CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Omaera
“Y-Your Majesty?” Anysa stammered as she found her voice and the ability to move her mouth again. She stared up at me, confusion swimming in her sapphire eyes. “Wh-why?”
I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t my turn yet.
Drak stepped forward as his cousin regained his motor skills and voice, anger burning in the Vampire King’s glare. “You betrayed me,” Drak said, his voice nearly breaking, but not quite.
Howar glowered at Drak. “You’ve let your mate sully your opinion of me, cousin. I would never.”
“Nobody knew we were heading to Hell. Nobody knew we needed a portal. I called you and asked for a portal location. You gave me one, and it was an ambush. You wanted me dead.” He glanced back at Zandren and Maxar, then finally at me. “You wanted us all dead. Then you sent the coordinates of Melissima’s cottage to Lerris, and he sent Phaceanesh mercenaries there to kill the mage and the human.”
With a derisive scoff, Howar snagged Raver’s eye. “Are you believing this?”
Drak pivoted to face Raver. “I asked you not to tell Howar where Gemma was located. I suspected him of treason. And yet, you went ahead and did it anyway. ”
I’m not sure if Drak saw it too, but I certainly saw it in Raver’s dark-blue eyes—a flash of sadness? Pain, maybe? Or was it something else? Either way, it was there and gone. But it did give me pause for a moment. Like maybe Raver wasn’t the treasonous bastard we thought he was. Unlike all the other vampires who had dark hair, Raver’s was a dark blond. I would have to ask Drak of Raver’s lineage one day when the sting of betrayal wasn’t so fresh.
“Of course he did,” Howar said. “I’m his king. His oath, his loyalty, are to me .”
“Actually, his oath and loyalty are to me ,” I chimed in. “I outrank you, Howar. As hard as you might try to behave otherwise.” Turning toward the blood cage where a semi-conscious Lerris was slowly having his powers sucked out of him, I smirked. “You conspired with my uncle to usurp my throne.”
“You what?” Anysa breathed.
Interesting.
This was all news to Anysa. Maybe she wasn’t in on it with Howar and Lerris. Maybe she would support my reign after all. Or, she was playing us like the rest of them, and just a better actor.
“I’m guessing Lerris wasn’t aware of your other plan though, hmm?”
Howar’s nostrils flared.
“That once I was taken care of, you were going to overthrow Lerris and take the throne for yourself.” This was all merely speculation, but judging by the way Howar’s face went ruddy and his eyes turned even more lethal, we all knew I hit the nail on the head. I could also tell when someone was lying, and there was no deception left on Howar’s face.
“You bastard!” Lerris tried to holler from his cage.
“Who?” I asked. “Me? Or him?”
Maxar chuckled behind me.
“Did you know any of this was happening?” I asked, directing my line of questioning to Anysa. “Did you know that Howar was threatening a challenge if I didn’t meet with you guys? And that he conspired with Lerris to take my throne?”
Anysa shook her head, her eyes wide. “I … I didn’t, Your Majesty. Honestly. Tr uly.”
I couldn’t delve into her mind to tell if she was lying or not since she would have shields up to block me, but I leaned into my other learned skills from my time in Hell. I focused on the tone and latency of her voice, the way her eyes moved, and any weird facial twitches. I couldn’t see any, and her pitch and latency remained even. She was confused, but she wasn’t lying.
“Howar Volmark, do you admit to conspiring with one Lerris Byrche to overthrow and murder Queen Omaera and usurp the throne and crown of the Realm for yourself?” Maxar asked.
I pushed my way into Howar’s mind, but he could tell I was there and did his best to try to push me out. I pushed back, and I was a lot more powerful than he was. “I know when someone is lying, Howar.”
The Vampire King sneered. “You’re not fit to rule this realm,” he finally said. “You’re not one of us. You’re mixed blood. You’re tainted. And your father was a weakling. A fool. While your mother was nothing more than his human whore.”
A small, sad smile curled my mouth. I wasn’t going to let his insults of my parents get to me. Or at the very least, let him see that they did.
“Do you admit to betraying Drak Ferrin and sending mercenaries to kill him, Zandren Thorne, the Shifter Prince; Omaera Playfair, Queen of the Realm; and Maxar Rane, badass fire-mage?” Maxar asked.
