The Red Queen

by Meg Xuemei X

  “You’ve brought me down,” said Lucienne. “You’ve displayed Devourer’s power. There’s no need to shed the blood of the innocent. Nations won’t regard you as a benign superpower if you commit a massacre today. Mirrikh Schwartz, show the world you have mercy, and the nations will follow you willingly.”

  “A valid point,” Mirrikh said. “Mirrikh Schwartz is also merciful. I like that. My benevolence will depend on your next performance. I'll spare Sphinxes if you kneel before me. My operatives will videotape this grand historical event for the whole world to see.”

  “You and the world will see my humble side,” said Lucienne.

  The elder laughed again in delight. “You aren’t as horrible as they say, little Siren. You put your people before you. After your unconditional surrender, your people will be mine. They’ll live to serve me since they all owe me their lives.”

  It would be a horrible fate for her people to be under the whip of a psychopath. He would have to slaughter most of her warriors to enslave the rest of Sphinxes’ residents.

  Cold rage filled her veins, but Lucienne kept her unreadable mask in place. “I’ll yield to you on the rooftop of my castle. It’s spacious enough for your filming.” She’d need the open space to unlatch her power and not hurt her people.

  “I appreciate you being mature and considerate, Siren,” Mirrikh said. “But be warned: if you fail to show up in three minutes, I’ll unleash Devourer on your island.” He wiggled his pampered pinkie at Lucienne. “And all of you will become my big collection of little flames.”

  Lucienne ordered Ziyi to turn off the communication to the Sealer elder, and his image vanished along with his sneer.

  “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself.” Kian gritted his teeth. “We’ll fight the prick!”

  “Even if you surrender to save us, he’ll still level Sphinxes,” Pyon said. “I saw the kill in his eyes, and I haven’t read people wrong.”

  “We’d rather turn to flames than serve that snake!” the officers declared, fury burning in every one of them. “We’d rather die free than live in chains!”

  “If we go down,” Vladimir roared, “we take down as many mutts as we can!”

  “We’ll fight, but my way.” Lucienne scanned the fierce faces of her officers. “Can you trust me?”

  “With our every breath,” they said in chorus, pressing their fists against their hearts.

  “I'll never let my people be slaves,” said Lucienne.

  CHAPTER 34

  DOUBLE BETRAYAL

  Bayrose stood with a few soldiers on the platform while the rest of the civilians waited anxiously inside the underground train. At the first signal when the combined nations’ armies breached Sphinxes, they’d leave through the tunnel, across the ocean, and to the safe shore beyond.

  Bayrose didn’t plan on leaving with them. She was only to lay low, away from the raging war outside, biding her time. As soon as the island fell, she’d move up to the ground to join her army and take command.

  Aida, Ziyi, and many civilians refused to leave without Lucienne. Even Mom stood with her firstborn. Well, they would all perish. Bayrose couldn’t get to her mother. Mom knew about the Shadow in her. She would know that it was Bayrose who had summoned this war and brought Devourer upon this land. If Mom’s loyalty wasn’t with the Sealers anymore, then sadly there was nothing Bayrose could do for her.

  Prince Vladimir would fall too. Bayrose wrung her hands. She hated him for his heartless nature, but did she really want him to die? No, she shouldn’t think of him right now. She was the true Siren and Sealer. A great leader must learn to accept a personal sacrifice.

  She jolted as the image of Mirrikh Schwartz suddenly flickered on screen on the station’s wall.

  “Mirrikh Schwartz, are you the true founder of the Sealers—the Ghost in the Machine?” Bayrose heard her half-sister ask.

  “I will be,” Mirrikh said, “after this war.”

  “You launched this war against my country to rid yourself of someone higher than you in your Brotherhood’s rank,” Lucienne asked, “but haven’t you come to the wrong place?”

  Mirrikh chuckled. “I’ve never hit a wrong target in my life.”

  Blood pounded Bayrose’s eardrums. Was Mirrikh going to throw her to the Sphinxes’ wolves? She looked around to see if anyone had come for her. The soldiers glued their eyes to the screen. No one paid attention to her reaction of horror.

