Chapter Thirty Two ▪︎ The King's Queen

Dedicated to and . Thank you for reading and voting!

(If you vote a lot I will mention you in the story, but this time I had two people to mention which makes me so happy that I'm actually going to study and probably write this chapter once I get home from school. Also, this might be , or close to it anyways. Should I make the sequel as another book or continue writing it here but make a dividing chapter? Let me know. Thank you! ♡)

Song: Afterlife, Hailee Steinfield

They tried to get Thanatos to talk to them, but he wasn't cooperating. What he said went against every rule about the human body.

"What is wrong with me?" She begged the moon to give her anwers as she stared out of her bedroom window. They went back to the castle as soon as possible and Isaac went with them.

After only a week, Dahlia and Isaac were almost back to the original brother-sister relationship they formed as kids.

The wound on her neck was seeping a strange black liquid, but she was feeling slightly better. But something was wrong, she could feel it deep in her soul, in the very back of her mind.

She felt more powerful, but weak at the same time. She could barely stand up on her own without fainting, but she also felt like she could move a mountain with a mere glance.

She didn't tell her mate anything. She was determined to keep it a secret until the very end or when the bastard came out again. She needed answers, and he seemed to be the only one to have them.

A knock sounded at her door.

"Come in." She turned around.

A familiar dark skinned man entered the room and locked the door behind him.

"What is it, Arnold?" She asked him warily. She was suspicious due to the locked door.

"My Queen, I need to speak to you about your current condition." He bowed when adressing her.

"Go on."

"I have some theories that I would like you to know of."

"Arnold, did you make conspiracy theories about me?" She asked with a grin.

"I suppose that's what you could call them, yes..." He frowned at the name.

"C'mon, shoot your shot." She encouraged him.

"Well, the first is that your mother was an immortal, though I don't really have any proof on that. The second is that maybe your father isn't-"

"Are you trying to say that one of my parents was a creature and/or that my mom cheated on my dad?"

"Yes, but with respect, of course." He nodded.

"You can go on."

"The third is that the mother goddess made you into another creature, something new. Just like our King was turned. It would also make sense for you to be a sort of vampire/hunter hybrid. You consumed Lycan blood and enjoyed it, which has the vampire aspect of consuming blood and the hunter aspect of enjoying killing creatures. The fourth is that you are indeed a new form of a creature, but the shift has begun because of the mark and the amount of dark energy that was released into you at the time. The Lycan blood addiction could have been the creature asking for more magic and power to complete it's shift. But seeing as you were physically too weak, the shift weakened you and you couldn't go on, forcing your body to reject the blood as if it was a poison."

"But now the bite gave it the perfect amount of power it needed to start the cycle." She muttered.

"That actually makes a lot of sense, Arnold. Alex!" She called out to her mate who was occupied by a book in his library.

"Why is the door locked?" He tried the handle twice.

Arnold went to unlock it, and the King was surprised to see his (sort of) butler locked in a room with his mate.

"What..?" He looked from the one to the other.

"We have some information you might want to know." Dahlia spoke excitedly.

***

"So, you're like me?" He questioned with fear.

"No, not necessarily. I could be anything, from a new type of siren to a house cat shifter. It also makes sense now, the fact that you and I were mated. There was no way that I would be able to live along with you as a turned vampire. I would be too weak and as soon as I was in danger, Thanatos would come out and kill any and all danger around me. The goddess isn't stupid, I would only cause trouble and death that way." She further explained.

"Even if all of this was true, your body wouldn't be rejecting the poison from my bite. It would be using it to completely shift." Alex glanced at her bandaged neck.

"Maybe it doesn't need the poison. It is probably using the bond as a source. It used the magic from the blood and it wasn't enough so it rejected it. What if we need actual magic? We are assuming that it feeds on darkness, which you, no offense, have plenty of. We're like a perfect pair." She giggled and his heart swelled in his chest. The mark really did strengthen their bond.

"If that is true, you should be able to soak up any magic that goes into your body. Maybe all you need is a little push and you would be healed." His eyes glittered with happiness.

"God, I can't wait." She hugged him tight and he hugged her back.

"We should make a plan and call Isaac."

***

"Firstly, we would get a witch that can absorb magic in case something goes wrong. Secondly, we would need to put a bit of our blood in a bowl and I would cast a spell. The spell is harmless, but it is very powerful. It should give you visions for about two days, but by then you would hopefully be a new creature. Thirdly, Thanatos would come out and give you some of his power through the bond, just enough for you to resist the spell from actually affecting you and you would soak it up. Hopefully, nothing happens to you and you turn into a pheonix because I can't stand the thought of you dying." He chuckled, but there was a hint of worry in his voice.

"Where and when do we do it?" Isaac asked.

"Right here, right now." Dahlia spoke confidently.

"Da-" Alex started but she cut him off.

"I am sick and tired of being weak. Please, just turn me. I need it, I can feel it. I am getting stronger by the day, but I feel my body giving up. My mind is the best it has ever been, but my body is barely hanging on. I'm not healing." She spoke brokenly.

"Are you sure? There is a chance that you will be turned to something awful, we know nothing about what is going on. Damn it, we are going off of a conspiracy theory!" Alex was conflicted. He wanted to help her and he needed her alive if the world wanted to live.

"There are no doubts in my mind."

***

Everyone was ready. An intricately carved blade was in Alexander's hand, and he sliced his palm with it. Blood seeped out of the wound and into the wooden bowl on the ground. He handed the knife to his mate, who followed his steps and did the same thing.

"Vision, visus est visio, illa mens obfuscate ancillis." He chanted as his eyes seeped black. Abruptly, red appeared in them like a flash of lightning. His face clouded and he shook his head. They kept shifting from red to black to blue.

(Visions, visions of visions, cloud the mind of this servant. -Latin)

"Let him out, I trust him." Dahlia spoke as she grabbed his shoulders. Her bleeding palm soaked his shirt, but that was the least of her worries.

His head snapped up and she was met with red eyes.

"Do you know how to do the spell?" She asked him. He nodded, but he was a unease.

"This is not a good idea." He shook his head as if warning her.

"We have no choice." She looked down at the bowl.

"Hurry up, the blood will clump up." She urged him.

"Vision, visus est visio, illa mens obfuscate ancillis." He reapeated once again and spilled the blood on the floor between them. He dipped his finger in the blood and drew a symbol on her forehead with it. As soon as he did it, Dahlia's eyes widened and seemingly lost focus. He immediately unleashed his power and her eyes seemed to brighten. He felt her draining him, but he had plenty to share.

She fell to the floor in agony. She screamed and screamed, but as soon as he stopped, her eyes would roll to the back of her head and she would start convulsing.

He released more power, which seemed to help her.

Isaac, Arnold and the witch ran from the room due to the sheer strength and power inside of it. They couldn't take it, they had to leave. Servants and soldiers alike ran from the castle in fear of the darkness coming from above. Not long after, families of nobles followed them into the woods.

Thanatos could feel her heartbeat slowing down. Her breathing was shallow and her screams died down. She was still soaking up his power, though. It was his only hope that she would make it.

But his heart sank when he could feel the leftover power returning to him. With a final thud of her heart and her last breath of air, Dahlia was dead.