by Sara Snow
I nodded as my wings appeared, and a few shocked gasps met my ears. I pushed off the ground, my wings flapping loudly. Now was the worst possible time for this to happen.
The portal was close to the Blackmoon Pack in a small cave hidden in the woods. Drawn to the portal’s power, the whispering voices of spirits trapped on Earth could be heard at the entrance to the cave.
I made my way deep inside the cave until I reached the pulsing red light of the portal. While the cave’s walls were all stone, the portal looked like a thin layer of skin with black lines running through it. Circling it were symbols I’d engraved into the rock to keep the portal sealed.
I placed my hand against the entrance. The burning sensation in my hand vanished as a tear appeared and I pushed through. The symbol carved into my hand was the only way to access the portal. Otherwise, it would repel the person or demon trying to use it.
On the other side, the cave continued. The intense magical energy of the Demon Realm fell over me like a weighted blanket. I expected to find a demon or a lost soul trying to use the portal. Instead, I saw my mother.
She sat on a chair made of gold with her legs crossed as two incubi guards stood like statues behind her. She was inspecting her nails but looked up with a smile as I stopped before her.
“Hello, son. You certainly took your time getting here.”
“I’m busy, Mother. What’s the meaning of this?”
“So, no ‘Hi, Mother. How are you, Mother? I’ve missed you, Mother’?”
I stared at her unblinkingly, and she sighed and got up. She flicked her silky black hair over her shoulder before waving her hand at her guards. “Leave.”
They turned and left immediately, and I allowed her to pull me into a hug, as a floating orb of light above us illuminated the dark cave. She released me, looking me over before frowning. Since my last visit to the Demon Realm after I’d killed the adracsas bounty hunter my brother had sent after me, I hadn’t seen her.
I hadn’t missed her, him, or the Demon Realm. If it had been up to me, I’d never return.
“You look tired.” Her frown deepened. “And you look pale. Why do you always look so pale, Cyrus? You need to feed!”
“Mother, I have a lot going on right now. Why did you try to use my portal?”
“Because it was the only way I’d get to speak to you. I knew you wouldn’t come if I summoned you.”
Well, she isn’t wrong about that.
I inhaled deeply. “Okay, I’m here now.”
Her hand on my cheek fell to her side, and her eyes drained of vitality. I tried not to react, but my brows knitted at how genuinely sad she looked. My mother was a talented actress—I’d learned that a long time ago. But at times like this, it was hard to tell if she was sincere or not. I’d always been her prized son, her offspring with the Demon King who would forever bring her glory. Could it be that I meant something more?
“Do you truly despise me so much, Cyrus? All I want for you is glory—when you take over my Legion and take your place as the Demon King’s son.”
It wasn’t wise for me to answer. I didn’t despise my mother, but I didn’t trust her either. And I didn’t care about glory one bit. As for being the Demon King’s son, I’d only spoken to the man once—a one-sided conversation where he told me I only had three years to remain on Earth. Not exactly a memory I cherished.
That bastard.
When I made no move to respond, she shook her head and turned away to sit down once more. “I heard about what’s happening on Earth.”
“And? I figured you’d be happy about it all.”
She shrugged and looked down at her nails. “Mmm, I am. It’s entertaining, to be honest, but—” She looked up at me from under her lashes. “I want to help you.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because if anything happens to your precious little wolves, you won’t return. And I can’t have you defying your father’s command. No matter how much you hate him, you can’t anger him. Even you are wise enough to know that.”
“I’ll return as he commands, Mother. You don’t need to worry.”
Her eyes hardened as she placed her hands on both arms of the chair. “I do have to worry when there’s a good chance you’ll get hurt.”
That piqued my interest, and I stepped forward. “What do you mean?”
“You know by now that the Vampire Queen is the one building an army, yes?”
I nodded.
“Good. Then I have information you might find interesting about her and the origin of her kind.”
I shook my head. “I don’t need a history lesson on the origins of vampires. I need to know how to defeat her.”
“Sometimes, to understand how to end something, you have to know how it began, Cyrus.” She leaned forward. “To know how to kill her, you have to know how she came into being.”
“I understand.” I exhaled exasperatedly. We needed to have this conversation quickly. Time passed differently in the Demon Realm, and I needed to get back to Earth before too much time went by there. “I’m listening, and thank you for the help.”
She paused for a moment, as if in shock that I thanked her. She looked away, deep in thought, then turned back to me. “You’re related to her.”
I went still. “What?”
“She’s a descendant of the Demon King, Cyrus. You’re related to the Vampire Queen.”
I heard her words, but I felt like I wasn’t hearing her correctly. “How is she a descendant of the Demon King? She’s a vampire.”
She inhaled deeply, and anger flashed in her eyes. “The Demon King had a child with a goddess a very long time ago. The child was . . . different—a mutant. She started out as a hideous thing, but as she grew, her body changed.”
I leaned against the wall of the cave as my mother spoke, and I wondered if she had known that child.