Howar’s gaze sharpened, and he fixed it only on me. “We wanted to keep you alive.”
“I know,” I said flatly. “Why?”
He shrugged, struggling against his restraints. “Call it morbid curiosity, but I wanted to meet you. To see the abomination Donovar created.”
“And now you seem resigned to your fate?” I asked.
“Not resigned to my fate. I just don’t think a half- demon mongrel like you possess the strength to kill a being as powerful as me. Your father certainly didn’t. He was pathetic. Chose kindness over power.” He sneered, then spat in the direction of my feet, missing my shoe by an inch. “He wasn’t fit to rule the Realm. To wear the crown. And neither are you.”
My brows rose. “I’m not? Oh shit. My bad.” I shrugged. “Do you, like, want it instead?” I lifted Moloch’s Sacrifice into the air and channeled a mixture of green and black flames down the blade of it, delighting in the widening of Howar’s eyes and the true fear—finally—that shimmered in them. “My father is dead. My aunt is dead. And Lerris nearly killed my best friend. There is enough blood on both of your hands for me to put you both on trial for murder and treason right now.” I glanced at the flickering flames of the sword, mesmerized by the fire. Then I turned to Howar and shoved a hot poker into his frontal lobe, making him cry out. Then I dove into his mind to feel his fear, to bask in his pain, and to see what fresh horrors he had planned for us, but I didn’t have time.
Some things are too good to be true, and this was one of those times. Even though Groy and Leno were outside, they didn’t have time to warn us of the explosion that rocked the cave, knocking us all off our feet as stalactites fell from the ceiling.
I found myself thrown to the ground, an enormous, fury body hovering over me but not crushing me.
Ryden .
He shielded me from the debris falling all around us, but also from the chaos that unfolded. More explosions shook our fortress at the same time footsteps from outside echoed across the ground.
Maxar screamed, “Vampires!” at the same time, another big stalactite fell from the ceiling. Ryden let out a deafening roar, followed by a serious, terrifying whimper. He tried to move, but he couldn’t.
“Let me see,” I said, pushing up so my back hit his torso. But he either wouldn’t, or couldn’t move. I pressed my ear to his chest. His heart still beat and he was still breathing, but I couldn’t see anything besides fur and scrimmaging feet. I was on my belly, immobilized by my father-in-law, as he grunted and growled in pain. “Zandren!” I screamed. “Ryden’s hurt.”
“Dad!” Zandren said, out of breath, as he finally made his way to us. “Oh gods!”
“What?” I asked.
Ryden said something in bear speech, but the only word I could make out was “leg.”
“Okay,” Zandren said. Then he was gone.
What the fuck?
“Ryden, you need to let me up. You need to let me fight. I’m the most powerful of everyone here. I can end this.” I rolled over onto my back and pushed my hands into his bulky, furry chest. It was like trying to move a concrete statue. Impossible.
“Help!” Anysa screamed. I glanced through the fur of Ryden’s arm and body to see the Mage Queen struggling against her restraints. Her other mages were in the same predicament.
“Ryden, I need to go free Anysa. If she’s not with Howar, she can help us. Please. You need to let me up.”
The old bear growled deep in his chest, which sounded more like an entire motorcycle club of Harleys come to life. But after a moment, he lifted his body enough that I could crawl out from beneath him.
It was a massacre before me, with more bodies littered across the floor. I reached Anysa and her mages, all of them screaming for help.
“Help me and I’ll help you,” Anysa pleaded.
I grabbed Moloch’s Sacrifice from its scabbard again and her eyes went wide. “Swear your oath of fealty to me and whatever gods you worship right now, and I’ll set you free. If I find out you’re a traitor,” I glanced at the other mages as well, “I will not hesitate to remove your heads from your bodies.”
Anysa’s glittering sapphire eyes went wide for a moment, then she nodded solemnly and bowed her head so her forehead touched the tip of the sword. “I swear to you, Queen Omaera Playfair, my allegiance, my loyalty, my fealty.” She turned to her mages-in-waiting and they all murmured and nodded their heads as well.
“Very well,” I said, using my father’s big sword—the one used to kill him—to sever their bonds. I helped Anysa up and together we ran out into the madness.
Standing side-by-side, Anysa and I both conjured energy and launched it at the vampires fighting with Drak, Zandren, and Maxar.
