"You bitch," I snarled and swiped out at her. I didn’t have talons, but I was going to rip her fucking face off.
"Why steal these items at all?" Reed asked, holding me back. "All of the dragons would have given them to you."
"Yes," she nodded. "But stealing them give more power to the spell than if they were freely given.”
"What are you planning?" Niall said. "You’re not going to release Nidhogg are you?"
"Niall, don’t be stupid." Lerisse dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
"Careful." He caught her lovely chin in his hand. "We are very much alone, and you aren’t supposed to be here. I could snap you in half and no one would know what happened to you. You should not have come here without your guards."
My mouth dropped open. Niall was making threats like a boss!
Lerisse swallowed and said softly, "Then how would you cast the spell that brings your daughter and all our other lost females back to life?"
Niall gripped her chin for a moment more before releasing her. "That’s impossible. You cannot bring back the dead."
"I can call them out of the weave."
"They have no bodies." Niall shook his head.
"They will take their form using the magic of the artifacts and the weave."
"That’s nonsense. A dragon is flesh and blood."
"A dragon is magic and legend," Lerisse countered.
They stared at each other for an eternity.
"It could work," Niall said and dropped his hand. "But only if a female casts the spell."
"Better than that," Lerisse said. "I think it will start the process anew and our eggs will have more female energy in them."
"Then why kill Carolyn?" Reed gritted between his teeth.
Niall positioned himself in front of Lerisse. It hurt to see him protect her.
"I hadn’t realized she was a Queen when I discovered she knew about the scrolls." Lerisse was the picture of innocence. "I would have made it painless. All the deaths were painless. I’m not a sadistic Queen."
"I will kill you. I will feel your neck under my teeth. You killed my friend," I snarled and tried to fling myself at her. But Reed held my arm like the rabid pit bull I was channeling.
"You involved her," Lerisse said. "Blame yourself."
"That’s enough," Reed said. His hands bit into me as I struggled to get free. "Do not speak to my Queen like that."
"Do not speak to me in that tone, Reed." Lerisse glared at him. "I will vote for your dismemberment at conclave for harming your Queen." She sneered the last two words. "There is power in death. This halfling is neither dragon nor human. Her death will add to the magic I am gathering, and then when I cast the spell, her dragon half will have a chance to come out. She would be reborn—as she was meant to be born."
"Not. Going. To. Happen," Reed stated.
"Are you telling me no?" Lerisse looked amused at the thought.
"She makes cold, logical sense." Niall nodded. "You can’t have Carolyn, but I will give you the scrolls."
"Niall," I shrieked. "You can’t be serious."
"This is deadly serious," Niall said. "I don’t agree with her methods."
"You don’t have to," Lerisse informed him in a flat, ugly voice.
"But Lerisse holds the future of our race in her hands. She has the solution to unlock the Queens. You and she are on the same side."
"She killed my friend." I was almost blind with rage.
"Humans don’t matter," Lerisse said.
"Tell that to the Order of Dragon Slayers," I snarled. "No, wait. Never mind. I’ll tell them."
"Don’t you threaten me, you little bitch." Lerisse advanced on me, only to be stopped by Niall’s hand on her arm.
She tried to struggle, but he was stronger.
"How many objects of power have you obtained?" he asked.
"Fifty. I can release fifty Queens."
"Shall we get you more?" Niall asked.
"I’m not sure I have the power for more than fifty. If this works, I can always cast it again in the future."
"If this works, you might not need to," Niall said.
She nodded and they clasped hands in a bargain.
"I’m not helping this psychotic asshole. Reed, back me up here. You can take her. Rip her freakin’ head off."
Reed turned me around so I faced him instead of the smug Queen. "I hate this. But we have to let her try."
"And if she fails?" I searched his face for the vengeance I wanted. "Then will you kill her?"
"If she fails," Niall disengaged his wards with a wave of his hand, "her spell will backlash on her and kill her."
That wiped the smile off her face.
"You are a dead woman. I vow it," I yelled. But none of the dragons were paying me any attention.
