AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nodded hesitantly. “They’ve been forbidden so long that I know very little about them. But yes, from what our legends say, the werewolf magic is only gained from mating with a vampire, and lost if the mating bond is severed... in any way.”
“Thank you for risking the return to tell us,” Rush said, again showing more diplomacy than I was able to.
Vento nodded. “I know this will mean little to men who have mated, but I would have killed Luca myself in Khione’s name if I believed she was gone. I’m returning to the city now, and the ice wolves will remain there in her honor, protecting her city from gobbelins until their Queen returns.”
“Or their King,” I snarled, and he gave a small bow of his head, showing his support of me as well.
Once Vento had gone, Rush turned to me. “Keep your faith, Kingston. She asked all of us to believe - and that is the sort of energy that can create new reality. Doubt, and your fears win. Believe. Love. And even death can be conquered.”
“Especially for a vampire,” Cade added, standing and moving smoothly toward me. “I know you’re hurting, man. Goddamn. We all are. And yeah, the wolf fucked up, but the woman we love? She loves him. Don’t disrespect her.”
I wanted to rage and rip them both to pieces for asking that I forget, but in my heart, I knew they were fucking right. I certainly couldn’t go into battle with Merden believing we were already defeated. So, I went about gathering the weapons I’d tossed aside before and lacing my boots while I clamped down on my desperation, separating it from the rage that could help me win.
I wanted to be ready when the guards came, and I didn’t wait long.
“When the sun is risen,” one of them barked at Rush when he opened the door, glamored as Saint Laurent.
“That’s nearly already happened,” he replied dryly, shutting the door in the vampire’s face.
“Wait,” Cade said as I moved to open it again and leave. He ran his hand through his white-blond hair and sort of glared at me. “Look, I don’t know shit about blood magic, except for the power I saw that cunt gain every time she drank new blood, including mine. Humans have plenty of legends about vampiresneeding to drink the blood of others just to survive. So... maybe some of this lost Ancient Magic relies on blood sharing - not stealing it, but... sharing.”
He snapped his mouth shut, holding out his wrist to me with obvious intent. After a beat, Rush nodded and did the same.
“He makes a fair point, Kingston. Power up from us like she would - we’ve taken her asaima,too. It can’t hurt.”
Something about the gesture from them reached me on a deeper level than any of Vento’s memories or Rush’s reassurances that Kana lived. I wasn’t alone in this fight. She’d brought us all together, the unlikeliest of allies.
The least I could do was believe in the power Kana had always wielded over the reality she lived in, and trust that somewhere, she was still wielding it.
Drinking deeply from both of them, I felt the magic swell inside of me. My ice magic grew colder and stronger, steady like a mountain. I felt the truth of theiraimabonds, and they braided with mine to form a rope I hoped was strong enough to haul Kana back out of whatever darkness she was in now.
I’d seen her rise from the mist before, during the Trials. She could do it again to be with all of us.
In the meantime, I had to hold her place as King. I had to win.
Merden had beaten Kana with blood magic, but now I held the power of the blood sharing with Rush and Cade. I kept that knowledge, as well as the proof of Luca’s werewolf form, tightly in mind as I strode through the crowded halls and past the vampires in the ballroom, walking to the pit for the last time as the citizens of Saori Sang parted easily for me.
“Don’t let her get away with everything,” someone begged me as I passed them, and I nodded, glad to finally feel the sort of grim determination that I would need to withstand whatever Merden threw at me.
She was already waiting in the pit, and the deafening crowd turned to white noise all around me as I zeroed in on my single task - win. Rush and Cade met me at the edge, clapping me on the shoulders and lending me one last gesture of solidarity before stepping back out of my way.
Kana, if you can hear me, send your magic too. Send Khione through our aima bond, I asked through the echoes of our shared blood, the idea coming from intuition rather than understanding. If Kana could let go and trust the ancestors and the magic of Haret, then I could, too.
Kana was still the chosen one. And she’d chosen me to carry on when she couldn’t.
Dropping down into the pit, I readied my weapons and turned to face the false Queen.
My movements had never been so sure and steady. My intuition about when to block, when to dodge, and when to strike had never been so accurate. I felt invincible, the magic of my brothers in arms - Kana’s weapon and her prophet - coursing through me with the power of her love.
“Kassian wins the first round,” a guard shouted, almost before I’d noticed it was over. Blinking down at my feet, I saw the seething Queen was held fast under my blade, her eyes solid black with bloodlust and hatred.
“This is your day to die,” I whispered, taking a drop of her blood on the point of my sword before I obeyed the mist and stepped away. Placing the end of the sword against my mouth, I grinned at the bitch while sliding the drop onto my tongue. I didn’t want her foul blood, but the symbolism of it shook her.
Something broke in her, and I hoped the tiny gesture of dominance had been simply more than she could handle.
The second round began, and I fucking struggled. I knew now why Kana had lost to her - blood magic was nothing like ice magic. It was physical in a way I had no experience with,and although my mental walls were strong and steadfast, she battered me like an entire attacking army.
The blood of all the Haretians she’d consumed hit me over and over, and I ached for a sword that could block the magical blows.
