35. Chapter 35
35
M y mouth fell open, a million things tumbling through my head, yet I was too stunned to speak.
Bastian pushed off the wall and moved closer.
“We were originally going to train you to break the curse,” Gavin explained. “Once you were powerful enough, we were going to trade you to the Sun King in exchange for any of our people he still holds prisoner.” He was trying to make it sound like it was no big deal, but I could sense his inner panic. “You were a bargaining chip. But that was before we knew who you were and thought you were just some random queen in hiding.”
My eyebrows rose, and I scoffed at the words bargaining chip . “And now?”
Gavin laughed under his breath and shook his head. “That plan disintegrated the moment you uttered Javier’s name and revealed your true identity. A future I had never envisioned for our people was suddenly possible. A new High Queen to lead us forward.” He stepped closer, his stare burning with earnest intensity. “With you at full power, we won’t need to make deals with Veris to free our people. We can take them back.” He raised one hand, curling his fingers into a tight fist. “And crush Veris.”
My brow furrowed as he spoke. I looked from him to Bastian, now at my side, then glanced over my shoulder at Ash before returning my focus to Gavin. Puzzle pieces inside my mind rearranged, fitting together into a new pattern to reflect my shifting understanding of the situation. I was irrelevant; my bloodline was what mattered.
“You wanted to use me,” I finally said, speaking slowly and choosing my words carefully. “You still do.”
“Sophie, I—”
I held up one hand, forestalling him. “Don’t,” I said, a hard edge to my voice. “I understand. Our people are dying, and I can change that.” I drew in a deep breath, releasing it shakily. “I need some time—alone—to think,” I said, turning my back to my three consorts and starting down the hallway.
“Let her go,” Ash said, the floor behind me creaking as I imagined the larger vampire stepping in front of Gavin to block his path. “Shifter . . .” There was a note of warning in Ash’s voice.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I peeked over my shoulder.
Ash was blocking Gavin, as I had suspected, but he also held Bastian’s arm in a firm grip, keeping the shifter from following me as well. “She wants to be alone,” Ash said.
Bastian leaned in close. “Try to stop me,” he said, a growl in his voice.
Rolling my eyes, I faced forward and picked up the pace, hurrying toward the grand staircase at the heart of the house. I jogged down the steps, and before I realized where I was heading, I had crossed the foyer and was entering the infirmary. My steps slowed as I approached Micah, stretched out on his back on the padded examination table, an IV tube feeding fluids and magic-laced medicine into his arm and a few cords connecting him to the monitors arranged beyond the head of his makeshift recovery bed.
One of the vampires who had doctored Micah when we first arrived sat in the corner of the room, reading a book. She looked up as I entered the room, then stood and set her open book on the counter.
“How is he?” I asked, approaching my unconscious son.
She carried her chair closer to the bed. “He’s healing well,” she said, setting the chair down and gesturing for me to sit.
I offered her a quick smile and eased down into the provided seat. “Thanks,” I said, reaching out to grasp Micah’s limp hand in both of mine. His skin was warm, and his fingers reflexively curled around mine. “He’s the only family I have left.” I shook my head, my brow furrowing as I looked over Micah’s body at the vampire healer. “I’m so sorry. You saved my son’s life, and I never even asked you your name.”
She smiled. “Greta, my lady,” she said with a bobbed curtsey and a bow of her head. “And it has been my greatest honor to serve you.”
“Please,” I said, again shaking my head. Embarrassment at her deference pushed my focus down to my hands. “You don’t have to do that.”
Greta bowed her head again. “I’ll give you some privacy,” she said and swept from the room.
I watched Greta leave, then heard her muffled voice as she spoke with Bastian out in the foyer. Of course he had followed me down here. I turned back to Micah. At least my shifter seemed satisfied with waiting outside for the time being.
So much had changed in the past day. I was now the proud owner of a harem of four immortals, one of which had been missing for over two decades and was likely being held prisoner by the Sun King along with untold numbers of our people. How many queens were still alive, held captive by the House of the Sun for even longer than Javier? Gavin’s mother was a queen. I still didn’t know if she had survived the Sun uprising or been killed during the attacks, and that was assuming she had even still been alive at the time.
“I don’t know how to feel about him,” I confessed to Micah. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m the most important thing in the world to him— me , the woman, not the queen. But at other times, he seems so conflicted, almost resentful.” I let out a breathy laugh. “Which makes sense because he has spent the past thirty years working toward something, and now that I’m here, that all goes out the window.”
I exhaled heavily, rubbing the back of Micah’s hand with my thumb. “They think I can be their savior, but I’m just me. I don’t know the first thing about being a queen, let alone the High Queen. Maybe they should stick to the original plan and trade me to Veris for the rest of our people, find a queen who actually knows what she’s doing.”
“Don’t be dumb, Soph.” The deep voice echoed throughout the room.
I jumped in my seat, my heart suddenly beating double time. That voice—I knew that voice, and it certainly wasn’t Bastian back in the foyer.
A shimmering mist appeared on the other side of Micah’s recovery bed. It slowly coalesced into the foggy iridescent shape of a man, gaining more definition and recognizable features with each erratic beat of my heart.
I stood, releasing Micah’s hand. “Wes?” I breathed, my heart lodged in my throat.