by Izzy Shows
Was this what Conall was pushing inside them, to drive the bloodlust until they couldn't think?
Grimly, I set my jaw in a firm line and reached for it. In my mind's eye, it looked like a tangled knot—probably not what it really was, but that was how I saw it, that was how I made sense of it. I tore at the knot, fighting to untangle it and separate the two cords the represented the dual natures.
Come on, separate…you can do it. Work with me here. Fight for your clarity.
I sent the thoughts to the hybrid, hoping he could hear me. He snarled, struggling against Evan, as if my touching the knot had enraged him further, but still I pushed on, fumbling with the knot in my mind. I was determined. I didn't know if it would grant the hybrid the freedom that Evan wanted for him, but I felt in my gut that it was the beginning that I needed, at least.
At last, the cords separated, and the effect was immediate. The hybrid stilled in Evan's hold and stared at me with shock and horror.
"Nina," he said, a rasping sound, the voice of someone that hadn't spoken for a long time. He recognized me, then, but I couldn't make out any familiar features in his half-shifted face. There was no remnant there of the werewolf that he had been, but he clearly possessed his memories still, now that he'd been set free.
I gaped at him. "You can talk!"
"You freed my mind," he said, and when Evan let go of him, he knelt in front of me. "There was a haze inside of me, and now I can see."
Evan was staring at me with so much hope, awed at what had happened, as much as I was.
"Do you still feel Conall's call?"
The hybrid nodded. "It is a buzzing in my mind, incessant, but not as much as it was even before he spurred the rage inside of me. I can ignore it."
"Good," I said, giddy. "Oh my god, that's so good! We can stop this!"
Evan stepped around the hybrid kneeling before me, a pleading look on his face.
"Oh, of course, come here," I said, holding out a hand to him. He placed his in mine, and I surged inside of his mind. It was much easier than the other hybrids had been, because he opened his mind to me instead of forcing me to fight my way inside.
But finding the cords in his mind was much harder than it had been in the other. It had been prominent in the other hybrid, an angry pulsing knot tying together cords wrapped around his mind. Evan's mind was clear, for the most part, so it was more difficult to find that which contained him.
At last, though, I did.
Work with me, Evan. Bend when I push.
I'll try.
His knot was much easier to untie, as it wasn't so angry and tight as the first hybrid's had been, and it came undone rather quickly. As soon as it did, he wrapped his arms around me in a fierce hug, careful to keep his claws away from my back.
"I never thought I would speak again, that I would be able to ignore Conall's call without having to battle him constantly. You are a miracle, Nina."
I laughed. "Don't discount your part in this, Evan. I wouldn't have thought to try if it weren't for you."
Then I looked out at the battle that was still playing out in front of me.
"But we're not free and clear yet. I have to stop this."
Twenty-Six
With Evan on one side and the other hybrid—I would have to ask his name later, when things weren't so hectic—on the other, I plunged back into the battle.
"Stop fighting!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, firing off spell after spell to contain the hybrids, to hold them in place. "You have to stop fighting!"
The wolves and vampires around me cast uneasy glances at me, clearly uncertain as to what they were supposed to do now. Thankfully, Gray appeared at my side, his fangs bared at the hybrids bracketing my body.
"What is going on here?" he demanded, pulling me away from them and to his side.
I laid a comforting hand on his chest. "Shh. It's okay. They can think. They can talk. Go on, Evan, say something."
"What would you like me to say?" he asked, trying for a smile that wasn't quite comforting with the large fangs in his mouth.
But it was enough for Gray to still beneath my hand. "How is this possible?"
"There's something inside of them that's driving them to fight, and I know how to stop it. We have to stop the fighting so that I can free them. We don't need to shed any more blood. They don't want to fight, Gray. Conall's forcing them to do it. If I can free them, it'll all be over."
He looked uncertainly at me. "This is no easy task you set out before you."
"I'm up to it," I said, lifting my chin. "I wanted a world of peace, and these people don't deserve to die because someone is forcing them to fight against their will. I owe it to them to save them if I can."
"All right. As you wish, varina." He turned, and when he spoke, his voice was a deafening roar, louder than I'd ever heard it before. "HALT!"
At the same moment, I launched my magic out as far as it could stretch, engulfing the battle, and then sent it spiraling down into the crowd, hunting out the hybrids, and unfortunately, induced the aneurysm migraine spell. It was the fastest spell I could use to get them down, using the least amount of my energy.
And I would need all of my energy for what I was about to do.
The vampires and wolves came to a standstill as soon as Gray called for the halt, frozen by the commanding tone of his voice.
"Grayson, what is happening?" Eleanor called from her spot in the battle. I was still amazed that she fought, just as she had in the first battle against the hybrids. She was a fearless woman, every bit deserving of her position in the court.
"Nina has a plan to stop the hybrids from fighting, without having to risk the lives of our people or shed their blood. I would give her the chance to do this," he said, his voice not the roar it had been but still booming across the field, and I could hear his distaste for it in his voice. He didn't want to risk me, even though I didn't think this was much of a risk. "I want everyone on high alert. Keep an eye on the hybrids while she works. Do not let them touch her."
