Mona Lisa Blossoming m-2

by Sunny

  "Look," I said, "the night is already more than halfway spent. Wait until tomorrow and I will bring you to her then." My plans were to take care of the blonde bitch Queen before it was time to fetch him.

  "It cannot wait."

  "Damn it, Blaec. I didn't do too well keeping your son safe. If you get dinged up, as well, it's going to suck something major."

  He smiled for the very first time and it lit his face up the same way it lit Halcyon's: flashing light over darkness, brightening up his whole face. Making me wish he hadn't smiled. Potent weapon, that smile. It made you want to please him, to coax out another smile from him.

  "Somehow, I managed to understand what you said," Blaec said with amusement. "Do all Queens talk as you do now?"

  "Nope, just me. I'm one of a kind." Wasn't that the Mixed Blood truth.

  "Do not worry for me, my young Queen."

  "Can't you contact the High Council? Let them punish her?" Of course, they hadn't done such a good job of punishing her the first time around. But hopefully he didn't know that.

  "It is no longer a Monère matter. By laying hands on my son, her judgment has passed into my realm."

  Desperately, I tried to think of another deterrent. "You should think of how your son will feel if you get hurt."

  "Halcyon knew that I would seek her out. Counted on me, in fact, to do so."

  "He did?"

  "He came to me," Blaec said simply, "when he could have easily gone instead to his own residence to rest and recover."

  I flashed back to that stupid look of understanding that had passed between the two of them. "Ah, Christ." God, I was so tired. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and close my eyes for a few hours. It would be so much easier to face things with a little rest. Although perhaps it was all the weight on my shoulders making me feel so tired.

  Sighing, I glared at Blaec. "I will never forgive you if you die."

  A hint of a smile. "I will do my best then not to die."

  Great. Just freaking great.

  Taking my hand, Blaec pulled me to that shimmering haze of biting energy.

  I hesitated. You can't really blame me for that slight pause. I'm the first one to admit I enjoy a little pain; in the right context it spices my pleasure. But even the worse sadist wouldn't enjoy this much pain. Pain that pulsed through you until you thought your blood would boil and burst out your veins.

  Unfortunately, it was the only route up.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the portal and… sweet bliss. No pain. Blaec was shielding me. I almost collapsed against him in gratitude. He kept me upright with a light supportive hand.

  Descending down to Hell felt as if you were falling. That was the only real impression I'd had while ripping pain had threatened to tear me apart. That and the fact that it seemed to take forever. Of course, being in horrible agony would tend to make even a second feel incredibly long.

  Ascending was quite different. Nope, gravity didn't seem as if it were squashing you, and there was no sense of shooting up or being lifted. There was only an impression of speed, of movement. The direction of that movement was not specific, though, just a whirling sense of motion around you, as if you were in a spinning tunnel that passed you from the continuum to another. And time sped by swiftly like the movement. In what seemed a mere moment, we were stepping out of the wall of mist.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The smell of blood gave me the first inkling that something was wrong. My sword and dagger sang from their sheaths and flew into my hands as I stepped in front of Blaec. There was only time to realize that there were four Monère warriors in front of us, and that they weren't mine, before a heavy net woven with the same dark alloy that comprised demon chains was descending on us. I caught the net with my sword before it could touch us and used its momentum to heave it over and past us.

  Terror slashed me like a knife, sped up my heart. The blood. Whose blood had been spilled? Would I find a scattering of ashes somewhere near the mouth of that dark alley?

  Two of the warriors I recognized. Gilford and Demetrius. Half of what I had once called my Four Colors for their various shades of hair. If I recalled it right, Gilford was the brunette and Demetrius had the jet-black hair. They'd been part of the four betraying guards loaned to me by Mona Louisa once upon a time. The other two of the original quartet were dead. Just two more to go.

  I bared my teeth and stepped forward only to come to a sudden halt as Demetrius held up something in his hands. Silver moonlight glinted off a gold medallion chain, unmistakable in its uniqueness and symbol of power.

  "Come with us quietly or Lord Gryphon will die," Demetrius said.

  Gryphon had waited for me. Alone, it seemed.

  "Where is he?" I demanded.

  "With Mona Louisa." Demetrius leered. "We will be happy to take you to your lover. In fact, we must insist."

  I took the opportunity to quickly scan the rest of the alley beyond them. No scattering of dust. No empty clothes. A passing quaver of relief weakened me for a moment.

  "You are a fool, Halcyon, to have returned," said one of the warriors I didn't recognize.

  Halcyon? Could they not tell the difference between father and son? I shifted a little so I could glimpse Blaec from the corner of my eye. Then was so surprised that I turned and looked fully at him, keeping my other senses attuned to sound and movement.

  Gone were the white wings at the temples. And bronze had lightened to a golden hue. Blaec even gave out a sense of weakness, his face drawn and haggard, looking exactly like Halcyon had with a few exceptions. There were no chest wounds and he wore a black shirt instead of white. But even I would have been fooled were I to come upon Blaec as he was now.

  I shivered. It had to be some sort of glamour or mind control. But for the life of me I couldn't sense it. I whipped my attention back to the four jokers.

  "You should go back, Halcyon," I said with clenched teeth.

  "When they wish to take us to Mona Louisa?" the High Lord of Hell said smoothly. "How can we decline their kind invitation?"

  I hoped to hell Blaec knew what he was doing. In fact, I was betting our lives on it. I sheathed both sword and dagger in a smooth, abrupt motion. "All right, we'll go with you."

  Gilford approached with demon chains in his hands. I tensed and the dagger was back in my hand. "No chains," I said.

  "You have no choice, bitch," Gilford said with venomous hatred.

  I drew the sword. It slid free of its scabbard with the joyful ring of steel. "I have every choice, you stupid fool, or have you not learned that yet."

  "We'll kill Gryphon," Demetrius threatened.

  "Go ahead. And your Queen will probably kill you for failing to bring us in. Would you like to put that to the test? Would you like to see who prevails? Two against four. How shortsighted of you. If there were but two more of you, it would have almost evened the odds."

  "Bitch," Gilford spat at me.

  I flashed him a cold smile. "Always."

  "You must surrender your weapons if we do not chain you," Demetrius negotiated. "And give us your sworn oath that you shall come with us peacefully."

  I hated the idea. But our hands would be free. "Agreed, as long as you keep your hands off of us."

  I tossed them my weapons, blades naked, keeping the sheaths buckled at my sides. "Don't worry," I said. "I'll get them back later." The sword and dagger weren't mine, after all, just loaners. Had to make sure I returned them to their rightful owners.

  Gilford glared at me, clutching the surrendered weapons in his fists like he wanted to run them through me.

  I smiled sweetly at him, knowing he wouldn't dare. "After you," I said. "Or should I say: 'Cowards first. »

  "Gently," Blaec cautioned quietly. "No need to tweak their tails further."

  "Oh, but it's so fun," I whispered back, eyes glittering. I was furious at Blaec for stubbornly coming with me. Furious at the whole goat-fucking situation. Furious at Gryphon for having waited for me. Furious at
him for leaving himself vulnerable. I even knew how it had happened. Gryphon would have sent the other men back home to protect the others, in case Mona Louisa decided to retaliate. Instead, she had somehow tracked Gryphon here and had taken him. But beneath that white, cleansing fury was the sour taste of fear. Gryphon could have been killed instead of captured. Might still be.

  A dark minivan was parked at the curb, probably stolen because their damaged cars had to still be back home. Nothing opened. No place to have changed their slashed tires at this time of night.

  The warrior who held Gryphon's medallion got behind the wheel.

  Demetrius opened the front passenger door. "Prince Halcyon," he said politely.

  Blaec slid into the seat without demur, like a welcomed guest instead of a prisoner.

  Not a bad seating arrangement, splitting us up, the High Lord in front, me in the middle row. The fourth warrior sat in the third row. Demetrius moved to sit in the far corner of the second row. "Milady."

  Reluctantly, I sat next to him. Gilford entered last and shut the door, sandwiching me in between the two of them. But having an angry, armed Gilford sitting beside me was far better than having him sit behind me where I couldn't see him. That I would have protested. Demetrius was smarter than he looked. He hid his dislike and fear of me rather than show it like his bristling friend. It took more deviousness in a person, more smarts, more control to do that.

  I breathed easier when we got on the interstate and headed east toward Mississippi. Nothing would have changed had we gone west toward Belle Vista. Yet at the same time, everything would have changed. I'd have sat there, let them take me there. But something inside me would have been died a little knowing that they had taken over my home, conquered my people. And more guilt would have been loaded upon me. East told me that Mona Louisa hadn't made a move on her old territory yet. She was hoping to take out the new Queen first and reclaim her old Queendom. A simple, elegant plan, actually. And she knew me well enough to bait her trap with a lure I could not resist.

  So I sat there docilely, surrounded by enemies, and let them take us where we wanted to go. Blaec was my hidden ace. I prayed that he knew what he was doing. I prayed that his strength did not ebb. I prayed that we even reach our destination faster. Time, now, was our ticking enemy. The night was passing quickly and the coming of dawn could destroy us.

  Mississippi did not seem much different from its bordering sister, Louisiana. We passed patches of marshy wetlands along the highway, drove past rolling farmlands, and finally pulled into a long drive. The house was a two-storied, pillared affair, but not as grand, not as big as Belle Vista. A lovely old property, but not a mansion. Not something meant to be the opulent residence of a Queen. How being forced to come here must have eaten away at Mona Louisa's pride. The crumbled wall where we had burst free was a lovely eyesore, as were the deep, slashing tire tracks ripping up the immaculate lawn.

  Gilford leapt out of his seat as if sitting beside me had burned him. I scooted over and pulled myself out of the van. Blaec and I stood there surrounded by a score of men—a little less than twenty. We'd killed several in our last skirmish. Too bad it hadn't been more. The ones we had injured were healing or already healed.

  I glanced at Blaec. His camouflaged appearance still held, and he looked uncannily weak. I prayed that it was mere illusion and not truth. If it was his true state, we were in big trouble. I was good, but not even I could take on seventeen men alone and hope to win.

  The group welcoming committee was nice and flattering, and all that, but they weren't who I wanted to see. I unfurled my senses, let them fly free.

  Inside. What I sought was inside. A Queen's presence and a second slow heartbeat that I knew as well as my own, the smell of my mate.

  We moved as one up the stairs, as if Blaec and I were the core, and the ring of guards the outer steel rim. They kept a respectful barrier of space around us. It might have been because of me. The natural attraction between a Queen and a male, any male, was felt more strongly with close intimate contact. Then again, it might have been who they thought was the Demon Prince, moving free of chains. An unbound demon dead, even weak and injured, was still someone to be greatly feared.

  Without direction, I entered the spacious receiving room to the left. Mona Louisa reclined on a plush butter-leather couch, a pleased cat-that's-caught-the-canary look on her smooth porcelain face. Evil was worse, somehow, when it was so beautiful. Gryphon sat beside her, bound in silver chains, his arms behind him and his mouth gagged. She stroked his bare chest unthinkingly, the way one would pet a dog, not caring for the body she stroked, but keenly intent, rather, on my reaction.

  I kept my face inscrutable, my reaction blank, even though I raged inside with fury and relief.

  Gryphon was injured low in his left side, as if a sword had been thrust through him there. It was almost the exact spot where he'd once rotted from silver poisoning. It was a gut wound that would have killed a human, but Gryphon was already beginning to heal it. The sword hadn't been silver.

  Gryphon held obediently still under that insulting, caressing hand. But his eyes were most eloquent. They were frightened and urgent, desperate almost, as if he were trying to convey an important warning to me.

  "My dear Halcyon," Mona Louisa exclaimed with saccharine delight, her eyes glittering with that same heated fervor. The feel of her, though, was oddly less abrasive. "How nice of you to join us once more. Although it was very, very foolish of you to return. It is truly a wonder that you ruled Hell for so long."

  Blaec didn't respond. She didn't seem to expect him to. I wondered for a fleeting moment if the High Lord hadn't spoken because he couldn't disguise his voice. Father and son's tonality was the same, but Blaec had a slightly more arcane rhythm and flow to his words, reflecting his greater lifetime of existence.

