EPILOGUE: KING ROBERT

From the shadows, my trusted ally steps into the light. A smile stretches my lips, and I reach for her. She comes into my arms, even though I know she hates my touch. I kiss her forehead, then her cheek, and at last her neck.

“It worked,” she whispers, tension in her voice.

I nip her shoulder. “Like a charm.”

She’s breathing, but not in pleasure, in disgust. I soak it in. “Now it’s done.”

I smile as I lick her collarbone. “Hardly.”

She stiffens. “What do you mean? You unlocked her powers. She gave up the throne. You both have what you always wanted.”

My hands move before I can process my actions, shoving her onto the ground. “Have you lost your mind ?”

She flinches as I step closer, expecting a blow, but I hold back. “I’m sorry. I won’t hurt you.” Straightening my tie, I explain to the ignorant woman why I did what I did. “I didn’t unlock her powers to make a deal . I unlocked her powers because I couldn’t steal them otherwise. And doing it this way, with her willing, is far easier.” My fists ease open. “What’s more, now she won’t expect my next move.”

“Which is?” she asks so softly I know she fears my response.

I shrug. “ Which is to take what’s mine and destroy all else.”

In truth, nothing has changed at all.

Except that never again will my niece be able to hide herself from me. The gem, containing all the powers of every person we’ve killed, was a costly price to pay, but nothing was too much if it guaranteed me and my son the throne.

And with her powers as my own, her dead, and her loyal followers destroyed, there is nothing to stop me.

The throne will be mine. The world will be mine.

Our kind will rule at last.

And all the others? Well, they’ll be dead.