The music ended, sending the room into silence.
“He is meant to be king,” I answered, before West could speak. “We were never meant to be, not from the beginning, Troy. Accept this.”
He shook his head. “You will never accept it, Roam. Not after what we’ve shared. You’ll be dreaming of me inside of you for the rest of your life.”
I was shoved against the wall as West lunged. Both hit the mat with a heavy thud. Troy punched him, and then tried to drive the knife into his neck. West was quicker, twisting Troy’s wrist in an abnormal angle until he dropped the blade.
And then West was beating him with both fists, and I flattened my body against the stone, unable to make a sound.
Troy tried to fight back. I knew West had magic on his side, but nothing supernatural could stop the human rage pouring from my husband’s soul. He kept his powers dormant, his knuckles driving into Troy’s face over and over, until the clicking sound drew his attention.
His eyes moved to the doorway.
Eva stepped forward, her Glock aimed at Troy’s head.
“That’s enough, Dad. Go to Mom, she’s about to faint,” she said evenly, moving across the floor.
West stood, brushing at his nose with the back of his arm. His knuckles were mangled. He came to me, and I took one look at his bloody hands before collapsing into his arms.
“Eva, wait,” West started toward her, but she held up her hand, indicating he stay.
Troy’s broken nose dripped with blood, but he wiped it away and growled, pulling himself to his feet.
“My father has made your son a promise,” Eva said, chambering the round. “You remember me, don’t you? You remember that night at the Romani camp, all of those years ago…,” she taunted, tilting her head to the side. I knew her tone; this was the equivalent of her playing with her food, toying before striking.
I knew my daughter.
And I knew what she intended to do.
“Eva, no-”
“Hold on, Mom,” she said without turning. Troy kept his eyes fixed on Eva, panting. “Yeah, you remember. You want to know what I remember?” She asked, laughing lightly. “I don’t remember anything but this life. Because you took my life, and my mother’s life, every single time. You had a choice, but you’re weak.” She spat the words at him, and I could feel her anger building. “Logan had a choice, and he chose what’s right. He’s strong. My father could have killed you just now, but he didn’t. He’s honorable.”
West tightened his grip on me, remaining silent.
“My mother is crying for you,” she tilted her head back, in my direction, never taking her eyes off Troy’s. “She’s crying for your ending. She’s compassionate.”
“Yes, she is,” Troy agreed softly, his eyes meeting mine. I brushed at my tears, holding my breath.
“And my husband, Will? He insisted that you live. Because he’s noble.” She chuckled softly. Logan ran through the doorway, skidding to a halt as he absorbed the scene.
“But you know what I am, Troy?” She lowered the gun to her side, and my ability to breathe stopped all together. The ringing in my ears began, and I longed for, prayed for, begged to faint before she did what I knew she was going to do.
“What are you?” Troy coaxed gently, almost relieved as she let the gun rest at her hip.
Her frequency pierced the silence.
“I’m my father’s daughter. And I’m made of fire.”
With the wave of her hand, Troy was thrown against the wall. I tried to run for him, but West held me back, even as I screamed. Logan gripped my forearm, calling my name, but the confusion, the anger, and the sadness of all the years consumed me as I met Troy’s eyes.
She laid her hand over his chest. He didn’t fight; he only met my eyes, focused, intent on keeping my gaze.
“I loved you,” he said to me, defeated.
“I know,” I exhaled, wincing and turning to West’s chest with a sob.
Eva scoffed, and flames burst all around her, creating an inferno of heat as she trapped him. “You have to have a heart to love. Let me find it.”
My daughter pushed against his chest, and Troy closed his eyes as she set his beating heart on fire.
Chapter Thirty-One
West
“Roam,” I turned her in my arms as she cried, running my hands over her wet hair, pressing my lips to her forehead. “Baby, it’s okay,” I promised.
