by Keary Taylor
But he knows better than to ask. He doesn’t say a word. He just bows to us, and welcomes us back home.
“I need an update on this war,” Cyrus says. And that hasn’t changed one bit. The confidence and command in his voice. He still sounds every bit the King he was.
“The numbers are dwindling, your majesty,” the pilot says as we rise through the air and take off over the mountains. “There’s been a lot killed on both sides.”
“Any estimates on the numbers left?” Cyrus asks.
The pilot shakes his head. “My numbers would only be estimates. It wouldn’t help you any. I’m not down there in the action.”
Cyrus nods, understanding. “Have there been any more Royals arrive to help?”
The pilot nods. “The House of Ellis and Zhang arrived day before yesterday.”
Cyrus nods.
Twenty minutes later, the helicopter lands on the tower and we climb out. Hand in hand, we head into the castle.
I’m scared. I’m nervous. Once more my brain is going through a million what ifs. I’m trying to sort out the implications of everyone here figuring out we’re human now.
Cyrus is in danger. I’m in danger.
And if we’re killed here, trying to fight this battle, that’s it. We’re dead.
No happily ever after. No living out the rest of our lives.
“Cyrus,” I say quietly as we make our way through the castle. “We have to keep our presence here as secret as possible. We’re…we’re targets now, really soft and fragile ones. We need to figure out a way to kill Lorenzo and get out of here.”
Cyrus looks around, and his eyes widen, like he just realized what I said. It’s been so long since he was mortal and fragile, he forgot that was normal.
He nods his head, and he changes course, immediately steering us toward our bedroom.
When we step inside, he goes straight for his bedside table and pulls out a cell phone. He dials a number and presses it to his ear.
Once upon two days ago, I would have been able to hear who was on the other line with Cyrus. But I can’t anymore. My ears can only hear so much. And I can’t tell who he’s speaking to.
“I need you here,” Cyrus says. “We’re back at the castle. Come alone.”
It was Mina he tells me when he hangs up. She was just headed back to the war when he called, she’s turned back and will be here in two minutes.
Sure enough, 120 seconds later, there’s a knock at the door.
Cyrus opens it, and pulls her inside.
She inhales a deep breath, taking in our smells.
“Impossible,” she says, looking from Cyrus to me. Her eyes are dark, doubtful. Questioning.
“You have served me this long, Mina,” Cyrus says, staring darkly at her, right back. He isn’t intimidated. He isn’t afraid. Even though she could kill him right now, and not even break a sweat doing it. “So, I am telling you, you do not ask any questions, because I will not provide any answers right now.”
I see in her eyes that she doesn’t like it. She wants answers. She wants to know why we smell utterly human after being gone a few days.
But she will obey her king.
She only bows her head a little in consent.
“We need updates,” Cyrus moves on. “On everything. Our numbers, Lorenzo’s numbers, who has fallen. If there are any hits on Lorenzo’s location.”
Mina puts her hands on her hips. “We’ve lost at least half of the Court members,” she begins with far worse news than I ever expected. “And probably half of the Royals who came, as well.”
I swear, loudly, shaking my head and turning toward the window. It’s shut. It’s nearly evening, the shutters will automatically open when it’s dark. So I turn back around, waiting for more bad news.
“Lorenzo has suffered just as many losses, probably more,” she says. “They aren’t skilled fighters, but they do have some training. We ambushed one of their cells this morning, which turned the tide in our favor.”
“We will win the war?” Cyrus asks for assurance.
She nods. “I think so. We’ve pushed them back to an alcove with Maksim St. Claire’s help, we’ve got them pushed back and cornered in an alcove in the mountains. I would say this will be finished by sunrise tomorrow.”
That is good news. That is really, really good news.
Not that it matters. Really, we’ve already lost.
But at least we can punish those who have ruined our world.
At least we can stop them from enjoying their victory.
“What about Lorenzo?” I ask. I take a step forward, folding my arms over my chest.
She shakes her head. “He’s hardly been seen since the stalemate. He’ll slip in and out of battle, but never for more than a few minutes. He’s still alive, somewhere.”
He laid low for six hundred years, of course he’d be a slippery, sneaky little fox during the war.
Mina looks uncomfortable, and I can tell there is more news she doesn’t want to share.
“What is it?” I ask. I’m suddenly nervous. I really don’t want to hear what she has to say. But I have to.
“We’ve lost a lot of people,” she says. She swallows. Her eyes drop for a moment to the floor, and I know whatever she has to say, it’s going to be bad. I see it in her eyes when she meets mine again. “Dorian was killed this morning.”
It knocks the breath out of me. I actually have to sit down on the bed.
Dorian.
My grandson.
The one who cared so much about family. Who had so many children. Who helped create the world we lived in. Who was so loyal and devoted. Dorian, who fought by our side in the original war. He stood with us and never wavered.
“Dorian is gone?” Cyrus whispers.
When you’ve been around someone for nearly your entire existence, when you’ve lived as family for nearly two thousand years, it’s incomprehensible that that could ever change. It seems impossible that someone like him could ever waver.
