“It was, in essence. We weren’t allowed to come and go unless he approved. The term iron fist was coined with him in mind, I’m sure of it. I only saw after putting distance between him and myself what a monster he is. Not because he’s a vampire, but because of the sort he chooses to be.”
“Hey.” She touched my cheek, turning my face toward hers. “You said before you admire my courage. I admire yours. I really do. It must’ve taken a lot of courage to get out of there.”
I kissed her palm. She smiled. “Thank you.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for.”
She was wrong about that. There was ever so much.
Gabriel stirred, though he didn’t sound or appear distressed. Still, he grabbed Sophie’s attention. “He’s always been braver than me,” I admitted while Sophie smoothed hair back from his sweat-slick forehead. “He saved Graziella when I was too cowardly to do it. I have no illusions over that.”
She shook her head in disagreement. “You reminded me of what I was going to ask. That favor we started out talking about.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“I want you to smooth things over with him. You and Dominic, but you’ll need to lead the way. I need you three to hash things out. Jessa, too. If we’re ever going to be a team, I can’t have you working against each other. No old bitterness, no grudges. Please. It’s important to me.”
There I was, thinking it would be simple to give her anything she wanted.
“Why do I need to lead the way?”
“Because you’re the peacemaker. You’re the level head. I need that. We all do.”
I sighed, looking at my unconscious cousin. “I would do anything for you. Even this.”
Now, if only Gabriel would agree to play nice, we might be able to make good.
* * *
DOMINIC
It took a great deal to leave me speechless. Even more to do the same to Jessa.
We both sat in utter silence once Magda finished explaining what would happen next. What she’d seen.
“Does it have to be this way?” My cousin sounded like a frightened little girl. “Are you sure?”
“I wish it could be otherwise. Truly.” Magda settled back against yet another pile of cushions in all colors of the rainbow. “It pains me to say it, but my visions have been consistent. Slight variations here and there, but the result is always the same.”
The dropping of a bomb might have felt the same. I searched for the right words, but none seemed to come. “I wish I knew what to say.”
“Tell me you will see this through to the end. Until he’s been stopped for good. I wish I’d stopped him centuries ago, before he had the opportunity to kill my dear friend. I barely had time to warn her, to take her child away where Lucian couldn’t find her. And that was how Aurelia wanted it. She only cared for her daughter’s life.”
“There’s still time.” Jessa shot me a desperate look. Wanting me to back her up.
I wanted to. I wanted nothing more.
I couldn’t do it in good faith.
“If we change that, we could change everything else Magda’s seen. Isn’t that right?”
“You are quite perceptive. Yes. That’s precisely right. If this is the sacrifice I need to make to save all of you, it’s a small sacrifice indeed.”
Jessa chewed her lip. I had never seen her this worried, not even the night at the cabin ten years ago. “Are you going to tell Sophie?”
“No. She won’t be here when it happens. None of you will. I would appreciate you telling her sometime in the future that I did this with a full heart and no regrets. I’ve lived a long life. It’s time I move on. Now that I know the queen has come and is in good hands, I have nothing to keep me here.”
“What about Poppy?” Again, my cousin surprised me with her concern for others. “I’m sure it will devastate her.”
“She is strong. Capable. Wise. And accustomed to sacrifice. She’ll make it through. You all will.” Magda let out a sigh, letting her head fall back. “I’m very tired. It seems I am always tired nowadays.”
“Why don’t you rest?” I suggested. “You didn’t rest very long earlier.”
Her head swung back and forth. “No. There is so little time. She will need to know all there is to know when you leave me, which means I must speak to her right away. She will have questions, and I must answer them while I still have the chance.”
I reached forward and took her hand. The skin was so thin, like old parchment. “Thank you for everything. Always.”
“It will be up to you now. All of you.” She blew a kiss to Jessabelle, who was visibly choked up as we left the room.
I closed the door, intent on letting Sophie know Magda wanted her. Jessa touched my arm, bringing me up short.
Sophie and Kristoff were snuggled up together near Gabriel, eyes closed. Sophie’s breathing was slow, even. She trusted him enough to fall asleep against him, in his arms.
It looked like everything was unfolding the way Magda had said it would.
Which meant it was likely we would lose her. And soon.
Eighteen
SOPHIE
“Sophie.”
Somebody kissed the top of my head. Somebody who wanted me awake.
But I was so comfortable. I stretched and yawned, then slowly opened my eyes.
“There she is.” Kristoff kissed me again, on the nose this time. Then on the lips. I melted against him, sank into one slow, sensuous kiss after another.
Warmth against my back. Another body. Hard, muscular, one thick thigh slid between my legs, parting them. Lips grazed my neck, my bare shoulder.
I broke the kiss with Kristoff and turned my head. Gabriel was behind me, tasting and touching. I raised my arm, cupping the back of his head, running my fingers through his hair. He thrust his hips against me, driving his thick, hard length against my ass.
Kristoff slipped a hand between my thighs, dipping his fingers into my slick folds. I groaned into Gabriel’s mouth while our tongues tangled, my hips moving in time with Kristoff’s strokes.
