Julian and I march alongside him, and now, instead of werewolves versus us, there’s a new divide, werewolves and us versus vampires.
My love and I keep advancing until we're in the no man's land between the werewolves and vampires, and I do my best to settle my nerves. This will not be an easy speech to deliver. I hoped that we could make peace with the werewolves and then the vampires separately before we have them together to try to settle and make peace worldwide between the two sides. Now, if we fail, a battle will occur here, and from the number of howls behind us, more werewolves are joining in, and the pairs of red glowing vampire eyes are also increasing with every breath I take. This battle will be massive.
This battle cannot and will not happen.
Determined, I lift my chin and do my best to banish my fear. I've survived so much. This will not be the end of me.
“Vampires,” I call. “I am Romelia.”
I glance at Julian. For now, I will keep mum about our new surname.
“I am Romelia,” I repeat, “daughter of Caterina Coven and Magmar Shade. Magmar is dead, killed between the combined efforts of my husband and mother.”
A hushed silence falls over the werewolves finally. The vampires have, all along, been hushed as the moment with evenfall comes to blanket the land with darkness each night as dusk arrives.
“Magmar sought to use you, all of you,” I state firmly. “He wanted you to be his soldiers, his marching orders for you to kill the werewolves, and the living vampires? You were to kill any turned vampires who survived, weren’t you?”
A murmur rises up among the vampires, and some start to shift away from each other as distrust mounts. Vampires are a rather excitable lot at times, especially when they feel threatened, and to have that threat come from their own kind… they will not take kindly to that.
Then again, I do not want the vampires to engage in a war between turned and living.
“My father then planned to turn against the living vampires. He wanted Hell on Earth, and that would have been a place of dominance for demons and demons alone,” I continue.
“He was going to—”
“I always knew you couldn’t trust a demon.”
“Can you trust the demon’s daughter?”
I flash my fangs. “You can, and you will. I helped to kill my own father because that is not a future that is acceptable to me, but neither is this! The war he wanted, the war he needed to assume dominance over the entire world… Do we need carnage to survive?”
“Well, we do need blood,” one vampire says sarcastically.
“Yes, we do need blood, but we can have it without having to kill,” a familiar voice says.
Tyra pushes her way forward and halts two feet from me. She grins and turns around to face the vampires.
"I don't know if you all have been using your eyes or not," Tyra continues, "but she's standing here with her husband. That's right—a werewolf. Now, I was against it from the start. A vampire and a werewolf? My cousin, my best friend, she had to have been crazy, and I tried to save her from herself. In the process, I almost lost myself. My father died. My father was a demon, and I never learned to accept his death or his legacy, and I became polluted by the darkness inside of me. I couldn't control my rage, my anger, anything. I lashed out, and I ended up hurting people, killing them." Tyra glances back at me. "I can't change my past, but I will change my future, and I will not be a party to any more killing. Romelia and Julian are fighting for peace, and that is the only fight I will partake in."
“That goes for us too,” Mercy declares. She and Bermon push forward to join us. Mercy glares at one of the alphas, who limps over, as does Julian’s old alpha.
Slowly, a few of the students attending Blood Haven join the throng as do more werewolves, those from the packs whose alphas have come forward, I assume.
But the alpha who first spoke out shakes his head. “They married, shared their joined blood… But they only pricked their fangs. We don’t recognize that.”
“It’s not good enough in your eyes?” Julian asks.
“Not nearly,” the alpha says, his words a low growl.
Julian and I exchange a glance, and we nod.
My hand raises. By the light of the moon, all those gathered should be able to see that my fingers are now claws.
Julian holds perfectly still as I slice three claw marks near his shoulder. He, likewise, does the same. There’s barely any pain, and the sting lasts only a second.
Then, Julian gives me his claws, and I lick off his blood. Before I can lick the blood from mine, he returns the favor.
Murmurs sound all around us, but still, there’s fury yet from the werewolves.
