Page 56 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
Ashen lifts a shoulder, then pulls the first strap of the backpack up my arm. “You are competitive and motivated by spite. I know you’ll do anything to one-up me, even if it means killing a contingent of Nephilim to survive just so you can learn how to be a better submarine pilot than me.”
“You know me so well.” The next strap slides up my arm, then Ashen is standing before me, tugging the loose ends tight as the sphere hums against my spine. “And what’s the first most important truth?”
Ashen stills. The world is no longer the city that surrounds us. It’s not the creatures who hunt us. It’s not the strangers who judge us. It’s just him and me. He takes a step closer, folding his hand behind my neck, his palm warm against my skin. “That you are loved beyond measure, my wife.”
I reach up and frame Ashen’s face with my palms. My gaze shifts between his eyes. “I adore you, Ashen of House Urbigu.” The worried tension softens in Ashen’s face as I pull him into a kiss, the heat and need and hope bright enough to make up for how short this moment needs to be. We part before it seems fair. I don’t feel ready, but I smile and try not to show it. “I love you. Drive safe, my sexy submarine pilot husband. And take care of her,” I say, nodding toward Wynter as she watches us with clinical interest, as though trying to solve a complex equation. “I promised her boyfriend you would.”
A fiery blush flares up Wynter’s throat and into her cheeks. “He’s not my—”
“I will deliver her back to her lover safely, my vampire,” Ashen says with a conspiratorial smile before pressing his lips to mine once more. When we part, we turn to our bikes, swinging our legs over our machines. Ashen is an adorable combination of demonic sexiness and deep discomfort as Wynter slides behind him and wraps her arms around his waist. He scowls at my amused grin and we start our bikes and then we’re off, chasing after the taxi in a sea of vehicles.
We weave through the chaos, speeding down Gawhar El Qaed Street, flowing as though swept in the current of buses and taxis and motorcycles and scooters. It doesn’t take long to catch up with Roman and Ediye’s cab, the plate number burned into my memory. Roman turns in the front seat to look at us through the rear window, the relief almost palpable through the glass.
After several turns, the traffic thins a little and we’re able to pick up speed. Every cross-street we pass fuels the hope that burns hot in my chest that we’ve left the Nephilim behind.
But it doesn’t last.
Roman turns suddenly in his seat, his arm outstretched toward us, his warning swallowed by the cacophony of engines and horns. The fire of hope snuffs out as I scream Ashen’s name.
I downshift and pull the throttle back to speed between the taxi and a bus to the right of the cab. Ashen does the same and veers to the left just as a white sedan barrels into the back of the taxi, lurching it forward. The taxi slows and I hear both Ashen and Roman yelling at the driver to keep going. The sedan hits the cab again, aiming for the left side of the bumper. The taxi drifts to the right with the angle of the impact. I slow just before the front-end wedges me against the bus. I hear Ashen’s voice through the blaring horns and the yelling of bystanders on the bus.
“Go, Lu!”
When I look over, he’s reaching through the taxi driver’s window to pull the steering wheel toward him. I glance over my shoulder as the sedan speeds up for another hit, catching only a glimpse of a masked figure before I look ahead to the narrow space between the bus and the car.
I downshift again and speed through the gap as the sound of crunching metal chases my rear tire.
It’s me the Nephilim want. Me and what’s in my backpack.
I need to lead them away. I rev the throttle and speed ahead, weaving through traffic. I spare one quick glance over my shoulder at Ashen, and then I surge between the cars, knowing the sedan will muscle through sooner or later to find me.
I speed forward, trying to put distance between us. The sounds of blaring car horns and folding metal chase after me as the sedan presses on through the fray of traffic. I don’t look back, keeping my focus on a bus several cars ahead on my left. When I reach it, I slip in front, my rear tire only an inch or two from its bumper. The deafening honk bellows at me as I drift to the left side and then drop back so that I’m parallel with the driver, hidden by the blocky hunk of battered steel. The sedan’s driver can’t see me where I keep pace next to the bus, wedged in tight between it and the oncoming traffic.
The melody of honking and disgruntled yelling grows closer. Passengers in the bus twist and crane their heads to the right. The bus driver yells, gesturing to what is surely the sedan pushing through the traffic to catch up.
I replace my right hand on the throttle with my left, then reach for the mirror of the bus and grip on to the steel. I let the bike fall away, the handlebars hitting my thighs as it loses speed and careens behind me. The driver meets my eye in a moment that seems so still and calm within the sound of frantic honking and crashing metal as my bike flips into the traffic behind us.
And then I hurtle myself through the window, hitting the button for the driver’s safety belt. I push him off his seat and take over the controls to careen the bus into the sedan. Passengers scream behind me. A wave of car horns and chaos flow from beyond the windows. I slam my foot down on the accelerator and ram the car one more time, crushing it into the smashed vehicles lining the next lane.
I feel the fleeting wave of relief through my mark as Ashen pulls up to the side of the bus, the taxi next in line behind him. They slide to a halt and Ashen whirls Wynter off the bike, passing her to Roman as soon as the passenger door of the cab flies open.
“Take her. There is no safety for any of us in this realm. We must get to the Shadow Realm. Meet us at the house. I’m taking my wife,” he barks at the vampire. Roman nods, looking relieved as he hauls Wynter in with him, bracing her on his lap as Ashen gives instructions to the worried driver and placates him with a wad of cash as he flashes more in promise of a payment to come. I get on the bike behind Ashen and grip his waist as he revs the throttle. “No more separating.”
“Agreed. Bad idea. I think you’ve probably just done Roman a solid anyway.”
Ashen scoffs as the taxi speeds past us and we follow into the clogged traffic, not looking back to see if the Nephilim driver made it out of the crumpled sedan. We weave from lane to lane and before long we’re into the suburbs where the roads are clearer. When we get to the house, Roman pulls Ediye from the back seat of the taxi and we pay the driver a thick wad of cash for emotional damage before rushing inside, heading straight for the courtyard. Ashen lights the stones of the cauldron and takes Ediye from the vampire so I can guide the two newcomers through the portal to the Shadow Realm first. As soon as Ashen and Ediye are through behind us, guards shut the lid of the cauldron.
We’re still breathing heavily, casting our glances to one another as members of theShub Lugalsurround us, swords pointed to the two newcomers, their eyes on me, awaiting instruction.
“My Queen?” one of the guards asks.
I straighten. I dust off my hands and clear my mind, squaring my shoulders. I take a step away from the cauldron, Ashen closing ranks behind me. “Shub Lugal. Give our guests a warm welcome to the Shadow Realm.”
CHAPTER21
Wynter takes a room to work on patching up Ediye, the quiet murmur of their voices filtering over the sound of Roman’s knife as he nervously whittles a tiny piece of wood. He’s stationed himself in a chair across the hall, he and Urtur stealing wary glances at one another until the jackal grows bored and lies down on the rug in front of the unlit hearth. When Cyrus strides in with Eryx, Davina, Cole, and Aglaope in tow, it’s a welcome relief from the tense silence that’s taken over the suite.
“Where’s Ediye?” Eryx asks through gritted teeth, the burn of the Shadow Realm coating his skin in a sheen of sweat. Cole squeezes the angel’s steaming hand and I give them a worried smile as I point to the door.
