by G. K. DeRosa
A twinge of hope unfurled in my chest as my eyes met Kaige’s. We leapt up and followed Dax and the others back to the medical quarters.
Dax barreled through the door of the small white room and ushered us all inside. The doctor stood by the bed, staring at a tablet. Ava sat up, some color returning to her face, her eyes and skin clear.
Nikko rushed to her side, wrapping his fingers around her hand. “How do you feel?”
The slender brunette cracked a smile. “Much better.”
“It’s really unbelievable,” said Dr. Soren, turning to Ebony. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Yesterday, her system was on the brink of shutting down and now, there’s barely a trace of the infection.”
Kaige glanced at me, his brows knitted. It was exactly what happened to me. He moved toward the doctor, waving a hand up. “Solaris experienced the same miraculous recovery.”
The doctor’s gaze turned to me and frowned. “But you’re a full-blooded human, correct?”
I nodded.
“They’ve been bonded though,” said Ebony. “Can’t you smell it?”
The man inhaled and wrinkled his nose. “Yes. The makeup of her blood must now be more similar to ours than ordinary humans.”
My pulse skyrocketed, my breaths coming faster. Could we have found the answer to our prayers?
“May I take a sample of your blood?” The doctor approached me, waving a needle and syringe.
I cringed and Kaige’s grasp on my hand tightened. “Okay.”
He got to work as a million thoughts raced through my mind. My blood could be the cure. After all the damage we’d caused, it could be the answer.
“Give me an hour to run the analysis.” He collected the two vials of deep crimson liquid and slid them into his coat pocket, then rushed out of the room.
Kaige turned to me, a big smile gracing his sexy lips. “Do you know what this could mean?”
I chewed on my lower lip, scared to jinx us. “We could save them—we could save them all.”
Chapter 32
Kaige
The alchemists’ laboratory was so silent, a pin hitting the smooth marble would have been as loud as a gunshot. I paced from wall to wall, my gaze flickering toward the group hovering over the cluttered table. It couldn’t be too much longer before we had our answer.
Could they formulate a cure from Solaris and Ebony’s blood?
It had taken us two days to reach Draconis from the lumenoc’s settlement, Ebony, Dr. Soren, and I taking turns carrying Solaris as we ran. My little human wasn’t too happy about that—I’d felt it through the bond—but she knew time was a luxury we didn’t have.
We’d crossed the border yesterday morning and snuck into Castle De La Divin through one of the servant entrances. It wasn’t hard to go unnoticed. Most of the nobles had fled to their country homes far from here, and the taranoi had left. The royal guards—or what was left—were patrolling the borders to catch any returning taranoi. My mother and Zabrina remained at our summer home while my father brought Xander back to the castle to work with the alchemists.
“Kaige.” Honey and jasmine swirled up my nose as Solaris stepped in front of me, halting my anxious movements. “Come sit down.”
I shook my head.
Her brows dipped. “If you don’t sit your butt down, I’m going to go dizzy from watching you.”
A sigh slipped out, and I followed Solaris back to the uncomfortable wooden chairs along the wall. I sat, and she climbed into my lap as if afraid I’d jump up any moment and continue my pacing.
Delvin, Dr. Soren, and Xander stood in front of a microscope, frequently checking it without a word. Like it or not, my brother was good at potions and we needed all the help we could get.
When we showed up with what we hoped were the answers to the cure, the lumenoc doctor had joined that team, and they’d been furiously working for hours. Their newest formula had just been added to a sample of Malcolm’s blood, and we were awaiting the results.
It felt like a century had passed.
“Stop staring at me.” Ebony’s velvety voice broke the heavy silence.
I glanced up, expecting Delvin to be the one studying her like a new mystery to unravel, but it was Xander.
My twin’s gaze quickly shifted away, his cheeks turning a light pink. “I wasn’t staring.”
“Yes, you were.” She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder. “You’ve been doing it all day.”
“Well, I mean, you are some kind of human-nocturne freak,” he snapped. “It’s kind of hard not to stare.”
Ebony’s chuckle was dark and smoky. “That’s not what has those pretty eyes glued to me, prince. I’m hot, and you know it.”
Xander’s jaw dropped. “That is not true,” he sputtered, the blush in his face deepening. “You’re weird and have tattoos and I would never…”
I bit back a chuckle. I’d never seen my twin so flustered. He looked like a schoolboy in the presence of his very first crush. “I think Ebony’s going to eat my brother alive.”
Solaris snorted. “Good. He does deserve some form of punishment for this.”
My chest suddenly tightened. Solaris was joking, but she was also right. I cleared my throat and glared at Xander. “I don’t think you’ll have much time for dating when you’re locked in the dungeons.”
His head snapped in my direction. “What?”
“You poisoned Solaris and started this entire disease. You don’t really expect to get out of this scot-free, do you?” Xander couldn’t be that thick-headed.
He motioned toward the collection of tubes, beakers, and array of ingredients. “I’m helping to make the cure. Isn’t that enough?”
“No,” Solaris muttered, sadness creeping through the bond. She was thinking of her father. Her green eyes met mine, swirling with heartache and guilt. “But he’s not the only one who broke the law.”
