Page 14 of Queen Takes Rook
My queen and niece would add to that bloody river if I couldn’t pull them back through.
Soulless sacrifices stood below my queen, moaning with agony and ecstasy both. Golden light blazed from empty eye sockets and gaping mouths. Their skin seemed oddly loose, as though they were completely empty sacks. Their arms wavered in the air, rubbery and slack, though definitely reaching for her. Eager to claim her for their god.
Shaken, I strained harder. Something tore in my wings. Pain splintered through my mind. But I threw myself back. Back to our world, dragging our queen to safety. Darkness filled my vision and I tasted blood in my mouth. I broke something deep inside me. I spun out of control, unable to tell if I was even pulling her back in the right direction any longer.
Blood. Her blood, in my mouth. I focused on her taste, the sweet rush of power.Isis, Great One. Coatlicue, Mother of the Gods. Grant me enough power to save my queen, and then do as You will with me.
Something seized my tail and nearly ripped it out of my body. I didn’t struggle against the pain but embraced it. I was still alive, and that formidable grip was my alpha. He hauled me out of the portal by my tail, I dragged Shara with me, and she gripped Xochitl against her chest. Rik grabbed our queen and pulled her up out of the water. Choking and gasping, she lifted Xochitl up out of the water, too.
Nevarre swooped down to snag the little girl by the back of her shirt and lifted her toward the edge of the cenote. At least the raven hadn’t been killed by the first blast. Hopefully the dragon had fared just as well.
Liquid golden power rippled in the water.:The portal’s still open,:I gasped.:Get out!:
The black dragon surged up out of the water and clung to the side of the cenote.:I can’t fly yet, but I can at least get out of the water.:
I tried to do the same, but I felt like cartons of broken eggshells floated inside me instead of bones. The current swirled me further away from the sides, toward the center, where a whirlpool sucked the water—and everything in it—down a grim path into the portal.
:Heal me, and I’ll get him out,:Mehen said.
Rik reared up out of the water and tossed Shara toward the edge of the cenote by the dragon. She gave him her arm, and the dragon closed his jaws around her wrist with utmost care, eyes closed in ecstasy as he drank from her.
She kept a wary eye on me. I sank lower in the water. A dull roar filled my head, like a gigantic bathtub plug had been popped, and all the water of the world was sinking through the drain. The whirlpool widened, sucking me faster in a vicious circle toward the center. I didn’t try to swim out. I knew I didn’t have the strength. It was all I could do to keep my muzzle up out of the water.:Get her out first.:
I looked up at the sky as water closed over my head. So blue. I had saved my queen and my niece, the future queen of my people. That was all I’d wished for. Night fell, black spreading across the sky, death closing in.
Claws sank into me and yanked me up. Not darkness or death, but Leviathan. He let out a disgusted laugh in my head.:She refused to leave even the scaly chicken behind.:
Head lolling, I was beyond pain as Leviathan carried me up and out of the cenote. We passed Rik in his rock troll form, our queen clinging to his back as he scaled the limestone cliff. The dragon tossed me down on the ground, and Itztli stuck his bleeding wrist in my face.:Feed, brother. I can’t heal you like she will, but at least let me ease your pain until she’s here.:
It was an indication of how close I must be to death for my brother to be willing to feed me. He’d done well to hide that dread from our queen last night when she’d taken us, but she’d have every ugly secret soon enough. I wouldn’t torment him needlessly, but I did send a wave of gratitude to him.:She’s the last queen of Isis. If I die, she’ll bring me back.:
He didn’t protest. Clutching my sobbing niece in her arms, Mayte knelt beside me, tears in her eyes. “Oh, brother. What have you done to yourself?”
She laid her hand on my head and her power sparked along my scales. She’d healed me before, but this time… It wasn’t her touch I wanted. She released a soft little sigh and pulled her hand away with a wry smile. “Here’s our queen now.”
Rik cleared the edge of the cenote and Shara slid down beside me. I could smell her blood already, her magic sinking into me before a single drop of her blood passed onto my tongue. Her bond glowed like a soft, glowing moon in a clear midnight sky, shining light on all of my internal hurts, while simultaneously wiping them away. She lifted my head into her lap and pressed her wrist against my muzzle, dripping blood from the dragon’s bite.
I opened my jaws and carefully cradled her fragile arm inside my mouth, letting her blood drip down my throat without tearing her skin any further. Her fingers stroked over my head and down my neck, kneading strength and power into my hide. “Without you today, both Xochitl and I would be lost to Ra.”
Rik made a low, dangerous rumble, though he didn’t take her to task for risking her life, and ours, to save the child. I might be her newest Blood, but with her bond shining in me, I knew her heart. She would never hang back, waiting for someone else to help. Not with any child at risk, and certainly not one she’d taken into her heart like my niece. She’d made Xochitl an Isador heir. She would die for her. For any of us.
Not that we would ever allow that to happen.
The great jaguar god came closer, moving as though something deep inside him still pained him. He dropped a hand on Mayte’s shoulder. “I thank you all. I had no idea the sun god would be able to strike us so effectively. It’s quite humbling to know that all my immense power means nothing, as I was forced to watch helplessly as my daughter was carried away.”
His voice broke, and Xochitl reached up for him. He pulled her up into his arms and Mayte swiped her tears away. “Without you, Shara, we would be lost. But it’s my great shame to admit that someone in my household must have betrayed us. Very few people knew you were coming to Zaniyah until the very last minute before your arrival. Before this incident, I would have sworn that all my people were one-hundred-percent loyal, but Bianca feared someone might alert House Skye that we were expecting you.”
“Bianca.” Shara said the name flatly, her mouth twisting as if she’d tasted something bitter.
“No,” Mayte gasped, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. Her family has served Zaniyah for generations.”
“Who else knew I was coming? Who else would have the contacts to reach out to one of Ra’s believers? Who else knows Xochitl’s habit of riding with her father?”
Pale, my sister closed her eyes, her mouth moving as she whispered softly beneath her breath. Her hair lifted, fluttering about her face, her voice rising, though I couldn’t understand her words. I knew she spoke in our ancient tongue, but those words were forbidden for my ears to understand.
When she opened her eyes once more, they flashed like cold diamonds. “The spell is cast. We’ll know the truth once we return back to the nest.”
“What about the black dog?” Shara asked, turning to Rik. “Were we able to capture it, or at least kill it?”
