27. Twenty Seven

twenty-seven

I was suddenly back in my own body. Seconds having passed in the meadow.

The sun that had seemed so overwhelming seconds before felt different. As if a shade had been drawn between sun and sky. Or a cloud had blocked its face, though the clear blue overhead showed not a single speck of fluffy white as far as the eye could see.

I’d witnessed one eclipse in my life and it reminded me of that. Like someone had taken a dial and turned the sun’s intensity down by several degrees.

The air got cooler. The light dimmed.

Shadows spilled from the base of the tree and the forest behind. The howls from Brax’s pack got closer as they honed in on their alpha.

Ahrun dropped from his tree branch to land next to Arlan. “Well done, dearest.”

Across the meadow, Vitus hissed at the sight of the ancient, dropping into a defensive crouch.

“Don’t be so hasty. My boys will be here to deal with you soon,” Ahrun drawled, dismissing the councilor with a flick of his eyes.

I paid no attention to their exchange, focusing on the shadows at the base of the tree where something massive was moving through it.

“He’s coming,” I whispered.

Finally.

A behemoth swam through the abyss. Its slow rise condensing into that of a hound. Alches stepped through the door I’d made. A powerful bark resounded through the meadow like a clap of thunder.

The fighting slowed at the realization that the meadow was no longer cut off from the outside world. Reinforcements were coming.

Muiredach threw magic at Inara, sending her spinning before facing the shadow hound standing before him. He was too late. Alches threw himself forward to make room for the others.

Baran plunged through first. An autumn colored reaper that cut a bloody path toward his brother’s prison.

Then Callie.

Don.

Owen.

Astrid.

All of my father’s siblings.

They stalked through the portal like they were about to lay siege to the realm. Astrid’s laughter had a bell-like quality as she darted toward a pair of Lucies. Owen barreled past her, carrying a giant axe that he used to decapitate the closest Red Cap. His war cry of victory shook the meadow soon after.

Don tipped an imaginary hat at me. Inky shadows unfurled from his head like tentacles. They snapped toward the nearest enemy, crushing their torso before whipping them through the air. “Our king sends his regards. Regretfully, he could not join us on this foray as he is the pillar upon which our realm rests but he thanks you for this opportunity for a little revenge.”

Before I could gather words for a response, Don was already moving away to join the battle. A dark knight that obliterated his foes as easily as he might a fly.

The last to step through was my biological father. He dipped his head in a respectful nod. “Well done, daughter.”

“You put me in a dungeon,” I said in response.

His lips curved in amusement. “You escaped.”

No thanks to him.

Muiredach stared at Brin like he’d seen a ghost. “I banned you from this place.”

“And my daughter broke that ban when she created this doorway,” Brin responded.

Denial flooded Muiredach’s expression as his gaze shifted to me. “No—you have no offspring. I would have known.”

“Ah—your spies.” Brin glanced at Arlan. “Sorry, most of them have been mine for quite a long time now.”

Muiredach’s chest heaved from the force of his anger as he glared daggers at my sperm donor.

Brin’s answering smirk was particularly obnoxious. “Shall we end this?

Muiredach snatched a sword from a Lucie nearby. Fire erupted along its length as he rushed Brin.

My biological father stepped to meet him. The two came together in a thunderous crash that sent a blast wave ripping through the clearing.

Luckily, I was already lying down or the force would have toppled me.

It did topple several others. Almost immediately, they climbed to their feet to resume fighting.

In the middle of it, Callie strolled over to me, her head snakes waving gently around her face. “Little niece, you’ve pulled off quite the feat. A road between the realms. I didn’t think it possible.”

“How?” I asked.

How were they here? How had they known to come?

Callie squatted beside me to scan my injuries. “Your father.”

I wanted to ask how he had known the exact time to be here, but I had a feeling Alches had told him.

“Stay awake, little nightmare. The fight’s not over yet,” Callie urged, her voice coming from a vast distance.

Sluggishly, I realized my eyes had drifted closed. The thought that I should force them open occurred to me.

But I was so tired. And that seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

I was just beginning to sink back into the darkness when blood touched my tongue. Pure lightning coursed through my veins.

I jolted back awake, opening my eyes to see Ahrun’s smiling face above mine as he withdrew the finger he’d stuck in my mouth. The small wound he’d made by scraping the finger pad against one of my fangs already healing.

“Careful, dearest,” he crooned. “Else you’ll lose the battle after winning the war.”

I followed his nod to the fight taking place between Brin and the Summer King. Inara wove around them, darting in and out of the king’s range, magic flying as she provided Brin with support. Together, the two had managed to open several small wounds.

Strangely, there was no blood coming from those gashes. Not even a hint of red.

“What is he?” I whispered.

Ahrun’s blood acted like an elixir, beginning the healing process. The tears in my flesh began to knit themselves back together. I no longer felt that crushing sense of pressure around my organs either.

I was still weak.

It would take hours, if not days, for me to return to full health, but that tiny drop from Ahrun was enough to get the process started.

