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“She didn’t waste any time,” Larisa said.
“No,” Cobra said as he looked at me. “Because she’s a good person. She told me how horrible she feels about everything, that she draws breath because someone lost their eternal soul. It eats her alive.”
I didn’t have much pity. Not after all the battles that had been fought needlessly. “You expect me to feel bad for her? You know who I pity? Our mother. Our other relatives. Larisa’s family. All humankind. That’s who I feel bad for.”
“She didn’t know—”
“I understand that,” I snapped. “But she’s still benefited for all these centuries. Until she says they’ll abolish the practice and accept a mortal life or an immortal one as a nightwalker, I’ll continue my resentment.”
“You sound like Father.” It was meant as an insult—and it definitely landed as one.
“What will you do if she says no?”
“She won’t—”
“What if she does? What if her people refuse to cooperate? Then what?”
“She has faith in her people.”
My eyes burned into his. “We always do the right thing until it becomes hard to do the right thing. They claim to be spiritual creatures who worship their trees and abstain from meat. But once their perfect lives are in peril, they’ll become feral.”
Cobra stared at me.
“I hope I’m wrong. I hope she embraces immortality as one of us. I hope you get everything that you want. But be prepared for a very different outcome.”
7
CLARA
“The obelisk absorbed the souls of those who’ve passed. Those are then transferred to the water under the mountain, the water that leads to our rivers, that irrigates our crops, that quenches our bodies with every drink. I don’t know how long it’s been there. I don’t know who built it. But the power that keeps us alive…is the souls of others.”
The Ethereal stared back at me, the generals in the front, the others behind. We sat in the wooden amphitheater where we held our plays and played our music. It was rarely used for announcements like this. “My father shared this with me before he passed. The information was passed to him by his father before he perished in battle. I could have kept it to myself as my father wanted, but I was too disturbed by what I learned. I couldn’t carry on, knowing someone lost their immortal soul so I could continue to live…and I know you must all feel the same way.” In truth, I didn’t know how they felt. I’d just shared the news with them, and most of them were so shocked they were stunned into silence. “I know this is a lot to take in…”
“What are we supposed to do?” one of the generals asked. “If we destroy the obelisk, we’ll all perish.”
“I’ve shared this information with the vampires—”
“You did what?” the general snapped. “You shared our secret with our enemy?”
“They aren’t our enemy. I’ve just told you that they’ve never been our enemy. They simply competed for the same resource. We’ve committed genocide against them needlessly. And they’ve offered us a gift.”
“What gift?” he asked.
“They’ve offered us immortality if we abolish the act.”
Heavy silence spread across the amphitheater. They all stared at me, disturbed.
“Yes, that means we’ll be vampires, but I think that’s better than what we are now. It’s better than what we’ve been doing. It was generous to offer, considering the destruction we’ve caused their people.”
Now all their eyes were down on the ground.
“As Queen of Ethereal, I’ve decided to destroy the obelisk. That means you have a decision to make. You can live the remainder of your lives as humans and pass on when your time comes. And those who prefer immortality…can choose to be nightwalkers. I know this is hard to digest, so take your time.”
* * *
I sat in my study, my eyes on the wall across the room. A flower had fallen out of place in my hair, but I didn’t bother to fix it. I’d assumed the weight would be lifted from my chest once I confessed the truth to my people.
But now it was heavier.
