House of Cards (26 page)

Their own kind. For some reason, Sherry’s thoughts drifted towards Clara, and she felt a twinge of guilt for leaving her in Cadamon. Although they hadn’t been close, she had saved Sherry from Thomas. Then again, she’d done nothing to prevent Lucas from being tortured. And there was something eerie about her, the way she’d regained her composure so quickly after the Master died. Maybe Lucas was right, and certain vampires really could just shut off their emotions, like water from a faucet. Tender one moment, cold-hearted the next. Clara was definitely not to be trusted, no matter how grateful Sherry might be.

“If one of them left the House now, for example,” Lucas said, “to come after us, it would leave any position they had there vulnerable.”

“Another one of the vampires could make a play to become leader, and the absent one wouldn’t be around to stop it.”

“Once again, you impress me with your keen understanding. That’s exactly it, yes. Not one of them would take that chance now, not since it’s the first loss of a leader in over four hundred years. But there might be another reason for their hesitation to pursue us. Can you imagine what that might be?”

Sherry thought of the vampires she and Lucas would soon join. Could the House’s members be afraid of them? Not likely. If their future hosts were a force to be reckoned with, surely they’d have gone after those living in Cadamon by now. And Lucas wasn’t strong enough to fight his former companions off all at once. That left only . . .

“Me?” Sherry didn’t really believe that was the answer, but she pointed tentatively to her chest anyway.

Lucas laughed. “Of
course
you! Do you think it’s every night that they see a mortal girl telekinetically chop off a vampire’s head? It was certainly a first for me, and I’ve been around for quite a while now. They don’t know what else you’re capable of.”

“Lucas,
I
don’t know what else I’m capable of!” Several people on the platform turned to stare at Sherry, and she realized she’d spoken a bit too loudly.

She lowered her voice. “What if that was the only time I could lift anything that heavy? The second time you saw me drop the sword, it was . . . an act, of sorts. I did it just to scare them; I felt way too tired and weak to do anything more. If one of the other vampires had approached me, I never would have been able to take off their heads. And I still don’t know why you think it’s so great,” she said quietly. “I could have really hurt somebody with that sword.”

“And you did hurt somebody, pet. Luckily for us, it was the right somebody.”

Sherry rolled her eyes and lightly punched Lucas in the arm. “You know what I mean. What if I’d lost control? If the sword kept on spinning, or banging around the room? Power is pretty scary if you don’t know how to use it.”

“Then you’ll learn to use it, darling. Nothing wrong with that. I’m sure you’ll employ it for only the highest good. You have already done more than I ever thought possible, my love. You set me free. You were so quick, and forceful, and courageous. I, and every mortal now free of the Master’s murderous bloodlust, are forever in your debt. You’re a heroine to them, Sherry, and my savior.”

Sherry felt herself blushing harder than she’d ever blushed in her life. Amid her sputtered protests and Lucas’s attempts to hush them, she wondered if he could be right. Her, a heroine? Like some sort of psychic superwoman? Maybe she
could
learn to control her powers. Who knew what special destiny fate had in store for her? For both of them?

“Yes, dear one,” Lucas continued as they boarded the train. “You have developed a great and profound strength.” He lowered his voice so that the other passengers wouldn’t hear. “We are finally free of the House of Cadamon. Its unholy residents are bound to their petty power plays and soul-eating jealousies, while we are enjoying our first taste of liberty, with many more to come.”

It was settled, then: she and Lucas would be together. He’d turn her into a vampire—or not. After all, what if Lucas was right? No one, not even Sherry, knew what she was capable of. The possibilities were endless, and there was all the time in the world to explore them.

And they’d finally be able to consummate their relationship. Just the thought of abandoning herself, at
last
, in Lucas’s arms was enough to make her giddy with anticipation.

To no longer walk around with a vaguely aching heart, wondering how it felt to be on the inside of love. Now she would know. She would join the world of all those happy mortals she’d seen on the streets and in the squares. She’d know what it felt like to have someone to come home to, to be filled from head to toe by a warmth and love that not even time could tarnish. She knew that Kaileen, wherever she might be, was happy for her.

They walked down the aisles of the train in a comfortable silence, broken a few moments later by Lucas as they found their seats.

“I meant what I said, you know.” He turned to face her. “You don’t have to come with me if I . . . if I repulse you.”

“
Repulse
me? My love, have you completely lost your mind? Why would you repulse me? Is it because of . . . of what Gavin did? If there are scars, or bruises, I’ll love you anyway! Why, I’ll turn right around and go back to the House and chop off his head with my bare—”

He quickly covered her mouth with his white, silken hand. “No, my precious. Not that. There are no scars. There never will be. And Gavin . . . I don’t care about him. Or what he did. Over the long centuries I’ve learned there is nothing so draining, so antithetical to life as seeking revenge. I am grateful just to be gone from there and to have you with me. What I meant was . . . what if you cannot stand what I’ve become? It occurred to me, during my ‘punishment,’ that you may be unable to love me after knowing the unspeakable things I’ve done. It’s true that they weren’t by my own choice, but still, these hands . . .” He took his fingers off her mouth and looked down at his palms. “These hands have done terrible things. That may not be a story you want to hear, or a destiny you want to share.”

She wrapped her arms firmly around him, pulling him onto the seat as the train slowly began making its way out of the station. Her birdcage necklace glowed beneath the soft overhead lights.

“We’ll make up a new story. Our own destiny. You and me.”

“Together.”

THE END

Afterword

Thank you so much for reading
House of Cards
. If you enjoyed the book, let me know! I’m strongly considering writing a sequel. And feel free to review it on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, and more. You can post about it on Facebook, Twitter, or even your blog. If you are kind enough to do even one of these things, you’ll make my day—I guarantee it.

Don’t forget to visit me at
ilanawaters.com
, on
Twitter
, or
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. You can also sign up for my newsletter. You’ll receive insider information on new releases, contests, giveaways, and other supercool stuff! While you’re at it,
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and grab
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.

Look for more fiction releases in 2013.

About the Author

Ilana Waters is a freelance writer who lives in New Jersey. When not creating content for websites, she can be found working on fiction—as well as nibbling string cheese. She once pet-sat an electric eel, and enjoys walking in circles around the park for no particular reason. A Tarot practitioner for almost twenty years, she has yet to meet a vampire. But she never stops looking.

Acknowledgments

I’d like t
o thank the following people for the following roles:

Marcia Trahan
: Critiquer, editor, and proofreader extraordinaire.

Streetlight Graphics
: Cover artists and formatters. Also, they get special credit for not killing me when I ask for ten thousand tiny changes.

Alexandra C., Jolene H., and Lynsey N.: bodacious beta readers.

Everyone I might have forgotten to add: helpers who, in any way, saw this project through to completion. If I omitted them, there is no one but myself to blame.