He let me go. Turning back to the room, his body shifted into his half bear, growing larger and even more powerful. My wolf howled in my chest, as she always did when Kade stood like that. So strong. So solid.
As I walked away, I marveled at the way he let me go, barely even a sliver of worry in our bond. I loved Kade with every part of my being; he was my other heart, my soul mate, but one of the reasons I adored him so much was that he respected me as an equal. He respected my power, my position as queen. Who would have thought that a king and queen could coexist with so little ego between them? Especially for two alpha animals. Our bond was a miracle, and I needed to thank the gods for it every single day.
But first … I needed to rid myself of one parent, and free another.
As I was striding toward the stone room, a familiar energy hit me. My throat got tight as the white wolf bounded into sight. Finn and I stopped and stared at each other for many long moments, drinking each other in. We had never been separated so much as we had since I took the crown. So many things keeping us apart. So many fights and battles. It was only as I stood there, his familiar presence before me, that I truly realized how much I needed him. How much I missed him.
I missed you too, Ari. May we never be parted again.
I ran for him as fast as I could, diving the last few feet to wrap my arms around the giant beast — a beast I loved more than life. The soul of my wolf inside rose up and collided with the soul of our familiar. Finn and I lifted our heads back and howled together, a long, happy sound. A sound of pack.
When we had sated our bond — for the moment — I rose and said to him, “I’m ready … to free my mother … to punish Luca. I know I can do this.”
I heard a chuckle from my left. I turned to find Calista and Baladar standing there. “Nice to see my years of affirmation training has not left you.”
I didn’t reply, choosing instead to cross the few feet between us and throw my arms around her. “I’ve been looking for you,” Calista said into the side of my face. “I needed to see with my own eyes that you were okay. Kade told us where you were.”
Clearly our army had arrived, and I knew now that the fae would never turn on us. They were too outnumbered.
I pulled back to see her face better. “I remember everything you’ve taught me. I’m just going now to finish the job.” Another one of her lessons: finish what you start.
She gave me a pat on the arm and then Baladar bowed his head. With a wave, the pair turned and returned the way they had come.
I turned in the opposite direction, Finn at my side. We entered the mecca stone room to see that Violet had magically confined Luca up against the mecca stone, his hands bound by purple bands of magic. It seemed to be overwhelming him.
He was awake and furious.
“I should have killed you when I had the chance,” he spat at Violet.
Those words sent surges of white hot anger through me. He was one of Violet’s tormenters. Something I had forgotten whilst trying to repress what my best friend had gone through.
Violet glared at him with hatred. He had been instrumental in causing her great suffering in the Winter Court. I wanted her here to bear witness.
I crouched down to meet his eyes. “Did you ever love her?”
His eyes sharpened. “Who?” I could tell he really had no idea who I was talking about, which was an answer in itself.
Me, the Red Queen’s voice filtered into the room, and unlike last time, the weakness was not obvious.
Lucas’s face went slack, losing all color as his body trembled a little. He looked left and right as if trying to see where she was speaking from. I was pretty sure he was muttering the word “Impossible,” but I couldn’t quite hear him. Leaning forward, I placed one hand on the crystal, taking care not to touch him. I focused my energy there, magnifying the Red Queen’s essence until she was a transparent projection standing before him.
He gaped open-mouthed at the vision of her. Aside from Arianna, you were the only person I ever loved, she said to him, her face and voice devoid of all emotion.
The arrogant fae stared back at her, recovering somewhat from the shock, enough to say, “There is no room for love in our lives. We have duty, power, and responsibility. Love is for the weak.”
“When I was alive, I believed the same thing,” the Red Queen told him. “But I was wrong. It’s only in death that I realized how much I did love you and Arianna. I missed years with her. It is my greatest regret.”
The pain in my chest was almost unbearable, but I didn’t crumble.
“All the years you separated us kept me alive,” I told her. “You shouldn’t regret that.” I hated that Luca was here, witnessing these final intimate moments with my mother.
I pointed to him and wrapped mecca around his throat, tightening it to the point he could only just gasp for breath. “You should never have come to our world. This is my city. My mecca. You will now be punished how I see fit.”
His eyes were bulging as I continued to constrict his air supply. Without his mother, or his staff, he was weak. Useless. Reaching down to my ankle, I pulled forth one of the fae blades I had stashed there. I was only about ten inches long, but it would be enough to do the job.
I placed the serrated tip over his heart. “May you never find the peaceful rest and rebirth of death. May you never walk in our worlds again. You are not fit for the royal blood you were borne. Goodbye, Luca.”
I leaned all of my weight forward and skewered the bastard, burying my blade to the hilt. With a gasp, he took his final breath and I felt the mecca pulse. Using that pulse of magic, I pulled on the Red Queen’s energy, and at the same time pushed on Luca’s, pushing his soul further into the stone. Somehow the power knew what to do; knew I wanted to exchange one for another, and unlike last time when I tried to remove my mother, this time she did not slip through my grasp.
No! I heard Luca’s shout echo across the room at the same time I heard my mother’s voice.
Goodbye, Luca. I hope you spend eternity seeking forgiveness.
A bright light flared inside of the room before me. I saw a tunnel, and at the end was the Red Queen’s familiar, the white lynx I believed I saw in Central Park after her death. Then it was gone, as if it was a mirage. I gasped. When the queen trapped herself in the mecca, her familiar must have become a spectral ghost, walking in between the two worlds. Now they were being reunited, as they should.
A blast of icy air caressed my skin, bringing with it her scent, lavender and rose.
I’m so proud of you, daughter. Thank you. I pray that you can forgive my times of cruelty. Her voice whispered in my ear and I could no longer keep my emotions inside. Tears spilled over my cheeks as a small sob escaped me. I had Calista, so I had a true mother, but it felt like I had missed so much with the Red Queen. So much we could have had together.