Chapter 28

Empty Spaces

*

Dracul pov.

I felt like I was floating, everything around me was sinking and flowing until I had no concept of time. Nothing had meaning and for the first time in years, I felt weightless.

I sighed, feeling the rise and fall of my chest. It didn't hurt. Nothing hurt, nothing ached, and there was no fear holding me back.

There was no fear, no ache in my chest that told me that I had all of this responsibility. There was nothing that I had to worry about or keep in mind.

The weight of hundreds of years of leadership fell away until there was nothing left. I had forgotten what this felt like. I had forgotten the taste of freedom, the touch of peace.

I had forgotten what it felt like to be myself, unencumbered by the layers of leadership and stress that had enrobed me for so long.

First, it had been protecting my people from humans, humans who thought that they should fear and destroy us. That had been a long and bloody battle, and it had exhausted all of us.

The