Reckoning (32 page)

She dashed away a tear. “I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t know how to trust you again. I thought for sure you would somehow realize that the things I did I would never willingly do. I guess I hoped you would have faith in me.” She swept her hand across her forehead to move the hair out of her eyes. “There’s a lot to think about…the kingdom…the safety of the children…”

“I will turn my back on everything and everyone I know to be with you. Whatever you need me to do or say or give you for you to want to be with me again, I’ll make it happen. I’ll be ordinary Riley Romeo West and not the king if that’s what you need.”

Her chin trembled. “You would walk away from the crown?”

“Only for you. Just please don’t ask me to walk away from you. From us. I’m not strong enough to do that.

She put her hands on my face, running her hands across my features. “My Romeo.”

I closed my eyes, reveling in her touch. My throat constricted.

“I’m Romeo only if you’re my Juliet. Otherwise, I never want to hear the name again.” I lifted the crown and held it out to her, not surprised to see my hand shaking. Whether or not my heart continued to beat hinged on this moment. On her answer. “I love you. Will you accept this?”

For the first time since my arrival, she smiled. “Yes.”

When she smiled, I could breathe. I hadn’t lost the girl I loved. I felt like I could leap over a mountain. Crush the Void with my bare hands. I placed the crown on her head, even though it wasn’t official. As far as I was concerned, Juliet was already my queen. I had to wipe my sweaty palms down the side of my pants. I gazed into her eyes and could barely breathe. The only thing in the entire universe I wanted was her. I flicked a glance at her lips and as if she could see my thoughts, she parted them and breathed out my name.

I threaded my fingers through her hair. “You will always rule the kingdom of my heart. Always.”

She let out a small sob, and I lowered my head to hers. When my lips touched hers, the warmth of her breath blended with mine. I kissed her deeply, hoping I could somehow convey the endless love I felt for her. I pulled her closer, gently nipping at her lower lip.

Juliet tightened her grip at the back of my neck, urging me closer. The Earth and the entire galaxy disappeared, but she was right in front of me. All I would ever see. Ever need. I couldn’t get enough of her. My pulse kicked up when she shifted and ran her hands down my back.

Her kiss was a mixture of forgiveness and hope. I put my hand under her chin and broke the kiss before I died from the sweet torture of it. “Are you ready to come home with me?”

She smiled. “I’m ready.”

“How about a new home?”

She raised her eyebrows.

“I don’t want to live here any more. Earth isn’t where we belong. There will always be animosity between our species, and I don’t want another war. I’d rather leave.”

Juliet nodded. “The spaceship we used to come to Earth in is still available. We can go to Shion and build our kingdom there.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “You want to get Henry and the children out of hiding?” I linked my hand with hers and together we went back inside the cabin.

Chapter 27

JULIET

An air of excitement filled the castle. Not only was it a day of celebration because of Riley’s upcoming coronation and our union ceremony but because immediately afterward, we would leave Earth.

The spaceship was already loaded with supplies and waiting on a secret airstrip near the White House for us to board. Some of the Guards had remarked how helpful the agents at FAD had been in getting us the supplies we needed. I didn’t doubt that. They wanted us gone.

A soft tap sounded on the door, and Henry walked in followed by the children. I had to clench my teeth together when I saw Maisy’s stump. She’d started refusing to wear the prosthetic and seemed perfectly happy without it, but the day she’d been injured would forever haunt me.

Henry held out his arm. “Are you ready, my queen?”

I tucked my hand into the crook of his arm, and we walked down the grand staircase and out into the field behind the castle. The coronation had to be held outside to hold all the Supernaturals in attendance. From the castle to a third of the way into the field, a red carpet led the way to a small platform. On the right side of the platform stood Riley decked out in the royal robes. Slightly behind him, Stone kept a watchful eye. Riley had stunned the Supernaturals by issuing an edict declaring Stone as his second in command.

Across the way, Riley met my eyes and smiled. I smiled back and the royal unifier began reciting the passing of the crown to Riley using the original language of Shimea Prime. Then after kissing the crown to show his loyalty, he set it gently on Riley’s head. The Supernaturals all bowed in deference. Once Riley straightened, Henry led me forward on the red carpet until I reached Riley’s side.

The children filed to my right, fidgeting in the thick robes they wore. Along with our union, Riley was making it official that the children were members of royalty, forever protecting them from their lower class as mixed-bloods.

The royal unifier raised his hands for the crowd to silence; then he draped a purple sash across Riley and me, pulling us closer together within the confines of the cloth. The front of the sash held words in our language that blessed our union. When the royal unifier was done, he raised his hands upward and fired a short burst of his power toward the sky.

We would wait until we were on a planet of our own before we would have a celebration event. For now, it was important for us to meet the FBI waiting at the spaceship. As we traveled toward the White House, the humans spilled from their homes and some of them cheered and gave each other high fives, glad to see us leave.

Riley squeezed my hand, knowing without speaking the same thing I did. Had it not been for me ending the Night of Grief, they would all be dead.

