause unnecessary attention," also, Julie wanted to be useful instead of always being a bystander. She wanted to help in any form, no matter how big or small it was. "Is Roman alright?" she asked the Corvin.

  Cillian stayed quiet for five seconds and then replied, "Yes, he's fine. The others have entered the building."

  "That's good to hear," Julie whispered in a low voice. At least the two of them couldn't fight and hurt each other now, she thought in her mind. She asked, "Is there any way to remove a person's ability? The vampires……"

  Cillian wondered how much pain Julie had experienced when Griffin had attacked her. "There is, but it is something we don't usually do. Abilities don't always stay the same, and they can turn from good to worse, which is why witches can never steal abilities from others. The only vampire who has stolen it, is the person who is against us."

  "The Mortimer's?" asked Julie.

  "Yes. Those ones." After a few more seconds passed, Cillian apologized, "I am sorry I wasn't able to help you earlier."

  Julie shook her head, "You helped me more than I expected from you. It's all good," and she smiled.

  "Winters!" came Roman's voice, and Julie turned in the direction where he appeared. Placing her hand on the floor, she pushed herself to stand, and he came to her. "Are you alright?" He looked at her face with concern and her body to make sure she wasn't hurt.

  "I am. Are you?" Julie returned the question. She stared at him with a little worry. "Your flames were too much and didn't stop."

  "You could have killed her," came the comment from Cillian, and the softness in Roman's eyes hardened. His gaze shifted from Julie to look at the Corvin.

  "The flames would never harm her," replied Roman.

  "Can you be sure about it?" Cillian questioned him.

  "I am fine, Cillian," Julie assured the Corvin, who continued to stare at Roman. "Everyone is fine now." She then said to Roman, "The security cameras will need to be repositioned. There must be more than one blindspot in Veteris."

  The others had already left the building. When Roman and Julie left the corridor so that they could go to the Elder's mansion to deal with the chaos they had created here, the Corvin stood there for some time. It then brought its hand forward, where the twig-like fingers had been burnt.

  Earlier on, seeing the flames and knowing Julie was inside, the Corvin had appeared in the middle of the flames to make sure she was alright.

  "Never did I think that this day would come," whispered the Corvin in its ragged voice.

  But when he had first seen her, he never knew that she was related to Opaline's family. To think he would have taken a liking to the girl, who was destined to be with one of his families descendant. She was like a breeze and knowing there couldn't be anything more, he had bound himself to her, to keep her close yet at a distance.

  He knew somewhere down the line it was wrong, and he placed his hand on the empty shell of his chest, where there was no heart beating behind the ribcage.

  In the Elder's mansion, the Elders and the staff sat in the large living room, with the younger vampires, the morm and Julie standing at the side.

  "Where is Donovan and Luciano?" questioned Ms. Dante, as they weren't here yet.

  "Probably fighting somewhere in the corner of the property," murmured Remy, where he had crossed his arms, and his eyes shifted to look at Julie.