Before I opened my eyes, I focused on the pocket of magic I’d used to hold the period blood inside my body. I cracked it open a little so the blood would start to trickle free.
Time for the demonstration of my life.
I opened my eyes and slipped my arm through Rik’s. He wrapped his other hand over mine on his arm and slid closely enough to me that my skirts fell over his leg. “I’m ready.”
Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy. Trying to get into my head and rattle my nerves, Keisha had evidently decided to make us wait. Forever. Long enough that my feet—trapped in ridiculous high heels—were starting to ache. Sweat trickled down Rik’s face, his body so hot against me that my thigh and side were sweaty too. But neither of us moved a muscle. I didn’t fidget or shift my weight or look at the woman guarding the door.
I refused to let any impatience tighten my face.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Vega turned and pushed the doors open.
Noise flooded my senses. The clamor of a thousand voices or more, also bored to tears and talking among themselves. The clink of glasses, the murmur of staff passing through the press of people offering trays of hors d’oeuvres.
Then, to make sure I fully understood how thoroughly Keisha Skye was trying to insult us, Vega didn’t announce our names or provide an escort down the hallway.
Daire stepped forward, turned sharply like he was in a military formation, and shouted, “House Isador has arrived!”
The people closest to the doors whispered to the people beside them, spreading news of our arrival through the press of people, even if they couldn’t see us at the door. Slowly, the crowd quieted. Many of them knew Daire and recognized that a good show was about to start.
:Would it be considered rude for each of you to shift?: I asked through our bonds.
:Extremely rude.: Daire’s bond chortled with glee. :You heard our queen.:
“Her Majesty’s Blood, Nevarre Morrigan Isador.”
Nevarre shifted into his glossy black raven, leaving his kilt and suit jacket puddled on the floor. He let out a raucous screech and flew down the hallway, dive bombing at people and tearing at hair and clothes to be as annoying as possible. I hoped to goddess that he crapped on somebody. Hopefully Keisha herself.
Daire scooped up the kilt and handed it to Gina for safekeeping.
“Her Majesty’s Blood, Itztli Zaniyah Isador.”
Itztli shifted to his gigantic black dog and bayed like a hell hound to start the Wild Hunt. Tongue lolling, he sat on his haunches, waiting for his brother. Tlacel picked up the obsidian blade and handed it to Gina with a flourish.
“Her Majesty’s Blood, Tlacel Zaniyah Isador.”
Tlacel leaped into the air, shifting so quickly into his Great Feathered Serpent that some of the people closest to us gasped with wonder. Bright green and teal feathers dotted with red, he cut through the air with a sinuous swipe of his tail that did look like a flying snake. His twin trotted beneath him. People oohed and awed as they passed when they caught a glimpse of such rare Blood.
“Her Majesty, Shara Isador, last daughter of the Great One, Isis, She who is all that has been and is and shall be, with her consiliarius, Gina Isador, and Her Majesty’s alpha Blood, Alrik Hyrrokkin Isador. Not present are Her Majesty’s Blood Guillaume de Payne Isador, Leviathan Gorgon Isador, Wu Tien Xin Isador, and Ezra Ursula Isador.”
:Do you want me to shift?: Rik asked.
:No. I think we’ll have more fun interacting this way, and I’d rather them not know what you are yet.:
Rik and I stepped up beside Daire, and Rik used his booming voice to announce, “Her Majesty’s Blood, Daire Devanna Isador.”
Daire shifted into his warcat and padded along with Gina behind us.
Head high, I stepped into the long room. I didn’t look at anything or anyone, and I kept my pace slow and deliberate. I could feel blood smearing on my thighs as I walked. Spreading to the tulle skirt as it moved against my legs.
The first shock rippled through the crowd. Sharp inhales. Gasps. A woman, visibly bleeding from her period, in public, without a care. Entering a huge room crammed with ravenous vampires. Even more…
I was breeding, something that was so rare that their own queen had resorted to torture to try and recreate.
