I pushed free of Rik and Daire and hurried to Llewellyn’s side. “No.”
Coatlicue didn’t even look at me but stared sadly at my mother’s Blood. “I’m afraid that your former queen does not wait in paradise for you. Instead, you must go ahead and prepare a place for her, because her spirit refuses to leave her daughter alone in this world.”
“Very well.”
“No!” I cupped his face, turning him to look up at me. His eyes were dark, the red-gold falling stars already extinguished. “You have too much to tell me. You haven’t shown me any of the scenes with my mother. You haven’t had the chance to tell me anything about her. How will I ever know her if you’re taken from me?”
“She walks with you,” he whispered, his face ravaged with sorrow. “You will always know her.”
I pulled his face against my stomach, wrapping my arms around his head. “No. I can’t bear it. Please, Mother of the Gods, please don’t take him.”
“Mother,” Huitzilopochtli waited until she looked at him. “This queen resurrected me. She saved me. How can you cause her such grief when she returns a beloved son to you?”
Coatlicue shook her head. “She has not returned you to your former glory, my son. Your heart is missing. She has breathed life into the shell of your body, but your soul will depart once this body fails.”
His heart was missing. Of course.
I released Llewellyn and scanned the ground, trying to remember where Ra had melted. Buried in the malleable golden floor, I found the necklace he’d been wearing. I pulled it up out of the gold. Frantically, I scanned each glyph, trying to tell which one was Huitzilopochtli’s. I didn’t know his language. I couldn’t read the glyphs like I could Egyptian ones, but there was only one with a bird on it.
I jerked the scarab free of the chain and stepped back to Huitzilopochtli. I held it out toward him, and the scarab started to glow. It thumped in my hand. Once. Twice. Faster as it neared his chest.
Pulling my hand back, I gripped the amulet fiercely in my fingers and held my fist up. “His heart. For my Blood.”
She jerked back in Her throne as if I’d slapped Her. Eyes narrowed, She gave me a long, hard look that spoke of a maddened mama bear protecting her cubs. “One of your humans, then.”
“No. Not one. What this queen takes, she loves, and she loves for all time. I love them all. I won’t give them up.”
She leaned forward, the snakes on Her skirt hissing furiously. The jaguars on either side of Her bared their teeth, braced, ready to pounce. But I refused to back down. “We. Had. A bargain.”
I squeezed the amulet harder. It was some kind of stone. I could crack it into pieces without much effort. “Yes. And I gave you exactly what you wanted.”
Rik stepped up and wrapped his hand around my fist, stroking my fingers until I slowly loosened my fierce grip on the scarab. “My queen, Great Mother, I believe I have a solution that will please you both.”
“Yes?” We both retorted.
“Take all of us.” I started to open my mouth to retort, are you fucking crazy? But he gently laid his fingers against my lips. “When one of us dies, take us all. Especially if it’s our queen. We’d all rather go with her when she dies anyway.”
“Aye, yes, take me,” echoed around me, my Blood stepping up to join us.
“You Aima live a very long time,” Coatlicue said, though Her furious glare faded. “How long must I wait to collect on this bargain?”
“As long as it fucking takes,” Ezra retorted. Gulped. Then added, “Great Mother. Sorry.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Ah, child. What a collection of interesting creatures you’ve called to your side. How about this. No matter how many Blood you call in the future, they will all die at the same time. Not one will be left behind to mourn the others.”
I closed my eyes a moment, concentrating on settling my emotions so my voice didn’t crack. “Even me?”
She nodded, her eyes gleaming with amusement. “Even you. Few would stand against the Mother of the Gods to fight for what she wanted. I’m satisfied with the price of my red serpent, if,” She hardened her voice. “You give my son back his heart.”
“Done,” I said faintly and quickly pressed the scarab to Huitzilopochtli’s chest. The stone fell away and the glow disappeared into his flesh, though I heard the rapid beating as it sank inside his ribcage.
Huitzilopochtli stood, towering higher and broader than ever, fully restored to his former glory as the god of sun and war. He bowed low to me and took my hand to press a kiss against my knuckles. “Lady, I thank you.”
I inclined my head to him. “Thank you, my lord.”
“Huitz,” a sweet voice called to him. He looked toward his mother, and a young woman stood beside the throne. Her face gleamed with joy, her eyes shining with happy tears. With her long brown hair and delicate cheekbones, I recognized her easily as Mayte’s mother, Citla.
He swept her up in his arms. “My star.”
I blinked, and they were gone.
“Let’s blast this shithole,” Mehen growled.
I threw my arms around Rik’s neck and burst into tears.
37
Shara
We flew down the freeway in the middle of the night. Stars twinkled in a perfectly clear sky, with a crescent moon rising. Freshly fallen snow made the world clean and perfect, reflecting the pearly moonlight so well we didn’t use headlights.
Rik’s chest was warm against me, his mighty arms braced on either side of me with his hands on the handlebars. Daire rode close beside us, and Ezra’s muddy Ford truck paced us in the other lane.
Mehen and Guillaume had raced each other for awhile, enjoying the purring rumble of their engines, but all too quickly they dropped back to ride near us.
Near me.
The rest of my Blood hovered near, either protecting from the rear or flying overhead. Their banter and jokes warmed my heart until my eyes overflowed with tears. Not with sadness this time. But with so much love that I couldn’t contain it all.
A tiny squeak drew my attention down to my shoulder. My rat curled against my neck, her tiny paws tight in my hair.
“What did she say?” Rik asked against my ear.
“She wants to go faster.”
He grinned, and we shot to the head of the pack. Wind in my face. My love all around me. A quiet, perfect night.
Once upon a time, I’d been afraid of the dark. I’d been alone, on the run, hiding from monsters.
I lifted my hands and arched back against Rik, trusting him to keep me safe.
