Remington: Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  Then he laughed. There was no mistaking that laughter as being from anyone but Dante’s child. He brayed like a jackass, as she had done. Never a lady-like twitter, as Rose had. No, Dante would throw back her head and laugh at anything and everything that touched her fancy.

  Rose’s arms were suddenly in shackles. Her ankles too. Rose could walk, but it was cumbersome with the weight of them dragging between her feet. Juniper never shut up about how he was brother to the king of the fae and not subject to the laws of the king of the castle. He, too, was shackled, but his were heavier and seemed to be tripping him up more.

  As for what he was talking about, Rose knew better. They all answered to this man and his wife. The other realm kings and queens were only in the area by the grace of the man that ruled the lands. It was the same with his mother and the king that died while she was married to him.

  There had never been a time when they’d gone hungry or without when the queen had decided to take over the castle. Rose had wanted to hate her for what she was doing. Running around like a butcher’s wife, working herself to the bone and never taking a break. But the more she saw of her and the people that served her, Rose saw that they genuinely loved her. They trusted her too to make sure they were safe when the overlord, the king of the country, had said he was going to marry her.

  Not only had Dante made sure that her own people were safe from others coming to harm them, but she also made sure the fae and faerie alike were taken care of. She offered them not only shelter but wagons to move their belongings. The usage of her birds to carry whatever was too large for them to move. Not only did Basil make sure their people were taken good care of at the same time, but he’d also gifted the queen quite a few fae for them to use. It had been a good working relationship. She wondered why she was only thinking about it now.

  She looked at the limo that the king and queen were getting into. At one time, she had such things to use. A car and servants. She’d had things that were hers and hers alone. Juniper and she had robbed the coffers when they needed more money. Not only that, but they’d paid the people working in the fae realm to murder Basil. Rose wondered why she’d done such a thing.

  Basil had been good to her, she thought as she was put into a large van and locked to the floor with her chains. The woman with them—another bird, she didn’t doubt—said nothing but made it clear that she’d not hesitate in killing them if it came to that. Rose kept her mouth shut and thought about her life with Basil.

  “He’s alive.” She nodded at the woman—she’d not caught her name—and asked if he was all right. “Yes. My sister removed the iron from his body, and he put it on display in his home. Neither you nor anyone else will ever be able to harm him again.”

  “I’ve no wish to do that. I was only just wondering why I did it in the first place.” The woman started naming off things. Greed. Stupidity. Ignorance. Cutting her off, as she was hitting too close to the very reasons, she spoke to her again. “Who are you? I’m assuming you’re a bird. Which one?”

  “You’ve met me. I’m Remi. The vulture.” She nodded and looked out the small opening just to her right. “If you think to get into his heart or head again, you won’t be able to do that either. You’ve fucked up royally, and you’re going to pay the price.”

  “You’re the one that killed my son.” She nodded and smiled. “I would appreciate it if you’d not show so much happiness about it. He was my only child.”

  “He and his gang went into a nursing home to murder any and all residents that were there. Sorrel didn’t care if someone, a child, for instance, would have been caught in the crossfire. He was there for one thing, and that was to kill my husband’s mother.” She didn’t bother asking her if she’d deserved it or not but watched her face as she continued. “I gave him an easy way out of the punishment that he would have gotten here. And he would have been brought back here. I would have carried him in my claws and brought him. His heart was black as the stones from a fire. His blood ran so thin that I think it was as happy to escape such a monster as I was to kill him. Nay, he needed to suffer. Had I the time, I would have made it so.”

  “He was a man who liked diversity.” All Remi did was lean over and touch her finger to her knee. The images, all of her son doing heinous acts to people—men and women alike—were so awful that she had to beg for it to stop. When it did, finally, Rose leaned over and puked. Her belly, her mind, and her heart couldn’t handle such atrocities. “You lie.”

  “You know as well as I do that I cannot lie to you. Even though you have left your husband to fend for himself, you are still his mate until death you do part. No, that was your son, and you knew what he was like. Not only that, but you witnessed it enough when he was younger, but you turned your back to him.”

  “What’s she talking about, Rose?” Remi did the same to him, touched him on the knee and let him see their son. When he did the same, puked several times on the floor, Remi leaned back and smiled at them both. “That can’t be right. You made all that up.”

  “Whatever makes you rest easy at night, you go on thinking that.” The van stopped, and Rose watched the woman stand up. “You will have a trial of sorts, then you will be executed. Sadly, it will be quick and your heads removed. Once you are both dead, your bodies will be cut into pieces and dropped into the sea. Your hearts and head will be hidden away so you can never be made whole again.” Juniper said she couldn’t do that. “Oh, but I can. My husband and I are going to rule the fae world while Basil takes some time to himself. You have shit in my field, and I’m so very happy that I get to make you pay.”

  Remi got out of the van, and they were left alone. “She does that, and no one will ever be able to put us in a garden, Rose. We’ll never see the rapture of our kind. Does she know that? That isn’t fair. I’m going to have to talk to my brother about this. I will not allow this to happen to us. We deserve so much more than being shunned from all that we are.”