At the airport, Rick Simon stood by the entrance leading into the spaceship. He gave me a tight hug. “I’ll never forget you.”

“Me too,” I said blinking back tears. “Where’s your partner?”

“On his way back to his home planet with his people.” Rick made a face. “Guy freaked me out when he blinked at me with those eyes.”

“Did you find Stacy?”

“Sure did. She’s safe. As soon as things settle down, we’re getting married.” He kissed my forehead. “Be happy.”

“Already am,” I said.

After the last of the Supernaturals boarded, me, Riley, and Stone followed. When the three of us were on board, the door slowly closed.

The lights of the spaceship dimmed as it powered up. From the window, I watched Rick cover his head and run back to his vehicle. Would I miss Earth? Probably. It was where I’d been born. But the possibility of a new, better life stretched before all of us and that excited me. The Tazavorn would flourish on the new planet. Of that, I was sure.

Within minutes, the spaceship blew free of Earth’s atmosphere, and we were traveling through space.

“It’s too bad the humans will never know the whole truth about our lives here,” Riley said. “I’m sure the humans will rewrite history at some point to whitewash what they did to our people.”

“I don’t care. I know the truth and so do you.”

“The future generation of humans will know our history as well as what Juliet did for them,” Stone said. “I inscribed it in a hologram and ordered it to find the right human. When the time is right, it will.”

Henry approached with a worried frown on his face. “We’re eight people short. He touched a square on the spaceship’s panel. “This is the number of Supernaturals slated to leave Earth with us today. Eight of them didn’t make it to the ship. Four adults and four children.”

I looked at Riley. “Our people…”

“We can’t go back for them,” Riley said. “The ship is programmed straight for Shion and the route can’t be altered.”

“What are they going to do? A handful of aliens on such a hostile planet?” Henry asked.

I pressed my hand to the glass as if I could impart courage to those we’d left behind. “They’ll make it. They’re Tazavorn.”

“She’s right,” Riley said. “They have the courage and the strength. Someday, they’ll find a way to come home.”

He put his arm around me and leaned down to kiss me. A promise that whatever the unknown future held, we were in it together.

Also from Lyrical Press, Book #1 of Julie Anne Lindsey’s Calypso series,

Prophecy, available now!

On the other side of death, is destiny.

Callie Ingram is spending her senior year focused on one thing: swimming. Her skill as a competitive swimmer is going to secure a scholarship and her future, or so she hopes. She has big plans, and Liam Hale, her gorgeous new neighbor, isn’t going to affect them. But when Callie sees Liam beheading someone, she learns his family has a secret that will change everything. The Hales are Vikings, demi-gods who’ve been charged by The Fates to find their new destined leader.

Callie’s caught in the middle of a budding Norse apocalypse, in love with Liam Hale and desperate to protect her best friend…who the Hales believe is marked for transformation. Putting the clues together as fast as she can, she discovers she has the power to rewrite destiny, for herself and all humankind.

Learn more about Julie Anne at

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/31621

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Chapter 1

“I’ve got one.” Allison scooped wild brown hair into a ponytail and smiled. “Would you rather…”

I groaned.
Would you rather
was like
Truth or Dare,
except with no one to kiss.

“Come on. Would you rather spend two weeks on your dream vacation alone or one week alone with anyone you want, but you have to stay here?” Allison cleared the remains of our last customers’ dinners and loaded dirty dishes into a brown plastic tub. “I’d choose the second one and make Hannah Snyder watch me cuddled up to Dylan O’Brien for seven days straight.”

“You didn’t say there would be cuddling.” I retied my apron, buying time to think.

Allison dropped the tub of dirty dishes onto the counter with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Oh, there will definitely be cuddling.”

Soft country music played over hidden speakers. Allison’s crystal blue eyes sparkled. I shuffled booted feet on the white tiled floor, praying for another wave of customers.

Roll With It was the only deli in town and a popular hangout. The deli’s name came from its owner, Buddy, and his hipster approach to life wherein he did and said everything ironically. He was in the kitchen at the moment, wearing unnecessary black-framed glasses, an Army T-shirt and an unbuttoned mechanics shirt with Mack on the name patch. Overkill wasn’t in Buddy’s vocabulary.

“So, which would you rather?” Allison leaned her hip against the counter.

“I’d rather leave. I love this place and its bizarre historical charm, but I’ve never been anywhere else. I’d take a vacation for a while if I could.”

I lifted the ceramic lid on each soup tureen. Rich scents of cheddar, bacon, and potatoes wafted out as I stirred. The tang of southwestern veggies followed. I saved chicken noodle, my favorite buttery aroma, for last. With any luck, Allison would find something else to do if I looked disinterested enough. Or changed the subject. “How was college this week?”

She slapped the nearest table. “Amazing. Did I tell you another hot guy transferred into my Anatomy and Physiology class?”

“Yes. Yesterday.”

“Oh, no, no, no. Today.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Another one? Really?” Lucky.

“I swear he’s hotter than the one yesterday. The two of them talked through half the class as if they knew each other. Drove the professor nutty, but he never said anything. Probably because they’re each the size of a pickup truck.”