Chapter 28
Therian Palace, Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Luca watched in horror as Nadya ripped something out of Ash’s chest. His mate’s skin began to burn in the sunlight that streamed through the window.
Nadya stumbled back, cackling as she pointed at Ash. “Your skin! That is disgusting. I love it. You should have known better than to go against me, as young as you are and alone.”
Ash’s skin smoldered, but she did not burst into flame. As her screams faded, a growl started low in her chest. She’d been lost in the pain, but as it lessened, she realized she was still alive.
Nadya hadn’t only removed her sunstone. She had unleashed something Ash hadn’t known was there, and power welled up within her like a natural spring. Ash welcomed it, letting the light of her spark flow through her, healing the damage she’d sustained.
Time stood still as the power overflowed. Ash’s roar shook the windows, and a blast of light exploded from her, vaporizing every vampire in the room except Nadya. The queen was frozen in shock.
The blast obliterated the darkness binding Ash, and she rose in one fluid movement. It also freed Luca. He pressed a hand over the ragged wound in his head, but he sat up, unable to tear his gaze from Ash.
Her body was a charred and blackened husk. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, trembling as the burnt skin flaked off to reveal flawless new flesh. Her golden curls regrew before his eyes. When she was whole again, Ash’s eyes snapped open, blazing with the copper fire of her spark.
Nadya’s jaw went slack and she tried to flee, but Ash flicked her hand, and tendrils of light crept over the vampire queen’s body and bound her in place. She kept trying to escape, leaning away from Ash. “No, no, no,” she mumbled over and over, unable to comprehend how things had changed so swiftly. She’d won, damn it. She had won!
Ash smiled, her fangs glistening in the sunlight. She thrust her hands out and repeated the words Eiko had taught her.
As she completed the chant, voice ringing with power, blood streamed from Nadya’s eyes and ears. Ash moved her hands to her sides as she continued to chant, and tendrils of light rose from the floor and licked the tips of her fingers.
Ash whipped one, and it wrapped around Nadya’s throat. The vampire queen tried to free herself, but she was trapped. As more tendrils wrapped around Nadya, Ash opened her hand as if she held a blade of light. As Nadya had done to her, Ash speared the vampire queen’s chest.
Ash then thrust her hand into the wound. “As you can see, I’m a very quick learner.”
Nadya groaned when Ash gripped her heart. “They will never follow you. The Therians will kill you for what you are. You’ll never be one of them, and you’ll never be Luca’s mate.”
Ash shook her head. “My happiness is the least of my worries. Saving an entire race of people plagued for five thousand years by a bloodthirsty bitch hell-bent on destroying everyone is more important. Helping them heal after all that has been done to them is more important. I am a vampire like you, but the similarities stop there. You chose to be evil, and don’t lie. There is always a choice, and you chose wrong. I choose justice. I choose the light.”
Nadya smiled. “We’ll see about that, vampire queen.”
Ash yanked her hand free, taking the queen’s heart with it. As the light drained from her eyes, she murmured, “Maksim.” Luca brought the sword down on her neck and decapitated her.
“That was overkill,” Ash said, amused though she still held Nadya’s bloody, shriveled heart.
Nadya’s head rolled toward the open door. Several Therians stood there, weapons raised but frozen in shock. Judging from their expressions, they had not expected to see Nadya die, let alone at the hands of another vampire and their king.
Screams and wails of pain echoed off the walls surrounding the palace. “Those are vampires,” Ash explained. “Her children must have felt her die.”
Ivanna brushed past the stunned Therians in the doorway to report that all the vampires were experiencing breakdowns and saw Nadya lying on the floor.
“Zia!” Luca exclaimed, naming the only other good vampire they knew about.
Ash’s eyes went blank as she accessed her magic. Then she smiled. “She’s fine. I can’t promise she isn’t going crazy. She was laughing like a loon, but she didn’t look injured.”
Luca grinned. “She’ll be fine. She got what she’s wanted since Nadya turned her.”
His heart was slowing from the adrenaline rush he’d experienced when he’d thought Ash would die and seen his principal enemy defeated. He looked from the love of his life to the Therians in the doorway, his mind whirling with possibilities.
Luca took her hand and pulled her around to face the door. He looked into her eyes and thought about how she had changed and everything she had sacrificed for him and his people. Never again would he deny her. His queen would stand by his side.
“It’s time to introduce you to Therian society.” He smiled. “We have a wedding to plan.”
She looked alarmed, and he barely resisted the urge to kiss her forehead. Just a little longer.
“That name and the good impression you wanted to make?” He gestured at the Therians in the doorway, who had all taken a knee. “Mission accomplished.”