People started to inch closer to us, drawn by the smell of my blood and the promise of my power. Daire roared and snapped to keep them back. Itztli paused, bristling with a vicious growl rattling his deep chest. Tlacel and Nevarre swooped lower, sharp talons and beaks to add to the blood frenzy building in them.
Rik tightened his grip on me. :This could get ugly.:
:I’m counting on it.:
24
Shara
If I ever needed a reminder that I wasn’t human, I’d pull up this scene in my head again.
People in sequined gowns and elegant suits were shoving and pushing each other. To get closer to me. To taste my blood.
My period blood.
Which had dribbled on the white marble floor.
Daire pounced on each drop and licked it up, growling at anyone who thought to beat him to it. Energy rose in the room, a crackling promise of power that would tear through this skyscraper and blast it to rubble. Without turning my head, I asked Daire, :Is Vega looking at us, or following us?:
:Yes. She’s a few paces behind me. She tried to hold the crowd back at first, but now…: He paused a moment to snarl and claw a woman in the face who’d dropped down to her hands and knees too close to my warcat for comfort. She fell back and writhed on the floor, like she was going to shift. :She can’t look away from you. A push, and she’ll topple.:
I wasn’t sure how many of these sibs were queens or Blood that might have the ability to shift, but that would be one sure way to spread some seeds of chaos in the crowd, while also breaking Skye’s hold on them.
A wolf scrambled free of the woman’s shredded dress and looked at me. I stared back steadily. I didn’t draw on my power. I didn’t have to. My will was enough with the promise of my power flowing from me in waves of scent. Submit. I am your queen. You will follow me.
The wolf whined and dropped to the floor to inch toward me on her belly.
I shifted my focus to Vega. I didn’t turn to look at her but let my intention ripple on the raw power licking through the room. She hadn’t been able to hold Rik’s gaze. She’d already lost to him. She belonged to me now. I wouldn’t have to push very hard. And if I got Skye’s alpha to submit to me without a fight, the rest of the Blood would be mine before a single drop of blood was exchanged.
Submit to your beast. I am your queen. You will follow me.
A mighty roar told me she’d shifted, and that roar had other people in the crowd shifting too.
:They’ll be more out of control as their beasts,: Rik said grimly. :I wish we could get Leviathan up here to roast some Skye cats and wolves for dinner.:
:Brace yourselves,: I told them, closing my eyes. I tapped the blood dripping from my body and quivered at the instant rush of power tearing through me. I let the power flare out of me in a shockwave that sent the Skye watchers tumbling away from us. Many more shifted, and the roars, howls, and screams rose in to a deafening cacophony that made my lips curve.
Controlled chaos. Daughter of Monsters. I was born for this.
We started walking again. I let my power wash over the crowd, stirring up any hint of Aima blood that responded to me. A young, powerful queen sibling on my right, and her three Blood. They shifted and moved to follow Vega. An older queen with five Blood. Another.
No wonder Skye had ruled New York City for so many centuries. She must have pulled every queen in America to her.
:Except for Leonie Delafosse, Mayte Zaniyah, and you,: Rik said.
:Or they left.: Xin waited close to the throne for me as his ghostly wolf. :Like my old queen. She refused to offer throat to Skye.:
“What the fuck is going on?” A woman yelled somewhere ahead of us. “You know
the rules in Skye Tower. No shifting!”
Oops. I smiled wider. People blocked the last few steps to the throne. Late afternoon sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making it hard to see. A large throne rose dark against the brilliant sunlight on a platform ahead, but I couldn’t see if Keisha actually sat there or not. My eyes started to water and suspicion sprouted.
Maybe Keisha Skye had more to do with Ra than I’d thought. She was certainly taking advantage of his punishing light. The glittering chandelier overhead added to the brilliance spilling through the room. Rather than crystals, shards of copper, silver, and gold tinkled, stirred by the swirl of power rolling from me, spinning and reflecting the light.
:Nevarre, can your Shadow tone down the glare so I can see what she’s up to?:
The raven flew straight toward the windows. :On it, my queen.:
I focused on the people blocking our way.
“Stand your ground,” the woman said again in a booming voice. It had to be Keisha, but I couldn’t tell for sure where her voice came from.
