Page 23 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
“Something? More like someone.”
There was a shuffling sound from behind me and the demon fled, abandoning me as his shrieks and squeals disappeared into the darkness, fleeing from the new arriver as fast as he could.
I whipped around to find the queen standing at the entrance, dressed in fighting leathers and smiling like I was a fat, juicy hunk of meat that had just been handed to her on a warm plate.
“Hello, mud girl.”
ChapterSeven
Seeing the queen dressed in anything other than her immaculate robes was jarring in itself. To see her here in the mud quarter without any of her Fireguards? Mind-blowing. The glare like she’d prefer to have my insides on my outside was familiar and oddly comforting. At least some things never changed.
I still took a step back when she moved toward me, prepared to use my torch as a club if I had to.
Her tinkling laughter grated against my nerves. “Still as uncouth as ever. You mud people are all the same.”
Rage coursed through my veins. “Apparently, you like it, seeing as you keep bedding us,” I shot back.
Her eyes narrowed. “I see your time down here hasn’t taught you any manners. Aren’t you wondering what I’m doing out here, all alone and defenseless?”
Defenseless was a word I’d never use in regards to her. Yet, I kept my mouth shut.
“I wondered where you’d run off to, you know. Your little band of friends and family were distraught, so it was clear they didn’t know. But my sons were oddly stoic through it all. Strange, considering how attached they were to you.”
Despite the heat in the air, a chill went up my spine, and goosebumps burst across my skin.
“I figured they knew where you’d scampered off to, like the rat you are. And I was right.” She stuck her nose triumphantly in the air, smoothing down her immaculate white braid with one hand. “And what a secret I stumbled across! Not only did I discover where you’d gone, but I exposed an entire network of traitors and spies, ferreting out these dangerous creatures underneath my kingdom instead of putting them down like the crazed monsters they are.”
“They’re not monsters,” I spit out. “They’re sane, still. They’re just hungry. If—”
“That will be the last time my sons hide things from me,” the queen interrupted darkly. She tutted, waving a finger at me.
“What did you do to Zariah and Zion?” I asked, hating the small tremor in my voice.
She laughed. “They can’t disobey me, can they? Don’t worry your muddy little head. No punishment I could give would be greater than the despair they already feel knowing they’d betrayed your location to me.”
A deep ache flared in my chest, but I ignored it. I could be sad later. Right now, I had to stay alert. I had to survive—just like always.
“Well then? You finally going to kill me?” I put my hand under my chin in mock thought. “Oh, that’s right. You never do your own dirty work.” I looked around in exaggeration, my free arm up toward the sky. “Well? Where are the boys?”
The queen smiled, and my blood turned to ice. “Perhaps you’re right,” she purred at me, circling around and eyeing me up and down like a tasty snack. “It has been a while since I’ve had a chance to …stretch my wings.”
My brain finally made the missing connection it had been missing this whole time, one I’d been utterly blind to, but it made so much damn sense now that I’d finally fucking thought of it. My mind shut off as my body took over, instincts rushing forward as I threw myself to the side, dropping my torch and rolling to dodge under the mass of silver scales that exploded in front of me.
The queen roared as she transformed, the ground shaking as dirt and debris fell from the tunnel. Should I run back into it for safety, or would the queen collapse it all and crush me? Indecision tore me in two.
I crawled forward out of the tunnel and gawked at the massive silver dragon in front me. She was a twin to Zariah and Zion, but all silver where they were gold. That included her eyes. Where the light hit her scales, shimmering patches of green and blue winked at me.
Of course she was a dragon. She was crowned figure in the cave etching. Shewas the one originally cursed, not my boys! So why reveal herself now? Why—
I ducked and threw myself against the tunnel wall as her spiked tail swung at me haphazardly, but she wasn’t aiming for me. In fact, she wasn’t even looking at me. What was she doing?
Her massive body launched directly toward the mud quarter. Realization brought dawning horror as her intentions became clear. She wasn’t going to kill me. She wasn’t going to maim me. The queen was going to enact her revenge by doing something much, much worse.
“NO!” I screamed, darting out of the tunnel and running toward the rows of houses that made up the mud quarter. My home.
The dragon shrieked with what could have been laughter, and threw me back into the tunnel with one sweep of her giant tail. This time, I didn’t dodge. I hit the stone wall hard and collapsed to the ground, too stunned to move. I wasn’t bleeding, though, just felt like I’d been run over by the food cart.Get up,I screamed at my body.GET UP!
I staggered to my feet blinded with pain, but it was too late. Screams and cries for mercy met my ears as I stumbled out of the tunnel and laboriously climbed up to level ground. Heat and ash swirled around me and I sobbed, knowing it was already too late but hoping beyond hope the familiar outline of the mud quarter would greet my eyes when I finally made it over the lip.
