Kade gave his life so I could change the world. And I’ve honored that every day of my immortal existence.
With all that I am. Bold and brave.
A whisper floats out of me as I stare at the dead king: “Forever may we reign.”
Second limps to my side and grips my shoulder as Del groans awake behind us, eyes wide with surprise.
I spin, tears running down my cheeks and blood dripping from my blades. I toss my weapons, collapsing under emotion I can no longer hold.
Second kneels as my sobs turn into a silent scream threatening to stomp me out of existence. The wash of pain and relief is equal in measure. My mission has held me close to Kade, fueling me, reminding me of him and the life I loved, and now it’s like he’s leaving, whispering away. As though his magic has been twining with mine, now, something untangles from me.
I always took the chance of dreamwalking. Even if it was just once a year that the gods let me spend a night with Kade, it was always worth it. The brush of his fingertips, the adoration in his sparking blue eyes, the feel of his mouth on my skin, lying in his lap while he twirled my hair with his strong hands or in a cage with our blades clashing. It wasalwaysworth it. And I tried not to let the yearning drive me mad when I awoke aloneand suffered in a despair so cruel I didn’t want to take my next breath.
We almost didn’t make it here. After the sixth consecutive dreamwalk reliving Kade’s death, I begged Second to kill me. And then I begged Charlotte when he wouldn’t. I knew I couldn’t have taken another full moon in the same memory.
But the gods gave me the gift of reprieve, and I found my way back in the arms of my husband the following month. And the cruel desperation began all over again.
The curse of the vampire.
I haven’t let myself love anyone else with unfulfilled promises and his memory still so alive. A constant ache has been my companion, and we’ve carried one another for a long time.
“It’s over,” Second comforts, his palm spread on my back. “You did it, and I’m so proud of you.”
I’m proud of us, too.
Second darts from me, escaping the sunrise from the unshuttered window beside us as light spills into Nerian’s lair.
Del, Aurelia, and Second don’t move from the shadow they stand in, frozen and staring.
And then I feel it.
Warmth streams through the window, sunshine beaming on me.
But I don’t burn. There’s no pain.
I bask in the memory of my humanity as my Hunter magic twirls and spins. A glowing warmth from within warbles the sweetest summons—the call of the Hunter cascades through me in a consuming caress.
A new breed, indeed. A vampire Huntress.
“What the fuck is happening?” Del asks, slowly dragging himself to standing. Aurelia folds into his side underneath his arm, her eyes flashing red.
“I don’t know,” I whisper, staring back at my hands in the sunshine.
He snorts at me. “We should begin your rule withhonesty, Veya.”
I drag my gaze to Del, sun blinding me for the first time in two centuries, and fresh tears slide down my cheeks through a growing smile.
“Agreed, Patrick,” I say to him.
Del’s kind, piercing eyes widen at the sound of his human name.
Out of the reach of the sun, Second offers his hand and pulls me to standing, tears in his own eyes.
Relief floods me, and I look up at my Hunter brother. “This is Riot,” I tell Del, my voice quivering.
Second unleashes his toothy grin at Del, Riot’s humanity flashing into existence for the shortest moment.
I pull the chain that Ialwayshold in my pocket.