  Then the screen went black. Lucienne’s tech team must have stopped the broadcast.

  Sphinxes would soon discover her true identity. Bayrose chewed her lip and tasted blood. She’d deny any accusation. Who should you listen to, she’d demand of her sister, me or the psychopath?

  But then a terrible realization hit her a second later. It didn't matter if the Siren knew she was the Sealers founder and a traitor. Mirrikh, her most devoted ally, wanted her dead.

  He’d demonstrated the terrifying power of Devourer, but wouldn’t stop there. He wouldn’t be satisfied that the Sealers had stepped from the shadow into the spotlight. He wanted to become the founder of the Sealers. He wanted to be the most powerful man on earth. That was why he’d come and showed the world his face.

  She’d given him the access code to Devourer. She was gullible, stupid to hand him the most lethal weapon in the world. He’d figured out she was the founder. After he removed her, he would control the Sealers. He wouldn’t just hit the marked spots that she’d permitted him to strike. He would demolish all of Sphinxes with her in it.

  Mirrikh was a true psychopath. Nothing excited him more than shedding the blood of innocent people. Bayrose could see that clearly now, but it was too late.

  Cold sweat soaked her armpits.

  Her childhood friend might even keep her as an insignificant flame in a glass container as a souvenir. Bayrose balled her cold, sweaty palms. She’d sacrificed so much. She’d come to the heart of the enemy’s land for the righteous cause, for the Sealers Brotherhood, and this was how Mirrikh and her army would repay her? Her rage was patch black, yet useless.

  Can you shield me from Devourer? Bayrose asked the Shadow in her.

  I can shield your mind, the Shadow said, not your mortality.

  The ancient feud between the Sealers and the Sirens no longer mattered when facing extinction together. Enemies or friends, their ashes would be mixed—no, there wouldn’t be any ash left when the smoke from Devourer reached the ground.

  Bayrose rushed toward the elevator.

  “Miss Thorn,” a lieutenant assigned to escort the civilians to safety called, “where are you going? We’re leaving.”

  “I’m going to save the day,” she said as she dashed into the elevator.

  If Mirrikh refused to remember his childhood love for her and spare her after he saw her face, she’d reveal to her army that she was the true founder of the Sealers and take over command.

  She clutched the founder’s ruby ring in her pocket.

  CHAPTER 35

  PHOENIX IN ASHES

  Lucienne stood on the rooftop of Sphinxes’ castle, more regal than any mortal queen.

  She looked over her island. Her people had built a modern kingdom amid the lush forest and white beach, but it was now devoid of color under the gray smoke of Devourer. Hundreds of little flames and shards of jets littered Sphinxes’ once turquoise ocean.

  Her enemy invaded her realm to harm her people, yet her troops stayed their ground, guarding the land they realized would soon be lost. The Sphinxes’ flag with the Siren’s symbol flapped in the wind under the black sky.

  She was alone at first for a second, then Kian, Vladimir, and her officers joined her. Her cousins were with her as well to face the direst day. Thaddeus wasn’t among them. Her beloved cousin was dead.

  Predator, the Sealers’ symbol piecing the Sirens’ on its snake-like head, hovered above them. Under its red hull, Lucienne saw her holographic image projected by the elder’s operatives. The world was watching the downfall of the Siren and the une
nviable fate of Sphinxes through the live feed.

  Lucienne ignored her own stony image and the fury on her warriors’ faces. She fixed her attention on Predator.

  Forbidden Glory stirred in her, sensing the greatest threat its host had ever encountered. With her power on high alert, X-ray vision came to her like a blaze. Lucienne saw an orb expanding and contracting like a dark heart inside Predator. Devourer!

  The ancient weapon kept emitting the dirty gray mass, and Lucienne suddenly knew—as if the knowledge had long been stored in her genetic memory—that Devourer was made to swallow souls. When it turned Sphinxes’ fighters into flames, it was digesting the brave souls of her warriors. Having had a taste, it was thirsty for all the souls in Sphinxes, particularly hers.

  She also realized that it couldn’t be turned off once its safety switch was lifted. After it finished with her and her people, it would turn on another land, then another, until it consumed all the souls on earth. That stupid, arrogant Sealers elder didn’t truly understand what he’d unleashed.

