by Jaymin Eve
“Arianna?” Calista had been saying something.
I shook my head and traipsed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready.
“Sorry, I’m nervous,” I said.
Calista smiled one of her all-knowing smiles. “I was there the day you were born. I saw your heir test. You will be fine.”
That was news to me. I knew Calista had known my mother and the Red Queen very well. She’d been friends with the sisters, and since the Red Queen never had any children, she had decided to go with me as her charge. I was the closest related heir to my aunt. But I didn’t know she was present at my birth. The mere thought of it brought a pang to my heart. I missed my mother. She died when I was fifteen, just one year before my inheritance. Fifteen is the age when a girl really needs her mother, I’d gone through so much, growing up so fast. Calista basically raised me and my baby sister. As I brushed my teeth, I focused on the mirror before me. Fierce turquoise eyes peered back at me and I saw glimpses of my mother. Despite the fact she’d had brown hair and eyes, some of our features were very similar. She hadn’t been perfect, but she’d been mine, and I wished so much she hadn’t died.
“You look a lot like Jesinda.”
I was convinced Calista could read minds sometimes.
“I miss her,” I murmured as I dropped my toothbrush back into its cup before rinsing my mouth out, and then drying off with a hand towel.
“She would be proud,” Calista said, and I nodded. My mother told me at a very young age that being a queen was the greatest gift to our people; we were the lifeblood of an entire race. Yes, I would win this. I would be crowned. I would make my mother proud. I might not enjoy the politics of being queen, but competition was in my blood.
Dressed again in the red shirt of my house, I ate breakfast in my suite. I was glad there were no political duties for me this morning, I wanted to be able to focus, and since I’d spent most of the night mulling over the bear councilman’s warning, I was nowhere near as rested as I hoped to be before this particular task.
Calista, intuitive as always, did nothing more than sit silently beside me. She’d already done my hair in its intricate crown braiding, so now all that was left was fueling my body and following her to the main Summit room again.
We left the suite and made our way to the wide staircase. Ten guards descended first, leading the way, the other ten coming down behind us.
“How is everything in the Bronx?” I asked Calista as we walked. I was pretty much locked in here, but our advisors were able to stay in touch and make sure everything was okay in our territories.
She quickly filled me in on the news. “There have been four inter-territory disputes, but they were settled amicably. Only one dead, and two arms severed.” It was good when they could sort these things out without an alpha involved. Wolves were hot-blooded and we had a lot of disputes. Being territorial was in our nature, and living in a city on top of each other stirred the inner beast.
Sometimes I had dreams of leading a small pack in the countryside away from the lights and taxi cabs, but I knew a huge part of me would miss New York. As much as I complained at times, I loved this city. The wolves would learn to deal. We always did. Living within the mecca was a great honor and we all knew that. Wolves who lived in the boroughs, were five times more powerful than wolves around the rest of the world.
Calista continued: “Investigations have already started into the magical beings who ambushed us at the portal. Your people are examining the body.”
That had been my first question to her after finishing the political dinner. Finding out if we had any of the attackers still, and luckily we did. The female who had attacked Blaine had not survived. Her body had apparently been stored in the ice room of my building, locked down until I was able to get back to the Bronx and investigate. But now I was worried there wouldn’t be time, so I told Calista to start a thorough investigation.
“Jimmy went in wolf form?” I double checked she’d managed to get the best. Jimmy was our pack’s lead investigator and tracker. It also helped that he was a detective with the New York Police Department.
Calista nodded. “Yes, he went early this morning. The body is scenting as human, nothing more. We’ll have to wait for Violet to test the remains in more magical ways. She should be back soon.”
Human. There was just no way. Magic and human just did not go together. But that didn’t necessarily mean the fae were involved. I mostly believed Gerald, but there was always a part of me that wondered if this entire thing wasn’t a bear ploy. Only time would tell on that one. It was annoying me that I couldn’t talk to Calista about the possibility of this body being fae. But Torine had made it very clear that I was to keep this information to myself for now. And since I wasn’t queen yet, I couldn’t really disobey his orders.
I would have to wait for my magic born to return.
Violet was extremely powerful. If anyone could ferret out information on the attackers, it would be her. I couldn’t recall if I noticed anything unusual about our attackers in my dash to the portal. There had been so much chaos and blood around, not to mention we were right at the portal so my senses had been dulled by the power of the mecca. It drowned out everything else around us.
We were nearing the main floor, so I hurried with my next question. “How’s Winnie?”
“She’s fine. Skipping lessons, keeping her advisor busy. I called her an hour ago. She said she hates being locked inside. Actually used the word ‘torture,’ and said if you’re in Manhattan she expects you to bring home Lombardi’s pizza.”
A brief burst of laughter unfurled from me. My firecracker of a sister was filled with sass and life. Winnie was obsessed with pizza. I swear that girl was an even pickier eater than I was. Every time we came to Manhattan she got Lombardi’s.
“Have one of the guards hand deliver the pizza to her for dinner tonight,” I told Calista, and she nodded, typing into her tablet.
