Royal Blood
Page 8
“Christina?!” Mom exclaimed.
I stood and she ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and cried.
“I’m so sorry, Mom, for what I said before—”
“No…. no, I’m sorry.” Tears were streaming down her face.
“Sorry for what, Mom?”
“Let me finish. I’m sorry for lying to you. I’m sorry for hurting you. I was supposed to always be there for you, and I thought you wouldn’t find out. I was supposed to protect you. Your mother never wanted you to find out. She wanted you to be normal. Happy. Safe. All I ever wanted was to do right by you and help you to become a beautiful grown woman. And I have always been so proud of you, so proud. I love you so much, Christina, and I will always think of you as my daughter. Please forgive me.”
I was crying now too.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Mom. You did everything right. You were an amazing mother, are, are an amazing mother. You always will be an amazing mother. I don’t blame you for anything. It was just all so…..complicated. You couldn’t have made it any easier. You were here for me, and that’s all I needed, and will always need.” I wrapped my arms around her neck. “I still need my mother.”
“You won’t be able to come back, will you?” she said. I frowned. “You were always a bad liar, you know.”
“I don’t…. I don’t know, Mom.” I wanted so desperately to say yes. I didn’t want to leave my mother there like that. “I just don’t know if it’s safe. Do they know? Michael and the girls?”
“No, no of course not. They believe you are my daughter.”
“Hmmm. Well, maybe. I’ll figure something out. If we can still keep you safe, then I can come back. I just won’t put you in danger.”
We chatted for a few more hours. Crying here and there, laughing and smiling more often. I don’t think she ever believed I would make it back.
Eventually it was time for me to leave, so I said my goodbyes to my family and headed to the car. Cali and Demitri met me there and Cali wrapped her arms around me.
“Do you need a minute?”
I smiled, “No, I’m okay. I’m ready to go home.”
Driving back towards Sangre Real brought a wave of emotions over me. This was the first time ever that I was driving home. The first time driving there without feeling totally uncertain of what I was driving toward, and not having to be afraid of it. Now, I was driving toward my future. I hoped I would make my mother and father proud.
I took a few extra moments walking around my church. Never before had I thought about the irony of having the entrance to our world being a church, a safe haven from those who are damned. Huh. It definitely was not a place any human would ever have expected that the cross between fantasy and reality meet.
When I rounded the corner to the passage, I stopped dead in my tracks. Where there once was a picture of a man with light brown hair and blindingly bright blue eyes that laughed at me, something else was now present.
Me. Only… she was beautiful. The once boring, straight, light brown hair was flowing so perfectly around her face. Her skin glowed like a picture never could. The eyes were purely my father’s. The smile really struck me though. It was a smile I rarely saw in myself. It was confident. Brave. Proud even.
“It’s how you look to us, Your Highness,” Calpurnia said, startling me.
I wish….. I wish Alex was—
“I know. We all do.”
Without another word, I walked silently toward Sangre Real. I took every single step with my eyes closed. I listed to every sound, breathed in every scent of the forest, and tasted the air in every step.
Once I reached the cliff, I stood there and just laughed out loud. So many things had scared me about this place just a few months ago. So many awful nightmares which were now just bittersweet memories. The secret world of the night, that is now my own.
* * *
This is my story. Not where it ends, but only where it begins. I don’t really know what is going to happen next, but I have the best family a girl could ask for, and I know things will be okay.
Standing here, looking over my city, a few things occur to me. When I take a toll of the things gained and lost, there is much at stake. I lost my blood parents, but gained a new family. I gave up my old, easy life, but found my place in the world. It was a fairly easy price to pay, but I did lose Alex.
I suppose though at the end of the tally, I am a vampire. Nobody ever promised me a happy ending.
Kolina Topel was born in California and now resides in New Albany, Indiana with her family. In her free time, she loves to watch movies and read any book she can get her hands on. She is currently busy working on her second novel.
Read more at www.Kolinatopel.com
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