Tlacel swooped down over the shadowed dais. :Look through my eyes, my queen.:
I focused on his bond. I knew Rik could do something like this, where he looked through Daire’s eyes.
:He’s yours,: Rik’s rumble rolled through our bond. :His blood is yours. His heart is yours. Now make his eyes yours.:
I reached through the bond toward Tlacel, sliding my mind closer to his. The path was narrow, since our bond was newer than mine with Rik. I hadn’t shared nearly as much blood with the twins, but I was still able to slide inside him. I could feel his heart beating, the air rushing over his feathers as he dropped a wing and circled back lower over the dais. Through his eyes, I saw a large wooden throne, its back curved like an oval shield painted with Celtic runes. Spears made the frame and arms of the throne. His vision was so sharp I could see the delicate layers in the stone spear heads that had been painstakingly carved from flint over a thousand years ago.
But the throne was empty.
He cut a sharp circle back across the group of people blocking me from the throne. There. A woman stood in the back, her arms spread, her lips moving. A large golden crown gleamed against her dark curls.
:Up, away,: I told him and Nevarre. :To me, if you can. She’s going to strike.:
They immediately wheeled away from the windows and dove toward me in a flurry of wings and feathers.
I pulled my power back toward us, wrapping us in layers of energy. I didn’t want a visible shield. I didn’t want to look afraid or defensive, because we weren’t. But I’d be ready to absorb whatever she sent our way. She had the power of hurricanes and storms. She surely couldn’t loose a hurricane inside the building without hurting her own people, but lightning… Yeah. She could try and blast us. That was what I’d do if I had storms as my power in close quarters.
Wriggling between my leg and Rik’s, Daire licked a drop of blood from the top of my foot. When I didn’t rebuke him, he nuzzled his head deeper beneath my skirt and swirled his tongue around my ankle and up my calf. Not to be left out, Itztli joined him on my left. I dropped my hand on his shoulders and pushed my fingers deep into his black fur.
Grounded. Braced. Ready.
I smelled ozone a moment before lightning arced from the glittering chandelier. Rik instinctively pulled me closer, wrapping his big body around me. Tlacel and Nevarre threw their wings over us like a shield of black and green-gold feathers.
Time seemed to slow. I had time to appreciate the smell of druid magic and ripe jungle rolling from my winged Blood. The stroke of Daire’s rough sandpaper tongue on my knee. Itztli gripped my calf gently in his teeth, ready to pull me down to the floor if necessary. Nevarre’s cold shadow enveloped the throne and slowly blanketed the dais, leaking toward us like a puddle of ink.
A million volts touched my power. Everything froze, like the world held its breath. Isis laughed softly in my head and I could almost see Her finger touch the tip of the lightning bolt. Her dark hair blowing in streams of power. Jasmine blooming around her feet.
Yes.
I pushed back. I willed the electricity to reverse. It sparked. Arced. And shot back toward its creator.
A boom rocked the building and time snapped back into full speed. People screamed. Smoke billowed up, reeking of burned flesh. The group of people blocking my path scattered, backing away from a pile of charred remains of several people, likely Blood, who’d taken the brunt of the recoil.
Keisha Skye stared back at me, slightly scorched and frazzled, but otherwise unharmed. Her ebony skin gleamed in the sunlight. Her face was gorgeous, sharp cheekbones and high forehead, her golden-brown eyes glittering as brightly as her crown. She wore a sequined gown that flashed like thousands of fireflies had descended upon her.
All that gold. The brightness and light, the twisting of her power and intention to darker urges. A hunger for pain and destruction. She had to be contaminated by Ra’s influence.
She took me in, too, her mouth flattening into a hard, grim frown as she noted my shifted Blood. The way they crowded against me, the warcat and black dog both licking my legs and ankles. The blood.
I could see the moment she realized what it meant. Her eyes flared wide. The fresh glow of her skin washed away. Even the glittering brightness of her dress dimmed, though that was partially due to Nevarre’s Shadow that slowly spread across the windows.
She lifted a hand to her head, as if she had a headache, or needed to adjust the crown. Her fingers trembled. Her lips paled, and she swallowed, hard, as if she was going to throw up.