I grimaced at how overprotective he was, but a part of me found it endearing all the same.
"Thank you," I said, smiling up at him, and then I turned my attention to the nearest hybrid.
It was exhausting work, going through them one by one, but with every one that I freed, they took up a position holding one of their comrades, so that I could drop two from my holding spell for every one that I freed, sparing a little more of my energy as I went.
I swayed on my feet as I moved through the crowd, rapidly growing lightheaded, but I pushed on. I had to do this. I had to save them. I couldn't let the fight begin again. I owed it to them to set them free.
If I had paid more attention to Conall, if I had looked deeper into the books, if I had thought to investigate the hybrids sooner…this might have been avoided. It was as much my fault as it was Conall's that this had been allowed to happen. I was responsible for it, in my mind, and I had to make it right.
Had to save them from the agony he would force on them.
And then he came barreling toward me, rage and madness in his face, coming out of nowhere.
I shrieked, jumping back from the hybrid I'd been working on, and he was inches away from my face when Evan managed to grab hold of him and yank him away.
"You bitch! How dare you interfere! You traitorous bitch, helping the vampires! I made you, you were nothing without me, and this is how you repay me!"
"Hush, Conall!" Evan snapped, at the same time as a wolf stepped forward.
"You have betrayed your own people. You have no right to speak of traitors," the wolf said. "Nina is fixing what you wrought on our brothers and sisters."
"Should we dispose of him?" Evan asked Grayson, who had been shadowing me.
"No…wait…" I said, my voice weak. Just one more, I'd been at the last hybrid when he'd come upon me. I just needed a moment. "Just…wait…"
"Nina!" Grayson's voice was urgent, and he gripped my upper arm, but I ignored him,
focusing on the hybrid again.
"Almost…" I whispered, and then I had the knot loose and freed.
And I knew no more.
Twenty-Seven
I was floating on a cloud, it seemed, free of pain and exhaustion, and yet I was so sleepy at the same time. The cloud was comfortable, and I wanted to stay there…
But I felt something tugging at me, pulling me away from the cloud. A voice calling my name.
I knew that voice. It was dear to me. But I couldn't quite remember whose it was. I frowned, aware that it was calling me away from the cloud that was so nice and so comfortable, and I didn't want to answer.
The voice called again, the tugging sharper, and I tried to turn away from it, but it was more insistent.
And then all at once I found myself in Gray's arms, looking up at him with the night sky behind his head.
"What?" I murmured, looking from side to side.
An old woman—oh, Eva!—had her hands on one of my arms, and she was frowning fiercely.
"You overreached yourself, child," she said, her tone sharp and disapproving, and yet I could hear the fear in her voice. "You were almost lost to us."
"I had to save them," I said, my voice so weak and soft. "I had to help."
She shook her head. "To think I ever doubted the goodness of your heart. So selfless."
"Foolish," Gray barked. "To risk yourself like that. I can't lose you, Nina."
I snuggled closer to him, letting his arms pull me tighter to his chest.
"I'm all right, aren't I? Eva fixed me up. Everything's okay, Gray, you don't have to worry."
"She's right, now," Eva said with a little huff. "But nothing strenuous for the next few days. She needs to rest. She's done so much lately, I fear if she does anything more too soon, she might drift away again."
Gray's arms tightened even more. "I will not allow it."
"See that you don't. She is dear to me, and I trust you with her, vampire."
"As I trusted you to bring her back to me, mage," he said, but there was a warmth in his voice.
Good. They're getting along.
"I'm sleepy, Gray," I whispered into his chest. "Can't I sleep now?"
"Not yet, varina," he said. "You have one more decision to make."
"Oh?"
"Your old master, Conall, is being held right now. You said to wait, and so I waited."
I grinned. "For a king, you're pretty good at following orders."
"Only yours, varina. Never another's, never again. You command me and no one else."
"Good. As it should be, love." I let out a pleased sound. "What decision am I making?"
"What do you want me to do with him? Your hybrid friend asked if we should kill him, but I warn you, I understand that he is their sire. I do not think you understand exactly what that means—as I am the acting sire of the vampire race, my death would mean the end of the entire vampire race. Conall serves the same purpose. Killing him would mean killing the people you just freed."
"No." I frowned. "I didn't want to kill him. Conall…he's a man driven mad by grief." I looked over my shoulder and saw that Conall was being held by Evan still, not too far away from me. He was glaring at me with such hatred that I shivered. "Can you put him somewhere safe and quiet? I don't want him tortured or starved, like we were, but he needs to be kept away from everyone. Let him live out the rest of his life."
Gray made a sound of assent. "We will set to work on finding out how to adapt the Passing of the Blood rite, which we use to pass the sire bond from king to heir, so that his death will not mean the end of the hybrids when he passes, and he will be kept in relative comfort for the rest of his days, as you wish. I would not be so merciful to him, but I leave it up to you."
"Good. I don't want any more pain, Gray. I just want to look forward to the future that we all have in front of us."
