Queen Takes King

by Joely Sue Burkhart

  Her arms tightened against me, crushing me to her. “Ra has marked you. He tried to take you. How did you escape his net?”

  I let the memory of how I’d broken the portal flicker through my mind.

  She laughed and white roses suddenly burst up from the ground and wrapped around us, their perfume divine. She loosened her fierce grip on me. “I would have dearly loved to see his face when you broke his magic.”

  “My Blood are afraid the lingering magic will draw his fanatics to us. That it’s like a beacon. So how can I get rid of it?”

  “It will, left unchecked.” She sighed against my ear. “One thing to remember about light. Everything living needs it to an extent. Everything living can use its warmth and glow for themselves. Just control how much sunlight you take. You’ll feel when you’ve had too much sun.”

  She kissed my neck, her lips hard and strange. Again, all I could compare it to was a statue, coming to life. I wondered what it would take to make her warm and soft again.

  “More blood than you have in your body, dear one. And I need you alive and well too much to indulge in even one small taste of your blood, even though you tempt me. You tempt me greatly. So alive. So sparkling and rich and pure.”

  “My mother said I’m controlled chaos. Is that why you need me?”

  “Yes. One reason. And someday I hope you’ll continue my line with many daughters.”

  The thought of children almost made me run in the opposite direction. I’d never been around children. Never wanted one of my own.

  “Someday you may.”

  I liked that She didn’t make demands of me. It was my choice. Even if Her line died with me.

  She loosened her arms, slowly moving away, and I didn’t want her to leave. Not yet. There were so many things I wanted to know. I wanted to ask her about my mother, my father, the king—

  “Take your king.” Her voice sounded further away, though I still smelled the perfume of her hair. “And build a place of safety that Ra cannot penetrate.”

  I opened my eyes, startled when I realized everyone was staring at me.

  Rik’s face softened, the lines between his eyes smoothing. “My queen.”

  “She told me what to do.” I paused a moment, looking at my two human… servants. I was going to have to get rid of the negative connotation that word carried in my head. Gina was my friend, not someone I wanted to order around. Even though I was her employer, her queen, it felt demeaning to think of her as a servant. “Brace yourself. When I do this… I don’t know what it’ll feel like for you. If you’ll feel anything at all.”

  Gina nodded, settling more firmly on the bed. Frank braced a hand against the bed, still on his knees beside us.

  I looked up at Rik. I hadn’t felt so tired in a long time. My eyes were already heavy, and I had to concentrate on putting words together. “This is probably going to knock me out awhile.”

  He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “Sleep well, my queen.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. Some of the blood here was period blood. I knew what that would do. I wasn’t sure how hard the sunlight would hit. So I decided to deal with it first.

  In my mind, I carefully touched one of those glowing bones. Golden light clung to me, but it didn’t burn or hurt. I rubbed my finger and thumb together, spreading a pleasant glowing warmth into my skin.

  I spread my arms out, palms up, and pulled the light toward me, concentrating on my hands. Droplets of liquid sunlight floated to me, dancing through the air like fireflies. My hands glowed brighter, almost like twin suns. There was a lot of golden energy in the room. I could feel the power coursing through my hands. Enough solar energy to power the house. Maybe the whole city. I pulled all the light to me, until the landscape in my mind was dark, lit only by the deep red glow of blood and the light of my bonds.

  Rik’s molten lava swirled around me. I carefully poured some of that golden light directly on his bond. I heard him inhale at the touch of warmth spilling through him. Then Daire’s purring warcat and Xin’s silver wolf. His eyes flashed like golden lamps in the darkest night. Guillaume’s snorting stallion pawed the ground as I neared. I stroked liquid sun into his black fur and it rippled, gleaming like a burnished coin before sinking down into his hide.

  I still had a whole handful of light to dole out, so I moved to Gina and Frank’s bonds. They were thin, like threads, but I could feel them. I trickled light onto their bonds, but it didn’t seem to hold much. Hopefully it was enough to help them.

