The Twiceborn Queen (The Proving Book 2)

by Finlayson, Marina

  “Let me send a couple of the guys out to open up the house and do a security sweep,” Garth said.

  “It doesn’t have any better magical security than we do here.” But even as I spoke I recalled Luce quizzing Blue about sniper fire and how he’d squirmed when she’d pointed out that anyone could land on the roof here without triggering the defences.

  Garth got that familiar mulish look on his face. I could tell he was gritting his teeth. “You said yourself we had to take the initiative. Being based here isn’t helping, so let’s shake things up.”

  I nodded reluctantly, aware that there was no compelling reason to stay now Ben was out of hospital, and my resistance to the idea came from Leandra’s dislike. Although the damage had been repaired, she hadn’t been back to Arcadia since Jason’s “birthday surprise” had blown half the back of the house off. The memory of that betrayal still stung.

  “Moving doesn’t help with the main problem, though,” I said. “I simply have too many enemies. We’re being attacked from all sides. Hell, if they could manage to coordinate themselves, they could probably overrun us even at Arcadia.”

  “Well, there’s a cheerful thought,” Ben said.

  Eric folded his hands on the highly polished table top. He had small hands for a man, with neatly filed nails. In fact, everything about him was neat and well groomed. “We need to take out Alicia. Then the proving would be over and Elizabeth would have to call off her dogs.”

  He was kind of bloodthirsty for a neat freak, but it was a good point.

  “We don’t know where she’s holed up,” Garth said.

  I waved a hand in irritation. “Details. We could find out.”

  It took Ben to say what we were probably all thinking. “She has Luce directing her campaign now.”

  That was the real problem, one we had no answer for yet. But I’d think of something. I had to. I squared my shoulders and made up my mind.

  “Okay, first things first. Garth, get the house at Arcadia ready. Once we’re a little more secure we can plan an attack.”

  He nodded and the impromptu meeting broke up. I went to check that Lachie wasn’t boring Mac to death, and found them on the floor, heads together, crouched over a Lego house surrounded by a horde of minifigures. It looked like a siege was in progress.

  I hoped that wasn’t a sign of things to come.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Next day Alex and Steve headed out to Arcadia, but Garth wouldn’t move when they gave the all-clear. He wanted to wait until nightfall.

  “You getting paranoid in your old age?”

  He gave me a fierce grin. “Always been paranoid. Why do you think I’ve lived so long?”

  “How old are you?” I asked on impulse.

  “Older than you.”

  “Don’t forget there’s two of us in this body,” I joked. “I bet our combined age beats yours.”

  He rounded on me, his face serious, and poked me in the chest.

  “This body is only a kid. That’s you, Kate, whatever weird shit happened with Leandra on New Year’s Eve. Don’t get so caught up in this dragon crap that you forget you’re human too.”

  Man, he had hard fingers. I rubbed my breastbone. It felt like he’d prodded me with a metal bar.

  “You’ve seen me change. You know I’m as much dragon as human.”

  “Of course you are. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here, would we?” He waved an arm at the foyer, where we stood amongst suitcases and boxes, but I knew he didn’t mean our physical surrounds. This whole situation wouldn’t exist without Leandra. “But you’re more than her, and that’s our biggest advantage. Don’t you forget it.”

  Geez. I’d never seen him so serious. “Fine, we’ll wait until dark.”

  And so it was nearly nine o’clock before those suitcases and boxes started to move out to the cars. Having more than one fully furnished home meant we could travel light between them; only clothes and a few personal belongings had to be carted from one to the other, so the two big four-wheel drives had enough room for all of us plus belongings. One was parked right out front, and the other only a few spaces further down, after an afternoon of careful street-watching by Garth, waiting for parking spots to open up. He wanted the move to go as quickly as possible. Alex and Steve had taken their stuff when they’d gone to prepare the house—plus a few boxes’ worth of Lego, fortunately, or we might have been in trouble.

  Dave stood unobtrusive guard out front while the other guys ferried boxes out. Eric watched the back lane. And Ben stood at the window of the lounge and watched the rapid packing of the cars with frustration on his face.

