The Dark One: Sequel Nox Haven Series

Epilogue

It rained the day of Dmitri's funeral.

That didn't stop hordes of people from attending, it was the second biggest social event of the decade. Only second to the Winter Ball. Thousands of people flocked to the Volkov castle in Russia, none of them cared about the freezing rain or the boy lying in the casket- they were too busy gossiping with the news reporters. From the sky, it would have looked like the ground was blanketed in a sea of black umbrellas. My fellow heirs and I stood in huddled group, off to the side from the swarms of people.

We didn't speak to the reporters, or our classmates who expressed fake sympathy. We barely even spoke to each other. The others were reeling from his death. They felt guilty that they never tried to be friends with him after it was revealed that he wasn't Aleksander. I empathized with them, not just because I could feel their emotions, but because I had treated him in a similar fashion. Dmitri hated being the second option and that was how we treated him.

Aleksander clung to me, throughout the entire ceremony. He pointedly ignored his parents, who vocalized their distaste for our budding relationship. I noticed his dad was far more aggressive in the argument than his mother. Every time his eyes slid over to me he either felt intense fury or longing. Aleksander never left my side though, I was seeing a new side of him or perhaps the real him.

Several people thanked us for ridding the world of the malevolent Dark One. The supernatural reporters bombarded us with questions about the fight at Chernobyl but they quickly learned that they weren't going to get an inside scoop from me. I chose to keep the identity of the Dark One a secret. Even though Cam caused a lot of carnage I didn't have the heart to take away his former status as a hero. He was a just a puppet. His master was the true villain.

I swore on his grave that I would avenge him, his master would feel my wrath and the wrath of every witch and warlock on the planet. It was time to stop being the victim, I was prepared to go to war.

"You're shaking," Aleksander noted.

I nodded and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "It's freezing outside."

"We can go inside, the party seems to be dwindling down."

Malice laced his words. He hated every fake person at his brother's funeral with a passion. There were a few incidents when I had to physically restrain him from attacking some of the guests.

"It's your brother's funeral. Don't you want to stay here and pay your respects?"

Aleksander's perfectly shaped lips twisted into a grimace. "I'd hardly call this a funeral, Lyubov Moyà. I'll pay my respects when all of these people leave. Then I'll make sure to disrespect my parents for inviting them."

That was the nicest thing he had said about his parents. Half of the funeral was filled with him cussing out his parents in Russian. I didn't know what the words meant but I was pretty sure he threatened to kill them at least six times.

"I think you've disrespected them enough today." Awkwardly patting his back, I led him towards the Volkov castle. "You don't need to waste your breath anymore."

The Volkov family castle vaguely resembles the Böse castle. It was incredibly large, even Murphy would look dwarfed next to it. There were some gothic elements, like the intimidating spires and tall mosaic windows. But Mrs. Volkov did a good job keeping the estate alive. Gardens  filled with vibrant flowers could be found throughout the lot. Nobody even noticed the dirty, deteriorating stone walls because they were too busy admiring the gold trims. More gold could be found within the castle. The Volkov's loved to show off their wealth as much as they loved to show off their good looks.