Haley headed down the uneven steps, wishing she hadn’t worn heels. At least they were only two inchers. Still, heels and carved stone didn’t agree.
The staircase wound downward like an enormous screw, and just when she thought it was never going to end it dumped her out into a tunnel. Down here the lights were few and far between. And where there was light, it was almost always candles.
At the base of the stairs, Haley listened. There were the sounds from above, water seeping out of the stone, the candle flames sizzling on their wax column, and then...
There! She heard it again. High pitched, panicked. Something screaming way off or way down.
Haley ran, but after she took a few turns, the cries died out completely and she lost her sense of direction. She turned, wondering which doorway she’d come through, but all of them looked alike. Holes in stone walls.
Her hearts thudded in her chest and she fought the claustrophobic panic of dark, deep holes and no idea where the hell she was going or how to get out.
“You’re Haley.” It was not a question. She turned to see the tall dark shape of a man. He was dressed in a leather panel kilt and a bronze chest plate. He looked like something out of Gladiator. He smelled Kin, but he didn’t scent her. When he stepped into the light she saw the scars. Fresh pink things marring him from head to toe.
Half-breed. He was a Feeder. Haley looked away, trying not to imagine the damage he’d endured to get messed up that bad.
“I’m here to see Medan.”
“She is expecting you in the parlor.” Obviously, tall, dark, and badly bitten expected her to know where the parlor was. Whatever the hell the parlor was. Haley eyed all the doorways, thinking how they needed to seriously consider some directional cues. He pointed to the second passage from the left.
“Straight down?” Haley asked. The half-breed nodded. She took the opening and the steep downward tunnel that followed.
The parlor turned out to be a massive antechamber. Unlike the other rooms, which were bare of anything but more tunnels, the parlor was packed with comforts. Wall-to-wall fur rugs blanketed the cold stone. Large lounging pillows were pushed to either side and the ceiling had been covered with lengths of silk.
Silver and gold chains glittered and sparkled, running the full length of the room, like forgotten Christmas garland. But they were nothing compared to the assortment of bright colored vases, marble statues, and Egyptian sarcophagi. The collection had no rhyme or rhythm. Just pretty things, sitting or hanging next to other pretty things. A collage of priceless paintings and shiny baubles.
The Smithsonian had nothing on this place.
Haley stepped from the shadows and into the warm electric light mixed with more candles. In the distance, the darkness shifted and swelled forward. The light struck scales and golden fire erupted from Medan’s eye sockets. The Atlanta Queen thundered and Haley felt her knees go weak.
Medan’s chest expanded, and her wings rattled. She eased forward, her body somehow missing all the priceless treasures, moving like liquid and sounding like death.
“Haley...” She drew it out like it was meant to be pronounced--Hae-lelee. “You came.” She didn’t sound a bit surprised. “Farley and I were betting on whether or not you would. I see I won.” She parted her lips, and a growl ticked from her throat. Heat boiled from Medan’s skin as the deep rumble of her fire lung rattled everything in the room. Haley stared at her, every muscle in her body rigid.
But then, Medan’s RHage, her preternatural power, was Fear, and she was merciless with it.
“Human life has left you without manners.” Coils of steam eased out from between her teeth. Her eyes flashed. Haley willed her knees to bend. Grudgingly, they obeyed. When she was on the ground she bent her head forward. Medan purred.
“Much better.” Medan’s massive form pulled back and she curled in on herself, tucking up her limbs like a large cat. “You may stand.”
Actually now that Haley was down here, she preferred to stay. But it was better not to make the request. Haley willed her knees to lift her up and somehow she made it. Medan was bigger than she remembered, massive, and three times as scary. Her head alone was the size of a pickup truck.
“Your Majesty.” Haley gave herself a mental high-five for remembering the use of a proper title. “I have come as you requested.” She waited, hoping that Medan would hurry up and get on with this. She wanted to get Farley and get out.
Medan’s golden eyes slid half closed and she fell completely still, taking on a strange lack of realness which made her all but disappear right in front of Haley’s eyes.
