I turn back to her to see her eyes flash and she fiddles with a small glass vial in her fingers that I only just noticed. It appears to be filled with a noxious-looking black liquid that I really don’t like the look of. I feel the frigid air dance lightly over my shoulders and I turn to Xane who has backed completely off and is standing in front of the door as if to make a run for it.
“Xane?” I ask calmly. “What is this?”
“Mother,” he says again. “No.”
“Sorry, my son,” she says, although she doesn’t look sorry at all. She looks downright scary. “Now is the time.”
The time for what? Something is very, very off and I want nothing more than to Astral out of here, but I can’t. I am stuck somehow, and I turn back to Xanthe who holds up the vial with an evil smile.
“Xane,” I say, backing away. “What is going on?”
He doesn’t answer me as Xanthe steps closer to me. “It’s time for a sacrifice,” she says before she slams me onto my back with magick. I hit the unyielding stone floor and my breath whooshes out of me.
Shit, I am in deep trouble here, but I still have no idea what’s going on. A sacrifice? Everyone keeps telling me I have to make a sacrifice, but what does Xanthe want from me? I don’t have long to wait as she squats over me, her long, heavy black gown nestling around me like a cocoon. I try again to get out of here, but to no avail. Why isn’t Xane helping me? He must know what this is about, and he isn’t stopping his mother from doing whatever this is to me.
Xanthe holds up the vial and my eyes are transfixed to the black liquid that is flickering with tiny little flames that I can see now that it is so close to my face. I look into Xanthe’s eyes with a mounting panic and I push down my instinct to scream. Clearly, she wants that liquid in my mouth and that’s not going to happen. She isn’t going to poison me while I just sit here and let her. I call on my Faerie power, which has no dominion here. Any wards or spells should break under it, but it fails me. When I need it the most it doesn’t work. Xanthe leans down as she smashes the vial against my mouth. The glass is stuck to my lips and the liquid is seeping into my mouth as I struggle. I can taste fire and brimstone and ash and something so powerfully evil I want to vomit.
All I can do is blink as Xanthe whispers to me, “Say goodbye to that fucking Vampire, Your Majesty. It’s time to sacrifice that bitch.”
Epilogue
The Dragon Realms, Sometime Later – Remiel
“Papa, Papa,” she cries as she runs into the room.
Remiel turns to his daughter with a look of pure adoration on his face. He loves this little girl more than he ever thought he was capable of loving anyone. She flies into his arms and he twirls her around, delighting in her giggle. She wraps her little arms around his neck and gives him a sound kiss on the cheek. He sits down on the sofa and cuddles her on his knee. She looks up at him with those big green eyes that are just like her mother’s. She is the spitting image of her in every way from her light blonde hair to her feisty attitude. Even at just two years old, he can tell she is going to be a handful.
“Remiel,” Tiamat says as She strides into the room. “It’s the girl’s bedtime.”
“I know,” he says and wishes that She weren’t so strict with his daughter. He wants just five more minutes with her before she goes off for her nightly ritual with her Grandmother and Aida.
“When is Mama home?” Delinda asks him, patting his hand.
He looks up at Tiamat and Her face is furious. He wasn’t supposed to tell his daughter about her mother, but she has to know. She has to know her so that when Aefre comes home to them, her daughter will know her. He hated lying to Aefre about this, but Tiamat was insistent that she never know that her baby girl had lived.
“Soon, my noble one,” he whispers. “Now, go with your Grandmother.” He kisses her and holds her close and then lets her go as she wiggles off his lap.
“Show!” she says and claps her hands. “Show, Papa!”
Tiamat smiles benignly down at the girl and nods Her head.
Remiel watches closely as Delinda stands up straight and then Shifts to her Dragon form. She takes his breath away. Standing before him is a minute Golden Dragon, the first of its kind. Her scales glow in the soft light from the candles and his heart swells with pride at his little girl. She Shifts back and he falls to his knees in reverence. She will be the most Powerful being to ever live once she has grown into her Powers and he hopes more than anything that Aefre will be here to see it with him.
“Perfect,” he says to her and she beams at him. “You are just perfect.”
She gives him one last cuddle and then runs to her Grandmother. “I will be up shortly,” Tiamat says to her and she runs off with Aida.
Tiamat turns to him and he knows he is about to be castigated by Her. “I gave specific instructions to everyone, you included, that the girl was not to be told about her mother. There is no place for ValamAtrux in that girl’s life. She will try to take her and ruin her, turn her to be like her.”
“You don’t know that,” Remiel says. “Given the chance, she will love her and let Delinda be who she needs to be.”
“It is a risk that I am not willing to take,” Tiamat says and turns on Her heel, signifying the end of the conversation.
Remiel clenches his fists. He will get Aefre here, he will tell her about their daughter, and he knows that she will come to him and be with them as a family as Delinda’s mother and his wife. He is her true Chosen One and it is their destiny.
The End