  She must summon Forbidden Glory’s full power. The only way she could fight this beast was to let her power take her over completely. The consequences would be unimaginable. She’d be utterly consumed and never regain her sanity. Worse yet, she could become the phantom—the shell of Forbidden Glory—if she survived.

  And then, like Devourer, her Glory might harm her people when she couldn’t reign over it. It had displayed that treacherous trait again and again when she’d been in the grasp of her madness.

  She exhaled. One last tough decision she had to make.

  Just then, Jekaterina slipped by her side. Strangely, her mother’s presence had a calm and balmy effect on her at this frenzied hour. Jekaterina placed her cool hand on Lucienne’s shoulder. Lucienne shivered. It was the first time her mother had touched her.

  “Lucienne, summon your Glory now,” Jekaterina said. “He’ll come.”

  How did Jekaterina know she was going to call upon her Forbidden Glory? Did her mother also know the consequences of her giving in to defeat Devourer? As she sent Jekaterina a tired, skeptical glance, she saw Bayrose dashing toward them, frantically waving a ruby ring toward the black jet in the sky, and shouting, “Stop!”

  Jekaterina moved, inhumanly fast, slamming into her younger daughter with a cuss that sounded like from an old language. Following that was a word “useless.” After that, Bayrose was out of sight, currently forgotten.

  “Lucia,” Vladimir whispered beside her, sensing the sudden shift in her. He was attuned to her after becoming her healer and sharing her poison. The Czech prince now carried part of her curse, but he’d rather be trapped with her in an inferno than be away from her home free.

  Could she finally set him free after this?

  One gaze into his hazel eyes and she knew wherever she stood he’d stand by her. It had been that way ever since he’d fallen for her. What she wouldn’t give to have a chance with him and tell him how much she cherished him, and that she wanted him to live happily after she was gone.

  Kian also realized what Lucienne must do. “Lucia—” He swallowed and couldn’t speak more.

  “You’ve protected me,” she said with a brave smile. “Now it’s my turn to protect you all.”

  “The farewell is touching.” Mirrikh’s holographic image descended before her. And then many holograms appeared behind his in a half-ring. Viewers—foreign leaders, military personnel, journalists, and regular people with children among them packed the hologram screens. Mirrikh Schwartz had picked a sample of the world’s population as his hologram’s live audience to witness the Siren’s surrender. “But the world that’s watching this unprecedented historic event is running out of patience. Time to kneel, little Siren.”

  The world’s representatives held their breath, eyes sparkling with anticipation. At that moment, they were all bloodthirsty predators.

  Vladimir spat at Mirrikh’s face in the hologram and flipped a bird to the worldwide audience.

  “Who said I’d kneel?” Lucienne purred. “I don’t kneel. Nor do my people. Sphinxes will never surrender.” From the astounded expressions on the representatives’ faces, she knew the world had felt her mesmerizingly seductive power. She was truly the Siren.

  The Siren seduced before striking.

  “But you promised you would!” Mirrikh asked incredulously, “You lied in front of the whole world?” With the ancient power shielding him, he was immune to her influence.

  “Surprise,” said Lucienne.

  “You’ll die a horrific death, Lucienne Lam!” Mirrikh screamed. “No! You won’t die that easily. You’ll watch while I dust and flame Sphinxes. I know your weakness, Siren! You care too much. Watching the terrible deaths of your people, the deaths of those you love, is the worst kind of punishment for you. Now behold my wrath!”

  Devourer pulsed, and Predator vibrated violently. The thick, gray mass that blocked out the sun shifted, plunging toward Sphinxes, toward Lucienne and her warriors, its black mouth wide open, its jagged teeth lengthened, eager to devour all the souls in Sphinxes.

  It’d been starved for too long.

  The faces in the holograms were masks of horror.

  Lucienne threw her hands into the air, sending out Forbidden Glory.

  Waves of light burst from Lucienne like a volcano erupting. Metal, water, fire, earth, and the poisoned aether all came into play. They weaved together and formed a vast membrane, covering Sphinxes like a flowing rainbow net. The gray mass hit the edge of the rainbow and bounced back.

