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“Eventually, as we talked, she said she’d looked into my soul and decided I wasn’t like my father after all. She said I was young.” He smiled. “And she said my brothers and I were always welcome home, unlike Gol’gonaar, who had used up his chances. I never even knew my father had a name before then. He just always told us he was Creator-Father.”
“Because it gave him more power over you,” I said. “And if you’d known his true name, it would have given you power over him.” Sabra had taught me that. With the right spell and knowledge of a true name, you could have complete control of a spirit. “He always wanted you to feel as helpless as possible so he could control you.” It was a feeling I understood well. I might know Vlad’s name, but only because he wanted us to know he was the direct descendant of a merciless, bloody king.
A ping sounds from my phone, and I throw off my covers to scramble for it. Could it be Layden? In spite of all the horrible things I said to him, is he texting anyway? Maybe he’s just letting me know where he is. That he’s safe.
I grab my phone and click to see the text.
My heart immediately sinks. I have a new message, all right, but it’s not from Layden. It’s from Vlad. Speak of the devil.
The text is just an address and a name with a short message. VLAD: Get compliance on upcoming sale of PTR Petrol.
Fury lights in my chest from the pain of all that I have given up because of Vlad’s control over me. I might not be able to escape completely, but I can’t stand things continuing this way. Sabra changed the deal she had with my grandfather to make it more bearable for herself. So can I.
I jump out of bed and stomp the entire way to Vlad’s wing. I’m done being his pawn. It’s time to stand up to him. I might be bound to him, but I’m done being his beck-and-call bitch. I might have lost Layden, and I’ll never truly be free, but I’m still going to be in charge of my own life as much as possible from here on out.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
LAYDEN
Present Day
My daughter drops her sword and looks behind me. Carefully, I back away from her and do the same. My father is… gone. There’s no trace of his body. Not even enough for an ember.
I rush to Phoenix’s side. I heard her use his name, but I’m not sure what it all means. She turns to me, and her eyes are glowing. I don’t pull back. “Phoenix?”
She blinks, and when she next looks at me, it’s my Phoenix back at last. She shakes her head and tries to stand, but her legs shake. She’s covered in blood, both from the birth and the fight with my father. Sabra comes quickly and throws the rest of the blanket around her shoulders.
When I look up, my daughter is standing there, halo still around her throat, watching on with a face that’s not quite blank but slightly confused.
“Help me up,” Phoenix says to Sabra and me. I quickly take one side, and Sabra takes the other. We lift Phoenix to her feet, though I hardly let her bear any weight at all after everything she’s gone through.
She walks over to our daughter and puts her hand around the halo. Phoenix’s eyes flare, glowing again as she snaps the halo, and our daughter stumbles back, hands going to her neck. If I thought she looked confused a moment ago, it’s nothing to now as she looks around at all the blood and dead vampire bodies all over the floor. Sabra goes to her while I help Phoenix walk to our firstborn, where she does the same to his collared halo.
“Bring the car around,” Phoenix says, and one of the surviving vampires snaps to attention with a quick nod, limping out of the building.
I’m about to ask Phoenix what she’s going to tell the police, then remember it won’t matter. Now that Vlad is gone, she can finally compel them on her own behalf. She can take over Vlad’s kingdom for herself if she likes, or, more likely, if she’s even half the woman I remember, she can finally leave it behind forever, once and for all. She’s finally, truly, free.
* * *
After we send the vampires back to Vlad’s compound, me and my new ready-made family show up at Abaddon’s door. Abaddon quickly ushers us inside, not knowing what to make of us. Hannah, however, is delighted to see us all and immediately starts fussing over everyone. First things first, she sends us off to shower. There are six bathrooms and five showers in the estate that my three brothers and their wives are renting, so that’s enough for my family to get washed all at once.
Although apparently my children take a little longer since they don’t quite know what to do. Advanced swordplay they’d been proficient at, but only as my father’s puppets. Human showers? Not so much. Hannah, Abaddon, and Kharon help them figure it out while Phoenix and I get washed up.
They lend us clothes, too. As soon as Phoenix is out of the shower, she wants to see our children. Abaddon brings them in as I urge Phoenix to sit on the comfortable bed.
They all stand so tall and silent, eyes big as they look around. Our second-born watches the other two suspiciously. They’ve finally stopped growing, thank the gods, and look to be about the human age of twenty-five, like I do.
“Do you know where you are?” Phoenix asks.
They all look at her as soon as she speaks, but none of them speak back. Then she frowns slightly like she’s concentrating. Not long after, our kids shake their heads.
“Um, what just happened?” I ask.
“I talked to them inside their minds,” Phoenix says, like that’s a totally normal thing to do. “Well, not like talking talking. More like images. Feelings. They don’t know human speech yet.”
She frowns again, and our children look like they’re listening intensely. I can’t stop looking at them. Even the sight of them makes me ache in a place so deep down, a place so full of love I didn’t even know I was capable of. They’re beautiful, their features an amazing mix of their mother’s and mine. Their strong wings are perfect and full. I’ll never be able to fly with them, but their mother and uncles can.
“What are you saying?” I ask Phoenix.
