Moonlight Prince (Vampire Girl #4)(49)

I take his hand in my own. "I understand. But I cannot promise victory. All I can promise is that I will do my best. That I will fight until the end."

He glances back at the door, back where Patricia sleeps. "Then that will have to be enough."





Chapter 14


MOONLIGHT PRINCE





"There were three of us. Three who summoned the shadow. Three who paid the price."

—Tavian Gray





PART I


—Arianna Spero—


After we leave his daughter, we make one more stop before returning to Inferna. To the hospital where my mother's body is being cared for. I step into the sterile room, where the whir of machines keep her alive. I put a hand over hers and let the tears that fill my eyes fall down my face. "I could save you easily, if I did as Fen asked. If I just left with him. But I hope you understand. This isn't just about you and me anymore. This is about a whole world of people. I can't abandon them to their fate, not when I have the power to make it different."

She doesn't answer, of course. But I think somewhere, somehow she hears me. As I leave I ask the nurse for a piece of paper and pen, and I write a short letter to Es and Pete. Just in case. Because the future is uncertain, and this battle might be my last. "Could you mail this for me?" I ask the nurse.

She's about to say no, that it's not their policy to play postal service to patients, but then something shifts in her face. Maybe she sees into something deeper, something truer than rules. Because her face softens and she nods. "I can't do it from work, but I'll drop it by the post office after."

I smile at her, touched by her kindness, by her willingness to go out of her way for a stranger.

And as I turn to leave, I stop again, something tugging at my mind. "There was a man here before; he visited my mom. Has he been here again?"

Ace paces the floor impatiently, but the nurse, she pauses, a curious expression overtaking her face. "Actually, yes, there was someone. He left a note, said to give it to anyone who asked about him."

She rummages through my mother's file and pulls out a small envelope, handing it to me. "It's all very strange," she says with a vague expression on her face. And I wonder if she's been influenced by magic.

I open the note as we leave. It isn't long, but it is life-altering.



Dear Ari,

If you're reading this, then you remember seeing me. That in itself is something. It means you're growing in your powers.

I have so much to apologize for, but I fear I haven't the time. I know what Inferna and Avakiri are going through. I know what has become of you all.

I wish I could have been the father you needed. The father you deserved.

But I faced a different fate.

In punishment for my rebellion, I was cursed to be a guardian of power. A gift and a curse some might say.

I was banished to another realm, turned to stone to guard a powerful magic.

I was allowed one grace: that I could, once every circling of the moon, take on my human form and return to earth. It is there I met your mother. There we fell in love and conceived you. There I had to let you go. To protect you. To protect her. To fulfill my duty, my curse, my fate.

I sense our fates will cross again. And this time, I will be ready to give you what you need.

My love is with you always.



Your father



I drop the paper and it flutters to the linoleum hospital floor as I stand in shock. I still have my swords strapped to my back, and I pull out Lux and stare at the moonlight sword in awe and grief.

The nurse sucks in her breath. "Is that real? Weapons aren't…"

Ace comes to my rescue. "We are attending a… how do you say… play of some kind. Forgive us our unusual appearance."

He picks up the paper I dropped and looks at it, then looks at me with an odd expression. "We must be going, don't you think? Wouldn't want to be late to the… play."

I nod, my eyes still unfocused, my heart still beating too loudly against my rib cage. I hear the whoosh of blood in my ears and fight down bile rising in my throat.

When we walk into the cold darkness of Portland's winter night, I suck in a breath. "It was my father. The gargoyle, the guardian… it was my father. His heart. His life given for this sword."

Ace doesn't understand and looks at me in confusion, but I stand still, staring at the blade, at my father's heart. His last gift to me.

Then I look up at Ace, a renewed strength settling into my bones. "Too many have sacrificed so that I can wage this war. It's time to win it."

We leave earth and return to a world of war. A world of conflict. A world of slavery. A world that needs us to save it.

Our forces meet on the river crossing, the sun muted in the sky. The enemy spills over the horizon, thousands of foes under Lucian's command. I do not see the creature, the beast of Darkness. I do not know if this is good or bad. Ace and Dean are somewhere, ordering their soldiers. I haven't seen them in a while, since we split up to better lead our battalions.

Our armies clash on the shallow water. Men fall over each other. Blood sprays into the air. A storm of screams and shouts thunders through the earth. I fly over the battle, past our enemy's front lines. To the hill overlooking the battlefield. Where I will find the opposing generals. Where I will find Lucian.