Page 22 of Queen Takes Queen
I gathered my strength and struck hard and fast, sinking my fangs into Mehen’sthroat.
He roared loudly enough the approaching stranger probably wondered what the hell was happening before he could even make his threats. Come spurted on me and Rik both as Mehen shook withrelease.
I needed his older, powerful blood. In all honesty, I should have fed from him first,but—
:Always feed from me first, my queen.:Rik whispered for my bond alone.:I am yours, heart andsoul.:
Ancient blood flowed through me, soothing the hurts deep inside me, though I still felt feverish. My eyes blazed hot in my skull, which the dragon’s blood did little toalleviate.
In fact, his blood only fueled all the fire in me. My emotions flared. Anger, that Skye was going to attack us. Fury, that my alpha had seen enough in her court to be terrified of her. Rage, that she would continue to come after us as long as Rik and Daire still had sibs in hercourt.
Which made me lift my head from Mehen’s throat. “How many sibs do you still have in Skye? Can you tell who’s comingnow?”
Daire’s giant head tipped to the side as he listened.:Ezra. Huh. That’s a strangeone.:
“Why?”
“I never fed from him,” Rik said. “OnlyDaire.”
:He was the first one to feed me in Keisha’scourt.:
“Who else? I guess what I’m asking is how many more times can she send someone after us because she knows exactly where weare?”
Neither answered right away. I looked from Daire to Rik, surprised at their reluctance toanswer.
“Not reluctance, exactly,” Rik finally said with a sigh. “In hindsight, we made a huge mistake. It never occurred to me that Skye might use those bonds to hunt my futurequeen.”
:We fed on many in Skye’s court,:Daire added, hanging his head.:A new one almost every time, though Kendall more than any of theothers.:
Well fuck. That dashed my initial plan of targeting any of their remaining sibs to stop these attacks. I was going to have to deal with Keisha Skye directly once and for all. “I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway. She knows where the nest is, so it’s not like she can’t find it again. We’ll spend most of our time here. Though will it be safe to leave it for a few days to visit Zaniyah’snest?”
“A few days will be fine,” Rik replied, his jaw still tight with regret. “You can remove all access you’ve given to outsiders while we’re gone, or entrust Frank to handle the comings and goings ofvisitors.”
I reached up and cupped his cheek. A muscle twitched beneath my palm. “It’s not a big deal. Now I know that I have to hit her directly, rather than eliminate your sibsfirst.”
“I shouldhave—”
“How could you possibly know that you’d find a queen at all? Let alone that Skye would hunt us likethis?”
Setting me on Guillaume’s broad back, he grumbled beneath his breath. “I still hate that I’ve weakenedyou.”
I smiled, trying to make it mysterious and sexy even with a thousand thorn-holes in me and coated in blood. “It’s not a weakness if I use it against her. I probably would have taken the fight directly to her anyways.” I met Mehen’s gaze. He’d said nothing while I talked with my alpha, but his eyes were bright and eager. He wanted his beast. He wanted to kill. Even if it was justants.
Without saying a word, I drew back the magical leash I’d looped around Leviathan’s neck. As soon as he was free to shift, Mehen threw his head back, arms open wide, and welcomed his dragon. Leviathan roiled up out of him with claws and scales and wings. The mighty dragon gave me a glare with emerald green eyes, but didn’t roar to announce his presence to our enemy. Instead, he took quietly to the air, his massive wings no louder than the soft flap of a large owl on the hunt. He immediately soared up into the night sky and disappeared fromview.
Guillaume’s hide twitched beneath me. It was so strange sitting buck naked on ahorse.
:It’s so strange to be a horse and have my buck naked queen’s pussy pressed againstme.:
I squirmed against him for fun. He lowered his head back and nickered, a low, deep rumbling horse sound I’d never heardbefore.
“I think we’d best go see Ezra now.” Rik grinned with amusement and started walking toward the edge of my nest. Guillaume automatically moved with him, keeping pace so that Rik could keep a hand on my thigh in case I started tofall.
“He’s still a few minutes away. What’s thehurry?”
“That was the sound a stallion makes when he smells a mare inheat.”
Oh.Crap.
