Queen Mecca (NYC Mecca Series Book 4)

by Leia Stone

  That made sense. Horrible and awful sense. They guarded the opening not to keep others from going in, but to keep the Dark Fae Lord’s beasts from getting out.

  “Well, it’s yours. I mean, if you want it back … it’s yours,” I told him. I wasn’t sure if he needed permission, but in case he did, I was giving it.

  It was like a weight lifted off Zandu then. He stood taller, his eyes covered by a misty sheen, which told me everything about the emotions no doubt churning inside of him. He simply nodded. “Be well, Arianna, the great winter.” Then with a blink of an eye he was gone, into thin air.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Queen of the mecca.

  After Zandu left, we all stood there silently. I took a moment to let the reality of what had transpired here seep into me. The reality and horror. Especially for the elves.

  The Dark Fae Lord had almost annihilated an entire race, driven them from their lands, and together with Kade and our allies we had helped reverse some of that damage. Healing would take a long time, but the Otherworld had a chance now.

  A chance is all any of us needed.

  Despite my bone-deep tiredness, I straightened my shoulders, searching deep for some resolve. “Okay, I have no plan. I’m tired. I’m hungry, and we might die. But I’m going to try to open a portal into the mecca crystal room of the castle.” I turned to Dante. “Are you okay to get back to the Summer Court and bring our friends and whatever army the king wants to send across?”

  He nodded, gripping his sword tight. “I will move as swiftly as the summer winds. I will not let you down.”

  This time I was the one who lowered my head to him. “You have never let me down. I am very grateful to have met you in the prison.”

  A million emotions shimmered in his eyes. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, and it was very odd to see the composed fae looking so flabbergasted. Finally he said, “We are well met. I will see you soon.” He took off then, truly running as swiftly as the winds he’d mentioned before.

  I turned to find Kian looking wrecked, Shelley at his side, her face wrinkled with anxiety. Kade was also eyeing his brother with a look of great concern, and I could feel his worry beating through our bond.

  I sighed. “Kian, you cannot go to the castle. Shelley either. You’ve been through enough today already.” This could turn into a war, and neither of them were up to fighting. I would not leave their son an orphan.

  Relief poured through Shelley, and she finally met my eyes. “My gift could help you…” she said softly, clearly struggling with what to do.

  I waved my hand. “I forbid it. That’s an order.”

  She nodded. “I was thinking that … maybe Kian and I could head to the Winter Court? We can help keep order there until you come back? As long as you promise to keep our son safe, and send him across whenever you can.”

  I didn’t even hesitate. “We will do our best to protect him, don’t you worry. It will be a huge relief to me to know that someone — my family — is keeping an eye on the Winter Court while it’s without a leader.”

  The leaders were the lifeblood of the people here too, and the Winter Court would slowly die without someone funneling mecca to them. But we had a little time. So, as Kade said, I would worry about that after defeating Luca.

  Kade drew me strongly into his body; a breath of air released from him as we pressed together. I wished we could stay like this forever, but we were not quite done yet. We pulled away, but kept our hands linked together.

  “Let’s do it.” Kade took one last look at the lake. His face held a haunted expression, but he shook it off quickly enough.

  Giving his hand one last squeeze, I released it, taking a deep, cleansing breath. Closing my eyes, my energy sprang forth the second I called it. It was strong and controlled. I felt no fear despite the fact I could feel the vast crisscrossing lines of mecca over this world and Earth. I no longer needed to touch a mecca stone. Now I could draw on this power at will.

  I focused on the stone in the mecca room back at the castle, a power that was most familiar to me. I pulled its mecca energy forward, breathing it into me.

  When Zandu told me I was a mecca stone, my brain couldn’t quite comprehend what that meant. But right now, in this moment, I understood completely. Because I was born of two royal lines, from two sides of the mecca—from a union that would not normally produce a child—I was unique, able to control mecca in a way that no other had before. I was literally able to do things that would usually require the touch of a mecca stone.

  I was the queen of the mecca.

  I need a portal. I spoke directly to the stone in the Manhattan royal estate. Power flowed into me, swift and fast, and I buckled for a beat but recovered just as quickly. My capability to contain and direct the power was growing.

  I opened my eyes to see a four-inch, square portal appear between my fingers, the mecca room visible within it. I pulled my hands open wider, pushing more mecca through, until the portal widened. It was hard to hold. If my thoughts strayed at all, it shimmered and wavered. All of Calista’s hours of forced meditation and mantras were paying off right now. Once I’d finally gotten it big enough to let a grown man through, I kept my voice calm and low.

  “Go through,” I stated, unsure how much longer I could hold it.

  Kade turned to Kian and they embraced quickly. “Thank you, brother,” Kian said. His voice was hoarse, but he was already looking stronger.

  “Stay safe,” Kade said, before he turned and walked into my portal.

  You better be right behind me.

  His voice in my head made me smile. Once Kade was inside, I lifted the portal above my head, bringing it down over my body. There was a feeling of constriction and pressure, then a rush of warm winds, and I was inside the room. Spinning around, I lifted my arms back above my head, still holding the whirling square. Shelley and Kian were waving, smiles on their faces. With a weak smile, I nodded to them, then there was a crashing noise behind me and the portal blinked out.

