Chapter 26 #3
Kole led me from my chambers and down the hall. Xaven was still there, but I didn’t know for how long. If my parents understood that Arnel had been the threat, and the threat was now over, the Imperial Warriors would be reassigned elsewhere.
I didn’t even want to consider what that meant for Kole. I couldn’t handle losing him too, on top of what my future held, especially if our time was limited while he remained fae. But I would love him no matter what. Fae, vamfeer, whatever he became, I would love him.
Just as he’d loved me.
I followed Kole around every turn, my hand clutched tightly around his.
It was only when he led me into my parents’ private sitting chambers, the very chambers where I’d met with them to ask for permission to leave the palace to scour the libraries, that I allowed myself a moment to hope that somehow everything would work out.
The second my parents saw me, my mother rushed forward. I braced myself, dreading what might come if she gave any indication of knowing I was a vampire.
But when she reached me, she didn’t say a word. She pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly, and in a choked voice said, “I’m so sorry, my darling. So very, very sorry that we didn’t protect you from him.”
I stood as stiff as a board in her arms, waiting to see if her remorse triggered anything, but since her words were a vague apology and she never mentioned Arnel by name, nothing happened.
Slowly, my anxiety lessened, and I relaxed in her arms. My father came up behind her and hugged both of us too. His aura was positively brimming with rage, but he didn’t say a word.
They both just held me.
Tears began to fill my eyes. Hot, vicious tears, and before I knew it, I was sobbing in their arms. My mother began to cry too, and perhaps it was all of the stress and worry that I’d been battling ever since learning of my true identity, but it all came out.
I’d cried before, many times, but not like this.
I completely lost it.
Both of my parents muffled sobs against me, even my father, and through my mate bond, Kole’s tender empathy strummed toward me.
Full seasons of everything my parents and I had faced, all because of my magic, because of what I was—either a blessing or a curse, I still didn’t know which one—poured out of us.
And it was only a long while later, as we finally pulled apart, drying our tears, that my parents faced me red-eyed, but they didn’t say a word.
Relief made me slump. I had no idea if they knew I was a vampire or not, but before I could comment, the door to their private area opened behind me.
“Oh, sorry, are you busy?” Koraline’s voice reached my ears from the threshold. “I can come back.”
My mother dabbed at her eyes again. “No, it’s all right. Come in, darling.”
Koraline’s cautious aura lapped against my back, and when she reached us, I gave her a tentative smile.
Standing tall, my willowy blond sister placed her hands on her hips, looking regal and every bit the crown princess. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and she looked between the three of us. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
My father shook his head. “Many things. Perhaps Kole could take you aside and explain.”
No sooner had he uttered the words than Kole was there, gesturing for Koraline to follow him. He led her somewhere out of the room, and my parents and I retreated to the couches and chairs near the fire.
The entire time, my mother held my hand, not flinching or drawing back.
“We’ll remove the Imperial Warriors from the palace grounds.” My father leaned back in his chair, his expression haggard, but he didn’t say more.
I nodded, too afraid to speak lest my uncle’s magic be triggered, and I realized it would always be like this. Always walking on eggshells. Always watching every word we said.
I prayed with everything I had that everyone was always careful, but if one of us had a bad day, had a slight mishap, or said a tired statement that wasn’t worded carefully, my horrific magic would impale their minds and erase everything that Kole had revealed today.
How can we live like this?
Even though I no longer needed to breathe, I inhaled a deep, shuddering breath, more out of habit from my previous fae lifetime than anything.
My parents and I continued to sit in silence, only the crackling fire making a sound, and I didn’t dare consider that my parents were reaching the same conclusion as me, too afraid to say more in case anything changed.
I didn’t know how long Koraline was gone with Kole, but when they returned, my sister’s footsteps padded across the floor at my back. And when she came around the couch, she crouched down to face me.
Her eyes were moist, her mouth downturned. Without saying a word, she clasped my hands and squeezed tightly.
For a moment, she just stared at me, then she said with burning intensity, “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.” She pinched her mouth closed, but her eyes conveyed how much she meant those simple words.
I pulled her into a hug, thankful that she didn’t say more, and she hugged me back just as fiercely.
In that moment, something unraveled inside me. Finally, the peace I’d craved with my sister had at last been found, and I took that as a win.
“Thank you,” I replied thickly.
“Don’t ever thank me. Never. I was so angry before, at you, at our parents. I felt deceived, but I didn’t know—” She stopped herself. “Don’t worry. It’s okay now.”
We hugged again, and my heart swelled.
“We have a lot of lost time to make up for,” I said in a lighter tone.
She chuffed. “We do, but you’re not going anywhere now. You’re home. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”