Queen Takes Checkmate (Their Vampire Queen Book 5)

by Joely Sue Burkhart

  Gina had already drawn up a basic sibling contract based on the considerations we’d used with Zaniyah, though none of these siblings had their own nests, let alone heirs, to worry about. Kevin’s eyes had just about bugged out of his head when he first saw my version that paid everyone double Skye’s former contracts as well as allowing them to keep their own inheritances from their birth houses. Evidently, that was a rare allowance, which seemed ridiculous to me.

  Why would I take away their birthrights, when I was already using them to solidify my power base? I said as much to him, and he shook his head. “It’s the price weaker queens pay for protection. They need you more than you need them.”

  “I’m not in the mafia business. Nobody pays Isador for protection.”

  His eyes twinkled at my comparison. “Granddad would age a century if Marne Ceresa asked him to put such an allowance in her contracts. I feel that I should warn you, if Gina hasn’t already. Once word gets out to other houses about Isador’s favorable sibling arrangements, you’ll be flooded with sibling requests. Most of the smaller houses never had enough of a legacy to tempt a house of Isador’s stature, so they’ll leap at the chance to align with you.”

  “That’s not why I’m doing it, but I suppose that’s a positive side effect.”

  He grimaced, shaking his head. “Not if the Triune objects to House Isador gaining too much strength too quickly. The houses are already balanced precariously, with a handful of large houses holding the power, and medium to smaller houses stacked underneath. These houses were never a concern to someone like Marne Ceresa. But even small pebbles stacked together can eventually topple a larger boulder if the balance shifts.”

  I smiled, but evidently it wasn’t a nice smile by the way his eyes widened. “I’ll deal with the Triune another day. I know how I want things done, and I refuse to strip birthrights from anyone who swears to Isador.”

  In the end, every sibling who’d stayed in the tower accepted my contract. Luckily, I only had to taste eight more queens’ blood to solidify our alliances, assuming they all stayed too. My silver nails proved invaluable for making a small, tidy wound that didn’t cause the same forceful climaxes as my bite.

  Maybe it was petty of me, but I drank deeply from all the queens who wanted to swear to House Isador. For one thing, I hungered, though I’d rather have my Blood. But I also wanted to make a point. They’d all seen me drain Keisha Skye to death. I could drain them as easily. All of them. I chose to let them live, and I chose to pay them well to join my house. I didn’t want to start out as their queen by making blatant threats, but I expected loyalty.

  As the last queen approached me, pale and nervous, Kevin leaned down to whisper, “Daniella Thalassa, formerly a House Ceresa sibling.”

  So she carried Marne Ceresa’s blood. Just the thought of tasting Daniella’s blood, and taking Marne into my body, made me twitchy. “How did you come to serve House Skye?”

  “The queens came to an agreement in a formal treaty,” she replied.

  Kevin offered a folder to me. The pages inside were handwritten in elegant, swirling strokes on what felt like some kind of antique parchment. The date in the upper left-hand corner gave me pause.

  1480.

  I glanced up at her again, unable to hide my amazement. She looked maybe thirty years old, not well over five hundred. Her complexion was smooth and glossy like a porcelain doll with big blue eyes and a delicate rose-bud mouth. Her gleaming brown hair was pulled back in an old-fashioned up-do with curls cascading down from the top of her head, though the short dress she wore was modern.

  Despite the age of the document, the wording itself was simple to understand. Daniella Thalassa was an envoy to House Skye from House Ceresa and would improve relations and communication between the two houses.

  Envoy. That seemed pretty clearly to mean spy.

  “It was common for the queens to exchange envoys back in those days,” she said quickly, noting the tightening of my lips. “It wasn’t underhanded or sneaky in any way, shape, or form. I wasn’t a spy or sent to betray Keisha in some way. I was truly supposed to bridge communication between her and Marne Ceresa. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for several hundred years. I have Marne Ceresa’s approval to make the same arrangement with you.”

  Fuck. She’d already been communicating with her former queen about me. I’d known that was a possibility. I just hated worrying that I’d said something or betrayed myself or my goddess without even thinking.

  I tried to be as politically polite as possible rather than yelling “fuck, no!” “Please convey my appreciation to your queen for all the years of service you provided to Keisha Skye. Perhaps in the future she may wish to make a similar arrangement with House Isador, but until that time, I wouldn’t dare offend her by taking one of her siblings into my house without personally agreeing to new contract terms myself.”

  Daniella inclined her head and curtseyed. “By your leave, Your Majesty, I’ll return to Rome at once, then.”

  I nodded, trying not show as much relief as she was. She probably thought I’d kill her, like I’d killed Alessandra. I closed my eyes a moment, fighting down a sudden wave of panic and reproach. She’d have told Marne Ceresa exactly what I’d done.

  :That’s a good thing,: Guillaume whispered. :She’ll respect it, because it was the right thing to do.:

  In my head, I heard too many other thoughts—and none of them were mine. Gwen was distracted, staring off into space as if she could hear something that no one else could. She mentally measured the distance between her and the Blood she’d called, trying to estimate when he’d arrive. Carys kept cooing what a good bird Winnifred was in cutsie baby-talk that was so at odds with her outward gruff appearance. The other queens were terrified, anxious, and excited, all at the same time, a dizzying mix of emotions.

  My head felt so fucking cluttered now. All these new queen bonds made me feel stuffed and spied upon, even inside my own head. I could feel their emotions as my own. Could they feel mine? I didn’t want them to know so much of myself. I didn’t want them to know my heart. That was for my Blood alone.

  :Can I ensure they don’t have full access to my thoughts, as I do theirs?:

  :You’re the more powerful queen,: Rik replied at once. :You can do whatever the fuck you want. Use them when you need to, but otherwise, shut them down.:

  Guillaume added, :Just imagine them going dark, or silent, in your head.:

  I closed my eyes and blanked my mind. I wiped everything. I just wanted a few moments of peace and quiet in my own head. Sweet, blissful silence.

  Rik’s fingers dug into my shoulders, grounding me. Though the pressure in his fingers told me he didn’t like the silence much at all. Thinking of his bond was enough to let my alpha rush back into my awareness. His mind slammed up against mine, squeezing me tightly.

  He fucking trembled, his fingers convulsing on my shoulders. :Goddess help me, I couldn’t feel you. It was like you’d completely dissolved the bond. You were fucking gone.:

  His bond settled in my head, laced with the scent of hot rocks and iron. :I’m sorry. I had no idea.:

  I thought of Daire, and immediately his bond wound through me, just as frantic as a house cat who’d been locked out of the house all night by accident. Guillaume. His steel blade gleaming inside my head with a brutal, cutting edge. Xin, my ghostly wolf, howling mournfully until I opened to him. He pressed his nose against me and I fisted my hand in his ruff. I quickly opened the rest of my Blood bonds, not wanting them to be distressed another moment.

  I could feel the other queen bonds, but I didn’t touch them or let them come back up into my focus. I thought about Nevarre’s Shadow, spreading over the window to block out the sun, and my sense of the queens faded even more.

  Perfect.

  Now that I had the bonds sorted, I wondered how different my power would feel, if any. I hadn’t really tried to do anything since taking Gwen and Carys, and now I’d added seven others. Some of them h
ad taken siblings under House Skye, and some with Blood had also taken siblings. It was a complicated hierarchy of lives that now existed underneath my house name. My power base, ready for me to draw upon in times of need, would continue to grow as Gwen officially took her own Blood and siblings for the tower.

  Remembering that Guillaume had said to try and pay attention to where I reached for my power, I closed my eyes and settled back against my chair. Rik still gripped my shoulders, but his touch was soft and steady not hard and desperate. I took my time sinking deeper inside myself. Thinking of my power… but not actively trying to call it up.

  Night had fallen outside long ago. In fact, dawn was only a few hours away. I could feel the darkness now, though it was weakened by city lights that never went out. Blood trickled from the neat cut Guillaume had made for the queens. Just a few drops. I also sensed a large amount of period blood captured by the magical net I’d set so I didn’t ruin all my clothes.

  I’d been bleeding heavier than usual. Annoyingly so. I didn’t know what it meant, if anything. Periods could change from month to month, and my Blood sure the hell weren’t complaining.