“What more do you ask of us?” Julian calls out, spreading out his arms, his claws now fingers again.
“What more do you require?” I ask the vampires in turn.
It’s the werewolves who answer first.
“You want peace? We can’t have peace. Not while she lives.”
My blood turns to ice, and I glance over to the dragon. Mundra still has my mother perched on her back.
With the grace of a queen, my mother slides down and steps toward us. All those near her fall back away. They fear her, but I also think there’s a bit of awe as well.
“You want me to pay for the crimes I committed against your kind,” Mother says slowly. “If that is the only way for there to be peace—”
“Mother, no!” I start forward, but Julian holds me back.
Mother smiles at me, and I see no trace of sadness. “You wanted me to undo what your father did, and I will, but I also have to undo as best as I can what I did. The only way to accomplish both is this.”
“To die by our claws.” The alpha grins maliciously.
“No!” I shout again. I yank free from Julian’s grasp and race over to my mother. “No,” I repeat more calmly. “You require her death, fine, but I will do it.”
“You’ll give her a merciful death,” he spits out. “After she’s slaughtered us—”
“Our aim is to bring peace,” I say evenly. “Why should it start with tearing someone guilty limb from limb?” I lift my chin. “After all, not even HEX Unite came for my mother. They didn’t even come for my father. I had to be the one to move against him, and I did. For this. For peace. I will do the same with my mother.”
Mother smiles down at me with a look of complete peace and happiness. "I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother, that I played the part of your father's pawn so completely and thoroughly. I… I feared moving against him would result in my death."
“I wish I didn’t have to do this, Mother.”
“I’m glad you will be the strongest of us all. Romelia the Peacemaker.”
“Romelia the Lover more like.” I blink back tears.
“Go on! Kill her!” a werewolf shouts.
I glower at the werewolf.
He steps back, whining.
“I love you, Mother.” I embrace her.
Julian steps forward. “I’m glad I had the chance to call you mother, Mother.”
She chuckles. “Take care of each other, you two. Your love has stopped a war. You two can do just about anything.”
Mother steps back then and nods to me. I use pyrokinesis, and she’s nothing but ashes in a second.
For a moment, I’m tempted, oh so tempted, to collect her ashes so I can give her blood and have her come back to life. I’m sure I can do research and uncover the required incantations, but I don’t. With a breath of wind, I spread her ashes all across this field, a morbid, symbolic confetti for the treaty that has been forged this day.
“Now, do we have peace?” I call out.
And there’s howls and cheers of agreement on both sides. Julian pulls me close for a tight hug, and I cry.
Cry at the loss of a mother who I didn’t understand until far too late.
Cry at the hope and possibility of the future.
Cry at the joy of a new dawn where I can shout from the rooftops
that I am Romelia Mooncoven.
Who knew peace could be so bittersweet?
Chapter 29
Julian
Two weeks later, our wedding reception is just a bit late, but it’s so very massive that I don’t think I’ll be able to talk to everyone. The reception is held outside, in a field with a backdrop of mountains, far from the prying eyes of humans. Some of the werewolves are taking advantage of that to run around as wolves, especially the young pups.
For the occasion, Romelia wears a beautiful, lovely white gown. The skirt is full, and the neckline is sweetheart with a black lace applique in the shape of a heart over her chest. A matching black lace band wraps around her waist like a belt. The sleeves aren’t attached to the gown, tied in place above her elbow, with twin flowing drapes of material falling down far past her arm instead of encasing her arm entirely. She looks so utterly perfect, and whenever a guest knocks their fork against their glass, I am more than happy to oblige them with a kiss.
After one such kiss, Romelia pulls back and laughs as she reaches up to fix my red bowtie. “You look so very handsome and dapper, husband,” she says with a sly smile.
“Thank you, my gorgeous wife.” I lean down for another kiss, but she ducks her head with a laugh.
“I can’t believe so many turned up.”