  “It’s almost enough to make me wish I was a shifter.”

  “What is?” There didn’t seem anything supernatural about a bunch of guys hurrying up and down the front steps with boxes and bags. Besides, they were all human except Garth and Mac.

  He gestured impatiently at Garth with his good arm. “Look at him. I shot him in the chest a week ago. Anyone else would be dead, but there he is, throwing twenty kilos around like it’s nothing, while I can’t even raise my arm above my shoulder.”

  “You nearly lost that arm.” I leaned into him and trailed a line of kisses down his neck like an apology. He’d been hurt saving me, after all. His skin tasted of salt, though he smelled like a fresh afternoon in a pine forest. “You can’t expect it to recover overnight.”

  But he did. That was the problem. He’d never been badly hurt before; he hardly ever even got sick. Being the one that needed help was a new experience for him, and it didn’t sit well with his natural instinct to be busy and useful.

  He put his good arm around me where we stood at the lounge room window. I leaned into him and watched the loading in progress. The scene outside was lit by streetlights and the light spilling down the front steps from the open door.

  “Maybe I’ll get him to bite me come full moon.” He sounded only half-joking, his face drawn into a frown as he stared out into the night.

  “Sure. That’s all we need—you and Garth fighting it out for dominance. Don’t even think such things!” I shuddered. “We have enough on our plates without any more complications, thanks very much. Try to be patient.”

  “I hate being so useless.” His dark eyes were so serious. What was wrong with everyone today? So much introspection. “You need everyone at full strength. How can I help you when I can’t even cut up my own goddamn dinner?”

  Good Lord. Next thing I knew he’d be trying to get himself turned, out of some misguided sense of duty.

  “Benjamin Stevens. You are not some hired muscle. You are far more to me than just a body.” Then I grinned and snuggled closer. “Although I’m not saying I have no use for your body …”

  I trailed one hand over his chest, let it slip lower. His mouth quirked in a smile in spite of himself.

  His good arm held me tight. “True, parts of it are still working fine.”

  I ground my hips against him. “Mmm, so it seems.”

  He bent his head to mine and I lost myself in sensation as he kissed me—the warmth of his mouth, the heady scent of the cologne he always wore, the feeling of his body against mine.

  “Ah—sorry to interrupt …” Rob hesitated in the door, carefully not looking as we broke apart, awkward as a teenager who’s sprung mum and dad making out. A flush spread from his neck up into his cheeks. “Garth says we’re ready.”

  “Great.” I crossed the hall to the foot of the stairs, my feet making no noise on the thick carpet, and called for Lachie. “Time to go, Monster.”

  “Everyone ready?” Garth said as he and Dave came in the front door. “Rob, go get Eric.”

  Rob nodded and headed down the hall to the big kitchen/family area at the back of the house. He opened the back door as Lachie came pelting down the stairs.

  “Slow down!” I moved forward, just in case I had to catch him, but Lachie kept his feet. He offered me an unrepentant grin as he bounded to a stop. Maybe the move would be good for him too
—give him space to run around and work off all that excess energy. Being cooped up here wasn’t ideal for a ten-year-old, even if the place was bursting with Lego.

  I caught movement from the corner of my eye and had just started to turn when Garth shoved me violently. “Get down!”

  I sprawled across the bottom of the staircase in a heap with Lachie. Garth landed beside me. Dave and Ben leapt the other way, back toward the lounge, Dave reaching for his gun.

  At the back door Rob lay crumpled, his lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling in surprise. It had been him falling that I’d seen in my peripheral vision. A crossbow bolt stood up from his chest, and an ominous red stain slowly crept out from underneath his back and spread across the tiles.

  The open doorway behind him showed only darkness. That wasn’t right—the lights should have been on outside. No telling who was out there, or how many.

  “Still think it was a good idea to wait until dark?” I muttered to Garth.

  His eyes had turned yellow and wolfish. “Why haven’t the defences been triggered?”