Solaris and I broke the number one rule in all of New Isos. We’d set the prophecy in motion. Xander simply helped it along.
“Perhaps, as punishment, you can make Xander the ambassador between lumenocs and nocturnes,” Ebony proposed, a smile twitching at her lips. “I’m sure he’d just love that.”
Xander’s eyes began to flash silver. “That’s not what I had in mind.”
“I think that’s perfect,” Solaris said. “Send him far away from me.” No matter how much Solaris seemed okay with being in Xander’s presence, I knew it was a lie. Memories of what he did still filled her with terror.
“Great, it’s settled then,” I said, smiling widely at my brother. “You will be our new ambassador.”
He flicked a hand toward Solaris. “Now she’s going to start making decisions in Draconis? What is she, our new queen?”
His question caught me off guard and even as Solaris laughed as if it were a joke, it had me thinking.
“Everyone stop!” Delvin yelled, holding his hand up.
The doctor’s eyes were wide as he backed away from the microscope. “That’s it.” He licked his pale lips as a wall of tension enveloped the alchemists’ laboratory.
“What?” I hissed. “Spit it out. Did it work?”
Delvin’s dark eyes lifted to mine. “Yes. We have a cure.”
My father’s back was to me, his figure framed in the large window of his study overlooking Draconis. He always had such an intimidating presence, one that overshadowed everything else. He made me feel small and insignificant. I’d done so much just to please him, but in the end, I realized it would never be enough. That was when I stopped pretending to be something I wasn’t.
I never wanted to be the king of Draconis like my father. But now I understood my duty. I understood what my people—all of New Isos—needed. They needed a leader who wasn’t cold and hard, one who wasn’t selfish and secretive.
I would make mistakes, but I would learn from them and do better each time. I was King Kaige—imperfect and flawed but trying my best.
When my father turned around, color
melted from his face. “Kaige?”
No one but Xander and the alchemists knew Solaris and I had returned.
“I-I feared you were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Father.” I closed the door behind me and marched toward him. “This kingdom is still mine to rule.”
His brows dipped. “Kaige, you know that’s not it. I would never want you dead. You’re my son.”
We met in front of his fireplace. “But I’m not going to rule like you,” I said. “The days of secrets and lies are over.”
A sad smile crossed his face. “I don’t see our kingdom lasting much longer without a blood source.”
Blood source. My father still saw humans as nothing more than a resource for us. That was going to change. “A cure has been formulated. We’ll be taking it to Imera as soon as enough is made.”
His arms went slack by his sides, and he stumbled. “What? How?”
“We discovered it when Solaris and I were taken in by a group of lumenocs.” He was in for a big surprise.
“Lumenocs?” His lips strained around the word.
I crossed my arms against my chest. “As it turns out, a whole race of human-nocturne hybrids have been living in the Shadow Lands for the last hundred years.”
My father blinked, his head shaking. “That’s impossible.”
“It’s not.” I explained what occurred in the Shadow Lands and how the lumenoc girl fought off the sickness like Solaris did, her blood having been altered by mine. Their doctor and our alchemists worked to create a cure that would end this disease and restore hope to both our worlds.
My father grabbed a chair and folded down in it, rubbing his face. “I don’t know what to say. I thought this was the end of days. I thought we were finished.” He swallowed hard. “The prophecy came true, and we were all doomed.”
“The prophecy has been fulfilled.” I dragged my fingers through my hair thinking of all the people who paid the price. “Solaris and I—a human and vampire—did fall in love and it caused the end of the world.”
His dark navy eyes surveyed me. “I don’t understand. We didn’t all die.”
Garridan’s words to me not long before he died swirled through my mind. He’d said the prophecy was bound to happen and maybe our world would change for the better.
He was right, and I would work myself to the bone to make sure this restored New Isos was better. Things could never go back to the way they were.
“There will be no more separation between our races, all three of them. There will be no more blood slaves and no lavish nobles and starving taranoi.” I pierced my father with a heavy stare, one he would feel deep in his stubborn bones. “The world we once lived in has ended, and a new one is beginning.”
Chapter 33
Solaris
I leapt off the last step of the jet and raced into Gavin’s open arms. My hands ran over his back, the bones in his spine sharper than they used to be. A pang of guilt stabbed me in the chest. I pushed him back to arm’s length to get a better look at him under the dim streetlamps. Dark shadows bruised the pale skin under his eyes, and his perfectly buzzed hair had grown shaggy. “Are you okay?” I finally asked. “Your family? Isla and Carissa?”
“I will be now.” He gave me a smile, an old Gavin smile that I hadn’t seen since our early days in the cockpit. “Everyone’s safe. I made sure of it.” He peered over my shoulder at the royal airplane. “You really found a cure?”
Kaige stepped forward, clenching his fists at his side. “Yes.”
I knew it was taking every ounce of strength he had to see Gavin’s arms around me. The bond pulsed with torrents of jealousy.
I released Gavin and took Kaige’s hand as the plane’s cargo door whooshed open. Four royal guards began unloading crates filled with vials of amber liquid.
“So what’s the plan exactly?” he asked, eyeing the nocturnes disembarking the aircraft.