  Some of the golden warmth sank through my skin as I worked. My blood heated, like it danced and sang in my veins. It was nice, yes… but deep down, I couldn’t forget that skeleton’s bony grip on my ankle. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that magic touching me, so I didn’t take much of it.

  I thought a moment, trying to decide what to do with the rest. It was a lot. I had to get rid of it, but that much might hurt even my Blood.

  Thousands of miles to the south, I felt a tug. Chains rattled in a deep, dark space that time had forgotten.

  Of course. It would be fitting revenge against the god of light if I gave his power to his greatest enemy, Leviathan. I had no bond with him, but I could point in his direction. I knew exactly where we needed to go in order to find him. Focusing on the liquid sunlight swirling in my right hand, I willed myself south with every drop of golden magic. I pictured the great beast in the dark, chains rattling, claws scratching aimlessly against the stone. Sunlight never reached so deep or so far beneath the earth, so this would probably hurt his eyes. If he was even awake. Hopefully I could drop the golden ball of light onto him and be gone before he even realized it’d happened.

  I didn’t move physically, but my awareness flew through time and space. I saw the steep cliffs of the mountain. Water cascaded over me as I passed through a crisp, cold waterfall. Deeper, and faster, now, I flew through the dark, homing straight to him.

  “It’s you again.”

  I froze at the deep, rumbling tones of his voice. I’d never heard him speak before.

  “What do you want with me this time? Did you come to torment me with what I cannot have, while I lie chained another thousand years?”

  “I have a gift for you,” I whispered, holding the ball of light out in front of me to light my way. Wet, black stone glistened in the soft light. Something crawled in the darkness, the sound of scales rustling over stone.

  “You stink of Ra. Get the fuck away from me before I eat you.”

  “Ra tried to kill me.”

  He chuckled, a luscious, low laugh that did crazy things to my very healthy libido. It felt like he’d reached deep into my belly and strummed a chord. “Yet you’re still here. Either you’re very good,” and his tone said he meant very, very bad, “or the stick-up-his-butt sun god is getting lazy in his old age.”

  “I prefer the first.”

  He blew out a deep breath, a beast-like pant so at odds with his smooth, chocolaty voice. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “Maybe you’ll find out for yourself.”

  He let out a long hiss. “Maybe so. Or, like I said, maybe I’ll eat you. It’s been a fucking long time since I had anything but rats and worms to sustain me.”

  “Which is why I’m bringing you this.” I sent the ball floating forward though I couldn’t see exactly where he was. “Is this enough to free you?”

  The golden ball winked out of sight a second before the clash of teeth warned me that he’d engulfed it. A low rumble shook the ground beneath my feet. Rocks and pebbles rained down and I fell against the side of the cave. My first panicked thought was that he’d broken free and was going to bring the whole fucking mountain down on us.

  But then I realized he was laughing.

  “You think this is enough to free me? That was a taste. Just another torment you’ve brought me.”

  “What will free you?”

  Chains clattered on the stone and I had a sense of something dark and large
scuttling toward me. I trembled, my heart pounding, but I didn’t move. I wouldn’t run. Not from him. Not from anything. Never again.

  He crashed at the end of the chains, inches away. I could feel the strength radiating from his body, an impression of exactly how massive he was. He made Rik’s rock troll look like an action figure a kid would play with on the floor.

  “You. You will free me.”

  “How?”

  “The fuck if I know.”

  He sucked in great bellows of air, blowing my hair around. His head lowered as he breathed in my scent. My blood.

  Something brushed my belly. His tongue maybe. I trembled, scared, but also turned on. I didn’t want to be eaten or bitten by whatever monstrous dragon-serpent thing he was… But for all his threats, I had a feeling he’d much rather eat me out, than actually eat me.

  “Give me some of this power and that might be enough to allow me to shake the foundations of the world.”

  I closed my eyes and pictured my room, both around me, but also thousands of miles away. Blood shimmered all around me. On me. I opened myself to that blood and called it home. All of it. Every drop.