“She became incredibly beautiful, but she was still a mutant. Her bite could turn demons into creatures that were either like you and me in appearance, or bloodthirsty things that killed everything.” She looked my way. “She challenged your father, so he banished her to your Earth.”
“Please tell me you’re joking. The Vampire Queen is my great, great, great—” I paused because I had no idea how to calculate the vampire generations that had passed, and there were too many greats to bother saying anyways. “She’s my great-grandniece?"
“Yes,” she answered bluntly. I pressed a finger to my temple. “You can’t be the one who kills her, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she’s your great-grandniece. No one on Earth can kill her.”
I frowned. “Why not? There has to be a way to stop her. She’s building an army, and the way things are going, supernaturals and humans are going to be wiped out.”
She stood up and snapped her fingers. “I just told you why no one can kill her, Cyrus. She’s a descendant of a goddess and the Demon King. That means she has divinity—and a lot of it. Only a god can kill her. And considering gods don’t walk the earth anymore, good luck finding one.”
I instantly thought of Elinor. Was this the reason the Goddess activated her dormant divinity? Elinor wasn’t a goddess, but she clearly possessed an immense amount of divinity. Would it be enough to kill the Queen?
“What is it?” my mother asked inquisitively, and I shook my head.
“Nothing,” I grumbled back. The last thing I was going to do was tell my mother about Elinor. “I’m thinking. Why didn’t my father kill her? His power is similar to that of a god. He’s just not allowed in the God Realm. He could have killed his daughter if she was such an abomination.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
From the way she bit down on her lip, I could tell she was lying. Maybe he hadn’t been able to kill her because the girl was his own child. Even though I considered my father heartless, there was a chance he’d cared about that girl. Still, I couldn’t see my father allowing someone who’d been creating problems for him to go without p
unishment. And being banished to another world wasn’t much of a sentence, in my eyes.
Especially because he’d left her to run rampant on Earth, birthing more vampires.
I turned to leave, and my mother grabbed my arm. “Cyrus, wait.” When I turned to her, her hold on my arm grew tighter. “This isn’t your fight, Cyrus. You can’t face her, and she won’t spare you if she finds out who you are to her. Come home.”
“I can’t do that,” I told her softly and gently pulled my hand away. “Earth has been my home for years, and I can’t leave now. We’ll find a way to kill her.”
“And if you can’t?”
We already had a start. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll return to the Demon Realm soon enough, but not before I’m ready.”
Elinor
I focused on the sound of drums playing in my head. The traditional werewolf anthem was helping to soothe my jittery nerves as I walked through the forest. There was a slight chill in the air as the day drew closer to an end, with the sun already disappearing over the horizon.
I’d ventured into the forest last night, but Will hadn’t appeared, which had made the already edgy state I was in worse.
I needed answers, and I needed them now.
My thoughts were split into two factions, one side battling the other. On one side, I feared that Will had betrayed me. All evidence pointed in that direction. But on the other hand, I remembered our moments together, moments when I truly believed he cared for me, and I couldn’t help giving him the benefit of the doubt. I hated being so unsure. It wasn’t like me.
I lowered myself onto the grass and inhaled the salty air drifting up from the sea. It had been a long time since I’d come to this cliff, but the moment I sat down, the gentle wind and the bright sunset brought me the sense of peace and relaxation I’d been craving for days.
My tense shoulders slumped. I crossed my legs at the ankles, then placed my hands behind me to prop myself up. I held my head back and closed my eyes, recalling the night Connor had caught Will and me at this very spot. Even now, with the help of a little compulsion from Will, Connor still thought he saw me almost slip over the edge of the cliff—not kiss a vampire.
Connor had been one of my guardians since I was a child, and I wondered what he’d say if he ever remembered what he really saw that day. Then I thought of my nemesis, Darian. While Connor’s personality was laid back and observant, Darian was a Werewolf Guard, hard-headed and stubborn. I knew he’d lose his mind at the mere mention of me being with a vampire.
Well, they were all eventually going to be in for a treat.
The sound of footsteps approaching made me jump to my feet quickly. But my excitement withered and died when I saw Faelen.
“Hi. You seem a little jumpy tonight.”
“You startled me, that’s all.”
“You also don’t look very happy to see me.”
Apparently I wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding my emotions. My eyes scanned the forest behind her as she walked over to stand by my side.
With her eyes on the sea, she said, “He’s not there.”
I froze. “Excuse me?”
“Will. He hasn’t arrived yet.” She turned to face me. “That’s who you’re looking for, right?”
I wasn’t sure if I should answer or not. She clearly already knew about Will, but why should I confirm anything? Sure, we had a mutual enemy—Levi—but she was an Enchanted, a werewolf. She could tell someone about Will and me, and then I’d have an even bigger problem on my hands.
“Relax, Elinor, I won’t tell anyone. I was in your mind, remember? I saw enough to know that you’re in love with a vampire.” She held her hands up. “I wasn’t prying around in your memories. Some of your thoughts were just really loud.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me how crazy I am to have fallen for a vampire?”