“That is for you to figure out,” Ahrun told me. “Give your father my best, and tell him I’ll meet up with him later.”

“Where are you going?” I asked as Callie supported me to sit up.

“I can’t do everything for you, my dear,” Ahrun tossed over his shoulder. “My heir has to prove herself, after all.”

Heir? No.

“Despite Vitus’s assumptions, it was never going to be Thomas. He had neither the temperament nor the interest. You, though.” Ahrun nodded. “You’ll do quite nicely, I think.”

Ahrun broke into a sprint, disappearing from the meadow in a pop of air.

I jumped as a body landed next to me. Its head split in half, blood pooling under it.

Owen stomped on the Red Cap’s chest, crushing it. “What’s Brin doing here? I thought our king ordered him to stay behind.”

Callie’s snakes reared, hissing at the Lucie trying to sneak up behind Owen. He froze as gray leached into his skin.

On a backhanded swing, Owen beheaded the Fae, never looking away from his sister.

“You know him. Always with his own plans,” Callie said, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“What about her?” Owen jerked his head at me. “Is she ready to re-open the way? If we linger much longer, we’ll be overrun.”

I found myself the recipient of two expectant gazes.

“What do you say, niece? Will you open the door again?” Callie asked.

“I’d love to. Small problem—I’m not quite sure how I opened it in the first place.”

Until right this moment, I hadn’t realized the portal I’d made was a one-way trip, closing behind them afterward.

Nor did I have enough energy or magic to replicate what I’d done. Even with Ahrun’s power boost.

“That’s going to be a problem,” Owen said grimly.

The numbers on Muiredach’s side had multiplied in the short time since the battle had begun. More Summer Fae and vampires pouring into the meadow while our numbers remained stagnant.

We were holding our own for now, but that would change as our side grew fatigued.

Something tickled the periphery of my senses. “I don’t think it’s as bad as you assume.”

A chorus of howls lifted in a song of battle.

From the trees, I caught the movement of fur. A second later, the pack, Caroline at the forefront, surged into the meadow.

They swarmed the Fae, tearing them apart with teeth and claws.

There was the boom of a rifle. Several more shots followed the first as Jenna picked Fae off from her position in the tree line. Drake, his father and grandfather beside him, did the same nearby. Their faces intent and focused.

Before I could focus on my sister’s presence, or the fact she’d invited a trio of hunters to the party, I felt someone else approach. The someone I’d been waiting for all this time.

“Liam,” I breathed.

As if my thoughts had summoned him, he blurred into the clearing.

He tore through the Fae, working his way toward me as Thomas, Connor and the rest of the enforcers entered the fray behind him.

“This ends tonight!” Thomas roared, rushing at Vitus as the enforcers spread out around him, slaughtering the vampires on Vitus’s side.

Vitus discarded the wolf he’d been in the process of draining, his chin and mouth bloody as he grinned at my sire. “Something we’re in agreement on.”

Thomas reached him in the next second, both of them launching into vampire speed.

In my mind’s eye, power swelled around Thomas, leaving me in no doubt as to who would emerge victorious.

The meadow in which Vitus had planned to bury me would soon be his final resting place.

There was a certain poetry to that.

At some point during the battle, Navya had slipped away, leaving the other two councilors to take the brunt of Thomas’s rage.

Saul streamed across the meadow as a cloud of smoke, his focus not on Thomas and Brax’s forces but rather a half-buried cage in the middle of the clearing.

Suddenly, his betrayal made a lot more sense. Someone he cared about had been a victim of Muiredach. Everything he’d done, from allowing the Summer King’s agents to take over his city to allowing them to set a trap for me in the Playground and casino, was likely to save that person.

Lowen went crazy in the cage above my head.

I saw why a second later.

Nyx stood on a tree branch, a bow and arrow in her hand.

With it, she took careful aim at Inara, releasing three arrows in quick succession.

Inara dodged the first one, but the second took her in her wing. The pixie dust on the arrow caused them to freeze for a brief moment.

It was all that was needed for the third arrow to take Inara through the chest.

A feral sound ripped from Lowen as Inara dropped, landing in a heap next to Deborah. Wood splintered as he burst from the cage. A streak of purple and blue, he was on Nyx before she registered his presence.

In the next second, she was dead. Ripped apart by Lowen.

“Enough of this,” Muiredach declared.

I felt him tap Summer’s Heart, drawing heavily on the magic of the meadow and oak. Young trees boiled from the ground around Brin, caging him in wood and vines.

To my surprise, Brin didn’t resist, letting the new trees box him in.

His meaningful gaze seemed to meet mine before the last of the trees blocked him from view.

“Him and his damn schemes,” Callie muttered in a frustrated voice as Muiredach turned toward us.

“Queen of snakes. My agents have been hunting you for an age,” Muiredach said.

Callie’s snakes writhed around her head as she placed herself between me and the king. “Here I am.”

