“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” she whispered.
I held on to her shoulders, attempting to hold her down on solid ground. “Live.”
Her lips curled down into a pout. Suddenly she was four again.
“Promise me that, Olivia. Live and be happy.”
She nodded, sniffling.
My eyes caught the necklace around her neck. She wore the rabbit’s foot. I reached out and stroked the soft fur. Leo had survived, thank Brennus. I had failed miserably at attempting to casually bring up the subject of Olivia with him. I ended up just telling him he should talk to her.
“Did you speak with Leo?”
A speck of light illuminated her eyes as she smiled softly, a rosy hue spreading across her cheeks. “I did. I’m going to see him tonight.”
I grinned as I pulled her into a tight hug. Mother shifted, drawing my attention to her. It was clear she hadn’t been sleeping. Her skin lacked its usual glow, her eyes of sapphire muted and distant. She stepped closer, still holding herself in that demure way of hers.
“I need you to know ...” Her voice held a heaviness to it, as if she was holding up a crumbling wall, desperate to keep away what laid beyond. “I did not know any of this, what your father did. I had no idea. He betrayed me too,” she paused, searching for the words. Her hesitance broke me a little. “I’m ashamed of how I’ve treated you. I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I am sorry, my dear Charlotte.”
I stood stunned for a moment, not quite sure how to absorb the words. It was a relief to know that she was just as in the dark as the rest of us, that she didn’t condone what Father had done. Though her words could not erase the pain from the last twenty-six years. Those scars were permanent. I was grateful to hear her apology, to be able to see her through a different lens.
I gasped as she hugged me. I didn’t remember the last time she had hugged me. Had she ever? I hesitated to return it, until I forced my arms around her. This may be the one and only time I hugged her. When we parted, she nodded once. I nodded back. It may not have been the goodbye expected of a mother and daughter, but it was all we could give each other.
Sebastian came through the doors then, and his presence cut through the mournful air, easing the weight off my chest. “The carriage is ready.”
I went to him, taking his hand, turning back to my small family. I looked to each of them. Elsie’s wild mane of curls and the look of pride on her face, seeing the woman she raised off to a new life. Olivia’s reddened eyes, though woeful, were rimmed with hope. And Mother’s usual cold exterior seemed to warm, and for the first time in my life she looked to me as a mother should.
A breath caught in my throat. Sebastian squeezed my hand bringing me back to earth. I said my goodbyes, hoping to the gods and goddesses I’d find a way back to them.
* * *
The portal had a new meaning to me now. I had unknowingly opened it with Alaric, and it made sense to me now why I was always drawn to it. Its swirling black abyss mesmerizing, beckoning me into another world, the world I connected with my own.
We stood before it. We would be the last to go through. The two members guarding it would retire their post. They stood uneasilybeside us. I was familiar with them, Michael and Eldridge. Though Sebastian had worked with them, they couldn’t quite meet him in the eye. Everyone had to adjust to the transition. We all worked together to get the vampires to Dreigo. The Society was absorbed into the king’s guard, where they would patrol for any vampires that somehow managed to slip through the cracks.
Right on time, the sound of hooves echoed through the woods. Pari rode into view, and I beamed as I took in the sight of her. She donned the royal colors, midnight blue and black. The first uniform tailored to fit a female soldier. She swung her leg over, hopping off, and she held her head a little higher as she strode over to me.
She clutched my arms. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me.”
I smiled as a tear slipped down. “I can’t believe it either.”
We held each other’s eyes a moment, seeming to run through every memory we’ve ever had with each other. She was like a sister to me, and I was losing nearly everyone I loved in one day. But I was a bridge between worlds, and that bridge would fall today. And I could finally live, not a normal life but a life of my own.
“Did you see him?”
Her eyes held a look of knowing. “Yes. He is to be executed in three days.”
With the sudden finality of his end, I let out a long exhale, letting go of the perception I had always held of my father. His true nature was new to me. I was only attached to a mask, and that I would grieve.
With him gone, my family would be taken care of. As Prince of Svealin with access to seemingly unending resources, Sebastian made arrangements.
“I will find a way back to you. This is not goodbye.”
She smirked, her rich brown eyes welling with tears. “Never goodbye.”
And after a final hug that hurt to break, Sebastian and I stepped through the portal.
* * *