"Silence your pet human, Reed, or I will rip out her heart and use it to fire my spell."
"Do not threaten her," Niall growled.
"I will not forget you also threatened me, All Knowing." She squared off on him.
"Carolyn, come with me." Reed dragged me back to the Mercedes. "It will take her several hours to cast this spell. I need your help in securing Joachim’s assistance."
I instantly deflated. Of course. A dragon couldn’t harm a Queen gone bad, but The Order of Dragon Slayers could. "You’re a genius," I said and kissed him hard on the mouth.
I walked away and dialed Joachim, then filled him in. "I need you. Jane’s dead. A dragon-mage named Lerisse killed her and two other humans to hide that fact that she’s been stealing items from hoards all over the world. She tried to kill me twice, but Arianna and Reed have managed to stop her."
"What do you need from me?" Joachim’s voice might have been tinny and marred by static because of the distance and connection, but I felt his resolve through the phone. Thank Nidhogg, I had someone on my side.
"I need you to kill her. Reed and Niall can’t because they are dragons. Niall doesn’t want to because she’s got this lamebrain idea to use the magic items she stole and cast a reanimate spell that will bring back fifty dead female dragons."
"She’s a necromancer?"
"I don’t know. I think she’s crazy." I paced back and forth, trying to find an outlet for my rage and grief.
"When does the ritual start?"
"Reed thinks they will need a while. I think you have time to get up here."
"Do you want me to stop her?"
Did I? Part of me did. I wanted her executed. But then the other dragons would always wonder if she could have done the spell. As much as I hated it, Lerisse had to cast that spell. "No, let her disgrace herself. If she lives through it, then you can execute her with impunity."
"I will call you when we land in New York."
"Hurry, Joachim." I hung up and stalked back over to Reed. "He’s coming," I said.
"Good. For the time being we’re going to the embassy."
"Lerisse is a crazy bitch," I said as we climbed into the Mercedes.
"It doesn’t matter if she’s a crazy bitch. Everyone will want to see if she can do what she plans to do." He reached over and held my hand.
"She killed my friend.”
"Can you try and think of someone other than yourself for a change?" Reed snapped.
"What did you say to me?" I asked, barely breathing. All the air had suddenly left the car. Tears formed in the corner of my eyes. But he wasn’t done with me yet.
"The future of an entire race is about to be decided and you’re whining about one human? There are billions of you on this planet and only about two thousand of us. This spell of Lerisse’s will give us back our women, our future generation."
"Three humans," I said quietly, but matching his shout in intensity.
"What?" He blinked at me like I was speaking pig Latin.
"She killed three humans. You promised me revenge," I said in a small voice. "You said Jane would not be forgotten."
"And she hasn’t been. I’ve been on the phone with her heir, a brother
who lives in North Carolina. I offered him an excellent price for her house. It’s where Joachim and Mei Hua will stay. I will give it to you if you want."
Lame.
"Joachim is going to kill Lerisse, right?" I wanted to make sure we were clear on that at least.
"Absolutely not," Reed said.
"I mean after the spell fails and she lives. Then it’s off with her head or stabbing her with his trident thing, right?" I cut my forefinger across my throat and crossed my eyes.
"No, if the spell fails, we’ll need Lerisse more than ever."
I counted to ten. All attempts at levity fled. My pulse pounded in my temple so hard I could feel the throb all the way down to my toes.
"How will Jane be avenged, like you promised me?" I snarled.
Reed smiled. "If her spell fails and she survives, the Council will not let her cast any more spells. The dragons she stole from will want redemption. She’ll be penniless and powerless and will have to start from the beginning again."
"But Jane will still be dead." I shouted the last word.
"Carolyn, even if Joachim killed Lerisse, Jane would still be dead." Now he was doing the quiet deadly voice.
"She tried to kill me on two separate occasions. Both times I was in your care." The muscle worked in his jaw when I scored that hit. "You need to be more worked up about that," I told him.
"It was a misunderstanding," he said, but even he seemed to realize he was making excuses.