  Magic rushed through me, lifting me up, tossing me about like a tornado swirled through me. So much power. Gritting my teeth, I let it build. I held it until my bones throbbed, my teeth ached, my skin felt like it was going to tear open under the force. My blood boiled in my veins, eager to work its magic.

  I shoved all that power toward Leviathan, hoping he knew what to do with it. I couldn’t drop it to him through a bond and that much… I was afraid I’d kill him and not even mean it.

  He gulped it down like a crocodile eating an antelope whole. Roaring, he rolled and thrashed in the depths of the earth, and yes, the entire mountain rattled above him. I was terrified he’d bury himself in a landslide and I’d never be able to dig him out.

  I had just enough magic left to drop some on my knee. I tried to imagine the torn flesh knitting itself back together, the swelling easing, but I was no doctor. I really didn’t know what meniscus or MCL meant exactly.

  Exhaustion sucked me deeper. I strained to hold on, to open my eyes and let Rik know that I was okay, but I don’t think my eyelids even cracked a slit.

  A brush of scales, the tick of claws on stone. Leviathan brushed against my mind, reaching for me this time. “What is your name?”

  “Shara.”

  He paced in my mind, his claws digging into me. I flinched, both mentally and physically, but I didn’t try to push him out. His loneliness ached like a foot-long thorn in his massive paw. “Come and find me. Now, Shara. I won’t last much longer, even with that sweet dollop of power melting on my tongue. You must come soon or all is lost.”

  “How long do we have?”

  “Hours. Days. No more.”

  “Why? Why are you dying now?”

  “I felt the moment you took the first breath on this earth and the countdown started.”

  Oh fuck. Knife straight to the heart. Me. I was killing him, just by being alive. Worse, because I’d been on the run for five years, lost to my consiliarius and the legacy, I hadn’t had the power to know that the king needed me. My king.

  I must have made some sound of pain, because I felt Rik pressing tighter to me, all my Blood in fact. Daire’s warcat was draped on my legs. Xin and Guillaume on my right. Rik on my left. Distantly, I felt Gina and Frank leaving the room, probably with Dr. Borcht, though I didn’t feel her directly.

  I wanted my Blood crowded close. Definitely. But the horror of the skeleton grabbing me was fresh in my mind. If they were all here, unable to wake…

  :We’re all taking turns on guard duty even in your bed. He won’t catch us unaware this time, my queen.:

  It felt like Leviathan’s chains were tangled around my legs, dragging me deeper. I fought to stay awake. I needed to make plans. :He’s dying. He doesn’t have much longer. I don’t think we can wait.:

  :We’ll tell Gina. We’ll go tomorrow if you must. Sleep. Rest. All is well, my queen.:

  No. All was not well. My very existence was killing him.

  :I feel him in your mind,: Rik’s bond glowed brighter, and for a moment, I was afraid he’d try to drive the massive beast out. Leviathan watched him from the darkness, one great slitted eye that gleamed in my mind. :Did he taste your blood?:

  :I gave him power, but he hasn’t had my blood directly.:

  Distantly, I felt Rik giving Xin a silent order to race after Gina and tell her we needed to move our travel plans up.

  I guess we wouldn’t be decorating or shopping for Christmas.

  I’d be unchaining a monster the god of light had chained up thousands of years ago.

  Let’s hope he didn’t destroy the world when I freed him.

  25

  Shara

  I never thought I’d spend this Christmas Eve on a gorgeous jet—that I actually owned—on my way to Venezuela.

  My team was assembled: my Blood, consiliarius, human head of security and three guards, and my personal doctor. I was glad Dr. Borcht came, even though she hadn’t wanted to become a blood servant. I was fine with that. More than fine, actually, as long as she was willing to help.

  I didn’t know how bad off Leviathan would be when I freed him. Or if he’d try to kill me or injure someone. Having a doctor close made me feel like we might have a chance of pulling this off.

  My knee was much better today, though it felt weak. I wouldn’t want to run or do jumping jacks on it, but I could walk without a limp or pain.

