Thane turned to Akira as Marcus strode away, holding Kay to his chest as if she were the most precious thing on earth.

Akira limped badly and refused help from the hovering Marcella and Cat. Before she could understand what he intended to do, he picked her up and started walking.

"What the hell, Dad?" she squeaked, and he smiled.

She was not used to accepting help, always having been independent and stubborn. His heart still swelled with pride when he thought of the way she had taken out Azera and handled it all, but she had also defied him in so many ways that would have angered him in the past.

So much had changed in the last few years, all because of Kay. How had he allowed the betrayal by his family to turn him into a man with no heart? Did it happen long before Akira duped him into wanting to kill his own offspring? Was he always a monster, or did the years turn him into one? When did it start? The day he first realized they did not have to spend the rest of their lives alone on this forsaken planet? Was it when he decided to settle a new colony here and for them to survive against all costs?

"You said you wanted to get home before sunrise. At the rate you were going, that would be sunrise tomorrow."

Someone sputtered behind them.

He didn't know, but now that he could see himself more clearly, he didn't like what he saw. How many Kay's had his callous disregard destroyed? How many good people had died so their species could survive here? Had any of it been worth it? His gaze caught on his daughters, and guilt and shame filled him. There was no way to undo the past, but he had the power to make the future better for those like Kay who had not yet been taken from their lives.

***

"Shut up, Cat," Akira hissed to hide her discomfort.

She had never experienced the warmth of her father's embrace, not even when she was a child. Other than when she tumbled from her horse and bumped her head.

Thane had carried her home; she was five and unconscious at the time, so it did not count. The connection between them made her want to lean into him, and yet she was uneasy at the same time. It also created a warmth in her chest that felt like happiness, another near-foreign concept.

The years at his side had not been easy, and there were days she wished she could end it all. Unlike her father, the seedlings and their plight did not leave her cold. The day she sent Kay, the one she altered to change their future, she hated herself. Every report deepened that sense of self-loathing as she waited for the inevitable.

She knew the dark queen would come for them from the day she escaped Azera's clutches. At first, hatred drove her to create Kay's bloodline, but as she watched the child grow and hoped she would survive, she became fond of her. Giving her away like an unwanted toy to Azera had nearly killed her inside.

"Sorry, Queen Akira, I am of the Light, you cannot command me," Cat sassed, and Akira sighed. "Fucking Azera."

Thane shook his head. "Potty mouth," he reprimanded, and Akira looked at him with an incredulous expression.

"That is the least of my sins," she said, unable to escape the emotions she had fought for so long.

"She's just practicing for her new role, sire. Tomorrow she will decapitate kittens," Marcella said with a pretense of innocent helpfulness from behind them.

Behind her father's back, Akira gave Marcella the finger, and Cat sputtered again.

"Are they always like this?" Artemis asked with a look that said she wasn't sure if she should be incredulous but amused or shocked and disapproving.

Had they known life as she did at their father's side? Was he as harsh, cold, and distant back then? Although she always believed he loved and respected her, his actions rarely showed it. Yet her loyalty to him remained, even when she had to do things at his command that destroyed her inside.

In a way, she was always aware that after what his other children did to him, it would take little for him to turn on her as he did on them. Something she didn't want to admit to herself, and thus she obeyed him, even when everything inside of her screamed against it.

"Actually, no," Marcella said, stalking off with a frown, tugging at her brow.

One thing was for sure, queen of the dark or not, things had to change in their world, and she would do anything to achieve that. Even if she had to eliminate those who refused to change their ways. There will be no more newborns.

Seedlings will remain seedlings; if immortals want children, they must do it the old-fashioned way. If they breed with their own kind, there will be immortals, but if they take a human woman, that seedling will not be changed.

The only way to enforce that would be to have Thane decree it. He is the only one that no one else will stand against, especially now that Azera was dead.

***

Cat saw how confused Thane's other daughters were and pitied them. They were about to be thrown into a world that had moved on without them, and during the last few days, that world evolved at an alarming rate.

