The Dark Queen

by M. Dalto

  Lexan had to swallow back bile and walked into the kitchen to busy himself with anything but watching his sister and his Emperor stand so close together.

  “I’m fine,” Jared said quietly, as if trying to keep their conversation as private as possible while in the middle of the apartment. “Don’t forget the extra key if we’re not here when you get back.”

  “Okay,” she said, and from the corner of Lexan’s eye he watched her lean up to place a small kiss on his lips.

  Though Jared closed his eyes, there seemed to be no joy in the kiss he returned.

  Lexan knew he should feel guilty.

  But he didn’t.

  “We’ll be back later,” she reassured him, and turned to Lexan as she added. “Be good.”

  He feigned offense, though he wondered if his sister suspected anything with that look she gave him. Before he could question it, she and Reylor left, leaving Jared and Lexan alone.

  Again.

  He tried to ignore the silence that had fallen between them, or the feeling of those gray eyes at his back.

  Tried and failed.

  “Shall we start our walk to the library?” Lexan asked as he turned to face Jared.

  “You’re a real bastard, do you know that?” Jared said from where he stood across the room.

  Straight to the point, then.

  “Other than stating the obvious, is there a reason for vocalizing such an observation?” Lexan countered.

  Who had already made his way across the room and was standing not a foot away.

  “Do you have any idea the position you’ve put me in?” he hissed, though the storm seemed to die in his gaze.

  “Why, is there one you prefer that I haven’t put you in it yet?” Lexan purred.

  Jared’s fists clenched at his sides as he held Lexan’s stare, and Lexan knew by the flush on the Emperor’s cheeks that he was getting under Jared’s skin. It made his grin widen.

  “If we’re to do this,” Jared started again, after letting out a slow breath, “we are going to do things on my terms.”

  “What terms would those be?” Lexan asked, taking a challenging step forward.

  To his surprise, Jared didn’t waver. If anything, he stood his ground stronger than before.

  “I will be the one to tell Sarayna, not you.”

  “Fair enough,” Lexan conceded. “Anything else?”

  “Once she knows, there’s no more of this until we get back to the Empire.”

  “No more of what?” he pressed.

  Jared held his gaze for a moment before he closed the distance between them and, grabbing ahold of Lexan’s shirt, pulled him to his lips.

  No, he didn’t feel guilty one bit.

  It felt like only last week Sarayna had been walking down this same sidewalk, returning to her grandmother’s home. Perhaps it was only last week, with the way time seemed to work between the realms. Sarayna still couldn’t figure it out, and she was done trying. Being a product of it herself, aging as she had upon her return to the Empire, she hadn’t the faintest idea about the magic involved, and wondered if she would ever find out.

  Now wasn’t the time to wonder about such trivial things. Not as she and the Lord Steward made their way down the busy New York sidewalk. She stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets as they walked, the brisk winter breeze ruffling her loose brown hair. Occasionally, she would glance over at Reylor, his own hands in the pockets of his pants, but still he didn’t seem as bothered by the weather as she was. She supposed the Borderlands were cooler than the Empire, and he perhaps he had grown accustomed to such conditions.

  Or maybe there was something else. Much like their visit to her mother’s apartment back in Boston, maybe the two of them returning to Tanya’s apartment gave her more reason to assess him – until he finally caught her in doing so.

  “If there’s something on your mind, Sarayna, it’s not like you to keep it to yourself.”

  She scoffed, and focused on the sidewalk ahead of her, but took the opportunity that was given. “It’s okay to miss her, you know.”

  His reaction quickly convinced Sara they were not talking about the same person, and she furrowed her brows. “Tanya.”

  The look of the light fading in his red eyes told Sara she was not wrong, and he turned back toward the horizon with a quiet, “Oh.”

  That pissed Sara off even more.

  “Look, it’s not my fault we left her behind.”

  “It didn’t help that your father ran off like a fool either.”

  “You’re only saying that because you’re bitter Treyan got there first.”

  She received a well-deserved scowl for that, but it didn’t stop her.

  “Speaking of fathers, when are you going to talk about Razen being yours?”

  “He’s not,” he said shortly.

  “That’s not what I heard,” Sarayna reminded him. “I was there, too, if you remember.”

  “How could I forget…”

  “Why are you ignoring what you were told?”

  “Some things are best left forgotten, Sarayna,” he growled loud enough for a few passersby to take notice. Sarayna kept her head down as her cheeks flushed.

  “It would be better than living a lie,” she muttered.

  “Is that what you’re telling yourself these days?” he snapped in response.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Maybe you should ask your Emperor—how are those wedding plans coming along?”

  She scowled at him and would have countered with something equally bitchy if they hadn’t arrived in front of the apartment building she remembered so well.

  Less secure than Jared’s building, the main door was unlocked, and they entered without hesitation. Nostalgia hit her the moment she walked into the building, and she lowered her tone as if it was a place of worship.

  “She told me, once, she used to have a glamour on her apartment, so that anyone who passed by would think it was abandoned and uninhabitable—even the landlords. That’s how she was able to live here for so long undetected.”

