“You came,” I say, voice breaking and tears filling my eyes.
The vampire leans into me. “Your father and brother are bursting with pride. I know it in mybones,” he whispers.
I glance up at the male who has stood by me for two hundred years, never faltering. “Thank you, Rhett,” I whisper back, bursting with gratefulness. “Thank you for being here.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Grace.”
I fight back my tears, and my heart warms with my appreciation for Rhett all these years. He joined Riot and me in our mission, twenty years after our first siege on Goreon Castle, knowing he would lose his magic, too. Because the gods stripped Riot of his magic when I turned him. Still, Rhett followed him into that hell.
That will never be a price I ask any Hunter to pay.
Rhett’s wife, Rosy, understood his choice to follow us and uphold our promises to Kade. After all, Rosy had a life because Kade rescued her from the dungeons below us and sent her to Lou’s when she had nowhere to go, and that’s where she found Rhett. They fell in love in a way I know better than most. But then Rhett turned, joining us, and watched Rosy and their children age and die. They’re now buried in Lilygate. Rhett is still suffering in that pain.
It’s acruelthing, a Hunter losing their magic if they choose to turn. You become everything you hated and lose all that you loved. Riot was the first to ever do that, and the loss of his magic almost killed him. He lost the man he was. A Hunter died, but the gods forced his heart to keep beating.
Immortality for the price of his magic.
I can’t imagine losing what runs through my veins now. Yet I’m still unsure what balance will be demanded from me; I'm a vampire and Hunter magic simmers and twirls within me.
“Are you ready?” Del asks, eyes skirting to mine.
I smile at him. “Yes.”
He summons the doors open, and we emerge into the crowded hall.
Night Kingdom warriors line the aisle wearing armor and proud faces. We’veallbeen waiting for this moment.
Del and I drift down the center, moving with unburdened hearts, side by side, with our populace surrounding us and Second behind us. The throne room brims with Goreon citizens, humans, and vampires waiting to witness the crowning of their new queen. It turns out, most of Nerian’s courthatedlife here; their fear kept them in line and in debt to Nerian. I forgave those debts, but it’s going to be a long journey as we deal with bloodlust addiction and wealth that needs to be dispersed to the people.
“How do we kill a thousand years of belief and poisoned ideology?” Del asks as we approach the dais.
“I have a plan.”
He scoffs. “Of course you do.”
“There is always a way,” I tell him and glance at my crown resting on the throne before us. “You know, I’ve thought more about the appointment of the Goreon second.”
His responding smolder coaxes an eye roll from me.
“Don’t roll those stunning emerald eyes at me, my queen.”
I unleash a smile, my heart stuttering unexpectedly at the compliment.
I’m ready for the next chapter. For the next life. My humanity avenged, my kingdom on the brink of peace, my promises fulfilled.
I finger the Hunter pendant at my chest, starving to insert the crest in its intended place and lay eyes on Mortifer once again.
And a visit to Castle Ruthlessness is due. My kinsfolk wait for me.
Del, Second, and I climb the first riser to the dais.
“Did you come to a decision?” Del asks as Second approaches the thrones, lifting my crown, and steps up next to me.
“We’ll talk about it afterward,” I say as the officiant speaks the inaugural words of Goreon rule, withseveralamendments we made over the past few days.
Del shakes his head at me and my delay in his appointment, but his smile is relentless underneath the joy in his eyes.
“Congratulations, Grace. Forever may you reign,” Second whispers as he places the crown on my head.
