I thought our suite was grand and luxurious, but it looked like a shabby motel room compared to Rina's. The front sitting room was larger than our entire suite and elaborately decorated in warm, neutral browns and beiges, with the obligatory antique furniture. I entered the bedroom and found Rina laid out on what Dorian would call a ginormous bed–like ours, it consisted of a stone platform and pillars, topped with a two-foot-thick pad. With Rina's dark auburn hair spread out on the pillows and her eyes closed, she looked like Sleeping Beauty. Except for the tube snaking out of her arm.
Mom and Tristan had set up a transfusion system, removing Tristan's blood through a tube and sending it into Rina's body.
'We can't give her too much,' Tristan said, pulling the tube out of Rina's arm. 'Her body can't hold it.'
Mom sat on the bed on Rina's other side, holding her mother's hand. As soon as Tristan had removed the almost normal looking medical equipment, Mom motioned me to sit down. I took Rina's other hand into both of mine and pushed my Amadis power into her.
'How long do we have to wait?' I whispered, as if afraid to wake her up, which was actually what we wanted.
'It took you three days, but you only had me for Amadis power, and Tristan couldn't help you,' Mom said.
'But the hit she took was at a much closer range than yours,' Tristan said.
'You think it was the same thing?' I asked.
'Yes, I think Martin hit you in the Everglades,' Tristan said. 'There was a lot of commotion, but I never felt Daemoni. Did you?'
I shook my head. 'No. He probably made that part up, huh?'
'He did a fine job of framing both Julia and me.'
'Julia really loves Rina, doesn't she?' I asked. 'I mean, more than only a friend or as her leader.'
Mom raised her eyebrows. 'You noticed, did you?'
'She pretty much just told me.'
'Yes, Julia loves Rina very much.'
'But she realizes Rina's not that way, right? I mean, she's with Solomon. Does she hold out for some kind of hope or something?'
Mom shook her head. 'No. Rina is aware of how Julia feels, and Julia understands Rina doesn't return her feelings.'
Tristan sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. 'We can't help who we fall in love with, even if the other person doesn't share those feelings.'
I gave him a pointed look. 'Which doesn't apply in our situation.'
'I know,' he said quietly.
I turned back to Mom. 'Well, I'd think Julia would at least make some kind of effort to find another mate. Has she? Does she even try to love anyone else?'
Mom sighed. 'What Julia does is her own choice. Her free will. She has reasons for her actions, and it is not my place to share them.'
I nodded, understanding.
We sat in silence for a while, holding Rina's warm but lifeless hands.
'Do you think Rina knew about Martin?' I asked. 'I'm sure she told Julia to recommend him as her replacement. She apparently sent Owen to find the faeries and bring them here. It seems she knew something, doesn't it?'
Tristan looked up at me, the corners of his mouth twitching with a smile. 'You think she set Martin up?'
We both looked at Mom.
'My feelings aren't all back to normal,' she said, and then she smiled. 'But I do detect some truth in that.'
I shook my head and snorted. Tristan and Mom chuckled. Martin wasn't the only one who had underestimated the matriarch.
I studied my grandmother's face with renewed respect. The dark circles remained under her eyes, but other than that, she looked more peaceful than I'd seen her in a long time. Perhaps ever. Remorse squeezed my heart. Guilt for adding more to her stress when all along she'd been trying to protect us. All of us. The power of her blood may have been more diluted than mine with the generations who had mated with Normans before Mom joined with Lucas, but I wondered how I would ever be able to rule as well as she did.
I didn't always like Rina's actions, but difficult decisions were part of being a great leader. I wouldn't be able to rule off my emotions and feelings as I did so much now. I knew that was a fault of mine. A fault I would have to overcome.
Rina's hand barely returned my pressure, and my heart leapt. It was a brief, probably involuntary action, but at least I knew she wasn't completely gone. She would return to us, and she would be a great leader once again. And with Mom between us, I had plenty of time to learn and earn the right to walk in her shoes. Good thing. I would need all the time I could get.
Tristan gave my shoulder a squeeze. 'I haven't seen my son in over three days. Ready to get Dorian?'
I looked at Mom, and she nodded. 'I'll sit here for a while. You can come back later.'
I felt out for Dorian's mind signature and found him in his room, so Tristan and I headed toward our wing. Before we came to his door, however, I stepped in front of Tristan, put my hands on his shoulders and pushed him against the wall. He gave me a questioning look, although a smile played on his full lips.
'You do know I love you, right?' I asked. He nodded. 'You won't give me anymore of that crap about how you can't be loved, that I don't really feel it, blah blah blah, right?'
'I promise, ma lykita. I'm sorry I doubted you.'
'And I'm sorry I doubted your faithfulness.'
'Only you, my love. Always.'
'And forever,' I said. 'Don't forget forever.'
I lifted up on my toes and leaned forward. The kiss we shared sent electricity charging throughout my body, a pleasant charge that I shared with him.
He smiled against my lips. 'I'll never forget forever.'
Epilogue
I emerged from Rina's suite two days later to find Tristan waiting for me in the hallway. It had been my shift to sit with Rina while Mom took a much-needed break, but she had returned to relieve me. Between the two of us, we sat with her around the clock to share our Amadis power.
'Any change?' Tristan asked. He'd spent the morning with Dorian and then with Bree and Lilith. The girl still remained unconscious, and we'd come to the conclusion that Martin had hit her, too.
I shook my head. 'Not really. She kind of pulls away from pain, but not all the time. And her eyelids fluttered a couple times, but then she left us again. She pretty much just lies there, as if stuck between death and unconsciousness. It makes me wonder what's going on in her head. Does she dream? Is she talking to the Angels? Does she hear us but can't respond? Or is it just a black emptiness, nothing going on at all in that head of hers?'
'Have you tried finding out?'
'Actually, yeah. But I get nothing. I'm not sure what that means. I hope it's not because there's nothing to get.' My brows pushed together. 'I wonder if the dark magic can create a block.'
'Or maybe the Angels have.' Tristan gave my hand a squeeze.
I looked up at him and smiled. 'I like that idea better. Hopefully she's talking to the Angels about a future daughter or about Dorian or, at least, about how to fight the Daemoni, since they keep attacking more. And it makes sense. Only she's allowed to hear their messages.'
We started down the stone stairs, and I had no idea where we were going, but Tristan moved with purpose.