  The fight had already begun.

  Chapter Fifteen

  You can’t choose your parents. But you can choose where you stash them.

  The figure which had popped into the room, crashing into Kade—the noise I’d heard—was almost blasted by my power. I only managed to halt my attack at the last second.

  “Violet!” I whisper shouted. “What are you doing in here? I almost killed you.”

  She shook her head. “Not a chance. You weren’t even close.”

  I narrowed my eyes on her and she just lifted one brow in my direction, letting out a huff. “Okay, so I might have kind of … putalittletrackingspellonyou,” she said in one huge rush, slowing as she tried to reassure me. “Just an alert so I could find you at all times, no matter where you were. I sensed you the moment you stepped into Manhattan, and I followed your energy here.”

  I blinked at her a few times. “You and I need to have a serious talk about boundaries.”

  She shrugged. “You’re probably right. I seem to have developed some codependency issues, but we should save that psych eval for another time.”

  If she was spelling me so she could have a direct line to me at all times, then codependency issues might be a small understatement. But, honestly, whatever my best friend needed to do at this point to be okay was fine with me. I could put up with it, no matter what.

  “Just stay out of our bedroom,” Kade said with a grin, “and there won’t be a problem.”

  She just winked at him, but didn’t give an affirmative to that.

  I stepped closer, the flickering light of the mecca stone casting shadows across Violet’s features. “Are you here alone? Do you have any intel which could help us?”

  “I came alone, but the others will follow — now that they know you’re back. We’ve been waiting for you both to return before we attack. Baladar and Calista will bring the shifters here. They’ve had a few hundred stationed in Baladar’s loft.” She looked over her shoulder towar
d the hall that led from the room, turning back to me. “We’re hoping with your help we can take out his weapon. It’s really hindering our ability to best him. You need to know that everyone in this building is compromised. Even if they were loyal to you before, Luca has some sort of power that can manipulate their minds. Change loyalties. Brainwash.”

  “We heard,” I muttered. Why did the bad guys always get the best toys?

  Violet eyed me. “Well, I mean, you have a weapon too, right? Something to counteract him? The dark staff?”

  She looked me up and down, turning to Kade. “Right?”

  I shook my head. “We don’t have anything like that—”

  Kade interrupted me before I could finish. “We have a very powerful weapon actually.”

  Violet’s eyes got very wide, and she was bouncing on her feet with both hands out in the typical gimme-gimme pose. Kade reached over and pushed me gently into my friend’s arms.

  “Arianna is the weapon,” he said.

  Violet let out a low whoop, her eyes practically dancing. “I knew it, I knew it from the first day I saw you. You had so much mecca hanging around you. I kept waiting for you to do something with it, but you never did, so I assumed you just had a powerful aura…” She stepped back and looked at me with a specific sort of concentration and her mouth fell into a perfect oval shape. “I … I didn’t notice because of the energy from the mecca stone but … you’ve changed. You kinda look the same as the stone now, strength-wise.”

  I wasn’t surprised by this, I could still feel their pull, the stones’ magic flowing through me, from the Otherworld and Earth. There was no way Luca could best me. I would not let him.

  Arianna…

  A whisper filled the room, strong and commanding, and completely unmistakable. The Red Queen. I spun around, facing the stone. Kade and Violet moved to stand on either side of me, and there was no doubting — from the look on their faces — that they had heard it too.

  “I’m here!” I pushed my words across the mecca with ease. I couldn’t believe how simple it was to use the power now. All those months of training, all the times the easiest of tasks felt impossible … now that I had broken through my mental block — the block that told me there was a limit to the level of energy I could control — everything was different.

  There was silence for a beat, and then, Daughter, I need your help. Please do not leave me here for eternity. I crave an end. Living forever isn’t as I thought it would be.

  The stone pulsed with the words, purple light flashing like a disco ball around the secret room. I couldn’t see the Red Queen, but her presence was strong.

  “She sounds so weak,” Violet whispered to me.

  My heart pinched; Violet was right. And the Red Queen was anything but weak. I hadn’t forgotten my promise to free her, but it had been pushed into my “deal with later pile.” But now that I had accepted my role as a literal queen of mecca, it should be an easy task. Right?

  Focusing my inner sight, I sifted through the mecca energies, through all the lines of power, until I felt her presence, the line that tied her soul to the stone, preventing the final release. I pulled, trying to extract her from the grasp of mecca, but she slipped through my grasp like water in a sieve.

  I felt her despair. I was hoping your powers would override the spell Sabina did. Unfortunately, it looks as if there is only one out clause for me. One life for another. I cannot leave unless I am replaced.

  “Will you continue to grow weaker the longer you are in the mecca?” I said, focusing on her energy.

  There was a brief pause and then: Yes. I will eventually fade into almost nothing. But a small part of my consciousness will forever be trapped. No release. No rebirth.