  “Sounds lovely—what made her stop?”

  “My father, apparently. When he first found her. Alive.”

  “She figured that once he discovered her, there was no use in pretending anymore?”

  Sarayna only shrugged. “I don’t know. By the time I arrived, there wasn’t anything that dissuaded me or anyone else from going into the apartment, as far as I could tell. Jared never seemed to have any issues finding it.”

  Again, he smirked at the mention of the Emperor’s name.

  “What is your problem with him?” she asked, her tone accusatory, as they climbed the stairs.

  “I have no problem with him, Princess.”

  “Then why do you plaster on a shit-eating grin every time I say his name?”

  “I already told you, I’m not the one you need to ask.”

  She opened her mouth to retort, entering the hallway of Tanya’s floor, when a woman, only slightly older than she, approached them. She looked as though she had been waiting for them, leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway, and there was something in the way she moved that had Sarayna on guard.

  Reylor sensed it too, for he quickly turned his attention to the woman. “Can we help you?” he asked, but she continued to walk toward them. She didn’t appear armed, but Sarayna wasn’t ready to take any chances as she went for the knife at her belt.

  “No, you cannot,” she replied with a smile on her lips, and there was something familiar in the way she spoke.

  “What do you want?” he questioned when she stopped before them.

  “It’s not what I want from you, but what you may want from me.” Her smile broadened. “As you are Empireborn, I think I have what you want.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Sarayna could barely sit still on Saratanya’s couch while the woman who introduced herself as Alara moved through the kitchen like she owned the place. Sara watched her carefully, ass
essing her more than she had appeared to assess them. She was of a healthy build, with brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and the bright blue eyes of their lineage. She wore casual clothing from the Otherrealm, but there was an otherworldly presence about her.

  Reylor, equally anxious, resorted to pacing around the main living room. He distracted himself by taking in the bits and pieces of his mother’s life as they waited for Alara to explain who she was and how she knew who they were.

  “In a way, I suppose you would call me what you refer to as the first Queen Empress,” she called out from the kitchen. Sarayna and Reylor shared a look. “I was sent here against my will as a vengeful action against my parents, and ever since I’ve done my best to assist the new Empresses, watching over them to ensure they follow their path.”

  “You know of a man by the name of Xavon?” Reylor asked carefully.

  Alara walked into the room, a mug of tea for each of them in her hands. “I know of him all too well. He is the one who banished me here.”

  Sarayna and Reylor shared another glance. There was some credibility to Lexan’s story then.

  “How did you know who the next Empress would be?” Reylor asked, taking an offered mug.

  “I didn’t. Not exactly. I did, however, know whenever Xavon returned to the Otherrealm. Perhaps it was the aftermath of him using his power to send me here, like it left an imprint on me. It made me sensitive to it, so it didn’t take much for us to figure out his purpose for traveling so often to the Otherrealm.”

  “You knew that Xavon was behind their creation?”

  Alara nodded. “I didn’t dare let him know I was onto him. We decided that it would be safer, for both of us, to remain in the shadows until his…task…was complete, and only then would we give whatever assistance we could. It was safest—for all involved.”

  “That would explain how the Empire knew the identity of each new Empress. Their link is the magic created within them from Xavon—”

  “And us, but it became muddled when Saratanya was conceived, and we lost contact…”

  “So you never knew my mother?”

  Alara shook her head. “By then we think he knew what we were doing. He was somehow watching us while we were watching them. We never found Alexstrayna, and by the time we knew of her existence, it was too late.”

  “More than you know,” Sarayna muttered. “But you said ‘we.’ You’re not alone here, are you?”

  Alara shook her head. “No. I’m here with my brother. He took the chance to venture here on his own, to find me for our parents’ sake. They were supposed to be waiting on the other side, to bring us home, but the Key never opened.”

  “So, your brother, he’s—”

  “His name is Seyth.”

  Recognition flashed within Reylor’s eyes. “Seyth…”

  Alara nodded. “As with every Crown Prince sent to find his Empress, it started with Seyth. He found me here, but when our parents never sent for us to return, we assumed the worst. We didn’t want to return to a world that was so ready to kick us out. Xavon made his presence known, so we decided we would do everything we could for those who had no choice but to go back, with the freedom to travel between realms as they so chose—”

  “Why didn’t you intervene?” Sarayna asked. “If you knew that Xavon was behind this gross manipulation, why not approach the women you knew would be ultimately kidnapped?”

  “We tried, at first.” Alara sighed. “We approached the first few, with negative results. One even went so far as to call the authorities on us for stalking her…

  “And then Xavon discovered what you were doing?”

  “We believe so. A darker force involved itself and our lockets were stolen and lost to us, as were the Empresses. We went to great lengths, and many miles, to track them down as the years went by. Saratanya was the last Empress we knew of, and we monitored her departures and arrivals, hoping for her return. And the return of our lockets.”

  The warmth of the metal underneath her shirt against the skin of her chest made Sarayna swallow. “What’s so important about the lockets?” she asked carefully. “You mentioned they were lost to you—what did that mean for tracking the Empresses?”