The haughtiness on Muiredach’s face as he regarded my aunt made it clear he didn’t consider her a threat. Even as he made her an offer he felt she couldn’t deny. “Your ability to avoid their blade shows you’re not entirely useless. Kneel and declare your subservience and I might allow you to live.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“You’re planning to face me?” Muiredach’s mocking laughter at the thought was the ultimate insult. “And here I thought you were smarter.” He indicated the forest prison he’d grown around Brin. “As you see, even Noctessa’s heir was helpless before me. You’re considerably weaker than him.”

Callie’s lips curved in a mysterious smile. “It’s not me who will face you.”

A white stag rammed into the king. Liam appeared beside them, a broadsword in his hand that he used to stab the king’s back.

Connor lowered his rack of antlers and charged again.

Liam yanked the sword out of the king’s torso and slid out of the way.

I crawled backward to avoid being trampled as Connor rammed the king again. The oak tree blocked my path before I made it too far.

Liam abandoned Connor, leaving his nephew to distract Muiredach as he raced toward me. Snatching me from the ground, he shouted the order to retreat.

We never got the chance.

Roots stabbed up from the ground, impaling Connor’s stag in the belly, torso and neck. They wrapped around Liam’s calves. He tore free, making it several more feet before they caught him again.

A searing glow emitted from the king’s body. A burst of plasma and light.

Something sizzled. The smell of burning flesh reached me a second later.

Liam’s shirt was incinerated by the king’s power, the skin on his back bubbling and boiling.

I sobbed as Liam held me tighter, hunching over to protect me from the pure sunlight engulfing his back.

“Hang on, mo chuisle . We’ll be away from here in a second.”

“Put me down,” I pleaded as flames began to lick over his shoulders.

“Never,” he breathed, managing a crooked smile despite the pain as he gazed down at me with the kind of fierce love that I had a feeling wouldn’t run out for an eternity. “You’re my wife, remember? Where you go; I go. No take backs.”

Liam’s legs gave out. Even then, he managed to curl himself around my body in an effort to protect me from the fall.

Nathan roared Liam’s name and attempted to fight his way toward us.

Anton and Eric looked over, their faces hardening at the sight of us on the ground, Liam’s body still covering mine. Daniel went berserk on his side of the battlefield.

Despite their dwindling numbers, the Lucies managed to close ranks around the enforcers, preventing them from coming to our aid.

“It’s okay, lover.” I looked over Liam’s shoulder to lock eyes with Muiredach. “This time it’s my turn to save you.”

To defeat a monster, sometimes you had to become one.

I could feel Muiredach’s filthy power trying to infiltrate Liam’s defenses via the wounds he’d made.

I wouldn’t let him. Not my Liam.

Raising my hands, I cupped Liam’s face, bringing my lips to touch his.

“I love you,” I whispered.

If a nightmare was what it took to stop this, a nightmare I would become.

Darkness tore from me. Oozing slowly from my shadow to blanket the land in the abyss that lay at the heart of me.

“Hello, lunch,” a woman purred.

She sounded like me. Smiled like me. Big and pretty with her sharp fangs on display.

She was me. Though also not.

“What have you done?” Muiredach asked, his light preventing my abyss from encroaching on the small patch of sun he stood in.

The rest of his and Vitus’s forces weren’t as lucky. The abyss sucking them down and absorbing their powers.

“I’ve become.”

Jenna crept up behind the king, raising her rifle and pressing the barrel to the side of his head. She pulled the trigger. A boom sounded as fragments of skull and brain matter flew.

The combination of iron and a special type of magic I’d never felt before wouldn’t be enough to kill him.

Though it did leave me an opening to spear my magic into his heart.

Shadows and night poured into him.

Rather than allow my abyss to devour him—an attempt I sensed would turn me into the same sort of monster that he’d become—I targeted the connection he’d forced with the realm. Unless I destroyed that, he’d use it to regenerate from all the damage we’d done him.

Touching that wellspring of power sent pain ripping through my entire being. Stripping pieces of me away.

I endured.

Despite my best efforts, my magic began rampaging through his, gobbling his power and the realm’s down like it was a never-ending buffet.

When it reached the bottom of him, the abyss refused to stop. It kept going, consuming the magic that comprised his very cells.

I wasn’t aware when the screaming started. I was aware when it cut out abruptly.

Liam tugged at me. “Aileen, that’s enough. There’s no more of him left.”

I opened my eyes to find the king a shriveled husk that began to dissolve in the breeze.

The fighting around us slowed and then stopped as the king’s enthrallment ended when he did. Those who’d previously supported him surrendered.

The enforcers weren’t quite so merciful to those who remained from Vitus and Sophia’s forces. They made quick work of ending any who remained.

While they finished up, Thomas sauntered toward us, Vitus’s decapitated head displayed like a trophy at his side.

“Woah,” Jenna exclaimed, her gaze on mine. “What happened to your eyes?”

I couldn’t answer, the bulk of my concentration on fighting the power still roiling at my center.

It wanted out.

“Liam,” I groaned.

