Page 111 of Their Blood Queen

I remind myself of those ruins. Of what little memories I can pull up full of shredded dreams and splattered blood.

Because that can never happen again.

I’ll find these dreamwalkers. I’ll help them get to Scarlett, and then I will leave.

For good.

My city will run on its own for a time even without me. Bernard would let Helia know when a replacement needed to be found, once he was satisfied I wasn’t returning.

I’ll slip away like a lost nightmare, never to be seen again.

Taking Helia’s hand, I brush her knuckles with my lips. She remains perfectly statuesque with inhuman stillness as she watches me.

“Farewell, Queen Helia,” I say.

If she knows the permanence of my goodbye, she doesn’t comment on it. She smiles, showing a glint of white teeth. “Farewell, Cain.”

Descending the tower, the elevator doors open only to reveal the God that Helia had mentioned.

There’s no question about what he is.

He matches my height at over six feet tall, boasts broad shoulders, and everything about him screams Alpha.

His aura is what gives him away as something divine. A shadow of wings span from his back. A distinctly foreign power glimmers around him like gold specks that I suspect other creatures can’t see. His impact on the Dream Realm is noticeable, only because this is a creature with nearly infinite power. Even his dreams are capable of changing the world around him, and that is a terrifying gift indeed.

“Who are you?” he demands. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that a God would notice there’s something different about me as well.

But I suspect he can’t tell what I am. The answer to that question isn’t a simple one. I don’t have a species designation other than the one the Elites have given me, as I’ve never met anyone else like myself. He might be a God, but he’s in a dimension entirely different from his own.

“Cain,” I easily reply.

“What are you?” he adds, his words holding an accent similar to my own.

I smile, intrigued by this Alpha. “Are you always so demanding of those you just met?”

“Only potential threats,” he counters.

Oh. I definitely like him. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You shouldn’t,” he informs me with warning. “I don’t like threats.”

“Ah, well, then you and Helia are going to get on famously,” I drawl. “I almost wish I would have stayed for the meeting now.”

“Helia?” he repeats.

“The Monster City Queen,” I explain, catching the elevator door before it can close. “She’s ready for you, by the way.”

He cocks a brow at me. “Are you here to escort me up?”

I laugh as I try to picture that. I respect Helia’s power, but I’m not her lackey. “I’m not in the habit of escorting anyone anywhere, Orcus. But unless you want an Emissary to come find you, I recommend heading up to see Helia. The Emissaries around here are all about punctuality and rules.” Which is precisely why I know Helia entrusted an Emissary with the task of locating my potential mates while I was tied up.

I let my arm fall then, and I start down the hallway. I can feel Orcus watching, and I brace myself for him to bark more orders at me.

Fortunately, he doesn’t.

Because I wouldn’t have stopped even if he had asked me to. Now that I’m closer to the dreamwalkers Helia had told me about, I can sense them.

I can feel them.

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