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Luca shook his head. “No, and I know you aren’t either, but it doesn’t change anything. We have to go in there before Mother does. I won’t let her see them like that.”
Viktorija nodded and sighed. “The only way out is through, so let’s get this done. There are no rest stops in hell.”
Tightening his grip on the thick iron handles, Luca pulled. The massive doors refused to move at first since a thick pool of blood had congealed into a seal on the other side. When it broke, the doors opened out, and the stench of death and decay hit them like a truck. They froze in horror as the sight burned into their minds.
As they stood transfixed, a length of intestines fell from above the door and hit the floor with a sickening sound. Viktorija gagged, but she managed to choke back her bile. The carnage was worse than anything either had ever seen.
Viktorija took Luca’s hand and squeezed hard, and he gratefully returned the grip. He needed something solid to hold onto so the grief didn’t wash him away. Both were veteran soldiers who had seen terrible things, but nothing could have prepared them for this.
The walls, the ceiling, and the floor were drenched in blood and gore. As they’d seen in the vision, Nikoli had unleashed his fury on his children and grandchildren, a number of unsuspecting humans, the courtiers who had unwisely lingered, and the guards who’d remained loyal to him.
Nikoli had lined up the severed heads of his family on the floor at the sides of the throne, and their vacant eyes stared toward the doors. Luca swallowed the vomit that threatened to erupt when he saw Alessandra, then took a hesitant step inside. His feet stuck to the floor as he moved, and to his horror, he discovered that the blood was so thick it hadn’t completely dried. The top layer gave way to slick wetness beneath.
By sheer force of will, Luca held back his rising gorge as he crossed the room, bearing witness to the Nablyudatel family’s final indignity. Viktorija joined him, taking his hand again as she focused on their siblings’ remains.
They had seen this savagery in Nikoli’s vision, and the intervening two days had done nothing to make the scene more palatable. Unable to hold it back, Viktorija darted a few feet away and vomited. When she was finished, she straightened.
“How will our people ever move past this?”
Luca went to his sister and embraced her, shielding her from the worst of the carnage. Her silent tears soaked into his shirt, and his heart broke with her. Viktorija never allowed her vulnerability to show, so he was glad she let him be there for her. They would need each other to get through the next few hours and the years to come.
“You, Mother, and Grandfather are all I have now, Vik.” He was glad she couldn’t see the tears that dripped into her hair. “We can’t let this destroy us. We will clean this up, and they will all have a royal funeral.”
Viktorija nodded against his chest. “I can’t ever live here again, Luca. I won’t.”
He agreed. Luca couldn’t imagine finding a moment’s rest in the king’s bedchamber. “I thought about burning it all down, but we need this place. All Therians need this place.”
She pulled away from him, confused and offended. “What in the actual fuck for? This place is a tomb. It’s far worse than that, but ‘tomb’ is the only word I can think of.”
Luca sighed. “We need it to remember. It wasn’t just humans or royals who were slaughtered here. You saw the halls. He murdered the slaves, the servants, the guards, and even the damned children! We Therians can’t just forget about it and move on. We can’t tear down the palace and pretend this tragedy didn’t happen.”
He pulled away from her, convinced that was the right choice. “We must prove to our people that nothing will stop us. We will not hide from the terrible events of the recent past or the threats we face in the future, and we will overcome them and grow. I’ll take back the kingdom our father ruined, and we will see the best of the old ways return as we bring our people into the future. The laws will change so that no king can ever fall so far again.”
Luca had spent much of the time since his father’s death contemplating the future. His first official act as king must show the Therians that he wouldn’t brush what their people had endured aside.
“I see your point. I’ll support you, brother.”
Thinking about the future made Luca’s thoughts turn to Ash. His blood family wasn’t all he had, and he should be planning this with her.
She had become a vampire, the first of her kind, to save his life. His family had fought the vampire queen Nadya and her minions for five thousand years. It would take the Therian world time to accept a vampire as a royal, but he was confident that they would value Ash when they learned more about her. He couldn’t imagine that anyone could help but love her and the bright spark she brought to the world.
Luca thought about the last words they’d shared. She’d said that things had to change before his people would accept her and set off to prove that all vampires were not the same. His part of those changes started here.
His chest ached, and he felt hollow without her by his side, but his longing made him all the more determined to fix his world. He could feel her through their mating bond, and that would have to be enough for now.
“You miss her already, don’t you?” Viktorija asked, jolting him out of his thoughts.
“Is it that obvious?”
Viktorija rolled her eyes, sarcasm overpowering her emotions as she waved a hand at the room. Then her expression turned somber. “We can talk about your lovesickness later. We have other things to worry about right now. I will say that I’m sorry for my part in her turning. You know how she is when she sets her mind to something.”
He did. “There’s nothing to forgive. We were all thrown into terrible situations where there were no good choices. She will be with me again.”
“Your odiferous bloodsucker is kind of growing on me.”
Luca shot her a quizzical look. “’Odiferous bloodsucker?’”
Viktorija shrugged. “She inspires creative insults, and you can’t deny her colorful use of language. I once heard her call someone a ‘useless piece of fuck.’”
