Page 128 of Their Blood Queen

I didn’t realize my train of thought had brought the sting of tears to my eyes until my mother is gently swiping them away.

“Oh, Scarlett. I’m so sorry. You’ve been through so much because of me.” She cups my face as her eyes turn glassy, and a tear rolls down her round face.

It’s strange to be comforted by a woman who now more resembles my sister than my mother. In a strange way, I feel like I have lost the woman who raised me, only to have a new friend named Eveline replace her.

“Because of you, I am alive,” I remind her as I rest my hand over hers. I curl my fingers over her palm and lean into her touch. When I close my eyes, it still feels like my mother. So I keep them closed as she talks.

“I don’t know if I should get any credit, sweetheart. Duchess Rinhold is the one who poisoned me years and years ago, making me barren and inflicting me with a disease that ultimately put me into a coma.”

My eyes fling open as I drop her hand and fall back a step. “What?”

She takes a deep breath and steadies herself on the windowsill as she looks outside. Her gaze is distant as she pieces together the whole story. “Bernard, that Raven monster who seems to be close with the King, he dug up the intel and shared it with me yesterday. He wanted me to be the one to tell you.” Her lower lip quivers, making my heart break. “I sent you right into the viper’s den and played into their plans. You’re only alive because you found a way to save yourself. You had to do what I could not. Your brother died a long time ago. A monster wearing his skin was walking around in his place.” I know she doesn’t mean a literal monster. Humans have a propensity for wickedness, especially when power is on the line. It’s a choice to be good or evil. My brother made his choice.

And he paid the price.

My mother seems to force herself to face me as she straightens her spine. Her skin has a light glitter to it now that she’s immortal. There seems to be an effect of broken glass on everyone who has taken the elixir, leaving me to believe it’s something that Cain himself had created. “You have always dealt better with monsters than I. That’s why you saved yourself. You aren’t weak.”

“You aren’t weak, Mother,” I say with a sigh. “And don’t put me up on such a pedestal. My nightmares saved me,” I add, meaning Cain, Sabre, and Cage, but I lovingly refer to them as my nightmares. That’s what they are, and that’s what they’ll always be. “I was a victim just as much as you were, Mother. Please don’t be so hard on yourself.” I take a step toward her again.

She huffs a humorless laugh as she rests a hand on her stomach. “I was naïve. You, my sweet daughter, questioned everything. You called your nightmares to you, as you call them. You saved yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. You’re a light in the darkness.”

Her fierce gaze gives me pause. I recall that Cain’s power only works when he is prayed to, and my Strigoi can more easily find me with their dreamwalking gifts, but they still need me to open the door for them. This world is different than the one they come from, or so they tell me.

“Don’t let Cage or Sabre hear you say that,” I add with a smirk. “They hate light.” I’ve come to learn that they can’t handle sunlight very well. It damages their skin and their eyes, and it also drains their power. The sun is setting, so I expect to see them soon.

“I’ll brave anything for you, Sigil,” a husky voice says as an arm loops around my middle. I squeak as I’m yanked against a hard chest.

Sabre is behind me, and his dangerous air gives me a thrill every time. He presses a kiss to the top of my head, allowing me to feel the large fangs that are persistent even in his human form.

My mother isn’t afraid. In fact, her smile stretches across her face as she looks up at Sabre. “Your Majesty, I didn’t know you could come out at sunset. Is it painful?”

The fiery reds of the dying sun filter into the room. Sabre is wearing a suit and gloves, so I imagine that’s protecting him from the worst of the light. “A little pain never hurt anyone,” he says with a growl to his words.

He’s incredibly possessive of me, and I give my mother an apologetic look as a blush creeps over my cheeks. “I think Sabre is trying to tell me it’s time for our date.”

She only giggles, which makes me blush harder. “Yes, you lovebirds are in your honeymoon phase. Where will you be going, again?”

Sabre rolls his thumb over my stomach as he speaks. The gesture is subtle, but it sends heat throbbing through my body without fail. “Cage says he’s found a place in this world’s Dream Realm that’ll make a lovely outing. We’ll retire our bodies in the guest room for the evening, if that’s all right with you, Duchess Nightingale.”

She beams, and I know it’s because she loves that Sabre—now a Prince of the Elite City—gives her complete control and respect in her home. My father is off doing Nightingale business, which leaves my mother in control.

I know that in all reality, he’s processing Laurence’s death. My brother doesn’t deserve to be mourned, and my father knows that. There is the complication of a Nightingale heir, given there are no males left. But now my mother has taken the immortality elixir, I suspect it’s possible for her to become pregnant again. There will be plenty of time to talk about that whenever they are ready. Immortality definitely has its perks.

For the time being, I have a new family to focus on and new mates to learn. When I glance at the doorway, I spot Cage in his monster form lingering in the shadows.

Upside down.

On the ceiling.

I’m glad my mother doesn’t seem to notice them when she cordially says, “Please, enjoy any suite in the manor you’d like. You are always welcome here, Prince Sabre.” She gives him a curtsy, one that is full of grace and skilled movements befitting a Duchess. She takes her leave and I’m alone with two hungry vampires, a chill goes up my spine when Sabre’s hand snakes between my legs. “Let’s get this date started, shall we?”

CHAPTER 39

SABRE

“Do you like it?” I ask as I carefully watch Scarlett’s reaction.

A smile glimmers on her perfect lips. “Like it? I love it. How did you find this place?”

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