The Sire's appearance sent the followers scattering in terror.
But I just sneered to myself.
Right on time.

In my past life, Lilith's curse killed me so easily for one reason.
Our Sire had been siphoning my power the entire time I cleansed the plague.
Only then did I realize she had been plotting for years, using my sister and me as her personal power batteries.
Lilith's face went white. "Sire... why are you here?" she stammered.
"Why am I here?" The Sire slowly descended, her blood-red eyes scanning the ritual circle. "My dear daughter is about to abandon her family. Shouldn't she say goodbye to her creator?"
Her voice was sweet as honey, but laced with deadly cold.

"I... I just wanted a better future..." Lilith stuttered.
"A better future?" The Sire chuckled.
She reached out and caressed Lilith's cheek, her nail leaving a bloody scratch.
"My blood flows in your veins. You carry a thousand years of my power. All of it was a gift from me."

"And now you want to throw it all away?" The Sire's tone turned dangerous. "In that case... I'll have to reclaim what is mine."
Lilith finally understood her true intent.
"No!" she cried, stumbling backward. "You can't! This is my body! My power!"
"Yours?" The Sire scoffed. "Child, without my Embrace, you'd be a pile of bones. Now, I'm taking back what's mine."
She spread her arms, and black tentacles erupted from her body, surging toward the center of the circle.
Just then, I leaped down from the distant hill.
"Sire!" I knelt before her respectfully. "Please, calm your anger!"
"Elena?" The Sire looked at me, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
I feigned loyalty. "I am the one who told you of my sister's plan, Sire. Lilith betrayed our kind. I thought you should know."
The Sire nodded, pleased.
"Very good, Elena. You're much smarter than your sister." She stroked my hair. "A loyal child deserves a reward."
"Thank you for your grace, Sire," I said, my head bowed.
Lilith stared at me in disbelief.
"Elena!" she shrieked. "How could you betray me? I'm your sister!"
"Betray you?" I stood up, sneering. "Lilith, you betrayed our kind first. You were going to abandon us. Isn't that betrayal?"
The Sire smiled, satisfied.
"Well said, Elena. Now, let me reclaim what is mine."
Her black tentacles exploded outward, violently tearing at the ritual's energy structure. Immense holy light and dark power collided. A massive explosion. The circle crumbled, sending shards of energy flying everywhere.
Lilith was hit by the backlash. She coughed up blood and collapsed.
"Cassian!" she cried out in desperation. "Save me!"
At that moment, a beam of holy light descended from the sky.
Cassian appeared at the edge of the circle.
He wielded a holy sword, clad in silver battle armor. He looked like a god of war.
But he didn't run to Lilith. He pointed his sword directly at our Sire.
"Demon, die!"
A waterfall of holy light poured down, crashing directly onto the Sire.
The Sire, not expecting a Holy Knight to be here, roared at me. "Elena! Didn't you tell me you had dealt with this priest?"
I sat calmly to the side.
"Mother, you are a liar. Why would you ever trust the words of another?"
"You!"
The Sire tried to strike at me, but Cassian moved to block the blow, shielding me with his own body. The two of them fought, nearly tearing the entire church apart.
Just as I was about to intervene, Adrian appeared.
"Little vampire," he said, "where did you attract this old monster from? You're always saying I don't understand strategy. Today, I'll show you the art of werewolf combat!"
Bringing Adrian to my side was part of the plan. He had killed my sister without mercy. A man with a heart of stone. A soul like that must taste awful.
I had no intention of ever eating it.
With Adrian's help, Cassian's odds improved.
Cassian's holy light and Adrian's wolf claws struck the Sire at the same time. Though powerful, she began to falter under the two-front attack. Black blood splattered on the ground as her form started to destabilize.
"I won't accept this!" she roared one last time. "I will not die like this!"
Just as she was about to escape, the collapsing ritual circle created a massive gravitational pull. The uncontrolled energy formed a giant vortex, dragging the Sire toward its center.
"No!" The Sire struggled desperately, but she couldn't break free.
The powerful suction pulled her, inch by inch, into the core of the energy storm. Just before she was completely consumed, she looked at me with pure hatred and screamed her final curse:
"Elena, you little bitch! You conspired with the Church to betray me! I curse you! May you never walk in the sun again!"
I closed the lid of the silver coffin and sent my Sire on her final journey.