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There went my fucking tears again, teaming up with the rain to stream down my face. Sobs bubbled out of me, memories flashing by, Pearl’s voice in my head.

I need you, sis. I need you so much.

My protector.

My whole world.

She’d know what to do. She’d know the right things to say. She certainly wouldn’t languish on this platform with a heart breaking repeatedly. She had definitely been the best of us, the brightest one for Caer and Gavriel to choose.

Not me. Not pathetic me falling in love with vampire kings, as useless as a paper plane in a hurricane.

Defeat crushed my soul. Piece by piece, squeezing out the juice of me.

I can’t do this…

I sneered at myself for being so weak.

But the inner voice was right. I couldn’t do this. There was only so much I could take before completely shattering, done and spent and over this whole thing.

Only, a kernel of aggression forced me to stop this downward slide. A little epiphany packing power. It got me to my feet, done with me feeling sorry for myself., reminding me to draw upon the trauma of loss, of my existence, and fight for what was right.

Clean up a mess, get to the future, and see how it unfurled.

Beginning with the death of the vampire king…

The kernel flared, a rejection of the giving-up stuff. Nope, it wanted to give the underwater forge a whirl. A hopeful little fucker. I liked that, the smile it conjured wiped away some of my pain.

Emphasis on the some.

I wasn’t exactly basking in positive sunshine here, but at least I wasn’t whimpering and waiting to roll into the damn river.

Fight on.

That’s what Pearl would do.

Okay, time to get off the platform.

Ugh. Did I have to try swimming in that oily-looking water with a storm crashing around in the sky? Yeah, I wouldn’t survive for long in there, no matter how good my breaststroke was.

As I considered my next move, the platform gave me a shove. I stumbled forward, my heart leaping into my throat. I fully expected to be forced to swim for my life, only to arrive on the riverbank safe and sound.

Huh?

I glanced back, seeing nothing or no one.

Take the win, dickhead, I scolded myself.

Whatever.

My guts gurgled as I met the eyes of the others, nerves put through their paces. Medusa was pointing a gun at Aidan, his peepers narrowed in my direction. Caer watched me with arms folded before her, totally unreadable but probably furious, her damp white dress clinging to her body.

Silv ignited my hateful fires again.

The crystal dagger appeared. “Get out of here!” I warned him.

He nodded, Medusa moved toward me while keeping the gun trained on Aidan.

Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!