“What kind of mage are you?” I asked, diving into a vampire’s mind that was attacking Zandren. I tore the man’s brain into two pieces and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Maxar raced up and efficiently beheaded him.
“An earth-mage,” she said, her energy resembling a blue, monstrous, pulsing ball of electricity. “I can use the Earth’s electromagnetic current to create energy balls—not all earth-mages can though.”
“Cool,” I simply said, just as another vampire rushed at Maxar, and before Maxar could cut him in half with a fire sword, I knocked the legs right out from under the asshole by shoving an invisible pickaxe into his brain. He fell to a heap at Maxar’s feet.
“Thanks, babe!” Maxar gave me a thumb’s up, beheaded the vampire, then raced back into the mix. Movement out of the corner of my eye pulled my attention, and that’s when I noticed the swinging door of the open and empty blood cage.
“Where’s Lerris?”
“And Howar?” Anysa asked.
Terror filled my soul as we went on a mad search through the cave for the Vampire King and my uncle. Anysa’s mages held their own, fighting alongside Zandren, Maxar, and Drak. It looked like one mage was a fire-mage like Maxar, one was an earth-mage like Anysa, and the third was a spellcaster-mage like my aunt. I could have been wrong about the last one though. I was too busy hunting for Lerris to pay too much attention.
“Where is Lerris?” I shouted at Zandren, who stood over his father, protecting him.
Zandren’s brown eyes went wide. “What do you mean?” He glanced at the blood cage and panic washed across his features.
“Fuck,” Maxar bellowed when he realized Lerris was gone. He channeled that anger into viciously decapitating a vampire that lunged at him, fangs out.
Drak was on his back, a vampire bigger than him sat on his chest and punched him repeatedly in the face. I ran up to the vampire with my sword out and, without any hesitation, I lopped off the man’s head. It fell forward onto Drak’s chest. The dead guy’s pale-blue eyes wide, and his mouth open in shock.
“Is that it?” I asked, when silenced reigned in the cavern .
“Lerris, Howar, and Raver all escaped,” Zandren said, still next to his father.
Maxar’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, wiping the back of his hand over his forehead and smearing blood there instead of sweat. “Groy and Leno say they didn’t see where the explosions came from. And they didn’t see the vampires enter until it was too late. This was a very calculated plan.”
“One we should have, but didn’t, see coming,” Drak said, standing up, defeat and anger in his eyes.
“Yeah, but did they see them escape?” I asked, making my way over to Zandren and Ryden.
“No,” Maxar said. “They had to take cover during the explosions and couldn’t see from their obstructed vantage point. Lerris stole Anysa’s helicopter though, and Howar took his.”
“Fuck!” Zandren exclaimed.
Ryden whimpered, and I dropped down to a crouch beside him, brushing my hand over his brow. “It’ll be okay, Papa Bear,” I promise.
“His leg is pinned,” Zandren said solemnly. “He’ll likely lose it.”
With a gasp, I shot my eyes up at Zandren. “What? No. Don’t they grow back?” Disbelief made my limbs all tingly.
“He’s not an octopus,” Zandren said with surprise in his eyes.
I shook my head. “I refuse to believe that. He’s not going to lose the leg.” I dropped to my knees. “Ryden, can you shift? It might be easier for us to help carry you to a hospital if you shift.”
“He’s too weak to shift.” Zandren moved down to inspect the enormous, probably-three-ton stalactite that was on Ryden’s leg. “Help me get this off him, eh?”
Maxar, Drak, Anysa, her mages, and I all worked together, and even though we had super strength, it was all we could do to just push it off the enormous bear. And to my utter devastation, Zandren was right. Ryden’s leg was completely crushed and because stalactites are pointed at the bottom, the pointed part severed his left leg, almost entirely detaching it from his body.
“Maxar, can you cauterize it, then remove it?” Zandren asked, falling to his knees next to his father. “That’s what he’s asked for. ”
“You’re k-kidding, right?” I stammered.
Zandren shook his head. “Go up and sit with him. Comfort him. This will hurt.”
I gaped at Zandren. “And you’re handling this like it’s just a walk through the fucking park. This is your father’s leg we’re talking about. We’re in a cave, all of us injured, while Lerris, Howar, and Raver all escaped, and you want Maxar to amputate it like this is some sixteenth century war wound? We have hospitals now. Proper surgeons and medicine. We need to get him to a medic.” I glanced at Anysa for help. “There’s gotta be a healer-mage around here, right?”
