Page 161 of Night Prey
He greets Miranda and the rest of our large party while Lucca and I move up to speak with the other royals present.
I’m still pissed at Queen Merissa and how she went about getting me to the ancient mother tree to perform the ritual. But I have to remember she’s a Nightingale queen, and in the grand scheme of things, what she did doesn’t register on the scale of the most awful things my people are capable of.
“Wow! This is surreal. Someone pinch me,” Vaughn exclaims behind us.
I look over my shoulder and witness Saxon doing exactly that.
Vaughn cries out. “What the hell, man.”
“You asked.” Saxon laughs but jumps away from Vaughn, probably expecting retaliation.
Their antics draw a condescending glance from Queen Merissa. My father just looks bored. Castiel’s parents watch everything with amusement glinting in their eyes. I’ve always liked them.
They both approach and bow their heads. “Queenhood suits you, Vryenn,” King Koran says.
“Thank you. I’m still not used to it.”
“You will be, my dear. And if you have any questions, you can always come to me.”
“She still has one parent left, you know?” Father retorts, and I have to fight to not snort out loud. He was never involved in my upbringing or Rikkon’s, and he didn’t lift a finger to stop my mother from banishing us.
Nat becomes fussy in my arms, so I automatically swing her to calm her down.
Queen Endaya steps closer. “May I?”
“Of course.”
Nat stops fussing when I transfer her to the queen of Lynx’s arms. She smiles at Nat, then moves her hand to caress her face, but she hisses a second later.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
The queen brings her bloodied index finger to her mouth. King Koran’s eyes widen. “Did the baby bite you?”
“She did. I never realized newborns had such sharp teeth.”
“Vampire babies do.” Lucca takes Nat away from the queen.
“I’m so sorry. She didn’t have fangs before,” I say.
Lucca peers at our daughter, then looks at me, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “She does now.”
I never realized he was hoping Nat would take something after him. His happiness about this new development shows that he did.
“You probably want to rest and clean up before dinner,” my father cuts in. “Your coronation ceremony is scheduled at dawn tomorrow.”
“Where will it take place?” Rikkon asks.
His question makes sense. Per tradition, it would happen by the ancient mother tree after the peaceful transfer of power from the current queen to her heir.
Father looks at me. “It’s up to Vryenn to decide.”
Too much blood has been shed in Silver Grove recently. Many of my mother’s soldiers lost their lives, and the ones who surrendered and swore their loyalty to me probably don’t want to be reminded of such a dark day.
Lucca steps closer, placing his hand on my lower back. He has the uncanny ability to guess when I need his support.
“We’ll do it in front of Mistral Castle.”
“Of course.” My father tries to remain impartial, but I catch the upturn of his lips.