  Power flared to life inside me with a low, internal whomp like a gas stove or furnace catching flame. So much power, tossing me here and there like a tiny stick amidst a hurricane. Fuck, wave after wave crashed through me, lifting me higher. I had nowhere to go with it. Nothing to use it for. I wasn’t in danger. I didn’t need to grow another grove in the middle of New York City.

  Thunder crashed and rolled in my skull, my ears roaring as if hundred-mile-an-hour winds rushed through me. My hands came up to my ears automatically, trying to quiet the noise. But it did no good. The noise was inside my head.

  Finally, realization dawned on me. That endless thunder was the heartbeats of my new siblings. Several hundred lives thudded away inside my head, waiting to do my bidding. Using the Shadow again to distance myself from the pounding heartbeats helped. I still stood inside a raging inferno of rushing energy, endlessly searching for an outlet. A release. Power pummeled me, trying to bring me to my knees.

  People always thought that great power was a fantastic gift, but in reality, it was a fucking nightmare. I had to figure out how to control it. With this much magic pulsing through me, I could obliterate New York City with a thought.

  The power needed something to do. An outlet. Something big.

  I had an idea. It might not work, but… What the hell. I’d try. The worst it could do was tear down my tower and kill us all. Not a pleasant thought.

  Focusing my will, I pushed the power away from me. I could feel the crackling energy all around me, burning with my fire and Vivian’s phoenix, softened by Isis’ moon. A glowing magic sphere enclosed me, sinking down into the marble. Yes. I needed to go down. All the way to the ground.

  One. Hundred. Stories.

  I couldn’t waver. I couldn’t allow a distraction to break my concentration. I didn’t think I’d survive the fallout if this power whipped back into me uncontrolled.

  Distantly, I felt my physical body standing, my feet spread wide, my arms rising out on either side of me. Rik never let go of me. My anchor in the storm. His heavy palms on my shoulder kept me from getting sucked up into the maelstrom of power blazing through me.

  I pushed the sphere’s diameter out away from me. I needed to enclose this room. The hallway. My awareness passed through walls like a ghostly specter. Wider. I needed to hold the entire building. My arms trembled, strained wide as my sphere spread through the tower and out.

  Into the night air.

  I did it.

  Relief made my heart pound, but I wasn’t done yet. I took a couple of deep, forceful breaths, building up my strength. Then I shoved my power deep, down toward the ground. Falling. Wind blasted me as I picked up speed, almost like I was tumbling down an elevator shaft. Ground. I needed to find the ground. Not concrete and asphalt. I needed Gaia for this, the touch of Her life’s essence. Not easily found in a skyscraper.

  I smelled dirt and rocks moments before my power hit the packed earth deep beneath the concrete footings of my tower. I quivered, my legs trembling with strain. I held the entire tower in my sphere. I could feel the crisp, cool air on my face, even while my nose filled with the sterile, dark scents of dirt that never saw the light of day.

  It was still alive, though. If I scraped some of this dirt up and put it into a pot, it’d grow whatever I gave it.

  So I gave it my blood.

  I released the magical plug holding my period blood inside me. I felt the hot gush between my thighs. I smelled the raw iron and copper, mixing with the scents of cool earth and the darkness of night. My domain. Blood. Night. Dark.

  Great Mother, please accept my offering and give me your protection on this place. Keep all who live inside this circle safe.

  I shoved my blood deep into the earth, envisioning a giant blood circle snapping into place where my sphere touched the ground.

  Land that had been neglected and misused for centuries lapped up my blood as eagerly as Daire. Tremors rocked the foundations of the tower. The building swayed, the floor shaking beneath my feet. Steel groaned, absorbing the stress of infinite power roaring up from deep in the ground and streaming hundreds of feet into the air like a geyser.

  My blood circle. Complete. Without me ever stepping foot around it.

  As the power ebbed, something called me. A whisper. A breath. I listened with my whole being, searching for that small, still voice.

  Dried, dead lips whispered, “Wake me.”

  Panting, I opened my eyes. I’d fallen to the floor, though Rik cradled my head. My Blood were pressed in a tight circle around me, backed against me so they all touched me in some way.

