Page 149 of Dark Flame

His grin is full of a heat, rivalling my fire. “I’m a persuasive man when I want to be.”

At the base of the stairs, my attention goes down the hallway, where the ballroom is. His throne, where he lorded over all the vampires he tried to sell me off to. “If you’re king, does that make me the queen of vampires?”

“Queen of vampires. Queen of me. Queen of the witches, if you your power doesn’t stop developing.”

“How will the other vampires take you having a witch as your consort?”

He yanks me against his body, his growl echoing around the staircase. “First, you’re not only a witch. Second, fuck them. Third, you’re my equal, not my consort. Now, let’s find a shower so I can show you how I bow to my queen.”

* * *

His tribute isworthy of a queen.

* * *

Later,an hour before the sun is scheduled to rise, I lean on the balcony attached to his bedroom. A feature I hadn’t noticed last time. Perhaps if I did, I would have saved the trouble of breaking the window in my room and propelled myself down from here.

Alec lingers beside me, his hands resting on the railing as he monitors his property. He seems calm, but every once in a while his nostrils will flare and his gaze pauses on something in the distance, before continuing his watch, apparently deeming whatever he sees as no threat.

Me…I’m too focused on the moon above. It’s a bright white, a beacon in the darkness. Exactly like what Alec ended up being for me.

The wind blows, warm and gentle, and wraps around me like black magick does. Like it’s Hecate’s way of greeting me.

“Do you think She’s mad?”

“Who?” Alec looks away from the treeline.

“Hecate. The Goddess. I’m a combination of three things, two of which go against what She believes.”

“If that’s true, she sucks as a leader. Besides, Freya said she isn’t.” He pushes off the balcony, trailing his lips over my bare shoulder, only a towel wrapped around my frame form the shower. “Come to bed, Hellion, so I may show you what eternity will be like.”

It’s tempting but doesn’t feel right to abandon the outdoors yet. “Five minutes, then I’ll come in.”

He drops a kiss to my forehead before entering his room, shutting the door to give me privacy.

The wind blows again, this time gentler. With it, there’s the scent of flames, like two old friends meeting one another.

“Is this your sign, Hecate, that you’re watching over me? Freya says you are. Is it true?”

Utter and emptying silence.

No more wind.

With a defeated sigh, I push off the balcony, twisting to go inside when a voice, silky and soft, soundless from a form without a physical shape. Different than Darkness and Alec, with an influence only She has.

Yes, daughter, it is true I have not forsaken you. You’ve become exactly what you were meant to. You are the hybrid of Light and Dark, of witch and vampire. You are the reason the cure has been extinguished. The reason vampires and witches will one day unite for good. You are the only witch truly capable of wielding the Dark gift in a manner that will not destroy yourself. I am very proud of you, Harlow Sinclair, and very pleased to call you mine. Blessed Be.

And then, all is silent once more.

Blessed Be, Hecate.

I enter the bedroom, finding Alec seated in one of the chairs by the unlit fireplace, a drink in hand. I slide into his lap and take the glass, sipping from it. The strong alcohol doesn’t have the same kick it once did.

“Find everything you were looking for out there?”

“I did, yeah.”

We fall silent, sharing the drink. With a mindless wave of my hand, a spell ignites in the fireplace, setting the wood on fire and casting a heat neither of us need around the room. The flames flickering against the stone backing reminds me of how Alec and I came together.