  Rose laughed. It was funny, really, to think that Juniper thought they deserved more than they were getting. The fact that they were being killed quickly was a blessing, she thought. After what they’d done? Well, she was hopeful it really would be quick. Rose was glad it would soon be over.

  As they were hustled from the van, Rose noticed there was a line of people on either side of the road where they were headed. She knew the jail here was underground, so any creature there would not be able to see the sun. Also, there would be no warmth. The niceties that Juniper thought they deserved were gone.

  Stones were thrown at them from the very people she had at one time ruled. There were blows to her head, breaking open her skin, so she bled a great deal. Juniper screamed at them to stop, to pay them the respect they deserved. All she wanted to do now was get this over with. To have her life ended now instead of later.

  She had no change of heart, she supposed. Losing her son had taken a great deal from her. Rose said nothing as she was put into a cell. Sitting on the only piece of furniture in the room, a large carved stone that resembled a chair, she let her tears fall. Remi was right. She had fucked up.

  ~*~

  They’d been playing around all day, and all Remi wanted to do was find them a nice dark place—or lighted up, she didn’t care, so long as she could have Harlin take her hard and fast. She didn’t need romance right now. Her body was primed, ready to take him, and everything kept getting in the way. Today she was going to jump him even if she had to take him to the highest mountain top.

  He came around the corner of the table and grabbed her hand.

  “Where are we going?” He turned so quickly that she stumbled against him. “Christ, Harlin, you’re as hard as stone. I do hope you’re finding a place for you to fuck me.”

  “You’re such a romantic.” He jerked her body to his, kissing her savagely. She nearly had him naked before she realized they were on the very mountain top she’d been thinking about. “Havi
ng a little extra magic helps in situations like this.”

  The burn in her body was tearing her apart. Harlin’s hands were everywhere, yet they didn’t seem to be anywhere for very long. As soon as he took her nipple into his mouth and suckled hard, Remi came hard enough to make the birds fly away. He dropped before her and took her pussy into his mouth before she could protest.

  Remi had never enjoyed oral sex before. It was sort of anticlimactic. But whatever Harlin was doing to her body right now, she thought for sure he was going to kill her. Every time his tongue stroked a part of her, she came. When his fingers joined his tongue, she could no more stand up than she could have begged him to stop. The cool grass beneath her back was heavenly compared to the hard bark of the tree she’d been standing against.

  “I’m sorry. I need you.” She begged Harlin to hurry. “Christ, I’m so close to coming right now that even when I enter you, it’s going to be too much.”

  He didn’t enter her. No, that would have been too slow for the two of them. He slammed forward into her body so fully that Remi fainted from the connection they formed. When she looked up at him when she woke, his body hard and wet with sweat, she watched his wings spread out behind him, his face turn to his other self, and she knew she was with the one and true Harlin of the fae.

  “Come inside of me, Harlin. Please. I need to feel you fill me.” He grunted something in fae. She might well have understood it if he’d not come in that moment. “More. I need all of you.”

  She got what she wanted. All of him. As his cock filled her body with his juices, she felt their magic intertwine into something powerful. The climaxes took her, over and over, with such ferocity that she forgot to breathe. Her mind blanked out to the point where she couldn’t remember her own name.

  The climax that was building, despite her coming nearly a dozen or so times, was making her dizzy with the hunger her body was creating. When Harlin wrapped them both into his wings, wrapping around the two of them in a cocoon-like way, she cried out once more, screaming out his name in every language she knew until she simply blacked out.

  When she woke up, they were still wrapped together. Touching her finger to his wing made him giggle. As he released her from the warmth, she realized that at some point, they had made it back to the room she’d been using since she’d come to the castle.

  “I think we need a home. And soon.” She nodded at him as his wings curled around him again. “You’re going to have a child. I should have said something sooner, but when you didn’t object, I couldn’t have stopped myself had I wanted to.”

  “I remember you telling me that. But I was too…I was just too everything to remember the words.” He asked her if she minded. “No.”

  Her body began to feel weak all of a sudden. She could hear Harlin talking to her, but she couldn’t seem to form any words. Her mind was buzzing, and her heart started to beat too fast. As soon as the pain took her breath away, she screamed and screamed as blood flowed from not just her ears but her nose as well.

  ~*~

  Harlin held her in his arms while Basil looked her over. He kept clicking his tongue at his teeth but not saying much of anything that was helpful to him. He’d cleaned up the blood before the king had arrived, but now all he wanted to do was toss the man out of the room and beg Remi for forgiveness. Pulling her tighter into his arms, he noticed the small pair of wings that were forming at her back.

  “What’s happening to her? She was fine until after we made love. Even then, she seemed to be all right.” Basil sat down, and when the others, the birds and their mates, joined them, he knew something terrible had happened, and he’d done something irreversible to his mate. Mercy asked him how he wanted this. “Straight up. Until it gets to be too much, then shut the fuck up. What’s wrong with her?”

