“Adreona happened.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I tried to strangle her with my magic and she didn’t care for it.”
Nol scoffed. “You haven’t changed a bit have you?”
A pressure settled on my chest. “That’s not true. I haven’t been the same since that night.”
Silence stretched between us. So much had changed since I’d last laid eyes on Nol. I didn’t even know where to start.
“How did you end up here?” That felt like the place to start.
Nol took a deep breath. “When the vampires started attacking that night, Father woke me. He barged into my room, pulling me with him to his study. Somehow, he knew there were vampires invading, and—" He took a deep breath. “Father and I were working on something together before the attack.”
“I know,” I interjected. “I know all about the supposed cure to vampirism and your marriage scheme. About the Vanir. We’ve been cleaning up the mess you left.”
Nol winced but continued. “Father didn’t want the vampires getting the information we had collected. He knew he was walking a thin line keeping it from them in the first place. There had been murmurs about a supposed cure for vampires starting up in the months leading up to that night, which is why Father proposed the marriage. We had to speed up the process if we wanted to be the ones to hold all the cards.”
“Mother was attempting to hide the documents with aspell when the vampires found us. They killed her on the spot.” He shuttered.
“Wait? Mother knew about this too?”
Nol nodded. Kara and I truly had been the only ones left in the dark.
“After they killed Mother, Father and I fought back, but there were too many of them. I had taken a blade to the side, I was losing a lot of blood, and my sword had disappeared in the darkness. I was defenseless when two vampires came toward me—fangs bared. When they leapt toward me, a burst of magic rushed out of me—witch magic,Lennox.”
I snapped my head in his direction. “I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to possess witch magic. It felt like this side of myself that had been laying doormat my entire life sparked to life in that moment. I could feel the magic, magic different than my elemental magic come to life inside me. Before I even knew what I was doing a spell started spilling from my lips, one I had taught Luciana, killing half of the vampires in the room in an instant before someone was able to stop me. When they realized the magic I was using they decided I was worth more to them alive than dead. They knocked me out, and when I woke up, I was in one of their compounds.”
“But how—” I shook my head at the memory—remembering the magic coursing through my body as the Dunami took place—transferring the title of High Queen to me after I thought they had all died. “How did I become High Queen if you didn’t die?”
Nol shook his head. “That’s something I could never figure out, that none of us could ever figure out. I thought at first that’s why they took me—they kidnapped theHigh Kingand were going to use me as a bargaining chip for something—but then I heard the whispers—you were High Queen. The magic had transferred to you, not me.” He shook hishead, his long hair swaying. “You have no idea how relieved I was to hear that.”
“Even if it meant you being locked up with them?”
He nodded. “Knowing Lethenia’s future was safe—that it was in your hands. That was more important than my own life.”
I closed my eyes and took several breaths. He hadn’t changed. Always so fucking selfless like our mother.
“The only thing I could ever think of was mother did something before she died that ensured the title would go to you. Or maybe my own magic did it. The words that were coming out of my mouth—it was like the magic took over and I had no control.”
None of that made sense, for as long as there had been a High King or Queen the power had been transferred to the next in line for the crown, never once was there a record of it going to someone else. My mother or Nol couldn’t alter ancient magic, could they?
“What happened after?” I asked, I couldn’t think about that now. I needed to know the rest.
“The Vanir knew the Panateia were in need of a witch, so they traded me, for lack of a better word. An alliance formed between the two groups.”
“The Vanir and Panateia are working together?”
Nol nodded. “In a sense, they still operate as two separate entities, but they don’t fight against one another like they used to.”
“The Panateia tried to use me, as I’m assuming they’re trying to use you, to complete the spell to destroy vampires.”
I nodded in confirmation. “But I didn’t know how to access my witch magic, it always came out sporadically. I’m not like you and Kara—I don’t know how to access my witch side. I never was able to as a child and it only came out during a life or death situation. When they’d try to force me to use it, it almost felt like my magic recoiled in onitself.” Nol ran his hand through his hair. “Eventually, they stopped trying. Left me in my room to rot. Waiting for the perfect moment to bring me out again.”
“Like to get me to cooperate.” Had they really planned this far in advance? Kept Nol to use against me when the opportunity presented itself?
“How did you end up here?” His questions caused my chest to pinch.
“I traded myself for Kara. They had kidnapped her. I came to get her back. They were going to kill her, Adreona held a knife to her throat—” My voice trembled. “So I left them all behind. Kara and Luka, Luciana, my friends, Nico and Declan, and—” Their faces flashed before me, Luka’s limp body hanging between Nico and Declan.
“Tell me, what else has happened since I’ve been gone? Something good.”
