Chapter Thirty-Three

We loaded up the van and left Las Vegas.

“Take care of my baby,” Beckett said. Connor was driving the purple monstrosity while Beckett and Lucas were riding in the back.

“Pit stop at Wanda’s World,” Connor replied.

Skyler was in the front seat next to him, while Vaughn and I sat in the back and tried not to freak out that our parents had married each other.

Vanessa was dead. Did that make Mr. Sheridan her widower? Did it even matter?

What mattered was that both Mr. Sheridan and Mason were okay. Their bromance had saved the day when Mason found him passed out in a corner and carried him to safety. It would take some time, but I think Adam was going to be okay.

The trip home was a quiet one. Vegas was finally in the rear-view mirror. I leaned against Vaughn’s shoulder and closed my eyes.

Connor and Skyler talked quietly. He couldn’t seem to go a minute without touching her.

“It’s finally over,” I murmured. I wasn’t completely convinced of my own words yet, but I’d say it as many times as it would take for it to sink in. Vanessa was out of my life for good. I’d regained my humanity. Yes, I’d also lost so much, but I’d gained something, too. Something invaluable.

Rose was following us home in the twins’ sedan, but only to make sure we made it back safely. Then she had to head back to Vegas to help Mason clean up the mess, but she assured me she and Thorn would join us at our bungalow for winter solstice if they could.

The winter break was over. We had to get back to school or we wouldn’t graduate. Because of Vanessa, my friends and I had missed three weeks of school. I’d missed winter solstice with Granny and the Old Crones Book Club. Vaughn’s dad had almost died. My sister had almost died. I’d almost died.

Vanessa and Lissa had both died, killed in the feral vampire den that they’d both tried to rule over. I’d never really had a mother, but it still hurt to know that now I never would.

As if he could read my thoughts, Vaughn pulled me closer to him and then made sure my seatbelt was securely fastened.

“Wanda’s World is up ahead,” Connor said. “Ready to stretch your legs? Exit’s a mile away.”

My stomach growled, and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything resembling a real meal in days. Until the ruby had given me back my life, I’d been surviving on extra rare steaks, tonic, and Skyler’s bloody brownies. My appetite was back.

“I want a steak,” Vaughn said. “The rarer the better.”

My stomach growled again, and we all laughed.

“The queen has spoken,” Vaughn said.

“I’m not a queen anymore,” I replied. “I’m a Mariotti witch.” Something inside me that had been on edge relaxed.

Connor made the turnoff to Wanda’s and pulled into the parking lot. The twins’ white sedan pulled in behind us.

We were seated at a long table. Vaughn sat next to me and draped his arm over my chair and pulled me close.

His eyes went to my throat. He couldn’t stop looking at the crescent moon on my neck.

His tattoo was less obvious, but I liked knowing I was the only one who’d seen it. I traced the spot where I knew his moon tattoo was. Even though I was touching it through his shirt, I felt a little jolt of electricity.

“You still have it,” I said huskily.

“Of course I do,” he replied. “It’ll never change. Never go away.” He wasn’t just talking about the tattoos. He was talking about how we felt about each other. He ran his hand over my throat, to the spot where my tattoo was.

Skyler’s attention focused on my neck. “Is it weird to know you’re going to be together forever?” she asked. “Or maybe you are used to it since you two were friends before the whole get-a-true-love-tramp-stamp thing.”

“My tattoo is not a tramp stamp,” I said. “And neither is Vaughn’s.” Then we all burst out laughing.

The restaurant was packed, but I didn’t see Wanda anywhere. Finally, when our meal was nearly finished, she came to our table.

“You’re back,” she said. “I see you survived.”

“Barely,” I replied. “But yes.”

“And Lissa?” Wanda asked.

I shook my head. “Didn’t make it. Neither did my mother.”

“Vanessa Mariotti has been dead for years,” Wanda said softly. “But I held out hope that Lissa could find her way back.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know she was your friend.”

She nodded.

“Did you know she was my aunt?” I asked. “And that she and my mother were trying to take over the Paranormal Activities Committee? To take over Vegas?”

Wanda shook her head. “That’s not what Lissa wanted.”

“What did she want?” I asked.

“To be free again,” Wanda said.

“That’s what happened to me,” I said softly. “I’m free.”

She smiled. “I’m glad.”

I said goodbye to Wanda.

“I don’t know what will happen to my realm now that I’m not a vampire,” I said.

“It’s still yours,” Rose said.

I stared at her. “What?”

