Ava Galliano: The Last Dark Queen

Destiny Will Find a Way

Isa quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, not wanting Kingston to see the vulnerability she was trying so hard to hide. He had stumbled upon her as she was standing by the pool, trying to clear her head. Kingston, always so nonchalant and aloof, hadn’t come here for any particular reason. He wasn’t even sure why he had agreed to attend his sister’s party; he knew exactly who it was for, and it certainly wasn’t for his enjoyment. But something had made him stop when he saw Isa crying by the pool.

“Have you got any siblings, Kingston?” Isa asked, trying to keep her voice steady, but there was a slight tremble there.

“One,” he replied, keeping his tone casual. “And no, she’s not my full blood. Half-blood. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had more half-siblings scattered around the world.”

Isa chuckled, the sound light but sad, and Kingston took that as his cue. He stepped closer, slipping off his loafers and rolling up his jeans. With a determined look on his face, he plunged his feet into the icy water.

“Jesus, that’s cold,” he muttered, shaking his legs and laughing.

Isa smiled faintly, wiping her face again. She had hoped Kingston hadn’t noticed her emotional breakdown, but she knew that nothing really went unnoticed at this kind of party. The last thing she wanted was to be the subject of more gossip.

“I’m guessing you got rejected tonight,” Kingston guessed, his voice light, though there was an edge of understanding beneath his words.

“No,” Isa answered, shaking her head slowly. “The opposite, actually. But it shouldn’t have happened, not like this.”

“I suppose it shouldn’t have,” Kingston agreed, his gaze softening.

“Do you know?”

“Of course I know. Everyone knows. You don’t hide it very well,” he replied, his tone just a little too sharp.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Isa asked, her voice suddenly quieter.

“How do you know I’ll keep it a secret?” Kingston teased, though his smile faded a bit as he saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

“You’re right,” Isa muttered. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you right now. I should get going…”

“No, don’t,” Kingston insisted, grabbing her hand gently and pulling her back down beside him.

He could see she wanted to retreat, wanted to pull away. But he wasn’t about to let her. He knew it wasn’t easy for her to open up to anyone. For a long time, he hadn’t cared to get close to her. She was a leech, and his family had too much influence to risk being seen with someone like her. But over time, as he watched her struggle alone at the academy, sitting isolated in all of her classes, he had started to feel something for her—a mix of pity, but also something else. Something he couldn’t quite place.

“Tell me,” Kingston said, his voice sincere. “Cross my heart, it won’t leave my lips.”

Isa hesitated, her eyes searching for any sign of insincerity. But when he made the motion of crossing his heart, that glint of genuine curiosity in his eyes, Isa felt a strange pull toward him. Maybe it was the loneliness, the weight of everything she had kept bottled up. But at that moment, she wanted to trust him.

“I’m here as a punishment,” Isa said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I fell in love with a god, so I was sent here to live with a man they knew I wouldn’t be able to love.”

Kingston raised an eyebrow. “Which god?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Isa replied bitterly. “It was obviously one-sided.”

He chuckled, though there was a hint of something darker in his smile. “Don’t you have a bunch of consorts or vampire lovers waiting for you?”

“You have much faith in me,” Isa said, her lips curling into a wry smile.

They both laughed, the sound genuine for the first time in a long while. Isa leaned into Kingston, feeling the warmth of his presence in a way she wasn’t used to. It felt new. Different.

“Do you want a drink?” Kingston asked, his voice low and soft. “Or are you still planning on going home?”

Isa glanced back toward the house, her eyes catching Brent’s. He was standing at the door, a smoldering look in his eyes, staring directly at her and Kingston. Cassie clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck as she danced in an exaggerated manner. Isa could feel the tension in the air, the burning frustration coming from Brent as he glared at her.

“You need a rebound,” Kingston said, noticing the change in her mood.

“Are you offering?” Isa shot back, unable to suppress a half-smile.

Kingston grinned and pulled her in, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. The world seemed to pause around them. For that brief moment, Isa felt alive. But the uncertainty she carried, the weight of the life she was living, soon crept back in, and she quickly pulled away.

