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“Give her some time. Remember how you felt when Father changed you. It took a while, but you came around. You eventually realized that he was right all along. That’ll happen with Larisa.”
I stared at the fire.
“Just because she’s upset doesn’t mean her feelings for you have changed.”
“But I’m sure they have.”
He gave me a hard stare. “This is the woman who traveled to the other side of the world to be at your side. The woman who refused to flee a battle because she’d rather risk her life to be with you. The woman who saved Aurelias—the biggest fucking prick on the planet.”
He tried to make me laugh, but it wouldn’t work.
“Her feelings won’t change, Kingsnake.”
I kept my eyes on the fire.
After a long stretch of silence, Viper changed the subject. “We need to leave tomorrow. Father returned to Crescent Falls to regroup. We need to take advantage of his absence. Once we secure world peace, he’ll be forced to abandon his revenge.”
“Then go.”
“We can’t go without you, Kingsnake.”
“You’re the leader of our people now, Viper.” I grabbed another bottle by the neck and chucked it at the fire. “I’m just a fucking drunk.”
He didn’t flinch at the crash and the shatter of glass. “We aren’t going without you, Kingsnake. So if we have to tie you up to the back of a horse and have him drag you, so be it.”
“Larisa won’t come.”
“She’ll be safe here. She needs space anyway.”
I felt uncomfortable leaving her unprotected, but I remembered she no longer needed my protection. She was an Original now, a vampire more powerful than I. And she no longer had enemies.
“I’m not King of Grayson—you are.”
My eyes shifted to his.
“You’ve believed in the greater good since the beginning. You’re the one who should secure it.”
* * *
The following morning, I entered our bedchambers to retrieve my things. Putting on my armor so soon after battle was a disappointment, but I wouldn’t walk into Evanguard with my head on a platter either.
Larisa sat on the couch in the other room, Fang hanging from the branches of his own tree. She didn’t look at me when I entered.
Not that I’d expected her to. But it hurt anyway.
I changed in the closet and grabbed my pack.
That captured her attention. “Where are you going?”
I set the pack on the bed and placed a few things inside. “Evanguard. I need to speak with Queen Clara.” I’d told her all of this yesterday. There was no way she could have forgotten. Or maybe she had…in her misery.
She left the couch and walked up to me. While she was still the woman I loved, her appearance had changed subtly. Her skin had grown paler, like she’d never stepped into direct sunshine. Her eyes were darker and also more vibrant, like the eyes of a bird of prey. Her smell was totally different. But she was still the most beautiful damn thing I’d ever seen. Knowing her life-span had increased to eternity pleased me…even if I didn’t show it. “How long will you be gone?”
Another slap of disappointment. “A week. Maybe more.” Maybe I’d never come back if she didn’t want me. I continued packing, masking the raw pain she’d just inflicted. “You’ll be safe here. I’ll leave Fang with you.”
“You’re angry. Really angry.”
I stilled at her assessment. “How do you expect me to feel?”