She continued to stare ahead, her white hair blowing in the wind. “It’s none of my business who you love, but I do think you need to be careful.” She turned to me then, her eyes wandering back and forth across my face. “Your safety is a priority right now.”
“Will has saved my life many times, Faelen. You don’t need to worry about my safety with him.”
“Except . . . how do we know that him saving you wasn’t part of some greater plan concocted by his mother?”
I sighed loudly and turned to face the sea. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have again. I already hashed it out with Cyrus. I understood that there was a possibility that Will had been playing me this whole time.
I knew all of that, and I didn’t need a reminder.
“I get it, okay? And that’s why I’m waiting for him here. So he can tell me the truth.”
She said nothing in response, but I could see her still staring at me from my peripheral vision. “I didn’t mean to upset you or to be insensitive to what you might be feeling right now, but this is something you need to hear. Right now, Elinor, you represent the best chance we have for survival against these reanimated supernaturals. Your life and safety are a top priority.”
“What does that have to do with Will?”
“At the end of the day, he’s a vampire. He might be a special one, but he’s still a vampire. You need to be prepared if he chooses his kind over you. The Goddess chose you, Elinor. She has a plan for you. What’ll you do if you have no choice but to choose your people over the man you love? What will you do?”
She stared at me for a moment, as if she were waiting for an answer, then walked away. I wrapped my arms around myself as the world suddenly felt cold. I didn’t have an answer for her because I didn’t want to think about that, not now. I didn’t know what I’d do if Will chose his kind over me. And if he appeared to me tonight and revealed that everything between us was a lie . . . well, I didn’t think I could take that. Not after everything else that had happened.
But I might have to decide—would I just let him go, or would I fight him and turn him over to my father for questioning?
Choices. We all had choices to make in life. But killing the man I loved, or turning him over to be killed, wasn’t a choice I’d ever dreamed I’d have to make.
16
Vampire Queen Amythia
My fist went through the wall, shattering it. But I barely felt the impact, and my rage only grew worse as I punched another hole, then another. I could hear footsteps scurrying away down the hall. Someone was wise enough to know when to make themselves scarce.
I was livid!
William was the future of this race, even if he hated the idea of it. I placed a hand on my stomach and hissed as I walked down the hall to my chamber. Even without royal blood, he was blessed with a talent no other vampire had. His strength almost equaled that of a royal, and he had a soul. He’d taken my gift of vampirism and turned it into something evolutionary. He was the future of vampirism—if my efforts ever came to fruition.
He and Cain meant everything to me. And while Cain was loyal and had remained by my side, William was so special—in every way—that I tended to overlook his outbursts. He would bring about a new age for vampires . . . if the experiments I'd conducted in secret ever showed some promise. Though I was optimistic on that front, I hadn’t received any good news lately from the dark witches who worked for me.
I felt certain William could sire children naturally instead of relying on his bite the way I’d had to. I’d tried over the centuries to create life using his sperm. Little did he know that Levia had secretly kept me supplied. Unfortunately, she’d ruined that when she sided against William, forcing me to send human slaves to seduce him. But he was as stubborn as they came, and at the time, he’d only slaughtered them. Even when he'd kept humans and other supernaturals as pets, he never slept with them. He only engaged in sexual relationships with other vampires.
My nails dug into my palms with frustration as I continued down the hall. The vampires who walked by me kept their eyes down and hurried past me. I was aware I was in my vampire form, my
skin gray and my fangs on display. William was so blind to the gift he possessed, and sometimes it drove me mad.
Only royals could reproduce, but over the centuries, I’d tried and failed countless times, forcing me to create Cain and William from my bite only. There were three vampires that I’d turned recently, but they were still newborns. And because I turned them, they were more feral than normal newborns. Those three were now in cocoons until William inherited the throne. Then he’d have three generals for himself.
With my venom flowing through their veins, their thirst for blood would be insatiable. Sometimes, it drove them insane, which was why vampires I turned myself often died. Their bodies, whether human or supernatural, were not always strong enough to handle the change.
And not every vampire I’d turned became a general. The ones with abilities that weren’t violent enough made up the Council that assisted me in governing my people.
Sighing, I walked into my chamber as the guards positioned on either side of the door pushed them open.
“Send a human and a fae to me.”
“Yes, my Queen,” they both answered in unison before closing the door behind them.
William's words replayed over and over in my mind, leaving me in a state of constant irritation. When had he become so detached from us? From me? He was almost unrecognizable to me now, and I hated that, but I knew forcing him to return to the castle to live wouldn’t work. I wasn’t sure what had happened to him, what had changed him so drastically, but I missed the man who had once ruled by my side as if he were King. Cain had been born first, but William had quickly surpassed him. Still, Cain remained the more cunning of the two.
If William had been anyone else, if he hadn’t been so special, I would have killed him long ago for his insolence, for turning his back on his Queen and his people. But then, they had also turned their backs on him. Perhaps that was why he’d changed. I wasn’t blind or deaf to what they said about him, but he’d always handled their hatred well.