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“Can you clean this up?” Julian asked. “There’s so many dead… and…”

Rajani touched his arm. “We can handle this. Do not distress yourself. We will only be revealed when King Daemon wishes it. See?”

She gestured back towards the grounds. The cops were back in position, watching the museum as if there was nothing else of any interest going on, including the pool of blood and body parts he was surrounded by.

“Will they really remember none of this?” Julian asked.

“They really won’t,” Rajani stated. “It is human technology that is more problematic.”

“Yeah, a zombie invasion on the 10 o’clock news would be hard to explain away,” Julian said with a faint laugh.

“But people don’t really believe what they see these days, do they?” Rajani winked at him. “Most people would think it was some kind of joke or special effects. Not real zombies.”

“And not real Vampires?” Julian’s lips quirked into a half smile.

“I’m afraid your expose, my prince, would not have worked,” Arcius stated.

“Yeah, you never would have let it get out anyway, would you?”

Julian realized how foolish he had been thinking that the Vampires would have just allowed him to send out the broadcast. And even if it had gotten out, only a few people would have believed it, but most wouldn’t have.

“We would have done what we had to. But death would not have been necessary,” Rajani stated and gave Kaly a deadly look. “Those deaths fueled far more belief in what the Harrows said and did than letting them continue on in their fruitless search.”

“He wasn’t trying to stop them from exposing the Vampires to the world but Daemon’s city to the Vampires,” Julian explained even as Kaly remained silent. “Their deaths weren’t to keep Vampires safe, but to keep them in the dark where Daemon was.” He stared hard at those glazed eyes. “You do realize that what you did insured that Daemon and I met, don’t you? Without my parents’ deaths, I would never have searched for the Vampire cities. You could have simply had their minds wiped. Instead, you made sure I never stopped looking.”

“You think I regret you existing?” Kaly asked.

“You just tried to kill me,” Julian pointed out.

“I tested you,” Kaly corrected. “You were never in any real danger.”

“You stabbed me in the neck,” Julian stated.

“You healed.” Kaly smiled. “You might be the one good thing that has come out of all of this.”

“What? Why?” Julian asked.

“Because of those things you say I cannot understand,” Kaly answered. “You will keep Daemon focused on being a gentle tyrant.”

“He’s not a tyrant!” Julian growled.

“But he could be. You see how he is. Single-minded. He will be king, because he is king. You don’t fully understand what that means yet,” Kaly said. “But all will regret it if he is not reigned in by some kind of moral conscience.”

“I know that Daemon thinks differently than most of us, because he is different from most of us. But he cares. He’s not like you, Kaly,” Julian said without any hesitation. “And if you care so much for morals, then give me back my parents’ souls.”

Kaly smirked. “No. They are my insurance policy.”

Julian gritted his teeth. “You will not get away with this.”

Kaly laughed. “I have. I will continue to do so.”

“Our prince is powerful, he will find his parents,” Elgar’s voice wafted over as he and Christian jogged towards them.

“Julian?! Did you kill all the zombies?” Christian asked. His best friend’s eyes were huge as he took in the devastation around him

“Except for this one.” Julian shook Kaly. The boy’s head rattled back and forth on his slender neck.

Before Christian could respond, Elgar pointed out towards the sloping lawns. “And those.”

“Those? No, there aren’t any…” Julian’s mouth fell open as he saw the hundreds of figures dotting the landscape. His mind’s eye showed they all had the purple glow of Kaly. He turned to look at the boy’s face.

Kaly smiled. “Let’s see if House Wynter can explain this.”