Page 6 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“I want to be the first to bow to you as my queen.” I leaned closer, brushing my mouth against her ear. She shivered a little, and I smiled. “And later, I will kneel before you and show you my allegiance properly.”

With one smooth movement, I stood to the shocked stares of my audience. In fairness, even I was surprised by my rapid recovery. Perhaps the Rio Oscuro had granted Thea the strength to heal me, but I was surprised not even an ache lingered.

Bending, I offered her my bare hand, and she took it, earning a shocked gasp from one of our onlookers. When she was on her feet, she didn’t move. It took effort not to pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and cart her away. There were too many people here for a proper reunion, and with the newfound energy of my resurrection, I was itching to get her alone. I was about to cave in when Sabine snapped out of her daze.

“What is going on?” she demanded. Her eyes darted from the crown on Thea’s head to me and back to my mate. They narrowed into slits as she started piecing things together. “What did you do?”

I gripped Thea’s hand tightly, squeezing it once in warning. She’s baiting you.

Thea laughed quietly as if to say she knew. But she didn’t back down from my mother’s question. Instead, she dropped my hand and sauntered toward Sabine, her hips swishing in her bloodstained gown. When she reached her, Thea lifted her chin as though she still wasn’t nearly half a foot shorter than my mother. Her height hardly mattered, given the power radiating from her like a halo of sunbursts. “What did I do?” she repeated her question. “I saved your son’s life.”

Sabine blinked. For a moment, she almost looked taken aback by Thea’s answer, but then her haughty mask slipped into place. “And stole the crown.”

“The crown was given to me,” Thea said in a quiet voice that demanded to be heard, “and if you’re more worried about that than you are about your son’s life, then you need to get your priorities in fucking order.”

Neither of them backed down, even as a murmur of approval rippled through the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my brother twist to smother a smile. Others arrived and flooded into the court before the next round could begin.

“Is it true?” Sebastian’s voice carried through the room. He pushed past the crowd until he spotted me and his shoulders slumped with relief. But he didn’t stop like the others—didn’t seem awed by the sight of the Queen at my side. Instead, he rushed forward and embraced me. “I’m glad you aren’t dead.”

“Me, too,” I said, smiling despite the developing situation.

“And don’t worry, I’m armed,” he added with a whisper.

I guessed I wasn’t the only one expecting things to go south quickly.

“Will no one answer my question?” Sabine commanded the attention back to her. “Why is she wearing that crown?”

The answer came from behind the crowd as a deep voice bellowed, “Because she is more powerful than you—all of you.”

I stepped slightly in front of my mate as the crowd parted to reveal Willem. He’d taken off his mask to reveal his arrogant, if grim, smile.

“You aren’t welcome here,” I said. “Leave.”

“I was invited,” he snarled back at me. A few of the other guests flinched and backed away, but not a single member of my family so much as blinked.

“An oversight,” Sabine said, turning to him. “Now, please excuse us while we sort out this mess.”

I knew exactly what mess she referred to, but before I could remind her about what Thea had said about priorities, my mate stepped around me.

“Leave,” Thea commanded him, her voice clear and strong. Even with dried blood staining her gown, coating her hands and face, she looked regal. But maybe because of all the blood, she also looked like someone who shouldn’t be fucked with.

I reached for the tether that connected us, ready to protect her if needed, but it was gone. In its place, there was something else: threads of light and shadow that seemed to be woven into our very beings. I made a mental note to ask her what else she might have done to bring me back to life, but before I could worry about it, Willem laughed.

“I see you are no longer in thrall,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I have no claim to you. I am your father. You are my daughter, and—”

“I belong to no man,” Thea said in a deadly whisper. “I know what you did to me, so consider this the only gift of filial duty you’ll ever get from me. Leave now, and I will let you live.”

“Thea, there are matters—”

Thea raised her palm, and a blast of wind cut off his response. Willem flew backward, his back cracking as it collided with the stone wall behind him. For a second, he remained pinned there before Thea flicked her wrist, and he collapsed to the ground, pinned. She’d done it, attacked him with true magic, I realized, a little horrified but mostly impressed.

All around us, our audience began to back away, whispering with wide, fearful eyes, until Mariana called out, “Tonight, you have witnessed a new era’s birth. Magic has awakened. Can you feel it?”

The whispers grew louder. Some of the vampires drew off their gloves as if to inspect their palms for signs.

A few steps away, my father shook his head, his face pale. “It can’t be.”

But I already knew it was true. I knew it was responsible for bringing me back to life. Still, there was so much I didn’t know. None of that stopped me from taking one look at my mate—my mate who had not only brought me back from the dead but awakened magic as well. It thrummed in my veins, and I wondered if she felt it, too. Later, I would ask her. But first, I knew what I had to do.

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