I was tempted. He smelled so good. So strong. But I knew that I’d want more than his blood, and if I bit him, he’d come. And when he came, I wanted him to be inside me. And while I loved him more than ever, I wasn’t too excited about making love on the side of a mountain. Especially when I was so tired. I couldn’t remember ever feeling like this.
Just… drained. Not in blood, but spirit.
I was fucking exhausted and all I wanted was a huge bed and a lot of sleep. With my guys all crowded around. And then when I woke up, I’d be more than happy to get to the blood and sex part.
The new man lifted his head. “Unless things have changed a great deal from my time, feeding doesn’t have to involve sex.”
Daire gave a jerk on the man’s arm hard enough he groaned. Guillaume somehow managed to step on his foot.
It almost made me laugh… but I was too tired for amusement. “I know. But that’s how we prefer it.”
“You mean that’s how you prefer it.”
Rik snorted under his breath. “Are you honestly going to claim that you’d rather not have sex when you feed?” The man scowled at him, making him laugh again. “That’s what I thought.”
“Do you have a name other than Leviathan?” I asked.
“Leviathan is my beast. My name…” He hesitated, and I felt his bond shutter, like he was slamming windows and doors, locking up for the night. And then he realized that it was too late. The monster was already inside the house with him.
“You don’t have to tell me. I was just tired of calling you the new guy in my head. I’ll go with Levi.”
He scowled again, which improved both Daire’s and Guillaume’s mood considerably.
:You have a bond with Gina now,: Rik reminded me, his bond a low whisper. He’d targeted that thought to me only, none of the other Blood. It made me sad, because there was doubt now. Distrust. He didn’t want the new Blood to hear him. :You can tell her we’re coming and she can bring clothes and the doctor up to meet us.:
Sorting through the bonds in my head was almost too much for me to manage. Worse, Levi’s bond was heavy and dark against Rik’s molten lava, a hissing, angry dragon I’d chained with my blood. His power was mine now. Literally. I would be able to refuse him access to his own beast, something no queen had ever been able to do for him. Or to him, depending on how he felt at the moment.
Finally, I found the threads that belonged to Gina and Frank. :We’re coming down the trail now. Can you bring clothes and Dr. Borcht?:
I felt Gina’s flash of shock at hearing my voice so clearly in her head, but she was already giving orders and gathering up supplies. Bless her. It was so nice to have someone take care of the details of getting from point A to point B.
I dozed despite the pain in my arm. It felt like I hadn’t rested in days. I guess I hadn’t. Not with the sun god sending skeletons out of nowhere, and getting up early to make plans to come here and find Leviathan. My stomach rumbled and my fangs throbbed and honestly, it all made me want to cry a little. I was too fucking tired for this shit. Even eating.
Rik went down to his knees and I opened my eyes.
Dr. Borcht smiled at me. “You must stop hurting yourself, young lady.”
“I’ll try,” I mumbled, fighting to get my eyes open. “If you can clean it up a bit and wrap it, I’ll take care of it in the morning.”
Frank set a small lantern down to provide light for the doctor’s examination. She frowned, clearly not happy with leaving the actual healing to tomorrow. Or maybe it was my condition over all, because she felt my head and peeled back my eyelid to flash something in my eyes. “I didn’t think Aima could suffer from shock, but you’re definitely more exhausted than you should be. Even after these injuries, you should be able to stay awake.”
“She’s too tired to eat or feed,” Rik replied. “Is it her period? Making her anemic?”
“Could be. Or it’s just a matter of too many things stressing her body right now. New powers, battles, trials, injuries. They all take a toll. I’ll feel much better once we get you into your nest and let you rest for several days.”
“Yeah,” I drew the word out. “That sounds great.”
My nest. My first place of safety. My gorgeous manor house. I couldn’t wait to get there.
Dr. Borcht poured something on my arm that made me gasp despite my exhaustion. “Sorry, just applying some disinfectant. Was this a bite? It looks like it’s already infected. You really need to heal this, Shara. Now would be best.”
“Yeah, that was one nasty motherfucking bite,” Daire drawled, sidling closer. “You haven’t fed on me yet today, my queen. I’m more than happy to help you heal.”
I started to lift my arm toward him, but forgot it was my injured one. I gasped, my eyes flying open at the pain. My stomach pitched and I fought the urge to throw up. Rik rumbled, deep in his chest, chastising Daire for me hurting myself, which was ridiculous.
I started to fumble through my bonds, trying to find G’s, but he approached without me having to ask, knife in hand. He sliced his palm open and pressed the cut to my mouth, earning a snarl from Daire.
“Bring your own knife, dickhead. Or wait until she’s done and I’ll be happy to cut you.”
His sweet blood flowed into me, decadent and rich. Almost like eating dessert before supper. Then Daire gave me a taste, purring against my side, his fur swishing through my mind. Xin, soft and silent, a whisper in the night, the hush of a snowflakes falling on pine trees in the dead of winter. Before he left, I felt through his bond, searching for his injuries. He’d sprained his ankle and gashed his shoulder in the fall. I wiped those injuries away with a thought.
Rik, strong, steady, my rock. Literally. The one I would build my court upon.
With his blood on my tongue, I sent power flowing through my arm, pushing out the toxic bacteria I’d picked up from Leviathan’s bite. If I’d been human, I think the infection alone would have killed me already. I’d have to remember that his beast’s bite was a hefty weapon, even if he didn’t kill his victim right away.
His bond shimmered with rage, his dragon hissing. Surprised, I forced my eyes open and met his gaze, glittering like chips of dark emerald. Hunched with pain yet still defiant, he stood by himself off to the side glaring at us all.
“I won’t make you feed me. Ever.”
His eyes flickered, doubt chasing across his face like shadows. “You’re queen.”
Ignoring him, I turned my head and found Dr. Borcht, hovering behind Daire. “Can you check it now and see how it looks?”
Daire scooted out of the way so the doctor could take a look at my arm. “Much better. The wound is closed, though the skin is still pink and fragile. You may actually have a few small scars.”
“A small price to pay. Thank you.”
While she wrapped my arm in a clean bandage to be safe, Gina filled me in on her developments.
“I know you’re tired, but this could be really important. I spoke to Bianca Zaniyah, the consiliarius for Mexico City’s queen. Her queen is very eager to meet you and offers her nest to you. Shara, that’s… unheard of. A queen would never open her nest to another queen without meeting her first.”
I was silent a few moments, letting my weary brain process the ramifications. “A trap?”
“I don’t think so. Mayte Zaniyah isn’t known for political maneuvers. I think she wants to be your ally.”
I wanted to see what a nest was like, and the chance to see how another queen ran her court would be fantastic. But… not now. I wanted my nest. My manor. First, I needed to rest. I wanted to go into my first possible kinship with another queen with a fresh mind, and preferably not with a hostile dragon in my Blood.
:I’m not Blood,: Levi growled in my mind.
Ignoring his words, I sent a wave of healing power through his simmering bond to heal the last of his injuries. I could take away the physical hurt with a thought—but there wasn’t anything I could do about his hatred and rage. Not immediate
ly.
He needed love. Steady, unfailing love. Like what I had with the rest of my Blood.
“Please tell Bianca that I’m honored by the invitation and will accept—but at a later date. I don’t want to wait any longer.” I snuggled into Rik’s chest as he stood, cradling me against him. “Let’s go home.”
30
Shara
I slept on the car ride back to the airport. I slept on the plane. I slept on Rik as he carried me to the car again for the winding drive into Eureka Springs. I was vaguely aware of arriving at my new home at dawn on Christmas morning. Enough to open my eyes and see the towers of my house. But I couldn’t keep them open even to meet Winston or look around the guest house he directed us to. I was aware of low voices around me. Clean sheets, fluffy pillows, soft mattress. Heaven. Dr. Borcht checked my arm again, her murmured words too soft for me to make sense of. Though I sensed no urgency from anyone.