  “You will not harm my people!” Lucienne shouted.

  Fury blazed through her, light and fire shooting from her eyes toward Predator. The angel’s wings in fire crashed into the gray mass. The two forces tore at each other. Fire drove parts of the mass away from the land of Sphinxes, but the gray thing ate the roaring fire.

  As seconds went by, the gray mass increased, diminishing the fire.

  Devourer was too powerful and obscene, and Lucienne was fighting it with the poisoned Forbidden Glory. As she pushed her power toward its limit, the burning in her ignited, almost as painful as when she’d first suffered from Blood Tear’s poison in the Polynesian cliff.

  While she felt depleted and on fire, Devourer renewed its energy from its supply of newly consumed souls. Her knees buckled, but Lucienne fought to hold on. She wouldn’t allow it to devour more of her people. It had taken her cousin Thaddeus’ soul and thousands of others. Grief and hatred fueled the Forbidden Glory, but the pain and burn made her double over. As she shoved the gray mass back, she vaguely noticed her mother stopping Kian, Vladimir, and her warriors from reaching her.

  “Do not touch her!” Jekaterina shouted a warning, power exuding from her. “Do not disturb the Siren!”

  Blood beaded on Lucienne’s headline.

  Devourer’s gray mass breached the front line, its dirty, violent tongue licking Lucienne. It had the first taste of her soul as its blackness crushed into her. It now knew her darkest fear and desire. Lucienne had never felt so disgusted, violated, and terrified, but she couldn’t afford to retch. Trickles of blood streamed down the sides of her face. The evil essence could lick her, but she wouldn’t let it touch her people again.

  Lucienne diverted part of her energy—the water and metal elements—to strengthen the membrane that was shielding her people. The earth element rose to lend her strength as she kept hurling fluxes of fire at Devourer. Inch by inch, she forced back the tip of the gray mass that had defiled her.

  Take all of me and burn that thing into oblivion! she commanded her power. As it drew from the depth of her draining well, Lucienne felt the burst of blood vessels in her veins and behind her eyes. You must not consume me before I vanquish my enemy!

  Another wave of gray matter struck back. Lucienne staggered under its brutal, brunt force.

  “Daughter, defense only!” Jekaterina called. “You can’t overcome it alone with your poisoned Glory. Hold your line until he comes. He’ll c
ome!”

  Lucienne couldn’t hold on any longer, though she knew she must. She just couldn’t hold on … even with all she had. The well had completely drained.

  Then the dirty mass breached her membrane.

  A stream of blood poured from Kian’s nose. He was the first to be affected—Devourer was playing with her now. It knew she had reached the end of her resources, and it knew what Kian McQuillen meant to her.

  Then Vladimir spewed blood.

  Then more of her warriors, including her generals and officers, crouched down, their eyes bulging in agony. She heard her people scream.

  With a blood-curdling shriek, Lucienne conjured one last ounce of energy from somewhere. Aether, even poisoned, enhanced the shield and amended the fracture torn open by the gray mass. Forbidden Glory’s metal wrestled the thing away from the membrane and Lucienne’s people.

  As soon as Kian and the warriors could stand, they formed a tight circle around her.

  A flash of brilliant light pierced through the dark sky.

  Black lightning hurled toward Predator. The Sealers’ command jet flapped in the air but did not drop from the sky. Devourer sustained it.

  Spike hummed with light as Ashburn landed beside Lucienne. Without missing a beat, his palm joined one of hers; his other hand pressed against her back. Black lightning gushed into her, filling the empty well inside her.

  Air shimmered all around Lucienne and Ashburn.

  Forbidden Glory’s fire rekindled. Then a carnal pleasure from Ash’s touch surged through Lucienne waves after waves. All she longed for at the moment was to wrap her legs around his waist. To hell with the battle! She wanted to leave with Ash and abandon her people to their horrific deaths.

  No, no, not now! Lucienne cursed. The Lure had never been so potent, fueled by the combined powers of Forbidden Glory and TimeDust and the reunion between the pair after their long separation.