“There’s a lot I need to catch you up on.” I glanced over my shoulder at Ebony and Dr. Soren. They’d come along with Delvin to teach our meds how to synthesize more of the cure.
The rumble of an engine caught my attention. A tan Hummer turned the corner followed by two more Hummers and an oversized white SUV with The Collective emblem stamped across the door.
“Right on time,” muttered Kaige. He stiffened, his hold on my hand tightening.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” I whispered to him. “We all want the same thing now.”
The lead Hummer screeched to a halt right in front of us, and four OrderComm soldiers stepped out. Each wore a facemask and carried a gun. They shot narrowed glares at the troop of nocturnes, but not a word was exchanged.
A tall, older soldier approached, his gaze intent on Kaige. He stopped just short of us and nodded at Gavin. “Lenox.”
Gavin saluted. “General Cartwright, I didn’t know you were coming.” He turned to face us. “I present King Kaige Stramonox and Solaris Levant. They’ve brought the cure.”
The old general removed the blue facemask and pinned me with his cold gaze. He definitely looked familiar. Without the mask covering his mouth, I recognized the permanent sneer etched on his face. I’d seen him at the Capitol a few times, always at Turstan’s side.
“King Kaige.” General Cartwright extended his hand. “I know these are rather unusual circumstances, and I appreciate you coming in person. Although it was certainly not necessary.” His lip curled as he spat the last part out.
The man didn’t even acknowledge me. He had to have known who my father was.
“Shall we?” The general motioned to his entourage of vehicles. “Time is of the essence.”
Kaige nodded at the royal guards and they zipped past us, filling the Hummers with the wooden crates. I suppressed the smile threatening to split my lips as the general and his soldiers watched with mouths hung open as the inhumanly fast nocturnes zoomed by.
Cartwright ushered Kaige to the SUV, and I lingered behind to let Ebony, Dr. Soren, and Delvin catch up. It was obvious the general wanted to avoid as much contact as possible with the nocturnes.
Ebony elbowed me in the side, a wry grin on her lips. “Man, you humans are serious. And I thought the nocturnes were bad.”
“It’s just the situation…” My rebuttal fell away when I considered her words. She was right. Compared to the laid-back lumenocs, the societies of Imera and Draconis must have seemed incredibly strict and oppressive.
We piled into the SUV and headed for the Capitol. Once we hit the main streets, I cringed at the sights. Bodies littered the sidewalks, and soldiers with Hazmat suits hustled around to collect the dead. Darkening skies hid most of the atrocities, but somehow I still knew they were there.
The bodies weren’t just human either. I recognized the gaunt, wild eyes of many a taranoi as our motorcade passed the city center. Both human and taranoi blood painted the streets of my old home. A wave of goose bumps popped up over my flesh.
Kaige craned his neck from the front seat and shot me a comforting smile. The blood bond had betrayed me. As usual.
Would the guilt ever go away? I didn’t think so.
OrderComm soldiers were stationed at every other corner, rifles at the ready. Barricades were lined up on either side of the main avenue, allowing only one road into the Capitol district.
“So what the hell happened over here?” Ebony’s voice drew me away from my dark thoughts.
The general cleared his throat. “Once the taranoi arrived, the remaining healthy humans began arming themselves. They broke into the AirComm base and got into our weapons cache.” He glanced over his shoulder, his icy eyes meeting mine. “Then they found out about the people being kept in the lab.” His voice lowered a few octaves.
“Were they freed?” A twinge of hope bubbled in my chest. The depraved sights in that lab had plagued my nightmares for far too long.
“Yes. The ones that survived.” He grimaced. “That was how word got out about the deal with the nocturnes. The disea
se coupled with the taranoi attacks and the blood donor lab revelation was too much. The people revolted, and we were forced to enact martial law.”
Martial law? These people had been through so much already. They didn’t deserve this.
A question had been plaguing me since we arrived. I chewed on my lower lip as I listened to the general’s story until I couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Where’s Turstan?”
“I’m taking you to him now.”
A swirl of fear and anger zipped through the bond, and a growl vibrated in Kaige’s throat. “That wasn’t the deal,” he hissed.
“I apologize, but the Head Minister’s declining health is my number one priority. Once he’s been given the cure, we can continue as planned.”
Kaige’s dark gaze met mine. I plastered a fake smile on my face, and then it morphed into a real one as realization set in.
I held Turstan’s life in my hands.
Chapter 34
Solaris
When we reached the Capitol building, OrderComm soldiers met us at the entrance. The general began spouting out instructions, directing the men. Ebony, Delvin, and his team were to be escorted to the med lab immediately.
Cartwright pointed at a bench along the wall. “King Kaige, if you would be so kind as to wait here. I will see that the Head Minister receives the cure, and I’ll be back to collect you both.”
At least this time he glanced in my direction. He moved toward the crates and picked out a small amber vial.
Anger unfurled in my core, radiating through my veins. It wasn’t fair. How could Turstan be allowed to live after all the terrible things he’d done? He’d be cured and things would just go back to normal in Imera—like nothing had happened.
“No!” I jumped up, snatching the vial from his hand.