Winnie lacked discipline, which was probably me spoiling her to overcompensate for the loss of our mother. Calista and I were the only parental figures she knew. Mother always said our father was a royal guard, someone chosen for his impeccable family line, strength, and prowess on the battlefield. But she’d never named him, and no man had ever stepped forward to claim us as his. Mother was traditional, only taking a lover for breeding purposes and not a mate.
He was probably here somewhere in the royal home, but I found myself extremely uninterested in knowing who he was now. Sure, I understood that he’d been used just for a strong dominant line, but I still expected his acknowledgement.
Selective breeding was not a life I wanted for myself; I would continue to fight against it no matter how many times I was told that the crown and magical mecca came first – our responsibilities came first. Heirs were required to breed with the strongest of males, and if I became queen, my match would have to be agreed on by the council. There was no such thing as a wolf king; he would only ever be known as my mate.
Stepping from the stairs we crossed the floor to the main hall. My guards closed in around me. We were not the only ones almost at the hall. Breanna was off to my right, and Selene to the left. All of us must have left our suites at the same time. For the most part we avoided elevators and used stairs to get around. Wolves were not that comfortable in small metal boxes, despite their necessity in skyscrapers.
Sucking in deeply, I rubbed my damp palms against my pants. The next task. It was time to focus myself.
Magical strength. Why couldn’t the scrolls have said anything else – even the dreaded obstacle course – reportedly so difficult to finish that only about five heirs had ever managed it, the Red Queen being the last one. I would have preferred that. Magical strength had too many unknowns.
“We aren’t allowed to enter this time,” Calista said when we reached the double doors. “No one but the heirs and council, because it’s dangerous to tap directly into the mecca like this. They don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded a few times. Then Breanna, Selene, and I entered, closing the doors behind us, leaving our advisors, familiars, and guards out there. They would stand and wait for us, no matter how long it took to complete this task.
The room was dimly lit, only a single flame flickering in the large hearth behind the council chairs. The council members all stood there, dressed in ceremonial robes, dark, with gold insignia.
Torine stepped forward. “Welcome, queen heirs. Let’s make our way to the mecca connection. Please note that this is a secret, sacred space and you are not to tell any of what you have seen. This remains solely for heirs and council knowledge.”
Okay, now I was both nervous and very curious. I liked to know about things, and it pleased me that this would be one secret the council no longer knew over us. Selene looked fine but Breanna was sweating. I looked around, unsure of where to go, when one of the council members went to the fireplace and reached for a book on the shelf. Instead of pulling the book out, he merely tipped it back, and with a whoosh of air the wall shifted and swung open to reveal a hidden doorway. Okay, that was so cliché, but still the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
Selene and I met each other’s eyes. I wondered if mine held the same wide-eyed look of amazement as hers. Probably. As the council had said, these were the kind of secrets that only a select few knew.
The council made their way through first, one by one, and I wasn’t sure what to expect when it was my turn, but there was only a short pathway to step along, and then we ended up in a large circular room.
The second I crossed the threshold a blanket of mecca magic saturated my skin and I had to take a moment to even out my breathing. Trying to adjust to this level of magic was not going to be easy for any of us. Eventually my heart rate slowed to an acceptable level.
Peering around, my hand covered my mouth to hide my gaping jaw. Before us was the most stunning bluish-purple crystal I had ever seen. Over three feet tall, it was pulsing with magic, an energy which I could feel knocking into my chest, making my heart jackknife inside of me. I took a staggered step toward it, wanting to be closer, even though I feared the magic it was emitting might tear me apart.
I saw that even the council was having trouble looking composed. They stuck to the walls, away from the center.
“What is it?” I asked, not even trying to hide my awe.
Torine looked the most calm of the councilman. “A mecca crystal.”
Say what? I didn’t even know such an object existed. At first I thought that was all the information he was going to impart, but thankfully he continued.
“This is actually a smaller version of the crystals which exist beneath each vortex point. It’s here that the mecca concentrates its energy, connecting between the crystals. There are smaller versions scattered around the boroughs, hidden and powerful. This one was found in Central Park by the first wolf queen, Deandra the Splendid. It was hidden in a lake. She was tipped off after some humans fell in the water and were dismembered. The magic tore through their frail bodies within seconds, but the queen was able to deal with the power. She personally transported the crystal here herself, before taking the time to search out the others. Most of them are accounted for now, safely stored away where they cannot hurt others.”
So many secrets, so many responsibilities that our leaders undertook and the rest of the packs were none the wiser. Knowledge of these stones was certainly not broadcast in our studies, not even to the heirs.
“What do we do?” Breanna asked breathlessly, swaying a bit on her feet.
Torine attempted to move off the wall, but as strain crossed his already ancient and lined face, he slumped back against it. “All you have to do is touch the crystal. You may go first, Breanna.”
Breanna’s face drained of color. It looked like she was sorry for asking. We all knew the Summit was dangerous, and heirs died during these trials. Now I understood why. This stone had torn humans to shreds, and merely being in the same room as it had my entire body all out of sorts. Seriously, if I was having trouble breathing ten feet away from this thing, then touching it would likely make me pass out. At least I’d get to see what happened with Breanna. I would be taking as many mental notes as I could.
