The Rise of the Fallen Queen

Chapter 72

CHAPTER 72

Landon stared at the worn photo that he had studied so many times before. Every detail was burned into his mind but still he looked it over again. It was a family photo that had been taken the day Jessie had told him that she was expecting their third child. They had been so happy and excited to add to their growing family.

He felt completely alone. It took him some time to get used to the silence. Landon's wolf was still present but didn't make so much as a whimper in his mind. Both man and beast were depressed and quiet. Reilly tried to boost his spirits and fortunately could carry on an entire conversation including one sided argument with himself without any input. Landon was grateful for the noise but at times like these, the lack of sound was deafening.

Landon spent a lot of time blaming himself for everything. Even under a spell, he still felt that it was his fault for looking and being tempt. Jessie was his love and their family together was his life. Without them, he had nothing. It was hard to be with his kids after he had awakened from his failed suicide attempt. They had questions to which he had no answers and Jessie wasn't there to help him. He felt like a failure to his kids as much as he had failed his mate.

When Reilly offered to take him to the Sprite Kingdom, Landon was hesitant but then was reassured that Kamda would not be allowed to cross the border. The genie was a thorn in his side and regret that he would have to live with forever. Wishing that she would miscarry made him feel worst since it wasn't the babe's fault that its mother was a bitch and its father was a cheater. But then he also felt that he would never want anything to do with him or her because they didn't belong to his mate. And that wasn't fair to the little one.

The temptation to put a silver bullet in his head hit him once more but after almost killing himself, he hadn't worked up the nerve to try again. A voice called from in front of the tent.

"Come in." he called.

A dark-haired man entered. His scent gave him away as a vampire and he looked familiar but Landon could not remember his name.

"Good evening, Gamma Paige. My name is Darius Manasseh and I was wondering if you mind sharing your tent for the night. I've just arrived and was told to come here since there aren't many single campers in double tents. I promise to sort out some other arrangement tomorrow."

"No, it's fine. I already told Peace Keeper Mason that if anyone needed extra accommodations, they could share this tent provided that the snoring is kept to a minimal."

Darius chuckled lightly, "I assure you; I sleep like the dead."

"Was that a vampire joke?" Landon asked with a smile.

Darius laughed lightly as he set down his gear and unroll his sleeping bag.

"There's an extra cot right there." Landon said with a nod toward the right.

"Ah. My thanks. Better than sleeping directly on the ground but not by much."

Once settled, Darius asked. "Is that your family?"

Landon glanced at the photo and swallowed. "It was."

"I'm sorry."

Landon smiled sadly, "I am the cause of my own sorrows."

Tucking away the photo, he lay on his cot, turned off the lamp, and fantasized about the past. Landon imagined waking up next to his mate's warm soft body to discover that all of this had been a horrible dream until he fell asleep.

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Mido bid Night and Asya a good evening before walking beside his Soulmate as they returned to their tent. Razdor opted to stay with the other demons near the Sprite's royal tent. The couple checked on Skylar who insisted upon having her own small tent near Mido and Lucy's camp. The pink tent stood out against surrounding the canvases and the little girl was sound asleep on her small mattress and rolled up in her pink and purple flowered sleeping bag.

"She's always so serious and acts so grown that I forget that she's just a little girl." Lucy whispered. "Her tiny shoulders bare far too much weight."

Mido silently watched his granddaughter sleep so innocently and the sadness squeezed his heart. A battlefield was no place for a child. A lump of guilt lodged in his throat and he decided to take her away from here tomorrow.

"She won't go." Lucy said as she dropped the tent flap then placed a protection spell on the outside so that only Skylar could enter or exit.

"She can't stay here." Mido insisted.

"Her mother sacrificed her life to make certain Skylar was safe. I tried for the longest time to protect Shadow but she could never be contained. The harder I tried the further she slipped from me. So, I stopped and then she started to come to me for help. It was hard to lose Shadow. I grieved like a mother losing a child but, in the end, I knew there was nothing I could've done to stop it. Skylar and Shadow are anomalies, they are seers and all you can do is giving them as much love and support as they need."

Mido was quiet as they prepared for bed. The double mattress, allowed them to sleep side by side. Holding his Soulmate close to his chest, Mido pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

"You would have been a good mother." Mido said.

"I was a mother. You gave me many children over the years."

Mido sighed thinking about his possession by the Incubus demon, Razdor, in exchange for saving Lucy's life. Razdor would wait until his host had fallen asleep and then use Mido's body to feed his need for sex. Lucy, or Ebony as she was known, eventually left him when a pregnant woman showed up at their door demanding money for the babes she was about to birth.

Ebony ended up raising the woman's twin daughters and a few others including, Shade, Shadow, and Night who had been borne of Razdor's Balm, Angel. All that time, Ebony was kept in the dark about the possession and Mido could not speak of the demon due their deal.

"Do not be troubled." She said as she interlocked her fingers with his hand that rested on her waist. "The past is the past. It cannot be changed."

Mido knew and the thought brought him no peace.