Page 19 of Plug and Tame

“Because if the world is to have any hope of regaining balance between all of its creatures—vampires, wolves, witches, and humans—it needs a leader who is strong and pure of heart. You aren’t just destined to unite the wolves, Kira. You’re the one who can unite us all. Not only are you both vampire and wolf, but your birth was blessed by witches. You have magic in your veins, and thanks to Mary and Byron, you were raised amongst humans and have compassion for them. You’re the daughter of all the world’s creatures. Our key to restoring peace in the world.”

Kira rubbed her face. It was a lot of information to take in.

Too much fucking information.

“And you knew all that, did you?” she asked. “Your fourteen-year-old self?”

“I was nineteen when I first found you. I’d had a lot of time to observe and learn, and too much time watching my father become the ruler I feared he would be. But I never stopped searching for you. By the time I found you, I had a plan in place. But I had help. You see, you were not the first person I saved, and the night of the Revolution was not the first time my father found cause to whip me.”

Kira winced. “Your father should not have done that.”

She couldn’t deny that Henrikk was the true monster, corrupting everything he touched. But not his son. Now that Nathaniel had confided in her, she felt a mixture of relief and regret. Victoria had been right—Nathaniel was not like his father. “So, who did you save?”

“Barbara,” Nathaniel said. “After my father finished ransacking the witch covens, I was sent after her to kill her. I had her cornered, but I hesitated, and she escaped. A few nights later…when I was lying in bed, recovering from my father’s punishment…” He let out a long exhale.

Kira did not dare ask what the punishment had been.

“Barbara came and found me in secret,” Nathaniel went on. “She claimed to be the last witch left in existence, and she had come to ask for my help.”

“Do not tell me Barbara fucking orchestrated the plan to overthrow Henrikk,” Kira growled. She would be furious if that woman—nice as she was—with a head stuffed with wool, had been responsible for the course her life had taken.

“No, it was not Barbara’s idea. But she shared knowledge with me over the years, which later inspired me to find a way to set the world right. And you were crucial to that plan. Even though a part of me wanted to let you live your life in peace.”

“I wish I’d known all this sooner,” Kira said sadly.

“If Byron and Mary hadn’t taken you away when you turned eighteen, we would have had more time to prepare. I had hoped to tell you everything. As it is, my thirtieth birthday approaches, and on that same day, my wedding to Gloria.”

“Still going to marry her, huh?” She pulled away from Nathaniel and began twisting the fabric of her sleeves.

He rested a hand on hers to steady them. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to support you, Kira. Even the unpleasant things.”

“Marrying Gloria is an ‘unpleasant thing’?”

“Well…just wait until you meet her.”

I don’t want to meet her, she thought to herself.

Nathaniel coaxed her hand open, and she didn’t resist as his fingers interlaced with hers.

“If I could change the past, I would. But I can’t even change the present without your help. So here I am, Princess, kneeling before you. In awe of you. Asking for your help as I strive to be more than what I was.”

“Are you actually kneeling?” she asked dryly.

“It was a figure of speech,” he chuckled.

She heard him shift his position in the dark so he was in front of her, presumably on his knees, his hand still holding hers.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yes. You were saying?”

“Only you can unite every faction without bloodshed,” he continued. “And should you have children one day, your magic will pass to them. You are the witches’ only hope of not dying out completely.”

“I don’t feel like I have any magic,” Kira admitted.

“Not yet. But you will. You need only to drink a vampire’s blood to awaken your powers.”

A strange tremor ran through her, heating her core, and causing her shoulders to tingle. Surprisingly, the thought of drinking Nathaniel’s blood was not the worst thing in the world. And the fact that he would want to share it with her felt intimate in a way she couldn’t describe.