  "How stupid of you to fall so easily into my little trap, my dear," Mona Louisa sneered at me. "It is almost beyond comprehension that one would do something so utterly dull-witted. No other Queen would have done as you. Come as docilely as a lamb led to the slaughter. But then I expected nothing else from a weak mongrel. So sentimental. So unwise. So… human. Ruled by your heart, not your thinking mind. The taint of your Mixed Blood weakens you." She tsk-tsked in mock pity. Then her eyes hardened to ice. "But my men seemed to have carelessly left you unadorned. Where are the demon shackles?" Her voice cracked like a whip, making her men jump.

  "Here, milady," Demetrius said, his voice tremulous as he held up the dark chains he had carried in.

  "Why are they not on them, you fool?"

  "They agreed to come without resisting if we left them unbound, milady."

  "Some things, it seems, only a Queen can handle." Mona Louisa's cold look promised later retribution for her poor foolish men.

  She turned her considering eyes to me, then said lightly, almost gaily, "A wager, Mona Lisa. A test of strength. If you lose, Halcyon will agree to be shackled without resistance. You need not be held by such promise. Am I not generous?"

  Gryphon tried to speak but only muffled sounds escaped the cloth gagging him. He shook his head, his eyes anxious and urgent.

  "And if I win?"

  "Why then, both of you, and the beautiful talented Gryphon here, will go free. My word upon it."

  It was almost too easy, if you trusted her word. And I didn't know that I did. But the possibility that it could end so easily, so bloodlessly, was too great a chance to pass up. "What specific test?"

  "Something basic, I think." Mona Louisa cocked her head and thought for a moment. "How about arm wrestling? Something that primitively human and masculine should appeal to you."

  Bitch. I glanced at Blaec. He nodded. I had to trust that he'd be able to break free of the demon chains. But hopefully he wouldn't even have to. I was almost certain I could take her. I was stronger since Basking and being gifted with some of Amber's great strength. I was as powerful now as a Full Blood, if not a little more.

  "One arm only, se
ated," I said. "No trickery. Just pure physical strength. Agreed?"

  Gryphon shook his head again and tried to struggle to his feet. Mona Louisa's slender hand pressed him back with disdainful ease.

  Mona Louisa dipped her head in agreement, a little smile curving her lips. "Agreed."

  A small rectangular oak table and two high-backed chairs were brought in. Mona Louisa and I sat opposite each other with only the narrow width of the long side table separating us. Again I was struck by that odd lack of abrasiveness. I felt her presence, but it was only a faint echo of the annoyance that it should have been. Our skins should have been crawling with the urgent need to put distance between us by now, two Queens this close. But they weren't. She was different somehow.

  I braced my right hand on the solid wooden surface, hand cupped, waiting. With a smile of satisfaction, Mona Louisa clasped my hand in hers. She possessed a lady's hand, all cool pampered softness and smoothness. A lady who had never known a day of labor in her long life.

  "On the count of three," I said. "One, two, three!"

  Mona Louisa's soft hand firmed, gripped me like a vise as I lunged with all my strength, trying for a quick, decisive win. I threw my entire weight behind that downward pulling motion. Her hand dipped back a couple of inches. Then slowly, inexorably, came back up to starting point. Without visible effort, with that amused glee as if she were in on a joke that only she knew about, Mona Louisa levered my hand over to her side. Down two inches… three… four. The wooden surface loomed near and none of my straining effort was enough to withstand her strength. I grimaced, pulled, sweated and grunted to no avail.

  Mona Louisa's eyes gleamed like twin icy shards, an intimate distance away from me. Her face was unlined, unmarred by exertion, smiling. She was unbelievably strong.

  "How could you hope to ever be my equal?" she asked with serene disdain. "A mongrel bastard. How could you even dare dream of rising up to become one of us? Your human-infected blood can only weaken you. It is my royal duty to rid us of your taint before it stains more of us with your inferiority. Let everyone here bear witness to how weak you really are. So pathetically weak."