'Gladly,' Quetz replied and opened his mouth to release the anger he had suppressed for so long. He let go of his fury in the form of fire over Azura's body. Soon only ashes were left, which washed away in the rain and dissolved with the ground.

And just like that Azura and Jason died. An association that started so many years, an infatuation that led him to her, jealousy that seared him, greediness, which accompanied his jealousy and his need for revenge for not getting what he wanted, brought him to the level of no return. If he had backed off the day she went to the man she loved, Daryn—this would have never happened. But his mind had stopped thinking all about it, and only one thing prevailed—to find her and kill her. Ultimately his jealousy led him to burn down to ashes and then to… nothing. Sometimes, it is better to let it go, then hang on to the tiny thread of ruin…

​​

The clouds above cleared revealing the pale yellow moon. Quetz took a circle of the skies for Dawn to calm down.

'Are you okay?' he asked. He had seen the fire that was burning in her and he was worried, because she was still heaving.

She didn't answer and so he soared higher. When chilled winds slapped her hair and cooled her cheeks and body, she closed her eyes. Jason had been there since Helena and his end was so unexpected. She didn't know that the two of them were with Lazarus because the vampire king had never known their connection. 'Why didn't Lazarus know about us?' she mused.

'I highly wonder that Emma had ever mentioned that she knew Azura. I think she had things in her mind. She wanted to make him her husband's blood slave when he resurrected. And Azura was a powerful neotide—their leader. Obviously that meant he would be a good source of her husband's unending lust for blood. What better than keeping him alive?' Quetz reasoned.

'Then why did they bring him to Samobian?'

'Who knows?' Quetz replied. 'The point is who freed them from their cages. If you hadn't come in time, if you hadn't heard Bianca's howl, it could have turned extremely dangerous.'

Feeling terrible at the prospect of what could have happened, she shuddered. 'Take me down, Quetz. I want to go to my children.' She didn't want to think about the two men who had only been a thorn in her eyes for what seemed like eternity.

Quetz dipped and floated back to the place where Bianca and Darius were, but he realized that they were no more standing in the forest. He flew out of the forest and his gaze went to two humans and a black wolf walking back to attend the festivities of Samobian. Quietly he hovered over them and then after forming a circle, after he was assured that his rider was calm, he landed on the ground several meters away from them. Dawn dismounted him and came to the front. He lowered his head to her palm and instead of patting him, she embraced around his neck.

'Calm down, Dawn. It has passed. Don't let the ghosts of the past haunt you. Just let them… go…'

She nodded against his neck. Taking a deep breath, she left him. Quetz was like a drug that was indispensable. He was vital to her existence and she didn't know if either of them would survive without each other.

By the time her kids came to her, she had left him, but Uncle Quetz was being played with cheerfully. The kids had hugged her tightly and that was it. After that Bianca had mounted him and he padded along with Darius in front of them as the three chatted.

Dawn laughed at the trio.

"They do love him a lot," said Daryn with a grin. His eyes were focused on Bianca who was appearing to glow in happiness. The siblings had a special bond with Quetz and he seemed to revel in their vicinity.

Dawn chuckled. "Yes, they have been seeing him ever since they were infants and whenever I used to visit Ensmoire, it used to become difficult for me to come out because Whispering Eobens would do everything in their power to keep them engaged. Obviously the cream of the cake was Uncle Quetz!"

Daryn let out a throaty laughter. He curled his arm around her shoulders. "You are a very brave woman, Dawn."

She lowered her head with a smile and exhaled heavily.

"We were not expecting you at all. Bianca was very upset and had been thinking about you. She even went to the extent of going and calling you personally."

Dawn sighed. She looked up at her kids. "I have become extremely busy Brantley. Daryn has gone to Ixoviya because Caleb wanted him there on an urgent basis. I am yet to know the urgency though!" She rolled her eyes. "Moreover I wouldn't have enjoyed festivities without Daryn…" She waved at the men and women in distance who were dancing and were trying their best to attract each other. "Look at this. I would cherish it more with Daryn."

Although Brantley understood what she was trying to say, he cringed. Although she was so much younger than him, she was his mother-in-law and that thought alone made him cringe. Immediately he removed his hand from her shoulders and coughed in his hand.

Dawn laughed at his reaction. They walked in silence for a while and then she said, "I think I purged the evils of my life…" She remembered what Quetz told her. "There's one thing I would like to know."

"Sure, ask me."

"Who freed Azura and Jason? I am sure there must be tight security in the dungeons. Plus the fact that they were blood slaves of Lazarus, how was it even possible that they were let free?"

Brantley pursed his lips. There was a lot going on behind his back. "I will have to look into it," he replied very quietly, almost eerily.

They all walked back to where the festivities were taking place. In order to avoid people, Quetz took off in the night's darkness. 'I have to hunt for something delicious!' he said to Dawn.

When they all entered the main area, they noticed that things were going on as usual. No one seemed disturbed, no one knew what happened and no one was even bothered. Hardly there was anyone who wasn't drunk. Men atop woman rubbing their erections off or women atop them—it was a free sex show, and everywhere.

Darius gasped. He didn't even look at his relatives and simply ran off to a group that was still dancing.

Dawn shook her head. "I have to go," she said with embarrassment.

Bianca was shocked to see her brother being such an ass. She walked back to her mother and said, "You are not going anywhere until tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day of the festival." She held her mother's hand so tightly that Dawn chuckled.

"Okay Bia," she said and they all walked through the portal that Brantley had readied for them.

As soon as they stepped into the main hall, they saw Tymir running in their direction with a frightened expression. He was sweating heavily and his dark hair clung to his forehead. "Your Highness!" he rasped.

Brantley narrowed his eyes.

"The guards just told me that the queen had freed vampire king's blood the slaves on her mother's instructions!"