Mehen joined us on the bed. :I decided we should go by age.:
Of course, because that allowed him to go first. He wasn’t even going to be allowed inside Skye’s nest, but it wouldn’t hurt to make him poisonous too. He flashed slitted dragon eyes at me as he sank his fangs in Rik’s biceps. His bond flooded me with flames, as if he could taste my blood through Rik. He pressed closer to us and wrapped one arm around my hips, so he could touch me too.
Itztli came in next, his eyes glittering like his obsidian blade. :Alpha—:
:Yes,: Rik said immediately. :I can feed you both while our queen feeds me. I can feed you all.:
Now that the initial rush of blood and magic hit him, he focused more on technique. Which meant I was quickly moaning and jerking in his grip. I’d fucked one of the Blood while feeding others before, but I’d never seen them feeding off each other. Two mouths, locked on my alpha. It was hot, yeah, especially when they both touched me too.
But I had to admit, I’d rather be feeding them than watching them feed off Rik.
As soon as the thought registered, Mehen surged up to sink his fangs in my throat. Tlacel slid in beside his brother, wrapping his arms around us both as he bit Rik’s forearm.
:How much do we need to take?: Itztli asked.
:As much as you want,: Rik replied in the bond. :One drop of our cobra queen’s poison is enough to kill.:
Xin and Nevarre crowded in on the other side, both of them biting Rik’s other arm.
Climax poured through me, making them all groan. Rik sucked on me harder, working his entire face against me. Gasping, I opened my eyes and looked at them. My Blood. Four heads crowded around Rik, while I rode his face, and Mehen fed from my throat. They’d positioned themselves on purpose, so I could see them. So I could enjoy the way they fed from my alpha.
Itztli and Tlacel lifted their heads as one and turned to me. I offered them my right arm and they drank from my wrist and biceps, just as they’d done Rik, though they moved aside to make room for Ezra.
Which left only Guillaume and Daire. Silently, I held out my other arm and Daire came to me, sliding up against Mehen with that delicious rumbling purr. He cuddled into my wrist and bit me. Guillaume pressed against my back, also straddling Rik. I had a moment of hesitation, worried that we were all on top of him, but then he pushed me to another climax and I didn’t care.
Because he didn’t care.
He gripped my buttocks, pulling me down harder on him. Drowning on my blood. My pleasure. They all were.
I flew so high I lost sight of my Blood and this new bed we were bloodying so thoroughly. I lost sight of everything. I flew through a night sky on silent wings, cutting through the air effortlessly. No stars blinked in the sky. No moon.
Utter darkness.
How I had been conceived. How I had been born.
Panting, I slowly became aware of the bedroom once more. My Blood all cuddled around me, crammed into the bed. It was large… but not that large for ten full-sized adults. Luckily, they didn’t care about lying on top of each other.
As long as they could get a hand or mouth on me at the same time.
21
Shara
Hamilton on Broadway was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in my life that didn’t involve my Blood. We dressed up like we were going to the Oscars, and I dragged Winston, Angela, and Marissa along too. Stepping out of the long black limousine into the crush of fans all eager to make their way into the show, I felt like a movie star. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t hiding.
I was out in the open, in Keisha Skye’s home territory, as if I had nothing better to do than go see a musical, despite her summons.
It felt pretty fucking amazing, I had to admit.
I’d never done anything remotely as public like this. After Dad was killed because we stayed too long in the park, I’d taken more and more of my classes at home with Mom, until I was completely homeschooled by the time I hit high school. We certainly never went anywhere after dark. It wasn’t safe. It’d never been safe.
The lonely, lean years on the run were so far behind me that I could hardly remember how miserable it had been. The constant toll terror had taken on me, unable to rest for fear the next attack would come. No one to count on. No one to talk to. No one to help me.
Now I had an entire army of people eager to help me, whether that meant opening up a vein, or quietly maneuvering a cadre of financial advisors and attorneys to prepare for an extremely hostile takeover of the most powerful vampire queen in America.
