“Riley!” I shout, flinching as I try to move my arm and notice it must be broken. I awkwardly climb off his horse and kneel at his side, lifting his head onto my knees. I brush his locks of hair from his forehead as he looks up at me.
“I am sorry,” he whispers, covering my hand with his on his chest. I glance down at his stomach, seeing the pouring blood staining his waist and trousers, pooling around us in the dust. “I am happy you have your mates, and I am so sorry I believed the light above. I should have trusted you. I shouldn’t have loved you, because you weren’t mine like that. You were my friend, and I ruined it.”
My chin wobbles as I suck in a deep breath. “I forgive you, Riley Becker. I forgive you.” I burst into tears as he smiles at me, and so many memories of who we used to be flash into my eyes.
“Can we pretend we are back in my car? That everything that happened after, didn’t?” he softly asks me, still smiling. I know he isn’t feeling pain anymore, and that means he must be close to death and his mind is protecting him from the pain of his body. I’m going to lose him in the academy...where I did to start with.
Forgiving him is what he needs in his final moments, and pretending is all I can give him.
“Yes. We finished my drive back to our home after the cinema, and we snuck into my house through the window like we always did so my parents wouldn’t hear. We watched a funny movie together under that horrible pink blanket mum always left out for us, and we laughed about our terrible dates before you slept on my couch. The next morning, we...” I drift off as Riley’s hand falls from mine to his side, and I know he is gone. I cry as I hold him to my chest, knowing that I will never hold my childhood friend again.
Goodbye, Riley Becker. May you rest with the angels.
Chapter 70
A low hum fills my ears, like a butterfly fluttering around the room, so soft and beautiful. I open my eyes to see a white ceiling above me, and my hands dig into soft blue sheets as I sit up, flinching at the pain in my arm, to see my mates all in the room with me. Ren is humming, sat on the edge of my bed next to Henry, who has a book in his hands. Myles is sleeping next to me, almost snoring in the middle of each breath, and Thallon is resting his hands on the mantle of the fireplace, watching the flickering flames of the fire in it.
“Where are we?” I question, my voice cracked, and it reminds me why. I remember yesterday, screaming as Ren and Henry found me, and they took Riley’s body. I cried myself to sleep in Henry’s arms as Ren carried Riley’s body to Ayda and flew him back to earth.
“On the tales island, just until we make our plans of where we want to live. All the vampires who survived are here, and the angels too,” Henry softly explains, crawling across the bed to me. Myles wakes up, instantly turning to me and running his eyes over my face.
“What happened?” I question.
“The angels have lost all their powers and strengths, making them almost human-like but with wings. They all passed out, and the city of Neamh was destroyed, with all the angels on it assumed dead if they didn’t escape in time. My parents got out, and they are excited to meet you when you feel better,” Henry explains. Oh my god.
“We lost one hundred and two vampires, two hundred and eight wolves, and just over five hundred demons. The tales lost only ninety-five of their own, but considering they don’t have that many people, it was a big loss. We are clueless to the angels’ loss as many passed out and dropped into the sea. We tried to save as many as we could,” Myles explains, and we all go silent for a long pause. We lost a lot of people then, and it’s not just me who is mourning. “Vesnia and Bryne are fine, though Vesnia hurt her leg. She is healing now, or she would be here.”
“Is Aala alright?” I question, and Ren nods once as an answer, though he still looks angry. I knew he would be, but I’m curious how long it will take him before he snaps and asks me what he wants to.
“Are you okay?” Thallon gently asks, sitting on the other side of the bed. I think about it for a moment, because I’m really not sure if I’m going to be okay for a while. Killing Riley and him still saving me...well, it will stick with me for a long time. Despite everything he did, he did not deserve to die like that.
“I will be,” I say as the best answer I can give right now.
“Now, are you going to explain why you went off on your fucking own to the Great Light?” Ren demands, looking pretty mad. I don’t blame him.
“It had to be me, and we all know it. The Great Light was linked to me in some kind of way that I can’t explain, and it was my place to kill him,” I say, straightening my back. “I did it for me and for the vampires. I am their queen as much as you are their king. I won’t say sorry for what I did, and I stand by it.”
“I want to be mad at you, but I’m so happy you’re alive I can’t be for long,” Ren says then sighs, rubbing his cheek. “Just no more doing shit like that alone. You’re right, you are the vampire queen, and they need you alive.”
“I love you too,” I chuckle, and his face softens for a moment.
“Now the teacher has told you off, are you ready for the rest of us to tell you how mad we are?” Thallon asks, and I shrug.
“I’m so happy you are all alive, go for it,” I shrug.
“You’re not meant to sound happy about being told off,” Myles grumbles and kisses my shoulder.
“Sorry,” I grin, and they laugh.
“Katy, we have something to show you,” Myles says, stepping into my bedroom. It’s been a week since the battle, and everyone is just about getting used to the new peace we have found. There were so many people injured that it took a long time for us to heal them all. Thankfully, Madi has made it clear we are welcome here until we make a plan for the future. Turns out a good few thousand angels survived, many women and children from the city. They elected a new leader, a woman named Jesmine Kultx, who happily signed a peace treaty with us, the tales, demons and wolves. I tuck Aala into my bed where she has decided to sleep for the last week and a half, needing me close, I suspect. I’ve just fallen more in love with her by the day, and so have the guys. They even playfully argue who is going to make her food and go with her on daily walks around the island. We just work as a family.
“And before you say anything, the auntie-slash-babysitter is here,” Vesnia says, stepping in the room after Myles. I grin and hug my bestie, who kisses my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I whisper back, letting her go. The battle badly hurt Vesnia’s leg, almost leaving her with a limp, but she doesn’t seem to care or let it bother her. I’m just happy it wasn’t anything worse. I hook my arm in Myles’s, letting him take me out of the room where Thallon, Ren and Henry wait in the corridor next to a portal.
“Where are we going then?” I ask, and Myles looks a little sad, shaking his head once.
“Just wait and see. It’s our gift to you,” Ren says, waving a hand at the portal. Curiosity ruling me, I step through the portal to a...graveyard. I know this graveyard, it’s right outside the church I went to as a kid with Riley. The gravestone in front of me is new, and I fall to my knees in front of it, touching the white stone and running my fingers over the engravement: