by Rae Foxx
“Come on, Saxon. This has to fucking work ‘cause I’m not looking forward to living without you.”
It had to work. I had the original vamp’s blood in me.
So my blood in him had to work.
It fucking had to.
'It will work,' Howl joined in, whispering the words into my head. 'It’s got to work.'
Mama’s laughter grew louder with each second that passed; each tense inhaled as we waited.
Waited.
I swallowed against the boulder in my throat as tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Nothing was happening.
'Work. Work, goddamnit. Work.' I chanted the words over and over until, finally, my blood did its fucking job.
Hovering over Saxon’s body, threads of shredded skin reached for each other and weaved together, closing the wound, until there was nothing but a silvery scar where once was an open gash.
Again, I held my breath and waited. Saxon had no heartbeat, so I didn’t know what I was waiting for. A breath. Eyes opening. A fucking tango? God, I was going to punch him alive if this didn't work.
“Oh!” Howl yelled as Saxon’s icy hand gripped my wrist and I jumped making a sound that was half a shriek.
"He's alive. Or dead-alive. Un dead alive? I don't fucking care, he's back!" I cried and threw myself on top of him,
"My rose," he gasped in my ear, his palm running over my hair as he breathed me in, as he bit into me. I didn't pull away, I let him feed, I let him revitalize himself as much as he needed.
"How unfortunate," Katarina drawled from behind me and I whirled, blood dripping down my neck as Saxon's bite marks healed.
"You're not dead?" I shrieked, jumping to my feet, ready for round two.
“You thought you could kill me? How cute. I guess we will both have to try harder next time."
“There won’t be a fucking next time,” My wolf growled at the sound of rattling glass as I postured the Vampire Queen.
I didn't care what it took, I was going to end her. If only because she was turning into a giant pain in my side. That and I needed her army.
I breathed out, digging my feet into the ground in preparation as those larger than life wooden doors flew open, slamming against the walls behind them. Clicking of heels had me panicked that Nicky had brought her army in and I stood, ready to take the bitch down.
“Oh, my. Looks like we caught the tail end of a party,” Finn’s mother, Melusine, the queen of the Fae floated through the door, flanked by Alias and some other guardians.
"Finally." I sighed, still not turning from Katarina, "I was beginning to think I would have to take her down on my own.'
"Oh!" Melusine cooed from behind me. "We won't fight the vampires, child. This was not our deal."
All of my cold vampire blood turned to ice, and ice block that stretched from my head to my toes and devoured everything in between. I couldn't even think of what to say, of how to get out of this mess with both Mama and the Vampire Queen cackled like old witches.
"Well, now this just got interesting."
I didn't know which one of them said it, I sent them both against the wall anyway.
Chapter 13
"I do love a good catfight," Katarina said, looking around me to the Fae queen who was smiling sweetly, smoothing and lifting her dress to avoid the flood of blood that this room was made of.
Mama gave one last laugh, her eyes wide as she looked between the two queens, secured behind the Vampire guards that looked as unsure as she did.
"Well, my claws are away, Katarina," Melusine said, her voice echoing over the room and silencing the rumbling growl of my wolf that had been rattling the broken pieces of her throne. "No blood will be drawn on my account."
"No blood?" Katarina laughed with a hollow sound and took two steps forward, her feet splashing in what was left of the puddle of blood, her dress soaking up more of the deep scarlet fluid. "You have come to the wrong place. I haven't seen you in centuries. This reunion will not go as planned--"
"This isn't a reunion. I am answering the request of someone who I have vowed assistance," Melusine interrupted, giving the vampire a smile even as she fumed. As in, actual steam was rising from her body.
What the holy melting ice balls, I didn't think that was possible. One look at Saxon however, the poor guy still recovering from his near-death and I knew it was true. It was possible and I should be horrified. Saxon gripped Howl, pulling him back as Tommy went into full-on protector mode around Scarlet and the twins. Okay... if the demon was freaked out perhaps I should move out of the line of fire. Finn was already on it, his hand strong on my arms as he slid me over the slick floor toward him.
"You came at her request? The bastard child of the last witch Queen?" The steam picked up, the tiny fragments of glass bouncing around and Mama laughed again.
Could she not pester the steaming Vampire queen when she was clearly one step away from actually exploding? Which would have been fine if it was in blood and guts everywhere sort of way. Except I had a feeling this was more in an explode everyone around you way.
"Either that or she came at the request of her son," Mama yelled from behind me, pulling her focus and turning the red-eyed rage glare back over to me. Gee, thanks mom, let's just point the bomb in my direction...
"Excuse me?" Katarina growled, her teeth clamping together.
"My son," Melusine said, pulling her focus again, before it snapped right back to us, her eyes narrowing right at me and then at Finn who shoved me behind him like I was some kind of damsel in distress.
Oh hell no, I countered his move, shoving myself into a human shield and growling so loud that a few of the Vampire guards took a step back.
That's right, you don't get to touch any more of my mates, bitch.
"Are you really foolish enough not to recognize my children when they walk into your chambers, Katarina?" The Fae queen’s voice was a sickly-sweet ice that ran down my spine and forced Finn to straighten. Great, so now we are two for two with Queens with a temper.
I was officially taking bets as to whether we were going to be trapped in another cave collapse.
'I'll take that bet,' Howl said, his voice obviously shaking as he left Saxon to try to place himself between me and the glaring queens. When were these guys going to get it through their heads that I didn't need bodyguards?
‘Never, Ivy.'
"Or perhaps," Melusine continued before Katarina could answer. "Perhaps you were so focused on having the chance to capture the witch that you were blinded by what was right in front of you?"
"Capture me?" Mama said, her laugh fading into a hard mockery that she normally got when she was high. Now it was my turn to go on guard. I knew that tone. That tone usually meant thrown plates and broken TVs. I didn't know what it was going to mean with magic behind it. "You haven't captured me."
Mama's laugh vanished as she lifted her hands and pushed them outward, the slight movement moving the vampire guards aside as though they were an accordion that had lost its spring and was sagging into oblivion--kind of made the same sound too.
The guards gone, Mama jumped forward, soaring through the air to land between the two queens with her chin in the air. I was sure it would have been more impressive if she had been wearing a dress or a crown, or anything but torn clothes that were covered with dirt and blood.
As if she had read my mind, she drew a pentagram in the air, mumbled something and light blasted from her as though it was air, pushing everyone back a few feet and leaving her standing in the middle of the confused crowd clad in one of the largest, slinkiest, green velvet dresses I had ever seen.
God, we were suddenly going to Prom and these three bitches were all vying for Prom queen.
No, they were Queens.
All of them.
They stood, smiling, posturing. Mean girl malice dripped in the air in what was possibly the most boring catfight ever.
"Do you really think you belong among us?" Katarina laughed; the rough grating sound j
oined by Melusine’s high tinkling laugh. The sound was the yin and yang, well the yin and yang you would find in a horror movie. "You ran from your place in our world when you ran from your life, ran from all the problems you caused."
"Weak," Melusine added with a sound that could have been a yawn. "You were nothing but a weak coward from the day that you left."
"I have never been weak a day in my life," Ivory snarled from between clenched teeth, the hem of her dress rippling. God, could she go one day without throwing some kind of magical temper tantrum?
“Please. We all know from where Ivy was plucked by Nickolinia. You were there, disguised by your filthy magic, coward that you are.” Katarina tossed her hand to the side. Damn. I was stuck in the middle of a fucking mean girl convention. It would be the perfect time to sneak out and go about my save the world destiny, but I needed them.
Or rather, I needed their armies. Maybe I should leave them here to stare at each other and I would take their armies with me.
“I wouldn’t speak of filthiness and disgust when I live in a place wallpapered with blood, Katarina," Mama taunted, pulling me out of my militant daydreams with a swish of her hips. "I’ve gagged three times and I’ve been here less than ten minutes. I mean really. If you need a new decorator, I can give you the name of mine. Or...I could wave my fingers and have this place...sanitized.”
"Says the traitor who lived covered in her own filth..."
“It isn’t the place that makes the queen, it is how she holds herself, Melusine?”
"And I suppose you hold yourself with your legs open wide?"
Katarina laughed, the fae Queen gave a smug smile and Mama gave a screaming growl that rattled the ceilings. Shit. Not going to let that happen.
"Stop!" I yelled before Ivory could pull her magic up to its full force, and pull their bitch battle into something more serious.
"Will you guys knock it off?" I ran past my mates, throwing myself between the three of them, well aware I put myself in the apex of their stare down. I swear, if someone actually learned how to throw daggers with their eyes shit was going down. "This is not the time to have a dick measuring contest."
"I don't have a dick!" Katarina gasped, hand on her chest as both she and Melusine glared more.
Okay, so no phrases. I gave Mama a scowl that could burn a hole in her carpet. She was one step away from laughing, and I was not interested in starting this shit show all over again.
Time to try for a more dire tactic.
“I asked Melusine here because she is going to help me defeat Nicky," I gave her a nod and a smile that I was going to pretend was as diplomatic as shit. Probably more so if I was wearing clothes, but I had no interest in wearing a ball gown. "We need you and your armies to make that happen, Katarina."
I turned to the vampire, trying to figure out how to be diplomatic in the buff, as all of my attempts ended with me puffing my boobs out toward her. Okay, that was going to have to work.
"I have no interest to sacrifice my role as Queen--"
"No one in this room, on this planet, or in this universe will be a queen if we don’t get that book back," I interrupted her, "There will be no lair, no Fae kingdom, no trailer park or coven if you three don’t decide to work together. Despite the differences here, we can all agree that none of us want Nicky on any kind of throne. That would be a disaster, to put it lightly.”
“Not like we can rush in and get Nicky anyway,” Tommy drawled after taking a long drag from his cigarette. “Daddy’s back.”
He announced it like it was some massive bombshell and then prepped for impact. There was no stereotypical shock and awe, however. We all just stared at him.
"Yes, I've been told," Melusine said as Katarina laughed and added, "You were speaking of this and why you fled like a coward from the battle where you were supposed to retrieve the book.”
He stood to his full height and his legs were willowy in their smoke form. “At least I showed up to the battle, you conniving bitch.”
“How dare you!” She lunged at Tommy but soon realized her mistake as we all did when trying to attack a demon. He was smoke before she even got close.
“Which is exactly why we all have to fight,” He said, now drifting in and out of both forms while hovering above us. “I don't care if you are a fucking queen. This thing is coming to a head and we will all have to answer for what we've done... unless we stop her."
Tommy looked right at Katarina; his words loaded with some secret from generations ago. With how she was paling I didn't want to know. Must be serious seeing as she went from ivory to translucent.
"I will not fight," she finally said, still looking at Tommy. Still locking her jaw in place.
“We have already vowed our help," Melusine spoke with the airy tinkle again, nodding to Alias, who still near the edge of her entourage, Galina by his side, their hands wrapped one around the other. "Alias has given me his report and our alliance with the daughter of the first has not changed. I have no interest in rekindling the alliance that once existed between the Fae and Vampires. But even their Queen should be able to see the wisdom in a temporary reprieve to secure the longevity of both races."
"And how do you know that future lies with this one?” The vamp queen asked, sashaying her dress back and forth as though she were only half paying attention to the conversation. If bored as fuck was the look she was going for, she completely fucking nailed it. "We are creatures of the dark, and in the dark, we will stay. We have our own futures, and we will continue on the path we have set."
"That path will lead to destruction," Saxon said weakly and stepped toward Katarina, pulling her attention. the two stared at each other, my vampires back bowed weakly, but he still nodded his head respectfully before continuing. “My Queen, may I remind you of the promise we made--that you made?”
She sneered and squinted, fangs out as a snarl hissed over the temporary quiet of the cave. “Don’t you dare call me your Queen.”
He took another step and her hiss filled the room, bouncing off the walls. “I am the prince of this realm. I resumed my throne. We will fight. You have no choice."
Katarina stared at him, her eyes flashing red before she laughed, the cold harsh sound replacing the hiss of her monster. Everyone flinched at the sound, flinched and jumped as it stopped and with one flash of her red-stained dress Katarina moved, her vampire speed taking her across the throne room and right before my mate who nearly stumbled back.
“You, Saxon, know nothing of honor--nothing of deals--nothing of loyalty. You come down here, promising your loyalty but I’m not one to be fooled so easily. Remember, young one, I am still your creator.--your sire. Your pathetic words are like vapor. In fact…” She swirled around with the grace of a ballerina except her dress didn’t get the memo, mostly because it was saturated with sticky, heavy blood. The train of her gown mopped the floor, sopping up more blood as she walked around Saxon like he was prey, keeping us all in suspense. “When I killed you minutes ago, it was the last time. You may have been revived, but my creation remained dead. You are dead to me. I will forever remember you lying there, throat slit open, gasping for breaths, the life waning from your body. You are no prince here. You are no prince--period.”
The two stared at each other, Katarina's smile spreading as she won, and Saxon's weak body gave out, sending him back down to the floor. Howl barely caught him, but I stayed standing, staring at the queen who turned the bloody gash of a smile right on me.
“We will not fight with you, Ivy Potter. Find someone else to sacrifice their life for your selfish cause."
I didn’t know what kicked up inside me but whatever it was sent a rush of heat up the back of my neck and caused me to shudder from the inside. It was as though I had been shocked, zapped by electricity that did not want to leave. Some of it was magic--fueled by rage--taunted by her words--pushed by the still-fresh vamp blood inside me. I flexed my hands open and closed, deciding my next move.
'Use it, Ivy. I can fe
el it all over this room.'
'Use what?' I asked, not understanding what he was talking about. The electricity that was still delivering an onslaught inside my veins as it reached my extremities and sizzled right beneath the surface of my skin. It was just rage.
Pure fucking rage.
'Rage mixed with your fucking Alpha power.'
As he spoke, it clicked. I was the fucking Alpha, not just of the shifters. I was the fucking Alpha of them all. I whirled around to face the Queen that stood in the middle of the shards of her throne, throwing her head back as she laughed. as she assumed she won.
Eat it up, bitch.
“You fucking cunt," I snapped, all of the electrical energy working its way into a firestorm as I let my rage out. As I snarled and growled and faced the woman who would end us all. Who had already ended Saxon. "You’re going to sit here in this blood-soaked tomb, waiting for death to come to your door? You’d rather that end than to fight. You have no right to call anyone a coward. Nicky will have you crawling on your hands and knees for mercy. The only blood left will be what is coming from your own body and she’ll watch as you dry up from thirst and perish. That’s the end you wish for your people?”
Katarina stared at me, pretending to yawn while tapping one of those fingernails on her arm, her arms folded one over the other. The influx of power built inside me, pushing at the back of my sternum like a bulldozer. Even my eyes burned with power.
“Katarina, you will fight with us. There is no choice for you. You will honor your role as queen and bring your army to war.” My voice wasn’t my own. It was all horror-movie baritone and had an undertone that reminded me of my wolf. Yet the words came from my mouth, it rumbled from my chest in a sound that reverberated all over my body. I turned to face Melusine and my pack and anyone else in the room who would listen. “You will all fight with me--to the death if that’s what it takes.”
Scarlet’s eyes widened as she looked at Katarina. I spun, expecting her to be swinging those dagger nails at me again, but she stood still, her arms at her side, her eyes dead. She twitched, fangs protruding as she hissed, as she twitched, fighting against something.
