“Whoa,” Selor pipes up. “Someone drag the wolf away from the vampire before they pull a Romeo and Juliet in front of us.”
Uncle Raphael puts a hand on Karl’s shoulder. “If you both die, then Maewe wins.”
“She’s already won,” he grits out.
“No, she hasn’t,” King Ruel chimes in.
“You said only the ruler of Aquila could remove our curse. We don’t have the Magna Vis. It’s over,” I retort.
“I don’t sense the curse on you any longer. What happened before we arrived at the castle?”
My heart skips a beat, but I don’t dare to hope he’s right.
“What do you think? She tortured us.” I glare harder at the king.
“She killed Karl,” Cheryl speaks up, drawing my attention to her. She’s glued to Ronan’s side. I suppose one relationship was fixed on this trip, at least. “I felt it here.” She presses her palm against her chest.
“Just like when I felt you die,” Karl replies.
I gasp. “There was a moment, right before I entered the room, when I felt the sharpest pain in my heart, and I couldn’t feel our bond anymore.”
“Son of a bitch. Queen Maewe removed the curse herself by accident,” Selor blurts out, and hope spreads through me like wildfire.
“She’s too smart to make that kind of mistake,” Castiel interjects, halting my optimism.
“But she’s also an egomaniac,” Queen Endaya says. “In her thirst to inflict the most amount of pain, she lost sight of the consequences.”
“The curse was linked to Karl’s life force. He would have died if you’d ignored the rules, but upon killing Karl herself, even momentarily, Maewe removed the curse,” King Ruel concludes.
Karl and I look at each other. I still don’t dare to believe it’s true, but he doesn’t share my reservations. He captures my face between his hands and kisses me as if we’re alone in the room. A spike of fear squeezes my heart, but when nothing happens besides the mating bond getting stronger with each stroke of his tongue against mine, pure joy replaces the anguish. I throw myself at him, and we end up on the floor with me on top of him.
“Get a room!” Selor calls out.
I ignore him. It’s only when my uncle clears his throat that I pull away from Karl. He keeps his hands on my thighs, though, and doesn’t let me slide off him.
“What? You can’t blame us. The curse kept us apart for centuries,” I say.
“Not while you were in the Valley of Lost Souls, though.” Adrian shrugs.
I give him a hard stare. “You have a big mouth.”
The way his eyes turn round and a blush spreads across his cheeks indicates he didn’t tell on us on purpose. I catch my uncle staring at him again and notice that his features soften upon gazing at the human. I’ve never seen Uncle Raphael take an interest in any female. Could it be that Adrian was the one he wanted?
A door in the room opens, and a small child with dark curls and pink chubby cheeks comes running, smiling from ear to ear. She goes straight to Ronan, hugging his legs. “You’re back!”
“Yes, I’m back, sweetheart.” He releases his hold on Cheryl to pick up the little girl.
A Nightingale female follows the child, carrying a baby. Cheryl turns to the female, and her face splits into a radiant smile. “How is my precious little boy?” she coos as she takes the baby in her arms.
I get off Karl, and we both stand up. “Are those vampire children?” Karl asks.
“Yes.” Cheryl beams. “This is Rio, and the little girl is Ollie.”
“How is that possible? I thought vampires couldn’t procreate anymore.” Selor moves closer, curious.
“These children were born here in Ellnesari, where their mothers were fully exposed to Nightingale magic,” Queen Endaya explains.
“I didn’t realize there were vampires in Ellnesari,” I say.
