29. transcend

29

transcend

Lucynda

TWO MONTHS LATER - December 24th

Tranquil.

That's the only word I have to describe the way I feel at this very moment right now.

The snow that has fallen, creating mountains of glistening hope against the grounds that once burned out of hatred, anger, and a deep need for annihilation.

The Christmas tree that sparkles with silvery glass ornaments and twinkling bright lights against the luminescence of the moon that shines through the window and into the space that once called for conclaves to dismantle and evoke evil truths.

The piano that plays a beautifully harmonious tune as the notes resound off the wall at the mercy of the same fingers that touched so much blood, defiled and tainted yet still demonstrating perseverance through the sound of music.

The ashes of our demise, the bones of our betrayers, and the whispers of our souls make up the walls of this castle, hell bent on tearing us apart and vivid with the destruction held between us.

But we prevailed and all is tranquil.

"It sounds sensational, little one." Rivian walks up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder as I finish off Nuvole Bianche .

He leans down and presses a kiss over my scar and I shiver at his touch.

Troian sits by the wood-burning fire; her head rests on one arm of the chair and her feet are kicked up over the other as she flips through the pages of an old book.

"You know the vampires in this book sparkle ? Like glitter in the sun. I've never heard of such absurdity," she calls out in blasphemy, the fire crackles in front of her.

Rivian looks down at me and I chuckle at her abrasiveness. "I told you," I say to him as I lift myself from the piano bench at the sight of Natasha coming through the doorway with a tray of hot chocolate.

"Travois, will Trinity be joining us?" I hear Rivian ask with devilry in his tone, likely trying to stir something.

I hear my brother sigh in inconvenience as I approach Natasha. "Thank you," I whisper to her while taking a mug, and she bows her head before setting the tray down.

"Mind your own business," Travois demands as he sits at the table sipping a tumbler of blood, likely mixed with whiskey—as I've come to learn he likes.

"You know, I don't know why you're still engaged to her when you haven't even so much as talked to her in the past few months." Troian closes her book and sits up.

I go to stand by my husband's side as I watch the two engage in petty arguments.

"And I don't suppose the almighty Troian Leigh Duquesne might have a new love interest lingering around? Who are you consorting with this time around? Seeing as there are no more elusive enemies to fraternize with." Trav doesn't even look at Troy when talking to her, that nefarious tint laced in his tone.

"Middle names?" I tease.

She tosses her book across the room, damn near spot on with his head. But he catches it with one hand, not even moving otherwise. He drops it in disregard and says, "Sorry, sis. Did I hit a nerve?"

"You are insufferable, you know? Don't you have anything better to do than sit around here and sip ominously on all of the blood supply? Try taking up a hobby like . . . I don't know, fishing," she deadpans, walking over to the hot chocolates and grabbing one. "You owe me a new book, Travois Jameson Duquesne ," she adds before taking a sip.

Rivian wraps his arms around me and squeezes me in, his warmth engulfing me.

"And what about you, sister?" My husband asks. "Any hobbies you want to take up in place of-"

I smack Rivian to stop him from continuing his insult.

"Killing boys is an actual hobby, thank you very much," she replies with sarcasm, and I can practically hear Travois roll his eyes from here. "But in case you must know, I do actually have plans," she starts with hesitation in her tone.

Rivian and I look over to her, not knowing what she's about to reveal. She sighs as she sets down her mug to face us, nervousness in her demeanor.

"It's time, brother. Really time. I've been trapped in these walls for far too long and…" she trails off, obviously worried that Rivian might stand against her request. A request I know she's been dying to make. "I want to leave Hollows Trace." The words are final as they fall from her mouth, a confession she desires most.

This time, Travois turns his head as he watches his twin.

"Where will you go?" I ask, knowing the boys will take a second to process. They've been protective over her this whole time and her departure is going to put a hole in this dynamic, as dysfunctional as it may have been.

"I've always wanted to go to New York. I have a friend who lives in the Ruby Stone Society, in Sunfall. I might go there. I won't have to transfer my blood; they'll take me as I am." Her voice shakes with worry that they'll deny her of her wants. To venture and travel, explore the world that she's bound to forever.

"Transfer blood?" I ask Rivian separately, not really sure if I understand what that means.

He lowers his voice to speak to me while the twins continue their argument. "Some Societies require a blood wash, if you will. Kind of like what Ameliana went through," he explains, and I mentally sigh in relief knowing that Troy won't have to go through that, but it brings up the memory of my mom.