Strong hands caught me when I would have fallen.

“What’s wrong with her?” Jenna asked, sounding frightened.

“She’s becoming,” Liam said grimly.

“Becoming what?”

You could tell we were sisters. When confronted with the same enigmatic bullshit, our responses were the same.

My humor was forgotten as I whimpered in pain.

Without an outlet, my power was turning on me.

“Is there anything you can do?” Liam asked, speaking to someone out of sight.

“She was warned of the consequences.” Brin knelt beside me and placed a hand on my forehead. “She hasn’t developed enough for this level of power. If she holds onto it, it will be too much for her current form to contain.”

“How do we stop this?” Liam asked.

“We can’t. She went too far. She didn’t just consume Muiredach. She also devoured his connection to the Summer Lands.”

“Break it,” Liam ordered.

“I would, but I’m not even quite sure how she managed to do it in the first place. Based on past history, she should have become the same unnatural thing he was. Instead, she’s caught on the cusp of becoming something entirely new.”

“What does that mean?” Jenna demanded.

“She’s dying,” Brin said simply.

Several voices objected at once.

Amidst the argument taking place, I looked around, finding Arlan almost immediately. Baran supporting a worse for wear Breandan beside him.

There was a simple solution to this problem. If this influx of power was too much for me, I could always just hand it to someone else.

Say, a person who might have come to this power by way of inheritance if Muiredach hadn’t interrupted the natural order of things.

How about it? I thought at him.

Baran and Breandan hung back, their faces set as Arlan moved forward to kneel at my side. The illusion he was weaving ensuring the vampires and Brin didn’t notice.

“This is the second time you’ve offered me a realm,” he said.

Better take it then. I don’t think there’ll be a third.

“You’re a strange vampire.”

That wasn’t the first time I’d been told that.

Arlan grasped my hand in his. “If you’re willing to bestow it, I will accept this time.”

Good enough for me.

Sinking into the heart of my power, I once again found myself outside my physical body.

This time the meadow was no longer blackened and charred, but I wouldn’t describe it as healthy either. It was covered in darkness. The only spot free of the shadows was directly in front of the tree.

Kneeling before the oak, I pressed my palm against its trunk.

Arlan joined me, the illusions that cloaked him cast aside, leaving him standing there in all his glory.

“You’re magnificent,” I told him, withdrawing my hand from the tree.

A sphere of pure magic rested on my palm like an offering.

Arlan looked at it uncertainly for a second.

“Afraid?” I asked.

“I’ve worked my entire life to take my throne back from that usurper. Now that I’m here, it feels like a dream that I might wake up from at any moment.”

“I hope not.”

I needed him to bleed away some of this power. That was kind of hard to do if he was dreaming.

With a look of determination, Arlan reached for the sphere.

It broke into a million tiny lights, wrapping around him before sinking below his skin. His mouth tightened in pain before he shrugged it off.

The meadow we stood in vanished, and I found myself back in my own body, Liam hovering over me.

I smiled up at him. “Hey, there.”

Relief replaced some of the strain in his features. “You’re okay.”

“For now,” I corrected.

My becoming had been delayed but not banished. The abyss still existed inside of me. Sleeping once again.

But I’d bought myself a few decades, centuries if I was lucky. Time enough to grow and get strong enough to handle what was coming.

Liam stroked the hair back from my face. “You had me scared, wife.”

“We’re using words like wife now?”

“Your fate was sealed the moment you told me it was your turn to save me.”

The soft look in his eyes made me flush.

“You’re not still holding out hopes for a divorce, are you?” Nathan asked, rubbing his jaw as he strolled over to us. He was covered in blood and there were a few wounds on his arms and torso that were just beginning to heal. “You realize vampire divorces aren’t easy to obtain, right?”

No, I hadn’t realized that.

“You might call them impossible.” Nathan used his shirt to try to wipe away some of the blood. He just made matters worse, smearing it around before he gave up. Dropping the hem of his shirt so it covered his abs, he smirked at me. “It requires the blessing of the council.”

Of whom Ahrun was a member.

Thomas too, now that he’d defeated Vitus.

My glare contained a little heat as I swung my eyes to Liam’s. “You said you’d fix this.”

“Did I? Are you sure?”

Now that he mentioned it, I realized he hadn’t made any such agreement. If I recalled correctly, it was mostly me making the demands while just he sat there.

Silently. Smugly.

“Shit,” I whispered.

I was married. For real.

Liam kissed the side of my head. “Don’t frown, mo chuisle. I’ll make sure you enjoy our future. I promise.”

“Speaking of—how is this going to work?” Nathan asked.

Liam’s eyes smiled down at me. “I think I’m going to need some help moving.”

“Don’t you think you should wait for an invitation before you go deciding to move into other people’s houses,” I asked grumpily.

“We’re married now. What kind of husband and wife live apart?” Liam regarded Thomas. “Speaking of—I think you’ll need to find a new head enforcer. I plan to join Clan Travers and I can’t serve two masters.”