"If you showed me this version of events on a video, five months ago, I would have laughed at you. We've been on a roller coaster without brakes. A wild horse, if you want, and getting off was not an option. You adapt, or you die. It changed all of us and the way our world turns.

"We realize everybody won't be able to change their ways with us, but I think I rather like this version. The one where it isn't mandatory to hate or dislike people just because they differ from you. If you quote me on that, I will deny it," Cat said, just as Marcella stopped to wait for her and moved off.

***

"Why can't I decide whether we woke up in a surreal dream or a nightmare?" Clio asked, rubbing her face, and she needed support to stand.

"Because it is neither, ladies," the vampire Marcus said unexpectedly at their side.

She did not hear him approach, and he held up his hands to show he meant them no harm as their demeanor changed out of reflex. The need to fight for their lives had been ingrained in them so deeply that it was second nature.

"Your father, you, your sisters, all of us, we were misled by Azera, and you were not the only ones that ended up in her tender care. She attacked Thane and murdered our people. She pitted our species against one another, just like she set you against your father and your father against you. Now, I realize this is difficult for you, and you wonder if you should trust us, Thane or Akira, but I will say this to you, Azera is dead.

"Akira killed her when Megan killed Kay, and now Akira rules the dark, and she will bring peace. Thane died inside when he thought you had betrayed him and stayed like that for two thousand years, alive but not living.

"The only person here that Thane actually harmed was Kay. He gave her to Azera, and she had no knowledge of him or any of this. Thane used Kay as a spy, and Azera figured it out. The dark queen made Kay pay every day of those long years. Kay forgave Thane, as she did Akira, but it is not something one forgets. Your father would never have turned against you if Azera was not such a convincing, cunning bitch.

"Our king really thought that you, whom he loved, were trying to kill him over power. It was too much for him, and she rubbed it in his face, almost driving him insane. She did everything you think he did to make it look like he wronged you.

"If not for his leadership all these years and the protection of his presence against Azera, you would be in a much different world. One where there would be no werewolves, no vampires, and what humans would have remained, would be no more than beasts of burden.

"I am not justifying Thane's actions; I just want you to understand his side of the story. You don't have to trust my word," Marcus walked over to Clio, and she shrunk from him.

"Azera did many things to us... Clio will not let a male carry her," Artemis said, sounding tired, and Clio silently thanked her for always standing up for her.

Marcus's face turned white with anger at the thought of what Azera did to them to degrade and humiliate them, control them, and make them kill for her. A stranger never before cared about their fate, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

"Although I am in love with your sister, Kay, I am married to one tough werewolf chick, who happens to be the daughter of the werewolf family responsible for Kay, so they're sisters. I promise, see me as a neutered, friendly, just trying to help, wheelchair with legs," Marcus said, looking her earnestly in the eye.

He carefully took her hand, pulled her closer, and lifted her. She trembled in his arms, and the compassion in his gaze said a lot.

"Why is all of this so complicated?" Artemis asked, following them.

"Azera. Fate. Call it what you like, but it brought us all here to save you," Marcus said as more werewolves, vampires, and immortals arrived to help.

He lifted his hand.

"Let them be. They are alright, go back to the cars. Go see that at least one bunker is habitable and free of dead immortals," Marcus ordered, and they retreated, glancing curiously at the strangers before obeying.

It did not even feel odd that the group responded as if they were used to being ordered around by a vampire when most of them were not vampires. Maybe there was hope for all of them. Then again, he was much more than a mere vampire now, although what exactly, she didn't know.

"Thank you," Artemis said quietly.

"Kay used to be the way you are when she first came to me, distant and distrustful. The time she spent with Azera was nothing compared to nearly two thousand years. You are strong to be so controlled."

Oddly, she didn't feel threatened by him, perhaps because even while carrying her, his gaze kept straying to the top of the bluff, and he was not looking at the werewolf. She feared this unknown world they had learned so little about. How would they adapt after so many years of only having glimpses of the outside world?

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