I didn’t sleep that night. I didn’t need to. I had glorious music flowing through my mind as Gina went over my alternatives to address Keisha’s claim.
“She wants recompense for Blood, specifically, but the actual Triune law as written says blood for blood. An equal measure of your blood to balance the Skye blood she claims you stole from her house.”
“What if I gave the Skye blood back to her?”
Gina frowned, studying the ancient, thick book that smelled of dust, like it’d been forgotten on a shelf somewhere for centuries. “I suppose… Ah, here. Yes. ‘A queen may reject the Blood’—in this case, it specifically says Blood, capitalized—‘and return the house’s offering to nullify the implied alliance.’”
“I don’t want to send my Blood back, obviously. I just want to send back her blood out of my house.”
“I don’t think you can do that.”
“But if I can, will that satisfy the law?”
Gina re-read the passage, her mouth moving slightly. “Yes, I believe so. Because she set the precedent first of switching blood to Blood, I don’t see why you can’t then switch Blood to blood in return. But I’ve never heard of a queen being able to pull another queen’s blood out of anyone. Her blood won’t respond to your will.”
“You said there’s a Cleansing that queens do before they die.”
“Yes, absolutely, but that’s your ability to cleanse your blood. I don’t think you’ll be able to do the same to hers.”
“If I can’t, then worst case, I offer her my blood to equal hers. How would the appropriate amount be determined?”
“If this case went before the Triune, they would be able to magically measure the queen’s blood and demand an equal amount.”
“Since neither of us are Triune, how do we establish the appropriate payment, then?”
“Exactly. It’s a trap for you, because you have to depend on Keisha’s satisfaction. We both know that the only thing that will satisfy her is for you to become her sib, or for you to die.”
“I’m not dying anytime soon, and I sure as hell won’t become her sib. Is there another way to test whether or not an Aima bears a queen’s blood, even a drop?”
“Of course. Their blood won’t respond to her magic.”
“Like when you call blood to you to bathe your body in power,” Rik clarified. “Our blood is yours to command and will come to your call. If she can’t call any of our blood to her, even a drop, then she has no claim on us.”
“If she tests your blood, even as alpha, would it respond to her?”
He grimaced. “Yes. She couldn’t force me to do anything against my will, because your bond is too strongly in me. But she could command my spilled blood to come to her, if she still has any hold on me at all.”
“And if she took my blood…”
“She’d be able to do the same to you. She’d be able to call your blood, as well as ours, and strengthen herself at your expense.”
“But have I ingested her blood through you, then? Does she already have her blood inside me?”
Guillaume shook his head. “Queen to queen has to be direct, except in the case of Marne Ceresa. She has the ability to give a small amount of her blood with a specific spell as bait to bring a queen to her. Like that human in Kansas City. No other queen has that ability to my knowledge.”
“And if Keisha did have that ability, she would have forced you to her nest already,” Rik said.
<
br /> I turned to Guillaume. “Could I borrow a blade a moment?”
He flicked his wrist and one of the blades dropped down into his palm. “Be my guest, my queen.”
I took the blade and lifted my gaze to Rik’s face. Without hesitation, he offered his arm, wrist up, even though he had no fucking clue what I wanted to do to him. I made a small cut on the inside of his wrist and took his hand in mine, turning his arm to allow his blood to drip onto the table.
The slow drip was arousing and hypnotic. Each tiny plop reverberated in my head. My hunger rose. The scent of his blood made my fangs throb. But I made myself watch for several long moments, until a small puddle of blood had gathered on the table.
I lifted his wrist to my mouth and licked the small cut shut. He cupped my cheek, slid his fingers deeper into my hair, and cradled my head, inviting me to feed long and well.
I pushed my hunger down and focused on the pooled blood. I’d fed earlier, and certainly had plenty of time to feed again to be sure I was at full strength. This was more important.
“What are you looking for?” His voice rumbled slightly like a distant thunderstorm.
