Blood Crown

by Tamara Rose Blodgett

  It could just be the angle... or not. Julia swallows hard, taking in all the weapons dripping off the two male sidhe.

  Maybe no Singer chicks will want to marry these guys. Domi’s with Jacqueline, but Lachlan is just flat-out terrifying.

  As she thinks that, he begins to run his fingertips over the short jeweled dagger at his waist in an extremely familiar way.

  Nirvana looks at Julia expectantly.

  I think she wants you to compliment her too, Scott thinks at her.

  Oh God. Julia’s eyes sweep over the Fey, and she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. Not usually a great plan, especially now.

  “You have really great pink hair.”

  Nirvana’s lips curl in a cruel smile, her cotton-candy colored hair like a stiff pantomime of curls falling to beyond her waist.

  “Thank you.”

  Is that natural? Julia wonders.

  “We have important matters to discuss,” Domi begins, and Julia starts.

  Scott’s fingers tighten subtly around hers.

  “Yes,” Julia replies, sweeping a hair that’s come loose from the elaborate crown of curls at the top of her head, “I made a promise to Tharell...”

  Lachlan pulls a face of such pure disdain, Julia doesn’t finish her thought.

  “Go on,” he says impatiently.

  Scott leans forward in a menacing way.

  Lachlan’s icy eyes flick to Scott then away. “Blooded Queen,” he tacks on.

  “Um... anyway, it was made pretty obvious that a promise made to Tharell was made to Faerie.”

  “That is the essence of it,” Nirvana says, crossing her legs while holding her back ramrod straight.

  “Right, so, I guess... well... we didn’t have a problem with matches between our people, but now...” Julia looks at the four of them then addresses Domi specifically. “Are they in the loop with what happened?”

  Julia didn’t want to explain how Tony decimated Region One unless she’s forced to.

  “They are aware,” he states.

  Okay.

  “So now we have less people.”

  Lachlan leans forward. “Are you skirting oathbreaking, Blooded Queen?”

  Oh my word. “No,” Julia says, letting go of Scott’s hand and putting up her palms in front of her as though warding off the scary Sidhe.

  “Don’t accuse Julia of shit, Lachlan.”

  The sidhe stands in clear threat, and Julia puts her hands to Scott’s chest.

  “No, he—he’s right, Scott. They have a right to know I’m not breaking an oath to Faerie. But to be clear, we’re down nearly a hundred Singers.”

  Tears pull at Julia, but she plows forward. “I am only saying that there might have been more matches at one time, but now, because of horrible circumstances beyond anyone’s control, there won’t be as many. Can’t be.”

  Lachlan gives a last look at Scott and sits down on a high-backed, deep-purple velvet clad chair and drums his fingers on the ornately carved and gilded armrest.

  “And if you don’t tone down the menacing act, there’s not a female Singer alive that will enter into any...” Julia struggles with the word and finally settles on “arrangement.”

  I mean, what do they call it here? Marriage, mating—Julia doesn’t even know.

  “Agreed. Let’s talk numbers.” Starr speaks for the first time.

  Julia blinks, not expecting the bluntness.

  Starr is more “normal” looking, but Julia stares at the navy hair then turns, exchanging a look with Scott.

  “I guess we hadn’t really talked about it specifically, but maybe we’d have three to five brave souls who would give up their home at our region to live in Faerie.”

  Nirvana turns to Lachlan. “I told you it was a waste of time.”

  “Hey,” Julia says, looking between the two, “be reasonable. Most of my region was murdered.” Julia pinches her upper lip between her teeth to keep from bursting into tears on the spot.

  “We need more Singers. Three to five?” Lachlan snorts, turning to Domi, who has remained conspicuously silent. “Even you must concede that after you’re done with the half-breed, spreading her too thin is not optimal.”

  Scott’s and Julia’s mouths drop open simultaneously.

  “What?” Scott says.

  Julia didn’t think a man with green skin could blush.

  She was wrong.

  Domi hikes his chin. “We of the Fey do not feel it necessary to be monogamous.”