Monday morning came, and Isa apparated to the academy alone, her mind still swirling with the events of the party. Brent hadn’t spoken to her after leaving the party the night before. He had left in a huff, no doubt angered by the way he had seen her interact with Kingston. Cassie was fuming as well, upset that Brent had spent his time with Isa instead of giving her the attention she craved.

But Isa wasn’t focused on any of that. She smiled slightly when she spotted Kingston leaning against her locker. His presence was oddly comforting, and for the first time, it felt like someone cared about her without expecting anything in return.

“What are you doing here?” Isa asked, raising an eyebrow, trying to act casual.

“Catching up to you,” Kingston replied with a shrug.

“I thought you had a reputation to uphold.”

“I do,” Kingston said dryly, “but I frankly don’t care anymore. I have a secure job in Hell, I graduate in less than a year, and there’s not much my father can do to me now.”

Before she could say anything, she turned to see Brent walking past with Cassie, hand in hand. The sight was enough to make her insides twist, and she could feel a dark aura beginning to leak from her.

“You should stay away from me,” Isa warned Kingston, her voice low. “I can get you killed.”

Kingston tried to protest, but Isa was already walking away. This was the routine now—Cassie would mock her, Brent would turn a blind eye, and Kingston would keep trying to break through Isa’s walls. The more Isa pushed him away, the more the power inside her grew—angrier and more uncontrollable.

It was a Monday, a few weeks after Cassie’s party, when Isa finally snapped.

She had spent the weekend locked up in her room, Kingston on the other side, still trying to reach her, still trying to make her talk. Brent, on the other hand, had spent his weekend with Cassie, oblivious to the tension building between Isa and Kingston.

When Isa walked to her locker that morning, she didn’t expect Kingston to be there again. But there he was, waiting as usual.

“What do you want?” Isa asked, her voice sharp, though she could feel the power within her beginning to churn.

“For you to talk to me,” Kingston said, his tone softer than before.

“Get lost, will you?” Isa snapped.

“Don’t keep pushing away the only person who is willing to talk to you,” Kingston urged.

Isa felt her temper flare, and she leaned her head against the cold metal of her locker, trying to keep herself calm. But then, Kingston’s warm hand snaked around her shoulders, and she froze. The bond between them felt like a live wire, pulsing with a strange energy she wasn’t sure she could control.

“Breathe,” Kingston said quietly. “Come find me later.”

Before she could respond, he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and rushed down the hall.

Isa’s emotions unraveled in an instant. Her magic tore open, spilling out of her like an uncontrollable storm. The power surged within her, making her heart race.

“What the hell was that?” a voice called out.

Isa turned to see Cassie glaring at her, clearly upset. “Leech, I’m talking to you.”

Cassie grabbed Isa’s shoulder, jerking her around to face her. But as soon as their eyes met, Cassie froze, her face draining of color. Isa’s eyes had gone pitch black, her aura a swirling vortex of darkness.

Without thinking, Isa let out a cruel smile and sucked the air from Cassie’s body. Cassie choked, her breath leaving her in desperate gasps. Isa pulled her into the air, holding her suspended as the students around them formed a circle, watching in stunned silence. Isa didn’t care. She didn’t care about the academy or the council or the consequences. All she wanted was Cassie’s blood.

“Rhea, what the hell are you doing?”

Isa’s head snapped toward the sound of Brent’s voice, and the anger that had been building inside her flared to a dangerous level. She didn’t know why, but the sight of Brent rushing toward her only made her more furious.

Suddenly, icy cold fingers ran down her spine, and all her power evaporated. She dropped Cassie to the ground, who gasped for air as she scrambled to regain her breath.

Brent rushed to Cassie’s side, but Isa’s attention had already shifted. Her eyes locked onto Kingston’s, his demon-red gaze locking with hers. The power she had felt earlier surged again, but this time it was different. It was stronger. More intense. Isa didn’t know what was happening to her, but she knew one thing: her life was about to change in ways she couldn’t even imagine.

“Mate,” she whispered, as everything around her seemed to spin.