Rik tucked me against him, hot against my back, his arm a band of granite around me. Another Blood pressed closer. Xin. His wolf touched me with his nose and darted off into the silent forest.
That left Daire, Guillaume, and Levi. Someone needed to watch him. I didn’t wholly trust him yet.
:He won’t breathe without my knowledge, my queen.: Guillaume whispered in my head. :Rest well. Daire and I have first watch.:
I woke once, when Guillaume traded places with Xin. I felt for Daire, and found his bond curled up on the floor by the door. Rik had banned him from my bed—but evidently not the room in which I slept. My brain still foggy with exhaustion, I lifted my head, worried that he’d be uncomfortable on the floor. He peeked at me from a mound of pillows and blankets and starting purring. :Sleep, my queen. I’d sleep on a bed of nails to be close to you. I’m more than fine.:
Xin ran the new property as a wolf, scenting for any predators or thralls that were close. Surprised, I felt Levi with him, walking through the woods, soaking in sunshine. I figured he’d be asleep somewhere after first watch.
:I’ve had thousands of years to sleep.:
His bond felt steadier in my head. Less frantic and angry was a good thing—but he also felt… bigger. More at home, more confident, and definitely more arrogant. Of all my Blood so far, he was going to be the biggest risk to the status quo. Right now, he didn’t want to be at my side or in my bed. But eventually, he’d want to feed. He’d need to feed, and my other Blood weren’t going to indulge him.
He’d have to come to me.
Which meant facing off against Rik. Because the king was eager to challenge my alpha.
I rolled toward Rik and burrowed against him, terrified and angry at myself, and yes, at Isis. Why did She send me after such a threat? Why couldn’t life be easy for a change? Why did everything have to be turmoil and strife?
He made a low, rumbling sound like a distant earthquake and kissed my shoulder. “I’m not worried, my queen.”
“If he hurts you, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Rik snorted and scratched me lightly with his fangs. “Have a little faith in your alpha.”
“But he’s thousands of years older.” I tipped my head back, searching Rik’s face. He smiled back, confident, eyes hard, ready to fight. No doubt in his mind at all. “Doesn’t that make him stronger?”
He kissed my nose. “He’ll realize the truth of it soon enough.”
“What?” He wouldn’t answer, and his bond gleamed hot and bright like a well-stoked forge. Confident. Hot. No doubt whatsoever. I rolled back over to look at Guillaume. “Do you know what he means?”
G inclined his head. “I do.”
I waited, brow arched. “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me?”
“Xin and I are both older than Rik. Arguably stronger in some ways, though not in brute strength. But he’s still alpha.”
“But you didn’t want to challenge Rik. He will.”
Guillaume gave one of his rare grins. “I can’t help that I’m smarter than he is.”
I rolled my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Go back to sleep,” Rik whispered against my ear, tucking my back against his chest. “You need your rest so you can start building the nest.”
Excitement surged through me, followed quickly by uneasiness. I didn’t quite know what this nest thing involved. But I wanted to try. I wanted my own place. “How am I supposed to sleep if I’m worried about you?”
He bit my ear gently. “All will be well. I promise.”
And yeah, his promise was enough. I closed my eyes and sank back into dreamless rest, wrapped in my Bloods’ arms.
Leviathan
Walking in weak winter sunshine, breathing fresh, crisp air, feeling the frozen earth beneath my feet, the promise of snowflakes on my face. So fucking priceless.
I’d forgotten the simple pleasures of being alive.
I wanted to hate her. I hated myself for savoring her blood and allowing her to bond me.
It would have been easier to die. I should have rejected her blood and allowed her to leave me there on the mountain that had been my prison for so long. I could have died with my rage burning bright. I could have died hating her, righteous in my belief that she was the same as all the other queens who’d tried to free me.
Only Shara Isador was not like other queens.
She’d freed me where all others had failed. And yeah, I fucking hated her for it, or at least tried to stoke my rage against her. I didn’t want to belong to her. I didn’t want to need her.
But the fucking honest truth… Now I needed her more than anything I’d ever needed in my entire miserable existence.
