Unlikely Queen (Crystal Castle 1)

“Your eyes,” he says to her.

I rub mine and look at Tatiana. Her eyes are covered in blood, and somehow, she is lying there as if she isn’t in the worst pain imaginable. I look in horror at her face, glad she cannot witness the worry falling from every pore on my body.

“What happened?” I ask the vampire.

When I don’t get an answer, I see him biting into his wrist before he leans down and grabs Tatiana’s head, holding it back and dripping his blood into her mouth.

“A witch bomb,” the vampire replies.

Witch bombs are an old weapon. It’s something the humans used to get us to make for them in their wars. It consists of enough antimatter that it would blow up whatever is near it and tear it to shreds. Just as it did my sister’s eyes.

“Queen?” I ask.

The vampire only nods.

“What is your name?”

“Melvon.”

I nod to my sister. “Will she heal?”

He looks at her and helps her stand. “She will. It should be working now.”

My sister blinks, then blinks again. “That bitch,” she growls when she stands. She holds her hands out as if she is conjuring a ball between her palms and starts whispering words.

“What…” The vampire goes to speak as the witch bomb fully forms in her hands.

“Thinks she can fuck with me.” I smile at her words, and she turns to me. “Send it to the vampires.” Tatiana can only send it so far, but I can send it anywhere I choose. I close my eyes and whisper where before I release it. It flies above us and shoots off like a falling star before it disappears. Tatiana wipes her hands on her jeans. “I really hate that bitch.”

“You and me both,” I whisper. “You and me both.”

Wolves run around the corner, John being the first to arrive.

“We need to leave.” His words are urgent.

“No, we need to go back,” I say.

“Back where?” Tatiana asks.

“Back to the castle. It’s just going to keep on happening until she gets what she wants. I need to end this. I need to be free of her.”

“Your life will never be the same,” Tatiana whispers, the blood drying up around her now-healed eyes. John reaches out and helps wipe it away.

“I know, but the alternative is so much better than the now.”

“I agree with you a hundred times. But she was playing games long before we were, so her skills are better. She has weapons, including angels, at the click of her fingers. We have us, wolves, plus one vampire.”

“I don’t want you to come back with me,” I say. “I need to go in alone.”

My sister touches my shoulder, trying to comfort me. “Patrick is not your fault.”

“It’s not about that. I don’t want any more lives lost. If I don’t survive, I’m sure you will find a way to kill her.” I look to John. “Where is my knife?”

He pulls out my angel knife and hands it to me. I slide it into my boot and stand.

“I will never let you go alone.” Tatiana’s arms cross over her chest.

“I know.” I smile at her. Stepping forward, I touch her shoulder. She goes to speak, but before she can, I touch her temples and she passes out. It’s a trick she taught me growing up. She should have expected it—it will knock her out for a good few hours. John catches her before she can fall and looks at me, shocked.

“Just keep her here for a little longer.”

“I couldn’t keep her last time. She will try to save you again.”

I smile and start walking away. “That’s the thing. By the time she reaches me, hopefully, either the queen or I will be dead!”

The vampire follows me. I’m not sure why, but I don’t feel threatened by him. I stay on the track I know will lead me to the queen. Now that the wards are down, the world feels different. We were so used to quarters and separation, and now everything is open. I walk past the quadrant where we would do our shopping, and it’s empty, hardly a soul in sight. Tokens that were once so valuable for us to survive lie abandoned on the ground.

“You are going to change the world,” Melvon says as I study a green token on the ground, one that I’d never been able to hold. It’s for the wealthy, and we are anything but.

“Last time I saw you, you wanted to kill me and called me an abomination.”

He scratches his head. “I remember, but I no longer feel that way.” He leans down and picks up the green token and hands it to me. I take it and rub the dirt from it on my leather pants before I look at it again.

“We could never dream of holding one of these, and believe me, my sister did dream about possessing one of these quite a bit.”