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Lukas’s eyes glowed green. “I froze him and shattered him with a dagger.”

The grin on his face was downright diabolical. “Froze?” I asked.

Elijah leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. “The angel blood,” he marveled. “I wasn’t sure how it would affect you.”

“Me either,” he admitted, before turning to me. “Yes. He’s in pieces now, carried away by the wind.”

Unsure how to respond, I stayed silent. Selena looked excited and intrigued. She was either more used to this stuff than me, or she had a morbid streak I couldn’t match.

“Maybe nothing will grow up there anymore cuz his remains contaminated it. Everyone will know he sucked,” she said. “No pun intended.” She guffawed. Loudly.

Lukas’s eyes slowly shut and he pinched the top of his nose. Elijah stood and refilled their glasses.

“What are you guys going to do now?” Selena asked, glancing between me and the man by my side. Her chest was still shaking with laughter.

I peered up at him, and he glanced down at me. His eyes crinkled in the corners with a small smile, but I saw some concern flickering.

“We’ll go the Second.” He took a deep breath. “I’m taking it over.”

CHAPTER 34

Cassia

Elijah let us stay in the castle for a few more days so Lukas could fully recover. Allowing him to return to full strength was probably more accurate. He would never fully recover—he was leaving two thousand years of dwelling in the First Realm, and everything he’d ever known, behind. Same as I had with the Third.

The wound on his side didn’t disappear like most injuries would, for a vampire. The blade was spelled and left a three-inch long scar on his torso. It didn’t matter what he tried; the mark just wouldn’t go away. It annoyed him enough that the sword he flung into the wall split the rock.

We left the new renovation in the guest room alone.

Before we went to leave, I gave Selena a big hug that she enthusiastically returned. “Don’t worry, we’ll make them play nice so we can hang out,” she whispered in my ear before we let go of each other.

My lips pressed together as I nodded, my heart in my throat over the thought of never seeing her again. Swallowing, I turned to Lukas, placing my hands in his.

He gave Elijah a stiff nod, his eyes softening slightly. My pulse raced, thinking about how we were going to an entirely new Realm, and one neither of us was familiar with. Lukas pressed his lips to my forehead and then we were gone.

When I opened my eyes, we were in the courtyard of a massively tall castle. It was easily two or three times the size of the First Realm’s palace, and definitely bigger than Elijah and Selena’s place.

The building was a modern, black, Gothic, marvel with sharp sleek points that seemed like they could cut the sky open. The castle looked like something from a beautiful nightmare.

Behind us laid a village, the architecture similar in many ways to the castle, but with a more cozy feel. From our elevation, I could see a tall, reinforced wall circling the establishment. In the distance, fires burned, and I saw the red haze my friend had told me about.

Near the horizon, there was a green landscape, forest, and even farther away was a range of mountains. Between a short patch of trees beyond the wall and before the green landscape, there were patches of orange-red desert.

Lukas twisted in a circle, raising a single hand with his palm upward. “There’s a problem I need to address.”

He glanced at me and then waved his hand my way. “You’re always dressing me in black,” I mused. It was a lovely gown with a cinched waist and flowing layers. “I was dressing for comfort, not style.”

“Black suits you,” he said, touching my cheek, “it brings out your eyes. But that’s not the issue.”

Lifting the hem of my dress, I turned my ankle back and forth, admiring the heeled boots that had appeared. “What’s the issue?”

He stroked his chin as he scanned the horizon. “Demon hordes. They’re out there conspiring. It seems we have unwanted visitors in our home, as well.” He flicked a hand at the entry doors, and they flew open.

“And there’s a state house, not too far away. Full of men—abominations. Thieves. They are going to die.” His gaze turned dark. “I have work to do.”

Lukas looked terrifying. The energy that swirled around him was menacing and insidious, and the whites of his eyes turned black.

“Where do we go?”