She’d refused Lucien’s offer to come to America. She wanted to be alone. I wasn’t sure where they’d end up after this. I felt I’d ended their marriage the same as I ended Emma’s life.
Lucien uncapped a flask and took a swig. The smell of vodka hit my nose. He wasn’t one to drink. Lucien was an honorable man, always willing to keep up the good fight, but this seemed to be his limit on what he’d accept out of life. It was terribly sad, watching such a strong and wise warrior turn into a drunk.
I’d driven him there.
“Stefan wishes to speak with you,” Lucien said after clearing his throat. “He’s waiting.”
“I cannot leave her.”
“Go. I will sit vigil.”
Parting from Emma’s body, even for a moment, was torture of the sheerest kind. But she wasn’t there anymore, and I had friends who needed me. With a great deal of effort, I got up, and proceeded toward the entrance to the cathedral. Tygrys followed, hovering behind me with humming wings. My feet felt like they were stepping on daggers, body full of lead as I exited the main sanctuary.
Stefan, Delmare, Theo and Odette were in a private room off the entrance hall, all dressed in black. Stefan and Theo remained in the corner, their heads bowed. Odette had refused to look at so much as a bottle of water since everything had happened. She sat in a wooden chair and stared at a burning candle, watching it die out.
Delmare sniffed as she lifted Isaak in her arms. She’d barely said a word since Emma had been gone, and when she did, she started crying. She thought it was better to stay silent.
It pained me how empty the room felt. Three of us were dead now. That only five were left made things feel incredibly barren.
Emma would be appalled. All of us dressed in all our finest funeral gear, looking somber and unable to stop crying. She’d want us to go out in the sunlight and enjoy the day.
How could we without her, Alexei, and Kiara?
I nearly heard Emma say,This is gross. You guys need to stop being dramatic and make a dick joke or something.
A smile barely lifted my lips as I heard the ghost of her voice in my mind. She would definitely say something like that.
“You wanted to see me?” My voice cracked as I looked at Stefan. I couldn’t imagine why any of them wanted anything to do with me ever again.
I knew at least one person in this foyer shared that sentiment. Since I’d confessed to them what I’d done, Delmare had been unable to look me in the eye. I knew; she hated me.
And Stefan loved me, and was my best friend. He did not blame me, and she did. That caused division between them. I’d overheard them tearfully arguing about it before the cathedral had closed late last night.
My mere existence was causing damage to everyone. Was I going to end their marriage, too?
Stefan nodded, and pushed off the wall. “We need to decide what we’re going to do with their ashes.”
I understood his meaning without him having to explain more. The day after the battle, we’d burned Kiara and Alexei on a joint pyre, and combined their remains into a single urn. The only question we had now was where they should be buried.
“The urn should go to Kiara’s family. Siona and her parents weren’t able to be at the funeral,” Theo added quietly.
“What about Alexei?” Delmare asked.
“We’ll keep some,” Theo decided. “We’ll spread a pile of their ashes in the woods outside of the university. Then we’ll give the rest to Siona. It’s the right thing to do.”
No one objected further, so it appeared we all agreed.
Theo said, “Do you think we caused this?”
Odette had been silent throughout this whole thing, but now she whispered, “Yes.”
The room went silent at her answer, and Theo went to explain. “We took the dragon oath to unite the stones at any cost, even upon death. The stones needed a sacrifice to unite— any sacrifice, not just Emma’s. Kiara figured that out before the rest of us did. She and Alexei died to fulfill it. Maybe it wasn’t even their choice. The oath’s magic bound them to it.”
“I knew when we took that oath some of us weren’t getting out of this,” Stefan said gravely.
“So it’s confirmed,” I said darkly. “The dragon oath killed them.”
“Of course it did! Perhaps if we hadn’t made that vow, they’d still be here today,” Delmare spat, and a tear slipped down her cheek.