Could ever die.
“He was fighting,” she says. “Five of them took him down. He fought for our freedom and secrecy until the very end.”
I can’t believe it.
This is shock. I can hardly think. My human body can’t process fast enough.
But it must.
We don’t have much time.
“Mina,” I say around the thickness in my throat. “We need your help. We’re going to kill Lorenzo tonight.”
* * *
Through the crack in the door, I watch the two of them. Their words are muffled, I can barely catch any of them with my now human ears. Something about national recognition and working together on creating new laws that will affect the entire world.
I didn’t expect it to be this easy. To set this trap.
It’s a testament to Lorenzo’s ego, and the desperation every government official must feel during this time.
You don’t keep an entire town full of vampires secret for centuries without striking some deals.
Cyrus has had a longstanding relationship with the Presidents of Austria. He agreed to keep his people under control and quiet, and the government of Austria kept Roter Himmel off of maps, and no major flight paths dot our skies.
So Cyrus and I made a call. Within one hour, we had the President with us, and together, we came up with the plan.
He would meet with Lorenzo under the guise of forming a national alliance. He would play it up, the fact that the King and Queen had disappeared, seemingly abandoned this war. There was no one left to lead the vampires, except Lorenzo. They would strike an accord. Austria would grant him a free zone in Roter Himmel, if he would keep his people contained there and not interfere with the rest of the country.
It didn’t really matter what the details were. It was all fake. It was merely a tool to draw Lorenzo out.
He came to the meeting place, a nondescript building in the next closest town. He brought guards with him, but Mina took care of them in a matter of
seconds once Lorenzo was inside.
Now, I watch, waiting for Lorenzo to get comfortable enough for me to make my move.
Faintly, I hear footsteps, and turn to see Mina walking down the hall. There’s blood splattered across her front, and she wears a satisfied smile.
She must be sure that the perimeter is really clear. There were apparently more than two guards keeping watch, but now there are none.
“We have operated in peace with Roter Himmel for a very, very long time,” the President says. “Now everything is changed. How are you going to make things better than they once were?”
That’s the cue. The both of us storm through the door. Mina is faster than I can see. One second she was at my side, the next she has Lorenzo in this head-arm lock with a stake pressed into his back.
“Thank you, President Steiner” I say as I walk into the room. I look over at the wide-eyed man. “You can go now. We’ll take care of this.”
The back end of this is so much more complicated than it looks. What it took to get him here. The snipers poised and ready. The bodyguards surrounding the place.
But on the surface, it works smooth as butter.
He nods. And he leaves without a word.
Lorenzo shouts obscenities at me, calls me every foul name in the book. But he can’t break out of Mina’s grasp. He can’t move without driving that stake into his heart.
I take my phone out of my pocket. There’s been a call going this entire time, the line connected with Cyrus. I put it on speakerphone and place it on the table between Lorenzo and me.
“Ego is so often the downfall of a thirsty leader,” I say. I’m not speaking into the phone, even though I know Cyrus is listening. I address Lorenzo directly. “You might have taken the upper hand. You might have been successful if you weren’t so eager to fall for our plan.”
“But he came,” Lorenzo seethes. “The actual president. There’s a need for this.” He nods his head, indicating the meeting he thought was real. “In every country. Thank you for the idea, Sevan.”
I shake my head. “Maybe it could have been arranged that way,” I say. I place my hands on the tabletop. “You could have brought our kind to light in a calm, controlled manner. You could have struck deals with leaders. You could have done this in a smooth and calculated way. But it’s too late, now.”
I shake my head and I swallow. “You’ve brought us into the world with fear and a million questions. The world is scared, and do you know how people react when they’re afraid?”
Lorenzo’s eyes narrow, his nostrils flaring. He’s angry. He doesn’t like what I’m saying.
And he’s also just realized that I smell different.
I smell like dinner.
“I’ve been born into nine different families now, Lorenzo,” I say. “I have loved so many people. So many family members. I have thousands and thousands of grandchildren. I know the value of family.”
I take a step forward.
“I know that people make bad decisions,” I say. “None of us are perfect. Greed is a common sin. But what you’ve done…” I shake my head.
“What I’ve done is beautiful,” he says, fixing me with his glowing red eyes. “What I’ve done will change the lives of our kind. It has changed the world. And the world will forever remember the name Lorenzo St. Claire.”
I shake my head. “None of the reports know your name,” I say. And it’s true. “Few of them even remember the name of Moab.” I step around the table. I come face to face with him, still held immobile by Mina. “What they are all talking about are the incredible feats of King Cyrus. Of what he created. Of the secret he kept for over two thousand years. They are fascinated by his descendants and the classes of our kind and the war he fought long ago that made it that way.”
It makes me sad. That every word I say is true.
I use them against Lorenzo. Because he’s ruined everything, and he has to pay for it.
“No one will remember your name, Lorenzo,” I say. “But the world will never forget the name King Cyrus.”