He grinned down at me. "I would agree with that. I have far more pleasant things I want to give my attention to than such tedious dealings."
I blushed. "I have no idea what you mean."
"Marry me, varina. Be mine, at last. I have waited long enough."
Before I could say anything, a joyous cry erupted from the crowd around us.
"Say yes, lady!"
"Oh, Nina, please, you have to!"
"Be our queen, lead us, love us, and love our king."
I laughed, ducking my head against Gray's chest. "Of course I'll marry you, but only make them stop. They're embarrassing me."
"You heard the lady," he said, raising his voice to the crowd. "She will be my mate and your queen, and now she must rest."
The cries of happiness were deafening.
Twenty-Eight
I stared up into the eyes of the man I loved, clasping his hands tight in mine. Was it fair for one person to know as much happiness as I did in that moment?
Our marriage, or mating ceremony, however you wanted to look at it or call it, was a simple affair. I didn't want anything fancy—I'd never had fancy things in my life, and unlike some people who might have lusted for them after being denied them, I didn't see a need to change that just because I was marrying a king. All I wanted was to be joined to the man I loved, and Gray…well, Gray had been more than willing to do it however I wanted.
He'd told me it wasn't the marriage that mattered, it was the true mating. Such words might sound dirty to others, but I'd come to understand what mating meant to the vampires, the bonding of the two souls together, and I knew that it was a sacred rite to them. He wasn't just talking about consummating our love, he was talking about finally being one with me in the way that we had been destined to be.
"Do you, King Grayson, take this woman to be your lawful and eternal mate, to love her, cherish her, and protect her until the end of time?" Eva asked, her voice solemn and yet resonating with power.
I had requested that she be the one to marry us. It hadn't been much of a surprise to me, after the blood mages were freed, that my abuelita had long ago passed from the world. She'd been old when I'd been taken as a child, and she'd died of old age.
Eva was the closest I had to an abuela now, and I loved the woman for all that she had done for me. She had come to love me as her own, and that meant so much to me when I'd had no family for all of my life.
Tita was my bridesmaid, standing just behind me, and I could hear the little sobs she was trying to smother—happy tears, of course, and it touched me that she was so happy for me.
It meant a lot that not just the vampires but the blood mages as well had not just given their blessing but rejoiced when I had agreed to marry Gray. The blending of our two species was the personification of what we had striven for, the unity that all of us wanted. That we had now.
"I do," Gray said, his eyes never leaving mine. "My life is your life. Not a drop of your blood will be shed before all of mine is gone. I will spend every moment striving to bring you happiness. I will never cease in my quest to bring you honor as your mate. And I will never stop loving you, even when we pass from this world into the next."
My heart leapt at his words, at the depth of the emotion in his voice.
Eva repeated the question to me, and I gave my answering vows—not nearly as beautiful as his, but I didn't have the gift of words that he did.
"I pronounce you mated for life. You may kiss your mate."
Gray gathered me into his arms, his lips searing against mine, erasing all thought from my head. Dimly, I could hear the roar of the crowd that watched us. Simple and quick though our ceremony was, there was no escaping the fact that our people wanted to witness our historic union.
There had never been a king and queen like us, and yet it had been necessary to bring the peace our people had been aching for. My heart was so full of love for him…I still couldn't believe that I'd been given everything I'd ever wanted in life, and so much more as well.
Only when I couldn't breathe did I pull away from him, dragging in a much-needed breath of air.
"I lo
ve you, varina. I love you so much," he whispered.
"I love you, too, Gray. I'm so happy," I said, tears brimming in my eyes. "Thank you for fighting for me, for having faith when I gave up."
He smiled. "I would go to the ends of the earth for you, little one, so long as you would have me."
And with that, he swept me up into his arms. I gave a little cry of surprise but melted against his chest all the same. He strode down the aisle, through the cheering crowd that moved to make a path for us. I ducked my head closer to his chest, still shy of all the people watching me. I would have to get used to it with my new position as Gray's mate, but at least they all understood me. They knew my history as much as Gray did, and yet they didn't condemn me for it but loved me instead.
I was so caught up in my amazement at the life that I'd found myself in that I barely noticed the trip from the ceremonial hall to Gray's royal suite. Not that it took him long to get there—he hadn't been content to just walk but had burst into that dizzying blur of speed that only vampires could access the moment we had cleared the exit from the hall.
He kicked the suite door shut behind him and paused to look down at me.
"Are you nervous, little one?" he murmured. "I believe we've tried this once before, though we didn't know it at the time."
"The thralling," I whispered, blushing at the memory. "It's the same?"
"Mhm. The same rites, but they can only bind true mates to one another. Between a vampire and a human thrall, it is a pale comparison to a mating bond, as I told you before. Will you accept me this time?"
I laughed. "I didn't deny you on purpose last time! I was a little distracted by what we were doing to notice the binding trying to slip past my wards."
"Lower them this time," he said, grinning. "Although I wouldn't mind trying again…and again…and again."
"Lustful man," I teased him. "You just want to ravish me."