"I thought you cared for me." I shook my head. "I’m an idiot. All you ever do is dance to these Queens’ tunes.
Reed pulled the car over to the side of the road. He seethed for a few minutes, flexing his fingers and a flake of black scale filtered between us.
"If you shift, you’ll wreck the car. I am not riding on your back to the embassy. I’ll hitchhike first."
"You don’t think I’d like to grab Lerisse by the neck and shake her until it snaps like a twig?"
"No, I don’t. She’s too valuable. It was a misunderstanding...blah, blah, blah." I made a talking motion with my hand.
"Bullshit," Reed exploded. "If I kill her, I die. Then you have Jack as your consort if someone else doesn’t get there first. She’s going to botch the spell, and it will kill her. She will die horribly. You will be safe. You and I will be together."
"That’s very logical," I said, hugging myself.
Reed rested his head on the steering wheel. "This isn’t easy for me. I’m not used to a Queen like you. None of us are. That’s why everyone wants you. That’s why Lerisse was trying to kill you. They don’t want more Queens to take away their power. That’s why Mei Hua was taken. Arianna would have been hidden away also. The five Queens would lose their power over us."
"And you would lose your power over them."
Reed nodded. "Change is coming. I don’t know if it will destroy us or save us."
I reached out to hold his hand. "We will never see eye to eye on this, will we?"
He squeezed my hand and then put the car back into drive.
Chapter Eighteen
Dragons are made of magic and legend and if we remember that, we will live forever.
The embassy was buzzing, but I couldn’t be a part of the excitement. I sat in my old seat and stared at Jane’s empty desk. I called my parents, but they didn’t pick up their phone. In desperation, I called my brother.
"Yo," Evan said. "Have you given up the idea that you’re a dragon?"
"Pretty much," I said. "I’m too human."
"Good, glad to see the therapy has been working out for you. Hey, I gotta go. Football’s on. I’m glad I’m not going to be embarrassed by you anymore."
"Me too," I said and hung up.
And that was the sum total of my human friends, not counting Joachim, who hadn’t landed yet.
Zhang came and sat next to me. He squeezed my hand. "I’m going to miss her, too. She was a great person." He let me cry on his shoulder for a while. When I was all dried out and his shirt was a sopping mess, he said, "I’m sorry, Carolyn. I’m needed elsewhere. Do you want me to send Reed over?"
"No, he’s busy spreading the word."
Zhang patted my knee and hurried off.
Jack came over and pulled me up off the chair. "Want to fool around?"
"Yes," Arianna said and we opened our arms.
He pulled me into a bear hug. "Reed threatened to cut my dick off."
"Reed’s on my shit list," I said into his shirt. Why, oh why couldn’t I have fallen in love with Jack? He was hot. He was funny. He wasn’t Reed.
"You might feel differently after the ritual. They’re doing it here in the parking lot at dawn."
"What do you think about all of this, Jack?"
"I think we solved several cases, and we couldn’t have done it without you." He stroked his big hand down my hair, and I really wanted to feel something more than comfort. No dice. If it had been Reed, I’d be unbuttoning his pants right now.
"I want her dead. Dead for what she did to Jane."
"You may get your wish. Niall says if the spell fails, she’s done for."
"When I finally shift to a dragon and if she’s still alive, I’m going to kill her," I told him. I was still hanging onto him for dear life.
"Have you ever killed someone before?"
"No," I said.
"It’s harder than you think." He rested his chin on the top of my head and rubbed my back.
"I’m harder than you think."
"You feel pretty soft to me." He kissed the top of my head. "I’m not saying you don’t have the desire to kill Lerisse and as a dragon, you certainly will have the power. But in the end, in that last minute, you may change your mind. And Lerisse will use that hesitation to end you. I’m afraid for that."
"I won’t hesitate," I vowed.
"You have a soft heart, but the will of a dragon. Perhaps you won’t. But once you kill her, you will cease to be Carolyn anymore."
"I’ll still be me," I said, stubbornly.