Lorenzo snarls, bucking against Mina. He takes a gasping breath as the tip of the stake sinks into his skin. Much further and he’ll be pierced in the heart.
“I don’t want to do this,” I say. I don’t look away from his wild eyes. “I believe people deserve second chances. But this. You don’t get to live after you ruin the world.”
On the cue, through the phone still sitting on the table, connecting us to Cyrus, we hear a horn blow. The horn signaling retreat. The horn only those from Court and the Royal line will know means to retreat back to the castle.
“No,” Lorenzo says. His eyes grow wide. He’s panicked. As a member of Court, he knows that sound. “What…what have you done?”
And as his answer, seven seconds later, there’s the sound of a million shots being fired.
Ten miles or so from here, in the mountains where the battle was being fought, everyone at war was silently surrounded by the actual army of the Austrian government. They were armed with the most advanced technology.
We faked an invasion before. Matthias’ army pretended to be from the Austrian government.
But this one is entirely real.
When Cyrus sounded the retreat, all Court members and all Royals left the battlefield, leaving only Lorenzo’s children.
“That is the sound of the end of this war,” I say. The sounds of gunfire stop, only to have a few more pop off here and there. “That is the sound of you not getting to see the world you wanted. That is the sound of your failure as the kind of leader our kind needed.”
There’s one last pop, and I can imagine the last of my half-siblings falling to the ground, dead.
There’s a knot in my stomach. I hate that it has to come to this. But there’s no other way.
“You failed, Lorenzo.”
Mina shoves the stake forward, and Lorenzo’s eyes grow wide as his heart is pierced. I see the panic in them, the horror, the regret that he wasn’t smarter.
But then the light in them dies, and he’s gone. His skin turns ashen gray even as Mina drops him to the ground.
Tears slip down my face. Because it might be over, but we didn’t win. Everything is still ruined.
But this was the last war I will ever fight. This was my last problem to deal with as Queen.
This is the end of our era.
Chapter 24
This we did not plan out particularly well. Getting back together. What we were going to do once the war was finished, once Lorenzo was dead.
It’s a testament to our long lives together that somehow, we both know to go back to the one place that is just us.
A tidal wave of relief washes over me when I pull our bedroom door open and find Cyrus inside.
He has a black bag in his hand and looks like I found him packing. But the moment he sees me, he freezes, his dark green eyes meeting my yellow-green ones.
“It’s done,” I say. And I say it just a little bit as a question.
“It’s done,” Cyrus says as a confirmation. He sets the bag down and crosses the space to me. I let him wrap his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. Emotion wells in my eyes as I press my face into the crook of his neck. I cling tight to him.
I was scared for his part of the plan. He would sound the horn of retreat. But he couldn’t be seen. We couldn’t risk the Court members and Royals seeing him, smelling how human he is.
Anything could have gone wrong.
But here he is.
I feel Cyrus. I feel his heart pounding against my chest. I feel the slight tremble in his hands. I hear his shaking breaths.
He feels it, so much more powerfully than I do. That this is the end. We lost. After two thousand years of keeping this secret, now it’s ruined.
It isn’t our secret anymore, I remind myself.
“Me and you,” I say, feeling myself calm. “We’re going to be okay.”
He doesn’t even hesitate. Cyrus nods his head. “I swear, I am going
to give you such a beautiful life, Logan. We’re going to be happy.”
His words push peace through all of my veins, straight to my heart.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
He knows what I mean, and I’m a little disappointed when he backs away from me slightly to look into my eyes, and I see his answer is no.
“I have one last thing to take care of, im yndmisht srtov,” he says. “I need half a day, and then we can leave this place forever.”
I nod. Even though I don’t like that idea. I want to go now. I’m ready to move on.
But I see in his eyes that whatever it is he has to do, he needs it.
“Gather our things,” he says. He takes a step away from me and goes back to that black bag. “Anything you deem is important to keep. We will leave by tonight.”
I nod. And he’s in a hurry. Because he places a kiss on my forehead, and immediately slips out the door.
Pack our things, I think to myself as I turn to our bedroom. My eyes scan the room, thinking over what I value enough to take with us.
There’s nothing. Nothing here holds any value to me. Not the safe full of expensive jewelry. Not the silk gowns. Not the expensive paintings that adorn the wall.
Except the one of Cyrus and I perhaps.
But I’ll never forget those memories. They’re all there, safe in my head, with the thousands of others.
The only thing I care about when we go out on the run is Cyrus.
As long as he and I are together, I don’t worry about any other stuff.
But as I think about the unknown, when I think about being on the run a long, long time ago as Sevan, I go to our closet. I find two bags. I fill them with clothes. Practical, normal clothes that will be easy to blend in with. I grab toiletries.
I stash the bags next to our bedroom door and go down into the armory. I grab four stakes, two for each of us, and a gun for each of us.
The war may be over, but this new world feels far from safe.
I deposit the weapons in a bag as well and go for the door.
If we’re going to disappear and start over, we’re going to need some money.
The hidden treasury, that no one knows about besides Cyrus and I, is on the fourth floor.