Chapter 153: A Poltergeist Strategy Fully Endorsed

"The gods were enraged when they learned what had happened. But they were unable to interfere. For imposing another curse upon the damned would undo the first one, giving the creatures of the night the ability to enter into wolf homes, walk in sunlight, and fully restore their eternal youth."

Freya paused because both Maverick and Maria tensed at the same time. Nova felt Maverick stiffen next to her and saw Maria visibly wince.

Maria opened one eye, reading the room. "Our father used to tell us this part. He would wait until it was dark. Lights off. Fire low. And right when the queen offered her life, he would grab both of us and scream."

"Every time," Maverick confirmed, still looking straight ahead.

"I fell off a chair once," Maria added.

"Twice."

"It was once."

"It was twice, Maria. I caught you the second time."

"Sounds like once to me. I didn’t fall if I was caught."

Maverick considered this. "Good point. Fine. Once."

Freya smiled and continued. "Yes, the queen then offered her own life in exchange for the ability to restore the light within both kings from the heavens, so that they may save her surviving son and return home safely."

Dante reached for Freya’s hand. She took it without looking.

"The gods agreed to her sacrifice. But when the daughter heard her mother bargaining with the gods, she understood what was happening and crawled to the altar on her own. She placed her hands on her mother’s body, channeled every drop of light she had inherited into the queen, and the queen’s sacrifice became twice as powerful."

Nova’s jaw dropped. She had never been told bedtime stories as a child, but if she had been told this one, she absolutely would’ve had nightmares. And she probably would never tell this bedtime story to any child ever.

The gift of this nightmare kept on giving. Freya, bless her, soldiered on.

"When the queen died on the altar, the gods bestowed a Moonseal upon each King. Through the Moonseals, the queen’s divine light was restored in both kings. The vampires who stood against them were reduced to ash and both kings broke free of their captors."

"But," Nova said, because she could feel it coming.

"But." Freya nodded. "The dark magic that had slowly consumed their memories was purged, but their memories could never be restored. So when each returned to their kingdoms, to them, essentially time had rewound back to the day before they marked the princess, before either chose her as their queen."

"She died for two men who woke up and didn’t know her name," Maria translated for Nova in case she missed it the first time. "She sacrificed herself. She DIED. On an altar. For two men. And they wake up and go ’who’s this?’ Like she’s a stranger. Like she didn’t just trade her LIFE for theirs. If I were the queen, I would haunt both of them. Aggressively. With furniture."

"Maria—"

"I would move their things, Maverick. Every night. Until they remembered."

Freya considered this, then gave a nod in full agreement with Maria’s poltergeist logistics.

"Both kings felt something was missing. Their wolves agreed. So both independently questioned the gods. The gods gave them both the same answer. They had a mate who sacrificed herself to save their lives, along with a daughter. The light their wolves manifested to turn vampires into ash was because of their queen, and their gifts of fire and lightning were given after marking her. Their late queen also bore them each a son."

Dante whistled once and shook his head. "That’s one heck of a pill to swallow."

Freya looked at Dante the way a wife looks at a husband who has just summarized the most devastating part of her story with a whistle. Dante raised his cup in surrender.

"As you can imagine, at this news, both kings were enraged. The King of Lightning demanded to know where his son was. The gods told him that his son had been captured and it was the queen’s dying wish to save him. The king spent every day for the rest of his life, searching for the son he lost, only to never find him."

Nova’s throat tightened at the thought of a king searching for a son he would never find.

"Never?" she asked quietly.

Freya shook her head once.

"When the King of Fire demanded his son’s whereabouts, the gods told him that his son had been captured, killed, and blood magic had turned him into a creature of the night, so that his soul was damned for eternity. Upon learning this, the king searched day and night to find him. Unlike the King of Lightning, the King of Fire did eventually find his own son. The gods were right. The boy had been corrupted by blood magic and had turned into a creature of the damned. Unlike the other creatures, when the boy saw his father, he was not afraid. He walked up to him and said he had been waiting for him to come."

Dante had gone still in his chair. The kind of still that comes from a father who has heard this story a hundred times and still puts his own sons’ faces on the boy every single time.

"The King of Fire held his son and told him a story until the boy closed his eyes, and when he did, a white light brighter than any flame the king had ever summoned poured from the king’s arms and carried the boy’s soul to the heavens, the last gift of the princess who had given her life alongside her mother so that her brother would not be damned."

Maria rolled up her sleeve. On her forearm a red symbol was glowing. It was small, but looked like flame. Nova stared at it.

Maverick pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maria."

"What? Freya is about to get to this part. I’m giving her a visual aid," Maria replied.

Dante squinted at it. "Hold that up for a moment, Maria."

Maria obliged, arm extended like she was presenting a trophy.

"Freya, look at the intensity on hers. It’s almost as bright as Nova’s," Dante said.

Maria visibly puffed out her chest and sat up straighter, radiating pure pride.

Nova looked at Maverick. Maverick looked at Nova. Both of them looked away before they started laughing.

"I saw that. She was mine first, Maverick. Find your own glower," Maria said.

"Yes, that is a bright one," Freya commented, staring at Maria’s mark.

"Thank you," Maria replied. "Now that Nova has seen it, please continue with the story."

Freya’s eyes crinkled at the corners, the kind of crinkle that said this girl is wonderful and I am keeping her.

"Before the queen’s light left the world entirely, the gods offered Moonseals to other Alpha bloodlines deemed worthy, each bearing the mark of its ancestral element and abilities with their respective elements to be passed down on the paternal side. But it came at a price. To receive one, the Alphas swore an oath to protect the moon blessed. If the oath was ever broken, their souls and the souls of every descendant to follow would be cast beyond the reach of the Moon Goddess, never to know rest, rebirth, or mercy. Ultimately, the gift was given to ten Alpha bloodlines, including the two already bestowed to fire and lightning."