Red Blooded (Page 66)
As they spoke, the new magic zapped along my nerve endings. My wolf was working overtime to harness it—but it kept spiraling together, separating again, and then colliding. If Rourke hadn’t had a sure grip on me, I wasn’t sure I would still be upright. As my wolf stored the magic, she raced back and forth howling with delight, rejoicing in the strength it had given us. It seemed she’d been waiting for this and was treating it like a homecoming of sorts.
I, on the other hand, was grappling with the meaning of it all.
The Vampire Queen laughed cruelly, bringing me back to the conversation. “Dear Lili, it doesn’t seem you are comprehending what I’m patiently trying to explain to you. It’s not that she is healed, but how we’ve healed her. Or shall I say given freely to her, so she could heal herself. Do you grasp my meaning yet, or do I need to spell it out even further for your small mind to grasp?”
Lili’s face clouded. “It doesn’t matter how she is healed. She’s not strong enough to defeat me.” Her hands drummed her hips, her blond hair flowing out around her.
The Vampire Queen took a bold step forward. “It seems the brilliant Ardat Lili, the Seductress of Hell, last surviving daughter of Lilith, may have some things to learn about the world even after all these years.” Eudoxia clasped her petite hands, her dark-purple gown shimmering almost like it had been demon-made. “For your information, we have just given the female wolf the power of five. Together, as one, of our own free will. We have chosen to give this”—she cleared her throat—“ wolf supreme power, but it wasn’t really for us to decide, because it was her birthright after all, as you well know.” Eudoxia glanced at me with a knowing look—except I had no idea what she was talking about, as usual. “Regardless of whether any of us like it, the female wolf is now the most powerful being in the room, not you. Do you grasp what I’m saying to you now?”
“That is impossible,” Lili said, storming forward, her hands fisted. “You cannot just make a supernatural the most powerful. They are born that way, as I was!”
“Wrong,” Eudoxia retorted, cackling with glee. “I only know legends of Jessica’s predecessor, but I know you knew her intimately.” The Vamp Queen narrowed her eyes. “The female Lycan was part of the Coalition in her time, and was given a special ability, making her unique for a reason. Do you remember why that was, Lili? Or have you blocked it from your mind on purpose?”
“This one doesn’t have that kind of ability or power,” Lili sputtered, thrusting her head at me. “She is weak,” she spit. “Her signature barely triggers notice in comparison to mine.”
“No, she is young,” the Vamp Queen said with a sigh, “but she has never been weak—untrained and so very, very ignorant, it’s true, but it can’t be helped. I have finally come to accept what Fate has set in front of us, and it’s time you did too. This female wolf possesses the same abilities as her predecessor. She has not utilized them properly… up until now.” The Vamp Queen held one hand up, dismissing Lili’s rebuttal before she could begin, the Queen’s pale skin glowing with a new power, one my blood had given her. “This wolf now has the power of five inside her, and it has made her… unparalleled.” She cleared her throat again, because admitting I was powerful was still a hard pill for her to swallow. “And if you don’t believe me, send your power out to her now. Her signature has changed. The female Lycan has the ability to mold magics, and she will stand as the new justifier, just as her predecessor did. It is her role to enforce the High Law and her rebirth has triggered all that has come in its wake.” She opened her arms wide to indicate the predicament we were all in now. “I have tried my best to deny it, it’s true, but it has done me no good, as you can plainly see. I find myself standing here next to her, enduring her foolishness, but the truth cannot be avoided any longer. The female wolf has just become more powerful than you and is now ready to take her rightful place on the Coalition.”
I was so flabbergasted by the news, I turned to openly stare at the Vampire Queen with my mouth wide open. I made a small noise in the back of my throat as Rourke tightened his grip on my waist. None of us had ever guessed such a thing. The Coalition? It was shocking.
The fae must be record keepers of some kind, or if her aunt Alana was any indication, they must have their fair share of oracles. The wolves had no idea a female Lycan had existed before, much less sat on the Coalition. My father was only five hundred years old, and when our records were entrusted to him they’d been damaged. Now I knew why. Keeping this information from the wolves had allowed Lili to keep the upper hand. She had perpetuated the Cain Myth and had destroyed our history. But that all stopped today.
Anger jumped out ahead of Lili and my head snapped back to her. “She will not sit on the Coalition. Even with the power of five she does not have the power to stay my hand. And even if she did, this is not what Fate intended for me—I am sure of it.” Lili had taken the Vamp Queen’s advice and her power assaulted me now, testing my signature. I rebuffed her easily, a gridlock of new magic fortifying me. “I’ve studied the Scriptures and it says a powerful new reign shall begin once the female Lycan arrives in the Underworld. And I’ve waited for centuries to take my rightful place as the One. I am that new reign, there is no one else.”
I took a step forward and Rourke let me go reluctantly. “I have to correct you there, Lili. I don’t fully understand everything yet, and I don’t have any insightful knowledge about the past, but I am putting the pieces together and I do know that Fate would never allow just One to rule. The Coalition has been the same for thousands of years—for a reason. In order for it to work, it has to have one representative from each of the most powerful supernatural Sects. But I’m thinking you know that already, don’t you?” I glanced at Eudoxia to my left and Rourke to my right. Everyone else stood behind us. Lili had been sentenced to life in Hell, and if my predecessor had put her here, there had to have been a grave reason why. I narrowed my gaze at her. “This is exactly why you were sent to the Underworld in the first place, right? You fought to become the One before… and lost, and your punishment was exile.”
One look at Lili’s face, and I knew I’d put the pieces together correctly. Out of the corner of my eye I spied the Prince of Hell. He stood near his bride with both his hands fisted. It was strange to know he couldn’t defeat Lili, even if he wanted to. I glanced between him and his bride and something incredibly important struck me.