“Roll her onto her back.”
Dominic, standing at the foot of the bed. His chiseled body glowed in the early morning sun. But it wasn’t his flawless body that took my breath away. It was the lust in his eyes.
Kristoff and Gabriel did as they were told, leaving me spread-eagled on my back. Kristoff’s lips moved over my throat, his tongue lapping my skin, while Gabriel lapped at my breasts. Their hands roamed over every inch of my skin, leaving me covered in goosebumps.
I arched my back, my head rolling from side to side as pleasure so deep and intense it brought tears to my eyes left me breathless, speechless.
Worshiped. I was worshiped by these men. My men. My vampire lovers.
Dominic climbed onto the bed, between my spread thighs. I looked up at him, watched him lick his lips. “How shall I serve you, my queen?”
Only two words would do, and I managed to rasp them between moans of unspeakable pleasure.
“Fuck me.”
“Sophie?”
I jerked, sat up, blinked hard. My heart was racing, the blood rushing in my ears.
Along with other bodily fluids rushing in other parts of me.
Talk about a vivid sex dream. My body was still reacting to what had gone on in my imagination.
Damn. Now that I had imagined it, I wanted it in real life. I needed it.
Kristoff was looking down at me. Fully dressed this time. “Are you all right? Your pulse raced like you were having a nightmare.”
What would he say if he knew it was anything but?
“I’m okay.” I looked around, blinking hard, trying to clear my head. “How long was I out?”
It was Dominic who answered, standing with Jessabelle near the door to Magda’s room. “Not long. She wants to see you.”
Magda didn’t strike me as somebody who should be kept waiting. I got up, still a little shaky and wetter than a dream had ever left me. It wasn
’t easy to look Dominic in the eye as I passed him.
Fuck me. Jesus, that was hot. What a shame I woke up when I did.
Now wasn’t the time. Magda wanted me.
There she was, propped up on a mountain of cushions like a queen on a throne. “Our queen. I realize this might sound strange, our never having formally met before today, but I am so proud of you. You’ve seen quite a lot in a short amount of time.”
I took a seat close to her. “I have. To put it mildly.”
“You have deep strength at your core. You need it. You were born with it.”
“But why?” I leaned in, hungry for answers. Desperate for them. Hadn’t she said something about my lineage? I needed to know. “Why not my mom? Or my grandmother? Why me?”
She lifted her thin shoulders with a cryptic smile. “That, I cannot say. It works this way in human genetics sometimes, as well. A gene skips a generation or two. Any of your female ancestors on the maternal side might have been born with the mark of the Blood Queen imprinted on them.”
I looked down at my body. “I don’t have any marks.”
“I wasn’t speaking literally, child.” She chuckled softly, the way she spoke. “Perhaps if there was a physical mark, this would all be simpler. We would have something to point to, some proof to hold up to the young woman in question. Instead, all any of us can ask is that you trust as far as you are able to.”
“It’s getting easier.”
“I’m glad. The sooner you come to accept this, fully, the sooner you will take your place and unite the differing species.”
“But how? How? When I don’t know anything about them?”
“You can learn. As for how to unite them, there can be no unity until every throne is filled. The Blood Throne has always held the most power, at first because of Aurelia’s great abilities, then because of her absence. Only when she was gone was it clear how desperately we needed her. All of us, not only the vampires. She was the balancing voice, the quieting presence. She inspired calm, rational thought.”
A smile tugged at her thin lips, folding the skin at the corners of her mouth. “She also wielded great physical power. Her fury was the stuff of legend. She did not suffer fools, and she rarely offered a second chance after her trust had been broken.”
“Sounds like me.”
“You are her descendant, after all. Her heir.”
A chill ran through me. “I can do this? You’ve seen it all? I have what it takes?”
“I would never lie to you, my dear.” Her voice was clear, sweet, but no-nonsense. “You have everything you need. All that needs doing now is your acceptance of your role. And please, do not mistake me. There will be sweet moments. The sweet will far outnumber the sour.”
The dream came back to me, and I had to look away.
This was not the time for her to be reading my thoughts.
“You will face tests in the coming days and weeks, I’m afraid. Lucian will have to be stopped before you can ever hope to bring balance to the different species and tribes. Once he’s been stopped, you will remind those who’ve been at war among themselves for centuries just who they are and why they are and how to keep the supernatural world strong. Safe. Steady.”
She was right.
Either hearing her say it was convincing me, or I had always known it and only had to hear it coming from her. From somebody who knew everything.
I could do this.
“Magda?” Poppy tapped on the door before peeking in. “He’s awake.”
“Gabriel?” I jumped up and practically ran out of the room. The others were gathered around him, asking questions. Trying to get him to talk.
He only said one thing as I broke and got on my knees next to him. “Sophie.”
“I’m here.” I took his hand. He sounded so weak, but I couldn’t let him know I heard it. Besides, what mattered was he was alive.
So to speak.
“You saved my life.” I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Any time.” He looked around. “Oh. It’s a family reunion.”
