Page 64 of The Vampire King's War

“And we’re about to give them that second act!” Julian cried.

Since they hadn’t been using Vampiric speed, Kaly had made those dead following them simply speed up. It wasn’t like they grew tired. A quick glance over his shoulder showed Julian that not all of the bodies had held together so well under the brutal pounding. Of the dozen that had started after them, only half that many remained. The rest had lost legs and had crashed down. Some of them were still able to drag themselves forward with their arms. Others had simply broken into their individual pieces and would never move again. One Julian saw had long all its limbs but was using its mouth to grasp the earth in front of it and pull itself forward.

“I think you’re right, Christian. This will not be able to be hidden or covered up! There’s just too much of the unexplained!” Julian cried just before the wave of the dead crashed into him.

He slammed his right foot into the nearest dead man’s kneecap. There was a snap and the leg bent the wrong way. The dead man staggered forward, bony arms flailing. Julian sidestepped his grasp and brought the heel of his shoe down on the back of the man’s skull. It cracked as easily as a porcelain vase and his foot slid into the mess inside.

His lips writhed back from his teeth in disgust as this man hadn’t died all that long ago and there were still brains inside. He brought his foot out of the slimy mass and shook it, trying to dislodge some of the slime off. But then a woman was on him, fingers clawing at his face.

Julian lightly pivoted and slammed his fist into her face. He felt her nose crunch and then the skull itself popped. He let out a disgusted sound as his hand was inside of her skull. Preserved brains slid between his fingers. He wrenched his hand from inside of her before he turned to his next attacker.

In that moment of turning, he saw Christian dance between two of the dead, slipping underneath their wild swings. Christian had learned to box among many other fighting styles and he was light on his feet, bobbing and weaving, while getting underneath the dead’s defenses to snap their heads right then left before those heads simply snapped from their shoulders from the repeated blows.

Julian was about to clothesline another of the dead when everything stopped. Well, the dead stopped attacking and his arm sliced through empty air as the dead woman who had been about to attack him, froze in place. As he watched in confusion, she turned towards the center of the lawn. And it wasn’t just her who had done that. All the dead did. Julian looked at where the dead gazed.

“Oh, my God,” Julian whispered at what he saw.

In the center of the museum’s lawn--or rather it was really a park--there was a rise that was higher than any other spot in the park except for the museum itself. And standing atop that rise was Daemon. Moonlight streamed down upon him brighter than any spotlight. It silvered his black hair and caused his olive-toned skin to glow. He still wore the tuxedo, but somehow it no longer looked like human garb. Or perhaps it no longer hid just how not human Daemon was.

Daemon’s hands left his sides. He stretched them out and up. His head tilted back. Even at this distance, Julian could see his red eyes, glowing like volcanic fires. There was a hum that radiated out from him. It shivered over Julian’s flesh. The hair on his arms and back of his neck stood upon end. He smelled ozone.

Clouds rolled in until there was only a circle around the moon and the light was all focused on Daemon. Lightning forked through them from the outside of the clouds to the inside of the circle around the moon and Daemon. It was unspeakably beautiful and totally magical.

“Can’t hide this,” Julian said and let out a hysterical laugh.

He supposed that there would be people out there--conspiracy theorists who saw too much in things and people who refused to see the obvious--who would doubt their eyes. But enough people would know that this was no movie magic, no special effects could do this, and would understand that the world--as they thought they knew it--was changed forever.

“What is he doing?” Christian asked then repeated himself with different emphasis, “What is he doing?”

Julian’s lips parted to tell his best friend that he didn’t know. But he did know. Daemon was revealing himself and all of them to the world. His mouth went dry and a pit seemed to have opened up in his stomach. He had revealed the existence of Vampires! His earlier goal had been fulfilled by accident!

What have I done? Oh, God, what have I done? Daemon’s doing this because of my mistake!Julian cried as nausea rolled through him.

He had just brought Daemon here to learn about humans. Everyone had been trying to convince the Vampire King that if Vampires were to be revealed to the world, it should be done in a careful manner after much thought and preparation. But instead it was because Julian had teleported on camera!

And it wasn’t even for Christian and my damned show!Julian thought hysterically. This is all my fault!

No, my beloved Julian, there is no fault, no blame, no reason to castigate yourself,Daemon’s rich voice filled his mind and Julian felt a mental embrace. It was meant to go this way.

But if it was, wouldn't you have mentioned it earlier?!Julian cried, not willing to be forgiven, especially if it wasn’t true.

Daemon chuckled. Certain things had to happen to make this future possible. And they did. All in a line. Trust me. You did nothing wrong. I am filled with pride at how well you fought tonight.

Julian couldn’t help but blush at the genuine compliment. Daemon wasn’t lowering the bar for it either. Or, at least, not too much.

Now, I will have you join me in a moment, Daemon told him. But for now… enjoy the show. Kaly is not the only one with the touch of the theatrical.

Julian couldn’t help but grin. He grabbed his best friend’s arm. “He’s going to show humans we exist.”

“Yeah, yeah, I sort of got that.” Christian’s right hand shot out to point at the base of the rise where Daemon stood alone. “Everyone’s gathering over there. I see Arcius, Rajani, Seeyr and Sophia… is that Meffy?!”

“Yep, she has a cat on her shoulder. The battle cat has made his debut,” Julian agreed with a chuckle. “We should go over there.”

“Yes,” Christian agreed. “The battle seems over.”

The dead stood at attention, all of them facing Daemon, and none of them fighting or paying any mind towards Christian or Julian at all. They both began to jog towards the center of the lightning show. The helicopters that had hovered over Julian and Christian finally left them, all going towards Daemon.

They sense where the real story is…

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