Thomas didn’t look surprised. “Any suggestions on your replacement?”

Liam glanced at Nathan. “My first born would stand you in good stead.”

“Ah, thanks, boss man. Does this mean I can have your house?”

“I never—you can’t—” I sputtered, unable to gather my thoughts well enough to form a protest.

“We accept,” Connor declared over me.

Back in his human form, he’d nabbed a pair of pants from somewhere. From the blood decorating them, they’d probably belonged to one of the dead vampires lying around.

“Clan Travers will be grateful for an enforcer of your caliber,” Connor continued, sending a meaningful look in my direction. “Especially since we’ll have need of you after tonight.”

I swallowed my objection, realizing he had a point. Too many people had seen me being outed as a magic breaker. There was no way back now. I’d need help protecting my house and its members.

“Are you sure?” I asked, trying not to reveal how vulnerable the question made me feel. It was quite the step down to go from the master of the city’s right hand to serving as muscle for a small, insignificant house like mine.

If I was being honest, that was a big part of why I was being such a pain in the ass about this. I didn’t want Liam regretting his choice later or resenting me for what he’d had to give up.

“There’s nothing I want more.”

Okay, then. We were doing this.

The thought terrified me, but it also left me with a strange sort of excitement.

I wanted Liam.

In my house.

In my bed.

In my life.

Thomas looked calmer about the loss of his head enforcer than I’d expected. “It’s good to know my children will be protected by one of the best.”

“Just one of? Try the best,” Liam drawled in a tone of such arrogance that it was no wonder I’d wanted to throat punch him upon our first meeting.

Thomas lifted Vitus’s head. “If you recall, deartháir, I’m the one to smite our enemy.”

“I was a little preoccupied with more important things. Either way, you’ll be busy soon with your new position as councilor.”

Thomas’s expression soured. “Don’t remind me. I’d hoped to avoid this for a few more centuries.”

Fading fast as the last few hours took their toll, I touched Liam’s arm. “Can you help me with something?”

There was something I needed to do before I crashed.

If it wasn’t too late.

Seeming to understand what I wanted, Liam carried me over to Deborah and Inara. Lowen was already there, his head bowed over his consort.

From his presence, I took it that he’d come out the victor in his fight with Nyx and that the other pixie was dead.

Good.

One less thing for me to do myself.

I wasn’t someone who prayed often, but as I listened for signs of life, I found myself sending one up to whatever deity or higher power oversaw this corner of the universe.

Please let me be in time.

Closing my eyes, I tuned into my senses.

It was faint and uneven, but I caught the slow thud of a heart.

Two hearts, actually.

They were alive. Though not for long.

I tapped Liam’s arm. “Put me down.”

He hesitated, reading what I intended on my face. “She’s very close to death.”

In other words, I needed to prepare myself. Deborah might not survive the transition to vampire. People often didn’t. And that was when they were healthy. Not hanging onto life by a thread.

“I owe it to her to try.”

She hadn’t given up on me. I couldn’t give up on her. Not until I’d exhausted every avenue in my effort to save her.

“It doesn’t have to be you. Let one of us do this instead,” Liam persuaded.

It was tempting. He, or any of the others, had the age and experience to give Deborah the best chance of making it through this. Moreover, they understood better what it was to be vampire and could guide her onto a successful path for eternal life. Unlike me, who mostly just bumbled my way from crisis to crisis.

I shook my head. “It has to be me.”

Somehow, I knew Deborah wouldn’t want any other vampire to have authority over her.

I pressed my hands against my stomach to hide their shaking.

Despite my outward confidence, I was terrified. Of what I was about to do. Of failing and losing her. Of succeeding and having her hate me afterward.

I never thought I’d be in this position. Where I had to make a yearling. In fact, I’d been quite determined that I would never add to my line. It was a promise I’d made myself in the early days. That I wouldn’t subject someone else to this fate.

It was a testament to how much I’d come to accept myself that I was even considering this step.

Liam’s reluctance to let me do it showed on his face.

I understood. I really did. His instinct was to protect me. Even from myself.

The thing was that I’d regret it forever if I didn’t at least try.

Deborah’s loss was unacceptable. If I had to make myself slightly uncomfortable and cross a few of the boundaries I’d set for myself, then so be it.

With that thought in mind, I glanced over at Thomas where he’d been listening quietly to our conversation. For once making no attempt to interfere. “Will you help me? I’m not really sure how this is supposed to work.”

Having the vampire who’d precipitated my entry into this society helping me to bring the next generation over felt right in a way I couldn’t explain. It also acted as a sort of olive branch. My way of saying that I’d forgiven him. That I was letting go of the last of my bitterness for the life stolen from me.

I’d worked through my feelings regarding my transition and Thomas’s role in it a long time ago. I’d just never gotten around to letting him know that.

“It would be my honor.”

Liam lowered me to the ground between Inara and Deborah’s still bodies. Splitting my attention between the two, I cupped my companion’s forehead before brushing a finger along Inara’s cheek.