Without my power, I sensed nothing unique or different about his blood. Obviously, I hungered for him. I could smell his blood and almost taste it in my mouth. But I couldn’t separate out the molecules of my blood from hers. It was impossible. It was just… blood.
I punctured the pad of my thumb with the blade tip and allowed my blood to well up. Power shimmered inside me, eagerly rising to my command. Rik massaged the back of my head, still holding me. I heard the slightest inhale from Guillaume, and each of my Blood’s focus sharpened on me. Their senses ready, waiting for my slightest need.
Focusing on the small puddle of Rik’s blood, I looked through power-enhanced eyes. His blood glimmered with a richer, brighter hue that called to my power. Tendrils of magic streamed softly above his blood, like wisps of fog dancing across a lake. Those streamers stretched toward me, eager to be used. Ready to be called, by me alone.
Ignoring them, I looked deeper, focusing on his blood that did not respond to me. It still looked the same, just shiny, wet blood. But that was with my power passively waiting to be used.
Intention was everything.
I concentrated on his blood and commanded my power. Show Skye’s blood to me. Let me see her touch on my alpha.
The sticky surface of blood quivered, almost like it was being stirred by an invisible hand. Tiny globs pushed upward against the surface, making the puddle lumpy. Those bits did not belong in his blood—because they were hers.
Holding my finger out above his spilled blood, I willed those globs to come out. His blood was mine, and those bits were not. I wanted them out. Now.
The drops rose up out of his blood, hovering beneath my finger. It wasn’t much at all—barely enough to fit into a thimble. He’d never fed from Keisha directly, so I would expect her blood to be diluted. How much more of her blood he carried… I couldn’t say. This certainly wasn’t all of it. Just what I’d spilled for the experiment.
Gina gasped softly. “Blessed be, I’ve never seen anything like that.”
With my blood trickling down my thumb, I willed those dots to burst into flame. With a puff, sparks exploded in midair and the droplets burned away.
“And it only took a drop of you blood to do it.” She stared at me, her eyes widening. “Goddess. I knew you were powerful but…” She shook her head. “That’s Triune level shit, Shara. I mean it.”
Chills dripped down my spine.
There was one empty seat remaining.
The thought of having to deal with Marne Ceresa and the unknown Dauphine on a regular basis because it was my fucking job nearly made me vomit all the delightful blood they’d fed me earlier. “No. I won’t take that empty seat.”
Even miles and miles away, I felt my grove stir. Trees rustled, restless and uneasy as if a tornado approached.
Deep inside me, a chime echoed through my mind, as if someone had gently tapped a gong. Wind swirled across desert sands, bringing the scent of night-blooming jasmine to me. Her words echoed in my head.
“I, Isis, am all that hath been, that is, and shall be. What I will, will be.”
22
Shara
This was it. The final showdown. The kind of battle where only the winner walked away, and the other camp prepared for a funeral. Though I didn’t know that I’d leave enough of Keisha Skye for her people to worry about burying. For all I knew, she’d find someone to bring her back from the dead.
Someone like me.
Riding in the limo toward House Skye’s giant residential tower was nothing like my trip to meet Mayte Zaniyah. I’d been so nervous before meeting another queen. There was so much I hadn’t understood. It was only weeks ago, but I felt like a lifetime had passed since I’d seen her smiling at me and realized she was just as nervous as I was.
Granted, she’d been hiding a pretty nasty geas from me… But she’d been scared to meet me, too, and her entire family and nest had been on the line.
I looked around at my men, all dressed in gorgeous black suits and silk shirts. We were definitely going to a funeral. Gina had managed to find some golden tyet pins, or knots of Isis, in the legacy jewelry. There were twenty of them, which made me think either Mom’s or Esetta’s Blood had likely worn them. The gold looked incredible against their black jackets.