  His partial explanation doesn’t matter to her. The ramifications are clear to Julia.

  “You mean? What? Jacqueline is just going to hang around here and produce children.” She points at Domi. “She’s not just with you?”

  Julia’s hand drops, and she reaches out blindly, clutching Scott’s hand.

  “Like some kind of whore?” Scott’s anger breathes across her mind like bitter, hot wind.

  “We do not think in those terms,” Nirvana says. “We fuck when we like, and with whom. And if a child is produced, so much the better.” Nirvana lifts a dismissive shoulder then drops it the next instant.

  Julia sways, feeling faint.

  Scott wraps his arms around her from behind.

  She can’t give her people to Faerie for them to be sex slaves. And essentially, that is what they’re talking about. “What...” She manages to clear her throat and go on. “What about Delilah and Tharell?”

  Starr says, “Let the vampire rot in her cell. She saved Tharell, and he is useful at times.”

  “In battle or war,” Nirvana remarks, her strange blue eyes twinkling. The two female sidhe cackle together like conspirators.

  Or witches.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Adi

  Adi hums tunelessly to herself as she checks her face in the mirror. She supposes the great thing about being pregnant is she won’t have acne.

  Probably no female—regular human or supernatural—is exempt from bad skin.

  Clear skin and bright eyes stare back at her in the reflection of the eight-foot-long run of mirrored glass.

  With a critical eye, Adi goes over her slim form.

  Not for long, she thinks ruefully.

  Soon she’ll be a big swine. More of me to love. Adi smirks at herself in the mirror and grabs the third toothbrush she’s used in the space of a week. Those moondamned chumps at the creek made her drop all her shit before she did the swan dive into traffic.

  Of course, thinking of that brings memories of Jenni, and that makes Adi’s eyes burn with tears she won’t shed. She’s super fucking conflicted about that. Saving Jenni was the right thing to do, but Adi wasn’t there to guide her through the transition. She can’t stand to think about all the things probably springing up as Jenni lives her new life as a Were.

  Worse, the mess at the hospital would need to be explained. It’s not even certain that Jenni would feel as though she could return to work.

  Adi can see it now—Jenni returning, looking markedly awesome. Humans would definitely notice the change. Then there would be the inevitable questions about her patient and where Miss Miraculous Healer disappeared to.

  Adi believes Jenni connected all those dots and probably left her car, house, and life behind, what little she had left.

  With a sigh, Adi starts in on her teeth, grimacing at the water’s chemicals and raw minerals from the shallow well that clearly supplies the Denny’s/Love’s water with such a strong taste as she swooshes the water inside her mouth.

  Adi spits the shit out, muttering, “Ick.”

  The foul taste makes her long for Susan’s home cooking and the artesian well the Northwestern pack had dug. The den had tapped into an underground river with a glacier source. She remembered her dad saying something about it being six hundred feet underground. Even the most sensitive of them could not discern a taste. Tasteless water. Oh the joy.

  Adi’s head jerks up from her mindless stare into the sink basin. A tingling slides down her spine, raising the
fine hairs at her nape. Her eyes search an empty bathroom, seeing and hearing nothing to worry about.

  Huh. Weird.

  Tapping the toothbrush on the side rim of the sink, she dries her mouth and the toothbrush with a paper towel then stuffs the toothbrush in the front pocket of her backpack.

  Only one small clump of sparkles remains on the exterior. The rest of it is road-smeared, and Adi can detect the faint scent of her own blood. The unicorns have been through a ton with Adi.

  She smiles, slinging the straps over her back and settling the weight between her shoulder blades.

  Adi wishes she could comb her hair, but it’s super-uncooperative when it’s soaking wet, so she leaves the mess in the towel.

  She sights herself in the mirror. Great look. Sighing, she heads to the door. Denny’s patrons are just going to have to deal. Oh well, at least she’s squeaky clean. Slash probably thinks she’s drowned by now. He’ll send out a search party in a sec.

  Opening the door slowly, Adi peeks out, making sure she doesn’t bash somebody when she exits.