"You’ll be Carolyn, only forever changed. Trust me on this." He tilted my chin up. "I’m going to risk my dick to do this." He dipped his head down and gave me a sweet kiss. I had an iron hold on Arianna to keep the kiss G-rated. Well, maybe PG. He was so nice. It was a change from Reed’s asshattery. His kiss was sweet and poignant, but it didn’t light any fires.
"I’m going up to Zhang’s office and lie down. Do you want to come with me?" Arianna added.
"Yes," Jack said. "But I won’t."
"I understand," I said and went up in the elevator.
I managed to choke down some dinner and lay on the couch watching a dull sitcom until sleep finally took me. Zhang woke me up just before dawn, and I saw I missed Joachim’s call. I listened to the voice mail as we rode down the elevator to the parking lot. Joachim was at Jane’s house with Mei Hua and there were men in the crowd outside the embassy to protect me.
And what a crowd it was. I stood on the outskirts of it. There were over two hundred dragons in a circle with a few humans scattered about. I tried to pick out Joachim’s men, but couldn’t. My eyes were on Lerisse, who was in her dragon form, a deadly yellow-and-black Oriental dragon with a fire-orange mane. There were dragon runes drawn in the air around her. On the ground, thick lines made with blood and chalk and ash from the treasures she torched with her breath glowed in the morning air. I’ll say this for her. She really put on a show.
When the first rays of dawn lit the sky, I shivered in the chill, my nerves jittering and my teeth chattering in anticipation. I felt the pull when the spell went off. Was it going to work?
For a moment nothing happened, and I let out a nervous titter, but then ghostly shapes came out of the ground to dance in the circle with Lerisse. I tried to find Niall in the crowd, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I backed away, feeling the shapes wing through my body and take a more solid form. The crowd grew animated and there were shouts as the ghostly figures became more recognizable. Soon the entire sky was filled with si
lky-white ghost dragons. A small explosion rocked the circle and the figures spiraled out of control in a dizzying aspect. I took another step back—even as the voices called to me to dance.
It was a dance of joy. Of life. I wanted to walk into the circle and join my sisters. I stepped forward. But the figure of Jane stood in front of me. Whether her spirit was really there or it was what I wanted to see, it snapped me out of it. Jane’s hands clasped mine. I gave her quick hug and then she was gone. I stayed away from the circle.
Lerisse thrashed and leaped up, looking around wildly. Her gaze locked with mine and I took another step back. "You come to me now!" she ordered, but I was no longer compelled.
"You need a sacrifice," I whispered. "That was the missing piece. You were going to give them my life essence. And now that you can’t, they’re going to take yours. Good."
The crowd started to get restless as the ghostly dragons dove and each bit a piece out of Lerisse. I backed farther away. The ghosts grew form as Lerisse tried in vain to banish them. She darted away, trying to get out of the circle but they dragged her back. The fifty ghosts ate her piece by piece and Lerisse’s own people watched them do it. The good of the many. In the end, fifty female dragons flew above the parking lot.
Their names were called out from the people who remembered them. The dragons would not let these Queens be ravaged and captured. I continued to back away. I was shadowed by two humans but knew they had to be Joachim’s men. I was free. The hoard stealer was dead. Mei Hua had been rescued and Esmeralda neutralized. The cult of Nidhogg had no power, for the time being.
I was still pissed at Reed for his callousness, but I didn’t think it was something we couldn’t work around. And now there were more Queens, maybe he would give exclusivity a chance.
Each rebirthed Queen roared as light exploded from their mouths. They flew out in fifty directions. One came right at me.
The bolt knocked me off my feet, and I gazed up at the sky in a daze. It was such a lovely morning. What was the poem? Red skies at morning sailors take warning?
Reed, Jack, and Niall were at my side instantly. They were in dragon form, and it was a little overwhelming to see three large Western dragons looming over me. Reed snapped at Jack, and Jack belched back a small flame at him in warning. Niall, however, pinned me with his eyes.
The Queen's Wings: Book 1 of The Emerging Queens Series Page 20
