Page 74 of Queen Takes Queen
I grimaced. "I don't have any idea. I wasn't raised around our people, so I have no idea how to judge age. You look like you're maybe thirty or thirty five yearsold."
Laughter bubbled up out of her throat, and I was struck again by her delicate beauty. Like a rose growing in the desert, seemingly tender and fragile. Until you remembered that the rose was growing in the fucking desert. "Oh dear, you are bad at guessing ages. I'm two hundred years older than your guess. Grandmama lived in Tenochtitlan at its height. Our goddess isCoatlicue.”
I had no idea which goddess that was, or what Her significance was. “I’m sorry, my knowledge of the Aztec religion is sadlylacking.”
“In some stories, she was the mother of Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl. Twingods.”
My eyes widened. I’m pretty sure everybody had heard of Quetzalcoatl, the great feathered serpent. “Are you saying your brothers are godstoo?”
“No, not at all. But from the moment they were born, Grandmama said they were a throwback to the Twins. They have great power locked inside them, waiting for the right queen to make themBlood.”
She must have called them to her. I felt Guillaume and Mehen both bristle as the twins approached, but they stayed outside the protective ring of my Blood. Though Mayte’s older Blood gave them both looks that said he’d thump their skulls together if they didn’tbehave.
I looked out the bay window a moment, avoiding everyone's gaze, though they all stared at me. Waiting for me to make a decision. My Blood wanted to know how I felt about these twins. If I wanted them, period. Mayte wanted to know if I'd accept her as my sib. Even Gina wanted to know what my decision would be, so she could help me plan through ouralternatives.
So what if I didn't take a sib. What would happen tous?
Keisha Skye had already attacked me twice. It was clear that she wanted to eliminate me before I could gain too much power, experience, and allies. She'd already missed out on killing me before I could establish a nest. She'd done everything she could to prevent Mayte from inviting any queen to help her. I'd broken that geas, but if Skye learned from her mistakes, she might lay an even nastier one on my nest. Who, then, could help me break it? Mayte, when she hadn't been able to protect her ownpeople?
Unfortunately, Skye was only my most immediate concern. I still had to worry about the Triune. They had to know about me by now. They had to know about Guillaume and Mehen from the Christmas footage from Venezuela. From Skye, they'd know I had at least three other Blood that had originally been her sibs. Regardless of what I decided to do with Mayte, the Triune had to be plotting a way to either control me or eliminateme.
I didn't like either option. At all. Even more, neither did Isis or Morrigan. The necklace weighed heavily on my chest, the memory of the heart tree taking my blood and my life fresh on my mind. I hadn't grown the grove to watch Skye hack those glorious old trees down and raze my manor house to the ground. I hadn't traveled to Mexico to leave a fellow queen and her childdefenseless.
But taking Mayte's side was another line in the sand. A battle cry to Keisha Skye. I'd already taken three of her sibs, survived her attacks, and broken her geas. If I also took the queen she'd been trying to take for herself for nearly fiftyyears...
Even if she never found out about Mayte's daughter, I would have made an enemy. A very powerful enemy, allied with one of the stronger European queens with an eye on the empty Triuneseat.
Worse, I'd taken Guillaume from Marne Ceresa. She wouldn't be pleased at that, either. The Triune would give Skye free rein to do whatever she could to eliminate me. Probably even help her, to an extent. They certainly wouldn't help me if their most powerful and oldest living queen waspissed.
In a matter of a little over a week, I'd somehow managed to piss off two very powerfulqueens.
Great. Fabulous.Fuck.
Rik's fingers moved slightly on my shoulder. A reminder of all that I had gained in exchange. And I wouldn't change a single thing. Not as long as I had him and the rest of myBlood.
So the question came down to what I would do to keep them. How far would I be willing to go to keep my Blood safe? I'd already angered the oldest living queen and alienated the queen of New York City. We were at grave risk. At any moment, Skye could attack again. Or the Triune could demand I come to Rome or wherever they wanted. And I would have togo.
With sevenBlood...
We would die. No matter how strong I was, I wasn't strong enough alone to protect the ones I loved. Not when Marne Ceresa had at least twice as manyBlood.
:She had over ninety Blood the last I heard,:Guillaume said softly in myhead.
:How many does Keisha Skye have?:I askedRik.
:Twenty female Blood she calls her Furies, and a handful of male Blood, including whoever her alpha is at the moment. I've never felt her unleash her power, but in my heart, I know you'restronger.:
:But.:
He sighed in our bond.:She has the numbers. Many sibs, plus an alliance with Rosalind. Eventually, she'll trap one of us. She'll get to Daire and use her old bonds to pull him home. Or she'll get to one of your human servants. Winston, say. Or Gina when she goes to town. They'll be vulnerable and easy pickings. If they get to Gina, she carries your blood. That gives them a foothold on yourbonds.:
And if I did nothing to protect Zaniyah, Keisha Skye would get to that sweet baby girl her mother had hidden with an Aztec jaguar god. Even he wouldn't be enough to protect them both if Skye managed to break through thenest.
I nodded and turned to meet Mayte's gaze. "I accept youroffer."
Her eyes. Fuck. They gleamed with tears, shining with hope and relief, spilling over like a sparkling crystal waterfall. She threw her arms around my neck and pressed her forehead to mine. "Thank you. Thank you for helpingus."
"And us, my queen?" One of the twins asked, his booming voice making meshiver.
