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“What have you discovered while I’ve been holed up with my mate?” I asked, glancing toward the monitors.
“Saint and Samuel never showed,” Zachariah noted, his voice weary. “Not at the battle, at least.”
“There was no sign of them,” Dagon agreed, stroking over his goatee.
“Maybe they didn’t have anything to do with this,” Talon offered, a hopeful tone in his voice. I couldn’t blame him. I’d look for any explanation to absolve my brothers, too.
“Or maybe they knew we’d win and didn’t want to associate themselves with it,” Ajax countered.
“If that’s the case, then this is bigger than just helping the witches fight for more land,” Alek agreed.
“Is Avi speaking yet?” Lachlan asked.
Hawke shook his head.
A communal sigh of worry echoed through the chamber.
My eyes widened as a thought wormed its way into my head and wouldn't leave. “They’re going to overthrow the Conclave.”
“What?” Alek’s head whipped toward mine. Everyone’s did.
Jocelyn laced her fingers with mine, silently giving me her support.
“Luka is dead, so the lycans will have to choose a new alpha,” I began.
“If you can call that giant battle they have choosing,” Lachlan muttered.
“And Luna is now the queen of the witches…” I glanced toward Jocelyn.
“It’s true. She was crowned before she came to help me.” She nodded. “That means you have two whole new members of Conclave, one of whom you can’t predict because you don’t know who they are, yet.”
Alek nodded. “Patrick is already scared and the humans are panicking. We weakened the Sons in that battle, but they struck deep and weakened us, too.”
“So what do we do?” Zachariah asked Alek.
Alek seemed to mull his thoughts over for a moment. “We wait. We track down the twins, because something tells me they’re planning something larger than what just happened. We stabilize Conclave as much as we can and we reach out with whatever aid the witches and lycans need during this period of transition. We’re not just here to dispense justice. We’re here to hold the peace, and we’ll do just that.” He turned to Jocelyn. “We could use an emissary to the witches.”
She smiled, the sight so radiant that my breath caught. “Well, since my sister rescinded the exile spell, I think I can help you out with that. Plus, I’m on pretty good terms with the queen.”
Alek gave out orders, dividing us into teams to search for Samuel and Saint. Zachariah stepped up to help on every team, knowing his power to assimilate the abilities of others could help track if they got close enough.
Once our meeting was over, and Jocelyn and I had stepped out into the hall, I held her hand tight and wended us straight to our bedroom.
“When are you going to teach me how to do that?” she asked, already breathless as I kissed my way down her neck and back to her mouth, taking her mouth in a long, deep kiss that left us both panting for more.
“Later,” I promised, working the buttons on her top so it fell to the floor. “We have time.”
She threaded her hands through my hair and smiled up at me. “We have forever.”
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Jocelyn
Purple orchids and white hydrangeas decorated nearly every inch of space in the courtyard outside the palace. Luna had wasted no time in ensuring that only the purest flowers representing love and strength were woven with lace and garland and braided through the rows of chairs facing the natural wooden arch that had been at the head center of the courtyard for over two hundred years.
I smiled at my sister as she handed me an elaborate bouquet. “You’re too good to me,” I said, wrapping her in a hug. We stood just out of sight in the trees, the courtyard already filled with my new family on the left, and my old family on the right—trusted witches and warlocks who had no problem swearing allegiance to my sister. And, shockingly enough, were considerably tolerable of what we were about to do, and the company that we’d invited for the first time ever in these numbers to our territory. It wasn’t like we were handing over our secret grimoires to the vampire order, but the witches weren’t openly attacking them either, so I called it a win.
“I know,” she teased, tears glistening in her eyes.
I smoothed back her hair. “I’m sorry,” I said for the hundredth time since she’d come to the manor to save me. It would take time for me to come to terms with everything that had happened...with what I’d had to do to my own...to Genevive.
“I’ve already forgiven you,” she said, shaking her head. “Thinking you were dead was enough for me to endure for one lifetime. I’m not about to spend the rest of forever being angry with you over it.”
I laughed, covering my heart with my free hand. “I’ll do my best to never do that again.” And with my new hybrid status? That was saying a lot. I’d killed the witch queen, and now my sister had taken her place.
