Xavier turned toward Luther, blood still dripping from the blade in his hand, and spoke in a calm voice that didn't match the carnage around them.
"I've already dealt with the elders and the council members who actually mattered," he said. "There's no throne left tying you down now. No laws pretending to own you. You're free, whether you like it or not."
He added that whatever chains Luther had worn until now were gone, and that this mess had effectively freed him.
Luther didn't answer right away. His gaze stayed on the bodies, on the severed remains of power structures that had ruled vampires for centuries. His silence said enough.
Xavier shifted his attention to Lucian. "And the same goes for you," he added. "Luther just freed you from Blackwood. No board. No bloodline leash. You can live however the hell you want now."