Empathy welled up inside me. She’d lost a child. I couldn’t begin to understand how devastating that must have been. How horrible. What lengths would I go to protect Xochitl? Even though she wasn’t even from my own body? If Ra had taken her through the portal… If her hair had slipped through my fingers, and I’d watched her fall into the waiting arms of those horrible empty creatures…
I shivered, my heart aching. My eyes blurred with tears.
Keisha started to sob. At least, that’s what I thought, until I focused back on her face and saw the sneer twisting her lips. She laughed. She fucking laughed.
“Well, well, well. Your mother always did love to fuck the monsters. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re just like her.”
25
Shara
Keisha didn’t say my mother’s true name. She couldn’t. No living Aima could say Esetta Isador.
But she knew that Selena wasn’t my mother.
“Oh, yes.” Still chuckling, Keisha stepped over the burned remains of some of her Blood without a second glance and sat gracefully on her throne. “My very good friend and Triune queen, Marne Ceresa, was only too kind to warn me that you were not quite what we first thought. I’m sure I would have recognized the truth as soon as I saw you, but I’m grateful she passed along that little tidbit. Now that we have crossed swords and tested each other’s strength, let me lay the truth bare between us.
“Your mother,” she said each word like a curse, because she couldn’t say her name, “was my closest friend and ally at one time. Until she stabbed me in the back and crawled into the depths of hell to spawn you.”
I took a deep breath but didn’t dare blink or move. I didn’t want to betray my surprise. Esetta and Keisha Skye had been friends. That…
That didn’t compute.
I was only twenty-two. Keisha’s daughter had died decades before that. She’d have been torturing people. When my mother knew her. When they’d been friends.
Keisha had laid the geas on Zaniyah’s nest almost fifty years ago.
Had my mother known about that too? And done nothing?
Or, more likely, these were all the reasons my mother had taken the drastic step of wiping herself from Aima memory. So she could have me—and no one would know. In the vision I’d seen her hand me to her sister and say, “let her fly.”
Let me fly free. Away from an Aima court, wher
e I could be twisted and corrupted like her friend.
The clang of metal drew my attention to a dark corner to my right. Chains clattered. Something rose from the shadows. Something large, that shuffled toward me, dragging chains across the marble.
Rik started to slide in front of me, but I stopped him with a quick shake of my head. I needed to see what… who… this was. My power vibrated with sudden intensity, tightening around us. Drawing us together.
Pulling him to me quicker.
He staggered out of the shadows, a broad-shouldered giant of a man even taller than Rik, though he was stooped by the weight of massive chains looped around his body. A leather hood was buckled over his head. He couldn’t see and could barely move, but he kept coming.
To me.
His head cocked, very bird-like, and he suddenly reminded me of a hooded, bound raptor.
“Isador?” He whispered, breathing so deeply I could hear it despite the hood that covered his entire face. “It is. My queen. You’ve come for me.”
He fell on his knees before me, bent forward, and touched the leather hood to my feet.
“Aw, how sweet.” Keisha’s voice sharpened to a cutting edge despite her words. “He recognizes you.”
I laid my fingers on his back and he straightened. “Who are you?”
He shuddered beneath my hand. “Llewellyn. Isador.”
“Llewellyn Skye,” Keisha said with a vicious smile. “You see, when your dear mother decided to abandon everything to sire you, she left her Blood behind. I took pity on them and called them to my side. Most of them chose to follow your mother in death, but Llewellyn hung on all these years. I guess that’s why he was alpha.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks. My mother’s alpha? Chained and hooded and trapped in Keisha’s control my entire life? I fumbled the buckles open, loosened the straps, and pulled the hood off his head.
I gasped, covering my mouth with horror. His eyes. She’d taken his eyes. Only pink, wrinkled pits remained. His skin was pale and scarred, though his dark curly beard and hair were well trimmed. Someone was taking care of him at least occasionally. But why the fuck would they put this hood on him if they’d already blinded him? What was the point?
Queen Takes Rook (Their Vampire Queen Book 4) Page 18