It reminded her of Niles.
Life trickled in, moving her lips and projecting her voice. “I have called you here because I am pleased with your work in the Chetrah world. So pleased that I would like to extend you a gift.” Haley was sure this was some kind of trick, but she didn’t have a choice. Not as long as Medan had Farley.
“What kind of gift?” Her throat tightened, strangling her words.
Medan extended a claw and motioned her forward. Haley obeyed. She didn’t dare not to. “You are very special to me, Haley.” The Queen shifted, sliding against the fur-covered floor. “And I know you appreciate every gift I have endowed to you.” Her body curved surrounding Haley. “So it is only proper I extend to you the greatest of honors.” She stopped. Her large head dipped low, until Haley was looking at her reflection in one large golden eye.
“I--I’m sorry. I don’t understand.” And Haley didn’t. Medan had kicked her out of the Hive, out of the Dens. She had survived only because of the grace of Humans. She had succeeded because of her own will. She existed today because she chose to be something more. Medan had nothing to do with any of that.
“Haley...” Medan turned her head giving Haley her other eye. “Don’t you see? I am the one who made you what you are.”
“Your Majesty, Queen Medan...may I speak freely?” Haley’s Kin instincts said not to do this, but her Human-endowed curiosity wouldn’t be silenced.
The Queen sighed. “Amuse me.”
God of Man, Haley hoped she wasn’t going to regret this. This was a dangerous game, but the truth was Medan wasn’t going to end this until she wanted it to.
Haley said, “You kicked me out of the Dens when I was still white-scaled.”
“True,” she purred.
“I don’t know you.”
“Few know me.”
“If I owe anyone for what I am, I would think it would be the woman who raised me and the Humans who have accepted me.” Haley stared at Medan; the dragon was not breathing.
Haley waited.
Medan blinked, slow. Her black tongue flicked, stroking the air. “Did you know Farley is the only Male I have never been able to read?” Haley’s brain skipped with the change of topic. Medan swung her head back and receded into the shadows again, leaving Haley standing alone. “It is a queer thing ... Queer. I rather like that word. It can mean so many things. Different, unconventional, suspicious ... worthless.” There was venom in her tone. Medan’s fire lung ignited, pumping heat until the air around her wavered. “Look around you, Child. What do you see?” She swung her head. “I do not keep the worthless.”
Haley trembled. Sweat clung to her hair and formed in the creases of her body. The heat became unbearable but complaining wasn’t an option.
“Then why did you kick me out?” Haley didn’t mean to say it aloud, but the words were out so there was no going back. “Why did you expel me from my own people?”
“Because you were a threat.” It was a kind of truth Haley didn’t expect. The Queen’s anger banked and coolness of the cave closed in again.
“How?”
Medan flexed her claws like a cat, the ebony chelae at the end glistened. “There are those among us who would have killed you.” The Queen dragon kicked out her hind legs and her body became languid against the fur rugs. “Unknown blood or not, you are Female. So I chose to give you life. It was my first of many
gifts.” She yawned, flashing a row of razor sharp teeth. “I have always watched you, you know. Not directly. But I always knew where you were, and what you were doing.” She turned her great head and lowered it to Haley’s height. “You see, the other Queens did not think you would survive in the Human world. I made sure you did. I knew what you could bring to me, to all Kin, was priceless. A Female, in the world of Man, Impressed with an understanding we have never been able to grasp.”
Inside Haley began to ache, her breath shortened, and her stomach clenched. She stared at the Queen, not wanting to believe a word, but at the same time scenting the truth in her claims. Medan truly believed what she said.
“Now that Niles Fury faces death, I will have to protect you myself.”
“Niles?” Haley blinked. “What does Niles have to do with anything?”
“Oh.” Medan did a terrible job feigning surprise. “You did not know?”
You know damn well I didn’t know. Haley didn’t trust herself to speak, so she shook her head.
The Queen continued, “Yes, well, he does his job well, does he not? He followed you. He watched you. He killed for you.”
Haley’s body jerked like she’d been hit by a current.
