The Vampire Nightmare

Chapter 19

"No!"

The cry escaped my lips before I could stop it.

The instant Darius's hand closed around the Blood Crown, a violent shockwave erupted from the pedestal.

The Hall of Memories exploded with crimson and silver light.

Everyone was thrown backward.

I slammed into a cracked pillar, knocking the breath from my lungs.

For a few seconds...

I couldn't hear anything.

Only a high-pitched ringing filled my ears.

When my vision cleared, I looked toward the center of the chamber.

Darius was still standing.

The Blood Crown rested in his hands.

But something was wrong.

The silver crown had turned black.

Dark veins spread across its surface like cracks in glass.

Darius frowned.

"Why isn't it obeying me?"

The First King slowly climbed to his feet.

"Because the Crown has never served the unworthy."

Darius's eyes flashed with rage.

"I have waited centuries!"

"I have sacrificed everything!"

"And still it rejects me?"

The blackened crown began to shake violently.

A deep, ancient voice echoed from within it.

"Blood alone is not enough."

The chamber trembled.

The cracks in the walls widened.

Outside the palace, thunder rolled across the crimson sky.

I struggled to my feet.

Cassian hurried to my side despite the blood running from his wound.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

I managed a weak smile.

"I've had worse days."

He almost smiled back.

Then his expression hardened.

"Aria."

"The Crown is calling you."

I looked toward it.

He was right.

The Blood Crown was glowing again.

Not with darkness.

With silver light.

It was pulling me toward it.

Step by step...

I walked forward.

Darius raised his sword.

"Don't come any closer!"

The Crown answered for me.

A beam of silver light burst from it, forcing Darius backward.

He crashed into the far wall with a cry of pain.

The crown floated free from his hands.

It hovered in the air between us.

The entire chamber fell silent.

I stopped only a few feet away.

"What do you want from me?" I whispered.

The crown pulsed gently.

Then, to everyone's astonishment...

It lowered itself onto my head.

The moment it touched me...

My body filled with blinding light.

I cried out as memories poured into my mind.

Aurelia's laughter.

The first coronation.

The founding of Noctis.

The ancient war against the Void.

Cassian kneeling before the throne.

Seraphine reaching for my hand as children.

Then...

A voice.

Not Aurelia's.

Not the Crown's.

Something far older.

"The seal is broken."

My eyes snapped open.

The silver light vanished.

The Blood Crown rested perfectly on my head.

Every person in the chamber stared at me.

The First King slowly bowed.

"My Queen."

Kael followed.

Then the guards.

One by one, the entire Royal Council knelt.

Even Seraphine lowered her head.

Only Darius remained standing.

He looked at me...

And smiled.

Not with anger.

Not with hatred.

With satisfaction.

A cold dread settled over me.

"Why are you smiling?"

His quiet laughter echoed through the ruined hall.

"Because..."

"...the Crown has done exactly what I wanted."

Before anyone could react, the palace floor split open.

A massive c***k tore through the Hall of Memories.

Darkness poured from the abyss beneath the palace.

It wasn't smoke.

It wasn't shadow.

It was something alive.

Something ancient.

The First King's face drained of color.

"No..."

"It has awakened."

From the endless darkness, two enormous crimson eyes slowly opened.

Then a voice, deeper than thunder, echoed across Noctis.

"At last..."

"...my Queen has returned."