Chapter 22 Vamp It Up
Flint
“I can’t believe how many people came,” I tell Jaxon the next day as people all around us begin to celebrate Grace’s coronation.
“I can’t believe Grace and Hudson are actually, finally, the gargoyle king and queen,” he answers, shaking his head as his brother and Grace step down from the dais.
I never should have doubted it, but the hunters—and the freaking Crone—showing up at the eleventh hour did make me wonder for a second. Thankfully, it took about as long to vanquish them as it took to crown Grace and Hudson.
That doesn’t make this entire day any less amazing to me.
After everything—all the battles, all the trips around the world and into the Shadow Realm itself—we’re back at Katmere, where it all started. At least for Grace and this new world order she and Hudson seem to have their minds set on.
Democracy. I roll the word around in my head, just to see how it feels.
And I realize it feels fucking amazing. Ever since my brother died, my eventual ascension to the throne has weighed heavily on me.
Now, though, with Jaxon by my side and the promise of a democracy that will give equal power to all paranormals, not just the five groups that sit on the Circle, all around us, it feels like everything has worked out exactly as it should.
That rightness extends to having my mate next to me. As people continue to cheer and dance and throw confetti all around us, I reach for Jaxon’s hand. Pull him close even as he laughs into my eyes. Now that we’ve made up, nothing feels as good as having Jaxon pressed against me.
“I love you so much,” I whisper into his ear.
He holds me fiercely, tightly. “I love you more.”
I start to kiss him just because I can, but he throws a hand up between us and gently pushes me away. “Your parents are headed this way. And your mother looks like a woman who very definitely has something on her mind.”
I glance behind me to see that he’s right. Despite all the revelry going on around her, she’s laser-focused on Jaxon and me. “Maybe she’s coming to yell at us about the PDA,” I suggest, just to rile Jaxon up.
“If she is, I’m throwing you under the bus,” he tosses back.
I laugh. “Coward.”
“Genius,” he corrects. “She already hates me. I don’t need to give her any other reason to regret giving me her heart.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” I start, but before I can say anything else, my parents are in our faces.
Considering the last parent-son talk we had involved my dad ordering me to dump Jaxon, I’m more than wary. I’m downright defensive. Because Jaxon is my mate and there’s no way in hell I’m giving him up. I’d burn anything—everything—to the ground if it means I get to keep him.
Before I can say that—or anything—my mom grabs me and pulls me into a hug so tight it nearly cracks my ribs.
For a second, I’m so shocked I just stand there.
But then I hug her back almost as hard. She smells like fire and magic and something I can’t name but has always felt like home.
And for the first time since that terrible night when Luca died and Jaxon nearly did, she feels like home, too. She feels strong. Whole. Powerful.
“I am so proud of you,” she whispers. “Of the man you’ve become and the strength you’ve shown in the face of the darkest adversity.”
It’s the last thing I expect to hear, especially when I’ve been anticipating a lecture to end all lectures. And while I want to soak it up—am dying to soak it up—I can’t. Because I won’t know if she actually means it until she knows everything.
“Mom, there’s something I want to tell you—”
“Unless it’s that you and your mate are ready to take the throne, I don’t want to hear it.”
Shock rolls through me, rocking me back on my heels. Surely, I heard her wrong. Surely, she didn’t just say what I thought she did.
I glance at Jaxon just to gauge if I’ve suddenly fallen victim to auditory hallucinations. But his eyes are damp as he looks right back at me, his beautiful lips curved in a smile that is both proud and intimate at the same time.
“How did you know?” I ask. “We haven’t told anyone yet.”
“I’m your mother and the dragon queen—for a little while longer, anyway. What makes you think you have to tell me anything?” she answers with that quirk of her brow that always makes me feel about five years old.
“I thought you wouldn’t want us to rule.” I turn to my father, who is having trouble meeting my eyes for the first time in my life.
“I was wrong,” he tells me. “You’ve proven it over and over again.
From your determination to fight Cyrus to the way you’ve dealt with every challenge that’s come your way with such strength and grace to the way you’ve stood against the dragon clans and the hunters and the God of Order herself, to protect your people.
I couldn’t be prouder of the man you’ve become.
” He turns to Jaxon. “And I couldn’t be prouder of your mate, either.
Losing your brother was the hardest thing your mother and I have ever faced.
But his death, and the corruption that caused it, wasn’t Jaxon’s fault.
It’s time I stop blaming him for it. Especially since both your mother and I saw how he put himself between you and that group of hunters who had you cornered earlier. ”
“He may have been born a vampire,” my mother says, and for the first time in months, her eyes are filled with life. “But he’s proven he’s a dragon in every way that matters.”
“Dad. Mom—” My voice breaks, which is probably a good thing because I don’t know what to say to all that anyway. Plus, I’m afraid if I say anything else I’ll probably start bawling, and that’s the last thing I want to do in the middle of Grace’s coronation.
“We love you both,” my father tells Jaxon as he puts a bracing hand on my mate’s shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”
Now Jaxon is the one who looks like he’s going to cry. “I’ll take good care of him,” he promises my parents. “And when the time comes, I’ll help him take good care of our people, too.”
I reach out to take his hand, lacing my fingers with his as my parents exchange a glance. Silence stretches between them, between us, until my heart is pounding so fast and hard it feels like it’s going to crack a rib. But then my mother reaches for me again.
This time, though, it’s not to give me a hug. Instead, it’s to cradle my hand between both of hers. “I’m counting on it,” she whispers. “I’m counting on both of you to show that same loyalty, that same steadfastness, that same strength when you lead our people.”
Her eyes glisten, and that…that was the one thing I never could have anticipated.
My mother doesn’t cry. Not when she buried her parents. Not when she buried her child. Not when she gave away her dragon heart so that my mate could live. She. Does. Not. Cry.
But she’s crying now, tears rolling slowly down her brown cheeks.
“That won’t be for a long time—” I start, but she stops me with a shake of her head.
“The Dragon Court and the royal family are entering a new phase, one that will share power—not just with the Circle but with our people, as it always should have been. But that sharing, those changes, require new leadership. Your leadership.” She pauses and looks from me to Jaxon and back again.
“Aiden and I, and all of the dragons, are counting on the two of you to lead us into this new era.”
My heart goes from beating overtime to stuttering in my chest. “What does that mean?” I whisper.
She doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t flinch away from the words I know have to be so hard for her to say.
“It means I’m abdicating—to you. When we get back to court, we will put the steps in motion to do it formally.
But here, now, on this field ripe with justice and power and new beginnings, feels like the perfect time to pass the torch. ”
In one smooth motion, she removes her signet ring—the same ring I used to sneak into her room and try on as a kid when no one was looking—and slides it onto my pinkie finger. It’s a little snug, but it fits like it belongs there.
And like I belong on the throne.