Zandren’s expression was sad. “This is my father, Little One. And I’m devastated. But we can’t move him. He’s too big to move, too weak to shift. This is what he says needs to happen and we have to honor his wishes. We’re also sitting ducks here. There could be more explosions.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed and met his dad’s gaze. “Right?”
Ryden made a weak noise of agreement, then focused on Maxar and gave my mage a nod to proceed.
I’d never seen Maxar more serious than he was when he sunk to his knees beside the big bear. I brought Ryden’s head into my lap and gently stroked his velvety ears. “Thank you,” I murmured as my tears fell into his fur. “You didn’t have to do that.” Enormous, soulful brown eyes burrowed themselves into my heart. “I want to call you Papa Bear. Okay? Does that work for you?”
Ryden’s tongue darted out, and he licked my wrist right before letting out an agonizing growl as Maxar removed his leg from his body with some kind of sharp instrument he had made out of fire. Ryden’s breathing through his nose became quick and shallow, and he made noises of pain. I pressed my hand to his head and funneled good, calming thoughts into his mind. I dug around for happy memories, and placed him in a meadow, frolicking around as a cub himself.
“There we go,” I whispered as the smoke from the amputation and cauterizing dissipated into the air. “Well done.”
As I stroked his head, Ryden slowly shifted back to human form. Now that his leg was gone, his body could focus on repairing the rest of him, and he was already strong enough to shift. I quickly averted my eyes until Zandren located the big bear’s clothes and tossed him some pants, though he’d split them into shreds when he shifted abruptly earlier.
“Hang on,” my bear said, darting to the bag we packed. He brought out another pair of enormous sweatpants and tossed them at his dad. “Shifters always pack more clothes than necessary.”
Ryden quickly tugged on the sweats, then I helped him sit up. “I’m abdicating,” he said, his words hoarse as he glanced up at his son.
“Dad …” Zandren protested. “No. You’ll be fine.”
“No. I won’t be. The king … or queen … needs to be the strongest of their kind. And I’m not anymore. Many bears and cougars have challenged me in the past and I’ve defeated them all. Now … we all know I couldn’t. I am old, and this …” he pointed at his stump, “makes me unfit to rule.”
“You must make the royal decree,” Anysa said, dropping to her knees beside Ryden. “It will pass to Zandren, and all will be made aware of the change. That you are alive, but have abdicated to your son.” She met Zandren’s gaze. “Prepare to be challenged.”
I inched close to my mate and rested my hand on his thigh as we all kneeled down beside the shifter patriarch. Zandren’s complexion was whiter than normal, and his brown eyes focused like lasers but on nothing in particular, simply straight ahead at the wall. “Pooh Bear,” I whispered, squeezing his thigh.
Zandren blinked a bunch and met his dad’s gaze. “I … I’m not sure I can.”
“Of course you can,” Ryden said with a smile. It was hard not to stare at all the blood around the man’s mouth. I kind of thought that would disappear with the fur when he shifted back into a human, but turns out, it didn’t. “You’re my son. Zandren Roarke Thorne. The strongest shifter alive, and the best son a father could ever ask for. You’ve watched me lead for years. You’re ready.”
“But can he?” Maxar asked. “Can he be the King of the Shifters and king consort to Omaera?”
Ryden frowned, then shrugged. “I don’t see why not?”
Anysa lifted a shoulder as well. “I know the rules better than the back of my own hand and that’s not listed as a violation anywhere in the Council Diaries that I can think of. ”
Ryden nodded. “Then, I royally decree, here and now, in the Antruminus Neutralitima , that I, Ryden Cortelius Thorne, King of the Shifters, do abdicate my throne to my son, Prince Zandren Roarke Thorne; to be known henceforth as King Zandren Roarke Thorne, King of the Shifters, and king consort to the Queen of the Realm.”
“God, that’s a long-ass title,” Maxar breathed. “I’m not saying that every time. I’ll tell you that for free.”
Despite the seriousness of the moment, I smirked. Leave it to my mage to cut the tension with humor.
