“You may ask Her when you see Her,” she says vaguely.
“See Her? When will that be?” I ask urgently, standing up again.
She ignores me and walks back out to where the four men are standing, so I follow.
Ahmed is looking very pleased with himself and claps his hands together, “Ah, Aefre. You look marvelous.” He bows causing the other three to look at him strangely.
“Aefre, what is going on?” Constantine asks suspiciously.
Ahmed speaks for me, “Constantine, Devon, Cole. Meet the new Queen of the Underworld. A new beginning, for all our kinds united under one ruler.”
My eyes are getting wider as he speaks, as are the others.
“
So not only Queen of the Vampires but Queen of the Underworld?” I squeak in horror. That is some fucking promotion from lowly Master Vampire to the ruler of a nation.
“Yes,” Ahmed says, oblivious to my growing terror.
CK is looking at me as if he has never seen me before, whereas Devon, ever my darling boy, is grinning like a fool at me and Cole just looks like he is going to pass out. Not that I blame him, not feeling too steady in my Louboutins myself. (I note gratefully that Corinne has at least some sense of style and allowed me to keep my shoes.)
“Queen?” CK asks. “Queen of the…” he expands his hands in a large circle around him, “…Underworld?”
“Yes,” Ahmed says again as if we are all a bit dense. “One ruler.”
“The Power of One?” I ask suddenly.
“You are no longer the Power of One, my dear. That was a way station, a tool to help you get where you needed to be. You are now…”
“Queen,” I interrupt. “Yes, I get it.”
“Holy fuck, Aefre. I always knew you were special, but this. This is just unbelievable,” CK says in wonder.
I smile at him when he crosses to me to hug me tightly.
“You are now the most Powerful creature in all the realms,” Corinne speaks again. “You must act quickly to gain control. This news will spread quickly once it is out and you will have everyone clamoring for your council. Appoint your proxy and a select group from each of the species to speak for the others.”
“I need to create a new Council?” I ask.
“You don’t have to call it that. Call it whatever you want to but yes, you need a board. As soon as possible,” she impresses. “Constantine, go with her now.”
“Go where?” I ask.
“She wants you, go now. Don’t be afraid.”
Looking as bewildered as I feel, CK takes my hand and with a quick glance at Devon and Cole, who are still both silent through all this, we shimmer off out of the room and end up in the massive canyon with the orange sky and black rolling clouds.
“This is it, from my dream,” I say quietly, looking around. The shadows are there, the far away screeching, the rush of Power that I feel is all too real now.
We both turn around as a wind rushes up behind us. We step back together in utter disbelief at what our eyes are looking at. I blink and look at CK, “Do you see…?”
“Yes,” he breathes.
I am comforted only by the fact that I’m not delusional and that we are, in fact, staring into the massive green eyes of an enormous black Dragon.
Whoa mama!
We stand stock still unable to move out of the sheer awesomeness of Her. She must be at least fifty feet tall and probably twice that wide with Her wingspan. She has ducked Her head to peer at us from Her gigantic green eyes that are the sideways cat eyes Devon and I saw in mine. Snorting in a breath, She transforms suddenly making us step back again.