  Gina hung up a call and gave me a nod. “Angela is taking care of locking up the Kansas City house, and I returned the legacy to the safe first thing this morning. Though the main house in Eureka Springs won’t be ready for a couple of more weeks, Winston recommended a smaller guest house as a temporary residence on the property. That way you can establish the nest and begin powering your defenses as soon as possible.”

  “Good,” Rik replied. “Once she establishes the nest, it’ll be impenetrable. Ra won’t be able to open a portal inside again.”

  “That sounds great,” I said, drawing his gaze to me. “But how do I establish the nest again?”

  He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Easy. All you have to do is bleed.”

  “Then why didn’t the house in Kansas City work as a nest? I think I bled all over that place.”

  Chuckling softly, Gina covered her mouth.

  Yeah, she’d seen enough to have an idea of how bloody some of our lovemaking had been, but really, she didn’t have a clue. Like that night in the tub. I don’t remember how many times we changed the water because it was too bloody. We all wanted to taste each other, sure. But that didn’t mean we wanted to sit in cold, bloody water.

  “Intention,” Guillaume said. “Your intention sets the magic and invests part of yourself into the nest. There was no need to do that in Kansas City, since you intended to leave. You wouldn’t want to leave part of your soul, your magic, unattended, left behind and unguarded. While you could have dismantled a nest and reestablished it again, it takes much more effort.”

  Just the thought of leaving behind some part of me made me queasy. I could only imagine how hard the monsters would work to break through the defenses in order to devour what I’d left behind. They’d destroyed that dressing room for a few drops of blood on a pair of underwear. “I really wish we had time to set the nest now before we go on this crazy mission.”

  “It’s your crazy mission,” Daire said, flipping tawny hair over his shoulder. Yes, it was that long now. I think it’d grown six inches since yesterday.

  “It’s still crazy. I don’t know what I'm going to do once we get there. Let alone how we’re getting there.”

  Gina patted my knee. “I’ve got that part covered. A local guide is making a hefty bonus to take us to the mountain on Christmas Eve. Because of the holiday, we should have the area to ourselves. He said we may have to hike the last mile or so, though he’d try to hire enough horses for our
party. Will your knee hold up okay?”

  “I think so. As long as we don’t actually have to climb much. We don’t have to go up. I have to find a way down. He’s inside and under, through a waterfall. That’s all I know. I’m hoping I’ll feel him once we get there.”

  I listened inside my head, waiting for the click of his claws, the pant of his breath, but I found only silence. I hoped that meant he’d retreated to his prison, and not that he was dead.

  Gina proved herself once again to be an excellent consiliarius. Cars were waiting for us at the small private airport, and a guide met us on the dirt road to Roraima. He’d managed to find enough horses for everyone, saving my knee any stress.

  The guide looked at me, Gina, and Dr. Borcht, and then the sun hanging low in the sky. “Are you sure you want to go this late in the day? It’ll be dark before I can get you back to your cars.”

  “Yes,” I said at the same time as Gina, confusing him even more to who was in charge.

  I’d never ridden a horse before, and riding up the foothills at dusk might not be the best time to learn. In the end, Guillaume lifted me up on Rik’s horse. I could have figured out the basics and the horse seemed tame enough, but I didn’t want to waste any time. Every minute they spent trying to tell me which rein did what was another minute Leviathan might have died. How stupid would it be to know that I could have freed him if I’d swallowed my pride and ridden with one of my Blood? Though I would like to learn to ride someday.

  Rik pressed his mouth against my ear. “It will be our pleasure.”

  Daire snickered as he trotted past. “Maybe Guillaume should just shift and let you ride him.”

  Guillaume rode easily beside us. “Our queen can ride me anytime she wants, shifted or not.”

  My cheeks burned and our poor guide looked at each of us like we were crazy. Hopefully he didn’t understand all that, but his English had been excellent.

  The mountain loomed on the horizon, its top wrapped in clouds. Sheer cliffs towered above us as we neared the foothills. I couldn’t imagine climbing something that steep, though evidently, people did all the time. The view from the top must be incredible, if the clouds and fog weren’t too thick.