Gently. So gently for fear of further damaging my small friend.

Lowen reached over, grasping my finger with his tiny hand. Together, we mourned what was coming. Neither of us ready to say goodbye but also unable to see a way to save the pixie we both loved.

“Would blood from one of us help?” Thomas asked.

My heart lifted at the suggestion, my gaze finding Lowen’s with sudden hope.

It was possible. Vampire blood had healing properties. Though I didn’t think anyone had ever tested it out on a pixie.

Lowen’s expression showed uncertainty as he considered Thomas’s offer. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone trying it.”

Different types of magic didn’t always play well with one another.

There was no telling what would happen if we were to feed our blood to Inara. Could be she got better.

Or she could die in agony.

Then there were other potential side effects to consider. An exchange of blood was one of the most ancient forms of magic there was. It could create a tie that bound.

I didn’t think my friend would accept being beholden to a vampire. Even as a means to save her life.

“It’s your choice, Lowen. You know best what she would want,” I said.

The pixie considered his queen before looking up at me. “If it’s you—but only you.”

I glanced at Thomas in question.

He nodded. “Be careful not to give too much of yourself. You’ll have need for it later.”

To save Deborah, he didn’t say.

Taking a deep breath, I stuck a finger in my mouth and scraped the pad against one of my fangs.

“You’d better appreciate this later.” I extended my finger so several drops of blood splashed into Inara’s mouth. “No more shooting me with arrows covered in pixie dust.”

After a moment, the wound on my finger healed.

Lowen and I held our breaths as we waited. I stared at Inara’s chest, willing the heart inside to keep beating.

After a moment of no change, Lowen’s wings drooped. “It didn’t work.”

I raised my hand to my mouth. “Maybe she just needs more blood to get things started.”

Lowen shook his head and waved me off. “None of that now. You tried. Inara wouldn’t want you wasting any more time on her. Take care of the lass. You might still be able to save her.”

I felt torn as I looked over at my companion. It went against everything I believed in to abandon Inara, but time was not on my side. Deborah was slipping away.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling like the worst sort of failure.

The pragmatic part of me understood the concept of triage. It was something that the military included in our training. On the battlefield, you couldn’t always save everyone. You helped who you could. The goal being to save as many as possible with the resources you had. Sometimes, that meant making hard choices.

I looked up at Thomas. “Tell me what I have to do.”

“The first part is already done. The past few months of blood exchanges between the two of you would have primed her body for this. Your venom has already started the change. Whether you were aware of it or not. Though having a few more years together would have helped the odds. We’ll do what we can,” Thomas said in a comforting tone. “Drain her. But be careful not to go too far. It’ll be difficult. The closer she grows to death, the more you will crave her blood. Its instinct.”

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Okay.”

Thomas helped me arrange Deborah with her back to my front, her neck arched for my bite. “Don’t be afraid. You can do this. I’ll stop you if you lose control.”

We were already on the precipice. There was no going back now. All I could do was trust him and hope for the best.

With that thought in mind, I lowered my mouth to her neck. It was like biting into a grape. A brief resistance before a pop. Next thing I knew, blood trickled into my mouth.

I drank it down greedily.

Humans so close to death had a distinct flavor to their blood that was addicting. The tang compelling you to sip deeper. Those last few swallows were the most difficult. The essence contained within them made my eyes roll into the back of my head.

Before I could finish savoring its unique bouquet, someone nudged my shoulder. “That’s enough.”

I clutched Deborah to me, a tiny growl slipping free in warning.

Another shove. This time harder and containing an echo of power. “Aileen—stop.”

I came unlatched from Deborah’s throat.

No wonder it wasn’t recommended for vampires my age to try changing a human. As I’d just found out, our control was nowhere near developed enough to withstand temptation. Without Thomas, I wasn’t sure I would have been able to stop.

He handed me a silver knife. “Now for the next step. Give her your blood.”

Taking the knife from his hand, I slit my wrist and held it to Deborah’s lips. Without her awake to swallow, it filled her mouth and dribbled out the side.

Thomas showed me how to hold her jaw closed and stroke her throat to force her to swallow.

“It’s not working,” I said, panic creeping up my spine.

“Give it time,” Thomas soothed.

Anxiously, I watched Deborah’s features for signs that something was happening. When the wound on my wrist stopped bleeding, I made another cut and held it back to her mouth.

“Come on, Debs.”

Don’t do this to me.

I tucked my face into the side of hers, praying silently to a god I wasn’t sure existed. And if they did, would they answer the prayer of a creature such as me?

Alches laid down beside me, resting his chin on his paws and letting out a tiny whine.

I lifted my head and looked down at him. He quirked his eyebrows at me in expectation.

Drying the tears that had leaked free, I sat up, taking a look at Deborah through my other sight. My magic flared into view. Tiny red lights that I associated with the vampire part of me. All streaming through her veins to pool at her center. They milled around like they had no idea what to do. Just sitting there.

