Shock replaced the rage.
"Oh," he said softly, touching the wound.
His gaze lifted to mine, lost and afraid. Even still, he reached for the crown, smearing blood on it. His grip was weak as he tried and failed to wrestle it to from my grasp.
I let go of the sword as he stumbled back. I could have ripped it free and watched him bleed out faster, but I chose not to. Despite everything, I hadn't wanted his death.
"I told you to stop. You should have listened."
The blood he'd left behind on the crown soaked into the metal, tinging it red. The fighting around us came to a stop as if the imminent death required witnesses.
Cadell and Niall raced into the room, a swarm of vampires following.
They slowed to a stop as did the rest of those fighting, as if Travis's wound had called a cease fire—at least temporarily.
Travis sank to his knees, still trying to take the crown. I didn't move, letting him grasp and pull, all the while knowing his attempts were useless.
His hand fell to his chest as his blood pooled under him.
I tried to feel sadness for this man I'd once thought was friend, but all I felt was numb. He deserved this fate even if I hadn't wanted to be the one who gave it him.
A choked whisper came from him.
I knelt down at his side.
"It's mine. It was always supposed to be mine," he said haltingly.
I shook my head. "It was never yours. Maybe if you'd realized that sooner, you could have found an alternate path."
He hadn't and this was the result.
I straightened.
Callie and Don stared at their former friend with complicated expressions. He would have killed them without an ounce of remorse and yet they regretted his passing.
Damn. I'd really hoped I wouldn't feel any connection with them.
I knew those feelings: the rage and sorrow, grief and anger. All wrapped into a knotted ball of emotion.
You remembered the good times even as you realized it was nothing but a lie.
Until this moment, a part of me had believed I wouldn't have to choose. I could have let the realm fall as my father had before me.
Standing here in the face of their confusion and hurt, I knew I couldn't do that.
Other Scattered crept closer. They were a pitiful lot, many nothing but skin and bones. Others had haunted eyes I knew I'd see in my nightmares.
The former bird galloped up to me, sitting at my feet as it gave me a look of doggy devotion.
I didn't know if it had chosen its current form or if it had taken it from my imagination, but this incarnation looked like a big black dog. It had a wide snout, almost like a hippopotamus’s and there were wrinkles around its face. Tentacles extended from its jaw. Dark eyes stared out of the folds with the same intelligence I'd seen in the tentacle beast. Its body was powerful and strong.
Whispers at the sight swept the room.
Callie and Don stared at my new doggy buddy with awe.
"Alches," Don said with reverence.
Seeing my questioning look, Callie responded, "Alches was the old king's personal hound and protector. We haven't seen him since the realm fell."
