Page 46 of Queen of Darkness
“It’s called aBloodLetter,” I said, emphasizing the important word. “Not a Death Warrant. The technical terms of the Bounty Hunter’s Guild state that the letter can be fulfilled via proof of deathora certain amount of blood belonging to the letter’s named person.”
“You’re right,” Dani said coldly. “I don’t like this. Absolutely not. How much blood do they want anyway? It’s probably ridiculous. You’re not doing it.”
“Somewhere over two liters,” I said quietly.
“That will be over half of her entire blood supply,” Vir stated, surprising me with his knowledge of human anatomy.
“What?!” Dani shrieked, wide-eyed. “Fuck, no. No way. That willkillyou, Jo.”
“So will the Blood Letter if I don’t do something about it,” I growled. “I can’t kill Elenia until it’s gone, Dan. And the onlyotherway to do something about it is if you drag my dead body into a Guild office. Given that I want tolive, we’d better explore the alternative. Which is why I called you.”
“You called Vir, you mean,” she grumped.
“He doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“Now isnotthe time for jokes. You’re asking us to help you commit suicide.”
“I’m asking you to be my friend,” I whispered. “I have to try. I called you because you’ll give me the best chance of surviving. Between Vir’s magic and my body's ability to regenerate as I drink blood,hopefully,I can make it through long enough to recover in time.”
“In time?” Dani asked. “Are you in a rush to go after Elenia?”
“She has to be the one to bring the blood to the Guild,” Aaron said, speaking up. “She must walk in, unassisted, and deliver it herself within one day of the first drop being taken. I assume it almost never happens, which is why nobody knows about it.”
“That’s impossible,” Dani gasped. “You’re going to be weak for ages.”
“Iwilldo this,” I growled, looking defiantly at the car’s occupants. “Iwillsurvive, thanks to all of your help, and then Iwillkill Elenia and put an end to her tyranny. Is that understood?”
“But, Jo,” Dani whispered, pleading with me.
“Will you help me or not?”
“Of course,” Vir said, glancing over at Dani.
My best friend, recognizing that she was outnumbered, slowly nodded. “If you don’t need me for my magic, then what can I do?”
I bit my lip. This was going to be the delicate part, and she wouldn’t respond well to it.
“Vir’s going to use his magic. Aaron is going to, well, hold me and feed me new blood to ensure I survive. And you …”
“I’mreallynot going to like this,” Dani groaned. “What is it, Jo?”
“Um. You see, I need somebody to actuallydrawthe blood.”
True to her word, Danididn’tlike it. Which she made very, very clear to me. But in the end, she conceded.
Now all that was left was to actually do it and survive. No pressure.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“What do you plan to do with that?” Vir asked as I lay back on the couch, listening to the soft trickle of water as it flowed down a six-foot waterfall into the river that crossed through the middle of the room.
I looked up at the stone ceiling, feeling weird about being in Vir’s private chambers, but he’d insisted that if we were going to do this, it would be in his sanctuary within the Direen. It was here, he’d said, at the heart of his powers in the realm of the shifter gods, that he would have the best chance of saving me.
There hadn’t seemed any point in arguing. I just had to hope that Drakul and Fenrir wouldn’t tear each other apart while we were gone. That hadn’t seemed likely when we left, but throwing Fred into the mix always made things murkier. Perhaps he’d be able to keep the peace.
Or perhaps they’ll throw him out. Who knows. I have different things to worry about right now.
“Jo?”