I would never be scared of the dark again.
The End
But Joely…! This can’t be the end.
Shara still has to deal with the Triune. You never gave each of the guys their own one-on-one scene. We never got to see the challenge on the green. Who’s the Dauphine and is she a friend or foe? What about Leonie? Can Shara trust Kevin, or will he betray her to Marne Ceresa?
All very valid points. Certainly, I’ve left several questions unanswered.
Which is why Checkmate is NOT the last book for Shara.
In the beginning, part of my decision to only have five Shara books was the cover art. We only had five images of the same model in the same bloody series to use. So I planned five books. However, when it was apparent that I was running out of space, and that many of you weren’t ready to let Shara go, I reached out to Marisa and she’s going to use the same model, but a new (less bloody) series of images. If needed, there are at least a couple of more usable images of Shara.
This book is already the longest book in the series so far. I couldn’t possibly fit the Triune details into the same book. So QUEEN TAKES TRIUNE will continue Shara’s less bloody, but no less deadly, political dance with the Triune. I have a few shorter projects to wrap up before it, so don’t start looking for this sixth book until December or January.
I hope you liked Gwen. She gets her own novella QUEEN TAKES CAMELOT, which will be included
in an all Reverse Harem boxed set in February, 2019.
If you love the steam, be sure to pick up Between the Sheets for “Queen Takes Alpha,” and Halloween Between the Sheets for “Queen Takes Twins.” Both are standalone, ultra-hot sexy scenes with Shara and a various assortment of Blood. These scenes are exclusive, meaning they’re not available anywhere else until the anthologies are closed.
I still plan to write a spinoff series for the Skolos court. I’m sure Shara will continue to appear in those books, even if Queen Takes Triune is her last book. (I’m honestly not sure. It depends on what she tells me when I get there.) Targeting 2019.
I’m also planning a prequel of short stories for each of her Blood that captures the moment they first felt her call. Guessing early 2019, though I may tackle it before Queen Takes Triune. It depends on how cooperative the Blood are. You know what an asshole Mehen in particular can be.
And of course, our beloved princess, Xochitl, still has unicorns to take. I just need to grow her up a little, because a child/young adult author I am NOT.
Lastly, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
Thank you for trusting me to keep Shara and her Blood alive. Thank you for welcoming her into your hearts, even when MM or FF isn’t your usual reading fare. Thank you for encouraging me to keep writing at all. Because a year ago, I was on the verge of quitting entirely.
Shara has taken me on an incredible personal journey that I never would have imagined possible.
You made that possible. By picking up this series and leaving your reviews and joining the Triune. By telling me your favorite Blood and asking interesting questions like these characters are real, living and breathing people.
That’s the greatest honor of all. Because they are real, at least in my head.
Shara fucking Isador loves every single one of you.
What she takes, she loves, and what she loves, she keeps for all time.
Long live House Isador!
Also by Joely Sue Burkhart
Their Vampire Queen, reverse harem vampire romance
Free in Kindle Unlimited
QUEEN TAKES KNIGHTS
QUEEN TAKES KING
QUEEN TAKES QUEEN
QUEEN TAKES ROOK
QUEEN TAKES CHECKMATE
QUEEN TAKES TRIUNE
QUEEN TAKES JAGUARS
Mayte’s story available in Realms & Rebels boxed set
August 21, 2018
“Queen Takes Alpha”
Exclusive short story in Between the Sheets
“Queen Takes Twins”
Exclusive short story in Halloween Between the Sheets
QUEEN TAKES CAMELOT
RH Boxed set Feb 2019
Crimson Arcana, fantasy/paranormal Reverse Harem
CONJURING SHADOWS
Available in What Goes Bump in the Night
Blood & Shadows, erotic fantasy
Free in Kindle Unlimited
THE HORSE MASTER OF SHANHASSON
The Shanhasson Trilogy
A Complete Reverse Harem Epic Fantasy
THE ROSE OF SHANHASSON
THE ROAD TO SHANHASSON
RETURN TO SHANHASSON
Keldari Fire
SURVIVE MY FIRE
THE FIRE WITHIN
Mythomorphoses, Paranormal/SF Romance
Free in Kindle Unlimited
BEAUTIFUL DEATH
The Connaghers, contemporary erotic romance
Free in Kindle Unlimited
LETTERS TO AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR
DEAR SIR, I’M YOURS
HURT ME SO GOOD
YOURS TO TAKE
NEVER LET YOU DOWN
MINE TO BREAK
THE COMPLETE CONNAGHERS BOXED SET
Billionaires in Bondage, contemporary erotic romance
(re-releasing in 2017 from Entangled Publishing)
THE BILLIONAIRE SUBMISSIVE
THE BILLIONAIRE’S INK MISTRESS
THE BILLIONAIRE’S CHRISTMAS BARGAIN
Zombie Category Romance, paranormal romance
Free in Kindle Unlimited
THE ZOMBIE BILLIONAIRE’S VIRGIN WITCH
THE MUMMY’S CAPTIVE WITCH
The Wellspring Chronicles, erotic fantasy
Free in Kindle Unlimited
NIGHTGAZER
A Killer Need, Erotic Romantic Suspense
ONE CUT DEEPER
TWO CUTS DARKER
THREE CUTS DEADER
A Jane Austen Space Opera, SF/Steampunk erotic romance
LADY WYRE’S REGRET,free read prequel
LADY DOCTOR WYRE
HER GRACE’S STABLE
LORD REGRET’S PRICE
Historical Fantasy Erotica
GOLDEN
The Maya Bloodgates, paranormal romance
BLOODGATE, free read prequel
THE BLOODGATE GUARDIAN
THE BLOODGATE WARRIOR
Queen Takes Checkmate (Their Vampire Queen Book 5) Page 26