“I know,” she acknowledged. “I don’t know why… I feel… this way…”
“Because you’re you,” Logan answered for her, and I watched him go to Violet even as Eva worked the keypad on the secret room. “And you never lost yourself, Roam. Not through it all.” He added, reaching for Violet.
Eva threw the secret door open and ran for her daughter. I watched as Logan and Violet knelt before Wynn and Rose, holding them in their arms.
“They’ve surrendered.” Christopher’s voice drew my attention, and he walked directly past all of us, taking inventory of Troy’s dead body before moving straight to the frightened girl standing next to Eva. I realized that it was Valerie. “The army has surrendered to him. Will has complete control. Cole is helping him, and I need to get back. You’re okay?” He held Valerie’s face, and she nodded quickly, her fingers gripping Christopher’s wrists.
“I am,” she acknowledged. He tugged her into his arms, hugging her tightly.
“Well, since you’re only fifteen, I guess I can’t kiss you,” he answered. She pulled away, raising one eyebrow at him.
“You had better kiss me, Christopher Perry.”
He grinned, and I turned back to Roam, letting him have his moment. She looked up at me, all the love in the world shining in her eyes.
“Hold on to me, West,” she whispered.
I held her face in my hands, sliding my thumbs over her cheeks, gazing into the face of my seventeen-year-old wife. “I’ll hold you forever, Roam,” I hushed, kissing away her tears. “It’s over, baby. Really over.”
“You are together?”
I turned. Asher stood in the doorway with the help of Will. Will took one look at Troy before turning to me, but before I could speak, Eva was rushing to him.
“Sorry, Will, but this was no time for mercy. Worst fucking father-in-law ever.”
“Eva, language,” he chided quietly, holding his arms out for Perry. The infant continued to sleep even as Will gathered his family into his arms.
“There is no traveling forward, and no traveling back,” Asher said to me, and I stared into the cloudy blue eyes of my father, conceding to his words. “There is only right now, and onward. This is your life now, my son.”
“What about the suns?” Will glanced at the window as the first remnants of sunrise peeked on the horizon. “They shall continue to burn? What of the prophecy?”
Asher took a slow step forward, looking at me. “You have found your magic. I knew what you were capable of, I always knew, my son. With your help, and the help of your children, I can reverse this prophecy. I will stop the suns.”
“What do we need to do?” I answered quickly. “Chris, Eva, come here,” I ordered. They approached me cautiously, eyeing Asher as he held out his hand.
“There is strength in numbers in every world,” Asher said. We piled our hands on each other’s, and I watched the old man carefully. “I know the spell, I just need your power. Give it to me,” he directed.
I nodded, and the four of us closed our eyes.
After a moment, Asher’s voice interrupted our concentration. “Eva, you carry the most power. See this through,” he ordered.
She swallowed hard and nodded, and I could feel her focusing on every spare reserve of magic that she had.
When I opened my eyes again, I found Roam. She lifted her arm, staring at the place where Asher’s cell numbers had been imprinted onto her arm.
The numbers were gone.
“Immortality is gift, given only by the father.” Asher’s words drew my attention back to him,
and he took a step backward. “Each and every one of you will live out an eternity, in any world. When you so choose for your life to end, you have only to ask me.”
“All of us?” Logan clarified, and Asher nodded gravely.
“Valerie too?” Christopher asked hopefully, and Asher gave a smirk through his bearded mouth.
“Indeed. Perhaps you should ask King William of his thoughts right now,” he looked at Will with persistent eyes. “William has a task for you, my grandson.”
“Will?” Eva lifted her face to his, uncertainty in her expression. He gripped their infant daughter, nodding.
“Christopher,” he pressed a soft kiss to Perry’s head. “You have proved yourself more than worthy of this throne. Eva,” he turned to my daughter, brushing the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “I wish for us to raise our daughter on Earth. My father has brought a legacy of shame and cruelty to my name here, and it is… a Perry… who deserves to reign over Icepond.”