“Spare us the sarcasm for a while.” Jessa ran a hand over his hair, tousling it a little. “You look good. For somebody who got bitten by a wolf.”
“Thanks.” He managed a wry grin.
I was about to ask what we could do for him, how to get his strength up, when everything went straight to hell.
The ground shook. Dust filled the air. Bits of stone and plaster fell around us.
“What’s happening?” I got up as fast as I could, but the ground’s rumbling made it hard to stay on my feet.
Magda looked up, spitting out profanity that almost made me proud of her. “You must go. Go far away from here.”
“But why? What’s happening?”
“He’s found me. Damn his rotting soul.”
My jaw dropped. “Who? Lucian?”
“How?” Gabriel tried to sit up. Kristoff helped him.
“Take it easy!” Poppy tried to help them. “He’s still healing.”
“How so soon? Why now?” Dominic was shouting at Magda over the rumbling which now was loud enough to make me want to cover my ears.
I could only look around in confusion as more bits of plaster sprinkled over everything. Jessabelle covered my head with her crossed arms. I tried to thank her, but another loud boom drowned me out.
I was finally about to ask, “What’s happening? What, did he rent construction equipment? Is he tearing the station down?”
Magda stood in the center of the room, looking up at the ceiling where a crack had formed and started to widen. “He’s found a witch willing to counter my magic. I knew this day would come. Just not yet.”
“He must’ve found a way to follow us here!” Kristoff helped Gabriel to his feet. “We have to get out before the whole place comes down.”
“Sophie, we need to go.” Poppy took my hand, tried to pull me out.
“No.” Magda pulled me away from her. “Not that way. She must transport.”
“How?”
She took my hand next and slid a heavy ring over my third finger. “Use this. Go. Get away from here. Now.”
“What about—”
“Where will you go?” She shook me. “Where?”
I couldn’t come up with anything. Not with the world falling apart around me.
Think, think. Where are those instincts?
My car was at the cabin. I could drive anywhere I needed to go after that. I still had my phone on me and could call Poppy.
The lycans and anybody else looking for me would think I was in Philly, since I’d been spotted with Gabriel and was involved in the death of one of them. “The cabin. At Miller’s.”
“We’ll meet you there!” Dominic kissed me hard, fiercely. “Go! Before he finds you here!”
“Something tells me he’s not here to welcome you to the family, sweetheart.” Jessabelle gave me a little shove. “Go.”
Magda took my face between her ancient, weathered hands. “I thank the gods they granted me the chance to look upon you. Go, my dear. Live long. Live well. Love with all the strength of your considerable heart.”
“Sophie! Go!” Poppy was in tears. She never cried, and here she was with tears streaming down her cheeks.
My heart ached when I looked at Magda again. Something told me it would be the last time.
I didn’t have the time to thank her or anything.
I looked down at the ring, its ruby glowing.
Gabriel’s words from earlier in the day, before he was attacked, came back to me. One has to know precisely where they’re going if they’re to use our rings properly. They might end up in the middle of nowhere otherwise.
I pictured the cabin at Miller’s just as clearly as I could. The front door. The sofa with its slipcover. The farm sink, the glaring bulb in the bathroom, the hand-stitched quilt.
Just like that, the rumbling stopped. There was no more falling dust, no more plaster hitting my head and shoulders.
&nbs
p; No more vampires.
There was, however, a gun pointed straight at my face.
“Sophie?”
I recognized his voice even through the confusion and shock in it. “Uncle John?”
We were in the living room at the cabin. He was facing the door, and for some reason he was aiming a gun at me. His handsome features—so much like Dad’s—were twisted in confusion.
“What are you doing? Why are you here?”
“Why am I here?” He sputtered, barked out a disbelieving laugh. “Why are you here? Where the hell did you come from? One second you weren’t here, and now—”
“What’s with the gun?”
“What?”
“The gun!” I pointed at it. “Why are you aiming a gun at me? What’s happening? Are you crazy?”
He blinked hard, and suddenly seemed to understand. “Oh. I wasn’t aiming at you.”
Because that made sense. “Who were you aiming at, then?”
Which was when I smelled it. Stronger than ever.
This time, there was no mistaking it for anything else. Not raw sewage or a family of raccoons.
I turned in place and found a lycan standing in the doorway who made the one I threw up on look downright tiny.
A lycan who smiled from ear to ear. “Well, now. You must be the infamous Sophie Strickland. You’re more beautiful than I heard.”
I snarled. “Like I care about your opinions. Who the fuck are you?”
“Me? Why, my name is Justin.” He took a step inside, cracking his knuckles as he did. “And Augustine has been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.”
Something told me that gun of my uncle’s didn’t hold silver bullets.
* * *
What happens when Sophie is given no choice but to be turned or to give up her right to the Blood Throne… forever?
When brothers need to either put the past behind them or destroy what could be a legendary reign of peace?
When passions ignite—and not only between Sophie and her vampire consorts?
Find out in FLESH AND BLOOD, coming in October 2020!
Bad Blood Page 13
