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When she was sure she’d gone beyond their extended hearing range, she sank against a tree. Niletean followed her to stand guard, but she didn’t mind. Gasping, she let go of her tight hold on her emotions, which felt like she had ripped open her chest again. Her mask cracked, and Ash mourned for having to kill so many. Those deaths had been necessary, but that was little comfort to her abraded soul. Ash recognized that her guilt was misplaced, but she was buried under its weight.
Ash gave herself twenty minutes to indulge in gut-wrenching sobs before she packed her feelings away, dried her eyes, and stood to finish handling her business here. She didn’t see crying as a weakness. It was cathartic, and it had relieved the pressure that had built up within her. The feelings didn’t go away, but acknowledging them had taken the edge off, so they didn’t control her. She would talk through everything with Luca when she returned home.
Home. That was a comforting thought.
Niletean said nothing as Ash returned to the others, who were bathed in the light of the pyres. She was sick at the evidence of so much death while experiencing an equal measure of pride at what they’d accomplished and all the vampires they’d managed to save. She hadn’t lost any of her people and had increased her forces considerably, so all in all, it had been a win.
Zia and Eiko were supervising the arrangements to transport their recruits to the palace until they had permanent accommodations. Zia smiled when she saw her queen approaching.
“All good, boss?” Zia asked, amused by Ash’s willingness to answer to just about anything. Her monarch’s relaxed attitude toward formal titles made her much more relatable, in Zia’s opinion. Ash felt like one of them, though she was orders of magnitude more powerful and wasn’t, strictly speaking, a vampire.
Ash nodded. “As good as I can be.” She looked at the burning corpses in despair. “Why is it so hard to not be a dick? This isn’t what I wanted.”
Eiko looked at Ash like she’d grown another head. “Why on Earth do you think they care what you want? Would you care if they had killed Luca?”
“Touché. I should quit whining about it and be grateful that we saved as many as we did. Sorry. My emotions are all over the place.”
Eiko smiled kindly. “That is to be expected, Ash-sama. You have experienced spectacular changes to your body, mind, and soul over the past few months. I imagine it will hit you in waves.”
“They gave you no choice,” Zia added. “You can’t fix stupid, and you shouldn’t feel bad about that.”
Ash chuckled, and her burden lightened. She called the team leaders who’d gathered information and heard their reports. They could now get into Nadya’s financial holdings, as well as a safe that contained deeds to properties all over the world. Most vampires who knew Nadya’s plans had chosen to die rather than help Ash, but they had taken her Horsemen prisoner, including Jean-Pierre. Under heavy guard, he was waiting to be interrogated in one of the parlors.
“I might as well get this over with.” Ash sighed. “Who’s in there with him?”
Zia grinned. “Viktorija and Euan. We separated the master vampires.”
Ash nodded. “Perfect. Wish me luck. I’m off to interview Jean-Pierre.”
Zia laughed. “Good luck. He’s no Louis.”
Ash walked through Nadya’s home slowly, wondering if she’d chosen the décor or just murdered the house’s occupants and taken over. It didn’t matter. She wanted to clear her mind and focus on the task ahead. Her reports had all said that Jean-Pierre was Nadya’s right hand, and he had taken on that role for Maksim.
She knocked on the door, and Euan opened it, smiling at Ash. “It’s good to see ye, lass. He’s a wily tosser. Dinnae trust him.”
She nodded as she entered the room. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I appreciate the warning.”
A handsome vampire in an impeccable three-piece suit sat on a chair at the center of the room, unbound. He looked up with interest when Ash entered.
“I expected you to be taller.” His English carried a thick French accent, and he had a pleasant demeanor.
“I expected you to be angrier,” Ash pulled a chair over to sit across from the other vampire.
Jean-Pierre shrugged. “I am a survivor. You were strong enough to kill Nadya and formidable enough to send Maksim fleeing, probably back to his pathetic father. Crossing you is not in my best interests. I would rather adapt than meet the true death as so many fools did this night.”
“I can’t argue with your logic. What can you tell me about Nadya and her plans before she died?” Ash asked.
Jean-Pierre smiled, aware of how useful he could be to this new power in the supernatural world. “Anything you want to know. I have managed her affairs almost single-handedly for the last decade. She killed all my predecessors in frustration. I survived by being indispensable. Like so many of us, I follow the power, and that’s you now.”
“You don’t seem upset about Nadya’s death,” Viktorija remarked.
“I’m not,” Jean-Pierre stated bluntly. “She was a heinous bitch, and I found her playacting with the mongrel disgusting and demeaning. You can’t deny it was effective, though.”
“I believe we can find a place for you, Jean-Pierre, if you’re willing to forego the murder and cruelty Nadya seemed to require,” Ash suggested. “We earn trust, and you’ll have to show that you are genuinely working toward a stronger alliance and peace between vampires and Therians before you are free to do as you like.”
The vampire nodded, offering a cheeky grin. “I’ve got nothing but time. I have always been an ambitious man, and I would like an opportunity to regain my former position as the leader of the Horsemen.”
“As in, of the Apocalypse?”