Medan made a pleased sound, followed by a string of clicks and chirps. “Oh, Haley, you do not know how many have been sent for you.” Her words drowned in false concern.
“Sent for me?”
“Yes. Did you think the other Queens would give up trying to kill you? I wanted you to live but they ... they conspired against you. Eventually they gave up, except for Nidia.” Medan exhaled a dramatic sigh. “They sent Humans because that’s what you trusted. So it wasn’t like it took much effort to kill them. Not for Niles. But there were others.” Medan’s long black chelae toyed with the nap of the fur. “Males, Marked, sent to erase him. He killed those as well. All to protect you...” Her blazing eyes came up and pegged Haley hard. She knew the Queen was a craftsman with her words. What she was hearing wasn’t completely true. But there was no scent of a lie.
“Niles protected me?” Haley made it a direct question because it would require a direct answer.
Medan did not hesitate. “Yes.”
The room began to spin and when her knees gave, Medan caught her. Haley pooled in her massive hands.
“Oh, Child, this is so much for you to bear.” The sweetness in her tone was sickening. “You see why I have called you here. Niles will be dead in a matter of days and you will be all alone. There will be no one to keep the Queens at bay. No one strong enough. No one who makes them afraid.” Medan’s bronze body coiled around Haley, making her dizzy. She shut her eyes trying to shake the overwhelming vertigo. “It is now up to me to make you safe.”
Make me dead, that’s what she really means. That’s what she really wants.
But the truth was, if the Queen wanted Haley dead, she could just kill her now. It wouldn’t be that difficult. Medan stopped moving and Haley decided to risk opening her eyes again. Bronze scales surrounded her and one giant eye hovered inches from her face.
“Are you well, Child?”
Of course she wasn’t.
“I don’t know.” Haley sat up, her head swimming. Medan poured her out and onto the floor. Haley amazed herself by remaining on her feet.
“So, you understand now? You understand how much I have favored you? How important you are to me? And now, I must give you one last gift. One that will keep the other Queens from you or they will risk my wrath...” Medan hissed, her body vibrating, her wings rattling. Haley stumbled back and the Queen calmed, going from monstrous to passive like a flick of a switch. The abrupt change was more frightening than the actual display.
“How?” Haley’s voice cracked. “How do you plan on protecting me?” God of Man, was that a contradiction in words!
Medan’s fierce eyes softened and her body went pooled against the fur covered floor. “I will make you my Er-a-ma-tah.”
Haley’s Olde Tongue was inadequate. She had no idea what the word meant.
Medan must have seen the confusion because she said, “My Enforcer.”
Holy shit. That did not just come out of the Queen’s mouth.
Haley did a piss poor job of hiding her shock and the Medan laughed.
“The greatest of gifts, is it not?” The Queen sounded all too proud of herself.
Haley had to be careful. As in don’t-get-your-throat-torn-out careful. “I ... I don’t know what to say...”
“But it is a worthy gift for such a Female as yourself ... to be the Queen’s claw, to be the mouth from which my voice will speak.
Haley blinked several times, trying to organize her thoughts so she could figure out what all this really meant. Human-written books were very limited on this kind of knowledge. Knowledge which should have been Impressed on her as a hatchling.
What was clear, in most of the books, was that such bonds could never be broken except by death.
Of one or the other. Whoever’s came first.
Haley had a feeling that Medan was betting on that “whoever” to be her.
Haley said, “Can I have some time to think about this?”
The Queen rumbled. Her anger surged and heat from her fire lung rolled through the room, stirring the silks hanging from the ceiling. Fine golden chains glittered in the light.
Haley fumbled with her thoughts. She still had to get Farley out of here alive. “Please, your Graciousness.” She bowed. “I do not mean to offend. It’s just that--” How the hell was Haley going to explain this to Garrett? Good grief, how the hell was she going to explain this to the Bureau? Plain and simple, she couldn’t. There just wasn’t any way. Becoming Medan’s Enforcer would make Haley too much of a liability for the Center. She’d be stripped of her Agent status and fired. This couldn’t work, not if she was going to remain in Human society. “Please, Medan, you have worked so hard to build the life that I have, so many gifts that I do not want to be ungrateful for.”
