Huitzilopochtli stared back at her, his gaze unwavering. “He hung me up by my ankles, slit my throat, drained every drop of my blood from my body, and drank it while lounging on a throne made of gold, while his priests cut my belly open and took my organs, including my heart. I was aware the entire time, though I couldn’t move or defend myself. He wears my heart with others around his neck. As long as he has my heart, I cannot return to Aztlan.”
Huitzilopochtli jerked his head to me, his eerie golden eyes blazing with conviction. “You. Tell her. She cannot defeat him. She cannot face him. Because what he did to me will be nothing compared to the horrors he will do to her.”
Shara
Tlacel threw himself against my knees and buried his face against my chest. “Please, my queen. He says you cannot go. There’s no way you can defeat him.”
I stroked his straining shoulders, but I didn’t say anything to soothe his fears. I couldn’t. I was scared shitless too.
But what choice did I have?
“Do you have any powers remaining?” I asked Huitzilopochtli.
Tlacel translated my words in their language, his words muffled against me.
The former god closed his eyes, as if he was looking inwardly. A hummingbird appeared on his shoulder. Grimacing, he opened his eyes and shook his head. “Without Xiuhcoatl, my fire serpent, this is the most I can do. Other than indulge my immense thirst for blood, which may increase my power somewhat.”
Mehen snorted. “Sounds familiar.”
Tlacel explained to Huitzilopochtli, and the grim man actually smiled. “You have an immense thirst as well? In my height, I reveled in the blood of sacrifice.”
“She fucking drinks it,” Ezra said.
Huitzilopochtli’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Citla drank from me and said my blood gave her great power and pleasure. Is it the same for you?”
“It is,” I said, trying not to sound embarrassed. I wasn’t. It was just strange discussing my thirst for blood with a relative stranger.
He licked his lips, his eyelashes fluttering. “I still taste you. That’s how you woke me.”
“Yes.”
He averted his face. I wasn’t sure why, until I noticed the way he gripped his thighs. Hunger. While I’d given him enough blood to raise him from the dead, that would have only been a tantalizing taste for a man of his appetite.
“You have a question,” he said suddenly, turning back to face me. “Ask, lady. I know all things that deal in blood.”
I thought a moment, and then nodded. Yeah. I did have a question. I gestured to my Blood gathered around. “When I drink, I can drink from them all. Where do I put that much blood? Where is the power stored?”
For once, Huitzilopochtli didn’t seem alarmed at how many I could drain at once. “If I may see you feed, I can better answer your question.”
Tlacel lifted his head. “Feed on me, my queen. I beg you.”
He tipped his head to the side, baring his throat. My fangs throbbed, but I didn’t want to indulge in pleasure, not with this stranger watching. Mayte’s father. Though I wouldn’t tell him that until I knew for sure that we could trust him.
Instead, I pressed one of the silver nails to Tlacel’s throat and carefully punctured his skin down into the vein throbbing so invitingly. I locked my mouth to the small wound before removing my nail, so the blood spurted directly into my mouth.
The taste of him made my eyes roll back in my head. Rich green growth of a wild, untouched jungle. The green-blue feathers of Quetzalcoatl flowed through me, a soft whisper of magic deep inside me.
“He says to focus on the flow of blood,” Tlacel whispered. “Feel it slide down your throat. Watch where it goes. Ask it to show you its secrets.”
I closed my eyes, trying to do as he said. It was hard, because I wanted to focus on the taste of him, the surge of power flooding my system. And yes, my desire. I wanted to push him down on the floor and mount him while his blood poured down my throat.
Down into my stomach. I felt it there, heating my blood. Stirring my lust. Deeper. My core, as if the blood was no longer in my digestive tract at all.
:Your root chakra,: Guillaume said. :That makes sense. Blood and desire are tied together for most queens.:
I focused deep in my lower abdomen, pushing through the layers of arousal and need that tried to distract me.
And suddenly I slid into Daire. I was inside him. Flowing through him like an energy current.
