And for the first time, I didn’t feel alone inside my own skin.
I felt Lilibet, Seraphine, Maera, and every queen who had ever breathed through my soul.
Their abilities hit me—but they didn’t touch me.
Light exploded outward from my spine, my sternum, my palms—a crown-shaped blaze of ancestral fire.
It slammed Selene and Ubel back against the far wall, pinning them like insects in amber.
The chamber shook.
Tanya, Razor, and Malik shielded their eyes. Rue fell to the floor.
And I felt every queen inside me—not passing me power, butjoiningme.
My feet lifted off the ground.
My hair whipped around me like a storm.
The crown mark burned gold, no longer broken, no longer fractured by curse or betrayal.
A voice boomed through me—the voice of every life, every queen, every Ancestor. “YOUR QUEEN RISES.”
The chamber walls cracked outward as the energy burst through the mountain.
And that’s when my family arrived.
Chapter 38
Reverie
Oren burst through the shattered stone first, blackened wings of shadow spreading behind him without him even realizing it. It brought a tear to my eye how similar he was to his uncle in ability and temperament.
Nathan’s flames died the moment he saw me—replaced with awe so raw it made my chest ache.
Zeke and Zane skidded to a halt beside him, their Draxon eyes glowing like Starfire.
Jet whispered, voice hoarse, “Holy shit… she’s… she’s crowned.”
All of them looked like they’d been in a horrible battle. Clothes torn and blood covering them.
Mom entered the chamber with Grumpy, Pops, and Dad circling her protectively.
And when she saw Rue, Mom froze.
She was wearing the twin swords Zeke had gifted me on each side of her hips. They’d been lying beside me before Trent took me. Her eyes found Selene pinned to the wall by my power.
A tremor went through her. Not fear but of pure, unadulterated hate.
Selene hissed, “Adelaide—you bitch—don’t?—”
Mom didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward, and my fathers stepped back, giving her room.
I lowered my power just enough for her to approach—the queens inside me humming in approval.
Mom stopped inches from Selene, looking her dead in the face. “For my daughter and my Sly,” she whispered.
Then she pulled Ashfang from its sheath and drove it straight into Selene’s throat in one clean, unflinching strike.
