Page 21 of Queen Takes Queen
Through that network, I felt the disturbance in the ground. Something forced its way up through an underground cavern. Millions of tiny creatures, working together seamlessly. Their queen was in the back, protected by her soldiers. The trees sensed her like a malignant cell, marking her for elimination, because she carried a drop of Skye’sblood.
They marched with determination. Pushing aside dirt and debris, climbing through miles of rock and soil and, most importantly, thick roots, to reachus.
I opened my eyes. “Ants. A huge army of them. They’re…” I closed my eyes a moment, trying to gauge how far away they were. It was hard since they were so deep, but the trees helped, echoing one by one to help me mark the distance. “An hour away, probably. Close—but not ready to explode up out of the groundyet.”
“Fucking ants?” Mehen retorted. “That’s the great trap Skye is sending againstus?”
“Millions of them,” I replied grimly. “And they’re not just normal ants. Each of the soldiers are nearly an inch long and they have large cutting jaws. I’m pretty sure they could devour a corpse in a matter of minutes. Their queen is the one we need to worry about though. Keisha Skye marked it with her blood. I’m guessing the queen is supposed to get to Shara and sting her, injecting her with whatever spell Skye has worked into thatblood.”
“So how do we kill them as quickly as possible?” Rik looked at each of us one by one. “If we’re talking millions, we don’t want to wastetime.”
“I say you let me shift into the dragon and I’ll light the fuckers on fire. I’ll just blast them with continuous fire as they try to crawl out of theground.”
Shara lifted her head from Guillaume’s throat. She looked better for the most part, but the wound in her chest was still ugly. She still looked… dented and misshapen. Blood still dripped from punctures she hadn’t been able to close yet. “Fire should kill them. I’d throw fire on them too, but I don’t know that I’ll be up for that in an hour orless.”
Daire squeezed in between her and Guillaume, rubbing himself against her. “You should ride on one of us, just to be safe. If we keep you off the ground, you’ll be harder for them to get to. I’m game, but G’s hell horse would probably be the best bet. It’s not like either of us are going to be very good at killing something as small asants.”
“Agreed,” Rik said. “Take turns if you need to with Xin too. If Mehen’s able to roast them as they emerge, I’ll smash any that escape, and Nevarre can attack from theair.”
“The trees will help.” Rik looked skeptical, so I added, “they’re voracious. That’s why they make such good defense. Their roots can ensnare anything in the ground, and they can change position asneeded.”
“Trees. That move.” Mehen smirked, shaking his head. “That I’ll have to see tobelieve.”
“It’s pretty… creepy,” I replied, shrugging. “I can’t explain how they do it, but one moment, the tree is paces away, and the next, you’re surrounded by trees you didn’t evennotice.”
“We may get the chance to see them in action sooner than later.” Shara turned to Rik, giving him her hand. “We’ve gotcompany.”
“What?” He stood, pulling her up into his arms. “Who?”
“I’m guessing it’s another one of your sibs. The trees say there’s a man walking through the forest about two milesaway.”
I didn’t wait for Rik’s order. I leaped into the air and called my raven to explode out of me. It was going to be one busy fuckingnight.
8
Shara
Ifelt prettygood considering that I really should be dead. I didn’t know if it was Isis’s heritage that kept me alive, or Guillaume’s blood, or both. I hurt, yes. Badly. But I wasn’t scared of dying. Nottoday.
Especially not from one of Keisha Skye’splots.
I was able to stand, but walking was beyond me. I just didn’t have energy, or balance, or control of my body yet. Rik swept me up in his arms, but I didn’t want to appear too weak. I wanted to make an impression on this Skye sib, especially if his queen was watching through hiseyes.
I turned to Guillaume. After the Christmas Day news footage from Venezuela, they knew the great headless knight who could shift into a hell horse was with me. “Feel like putting on a show forthem?”
The corners of his eyes crinkled and he shifted without hesitation. Daire rubbed up against Rik’s legs, head to tail as long as the hell horse, but Guillaume stood taller at the withers.:Should I fetch you someclothes?:
Normally, I would have leaped at the chance for some clothes before meeting a stranger. But honestly, I was beyond caring at this point. I wanted them to see me bleeding, hurt, but alive, and better yet, unafraid and unshaken. I wanted them to think harder about what I’d done to be so hurt before their attack—and doubt that they could do thesame.
“No,” I finally said. “There’s so much blood on me that he won’t be able to see much anyway. Xin, stay hidden, as before. They don’t know about youyet.”
My silver wolf touched me with his nose.:May I feed you first, myqueen?:
I ran my hand over his head and ears, smearing him with my blood. “After we deal with this sib, absolutely. Nevarre, they don’t know about you either, so stay high and out ofsight.”
The raven cawed agreement as he flew in slow circlesoverhead.
“And me?” Mehen stepped up into Rik’s space aggressively, earning a rumble that rattled his chest againstme.
