Page 27 of Losing The Vampire King

“Your son, Eddie,” I keep talking, completely sure now that the only thing that could bring him back is his son. “He must be in there with you somewhere. You just lost him. Now, you need to find him again. And when you do, you will find me right there next to him.”

Eddie shakes his head, as if he’s fighting something, something that is threatening to overpower him. He completely lets go of my wrists. That wild animal is completely gone from his eyes. In its place, now I see the man I love, the man who loves me back. He doesn’t have to say anything. I can see it all.

Now, he turns to Gala, with me behind his back. He is defending me with his body, although he doesn’t need to. I will gladly join him in this fight.

It takes Gala only a moment to realize that she lost control in a flicker of a single moment. I place my hand softly on Eddie’s shoulder. I expect him to shudder, to react in some way, but he doesn’t. He absorbs my touch, as I take my place by his side. We’re facing her now, together. She knows she doesn’t stand a chance.

“You were so close, weren’t you?” I ask her, enjoying the look of incredulity in her eyes.

I see her clenching her teeth close together. Her fingers have rolled into fists.

I want to kick her ass so badly, and with this intention in mind, I take a step towards her, but Eddie prevents me by extending his arm.

“No,” he says.

Both Gala and I look at him, not only surprised but shocked.

He shakes his head, not taking his eyes off of her.

“What she has done is below any of us,” he explains. “Vampires would never stoop so low as to do what she has done, and I know that skin walkers also have more honor than to try and kill someone in such a vile, despicable manner.”

I expect Gala to say something, but she doesn’t. She knows she’s lost. She is merely waiting it out to see if we will let her go, and from the looks of it, Eddie plans on doing exactly that.

“You can’t possibly mean we should let her go,” I ask, incredulous.

“That is exactly what I mean,” he confirms. “We will make sure that the skin walkers find out what she has done. Better yet, what she has tried to do, and I’m sure that they won’t take kindly to this.”

I realize he’s right. There is a reason why she has been doing all this on her own, without involving anyone else. The war that has been raging on between vampires and skin walkers is an unending one, but both sides always played fair. At least, they tried to. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of something so despicable as to try and kidnap the vampire king only to poison him into utter forgetfulness, so he could kill his own queen. It’s so disgraceful it’s almost laughable. I know that the skin walkers in her clan will think the same way.

“You have shamed your clan and yourself with your actions,” Eddie says. “I would allow Bianca to attack you, so you could fight for your honor, but you don’t deserve that.”

“I– “ Gala wants to say something, but Eddie doesn’t let her.

“Silence!” he shouts angrily at her. “Your time for speaking has come to an end. In fact, I don’t want to see your here. Go and don’t look back. I don’t care where you end up, but if I ever see you again, I will kill you with my own bare hands.”

I instantly remember that this is something we have already told her. She didn’t learn her lesson then. She probably didn’t learn it now. But I know why he doesn’t want us to attack her. It is two of us against her. It isn’t fair. Eddie has always been about fairness, and I’ve always respected that about him. He wants to be remembered as a just ruler, not someone who killed skin walkers and whatever other creature stepped in his way.

“This isn’t over,” Gala hisses as she slowly retracts.

“No, you’re wrong,” I tell her. “It is over for you. As for us, we will go back to our beautiful lives and live happily, while you’ll go and crawl under some rock, where no one will ever find you.”

She has nothing to say to that. I suppose there isn’t anything to say to that. She gives us one last mean look, then turns around and runs out of the cave. Both Eddie and I listen to the sound of her footsteps, until we can hear them no longer.

Then, we turn to each other and fall into a loving embrace.

Chapter Sixteen

Edmund

I don’t know how, but it all comes back to me. It’s like I’ve been in the dark for the last couple of days, and the moment Bianca mentioned Orien’s name, light appeared, clearing away all the doubts and suspicions. Finally, everything is clear now. I know who I am.

We remain like that, embracing, for a long time. When we let go, I look at her as if I’m looking at her for the first time ever. I notice every little thing about her, from the incredible blueness of her eyes and the soft little freckles on her nose, to the way she’s smiling when she sees me. I just can’t stop drinking in the sight of her.

“I can’t believe I allowed myself to get sidetracked,” I tell her, feeling incredibly sorry for what I’ve almost done.

She shakes her head at me. “None of this is your fault,” she says.

“How is it not?” I ask.

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