“He says,” Tlacel gasped. “Root to root. You pass the energy to your surrogates. We store it.”
I didn’t try to control the flow, but watched as my energy crackled up Daire’s spine. He seemed to absorb it without even noticing, though he felt me sliding around in him now. I sucked harder on Tlacel’s throat, taking more blood.
I felt it this time, flowing down my throat, my stomach, down through my root chakra to Daire’s, and back up his spine. It was like his bones were giant batteries, gathering my power.
Lifting my head, I met Huitzilopochtli’s gaze. “Are they all surrogates? They all hold my power?”
Tlacel repeated my question and the god nodded. “The more surrogates you have, the more power you can store. That’s why they’re all so big and strong. You power them. You build them to house more energy. Their frames can take the load because of your stores built inside them. When you need the power, it will snap back to you immediately.”
I sat back, stunned. I didn’t have massive reserves inside me. My reserves were in my Blood. I’d been pumping them up with my power this entire time. After the last huge feeding…
I touched each of my Blood. Now that I knew what to look for, I found my power humming inside them, stored along their bones. Mostly around their spine. Root to root.
An idea sprouted. A way I could appear weak and defenseless, to gain access to Heliopolis without alarming Ra. But still have access to my power stores, thanks to my Blood.
“Are you willing to join me in one last fight to destroy the Lord of Sun?”
Huitzilopochtli stood, his chin inching up proudly, shoulders wide and eyes blazing. “One last battle, lady, aye. Hummingbird flies on your left to defeat our common foe.”
I turned to Gina and before I could ask, she inclined her head. “The jet stands ready, my queen.”
28
Shara
Egypt, the land of my ancestors. I’d never imagined what it would feel like to stand on the ground that Isis must have walked Herself thousands of years ago.
I stared out over the sprawling city, wondering what She would think of Cairo now. Modern houses and high-rises had been built on top of the ruins, though here and there, hints of the ancient city remained. I couldn’t see the Great Pyramid from here, reinforcing the size of the ancient city.
To be safe, I waited past midnight before stepping out of the jet. I didn’t want Ra knowing that I was here until I was ready. On the flight, Vivian had plotted the portals out on a map and we’d spent the trip arguing over who should pair up and come through which portal. Rik insisted that everybody stay with me, which I knew was impossible.
Grudgingly, he agreed that if my distraction was with me… it wouldn’t be much of a distraction.
I didn’t tell them exactly what I planned until we were on the ground in Cairo. I needed time to prepare myself mentally, to run every option over and over through my head. I had whispered each option one by one to Carys and watched her flinch and sweat and shake her head vigorously over and over.
Each idea was worse than the last.
“You can’t do it,” she moaned, mopping her face with a handkerchief. “Every avenue sets you up for failure.”
Winnifred looked like a frazzled feather duster from all her queen’s frantic pets. I wasn’t overly worried, because I hadn’t even told her my real plan yet. I’d already gone through each of those options and discarded them. They didn’t feel right. But with her probabilities, I’d at least devised the best placement of my Blood to attack thr
ough different locations.
I met my dragon’s glittering emerald gaze. “Do you think your hide can stand up to some demon acid fire?”
“Fuck yeah.”
Vivian said there was a portal in Giza, but it led directly into the sunfires’ lair. “Then I want you to head to the Great Pyramid and access the portal there. Cause as much damage as you can before the sun demons can come after me.”
“A pleasure, my queen.”
“Guillaume, I’m hoping your hell horse will be just as impervious to Ra’s power. I want you to come through the portal near the citadel.”
“If the fires of hell can’t burn me, I should be fine.”
Vivian made a low sound of disgust. “You’ll see, knight. Hellfire and sunfire are very different things.”
I focused on her. “I want you to get to the breeding grounds and get out any queen you find there. Start with the youngest first, but I’m counting on you to get them out.”
She narrowed a hard look back at me, her blue eyes piercing straight to my heart. “And then I’m coming to you, wherever you are. It won’t take me long. I don’t even know if he has any queens held captive any longer.”