  One life for another. I could not sentence another to the same fate she had … except for Luca. This had all started with him — with his need for power, his greedy and evil ways. He had killed the Red Queen, betraying the love and trust she had in him. It was time I showed him what karma had in store.

  “I will get you out,” I told my mother. “I have an idea.” I felt a sliver of her relief, before I turned to my friends. “We need to find Luca, now!” I growled.

  Kade wore his warrior expression again, but there was a true twinge of pride in his eyes. He was staring at me with a look even more adoring than he had given that staff. It was nice to see that. Before I could say anything … or maybe climb my mate and kiss the hell out of him, Violet poofed out of the room. By the time I had swung to stare at the spot she’d disappeared from, she was back, the shoulder of her dress torn.

  “Good news, I found Luca in the war room. Bad news, it was really crowded in there and the guards almost got me. They know we’re here.”

  “Good.” I grinned, all focus returning to me.

  Climbing will have to wait for later, mate. Kade let those words drift into my mind, and a burst of anticipation exploded in my belly. Later could not get here soon enough.

  Pulling mecca power into me, I headed for the door. “Violet, please make a portal for Blaine and the Summer Court army. They will be heading to Rowan, but I need them here. Also, make sure Baladar is on his way. It’s time. I am kicking these squatters out.”

  Kade unsheathed his sword and stepped aside. I no longer had a sword; my ice one disappeared in the Otherworld. Luckily, I didn’t exactly need a weapon anymore.

  I walked with purpose, fast and without care for being silent. Kade followed me out of the room just as Violet popped in right behind us.

  “That was fast,” I said.

  My best friend grinned. “The basement is filling with soldiers as we speak.”

  We opened the door that led to the outer hallway. Two guards were standing there. Two of my guards. Shifters.

  They raised their weapons at me, but I blasted them with mecca, knocking them back into the wall. My aim had been to use enough mecca to break the spell Luca had on them, but not enough to do any real damage.

  I let out a relieved breath when they blinked rapidly, looking around, confused.

  “Your Highness…” one mumbled as he stared at me in shock, before bowing low.

  “All is well,” I said swiftly. “Go to the basement and join the others,” I ordered, my tone firm but not unkind.

  They both nodded, clarity returning to their previously blank gazes. In a flash they were up, running toward the staircase.

  I was trying not to grow overconfident, but it was a relief that the spells from Luca’s weapon were as easy to break as everything else I’d tried. And I intended to break his weapon.

  Along with his neck.

  We traversed the halls quickly. I blasted guards as we went, and as more of my people came back to me, the more powerful my center of magic felt.

  As we turned down the hall that led to the war room, I nearly collided with one of Luca’s fae guards. Throwing out a ball of mecca, I struck the guard and he flew five feet into the air, slamming his head on the wall, and slumped to the ground.

  “What is—?” Luca stepped out, and upon seeing me held up his staff, ready to emit its powers.

  A staff. How original.

  I didn’t give him the chance, thrusting a mixture of mecca and fae magic straight at him and his little weapon. Kade collided with a guard behind me — Violet was blasting one on my left —both of them keeping the emerging fae from touching me while I fought their prince. The staff flew out of Luca’s hand, skidding across the tiles. I was really getting sick and tired of these freaking evil staffs. I never wanted to see another one for as long as I lived.

  In calm strides, I crossed to my fallen fae. Without his little weapon, he looked weak and sniveling as he stared up at me.

  “You have a debt to repay to my mother,” I informed him. Using great force, I slapped out with my energy, shoving Luca against the wall. His head cracked with a solid thump, and he slumped into unconsciousness.

  I turned to Violet. “Can you please transport him to the mecca crystal room.”


  She nodded, grabbing his wrist, and in a blink they were both gone.

  His guards had filed out into the hall now and were about to attack. I raised my hands, and let every ounce of mecca that was in my body flow out in a purple light show. It filled the room, and was so huge and spectacular, that it worked in halting the attack.

  “The winter queen is dead!” I said, my voice was loud, strong, and brimming with fury. “As is the dark fae, and soon Luca will be also. I am the interim winter queen until I find a replacement, which means you all have a choice to make. Fight me and die … or pledge your allegiance and I’ll let you go home to live in a new, kinder winter realm.”

  The men and women froze, most with hardened looks, but there were more than a few who looked relieved to hear of their queen’s death. I’m sure they felt it, the same way shifters did, and my confirmation was enough for them to truly believe it. Those soldiers fell to their knees, like the weight of their relief was so much they literally couldn’t stand anymore. Heads fell into hands, and cries and sobs started to echo around. The winter fae still standing looked at each other, like they were trying to find a leader, like they needed someone to tell them what to do. One of the men near the front line had more decorative clothing, with large jewels inlaid along his cloak. He looked, and held himself, like a commander, or someone of great importance.

  He did not hesitate. “Yield to the queen,” the commander ordered. This time no one hesitated. These were a browbeaten people, used to having their will stripped from them.

  I nodded. “My army is waiting in the basement for my command. If you make one move against me or my people, I won’t hesitate to kill all of you.”

  The commander nodded, laying down his sword.

  I turned to Kade. “I’m going to see if I can figure out how to trade a life for a life.”