Turns out, she died during her blood transfer, shortly after running away to marry Dominek. She was forced to drain herself of her Hollows Trace Royal blood and renew it with the Royal blood of Valor and, like Rivian had mentioned, a few seconds too long and the worst can happen. Dominek drained himself shortly after, not wanting to live without her. It actually sounds like a real tragic love story, but as it is, that's all we were really able to find out about her death.

But everything else started to unravel shortly after that.

Birdania was scorned by Rivian's rejection, and she confided in Zharus who found her crying all alone in a room one day. That was the day that set all of this into motion. They schemed this plan to destroy Rivian—Zharus having told Birdie about his plan to be Rivian's downfall. Zharus promised her royalty and freedom if she cooperated, and she agreed.

When Zharus found out that Travois was planning on going to sneak off to see if he could find Ameliana—Zharus knew she was dead—he thought it was the perfect time to take advantage of the dark magic that Birdania told him she was capable of. Together, they dug up her mother's desecrated body where she found the dark object—the necklace—and was able to perform the hex, presenting herself as Ameliana in every way—holding her memories and sounding like her—to fuck with Travois, and later, the rest of us fell victim to the illusion as well.

Zharus admitted that his biggest fear was Travois, and he wanted him mentally weak. So after years of toying with him, they decided to act on the next step of the plan which was to kill Renard. That was supposed to enact the wedding of Rivian and Birdania where they would become king and queen. Birdania was supposed to kill Rivian which would leave her widowed and at risk to run a kingdom alone. Though that isn't permitted for queens, and it would force her to remarry, needing to appoint a brand-new line of Royalty into the kingdom. This would have led to Zharus finally getting what he wanted, to rule a Society of his own, as she would have accepted his courtship.

But it wasn't as simple as they had hoped because Rivian's engagement to Birdania was called off once he found me. Rivian had this whole entire agenda of his own that he was working on, one where he would lure me into the depths of his home to hopefully bring out his biggest opposition, enacting his own revenge. So when Birdania's engagement to Rivian ended, she and Zharus had to come up with a new plan. This is where Viktrum became of use.

Zharus had been sneaking out of the castle for over a year to have an affair with Viktrum, and that's when he learned of Viktrum's pure hatred for Rivian. Why? We'll never know, but I assume that's when Zharus decided to bring Viktrum in. His prize in return for his cooperation was the promise of power to be a ruler over the strongest bloodline of vampires in the world.

It was unfortunate of Travois to decide to fall into his dark desires when he did, killing a couple of Outsiders on his way home from the Valor Cove castle one night. Zharus had witnessed the onslaught and decided it was the perfect time to frame him for the murders that followed. The murders that Birdie and Zharus committed. That was going to ensure they'd get Travois out of the way before they acted to kill Rivian. It was Viktrum's idea to use Dominek's death—which was kept in secret from outside Societies along with Ameliana's death—as a motivator for the Faction to investigate, leading them straight to Hollows Trace using the video surveillance of Zharus sneaking out of the castle as bait.

Zharus was able to compel Travois because of his Royal blood, convincing him to take the fall for the crimes as well as making him forget that it was him who freed him from the prison he'd been held in.

Together, Zharus, Birdania and Viktrum devised this elaborate plan to take everything, and they might have prevailed . . . if it weren't for me.

For Lavender Cyn.

My curse destroyed me for days on end, sucking every last bit of humanity I had left to offer while wreaking havoc on anyone else who dared to get in my way. When I killed Viktrum, I didn't know it, but I had thrown a wrench at their plans. Only because his death had left behind his widowed wife who is now responsible for finding a new king and she would have never taken the courtship of the man her husband cheated on her with.

My curse led to the arrival of Nathaira, called out by my husband in a desperate plea for help and if she had never been allowed her release from the deal they had made, she would have never been able to snuff out Birdie like she did. But as it is, Birdania's dark object only held enough power to perform the magic only a tad longer, so her time would have been up anyway.

That day in the dungeon was a true unraveling. An undoing. The end.

And the way we found out about all the inner workings that went into this convoluted plan for takeover? A fucking diary.

Viktrum's wife found a diary next to her nightstand the night after his death. Scribbled inside was ' property of Zharus Fatchelm '.

When the Faction arrived to follow up on the return of Travois and to investigate the death of Viktrum, we handed them the diary. But not before my genius sister forged the imbecile's handwriting for one last entry, confessing to the murder of Viktrum for his unwillingness to leave his wife for him. Anything that was left unsaid was undecided in mystery, but the Faction didn't seem the need to pursue anything further, so they took their answers and moved along.