“I hope not. I hope it’s a quick trip for you to check.” I took a deep breath and scanned the rest of my Blood. “I don’t know how well you’ll be able to withstand sun demons and Ra's power, but I need at least Rik and Nevarre to come to me as quickly as you can. Ra’s palace lies beneath the obelisk. That’s where I’m going in.”
Vivian’s breath hissed out. “The fucking front door? Are you mad?”
Rik said nothing, but I felt his body hardening against me into solid granite. His rock troll was not amused with my plan.
Carys moaned. “Twenty five percent chance at best, my queen.”
Something creaked oddly. I looked up, worried that we might be under attack. The plane moved and jiggled. Then the chair Rik and I were sitting in exploded. He only fell a few inches, but enough to jounce me on the boulders of his thighs.
Daire snickered. “I guess even fancy jet seats aren’t impervious to a rock troll’s weight.”
Unbothered, Rik gathered me closer, his massive hands even larger now. Cold stone touched me everywhere. “Who goes in the front door with you, my queen?”
“Huitzilopochtli,” I whispered, braced for Rik to start tearing apart the jet around us. Or maybe his massive weight would crumple the floor and we’d just tumble down onto the runway.
Carys focused on me, her head tipping slightly. “How?”
And now the part that none of my Blood would like. “I want him to feed on me to the point where I’m barely conscious. I’ll appear weak and defenseless. He can take me to Ra like an offering and demand that Ra make him immortal again.”
Rik’s voice crashed and rolled like boulders tumbling down a mountain. “You’d be his prisoner.”
“Yes.”
Huitzilopochtli wisely said nothing, but his golden eyes blazed. He was all too eager to indulge his legendary thirst.
“He’s not Blood,” Rik growled. “You can’t trust him.”
“He’s not my Blood,” I agreed, keeping my voice light. “And that’s why this will work. Ra knows enough about Aima queens to be suspicious of our bonds and blood exchanges. I think he’ll be able to verify that Huitzilopochtli has taken my blood, but that I haven’t taken his. That makes me weaker in his eyes. He will trust I’m actually a captive because of it. He shouldn’t be too alarmed by Huitzilopochtli, either, because he’s already defeated him once.”
“That’s true,” Vivian said, though her lips twisted sourly. “I’ve seen his vizier touch a queen and even burn out her bonds. It’s extremely painful, and one of the first things he does to new captives. He can’t risk their Blood finding a way to track them down.”
The plane shifted beneath us again, metal groaning.
“Rik,” I said warningly. “We can’t fly to safety if you damage the plane.”
The creaking stopped.
“What about our bonds?” Ezra growled. “You can’t fucking let him burn us out of you.”
“I won’t,” I agreed.
Rik’s chest heaved against me like massive bellows. “No. You can’t. I can’t bear it.”
Teary-eyed, Gina looked from Rik to me and back. “What? I don’t understand.”
My heart ached so badly that I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t try to answer her.
“She can shut our bonds down.” Each word that Rik said crunched like rocks bursting under immense force. “It’s like she’s gone. Even to me.”
I turned in his mighty arms and cupped his stone face. My hands looked like a child’s on him. “I need to get close to him. Close enough to kill him. I must appear weak and defenseless. As soon as I can, I’ll open our bonds and access my power stored inside each of you. I’ll blast through the reserves if I must, deploy the red serpent, and then we leave. All of us.”
“Thirty-five percent probability,” Carys whispered.
I nodded, not turning to look at her. “That’s the best number you’ve given me all night.”
“Those numbers fucking suck donkey dicks,” Ezra retorted. “You can’t risk your fucking life on thirty-five percent!”
I didn’t look away from Rik’s granite eyes. “I can, and I will, because I know I will win. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I can’t fail because I love you too much to let you down.”
He lifted me up higher in his arms. “You could never let me down.”
I pressed my lips to the cold stone of his. “Because I’m Shara fucking Isador and what this queen loves, she keeps for all time.”