In addition to the magic that made me vampire, there was a tiny splotch of my abyss that had found its way into her. It nestled inside her as if it had found a new home.

Ignoring the darkness that represented my abyss, I focused on the vampire part of my magic, brushing my mind against it.

The red lights gave an excited shimmy.

With renewed hope, I grasped the magic, guiding it until it circulated throughout the rest of Deborah’s body.

I wasn’t sure if this was what I was supposed to do, having never seen the making of a vampire besides myself. And that didn’t count. But something about it felt right.

It was faint, but I thought I felt Deborah’s lips move weakly against my wrist.

Thomas smoothed a hand over her head. “That’s a good sign.”

I looked over at him hopefully. “It’s working?”

“A transition takes hours, if not days. Soon, her heart will stop, and she will have the appearance of death. It’ll be out of our hands after that. All we can do is wait to see if she wakes up.”

I didn’t like that answer, but there was nothing I could do except continue to feed Deborah. Several times, I had to make new wounds with the silver knife when the old ones healed. The blood loss eventually left me feeling woozy and a touch light headed.

Liam supported me when I wove in place. “Almost there, mo chuisle .”

I rested my head on his chest as I continued to bleed into Deborah’s mouth.

After what felt like an eternity, Liam stirred, taking my wrist away from Deborah and putting pressure on the wound as he folded my arm between us.

Distantly, I felt him press a kiss on my forehead. “Well done, wife. Rest now and let fate take care of the rest.”

Not yet, I wanted to say.

Through the narrowing crack in my eyelids, I focused on Inara’s prone figure.

Sensing the shift in my magic, Lowen lifted his head. “What are you doing?”

Making something new, I tried to mumble.

Brin’s approving tone was the last thing I heard as I fully sunk into unconsciousness. “You chose an interesting branch. Well done, daughter. Congratulations on the first stage of your becoming. May your nightmares terrify your enemies for an eternity to come.”

Blood touched my tongue. The power in it jolting me out of the dark fog I was drifting in. I woke to find myself clutching Thomas’s forearm as I fed greedily from his wrist. Liam made soothing sounds as he rubbed my back. “That’s it. Almost done.”

I swallowed twice more before pushing Thomas’s wrist away from my mouth. He let me, already healing as he rolled his sleeves back down.

“That should do for now,” Thomas informed Liam, rising as a commotion came from the forest.

Daniel and Anton emerged dragging a bedraggled Sophia between them. Her sleek updo had come loose, a hank of hair sliding over her face. Her ballgown had ripped in places, giving evidence of a struggle. Dirt coated her knees and chest. There were also leaves stuck to the streaks of blood I could see on her skin.

Despite the fatigue pulling at me, I forced myself to focus. When Deborah woke up—and she would wake up—I wanted to be able to assure her that her torturer was no longer walking this plane of existence.

It was the least I owed her. And if it gave me a little closure as well, so be it.

Anton and Daniel tossed Sophia on the ground in front of Thomas. “We caught her trying to escape. Unfortunately, Councilor Navya eluded capture.”

“You don’t need to worry about her. Ahrun will take care of Navya,” Thomas said, looking down his nose at Sophia.

She tried to get to her feet. Anton clamped a hand on her shoulder and forced her back down.

The councilor winced but remained on her knees. “You have no right to detain me like this.”

Off to the side, Drake summoned Jenna with a jerk of his head. His father and grandfather were beside him, standing slightly apart from Thomas’s enforcers.

I locked eyes with Jenna, the concern on her face fading as she assured herself that I was okay. She tipped her chin at me before drifting in Drake and his family’s direction.

“Have the rest arrived yet?” Thomas was asking.

I split my attention between the hushed conversation Jenna was having and what was going on as Eric melted out of the trees to nod at Thomas.

From Jenna’s side, I only caught part of what was being said.

“Now that we’ve upheld our end, we’ll expect to see you in a few weeks,” Drake’s father was saying.

“I know what I promised. I won’t go back on our deal.”

Noticing my gaze, Drake winked and waved, mouthing, “See you later, cuz.”

He and the other two disappeared into the trees.

“Do you know what that’s all about?” I asked Connor as Jenna hesitated, looking over at me before choosing to head over to help Caroline tend to an injured Brax.

I narrowed my eyes. Someone was avoiding me.

Brax and Caroline were naked and in their human forms. Jenna took two sets of sweats from a light pack that I hadn’t noticed on her back. She handed them to Caroline, along with several protein bars before moving on to distribute snacks to the rest of Brax’s pack still in the clearing.

“I have an idea,” Connor said.

From his tone, it sounded like he didn’t plan to share that idea with me.

I’d have to address that with him. And her. But later. When we were safe and home.

Jabari and Tse, surrounded by a phalanx of enforcers that looked more like prison guards than loyal subordinates, entered the meadow. The enforcer that I’d noticed first in Columbus, then again at Vitus’s side a few nights ago, tipped his chin at Liam.

“Is this a coup?” I whispered in suspicion.