“I told you before. Werewolves know how to party.”
I won’t say that all of the werewolves around the world showed up, but there are wolves from at least a dozen packs here, and many other alphas have come to pay their respects as well. As for vampires, they’re here in a large horde, and we don’t worry at all. There’s not a lot of mingling between the two camps aside from Tyra, Bermon, and Mercy. Those three are almost becoming like the Three Musketeers, and I can’t help wondering if Bermon might finally open his eyes and fall in love with one of them. I’ve always thought he and Mercy would make a wonderful couple, but maybe I won’t be the only werewolf to fall in love with a vampire. Who knows what the future holds in store for them?
Romelia giggles as she brushes my shaggy brown hair from my eyes. “A penny for your thoughts.”
“I was just thinking about—”
“Julian! When are you going to make me a niece?” Ophelia plows into my legs.
I burst out laughing and squat down. "Aunt. When will I make you an aunt? My daughter or son would make you an aunt. My daughter would be your niece, and my son would be your nephew."
“Well?” she demands, hands on hips. She glances at Romelia. “Lily told me you would have to become pregant.”
“Pregnant,” Romelia corrects gently.
“Well?” Ophelia asks, tapping her foot impatiently.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Romelia says. “It might not—”
“Oh, it will,” Ophelia says empathically. “I asked the moon every night that Julian would find himself a girl, and he did. And then I asked the moon for the fighting to stop because it scared me, and it did. And then I asked the moon if I could go to Freida’s party. Mom still hasn’t said yes yet, but she will, and now, I’ve been asking the moon for me to be a niece, but I need to change that?” My sister glances at me. “Aunt. I want to be an aunt. I want to be an aunt. I want…”
She walks away, still muttering to herself.
“She’s absolutely adorable,” Romelia says.
I grin down at my love as I pull her close for a one-armed hug. Every other night, we’ve been having dinner at my parent’s. If they had their way, we would move in, but that will not be happening, of course.
Just yesterday, we finalized the paperwork. Professor Marius had no family to speak of, of course. Being an old, turned vampire, he long ago outlived any blood relations. He left us his library and his wealth, which we used to buy Blackhope Manor to make it our permanent and forever home. We technically haven’t had a honeymoon yet, but we also have to discuss our future plans.
My mom walks over and hugs Romelia and then me.
“I’m second fiddle now, I see,” I joke.
“Hush now,” Mom scolds. “You kept her from us for so long, and I’m still mad at you about that. You didn’t even invite us to the wedding! And I wasn’t there to see the second one!”
“I can show you my scars if you want,” I say.
“No, no.” Mom pats Romelia’s shoulder near my love’s scars that are proudly on display with the sweetheart neckline of her white gown. “I wish I could have been there. Your father thought it best that I stay behind to tend to the children, of course, so I missed it, and he saw.”
Romelia smiles warmly. “I’m sorry you didn’t come, that you didn’t see it.”
“I’m just sorry Julian feared that we wouldn’t accept you.”
“Mom! I told you a hundred times already that I was more worried that you would have persecution because of us.”
“More worried. Do you hear your husband?” Mom asks Romelia as if I’m not standing right there.
Romelia giggles. “I think it’s time, Mom.”
Mom huffs a sigh. “Fine. I forgive you, but you are going to come to our house for Thanksgiving, aren’t you?”
“Actually, why don’t we have it at the manor?” Romelia suggests. “We have plenty of space and…”
I throw up my hands. “I’m not going to have any say about my life, am I?”
The two of them laugh, and I join in.
A hand claps on my shoulder, and I excuse myself to talk to my great-uncle.
“You were brave for what you did,” he says.
“Thank you, Great-Uncle.”
“Please.” He waves his hand. “Call me by my name.”
“Thank you, Jackery.” I hesitate. “Do you have any advice for me?”
