Page 57

Then we’d finally go home.

The spice of smoked meat drifted through the air in puffs of dark grey. Burnt sugar mingled with it from the sweetbread stands; my mouth watered, and it felt so damn good that I didn’t crave blood. The thought of the thick, warm copper flavor left me with a heavy fist at the bottom of my gut. I closed my eyes as we drifted closer to the market before we stepped into the crowd, moving like a sea of bodies, and relished the smells and the sounds. Nothing was too loud. I didn’t hear the hundreds of heartbeats all pounding at different rhythms, but the one thing I missed was hearing Lux’s thoughts.

I stared at her, watching her stride, her breathing, the way she observed everything in her environment, and the subtle sighs of relief when the back of my hand brushed hers. My wife. Not officially, but I didn’t want to fucking wait for that before calling her mine. I no longer had the urge to own her like I did when I was a vampire, but my craving to make Lux my wife gripped me harder than ever. Something about her being mine gave me the feeling that I’d keep her with me longer, though the title of marriage didn’t guarantee we wouldn’t be ripped apart again. This depended on choosing each other daily, building a world where we could be together freely until the end, and hopefully, beyond, if fate permitted.

Shades of chestnut and amber curled around her face; her waves twisted tighter with Mara’s faint humidity. She had Stasia pull her hair half back by tucking the hair into itself while the rest cascaded over her shoulders, contrasting the deep jade of her simple dress.

Determination shaded her cheeks ‌pink as she discussed the dire state of our kingdom. They told me about the screams, the heads on spikes, the castle coated in black blood. They spared no details, and I couldn’t deny that the kingdom I once ruled sounded worse now than I ever imagined, even while watching vampires kill innocent people in the Blood Room.

“The castle itself is bleeding,” Lux said.

“It can’t be that bad if Finan is still around,” Stasia added. “He’s an executioner, trained to see the worst in society and cut them down, so I trust that he’ll find a way to take down Silver’s army.” She stole a side glance at Lux. “Of course, I didn’t mean to suggest that witches were the worst in society... Though I guess he did kill them, because you all were such a threat to the vampire’s reign, and—” she huffed. “I don’t know where I’m going with this, but I shouldn’t be the one flustered right now.” She jabbed a finger across Lux and at me. “You were the vampire king.”

I nodded. “I was.”

She threw up her hands. “So there you go, this is all your fault.”

I didn’t flinch, only slid my gaze to her and remained steady. “It's not that simple.”

“Want to hear what’s simple? The original plan I created to become a vampire, kill you, and take the throne. That was simple.”

I laughed. “So Lux has told me, and you would have succeeded if you had a stake from Yggdrasil. Hel, I’d have led you there myself. I was so obsessed with becoming a god, I wouldn’t have noticed your intentions.”

Her wide mouth spread into a huge smile. “Perfect, so let’s rewrite history and have you give me that throne.” She poked her button nose into the air and took a long whiff. “I’d make all of Vylheim smell as divine as this. That’s the scent of baked apples—” she moaned.

“And how would you have done that with so little food?” I asked. “Dealing with the gods came first. You wouldn’t have been able to save Vylheim without taking them down.” The gods and the vampires.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Good point. Becoming a vampire wouldn’t have solved that, but I would have sacrificed myself and the other vampires if it would have given the rest of the countries a chance at survival.”

I looked ahead, spotting the bustle of market patrons in the street. “And that’s where we’re different. I’d do it all again.” Stasia scoffed at my words, but it was Lux I glanced at. “I’d burn all of this down and sacrifice everyone else for her.”

The freckles on Lux’s nose shifted when she scrunched it and rolled her eyes. “That’s a terrible thing to admit in front of everyone else.”

“You love it.” I smirked. “You love that I’ll always choose you over everything else. You’re always safe with me.”

“But these are our people. Our ancestors’ children and the future for which the sagas were recorded. We will not damn them the way I did Silver.” Her voice cracked as she tore her gaze from me. If it were up to me, we’d forget Mara and the rest of Vylheim and start over. Let them kill each other. With Lux at my side, why the fuck should I care about anything else? But our home was in Old Skaldir, and if I allowed myself to think of it too long, these human emotions got to me too. I missed Axel, and I wanted Soren to have his freedom. Even Stasia’s survival was important for Lux’s sake.

“Can you connect with Silver through this foresight? Can you see what she has planned?” I asked.

“What are you thinking?” she asked. “It’s limited. When she’s on the throne, I suspect I cannot hear her or see her future. Loki it designed for the vampire kings to hide from Odin’s eye.”

“Limited or not, she’ll have to leave the throne to bathe and shit,” Soren piped in from up ahead.

“It’s the best we have.” I raked my fingers through my hair and focused on anything but Lux. “You’re the key to laying siege against your sister, but I’m not willing to risk you being torn away from me to fight her. If she gets her claws into you, she’ll torture you for as long as she lives. So we must craft our plan solely through foresight.”

“I thought you were working on giving up control?” Lux asked.

I blew out a breath. “I can’t control you, Lux, but I can’t lose you either. Silver’s not perfect, she’ll slip, she can’t stay on the throne forever and then you’ll see what she has planned. It’s the only way.”

“We can run,” Lux said. “We can just leave this all behind. If Finan’s right, there’s more land beyond Vylheim and West Anglor. We’re just selfish enough to forget about it all⁠—”

“Except you just said you won’t forget our people,” I interrupted. “Don’t tempt me. You’d never forgive yourself if you left these people in your sister’s hands, just as you haven’t forgiven yourself for what happened to Silver.”

She said nothing, but her hard swallow told me I was right. Lux needed to fix this before she moved on, and we had a chance of living in peace. I’d once coveted that throne, but King Roderic was long dead, the gods were gone, and Vylheim wasn’t my problem anymore.

This was for Lux and only for Lux.

We finally stepped into the market, and it was ‌their fear that hit me first. An air of paranoia and desperation moved with the bodies. Stricken with exhaustion, sellers didn’t call out their wares and rarely bartered prices. Most showed gratitude for any trade. Coin wasn’t anywhere to be seen. People offered small bundles of wheat for a single cut of lamb, or twined yarn for a cup of warm mead. While not gone, fresh water was scarce, and meat was equally difficult to find. Apparently, the rain in the wasteland did not reach beyond the border.