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She leans closer until she is only an inch from my face. “I mean, how can you turn a vampire into a vampire?”
Chapter Seventy-Seven
I gasp and stumble backward, catching myself on the frigid wall. “What are you talking about? I’m not a vampire. I can walk in the sun. I’ve never had blood in my life.”
Queen Selene laughs, a low sound that brings images of moons to my mind, circling me. “You are.”
I shake my head. “You’re wrong. You must be?”
“Am I?” says Queen Selene, her voice still holding a hint of mocking. “Rise up, Penny. Claim your birthright.”
My hands tremble as my heart pounds. “I don’t know how to do that. Or what you’re even talking about.”
“One queen to rule the night and walk in day,” she says. “Remember your birthright.”
“But how?” I ask, the frustration in my voice clear. “You still aren’t telling me how.”
She stares at me expectantly, ever patient, waiting. “I want to be queen?” I say.
She rolls her eyes.
“I want to be the vampire queen?” I say.
She snorts. How un-lady like. Airalin would be appalled.
“I claim my birthright?”
“Close,” she says.
“You could just tell me. It would make this a lot easier.”
She throws her head back and laughs. “And where would the fun be in that?”
Frustrated, I yell out, “I claim my birthright!”
Queen Selene claps. “Close, very close.”
Entirely annoyed now, I shut my eyes and yell out. “I claim my birthright as vampire queen!”
The tomb shakes and rumbles. Raúl calls out for me, but the door slams closed, keeping him out. Purple plants blossom at the feet of Queen Selene’s statue and up the wall until the ceiling. Flowers. They look like what Carmen described.
I cower and tremble. Queen Selene puts a finger under my chin and lifts me up. “Stand straight, Queen Penny. We do not cower before anyone.”
I obey, and she smiles at me, leaning forward and kissing me on the forehead. “I was the last to die, and I set forth the curse—and the cure—five hundred years ago.” She laughs low. “I never would have guessed the magic would pick you, the seventh child, three times over, as my heir. What changes will the realm face now? I cannot wait to see.”
She gives me one last smile. “Time now is all you need. Nava, keep an eye on my daughter.”
Queen Selene disappears in a tunnel of wind, which puts out the torch and leaves me in the dark. Fumbling around, I try to find any magic in my body to create light, but there is nothing. With a grumble, I feel the walls until I land on the wheel, turning it and pulling the door open.
Raúl is outside, his hands covered in spiders. He stares at me with a raised eyebrow. “I could not move. What happened?”
The spiders disperse, and I tell him everything that occurred inside the tomb. Immediately, Raúl drops to one knee, bowing his head before me. “My queen,” he says.
I giggle uncomfortably, urging him to stand up. He stays on his knee, keeping his eyes on the ground. “You don’t understand, Penny. For centuries, we have been told our queen is coming, one who will unite us all, making us stronger together. She was destined since the fall of Queen Selene. We have waited hundreds of years for you.”
He looks up at me, tears in his eyes. “If Queen Selene says it is you, I believe her with my whole heart.”
My heart pangs, and I shift from foot to foot, wringing my hands. “Raúl, please, get up. You’re making me uncomfortable with all this bowing.”