The yellow heir just stood there stiff as a board, hands trembling. Selene groaned next to her and began walking forward.
“I’ll go first. I’m not afraid.” Her voice was loud and brassy, but I could hear the lie in the slight shakiness of her tone.
She strode across the hardwood floor easily at first, but when she was five feet from the crystal she began to slow; it looked like she was meeting resistance, almost as if she had to swim through a thick jelly to get there. Finally, when she was inches from the thing, a multitude of emotions crossed her face: fear, wonder, amazement. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the crystal before recoiling quickly as a pulse of power shot from it and her hair stood on end. Her mouth was opening and closing like a gaping fish out of water as she stared at her hand, which I now saw was glowing purple.
Torine nodded. “You passed. You may step back.”
Selene needed no further encouragement. She all but ran back to the safety of the perimeter. My mind was scrambling. What made her pass? The hair standing up? Calista shouldn’t have braided mine so tightly! The glowing fingers? I looked at her again and saw the purple hue that tinged her skin had faded.
Breanna looked determined now that Selene had survived. The test seemed short and simple. She stepped forward with a fierce look in her eyes, and despite seeming to struggle even more than Selene to cross the last few feet to the crystal, she made it through. With a triumphant smile she placed her hand on top.
The second her skin touched the crystal she cried out and grabbed her chest, crumbling to her knees. Something was wrong. This wasn’t like when Selene recoiled. This was different. I raced forward and was shocked to find that a few feet from the crystal it felt like my feet had been submerged into quicksand. Trudging through the magic took true effort.
I finally made it to Breanna. She was a ball on the floor, crouched in on herself. There was so much magic in the air that I never realized she was mid-change until I flipped her onto her back. She was now a wolf, a very large, sable-colored beast with yellow markings along her nose and flank. The power of the crystal had forced her change, but not in the usual way. Breanna was barely conscious, and her wolf eyes were glassy, almost like nothing was there behind them. She was foaming heavily at the mouth, like a rabid animal.
“She failed,” one of the council said from where he was positioned across from me, pressed tightly to the wall. “She may be an heir but she’s not powerful enough to be queen. A true queen can utilize the crystal. Get her out of there if you want her to live.”
I assumed that they couldn’t step any closer to help me, and Selene was just watching from the sidelines as usual. Ignoring all the others, bending down I easily scooped up her heavy wolf body, trying not to trip on the clothing dangling from her. Making quick strides, I handed her off to a waiting council member, who carried her out of the room to seek medical treatment.
Then I faced the council. Well … crap. That was a hard act to follow. If I was nervous before it was nothing compared to what I felt now. Yet some deep part of me was thrumming with excitement, as if the crystal was calling to me. My heart was pulsing in time with the energy coming off of the crystal.
“Please hurry, Arianna. We cannot be near it much longer,” Torine said. As I peered closer at them I noticed their complexions were ashen, their faces glistening with sweat. I nodded and made my way over to the crystal.
We had a saying in our culture: you were either born to be a queen or you weren’t. It was in your blood. Not every heir could be queen and now I understood why. And the fact that I had no control over this actually brought me a sense of relief. I could just let it go. Trudging back through the heavy magic, I let go of all expectations of the outcome. What would be would be.
My hand hovered a few inches from the crystal and I saw the tiny blond hairs on my arms standing up. It felt like the magic was seeking me, searching for an outlet, and in that moment I wanted to touch it, I needed to. With one last deep breath I reached out and placed my hand on the crystal. The second my hand wrapped around the cool shimmery stone, a hot mass unfurled within me. As if a well of energy had been caged inside of me and was now free. A fizzy burning encompassed my entire being.
The air around the crystal popped, and the crystal flared with magic then. Everyone else in the room gasped. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t even pay attention to them because I was too busy staring at the wall in front of me and the shimmery multicolored flowers that had appeared there. Like some mirage, the images swirled and changed, so fast I really couldn’t tell what half of it meant. Red splashes, blue water, flashes of a land filled with green and life.
More of the energy filled me up and I wanted to place my other hand on the crystal, to hold it forever. I felt the power coursing through my veins and it was like I had drunk ten energy drinks.
My blood burned, and for some reason I felt the red lineage of my birth very strongly, the way I always did when I’d been close to the Red Queen. I would swear that some of her essence lingered in this room, in the power. Lilac. I could smell the lilac perfume she always wore.
“Enough!” Torine shouted, and broke through my trance. Dropping my hand, I turned to face them. The entire council and Selene were on their knees, panting, almost as if they were genuflecting to me. Each of their faces were a mix of expressions. Some held wonder, some awe. But there were more than a few creased in fear. The power of the crystal was still pulsing at me, calling to me, and I physically had to fight the urge to touch it again. When my eyes finally dropped down, I had to blink a few times to clear my sight. Was that … my entire body was glowing in a purplish hue. Every part of exposed skin softly twinkled.