She smirked at me. “There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t continue to rule. The realm transfers when the previous ruler dies. You didn’t die.”

“How can I be a vampire queen now?”

“Once a queen, always a queen,” she replied.

Could I really rule without being a vampire? I was still a Mariotti witch.

“And guess what I found?” Rose added. She handed me a gift bag. “Open it.”

“My parasol!” I said. “I thought for sure this was gone forever.”

“I disinfected it,” she told me. I hugged her. She went stiff for a second but then relaxed and hugged me back.

“Mason wants to come to your graduation,” she said.

“Really?”

“Do you mind?” she asked. “He’s…trying.”

“No, I don’t mind,” I replied. “It helps knowing that he didn’t try to kill Thorn when you two were growing up after all. And he did save Vaughn’s dad.”

After Mason killed Vanessa, it seemed to release Mr. Sheridan from the compulsion. He was very confused when he woke up the next morning in a hotel in Vegas wearing a wedding ring.

“That was all Vanessa,” she replied. “Or Annalise. We’re pretty sure it was one of them.”

“Mason’s doing okay?” I asked. “Even if they were estranged, she was his sister.”

She nodded. There was a pause, and then she said, “Annalise Alicante died a long time ago.”

“It’s weird to hear her called that, even though it was her real name,” I said. “I know for sure that Vanessa is dead.” I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about the relief that washed through me. My mother had been dead for a long time.

“Yes,” she said. “Mason killed her.” But only after Vanessa killed Mason’s only sister.

When she didn’t say anything, I added, “He had to. She was going to kill everyone. He saved us all.” I said. “But after everything, I still don’t know who sent me the ruby.”

“Do you still have the note?” Skyler asked.

“Why?”

“Just let me see it,” she said. “Unless you threw it away?”

“No, I think the note’s still in the book Granny gave me to keep it in,” I said. I’d brought it with me to Vegas but had ended up hiding it in the parasol to keep it with me.

I dug in my duffel bag and found the note. We all gathered around to look at it.

“It doesn’t say much,” I said. “Just for the new queen.”

She stared down at the card for a long moment. “I can’t believe it,” she finally said. “I know who sent you the ruby.”

I gaped at her.

“Do you want to share with the rest of the class?” Connor said teasingly.

“See how that T is crossed?” Skyler asked. “That’s Travis’s handwriting.”

“How do you know that?” Connor asked.

Skyler blushed, and I knew that whatever she was going to say would be slightly awkward to tell us in front of her boyfriend.

“When Travis and I first got together, he used to leave little notes on my car,” she said.

“What kind of notes?” Connor asked gruffly.

Her face got even redder. “The usual.”

“You mean he sent you love notes?” Connor sounded outraged.

“It was before he, you know…”

“Compelled you,” I said.

“Yeah, that,” she said. “But maybe it was trying to make up for what he did. Maybe he wasn’t a complete monster.”

“But why would he have sent it to me?” I asked. “Do you think he knew what it could do?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

I had so many questions. Skyler saw them on my face. “Maybe he felt bad about…”

“Turning me into a striga vie?”

“He wasn’t all bad,” she said.

“No one’s all bad,” I replied. With the possible exception of Vanessa Mariotti. “But he wasn’t very good, either.”

“The handwriting’s pretty ornate,” Vaughn commented.

“Travis was from a different time,” I reminded him. “Back when everyone learned cursive.” We were assuming that Travis had died in the desert along with Lissa and Vanessa, but no one had actually seen it happen. He was a vampire, so there wouldn’t have been a body, just an oily stain on the ground.

“Ancient, then,” Connor said with a smirk.

“It makes sense, though,” Vaughn said. “Who else would have known Jure’s hiding place? I doubt he kept the Blood of Life ruby lying around.”

“He probably thought it was cursed,” I said. “It did have that malevolent feel to it at first. Maybe he picked up on it and wanted to make my life miserable.”

“Instead, that ruby saved your life,” Skyler said.

“We’ll probably never know for sure,” I said. “But if you say this was his handwriting, I believe you, Sky.”

“I’m grateful to whoever it was,” Vaughn said.

“Me, too,” I replied. Our eyes met, and I knew the relief he felt was reflected in my eyes.

Mason had literally slithered out of the wreckage, Mr. Sheridan in tow. Vanessa and hundreds of feral vampires had died. The tiara she used to control them had been destroyed. My friends and family were all safe, and Vanessa was finally out of my life for good.

“C’mon,” Vaughn said. “Let’s go home.”

I couldn’t wait.