Eva pressed her lips together, and I waited for a torrent of angry obscenities and protests. Suddenly, her smile beamed, and she threw her arms around her husband and daughter. “Yes, Will… I want to go home,” she agreed.
“You… want me… to take over this kingdom?” Christopher’s face broke into a grin, and I smiled as he made every effort to act with as much decorum as possible. He released Valerie and took a step forward, bowing before Will. “I would be honored.”
“Don’t screw this up,” Eva warned him, pointing her bossy finger in his direction.
“I will help you,” Will promised Christopher. “You will make a fine king, and the magic that you possess will surely protect your people.”
“Asher,” Roam stepped forward, and I reached for her again. She leaned into my arms, covering her stomach with her hands. “If… I go home, will my child…”
He took a slow step forward, holding his hands out to her. She let him take them, and he squeezed them gently.
“You and my son have an eternity of love before you. The child in your womb will be born on Earth. She will be immortal, just as all the children that you bear by my son will be. You will call her Lydia, after your mother.”
Her chin quivered, tears streaming down her cheeks, and I felt my heart constrict as I imagined our unborn daughter. “West.” She turned to me. I wrapped her in my arms, kissing her gently, and tears threatened my own eyes.
“And the suns?” I demanded.
“One sun remains in Icepond, and one on Earth, and order has been restored. Well done, lass,” he added to Eva. “It is your magic that was needed to end this prophecy. You are more powerful than any force in both worlds. That is a heavy responsibility, but I trust that you are mature and quite capable now.”
“Holy fucking shit. She did save the world,” Christopher mused, and Eva shot him a disgusted grimace.
“Kings don’t swear,” she snapped, and then turned back to Asher sweetly. “Thank you, Grandfather, for all that you’ve taught me, even when I was a most… difficult student.”
“We are all but students of this world and every world, young Eva. There will always be much to learn.” He nodded, and Perry gave out a hungry cry.
“This castle is destroyed,” Christopher turned to me, raising his eyebrows. “You feel up to some remodeling?”
I nodded, turning to Roam. “Let me talk to your mom, and I’ll meet you in the hall.”
I walked with Roam through the hallways of the castle, remembering doing the very same thing not long ago… but hundreds of years before. I led her away from the room that I knew she had shared with Troy, finding an empty suite with all four walls still intact.
The moment I closed the door, she was in my arms. I held her, running my fingers over her face, her jaw, her neck, slowly dropping kisses over her lips, trying to absorb the reality of what had just happened…
And trying to believe that she was forever mine.
“Kiss me like it’s the first time, baby,” I urged, cradling her rounded abdomen in my hands. She smiled, covering my hands with her own, and I knew the far-away look in my wife’s emerald eyes.
She was feeling our baby move.
“No, West. Kiss me like it’s the last.”
I groaned, sweeping her into my arms.
After she was showered and comfortable, I left her sleeping peacefully in the bed, returning to the great hall. Christopher, Eva, and I worked together to repair the wreckage, and within an hour, we had the castle rebuilt to its original state. Eva was slowly getting better at producing items of necessity, but when she tried to conjure something that she simply wanted, the magic wouldn’t work.
“Magic is ethical,” Asher commented, holding Perry in his arms. “This one will have great magic,” he added, referring to the baby.
“West.” Logan moved to me, and I watched as Violet carried Rose up the stone stairwell, Wynn following. “Do we just… go home? We left in 2012. I’m eighteen.”
I nodded, sighing. “There is no going forward or back, Logan. This is where we are. But remember, two years passed when you and Roam were stuck here. You’re older now.”
“Is Roam… okay?”
I stared at the boy who had spent hundreds of years as my enemy. His wide, brown eyes, his curly head of dark hair, and his youthful features all took me back to those first days at the high school. Tentatively, I nodded.
“She will be. You were both missing, and there was a manhunt for you. We’ll need to work out a story about you running away together.”
He processed my words, narrowing his eyes. “My parents… everyone will think that your baby is mine.”