“You will have to order me to leave your side. You will have to compel me to your will. Because nothing else will keep me from you. I love you too much to allow this without your power forcing me to do so.”
I swallowed my tears and nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. I love you.”
“And I love you, my queen. Give me my orders.”
I reached within myself and tapped the power humming deep inside me. My hair sparked, electricity shooting through me like a live current. I’d been bleeding for days and my period had made no signs of decreasing. Perhaps my body knew I’d need every single ounce of blood and power to defeat the Lord of Sun.
“Alrik Hyrrokkin Isador, I command you to depart from me. I command you to lead the rest of my Blood to attack through the palace portal. You may find me on the other side and come to me, but not before I reach the throne of Ra and have deployed the red serpent to its task.”
His jaws worked beneath my fingers, a low groaning rumble deep inside him as if the plates of the earth collided and crashed inside him. “I hear and obey, my queen.”
29
Shara
I sat on a bench in front of a red-granite obelisk that marked the heart of the ancient city of Heliopolis. Ra’s earthly temple had once stood here. The Isador book said it had once been Egypt’s most radiant temple. The floors had been polished so well that the evening sky was reflected on its surface. Two giant pillars had marked the entry to the temple. Like two scales, they represented balance and order.
It was fitting that only one obelisk still stood. Ra had lost his balance long ago. His extreme order and fanatical drive to wipe out the goddesses’ children would be his downfall.
I was here to spread chaos in his own backyard.
I’d chosen to wear a simple, light cotton dress in white, the color mankind had come to associate with virginity and innocence. Plus, it’d show the blood well. I had to look weak. Defenseless. Defeated. Nothing showed that better than a pretty woman in a torn, dirty, stained white dress, and I’d play to every single one of Ra’s biases to defeat him.
The sky lightened on the horizon. It was almost dawn. I felt my Blood approaching their locations across the sprawling city. Far to the south and west, my dragon flew toward the pyramids. The rest of my Blood were closer, though still miles away. All except Xin, who stood silent behind me.
<
br /> Rik hadn’t said a word to him as he left. Xin knew full well that he was the only one close enough to help me with Huitzilopochtli if I had any issues with him.
The former Aztec sun god sat beside me as silent as my invisible Blood. One of my guys had lent him some jeans and a simple black T-shirt. He sat easily, his hands relaxed on his thighs. I had no idea what he was thinking. He hadn’t made a single objection to my plans, even though coming back to Heliopolis might mean his death again. Or worse. Ra would certainly enjoy torturing us if I failed.
“Before I was captured, Citla used to sit in the noonday sun and tell me things,” he finally said softly. At least we could understand each other now, though I wasn’t sure if I was drawing on Tlacel’s gift with language, or if the former god’s power had returned. “She told me she carried my child. She couldn’t wait for me to return and take her back to Aztlan. The thought that she died, believing that I had abandoned her, is a worse torment than anything Ra ever did to me.”
I touched Mayte’s bond. :Do you mind if I tell him about you?:
I felt her half the world away, her daughter clutched in her arms, with her Blood pressed tightly around her. They lay in a dark place. The basement of her house, I thought, where she’d hidden Xochitl from me when I’d first arrived. Good. A place of darkness would be best. In case…
I refused to even allow the thought to cross my mind. I couldn’t fail. Xochitl would never know about the breeding grounds and sun demons. Never.
:It’s alright if you tell him,: Mayte replied, her voice trembling with emotion. :Will you close my bond too?:
:Yes, I must. If I fall, I don’t want him to have any way to reach back to you.:
Aloud, I whispered, “Citla did carry your child. A daughter. Her name is Mayte.”
Huitzilopochtli jerked his head toward me, his gleaming eyes wide with shock. “She lives? Citla lives?”
“No,” I replied quickly. “But she did live long enough to deliver your daughter. She believed in you right up to the end. She tried to reach you through the cenote.”
Queen Takes Checkmate (Their Vampire Queen Book 5) Page 21