جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 200

Elara POVMy eyelids fluttered, and a faint light momentarily blinded me. My first thought was gratitude for not feeling any pain. My second was how bizarre my body felt—light, airy, floaty. I fluttered my lashes again and this time managed to fully open my eyes. A familiar face stared down at me.“Hello, child.”“Vee?” I took in her pale blue eyes, white-blond hair, and pink wings. “What happened?” I glanced behind her to find Andre and Damien sitting on some boulders and my heart sank. “Am I dead?”“No,” she answered. “But you are in the in-between.”I moved to sit up. I felt fine, though kind of incorporeal. “But you’re dead, right? I saw that spell hit you right before you fell through the portal.”“Yes, dear, I am dead. Or at least I won’t be returning to the mortal realm any time soon.” She sat back on her heels. “Did you defeat Vexx?”I nodded. “Yeah. I did.”“I always knew you would.” Her eyes glazed over with the Sight for a moment before clearing. “Oh, it seems that you have

Elara POV“I owe you many thanks. Not only for rescuing my position as Council Queen, but also for saving my son’s life, and the lives of all those hybrid children.” Queen Caprice sat comfortably on a long sofa between her four mates.I’d seen two of them before, when they’d come with her to Frost Manor. Jaxon McIver was the witch with wavy blond hair. Beside him was the red-headed Fae, Liam Kavanagh. The first one to her left was a huge, dark-skinned man—the shapeshifter Montrell Freeman. And lastly, my tanned wolf shifter relative, my cousin once removed, Angel Cortez.Now that I knew my relation to him and Agent Teo Martin, I saw the resemblance. I had their dark hazel eyes, and a touch of that naturally tanned skin tone. It had been a couple of days since that conversation with my father, and I was still wrapping my head around everything.“As promised,” the queen continued. “You are free to go. While the Supernatural Investigation Bureau will turn a blind eye to your past crimes,

Elara POVThe original wedding plan was to keep it a small event, but these things had a tendency to get out of control. So when the day came, in mid-November, I shimmied into my wedding gown and mentally prepared myself to face the horde of guests waiting in the glass-encased winter garden.My white wedding dress had long sleeves, hugged my hips, and the hemline swept the floor. The low swooping, open back revealed every inch of my phoenix tattoo—especially with my hair up.The professionals had already been in to do my makeup and place tiny white flowers in the mass of artfully arranged hair atop my head. I wore my engagement ring on my right hand, the blood-red diamond catching the faint winter light.“Are you ready, kiddo?” Teo—Dad—asked on the other side of the door.I slipped into the white satin designer heels. Today I was wearing thousands of dollars in clothing alone. The dress, of course, was one of a kind.With a deep breath in to steady my nerves, I opened the door. “Ready

Elara POv“Thanks,” I managed before diving into the meal. I practically inhaled half of the contents on my plate before coming up for air.I recognized Cook, who everyone just called… Cook, and a couple of witch house maids, Lucy and Margo. They were early risers, but I was willing to bet others would be up soon.“Good morning,” I said to them, and they murmured the greeting in return. “Did everyone get home safely last night, or, I guess, this morning?”Jace nodded before taking a sip of his coffee. “They did. The queen and her court left earlier than most. I’ll have the guards do a sweep of the grounds later this morning to rouse any guests who may still be lingering, Mistress. The lords’ and your bags are packed and ready in the car.”“Thank you, Jace.” I stood, picking up my plate to take it to the sink when the butler stepped in and deftly swept it out of my hands.With nothing else to do, I said, “I’ll go wake up the lords.” They’d have plenty of time to sleep on our way to Ita

Elara POVThree Years Later…“Benny, you know what happens when someone breaks one of Penumbra Syndicate’s rules,” I said, circling the sweating man tied to a chair. I let the 9mm dangle in my hand at my side. We didn’t have much time to write about this situation because we were on a tight schedule tonight.“I didn’t mean to, I swear.” The small basement room under Vamptopia reeked with this guy’s stench—fear.Xavier staked his disapproval at Benny.“You mean to tell me that those four women just climbed into your van and asked to be sold to some vampire filth four states over?” I asked. It was a rhetorical question. Someone had paid Benny enough money for him to think he could take a handful of prostitutes, who were under our employment and protection, and sell them to a vampire coven in Minnesota.Surprise, that didn’t go so well for Benny and the vamps.“No. I mean yes. I swear I was gonna split the money with them—”“I’ve heard enough,” Xavier said, glancing at his watch. “We’re