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If the kings sat in chairs, servants and helpers measured and analyzed the seats to make sure that all equality remained.
That was how illogical we could be.
Almost anything could trigger our anger.
Once Nai and I had been forced to set the table for one of our father’s meetings with several kings, it took us hours to measure the place settings, test the quality of plates, and taste the food, assuring that all kings received similar portions of meat and rice, blood wine and bread.
And still a fight ensued that night over one king having more butter.
If Xander is now a king, does he understand how different he will be? Does Camille know too?
I’d wanted time to prepare them both.
Damn it.
Steps appeared at the end of the dark hallway.
No. It isn’t Xander. I can’t be. Something else is going on.
I raced up them toward the cries and reached the highest level of flights in moments. Here the perfume of rotting corpses soaked the area.
A hint of vampire king scent drifted my way, but it was old.
This king had left.
If it was Xander, I assumed he fled to the sewers.
But how could it be Xander? He wasn’t close to the end of ripening. Even with Camille’s powerful blood, he had years to mature. Unless. . .
I inhaled the air and caught it.
No.
The fragrance of Camille’s blood crashed into me.
Growling, I increased my speed. Rounding the corner, my foot smashed down on something cold and wet.
What was that?
I looked down.
Bloody gunk and mucous splattered the floor. A few fingers rolled near the tip of my toe.
A hand perhaps.
I gazed before me.
Rows of heads torn from their bodies sprawled out in front of me.
Okay.
I could barely breathe, for the place was dripping in rot and decay. Shrieks and screams sounded farther down.
I continued there, slipping on murky liquid each step.
I entered the room and looked up. “My god.”
Queen Regina dangled from the ceiling by her own intestines. Her body swung back and forth. Her last expression was one of confusion.
Behind her, a mountain of corpses rested, its peak reached the ceiling.
Blood painted the walls and floors.
Somehow I recognized the room through the horrific scene. It was where Nai, Phinova, and I read books, long before we’d made love to her and during the time when we were just babbling princes trying to get her attention.
We’d sneak up here and hide her from her guards.
I scanned the room in disbelief. “My god.”
Guards without legs, arms, and hands screamed over and over. I would have put them out of their misery if not for the glowing image far off, the one that sat on a diamond throne.
Phinova!
I froze.
No. No. No.
My queen sat on that gleaming throne. She’d been dead for all these years, almost a hundred, yet some parts of her flesh seemed fresh and new.
Phinova.
I stepped closer.
Spiders had built webs over her face and arms. They crawled in and out of her nose. Her brown skin had an odd glow. That red hair flowed down and draped her shoulders.
I approached.
Phinova.
I stopped in front of her.
You couldn’t bury her, Nai? You wanted to what? Preserve her? But how?
I extended my hand and touched those strands. So soft and silky. She wore a crimson gown. And then I realized that it was a mistake; she wore an ivory gown drenched in blood.
How could it be? She’s been dead for so long.
Then the craziest thing happened. Something odd. Insane. Impossible.
Phinova’s voice seeped into my mind. Ian.
I jumped back.
Ian, can you hear me?
My hands shook at my sides. “This is. . .impossible.”
It’s not. You can hear me.
“No.” I shook my head. “This isn’t right. This can’t be.”
In this body I still live. With the life liquid of blood mages, I remain.
“Phinova?” My legs collapsed under me.
Slime spattered all around—a mixture of blood, mucous, fluids, and death. I wiped the stuff away. My gaze remained on Phinova the whole time. “My queen. Phinova? No, you didn’t say anything.”
I did, sweet Ian.
“You’re dead.”
I live.
“P-prove it.”
How?
“Tell me something that only you and I would know.”
Silence came.
I frowned. “You are something, but you are not her.”
I am your queen.
“No. No. No.” I covered my face and shook my head over and over. “You’re darkness. You’re some evil spirit, but you’re not her.”
Give me blood from the mages. Feed me.
Behind me, the guards shrieked. And between their screams I could hear the dripping of murky fluid as it dripped down from the fake queen’s ripped legs.
This is insane. I have to get out of here.
I jumped up, searched the room, and didn’t spot Camille, nor did I smell her.
Take me, Ian. Don’t leave me here, my only love.
My face snapped to Phinova. Her corpse didn’t move. Those lips were shut tight.
“If you’re Phinova, tell me what I gave you the last time we saw each other.”
