A Queen Among Darkness: Chapter Fifty-One - Valeria

A Queen Among Darkness: Chapter Fifty-One - Valeria
Amelia looks at him in surprise, “Jazz?”

“You know how I told you I broke out of that venator prison?” He asks. Amelia nods in response and I feel my stomach twist into a knot. He did not just say venator prison. Please don’t fucking tell me I’m in a room with a wolf my family locked in a cell. Give me a fucking break! “Well, I didn’t break out, so much as I was broken out,” he admits.

“Who broke you out?” Amelia asks curiously.

“Her animai,” he says, gesturing to me. Motherfucking cunt of a fucking shit! Suddenly everyone’s eyes blow wide. “She told me she had a vision of my death, so she got herself captured so she could free me, but she got the timing off and ended up in there days early. When I saw her she was weak and had been heavily tortured, but it didn’t stop her. She got every single one of us out and to our homes. I confronted her about Mei, and she told me much of what Valeria has just told us,” he explains.

“Jasper…” Amelia says in disbelief, “You knew an innocent woman was being wrongly accused and you said nothing?”

“I wanted to! I told her I would tell everyone how she saved my life and got me home to my family, but she told me not to. She demanded I say nothing. She feared if I tried to testify for her that her aunt would kill me and my family to silence me. She was protecting me,” he says sadly, lowering his head, “I shouldn’t have listened. If I’d said something this wouldn’t have happened,” he says guiltily.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” I tell him, “Trust me, she wouldn’t have let you put yourself at risk for her under any circumstances. She’s annoying like that,” I say in annoyance, even though it just makes me miss her more.

“She was blurry,” Mei whispers, causing everyone to look at her.

“What do you mean?” Chris gently asks.

“When I first saw Isolde, or who I was told was Isolde, she was blurry. Everyone else was fine, but she was blurry. I thought it was because of the snake’s head and serpentine,” she says looking up at Chris with guilt in her eyes.

“A High Priestess is a being of light. You as the Gold Snake of Healing are also a being of light. It’s possible you saw through the illusion and recognised fake light,” Amelia says thoughtfully.

“The first night…” Mei says, taking a deep breath as if recalling a painful memory.

Chris tightens his hold on her, “It’s okay, xingan baobei, you don’t have to say more,” he assures her.

She shakes her head, “Yes, I do!” She says forcefully, “That night I heard them fighting. He threatened to report her to Delegation, and she laughed. She said nothing would make her happier than for him to tell the Delegation what she had done, and she even said her name, or what I thought was her name.”

I clench my fists at my sides and bite down on my molars so hard I swear I taste blood. “That fucking bitch. She was just once again hoping it would be another crime listed against Izzy. She was gloating about it,” I spit venomously.

“I think you were meant to be here,” Amelia announces.

I pull in my rage and look at her in confusion, “I don’t follow.”

“I’m not a believer in coincidences, and there’s a giant one in my office. I think the fact your animai had a vision that allowed her to save Jasper, which in turn allowed him to be here right now to bear witness to your story is less of a coincidence and more like the universe being on your side. Or someone watching over you,” she says, folding her arms over her chest.

“That’s a bit of a reach, don’t you think?” Eric counters.

“So it’s just dumb luck that the one person who can save Isolde is Mei and that it just so happens to be while Jasper is here for his training session, which he can only attend because Isolde just happened to have a vision that saved his life? That’s a literal domino effect of epic proportions,” she argues.

I stare at Amelia in stunned silence. Is it possible there’s some higher power working to save Izzy? Something saved Izzy the night of the fire, she believes that wholeheartedly. Could the same thing be saving her now somehow? Once upon a time, I’d call this utter bullshit, but right now I don’t care. If it helps me save Izzy, that’s all that matters.

“Coincidence or fate, I don’t care. I care about saving Izzy and I need help to do that,” I say as I look at Mei pleadingly, “You’re the only one who can heal her. Even if they don’t execute her, she’ll still die. Makkares can’t heal hemlock poisoning. You’re her only chance.”