  Good question, but not one I could answer right now. We crouched together at the foot of the stairs, out of sight from the back door. I had Lachie shoved against the wall, covering him with my body. His eyes were huge as he looked up at me. I laid a finger on my lips and he nodded.

  Dave stood in the lounge room doorway opposite us, his gun trained down the hall.

  “What now, boss?” His voice was steady, though his usually cheerful face had paled at the suddenness of Rob’s death.

  I risked a peek around from the cover of the stairs. Nothing moved at the other end of the hall. Rob’s body lay sprawled, the crossbow bolt standing up from his young chest at an obscenely jaunty angle. A black rectangle of night filled the open doorway with menace. We rose to our feet as anxious seconds ticked past.

  “Ben! Can you see Thommo and Mac out the front?”

  Ben moved out of sight, toward the lounge room window. “They’re waiting by the cars. Everything seems quiet out there. Want me to signal them?”

  A huge crash of broken glass sounded from the kitchen, out of our line of sight. Pieces of glass skittered into view across the floor. One kissed Rob’s outflung hand. Someone had decided a side assault through the window was a safer option than storming the open doorway.

  “Cover us!” Garth said to Dave. “Let’s go.”

  I grabbed Lachie’s hand and Garth herded us toward the front door. Ben joined us, with Dave bringing up the rear, backing toward the door without taking his eyes off the rear of the house.

  Garth opened the front door as Dave started firing. An answering bullet whizzed past my head as I leapt out into the street, dragging Lachie with me. Mac and Thommo looked up in surprise at our sudden dramatic appearance, then Thommo raced up the steps, gun drawn, a fierce expression on his normally placid face. He was a short guy, shorter even than Dave, and generally so laid-back he was almost horizontal, but he shot up those steps as if every dragon in Sydney had just lit a fire under him.

  “Go, go, go!” Garth shouted.

  Mac leapt into the first car and started the engine. But as our feet hit the pavement the ground suddenly tilted crazily, hurling us into the air.

  I landed heavily and tried to scramble up, but only made it to all fours. The concrete footpath had cracked into crazed patterns, and leapt and shuddered like a mad bull at a rodeo. Choking concrete dust billowed into the air. There was no way I could stand.

  I looked around desperately for Lachie. He lay at the foot of the stairs, unmoving.

  “What the hell is this?” Ben shouted.

  The noise was tremendous, as if a giant cement truck was rumbling past. Fresh blood bloomed on Ben’s bandages, and his face twisted in pain. Must have landed on his bad arm. I tried to crawl to Lachie, but the ground convulsed under me again and threw me to the side.

  The front steps shattered with a deep boom, and chunks of concrete and bits of broken tile rained down. The street lights abruptly went out.

  “Lachie!” I screamed.

  Someone else screamed too. Dave, I think, tumbling down as the steps disintegrated underneath him.

  I heard a growl, and a streak of silver shot from the rocking car. Mac? As she launched herself across the street shots rang out again. Someone was firing at her? I shook my dazed head. No. Thommo, staggering like a drunk but still miraculously on his feet, was firing at three figures in the shadows between two buildings opposite. Another wolf, a big black one, snarled and leapt on the nearest figure. Garth. I hadn’t even noticed him change. My dragon-enhanced night vision showed him savaging a tall willowy body that seemed to grow from the pavement.

  Leshies.

  Last time I’d encountered these wild forest shifters, they’d been on my side. Obviously no longer. It was their command of the earth that kept us thrown around like marbles in a bucket, unable to find our feet and fight back. The silver wolf leapt at one, and he met her with limbs suddenly turned to branches that sprouted vicious thorns half a metre long. The wolf yelped in pain, but her jaws still snapped for his throat.

  Anger burned white hot inside me, constricting my throat and sending fire flushing through me. A fine plan, this—frighten us out onto the street, where the leshies waited to knock us down like skittles, then bring on the big guns to finish us off. Easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

  Which meant the real assault was still to come.