  Carys and Gwen both stood over Rik, glaring at me over his shoulders and clucking like angry chickens.

  “A little warning would be nice, Your Majesty,” Carys snapped. “You almost took down the whole building.”

  “We need you alive, not burned out into a shell,” Gwen said only slightly less tartly. “What did you do, anyway?”

  I closed my eyes a moment to be sure. The deep, red glow of my blood circle pulsed around the building, even up this high. Quirking my lips, I opened my eyes. “I laid a blood circle around Isador Tower.”

  Carys gasped. “No. That’s not possible.”

  Gwen closed her eyes, and I felt her white light brush my power humming around the building. “She did. Goddess. I didn’t know that was possible.”

  Rik stroked my cheek, his bond rumbling with worry. “You’re hemorrhaging, my queen.”

  I didn’t have to sit up and look to know a huge pool of blood was spreading around me. Grimacing, I rested back into his hands. “Brace yourselves.”

  I took a deep breath and released it, slowly, mentally preparing myself. Then I called my blood to me.

  Super-charged period blood slammed into me, making me convulse. I felt the surge of release in each of my Blood, driven to climax by the feel of my blood sliding back into my power grid. All their pleasure simmered inside me, mixing and flowing with energy until my head wanted to float away.

  I must have faded into la la land for a while. I opened my eyes and Rik was carrying me.

  “Get the car ready,” he ordered.

  My eyes were heavy and sleep sang a sweet lullaby to me, but I wasn’t wiped out like before. Tired, yes. Exhausted into a coma, no. Just high on pleasure and blood. The thought made me giggle. I had to concentrate fiercely to speak out loud. “Gina.”

  She stepped closer, her brow creased with concern as she looked down at me. “Yes, my queen?”

  “Two. Things.” I had to rest a moment, gathering my will. It was so hard to concentrate when I just wanted to drift away on piles of hard, sweaty muscle. “Ask Frank. Legacy.”

  Her eyebrows arched. “You want me to ask Frank to bring the legacy from your nest?”

  I nodded jerkily, my head way too heavy to manage it gracefully. “I need it.”

&nbs
p; “At once, my queen. What else?”

  I tugged on Vivian’s bond. She stepped closer and touched my arm, her palm scalding hot on my skin. :Tell her where we need to go to find Heliopolis.:

  Vivian gasped. “She says we need to go to Heliopolis. Surely you want to wait as long as possible, my queen? It’s not a place that you can simply walk into and take what you want.”

  I might be bone tired and high on my Blood’s pleasure, but my voice echoed with steel. “Indeed I will.”

  “Where?” Gina whispered, her voice shaking.

  “Egypt, of course,” Vivian breathed out. “Cairo. I can open the gateway there.”

  “When, Shara?”

  I took a deep breath, trying to oxygenate my brain enough for clock math. I needed to rest. I needed to feed deeply. Frank needed time to fly here, though Gina probably already had him on a plane headed this way. And I had one important ritual to complete. I could only hope to find the clues I needed in the Isador grimoire. “Forty-eight hours, give or take.”

  “So soon,” Rik said, his tone heavy with concern. He wasn’t questioning me, not exactly. Just… worried.

  “I must strike before he does.”

  He nodded, but his bond still weighed like tons of granite in my head. “What else, my queen?”

  My eyelids fluttered, my words slurring. Hopefully they understood. “I need. To wake. Huitzilopochtli.”

  20

  Rik

  My queen slept on top of me like I was the most comfortable, airy mattress, rather than granite boulders. I kept a steady awareness on her bond, even though she slept deeply.

  Those few moments where her bond had gone silent were the worst of my life. Worse than when she’d stepped into the Zaniyah nest and battled Keisha Skye’s geas, while I was forced to stand outside. She’d at least had her other Blood with her, then. She’d had bonds to call upon.

  This time, she’d had no one. And for one long, desperate moment, I’d feared that she might not let us all back in.

  I couldn’t blame her for wanting some peace and quiet in her head after taking so many siblings at once. Most queen siblings were added over generations, but in the span of twenty-four hours, Shara had taken nine.