A flash of lighting and a rumble of thunder lit up and shook the cavern, but luckily, no more stalactites dislodged from the ceiling.
“So, wait, is Omaera now the queen consort to the Shifter King too?” Maxar asked. “And Zandren is a double king?”
Anysa nodded. “She is. And yes, he is.”
My mage shook his head. “Damn.”
“You are king consort to the Queen, Your Majesty,” Anysa said to him. “You do know that, right?”
Maxar blinked a few times. “I guess I forget about that part. Feels weird to be a king .”
“You’re telling me,” Zandren murmured.
“So … we don’t have a chopper to get us out of here. What do we do?” I asked. “It’s a bit of a walk to get to the road. I don’t want to make Ryden hike a step.”
“I’ll be fine,” the old bear said with a grumble, trying to stand, but failing. Zandren came up and offered his dad his shoulder for support.
“Wait, where’s Drak?” I asked, realizing the fourth member of our band wasn’t there. I ran out to the mouth of the cave to find my mate standing at the tree line, his back to me.
Knowing that everyone in the cave would be fine and make their own way out, I picked up my pace and met Drak. “We’ll get them,” I said, linking my fingers through his and feeling the tension strung through him like a cable holding up a too heavy bridge. I gently nudged my way into his mind, only to be met with similar feelings. Betrayal, fury, sadness, and even hopelessness. Maybe he wasn’t such a robot after all.
Turning to face me, his eyes welling up with fat tears that shattered my soul, he swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
I reached for his other hand so we were facing each other. “Sorry for what?”
“For all of it,” he said, a tear slipping down his cheek. “If I told you about the Mate’s Ache sooner, about the ambush, about all of it, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I never should have trusted Howar, or Raver. They’ve betrayed us all and now that they know we’re onto them, they have no reason to hide behind a false smile and pretend to be on your side.”
“ Our side,” I corrected, overwhelmed with joy that he was expressing his emotions, even if they were sadness and remorse. “We’re in this together.”
“What do we do now?” he asked, shocking the hell out of me that he was without a plan. He always seemed to know what to do next.
“We find Gemma and Melissima, make sure they’re safe. Then, we go vampire and demon hunting, and we don’t stop until their heads are mounted on our castle walls.”
Maxar and Zandren had Ryden, and after a few very lethal blasts of fire into the cave from the mage-in-waiting fire-mage, they shut the door and ambled down to the tree line to join us.
Groy and Leno revealed themselves from deep in the woods, the terror on their faces seeing their former king missing a leg evident. They joined in and helped Zandren and Maxar carry a grumbling and stubborn Ryden.
“I can do it myself,” Ryden said, growing increasingly grumpy the further into the woods we walked.
“Put him down,” I instructed, making my way to the grumpy bear who perched on a fallen log. I rested my hand on his thigh. “Papa Bear …”
He perked up at his new name and lifted his gaze to mine.
“We’re just trying to help. We’re not that much further, I promise.”
His bushy brows pinched for a moment, then relaxed, and he rolled his eyes. “Fine. But just know … the lot of you, this is the one and only time I’ll ever allow any of you to carry me. Got it? I’d rather drag myself across the forest floor than be carried. ”
We all exchanged smirks over his head, but he didn’t gripe again until we reached the SUV Zandren parked in hiding.
They loaded Ryden up into the hatch of the Honda, then we all piled in. It was a tight squeeze—too tight—so Zandren, Groy, and Leno said they’d meet us at the truck.
“How are you doing back there, Papa Bear?” I asked, choosing to sit in the back seat so I could check on Ryden.
“Like a bear that just lost his leg to a giant rock,” Ryden grumbled.
Maxar snorted from where he sat in the driver’s seat.
We reached the truck in no time, and Zandren, Groy, and Leno weren’t too far behind, choosing to stay in human form and just run to catch up to us.
I met Anysa in front of the grill. She’d already ordered two new helicopters, one for us to take Ryden in, and one for herself and her mages. They were a couple of hours out though. We all agreed that we needed to get Ryden into hiding as soon as possible.
The Mage Queen was a hell of a lot taller than me, in addition to being elegant, beautiful, and incredibly powerful. To be honest, she intimidated the crap out of me, even if I did put a sword to her throat and demand her fealty.