Just like that.

But in the process of finding out all of this information, Millatrix, Viktrum's widowed wife, said she found another box of old papers. In one of them was a note, one for me and one for each of the twins.

And one for Rivian.

He burned his letter the moment he touched it, having thrown it to the fire and he watched the ashes eat the paper away. I thought it was because he still held a grudge for her, but he claimed it's because he can't revisit that part of his life ever again. And in the case that she explained herself to him, he'd never forgive himself the things he'd done so he'd rather pretend like it never existed.

I hadn't opened mine yet and I'm unsure if the twins have either. But for now, that chapter remains closed.

My head is pulled from my thoughts as I turn to see Travois stand from his chair. "I think I'm going to Valor," he states, and simultaneously we all turn to him in shock, seeing the look of pure solemnness on his face.

"What the fuck kind of business do you have over there?" Rivian says a little too aggressively and I have to warn him to keep his voice down. We haven't had a serious argument since that day we walked away from the dungeon, and I intend to keep it that way, at least until the New Year.

He dips his head, his hands in his pockets as I hold on to Rivian, and Troian waits with bated breath, anticipating his response.

"They need a king." His response is grave and his expression is unsmiling.

"I beg your finest pardon?" Troian's face morphs into confusion as she questions her brother's reply, nearly spitting out hot chocolate in the process.

I can feel Rivian's heart rate pick up as I try to ground him, hoping he doesn't flip his lid. "No," he states blankly.

"No?" Travois turns to him, frustration painted on his face. "Sorry to break it to you, brother. But I am not required to be bound to your foolish demands. Were you planning on telling Troian no?"

Rivian sighs as Travois picks up his tumbler and slams the rest of his bloody concoction. "Didn't think so," he says before he exits the room.

Rivian stares into the fireplace and Troy stands with her jaw on the ground. The air now littered with tension and unrelenting question.

"Well, then…" I try to lighten the mood, patting my husband's chest.

Troian turns around and dramatically slumps into a chair, obviously shocked at the news Travois just spilled and unsure of where to go from here.

I don't know how to react to this. Change should be good, right? There was a time where Rivian brought up that he might want to step down as king and pass the reins over to Travois, so why is the news that he might want to be king at a different kingdom troubling them?

I set my mug down on the table next to me before looking at the grandfather clock. Any minute now and I'll have something to distract him with.

Where is-

"Your Highness?" Kacian's voice finds my ear like clockwork, and I'm grateful he's here. "Your guest is here."

"Thank you, Kacian," I respond to him as he bows his head at me and leaves.

"Guest?" I hear Rivian finally break his trance as he looks at me with question.

"I, umm . . . I invited someone over." I tell him, giving him the most sincere and hopeful look I can muster. I don't know if he'll take my gesture with approval or hostility, but I reach my hand for his anyway. "Come on. I think you're going to want to meet her."

Rivian's eyes bore into mine and I cherish the look, because I think it's in this moment that he knows.

I lead him to the foyer where we approach a woman with ashy-blonde cascading down her back as she faces away from us, waiting by the door. We step closer, my hand in my husband's and I can feel his heart beating dangerously quick.

"Lucynda," he breathes my name before I introduce her to him.

"Rivian," I say as the woman slowly turns around to face us, her green eyes meeting ours. "Meet Valaria. Valaria, Rivian." I look between the two, waiting for a reaction.

I take a step back, my heart racing in anticipation. And as a few beats pass by, I start to get worried.

Did it work? She told me she was positive she'd remembered. And just as I start to let doubt enter my mind, she moves.

Valaria walks toward Rivian and reaches for him, pulling him in for a hug.

"Look at you," she whispers as she holds him close, tears clouding her eyes. "You're just as handsome as I thought you'd be." She smiles against his chest, a tear falling down her cheek.

Rivian looks at me, adoration filling his eyes. I feel full. In this moment, I feel the love I've always craved and I'm happy knowing that I can give him this moment. Him and his mom.

He hugs her back, squeezing his eyes shut before pulling away. "How?" he asks as he looks between me and his mother.

"I know a witch," I say and I don't miss the disapproving look that crosses his face. But I shake my head gently and urge him to just let this one go.

A fleeting moment passes, a whisper of hope fills his heart and Valaria grabs his hand. "The Gazebo?" she asks, and he simply nods and follows his mother into a new memory.