Wiping my finger through the blood that was trickling out of my wound, I caught the bullet just as my ribbon pushed it out of my skull. The crowd in front of me was silent as they stared in sick amazement as the ribbon around my neck released a thread and started to sew me back together.
"Shall I try that again?" I asked with a smile as I cocked my head to the side. "Let me be clear for those who don't understand just who I am. I cannot be killed. I don't care if you chop off my head, tear me apart limb by limb, or peel my flesh from my muscles. I cannot be killed. That gives you two options."
I looked around the crowd and saw a few faces that clearly weren't happy with what I was saying. But the red and brown threads coming out of their bodies let me know that nothing I did would please them.
"The first option is to accept this new world that you have found yourself in and continue to live your life just as you have every other day. The second is to fight me. To come after me thinking that if I disappear, everything will be normal again,, and there won't be any more things that go bump in the night."
Sasha snorted at that statement, and I couldn't help the grin on my face. "If you choose the second option, I suggest you pay attention." Pointing to the two vampires in the middle of the crowd, my grin transformed into a smirk.
"Unfortunately for everyone, I can't do things by half measures… and being a Ribbon Girl is a bit more complicated than simply sewing myself back together. The two standing in the middle of you are vampires. Not nice ones, if their threads are anything to go by." Waving my hand to make my point, I cut their threads and watched as the two bodies collapsed into dust.
"That is what happens if you pose a threat. I don't care if you are human and taking your anger out on an innocent monster or if you are a monster that is hurting humans. I will find you, and I will kill you. There is no place in this world that you can hide from me."
The crowd was silent as the first reported raised his hand.
"Yes?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. I was pretty sure that I was done with my speech. I had covered all the main points and I didn't think I had anything else to add.
"Jerred Cook, New York Times," introduced the reporter as he stepped closer to where I was standing. "When you say things that go bump in the night… what do you mean?"
"I mean exactly that," I shrugged. "Vampires, Demons, Angels, Gypsies, Skinwalkers, Werewolves, if you have made a movie about it, chances are… it was based on real life."
There was an uneasy chuckle as the reporters became a bit more brave. "Monica Smith, Washington Post. May I ask why you are the one making this announcement? Don't you think that some of those you have referred to as monsters didn't want to be revealed to the public? Don't you think that it might cause a negative impact on both communities?"
This question had me chuckling. "The line that I come from, my mother's line, is the original Pandora of your legends. When she opened the box, she let all kinds of creatures out into the world. I refuse to not take responsibility for that mistake. I will keep the humans safe from the monsters, and I will keep the monsters safe from the humans. I am the Queen. There is no one stronger than me, and all those who had died two days ago decided to fuck around and find out just how far I will go when it comes to protecting every life on Earth."
I didn't even bother to address the asinine question of negative impact on both communities or if monsters didn't want to be revealed.
It was only the Laws of the Six Houses that kept the monsters from enslaving the human population, and now that I was coming out like this, the monsters were probably chomping on the bit to let the humans around them know just who they were.
More and more questions were thrown at me, and some of them were… less than intelligent. Especially when it came to asking if vampires really sparkled in the sunlight.
When it was clear that I was done, Stephanie stepped in and not so gently nudged me out of the way.
"If you have any more questions, you are more than welcome to make an appointment with Ms. Tesalor, but right now, I am afraid that she has other commitments," smiled Stephanie as Viktor took my hand and led me away from the podium and the press conference.
"What other commitments do I have now?" I sighed, rubbing my forehead. The bun was starting to cut off circulation or something to my brain, and I was more than ready to let my hair down.
"You are going to be late for your flight," chuckled Greyson as he stole me away from Viktor and placed a kiss on my lips that made my toes curl. "A vacation, someplace warm where you don't have to do anything?"
I swore that with each word that Greyson spoke, I was falling more and more in love with him. But—"Do you really think this is a good time to go on vacation?"
Nicholas snorted. "Like you pointed out, you can get to anyone anywhere in the world. I'm sure that if people are going to be starting shit, you can kill them just as easily from a lounge chair in the Maldives as you can from here."
A slow smile spread across my face as I nodded my head.
I had all my mates beside me, alive and well; I was no longer hiding who and what I was… I was finally able to live the life that I wanted to with those who meant the world to me.
"That sounds like heaven," I sighed as Levi picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. A line of SUVs with the Knight Securities logo on the door came to a stop in front of us, and we all boarded the vehicles.
"Trust me when I say that it is better than heaven," chuckled Michael as he helped clip in my seatbelt. "I would trade a hundred years of life simply to be by your side for a single moment."
"Then I guess it's a good thing that we have a lifetime together now, isn't it?" I purred as I gently kissed Michael's lips.
The End.