Page 87 of When Day Breaks

Birdania scoffs a wicked sound. "How did I make you all believe you were talking to a dead girl?" she mocks, shifting on her feet to get a good look at all of us surrounding her.

"It was this," Nathairia announces as she holds up the broken chain she just acquired from Birdania. "This served as her anchor for the focus spell she cast as well as for theDelusor. The deceiving spell."

"Care to explain?" I demand, feeling the heat of Birdania's scorned glare burn over my skin.

"The focus spell allowed her to hold Travois in the paralysis he'd been in, and it also allowed for her to mask her own spirit so that she could take on the illusion of Ameliana whenever she wanted." Nathairia replies, and I can tell there's more to the story than just that.

"Okay, but how?" Troian steps forward. "She's a vampire. She can't do all that, can she?"

"Oh, honey." Impertinence drips from Birdania's tone as she crosses her arms while speaking to Troy. "I'm so much more than a vampire. I'm-"

A swoosh reaches my ears as wind swirls around me before I realize that my wife has pinned Birdania up against the wall with her fist plunged far into the wretched woman's chest.

"Dead," Lucynda growls in a heated whisper, not heeding the anguished groans coming from Birdie's throat as she pulls her organ free from its cage and drops it to the floor.

Her heart splatters against the concrete and Lucynda spits on Birdania's lifeless body. "You're dead."

Quiet.

Everything falls deafeningly quiet.

I watch the rise and fall of Cyn's chest; her show enraptured me and heat swells in my body as I appreciate her fierceness. She looks up at me with her silvery eyes, her face flushed from allshe'd just endured, and I can't help but grin a prideful smile at my sweetest sin.

We all stand and examine the scene before us. The bodies. The fire. The betrayals and the further questions that form from the distressing answers we'd gotten.

Kacian is the first to make a move, leaving the room without a single word. A look passes between him and Nathairia before he exits and I can tell that she might still hold a candle for him.

Travois follows behind him.

"Where are you going?" I ask, not sure what I expect any of us to do from here.

He sighs, but doesn't turn to face me as he answers, "I need a drink. You can either join me or you can all sit around and breathe this . . . air." He steps over Zharus' body before he exits the room.

I look over to Troian who provides me with a small smile of her own; a look that seems lost in the results of everything that just unfolded and I can tell that part of her light is diminished.

"Wait for me." She holds my eyes for a moment more as she hollers after her brother, following behind him.

All that's left now is me, my wife, and the witch. The mess before us soiled on the ground; the smell of smoke and rotting blood fills the air along with sounds of the cackling fire which makes for a perfect symphony.

I turn to look at Nathairia who seems to be holding something in.

"She is what we call anEccentriac. Derived from parents who are made up of one-half vampire and one-half witch. They're a rare breed but . . . I am honored to say I've now seen one in real life." A hint of fascination swims in the words spoken by the witch but neither I nor my wife responds to her.

Instead, I step over to Lucynda and offer her my hand, her eyes on the ground as blood drips from her fingertips.

"Little one?" I study her profile while I wait for her to join me.

She finds my eyes, the sparkle in them still snuffed from the exhaustion that banes her. She'll bounce back. I know she will. She'll be the queen this kingdom deserves and we will mend all that has been broken.

But I won't lie, I do worry about her hesitation.

"I'll be right there," she answers with concealment layering her face. I want to question what business she might have with the witch, seemingly requiring a few moments alone. But I decide to let my wife have a minute before I request for her to join me.

I nod my head in approval, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her temple before turning to make my exit.

29

transcend

---