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Sobbing, I clung to his neck, my face against his chest. The scent of his fur the best smell in the entire world. The thump of his heart loud and strong. “I looked for you everywhere.”

:Here I am, my queen, in your arms at last. Though we should go home now. They worry for you.:

“I’m lost. I don’t know the way.”

He nudged me until I tipped my face up so he could lick my tears, his sandpaper tongue gentle and tender. :Xolotl knows the way.:

“So does Quetzalcoatl.”

I jerked my head up to see Tlacel striding through the billowing gray, his smile and bright eyes like the dawn. Between one step and the next, he shifted into his feathered serpent. A sinuous splash of gleaming blue-green feathers and shimmering scales against the blank canvas. He caught us both in his front legs, wrapping his brother and I against his chest. Enfolded in fur and lush jungle, I relaxed against them. So tired. So happy. At peace at last. Trusting him to take me where the rest of my Blood waited.

“I love you. For all time. So let it be.”

:Always and forever, my queen.:

I opened my eyes. Laughing. Because Itztli’s dog was licking my face. No longer gentle but huge, eager tickling swipes to drag me back from eternal slumber.

“Goddess be praised,” Gina whispered.

Kevin whooped. “I fucking knew it! I knew you couldn’t be dead!”

“Oh, I was. Definitely.” I shuddered, closing my eyes. “It was the worst death trip I’ve ever taken. I couldn’t find any of you.”

Tears leaked from my eyes, a steady stream of relief. Joy. Mixed with remembered grief. Agony. Pain.

But worst of all, shame.

Because in my darkest moment…

I had been very close to doing the unthinkable. I’d wanted to destroy. Everything. Billions of innocent lives. Humans, animals, Aima, everything.

Now on the other side of that horrible moment, I could only cringe at how close I’d come to complete and utter destruction. Like a toddler angry her toys had been taken away, I would have tried to destroy the entire world. My loved ones far away and safe. Little Xochitl and Mayte. Leonie and Carys and Gwen. They didn’t deserve to die.

In my last moments, I hoped I would be noble and self-sacrificing, willing to die to save others.

Instead, I was a selfish bitch who’d almost destroyed the entire world.

“But you didn’t.” Rik’s big palm cupped my cheek, his chest rumbling beneath me. “Because you’re stronger than any virus-induced madness.”

:One-hundred percent.: In her bond, Carys mopped her face with a lacy handkerchief. My closest siblings filled my mind with comfort and hugs despite the distance between us. :Though it was a close call for sure. The desire to destroy everything was coded into that plague by design. I’d love to know more about where it originated.:

“What happened?”

“Frank gave the vial to the prisoner as you asked,” Gina replied. “Then he helped him come closer. He was still bleeding, and when his blood fell on Itztli, it healed him. Instantly. So he started reviving everyone. His blood was an antidote.”

:More like immunity,: Mayte said. :He was the virus’ origin. Once his body healed, his blood contained the antibodies to fight back. By the time it transferred to you, it had already changed. It mutated because you’re a queen.:

I’m going to have to sit up for this discussion.

As soon as I thought it, Rik shifted me slightly and pushed upright. I still sagged against him, breathing in his scent. The heat of his body. His unfailing strength. Even knowing my Blood were dying, he came to me without any hesitation. Then he called the rest of them so they could all be with me.

Even knowing we were all doomed.

I clung to him, my voice shaking. “So if I had taken the elixir instead of giving it to him…”

“Some of your Blood would most certainly still be dead,” the prisoner said. “Especially the first victims to fall.”

I lifted my head, turning to see who spoke. The first thing I noticed were his eyes. Deep, dark, and haunted against the paleness of his face. His brow and cheek bones were heavily carved, leaving shadows in the planes of his face. Making him look skeletal despite being alive and healed.