“But you need to stay here and be brave for us. Is that okay?” I ask, knowing I’m not leaving her alone in any sense. There are twenty-nine women and sixty-two children staying behind who cannot fight today. If the vampires fall today, at least they will be here to make a new generation of vampires. There are many tales hiding in Knox’s dimension with them, the ones who cannot fight, as the tales island will not be safe when we are at war so close by. We wait for Aala’s answer as she stares at us before she lowers her head and whispers a small answer.
“Yes.”
“My brave girl,” I whisper, leaning down and kissing her forehead. I walk Aala to the women who swear to look after her before a tear-filled goodbye. I head back into my rooms and stare at the clothes on the bed.
“What are these?” I ask, picking up the shimmering blue material and gold chains hanging off the dress.
“The royal clothes of the vampire race. My mother’s dress,” Ren softly explains, coming to stand behind me. I turn back, glancing at the clothes he has on now. Gold chains fall off his shoulders, wrapping around his black shirt and black cloak that falls off his thick shoulders. The black cape has lines of the same shimmering blue material that looks like real magic. Stunning. “She would want you to wear them today. You’re my queen, and this, this is your crown.” He pulls his hands from behind his back, and in them lies an elf-like crown. A thick blue stone in a diamond shape rests in the middle of the dark blue metal that winds and swirls around it. I bow my head for Ren, and he places the crown on me where it fits perfectly. Turning to look at myself in the mirror, I only see how Ren looks down at me instead of how the crown looks against my blonde hair and pale skin.
“Any queen is lucky when their king looks at them the way you look at me,” I tell him before turning and kissing him, taking his lips for my own. His hands grip my hips tightly as he lifts me up, pushing my back against the counter.
“I will always look at you this way. You’re my love, my queen, and my redemption.” I kiss him harder the second he stops talking, even when his words steal my soul and brand it with his name once more. I quickly undo his trousers as he pushes down my leggings, and I wrap my legs around him as he easily slides into me. I moan as his teeth drift down my neck seconds before he bites me, and the sensation is incredible. Like a lightning bolt jolting through me, pleasure wraps around my body as he thrusts into me, feeding from my neck at the same time. My orgasm slams into me as he removes his lips from my neck and kisses me, thrusting harder.
“Kaitlyn...” He groans my name against my lips as he comes hard and long inside me. We both stare at each other as we calm down, reality threatening to seep back into our world. We have hours before the war, and this is the last moment we will have together.
“I love you,” I whisper. “Thank you for changing me, for being my ghost when I was alone and showing me what was really worth fighting for.”
His smile hurts my heart with how perfect it is. “It was never you who was lucky. It was always and forever me.”
I kiss him one more time, wishing we had forever to be together, when we both know our time is up. Ren pulls back, and we both quickly use the bathroom before I strip off and pick up the dress on the bed. It’s easier than it looks to put on, and the silky material falls to my knees, and my knee-high boots look pretty cool with it. I’m sure the vampire queen didn’t wear boots with the dress, but this is me. I clip the gold cuffs on my upper arms, linking the gold chain through them and hooking them together. I tightly plait my hair under the crown, letting it fall over my shoulder. Finally, I clip the cloak on and move to the mirror to see myself...and I look far more like a queen than I feel. The dress should be see-through, but somehow it isn’t at all. The shimmering blue material covers me well, and strands of it link around my neck. The thin gold chains are all linked to the belt around my waist that holds the same blue jewels as my crown. The cloak falls from the back of my dress, starting about midway up my back and hanging around my feet like a wave of water.
“I have something else for you,” Ren says, nearly making me jump as I’m so lost in my thoughts. I turn around as Ren opens the top drawer of the chest in our room and pulls out a dagger. He walks to me and hands me the dagger, which I recognise right away.
“The light above made this,” I whisper, taking the dagger into my hands. Ren helps me clip it onto my belt and turns me around as he wraps his large arms around my shoulders.
“And it will kill him when we get a chance. The war starts and ends today,” he murmurs. “There is no one else I want at my side when I take down the light above.”
I wish I could tell him there is no way I will let Ren get close enough to the light above to kill him. The light above wants Ren...too bad he is mine.
And I will kill anyone who gets in the middle of us. Even a fake god.
Chapter 66
How can a sky look so serene and beautiful when it is minutes away from war? The white clouds hover in the bright blue sky, the smell of saltwater fills my senses, and even though the war is coming, this place is stunning. My mates and I stand near the edge of a cliff, looking up at the sky for the first signs of the angels that are no doubt coming for us. Ayda and a few other flying horses stand behind us, ready to take us to the skies when we need it. Myles is going to fight on the ground with the wolves, but his hand is locked in mine for now. Henry is to my left, two long swords on his back and leather covering his chest and arms, with gold chains much like Ren’s strapped across him. Ren is right behind me, his hand wrapped around my waist and my head tucked under his chin. Thallon is next to Myles, and I glance at him, knowing he can fly and he will be okay. He has two blue diamond-tipped metal spears in his hands, and similar clothes to Henry, making it clear who he is fighting for. Somehow all four of us found each other, and this is our family to fight for.
The vampire army waits behind us, including Vesnia and Bryne and many others. To the left is an army of tales that matches ours in size, but the demons on our right are the true army here. They must have at least six times our number, and each of them is dressed in red armour, with red swords, and each looks trained to be deadly. Turns out the queen of hell is going to rule at the end of all this.
The demons will rise in power, and the angels will fall to nothing.
Funny enough, I believe that is the right way. The wolves’ howls fill the silence, and I turn back to see a row of wolves on the hill behind us, hidden in the trees, our secret weapon. If we can get the angels to the tree line, then they lose their flight, and we can fight them on the ground. Which we need to do.
“Are you all ready?” one of the princes of hell asks after walking over to us. The twins are ridiculously good looking—it’s hard not to notice—but I also don’t know which one is which. I think this one is Nick because he seems more serious than his brother.
“As we will ever be. The vampires owe the demons a great debt,” Ren answers, and Nick nods once.
“A debt my queen is sure not to forget in the future. Let us focus on war and peace before we trade favours of any kind,” Nick answers and gives us a short nod before walking on to Madi and the tales.
“Stay close,” Ren warns me, not that I have any intention of listening. If he knew my plan, he would lock me away and not let me fight. I can’t risk that, and I know it’s my fate to end the light above. I’m his saviour wrapped in destruction. But he never knew I would be his.