Hope hurt. After endless millennia of despair, I dared hope again, and that glimmer of sunlight blinded and hurt with its brightness.
I dared to walk this earth again as a man. Not a beast.
Leviathan still crawled in my mind, twisting and snarling and raging at the gleaming moonlight bond she had looped around his neck. She’d freed me, the man, but imprisoned the beast with her magic. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t shift. She’d locked the vicious dragon inside me with her blood. Where other Blood gained a beast when their queen’s blood, I found myself looking back in the mirror.
A man. Lines around my eyes and mouth, a hint of gray at my temples, betraying my age and the trials I had endured. Fresh scars on my throat, a testament to how near death I had been, even me, surely one of the oldest Aima still walking this earth. I had forgotten what I looked like without scales and claws. I was taller than I remembered. Bigger. Though perhaps that was the queen’s blood working its magic on me, because all her Blood were big and powerful. Especially the alpha.
I would have to deal with him, sooner than later.
Because I hungered. I burned with thirst, a weakness I despised. I wanted nothing more than her blood. Her power. And fuck, yes, her body. My queen. Mine. At last.
I would have to go to her. Bend knee. Offer throat. Submit. While every muscle in my body screamed in denial.
Leviathan, king of the depths, was no beggar. He did not ask. He took. He killed. He raged.
Except I was not Leviathan now. I couldn’t even manage one claw without my queen.
And oh, it galled. The loss of my beast stuck like a femur in my throat, even though that beast was what had kept me imprisoned for so long. I had everything I could possibly want: a new life, power, hope.
A new queen.
Which choked most of all.
I yearned to taste her again. Her blood, bright crystal on my tongue. Pure, sweet water after centuries of drought. Her passion like a hot, flickering flame on my skin.
It had been so long.
So fucking long.
And I was only a man now. A man who burned to touch the woman who had saved him.
It would be so much easier to hate her if she would command me to bare my throat on my knees, force me to feed her, and order me to her bed. Then I could fuel my rage and despise her like every other queen before her.
I wanted to hate her. I needed to hate her.
Because I didn’t want to love her.
As the sun set, I felt her awaken. Excitement rose in her bond, mixed with nerves. She wanted to form a nest, but she’d never seen or lived in one to know how it was done or what it would feel like. Her nervous energy tugged on me like a leash, drawing me to her. To them. Her Blood could not bear to be out of her sight for long.
Even me. As much as that thought churned my stomach.
I wanted to feel her fangs in my throat again and remember the sensation of soaring through the night sky, piercing the clouds, impossibly high, only to fall in a death spiral toward the earth.
She’d saved me once. Would she be able to save me again? Would she care enough to try, or toss me aside like rubbish and leave me to rot as I deserved?
Three of her Blood glared at me as I approached, but the alpha only nodded once in acknowledgment. He didn’t puff up his chest or growl or even block my approach. All things I expected.
He was young, though big and strong. He ought to be, since he was well-fed on our powerful young queen’s blood. I didn’t know his history—didn’t care to—but I’d bend knee right here and beg for a taste of the honey between her thighs if he’d ever served a queen before. He wouldn’t realize exactly how much power Shara Isador wielded.
:I know full well our queen is already mighty enough to rival the Triune, and she’s still growing in power.:
I blinked, surprised that he’d spoken directly into my mind. I hadn’t had his blood, nor he mine. So for him to touch me so easily…
Shara looked at me, her dark eyes shining with a midnight sky sparkling with million stars. Her bonds were so deep and strong that even her alpha could touch us all whether we’d shared blood or not. A sobering thought, not that I intended any secret mayhem. Yet.
The feline Blood snorted with disgust. “We all fully expect you to be plotting mayhem as we speak.”
Correction. All her Blood could sense each other’s thoughts. Even mine, the new one, who’d only tasted the queen once. She held my gaze, and I knew she was privy to my doubts. She’d heard me ranting and raving inside my own head, clinging to my hate, even while thirst burned like a white-hot flame in my gut.
Queen Takes King Page 19