  The silver wolf fought hard, snapping and growling with the black wolf at her side, but she was slowing down. Even from across the street I could see a dark stain matting her bright fur. She fell back and Garth positioned himself in front of her, teeth bared in a savage snarl, fur bristling, ready to spring at the next leshy to attack.

  No more! I threw back my head and roared, giving in to the primal urge inside me. The roar deepened, echoing off the blasted street, as I opened myself to oneness. The rest of my self surged back through the channel stone in an ecstatic rush. My body grew to its rightful shape, and I trumpeted defiance at the black sky above and spread my wings with a sound like a thunder clap.

  The leshies shrank back into the alley, knowing their earth magic was useless against my fire, and the bleeding wolves dragged themselves out of the way. I leapt into the middle of the rocking street. Alarms sounded a discordant chorus as parked cars bumped into each other, bringing frightened faces to windows, but I didn’t care. There was already a price on my head; one more violation of Elizabeth’s laws wouldn’t make any difference.

  I drew in a huge breath, feeling the pressure build deep in my gullet. One leshy still faced me, desperately trying to knock me down with increasing gyrations of the road beneath my clawed feet. It was a fool’s game, and his companions knew it. They fled down the alley, but too late.

  I breathed out a mighty jet of flame. The leshy in front of me went up like a torch. Ignoring his screams, I thrust my head into the alley and blasted the other two. Dragonfire burned hotter than any other flame, and clung like napalm. It only went out when nothing remained to burn.

  In this case, that didn’t take long.

  Roasted leshy smelled so good I began to salivate. It had been a long time since I’d hunted in trueshape. But now was not the time. Lachie was still in danger.

  Lachie!

  Thinking of him triggered an involuntary change, as my body instinctively sought the form associated with him: a mother’s shape, with arms to hold and protect. Trueshape was too big, trapped in the canyons between buildings. Dragon form rushed away, dissolving back into that other space where it waited till called out again through the channel stone.

  I stood naked in the ruined street, surrounded by the rags of my former clothes. Exposed, in every sense of the word. Sudden shifts were hell on wardrobes.

  The lights were out in the whole block. The leshies’ games must have damaged cables underground. They’d sure as hell busted a few water pipes: a fountain gushed from a deep crack in the gutter, spilling a river across the
broken road surface. But there was enough light to see Lachie huddled beside a pile of rubble, his eyes huge with fright.

  Garth limped back across the street, supporting Mac, who was bent over like a little old lady. Neither of them had a stitch of clothing left. Dave and Thommo stood back to back, trying to cover every direction with their guns. Ben was on his feet too. All accounted for. I moved toward Lachie.

  Before I’d taken three steps a figure leapt down the pile of rubble that had been the front steps and snatched him up. My blood ran cold. I should have known. Who else knew the weaknesses in our security so well?

  “Don’t move,” said Luce. She wore her usual all-black ensemble, hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. She was breathing hard but her face wore its usual impassive expression.

  “Let him go.” I had trouble speaking. Fear clutched at my throat. Why hadn’t I kept trueshape? I knew what this woman was capable of.

  “Come any closer and I’ll put a bullet through him.” She had him over her shoulder in a fireman’s lift, and now she held a gun to his side. He kept still but the whimper that escaped him tore at my heart. I didn’t doubt she’d do as she said. Trueshape wouldn’t have helped. I could hardly blast her with dragonfire while she held my son.

  Nobody moved.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  Her lip curled with something like self-loathing, and her tone was bitter. “Because my lady says I must. You were there; you know I have no choice.”

  Alicia had bound Luce to her with an ancient ritual that made it physically impossible for Luce to disobey her mistress, or do anything that went against her interests.

  “I know that! But he’s a child. Leave him out of it. Alicia’s problem is with me, not him.”

  The gun wavered, then shifted to point at me. Garth muttered a protest and stepped forward. She whipped the gun around to cover him.

  “I said don’t move.”

  Two men emerged from the house behind her. One carried the crossbow that had killed Rob. What were the chances that Eric had escaped somehow, and was still out the back getting ready to charge them?