Mei looks at me thoughtfully and after a moment, walks over and gently places her hand on my cheek. Instinctively, I want to pull away, but I’d rather not offend her, so I stay perfectly still. I watch as her chocolate brown eyes shift to reveal intense gold reptilian eyes. I can’t help but stare in surprise. I’ve seen nagata eyes before, but they were all green, I’ve never seen a nagata with golden eyes before, but I’ve never met nagata royalty before either.

Suddenly her hand begins to emit a stunning golden light and I watch as that light travels from her hand and into my cheek. My face begins to feel warm, and that warmth quickly spreads through my body, and as it spreads I feel every ache and pain disappearing from my body. Mei’s face furrows in confusion as the light disappears and she lowers her hand, her eyes returning to chocolate brown.

“I healed your injuries, but there was another pain I couldn’t heal. It felt so hollow and suffocating,” she says sadly.

I feel the tears fill my eyes. She can feel the pain of my rejection? How is that even possible?

“Izzy rejected me to save my life,” I say as I look away. I hear the sound of their gasps, and I don’t want to see the pity in their eyes.

“Goddess, how are you still standing?” Jasper asks in astonishment.

I look at him, once again channelling my pain into anger, “What would you do if your animai was going to die and you were the only one willing to save her? If she gave up everything so you could live. Would you just crawl away and weep over your broken heart? Or would you get off your ass and fight for her? Soulmate, animai, whatever. She’s the woman I love, and my best friend and she needs me, so I don’t care how much it hurts, I’m not giving up until I know she’s safe and that bitch is six feet under,” I snap at him.

The room falls silent. I may have just offended them when I’m meant to be talking them around, but when it comes to this, I’m not holding my tongue.

“I’ll help you,” Mei says compassionately.

I whip my head to look at her and feel the first ray of hope in hours.

“Mei, no!” Chris shouts, stepping up to her, “You can’t just go with her, it’s not safe,” he begs, fear filling his eyes.

“She needs my help. She’s no different to you Chris. You were just like her when I was taken, and I know you’d have done anything to get me back,” she says, holding her hand to his cheek. He closes his eyes and leans into her touch, “I know how it feels to be betrayed and have your life ruined by someone who was meant to be family,” she says quietly.

Chris’ eyes open as he looks at her sadly, “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he whispers, leaning down and pressing his forehead against hers.

“I know. But I want to help, and I want to help put away the real person who helped Zixin hurt me. She was the reason my people were trapped for twenty years. It’s not justice if another innocent person pays for her crimes. I have to do this, not just for my people, but because it’s the right thing to do,” she says more confidently. Wow. For someone so small and meek, she’s incredibly wise and strong-willed. “Besides, the Delegation won’t let anything happen to me,” she says with a smile.

Chris gives a disgruntled snort, “I’ve heard that before.”

Mei sighs, “I need to do this, Chris. I promise to stay in touch the whole time.”

“Look, I know it doesn’t mean much, and I’m going to guess despite her size, she’s incredibly strong, but I swear I won’t let her get hurt,” I promise him.

Chris looks up at me and takes in a deep breath, “Anything happens to her, and I will kill you.” Mei jabs his arm giving him a disapproving look.

“That sounds more than reasonable to me,” I shrug.

“Marcus is going to be so pissed he chose today to visit his parents,” Amelia smirks, making Eric and Jasper snigger.

Mei turns to me and bounces excitedly, “I’ve never been to the Kartheca! How will we get there?”

I look around the room at all the supernatural faces, and I feel such a conflicting mix of guilt and relief. All these people knew was that I was a killer, and they still welcomed me and heard me out. They didn’t judge me or condemn me when they had every right to. They’ve shown me more compassion and understanding than I ever showed their kind in my entire life, but because of their kindness, I have a chance to save Izzy. I just hope I’m not too late.