“You mean besides happy wife, happy life?” Jackery laughs. “All you have to do is keep her happy, and you’ll be happy. Some think the saying is a bit outdated, but if you love her, and you clearly do, why wouldn’t you want to do anything and everything to make her happy?”
I grin. “I meant more with being an alpha to such a small pack.”
Jackery winks and nudges my arm with his elbow. “Who knows? It might not be a pack of two for long.”
“But if it is,” I press.
“Then see about having others join you two,” he says, becoming more serious. “Your family would in a heartbeat.”
“You would let them?”
“Yes. Your peace has gotten me and the other alphas talking, and we think it might be better if the alphas and packs start to work together more instead of being completely self-sufficient entities. There might be more marriage outside of the packs instead of being more internal as has been custom for the most part with few exceptions.” Jackery shakes his head, pursing his lips. “If any of the others think they can marry behind my back, though…”
“I didn’t have a choice,” I protest. “What would you have done if I told you?”
“I… I don’t know, and now we’ll never know.” Jackery hesitates. “I wouldn’t have given my blessing. Not right away. Maybe not at all. But now that I’ve gotten to know Romelia, I can see why you’re smitten. You’re two pups in love, even if she’s a vampire.”
I grin. "Yes, we are."
Another Moonblaze werewolf comes over, and the three of us talk for a few minutes before they wander off.
A pang hits me as a look over the crowd. There’s one noticeable absence.
Professor Marius Cross.
I hate that he helped us so much and that he died for it. He had been a good and decent vampire. He wanted us to fight for peace, and we did it.
I walk over to where there’s some food and begin to munch when I spy Bellanore out of the corner of my eye. She’s talking to a werewolf I don’t recognize. Abruptly, she turns and leaves his side. He doesn’t follow, and he glances in my direction. He has a scar over his left eye and the right side of his lips. The werewolf heads to get something to drink at the far end of the table.
Someone clears their th
roat, and I turn around to see Pablo. The Hispanic werewolf and I embrace, and I pull back to look at him.
“You look happy,” I say. “Healthy.”
“Happier than I’ve been in a long time. Did I surprise you?” His grin is crooked.
“Yes. I didn’t know if you got my email, if you still checked that account.”
“Bah.” He waves his hand. “I never got an email. I heard about the reception and decided to come crash it.”
I laugh, but his grin just grows.
“You’re serious?” I ask.
He nods. “Yes, sir. Don’t worry. I brought you two a gift.”
I groan and rub a hand down my face. “We told everyone not to bother.”
“Yeah, well, it looks like everyone listened real well,” he says, gazing at the massive stack of presents that fill a table. There are so many that there are presents stacked underneath the table too. We had to do a bit of finagling to get all of the drinks and food meant for that table onto the other ones.
“How has life been for you in Mexico?”
“Treating me real nice now that all of the fighting’s done with. I never did like the idea of trying to wipe out the vampires. Keeping them at bay to help protect the humans is one thing. That I can get on board with but trying to slaughter them? No. We didn’t stick to it.” He grins and glances over his shoulder as a slow song starts to play. “I can introduce you to some of the others in a bit.”
“Thank you. If you’ll excuse me…”
It doesn’t take me long to find my wife, and I draw her away from the crowd. As I pull her close to dance, people begin to clang their forks against their glasses, and I kiss her over and over again. Finally, though, they let us dance in peace.
“This all has been so very wonderful and perfect,” I murmur in her ear.
“Hasn’t it?” she agrees, snuggling closer to me.
“But maybe everyone will be all right for a few minutes if we slip away for a bit of privacy. What do you say?”
“Lead the way, my love. I will follow you anywhere.”
And I grab her hand, our fingers interlocking automatically. In the back of my mind, I think about when Romelia went to Hell, and I wanted to follow her there. Life has a way of surprising us, and I am so very lucky and blessed to be able to live with her here on Earth, far from those who ever wished us harm and surrounded by friends, new and old alike.
Blood Haven: Year Three: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Page 18