  Then she’s hit by the smell.

  Male Were.

  Adi spins to her immediate right, her eyes meeting those of a male she doesn’t know.

  His eyes widen as he scents her through the glass, as she does him.

  In the next instant, he bashes the door open, impaling the long handle in the drywall and causing a cheaply framed piece of art from behind it to crash to the ground.

  Glass tinkles.

  Adi whips her face in the direction of Slash’s table. Her mate is already standing, the green of his wolfen eyes spinning.

  Shit. He can’t make it to her before this guy does. And Adi knows she smells yummy. Pregnant females are a proven deal.

  This dickweed will try to make a bid for her.

  She feels the rush of air as he sprints the four yards to her position. Adi doesn’t think—in one motion, she slides her backpack from her body and hurls it at his face with her full strength.

  Then she runs in Slash’s direction. Adi kind of notices all the people have stopped talking as she blasts toward Slash.

  She’s aware they’re making a scene. There’s no covering this shit up. They don’t move like humans, and they can’t pretend when there’s a fight for a female at stake. It’s all just primal instinct.

  A hand grabs the back of her towel, and Adi pivots hard as it unwinds into that seeking grasp, dropping to all fours as she does.

  Her hands painfully slap on the diner floor as she tries to break her fall, then Slash is flying over the top of her, and Adi falls backward on her ass, hard.

  His talons are completely sprung as she watches her male fight for her.

  Two more Were stroll in after the first douche.

  Holy shit.

  Is this going to be a repeat of the bullshit that happened with me and Slash at Region One?

  Adi’s decided she’s not going to go through that again. Ever.

  She crawls over to her discarded backpack and tears open the zipper. Jerking out her twenty-five-ounce shampoo bottle, she grips it tightly then chucks it at Mr. Smugness, who just glided through the door. Adi doesn’t hold anything back.

  He puts up a palm to protect his face, and the bottle breaks his hand at the wrist. Smugness drops to his knees, howling.

  Well, that’ll leave a mark.

  The other one makes his way toward her fast.

  Shit shitity shit.

  Plunging her hand inside the pack, she finds what she’s looking for and pulls them out. Tampons. Hell with it. I won’t be needing these for a while.

  He’s almost on her when Adi leans back in a semi-fall, tossing the entire box into his surprised face.

  The bright flowered box hits him square between the eyes, and the edge seams burst open as neatly packaged tampons rain down all around.

  As distractions go, it’s not half bad.

  Slash has made short work of the first Were and grabs her by the arm. Kicking tampons out of the way, he says crisply, “Time to go.”

  “Right,” Adi says as he scoops her from the ground.

  She closes her index finger around the loop of her backpack as they tear out of there, heading toward the entrance. Slash whips her to his back, and Adi buries her face at his neck, smelling her male, sweat, adrenaline, and blood.

  Securing her legs around his trim waist and her arms around his thick neck, Adi hangs on, getting a brief glance at one of the fallen Were.

  His arms are riddled with needle marks.

  She doesn’t have time to ponder that shit, but one word worms inside her brain—drugs.

  Unheard of for a Were.

  “Hang on,” Slash says in a gruff voice.

  Adi does.

  Then the wind takes them.

  “Well, that sucked donkey dicks!” Adi says when they’re back to walking again.

  Slash grunts in acknowledgement, but he’s not really listening. He’s looking ahead.

  He ran with her on his back for a solid hour. Every bit of food they ate at the diner is gone. As if on cue, Slash’s stomach lets out a roar of protest.

  “Moon,” Slash mutters.

  “Hey,” Adi says.

  Slash keeps walking.

  “Hey!” she yells.

  Slash whips around. “We need to keep moving.”

  “No.”

  He turns, walking back to where she stands. “Female, do not test me in this. A rogue pack of Were were trying for you.”

  “I get that.”

  “Then why are you being obstinate?”

  Obstinate? Because I can. Duh.

  What she says aloud is, “Because you’re not gonna be worth anything half-starved. Just take some time out to eat something, and then we can go.”