My white gown gleamed against their darkness. When I’d asked Alice for a white dress, I’d been afraid she wouldn’t be able to find something un-wedding-like, but this sexy, gorgeous gown fit the bill. The full-length skirt was simply tulle, thin enough that my legs were visible through the delicate layers. Appliqué roses lined the hem and barely covered my groin. I’d never been so completely covered—and completely exposed at the same time. The bodice was composed of the same light tulle with appliqué roses strategically positioned to barely cover my dark areolae, but leaving most of my chest and back exposed in a deep vee.
Miracles of miracles, she’d even managed to place a few roses on my right hip to conceal a small pocket barely big enough for my pocketknife. With brutal fangs of my own now, I shouldn’t need it, but I felt better knowing it was there.
It was time to get down to business and finish House Skye once and for all.
I focused on Xin. “Your former queen sent you as an assassin to eliminate other queens.”
It wasn’t a question, but he nodded.
“So, you can circumvent a blood circle.”
He didn’t move a muscle, except one corner of his mouth quirked up in acknowledgement. His ghostly wolf bled into his eyes, making them shine in the murk of the car.
“Make a show of seeing me out of the car, get back inside with Guillaume and Mehen, and then make your way to me as you can. Let no one see you.”
He inclined his head. “My pleasure, my queen.”
Ezra was next. “I want you to be your normal belligerent, obstinate self.”
“Who the fuck says I’m belligerent?”
“Exactly,” Daire laughed.
“Don’t lie, because House Isador doesn’t lie. But if your former sibs suspect that things aren’t all sunshine and bunnies in your nest, that’s fine by me.”
“I smell what you’re cooking, my queen, and I like it. Is it alright with you if I break off from the main group? Wander around a bit? My old grizzly has a habit of smelling out things that aren’t right.”
“If that’s your habit, then by all means.”
I cupped Daire’s cheek and rubbed my thumb across his lips. “I want you to be your normal amiable, lovable self, but be careful. Don’t let anyone try to use you as bait.”
“Or you’ll wipe the floor with them?”
“Pretty much.” I turned to my alpha. His eyes simmered with heat and he bulged. Everywhere. Even though he hadn’t shifted. The gift I’d given him last night had pumped him up to ridiculous levels of strength. “My alpha can’t get enough of me. I don’t
care what anyone says or does, I want you all over me every chance that you get. Even if one of those bastards tries to feed on you.”
Daire snorted. “Why’d he get the hardest job?”
“Because I’m alpha, dickhead.” He never looked away from my eyes. “Even inappropriate public affection?”
“By all means.”
“This day gets better and better.”
Next, I looked to Itztli, Tlacel, and Nevarre. “You’ll be outsiders to this court. They won’t know what to expect from you. Whatever you feel led to do in the moment is fine by me, but remember, I like my monsters bloody and sexy as hell.”
Tlacel’s eyes flared. “You have no specific direction for us?”
Itztli fingered the black blade on his hip. “We can do whatever we wish? Within reason?”
I nodded. “Whatever you wish, as long as it doesn’t get me into trouble with the Triune later. If you pick a fight, wander off like Ezra, or make friends like Daire—whatever it is that you want to sell to Skye, do it, and do it well with my full permission. As long as you don’t fuck or feed on another person outside my Blood. That’s the only thing I ask you not to do.”
Nevarre shifted slightly and I heard the rustle of feathers in my head. “As if we would ever even touch anyone but you, my queen.”
Purring, Daire rubbed up against me. “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
Nevarre slung his long hair back over his shoulder in a careless, elegant motion that drew my gaze like a moth to a flame. “Now you’ve done it, cat. I challenge you. When we return to our queen’s nest, I expect you to meet me on the green.”
Naturally, I had to linger on his knees bared by the kilt. I’d never known a man to have sexy knees before.
Daire rumbled louder, trying to draw my attention back to him. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“You’ll see.” Nevarre smiled at me, his eyes sharp and eager. “Can we admit that you’re a jealous queen?”
Queen Takes Rook (Their Vampire Queen Book 4) Page 16