  “Remi is no longer a bird. She can shift into one, but she’s not a bird any longer. She’s all fae.” That didn’t seem to be too bad. But then he didn’t have any idea what she’d think about not being one of the birds. Basil continued. “She’s also carrying a child. Of that, I’m sure you’re aware.”

  “Yes. But I don’t understand what happened to change her into a fae, nor why she won’t wake up.” Mercy answered that. “So she’s evolving? Why? I mean, I don’t know anything much about what she was before. Do you think she’ll be all right with being a fae with me?”

  “I’d say it’s a little too fucking late for that, don’t you think?” He growled at Mercy when she spoke to him. “You asked. But in answer to your stupid question, I don’t think she’ll mind at all. So long as you’re with her.”

  “I think this has a great deal to do with what I spoke to you about earlier. You taking over for me. The magic needed to be assured you’d have fae children, and it made sure she would have full-blooded fae children.” Harlin asked Basil what that had to do with it. “The rules. There are always rules. But the rules state that a man or woman that will be ruling the fae must be a full-blooded fae. The female must be able to have fae children to take over the realm at some point, and the male must be fae to implant them into his queen. I do believe the decision for you to take over for me has been decided by the magic. I don’t think anyone would be any more perfect than the two of you if you want the truth.” Basil laughed.

  “This is not fucking funny. What do you think she’s going to do to you when she wakes up and finds out she’s no longer her bird but fae? I’m not going to be able to protect you from her. And right now, I’m not sure I would. Why the hell didn’t someone tell me this?” Basil told him it was in the handbook. “You mean the book that was given to me when I was about five? The one that is older than I am? Christ man, do you have any idea how long ago that was? How the hell was I supposed to remember all that stuff?”

  “You’re talking too loud.” Harlin felt his mouth snap shut and looked at Remi, who was staring up at him. “What the hell did you do to me? I mean, I feel like I could take on a man as large as a house and come out on top.”

  “You’re evolving into a fae.” Harlin glared at Mercy. “I needed to tell her first. You’d have fucked it up by being all sweet and kind about it.” Mercy looked at Remi. “Also, you’re going to be the queen of the fae. And you’re having a baby. Lucky you. Woo hoo.”

  “Is this true?” He nodded at Remi and asked her what she was thinking. “Right now, nothing much other than how good I feel. Also, slightly embarrassed that all these people are in our room right now. We need to really find us a house.”

  “You’ll take the castle.” Once again, Harlin glared at someone. Basil kept laughing. “It’ll make it to your specifications. Also, there are any number of fae and faerie around that would leap at the chance to work with the new king and queen.”

  “Did I miss something here? When did we agree to be the king and queen of anything?” He jumped at the chance to answer her question when Blaze beat him to it. “I see. So instead of us thinking on it, we’ve been volunteered by magic. I suppose it could be worse. Right?”

  When she moved out of his arms and stood up, he watched as wings, as large as his own, uncurled from her back and opened up. She was standing in front of the mirror looking at them when he shooed the rest of them away. It was time the two of them had a talk, without everyone there laughing and having much too much fun at their expense. She looked at him when he noticed the most beautiful crown he’d ever seen atop her head.

  “You have one too. It’s very ornate, don’t you think?” It was, but it was beautiful. “I hope we don’t have to wear these all the time. They’ll get in the way of me trying to fly. I’m assuming I can fly with you?”

  “Yes, I think so. I have a handbook around someplace. Mom might even have a copy of it.” She told him she had it implanted in her mind. He thought of it and watched as it appeared in front of him, revealing the page of things she could do once she was fully evolved. “I don’t know if you are or not, but I have to
ask. Are you all right with not being a bird any longer?”

  “I’m not sure, to be honest with you.” She turned in the mirror and looked at herself in the full length of it. “This is prettier than a vulture, don’t you think? And I do look fantastic in this crown.”

  “I think you look beautiful in anything you have on. Or off.” He held her in his arms. When she looked up at him, he saw things he’d not before. “Your eyes have changed. They’re no longer dark but the color of the greenest grass. There are stars in them, as well as a beautiful blue. You are fae, my love.”

  “I love you as well, Harlin. So much.” She laid her head on his chest, and he could feel the way her mind was working. He didn’t pry, even though he wanted to find out what had her so preoccupied at the moment. “We need to check out the castle, I guess. As well as figure out what we’re going to do with Rose and her husband.”

  “Basil told me last evening that he wanted nothing to do with their trial or their sentencing. He’s leaving that up to Duncan. Or I guess he might leave it to us now. I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to him.” She asked him if she should be able to feel the earth calling to her. “I don’t know, love. I’ve never been a king of fae before. But if that’s what you feel, then I’m sure it’s right. I have always felt the call, but it was never like it is now. Strong enough to have me want to go and check on it. Is that what you feel?”

  “It is. Like I not only need to go out and touch the grass, but I need to have a long talk with it as well.” He took her hand into his and led her out onto the decking outside of their room. When he took her into his arms, and they dropped to the ground, her laughter sang all over the woods behind them. Harlin thought she could and would draw all manner of creatures to her with that alone. “I can feel it. All of it. Trees and plants alike welcoming me to their hearts.”