  “Are you hungry?” he asks when Adi can feel his hunger beating at her.

  Adi rolls her eyes. “Hells no. I rode on your back for an hour. It’s like being on a really bad carnival ride.”

  Slash’s face becomes pensive. “I am glad you were not further along. I would then have to worry about damaging the whelp. A female is too delicate for such things...”

  “Bullshit.” Adi interrupts like a car crash. “I’m tough as they come,” Adi says, already rooting in her hammered backpack.

  A tampon managed to get stuck in there somehow and drops to the ground, looking strangely alien against the bed of forest debris, what with its bright pink flowers proclaiming I’m on my period.

  Moon.

  Slash smirks, then it becomes a grin. “I do apologize. My mate is very resourceful when it comes to defending herself.”

  Adi drops the pack and, hand on hip, offers Slash the last of her beef jerky. It’s not the freshest in the world, but it will give him something.

  “So you were amused by my antics?” Adi asks in a coy voice.

  Slash tears into the jerky, chewing for all he’s worth. “Very entertaining. I was especially riveted by the broken hand. Was that shampoo?”

  Adi nods happily.

  They smile at each other.

  “We make a pretty good team.” Adi bites her lip. “Could you have, I mean, if I didn’t have tampons and shampoo...”

  Slash’s eyebrows dump low over his nearly black eyes. “No one will have you. I am Red. They were turned.” He sounds vaguely insulted.

  “Like Jenni,” Adi whispers, ignoring his semi-butt-hurt.

  Slash bends the last bit of jerky, cramming it in his mouth, and moves to her. “Turning a male is a different matter than a female.” Squeezing her shoulder, he turns away from Adi for a second, snatching a water bottle out of her backpack. Tipping his head back, Slash gulps the entire bottle. “You were right, heart of my heart.”

  “Curator of my soul,” Adi replies softly, suddenly stressed out and even more tired. They just have to get to the Northwestern. Have to.

  Slash moves to her in a flash, nothing more than a black blur. “There will never be males again who will surprise me. Even when I ta
ke you, I will have a weapon nearby.”

  A breath shudders out of Adi. She just didn’t realize, outside of her pack, how dangerous it was to be a female alone. The pack, her home den, had afforded her more than litter mates and a warm, well-fed whelphood. It had been a sanctuary against what happened today.

  Slash’s strong arms close around her.

  “Who were those dickheads?”

  Slash chuckles. “They were not born Were, so I assume they were turned through some violent episode.”

  “Like they got too close to the Lanarre of the Hoh region?” Adi lays her cheek against his broad chest.

  She feels Slash’s shrug against her. “I do not know. But I wasn’t going to stick around and interrogate them. We need the protection a pack affords.”

  “Yeah, I was just thinking that,” Adi admits.

  “We’re very close to Olalla now.”

  “That was fast.”

  She doesn’t have to see Slash to know he nodded. “I was motivated to escape us.”

  “Slash,” Adi says, leaning back so she can see him.

  He loosens his hold. “What?”

  Shaking her head a little, she confesses, “I don’t know what kind of a pack we’ll have left. Manny’s gone. Tony, that fucker—”

  Slash smiles, and she goes on, “He’s dead, thank moon. But I don’t know who's still there in my home pack.”

  “Do not borrow worry, Adrianna. We will arrive, and I will take whatever position bestows the strongest degree of defense possible for my mate and future whelp.”

  Flattening his palm across her lower belly, he splays his fingers. “Trust in me.”

  “Oh, I do,” Adi immediately says, covering his hand with her own. “So, so much, Slash.”

  His slight smile is wonderful to see.

  Slash silently takes her hand, tugging her along behind him for the three-hour hike that remains.

  Adi turns her head to the sky. The approaching night is like a spreading contusion over the clouds, striking them with colors of bleeding ebony, run through by plum and edged by the dying sunlight.

  They hike, and Adi tries not to worry about what she can’t change. Like the doofuses who are probably healing up after the Denny’s episode.