Down with the Queen

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Down with the Queen Page 34

by Benjamin Medrano


  “Her ability is truly that powerful?” Ivanova asked, blinking as her eyebrows rose in surprise. “I thought she could only empower a handful of others.”

  “Only because those are the ones she trusts. Two, ten, a hundred… to her ability, empowering all of them at once is the same,” Vlad said, shrugging as he poured whiskey into a glass. “All that she needs is mutual trust. Alas, that is far more difficult to acquire than one might think.”

  “I see. Interesting,” Ivanova murmured, considering, then smiling slightly. “Well, we have time, do we not?”

  “For now,” Vlad agreed, and let out another sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “Only for now.”

  Sunday, January 13th, 2031

  Nevada SuperMax

  Doctor Johnson fumed in his cell, pacing back and forth. That they’d put him in the same cell block as common class C villains was intolerable. It was insulting, in fact. He was Doctor Johnson, and he’d conquered Iceland, and taken on Master Boreal before. That they were planning to extradite him to Iceland was beside the point. Someone would break him out. Someone always did.

  Even more frustrating was what had happened. Lilith Carpenter had sabotaged all his plans, her and her allies. He hated them, and he wasn’t going to let them get away with it.

  “Damned women… I’m going to put all of them into their place,” he muttered, continuing his pacing as he grinned savagely. “And with Shadowmind dead, that means I don’t have to worry about her taking it poorly.”

  Rumors about what had happened to Shadowmind had been floating around the prison for most of a day before he’d arrived, so it hadn’t taken Doctor Johnson long to hear that she was dead. It served the bitch right, in his view. She would be out of his way, and that was satisfying.

  The voice that spoke in Doctor Johnson’s mind was an ice-cold purr and was like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head. A prickling feeling raced through his mind, almost like a pair of fingers over his brain, and Shadowmind spoke sweetly in response.

  There was a sharp pain in his mind, and Doctor Johnson gasped, half-staggering in response. His thoughts raced, and to his horror, everything he’d figured out about the genetic manipulator was gone, as though he’d never built it at all. Even the research that he’d stolen to build it… it had all gone missing in an instant.

  “You… what do you want?” Doctor Johnson asked, suddenly terrified. It didn’t matter how Shadowmind had survived, only that she had, and that she was buried in his mind at that very moment. He carefully sat on his cot, not daring to do anything else.

  Shadowmind said, her words not a request as another ‘stroke’ of her hand sent tingling shocks through his brain.

  “Y-yes, I’ll… I’ll do as you say,” Doctor Johnson said, gulping hard as terror gripped him.

  Shadowmind said, and then was gone.

  Despite her absence, it took over an hour before Doctor Johnson could stand, and he knew it would be days before he could sleep well again.

  Undisclosed Location, Utah

  Amber retreated to her new body, relishing in the utter terror she’d inflicted on Doctor Johnson. She hated the stuck-up, unimaginative, chauvinistic bastard. She liked Ebon Dragon far more, which was why she’d let him know that one of the guards would be making a ‘mistake’ to allow the villain to escape the next day on his way to attend court via video conference.

  It was always good to keep competent mercenaries in her debt, she thought. He’d appreciated it and would keep her involvement to himself.

  Lilith’s achievements impressed Amber, even if she wasn’t certain she liked the path that her daughter was taking. It would likely lead to a confrontation between them eventually, but finally Amber let out a soft sigh, opening her eyes.

  The small room was nice enough, and the smell of flowers in planters was a nice touch as well. Glancing down, she managed to twitch a toe with some effort.

  Moments later there was a knock at the door, then the pretty nurse stepped in, smiling as she spoke. “Hello, Amber. It’s time for your therapy again. Are you ready?”

  “Of course,” Amber replied, smiling back. “I’m looking forward to being in shape to walk again. Thank you, Janet.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” the nurse assured her, stepping forward to help Amber into the wheelchair that, with any luck, she wouldn’t need for too much longer.

  Author’s Note

  Thus ends Down with the Queen. I’m afraid that for the time being, this is where Lilith’s story will end. I have another trilogy in mind which will continue the Lilith’s Shadow series, but this is the best point to take a break and work on other series that I’ve promised. Next is most likely Through the Fire, a story about a young elven mage and her quest to rescue others from an evil dragon. I’m also going to be working my way through the Ancient Dreams trilogy for compilation into an omnibus in the near future, so that’s a major project ahead of me.

  I hope you enjoyed the book, as it was something of a thrill to write. It’s a fair departure from the previous book, but I think that’s for the best. Life changes for everyone, even superheroes and villains. If you’d take the time to leave a review, I’d greatly appreciate it as well, as it helps my books gain visibility.

 

 

 


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