“I’ll think of something.”
He shrugged, leaning back against the wall tiredly. “Fucking hell. I still need to graduate, don’t I?”
“I’ll arrange for your diplomas.”
“Knowing Roam, she’ll want to go back to high school,” he chuckled. “Yeah, well, she’s doing all of my homework. She’s the one with the PhD.”
“Hey.” I ran my fingers through my hair, rubbing my palm at my temple. “You have an eternity, kid, starting right now. Make the right choices for yourself and your family.”
“I know. I will. I may look eighteen, but I’ve got thirty-seven years of memories. Oh, and I’m an ‘old soul.’” He pumped his index fingers in air quotes, grinning.
“Logan.” I clasped my hand over his shoulder, meeting his eyes. “It’s over. It’s over, and I couldn’t have asked for anyone braver, nobler, or more committed to help me save Roam. And Eva. I owe you my life.”
He looked down for a moment, and then back at me. “Just don’t tell Violet what I did with Roam. And we’ll call it even.”
He must have seen the instant fury in my face, and I knew my eyes darkened and changed colors as the floor began to shake.
“Dad, knock it off, we just finished rebuilding this place and I’m exhausted,” Eva warned, carefully taking Perry from Asher’s arms.
Logan froze as I got myself under control by taking slow, even breaths. “I told you, it never happened.”
He looked relieved, and then smirked before turning to the stairwell.
The soldiers had been reconvened and met under Will and Christopher’s command. Those creatures who weren’t killed in battle had escaped, and Will had worked quickly to warn neighboring kingdoms of their existence. Cole had chosen to stay and protect the kingdom under Christopher’s reign.
By the time I showered and slipped into the bed with Roam, it was dark again and she was waking. Her frightened voice sounded through the darkness. “West?”
“It’s me, baby. It’ll always be me.”
“You must be exhausted.”
“I’m a little tired,” I admitted, resting on the pillow next to her.
“Troy is gone?”
“He’s gone.”
“And… we can go home?”
“As soon as you’re ready. But we’ll be going back to my house in Ohio… the house in North Carolina is
still just the old cottage. I hadn’t rebuilt it yet. And we have to tell Morgan everything… and somehow convince your dad to like me.”
She giggled, and that small sound from her chest brought an incredible amount of peace to my soul. Silent for a long while, her soft voice roused me from a dozing sleep.
“West?”
“Hmn?”
“I would like to stay in the cottage. Just us. At least until the baby is born.”
“Roam?”
“Hmn?”
“I would love that more than anything in both worlds.”
I could hear her smile at me through the darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Roam
I woke up in West’s arms.
We stayed for more than a week in Icepond, talking through the details of the future, celebrating our family, and trying to believe that it was all finally over.
Troy’s body was laid out respectfully on the funeral pyre, and we congregated on the shores of the great ocean on the last night, ready to set all the fallen soldiers off to sea. I carried the torch and released West’s hand, walking through the sand to the man who had haunted my nightmares for centuries.
Troy’s face was calm, peaceful, and his eyes were closed. Small lines in his face showed his age; he was older than the young king in the castle from all those years ago, when I was his Mina and he was my king. The silhouette of his body would forever be engrained in my memory… but I had made peace with knowing I’d never forget him.
I never wanted to forget him.
Because of him, I was stronger, and West was mine forever. Even in his moments of kindness, I knew that he was truly unredeemable. Though the logical part of my mind understood that I had the right to my own sadness and anger, I still lowered the flame to Troy’s body, praying, whispering my forgiveness.
I had to do what I feared most; I had to forgive him.
No guilt.
“We’re going home in the morning,” West said softly, and I nodded, remembering our conversation. Rather than moving through the door to Pennsylvania, Eva would lead us through the ocean, directly to the cottage. The sirens that lurked in the waters were no longer a concern with West’s magic; he had no problem fighting them with his power over the strong currents.
Reign (Roam Series, Book Six) Page 20