Liam patted me on the hip. “Shh. Let’s not use such incendiary labels.”

I stared at him. “You’ve been a very busy boy.”

First tracking down my father. Then conspiring with Alches. Now a coup. Whatever he wanted to call it.

“Just a few contingency plans I put in place when I left my role as the council’s enforcer.”

Thomas clapped his hands, drawing our attention back to the current situation. “Oh, good. You’re here. We can get started then.”

Given the nature of their semi-forced attendance, Tse and Jabari appeared remarkably calm. Even when Thomas tossed Vitus’s head at their feet.

“Vitus is dead. By virtue of being the one who killed him, I’ve claimed his seat for myself,” Thomas declared. “My first act is to put forth a motion to have counselor Sophia Everett removed from our ranks and executed for her crimes.”

With a look of distaste, Tse nudged Vitus’s head with one foot, confirming the counselor’s identity before letting the head settle back into place. “I’m willing to overlook the unorthodox manner of your ascension since a challenge was already issued and accepted, but that doesn’t give you authority over the other members of this council.”

Thomas crooked his fingers at Liam’s enforcer friend. “I think you’ll change your mind after seeing this.”

The enforcer withdrew a pair of files from his jacket and handed them to the counselors.

Thomas was in his element as he leveled a condemning look on the kneeling vampire. “As you can see from the documents Noah just handed you, Sophia has been a very naughty girl. Correct me if I’m wrong—but isn’t there a rule against transforming underage humans into vampires.”

Jabari flung the file he was holding at Sophia’s head, a rare show of fury on his face. “What were you thinking? They were children. We do not prey on the young. No matter how tempting you may find them.”

The quiver in Sophia’s lips was the only sign of trepidation in her otherwise flawless facade as she lifted her chin to meet Jabari’s accusing stare. “None of those I offered the gift could be considered children. They weren’t much younger than me when I was turned. In a different age, they would have been old enough to take wives of their own.”

“You can justify it however you want, but your claim would have carried more weight if you hadn’t transitioned quite so many,” Thomas drawled. “And if you didn’t have the habit of disposing of them once you grew bored.”

Fear was beginning to eclipse Sophia’s former arrogance.

The council couldn’t ignore what she’d done. There was a reason humans weren’t offered the transition before they reached their twenties. Vampires turned too young tended to come out a little wrong. Something about not being able to weather the advancement of centuries without growing twisted.

In Sophia’s case—evil.

How many lives had she ended? Dozens? Hundreds?

There was no way of telling.

“Someone who so flagrantly flaunts our laws cannot be allowed to sit in judgment of others who might do the same,” Thomas said scathingly.

Sophia pleaded with Jabari. “Please.”

The councilor shook his head regretfully. “You know the rules. There is no forgiveness. Not for something like this.”

Sophia’s gaze sought Tse’s.

The vampire nodded at Thomas. “Do as you wish.”

A wail ripped from Sophia as she fought to escape.

At Thomas’s nod, Anton reached forward and snapped her neck. Her struggles ceased as she collapsed.

Together, Daniel and Anton grabbed her arms, dragging her back into a kneeling position as Eric ghosted forward. The enforcers held her steady as he plunged his hand into her chest, ripping out her heart.

Under his impassive gaze, it burst into flames.

Anton and Daniel dropped the former councilor, drawing back as the fire spread from the heart in Eric’s hand to her still body.

Tse turned and left, half of the enforcers following.

Jabari addressed Thomas. “We will have to fill Sophia’s seat now that she is gone. It can’t be left empty.”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll leave the arrangements to you.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a council seat change hands. Now there are two at once. There may be some upheaval later.”

Thomas’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sure we can handle it. My father will expect nothing less.”

In other words, straighten up and do your job or you’re next.

“Quite so,” Jabari said with a faint tightening at the corner of his eyes.

He inclined his head in a respectful nod to Thomas before taking his leave, along with the rest of the enforcers who’d accompanied him to Summer’s Heart.

“Think they’ll listen?” Nathan asked.

“They should. Neither Tse nor Jabari are fools.”

“If they don’t, they’ll deal with the consequences,” Liam said, the grim note in his voice leaving me with no doubt as to what those consequences would be.

I hoped the councilors wised up. Otherwise, blood would flow.

Not my problem though. I had a companion to transition to vampire life and a House to run.

I let myself relax into Liam’s hold. “I’ve had enough of this city and its politics. I’m so ready to go home.”

After this trip, it might be a long time before I strayed from my city’s borders again.

“I was looking forward to our honeymoon though,” Liam drawled. “I was thinking somewhere with mountains and pretty vistas.”

I stiffened in his arms, my gaze shifting from his.

Talk about jumping the gun. I hadn’t even fully accepted the fact that we were married and that it might be permanent. Now he was talking about a honeymoon? Was he trying to freak me out?

A chuckle burst from him at the stilted expression on my face. His arms tightened around me. “Relax, mo chuisle. We can take our time with the planning. We have an eternity together, after all.”