  “Well, they’re Keys.”

  Reylor choked on his tea. “Come again?” he coughed out.

  “Our lockets were the Keys. When we had them, they allowed the Empresses the freedom we never possessed. Though they were damned to return to the Empire, they would always have the chance to come back to their Otherrealm. Some did, some did not. We only requested the lockets back when they had made their final decision. We never received Saratanya’s…”

  “And that’s why you’re still here?” Sarayna inquired. “In New York.”

  Alara nodded.

  “Then you don’t know what happened.”

  Alara cocked her head to the side in question. “We assumed she decided to return to her Axell.”

  Reylor frowned at the mention of his father’s name. “Axell was murdered. Saratanya was taken to the Otherrealm against her will and returned to the Empire to avenge his death. It ended in her own.”

  “Oh,” Alara said, her voice mournful. “We are sorry to hear of your loss.”

  Sarayna could no longer ignore the weight around her neck. “Even then, if you had these lockets—these Keys—at your disposal this entire time, why didn’t you return? You had the ability to do so, so why stay behind?”

  “Who else would assist the Empresses if we left? We’d be leaving them to their own devices, to navigate the Empire’s twisted plans without preparation for what would be expected of them, what they could do to protect themselves.”

  “A lot of good that did Alexstrayna,” Reylor muttered.

  Alara cast him a glance. “We only knew of Alexstrayna’s existence and taking after it was beyond our control. As I said, a darkness involved itself that clouded even my connection to Xavon’s magic. We were fortunate that her Treyan was kind enough to take her when he did—we discovered those who were following her only after he retrieved her first.”

  “Tell us more about your brother,” Reylor pressed, seemingly in an effort to change the subject about his potential involvement in the taking of Alexstrayna.

  A soft smile spread across Alara’s lips. “Seyth should be returning soon. I’ll let him introduce himself personally. He will have more than enough information to tell you, I’m sure, for as long as he was involved in the Empire. As we wait, why don’t you tell me what’s brought you to the Otherrealm.”

  The knot in Sarayna’s stomach tightened. She didn’t know if she could sit through another retelling of the events that brought them back to her mother’s realm. The weight of the locket under her shirt made her nervous. Knowing now what it was, what it could do, and what it meant to this powerful woman she had only just met, she didn’t trust being with her for long. Not yet, not until Lexan and Jared found whatever information was available at the library.

  Taking one last sip of her tea, she stood. Both sets of eyes watched her as she moved toward the door. “I’ll leave you two to it then—let me find Jared and Lexan at the library and bring them here. I’m sure they’re going to want to know about you and Seyth as much as you will want to know about them.”

  “It would be an honor to meet more from the Empire,” Alara agreed. “We’ll be happy to help you in any way we can.”

  “Perhaps you and Reylor can see if there’s anything that’s been left behind that will give us some clues into Saratanya’s past, and hopefully we’ll be able to piece it together with whatever they might have found.”

  “You’re fine walking there by yourself?” Reylor asked.

  “Of course,” Sarayna confirmed. “Where do you think I met Jared in the first place?”

  Reylor frowned but said no more. Sarayna gave Alara a final nod before she exited the apartment. The locket beneath her shirt pulsed with its own beat as she raced to the library.

  Chapter Thirty-One

&n
bsp; If this was going to be their last time together until they returned to the Empire, Lexan was going to make damn sure he enjoyed himself.

  Jared’s kiss was like an unleashing—a silent permission that made Lexan want to tear his clothes off and have his way with them right there in the middle of the living room floor. As it was, Lexan barely got Jared seated on the couch before he positioned himself between his legs and started undoing the Emperor’s pants.

  “Lexan,” Jared breathed out, a hand coming to the back of Lexan’s head, tangling in his hair. Lexan glanced up at him, almost expecting to see hesitation, but instead the look Jared gave him mimicked what he was feeling—longing, desire, and animalistic lust.

  Wasting no more time, Lexan finished unzipping Jared’s pants and released him from the denim confines. Their last time together was frenzied and neither had the time to appreciate what the other had to offer. In this moment, however, Lexan was going to cherish every touch, taste, and sound from the man beneath him.

  By the increased pulling of his hair, the shifting beneath his mouth, and the moan that emanated from Jared, Lexan sensed they were of the same mind.

  Time slipped by, but Lexan could have remained where he was until the end of his days. Jared, however, had different intentions as the sound of his name, called out with more urgency, pulled Lexan’s attention from between Jared’s legs up to meet his glazed storm-gray stare.

  “Bedroom,” he panted. “Now.”

  Lexan smiled around him before releasing him and kneeling back, the taste of him still so prominent on his tongue.

  Jared stood slowly, seemingly unstable on shaky legs as he walked down the hallway toward his bedroom.

  Lexan greedily followed, undoing his own pants and tossing his shirt aside the moment he crossed the threshold. Jared had already stripped, kicking his pants off the rest of the way and throwing his shirt into a corner of the room before lying on his back on the bed, more than ready to continue what they started in the living room.

  Licking his lips, Lexan approached the bed as he memorized every inch, his own body displaying just how prepared he was.