“Now you are grateful?” The Queen’s tone said she wasn’t buying it.
A wave of palpable fear rolled over Haley, choking her. She curled forward, trembling under the weight of the RHage. Every muscle in her body jerked and her mind threatened to short out. Breathing became a luxury. Just when Haley thought it was going to crush her it stopped. The tide receded and left her gasping for breath.
After a long silence the crimson in Medan’s eyes dimmed. The rhythmic rise and fall of her purr echoed off the walls. “Do not wait very long. Your enemies are everywhere. Even among the ranks of those you work with. You cannot trust the chetrah, Haley. They do not wish Kin anything but death.” Haley watched the Queen as she curled tight. “Go with caution, Child.”
Her lids slid closed and she became stone still.
“What about Farley?” Haley asked.
“He lives.” An eye partially opened.
“Can I take him with me?”
“I keep my promises...” There was a “but” in there somewhere. Medan’s scaly lips curled. “However, he may prefer to stay.”
No. No, he wouldn’t.
“What did you do to him?” The accusation was just the sort of thing which could start an entire new round of Fun with Words.
“I did nothing.” What Medan meant was, “more than you want to know.”
Haley took a breath. “Where? Where is he?”
Medan slid her eyes to one of the passageways on the right. “Through there, stay straight. The room is at the end.” Her eyes came back to Haley. The anger behind them seethed.
Haley looked at the doorway. “Please, Medan, ust tell me.” She tried to swallow but her mouth was too dry.
“I swear to you, Child, I have not harmed him. I fed him. That. Was. All.” Her gaze burned with an unspoken challenge.
Haley knew very well Medan didn’t bleed for Farley, and his rank on the dominance scale put him on the menu, not on the customer list. Haley couldn’t stop herself from asking. “What did you feed him?”
The Queen rumbled and flicked her talons across the fur. “I find it interesting how some of us become addicted to Human flesh. Farley used to devastate entire villages to feed his cravings.”
Haley shook her head. “No, no, no ... God of Man, Medan, what have you done?”
Yellow fire flared in her golden eyes. “God of Man?” she laughed. “There is no God, Haley. Not of Man and not of Kin. There are only Queens. We are the only Gods.”
Haley kicked off her heels and tore down the long dark tunnel, falling once when she smashed her shoulder against a rocky protrusion. She told herself the copper smell in the air was the wet stone. It could have been. She wanted it to be.
Haley burst in the room, hit a pool of blood, slid and fell. Her head cracked against the floor and her ankle screamed in sharp jabs, making her forget all about the black stars bursting in front of her eyes.
“Farley?” She rolled to her side, her hand sliding in crimson wetness, little pieces of something soft stuck to her skin.
Flesh.
Human flesh.
Haley got to her feet, limping until her ankle knitted enough to support her. She blinked and stared into the heavy shadows of the poorly lit chamber. It was hard to understand what she was seeing. Farley was on the floor, surrounded by a mass of something moving. Males. Dozens of them. All pale with translucent iridescence. White-scales. Hatchlings
They licked and sucked against Farley’s skin, leaving white trails through the red wherever their tongues passed.
“Get away from him!” None of them obeyed. They were burning up with Hunger, their eyes fixated on the only thing in the room smelling like food.
As Haley closed in, their pasty white forms shuddered and rippled. Half-formed faces turned to stare at her. Mouths filled with way too many teeth gaped and sucked her scent from the air. The mishmash of Human and Draconian features made them hideous, made them repulsive. These were her people. These were Kin. And still ... they were foreign, unknown creatures. Monsters.
A lean, low growl squeezed out of Haley’s chest. She swung at the first one, flaying his back with her chelae. The smell of blood sent them all screeching. The high pitched clicks, low thrumming, and hungry growls became deafening. Inhuman teeth flashed in half-Human faces. Haley stumbled back as they sucked in their clutch mate and devoured him in a symphony of gnashing teeth.
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