I definitely wasn’t expecting her to drop into a low curtsy. “Your Majesty,” she said, rising up again. “I apologize for any concern I may have caused you with regards to my allegiance. It is with the throne. With you. King Donovar was not only a good friend, but a good, kind king as well. I mourn his passing greatly and with a heavy heart. However, I look forward to ruling this realm at your side. You have my complete support, and all my resources are at your disposal.”
I smiled up at the gorgeous earth-mage and exhaled. “You don’t know how good it feels to have someone else on my side. I really didn’t want to have to behead you.”
Her smile was bright-white and just made her even more breathtaking.
I curtsied back to her, and we both released big sighs as we shrugged off some of the formality. I stood up straight again. “That definitely didn’t go as I had hoped or planned,” I said glumly. “We didn’t anticipate the explosions.”
“Your Majesty,” piped up one of the other mages. She was a pretty little redhead with a big splash of freckles across her face. She reminded me of Gemma, except Gemma didn’t have a soft Irish lilt.
Anysa and I turned to the mage-in-waiting.
She took our attention as permission to continue. “King Howar seemed just as surprised as we all were at the explosions. I don’t think he knew about them.”
Maxar, Zandren, Groy, Leno, and Drak joined us, but then we felt bad for Ryden being kept out of the loop and moved to stand near the rear of the Honda with the hatch open so he could hear.
The mage-in-waiting repeated what she said.
“You think that explosion was Lerris’s doing?” I asked. “Like he planned to take out Howar as well?”
“Then why would he send in vampires?” Drak asked. “Why not demons? Or more Phaceanesh, who seem to have some absurd loyalty to him.”
That was a good question. It didn’t make sense for it to be Lerris if regular daywalker vampires came in after and during the explosions.
“You’re sure Howar looked confused?” I asked the redheaded mage.
She nodded. “A few vampires escaped with him too. They rushed in, freed him, and rushed him out, keeping him covered from falling debris and anybody seeing him.”
I glanced at Drak. “Are you thinking Ivar van Cortlandt showed up and freed his son-in-law?”
Drak’s nod was slight. “I am. Though, why he would free Lerris …”
“Lerris might have had his own rescue contingencies in place,” Ryden said, his voice rough. “He’s one of the slipperiest, most calculating demons I’ve ever come across.”
“So maybe he had someone on standby in case things went FUBAR?” Zandren added.
Ryden nodded.
“But maybe Howar didn’t know about Ivar’s plan, that’s why he looked confused.” My gaze drifted across everyone’s faces. “And now he’s indebted to his father-in-law.”
Drak gave another slight nod. “Ivar loves having people owe him.”
“How did Lerris escape?” Anysa asked the mage-in-waiting.
“That, I didn’t see,” the mage-in-waiting replied. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” She cast her eyes down to the ground as if ashamed she didn’t have a better answer.
“No, Sheeri, you did well,” Anysa praised. “Thank you.”
Sheeri glanced up at her queen, a small smile tipping her mouth for a moment.
“We’ve gone and revealed Howar’s true plan to Lerris, so that alliance has hopefully been severed,” I said. “However, I think they both planned to double-cross the other either way. So maybe Howar had one of his henchmen unlock Lerris because they believe working together against me is better than working against me separately.”
“I say we run with that theory, or the theory that Lerris had a contingency rescue plan, until we form a better one,” Maxar said to the nods of everyone else. “In the meantime, what do we do?”
“We get Papa Bear somewhere safe. Then we find Gemma and Melissima, make sure they’re safe, and then we go hunting.” I let my eyes drift from one exhausted face to the next. “They’re not going to stop until they have my throne, and I’m not giving it up without a fight. Are you with me?”
Every head bobbed up and down.
“That’s our queen,” Maxar said, his eyes filled with love and pride.
“All hail Omaera Playfair, Queen of the Realm!” Ryden shouted, lifting his fist in the air.
Everyone echoed after him, their words filling my heart before getting swept off in the breeze.
This wasn’t the life I chose, or one I ever thought I wanted, but it was the life the Fates chose for me. As I came to meet more and more people of this realm, I knew I couldn’t let it fall into the hands of Lerris or Howar. I was a reluctant queen, but maybe those who weren’t power hungry made better rulers? Time would tell, but for now, we needed to take care of family, regroup, and find my best friend.
Then we would come for their heads .