Page 46 of Queen Takes Rook
Angela looked away, typing rapidly. “I can get them. No problem. How many?”
“Fourteen.”
“Done. Best in the house.”
Gina whistled softly, and the other woman stared at her with her mouth hanging open, shocked that she’d gottenHamiltontickets so quickly. Angela chuckled at their reactions. “I have a friend who owed me. Big time.”
“I would say so,” Gina drawled, shaking her head.
“Great. We’re going to seeHamilton,and as a courtesy, we’ll notify Keisha Skye, right?”
Gina nodded. “Yes. Typically, you would notify any queen in the home region if you wished to visit.”
“This is going to sound like a really weird and unconnected question, but what’s Winston’s story? Marne Ceresa said it was quite a coup that I’d managed to get him to come work for me.”
“Winston worked for your mother…” Gina paused, her face going blank.
Which told me she meant Shara’s real mother. The woman who’d raised her had been her aunt, but no living Aima could say Shara’s mother’s name aloud.
“Yes,” Shara said gently, prodding her to continue. “He worked for my mother.”
“In London, before you were born. We were all there. Winston could work for the Queen of England if he wanted. That’s how good his pedigree is. Instead, he chose to stay with House Isador, even when Selena left the nest. Other queens tried to hire him away from Isador, since there wasn’t any queen left, but he refused. You’d have to ask him why yourself, but I can only assume that he had decided to work for Isador, or no one.”
“Was Keisha one of the queens who tried to hire him?”
“Every queen tried to hire him, so yes, she did. He refused, as politely as he refused Marne Ceresa.”
Shara smiled. “I knew I loved that man, for many reasons, but this one takes the cake. Would he mind making a call to Keisha Skye’s consiliarius for us?”
Gina blinked rapidly. “He would do anything for you. But why…”
Shara smiled and it made the hairs prickle at the base of my neck. “She sent her lowest Blood to try and convince me to join her nest. She doesn’t know that I love Winston dearly, so I’m asking my butler to tell the queen of New York City that I intend to visit her town.Afterhe refused to work for her.”
The last Templar knight smiled broadly. “That’ll fucking piss her off.”
Shara nodded. “That’s the general idea.”
* * *
SHARA
The plan was starting to come together. It was strange, because I didn’t knowexactlywhat I needed to do. It just was there, in my head, as if it was waiting for me to tap it. I had a feeling the goddesses had been busy planting seeds in my head while I’d been sleeping and making love with my Blood.
It’d been a delightful few weeks, but I couldn’t enjoy many more… until I dealt with Keisha Skye once and for all. Every day that I delayed in bringing her to justice was another day that a Blood suffered in her ruthless obsession to have another child.
Marne Ceresa hovered on the edge of my awareness, too. I’d have to come to some kind of deal with her eventually, but my war wasn’t with her. It was with Keisha, and then Ra. But I’d take the war to Rome if she wanted to fuck with me or my Blood.
Leaning back against Rik, I met each of my Blood’s gazes, and then focused on Gina, who’d pulled a chair up to the edge of the mattress.
“I need to know the implications of killing a queen. What happens to her Blood, nest, and sibs? Are there any repercussions from the Triune? Anything else along those lines that I haven’t thought of yet.”
“You can do whatever you want as queen, though there are always repercussions.” Gina leaned forward and took my hand in hers. “For all her faults, Keisha has a giant network of people who depend on her for their livelihood. Losing their queen will be a huge blow, both economically and socially. She’s a prominent member of society, both Triune and human. No offense, my queen, but you’re an unknown. They know nothing about you or how you’ll handle their businesses, problems, and families. Some of them may not have had much of a choice in the queen they serve.”
“People like me, Daire, and Ezra,” Rik said, stroking his big palms up and down my arms. “People sent by their queens, trapped by familial loyalty and treaties who would love to escape her, but can’t. They’ll be thrilled to be free of her, but they need to know what to do. Where to go.”
“If you get all of her sibs to swear to you…” Guillaume knelt beside the bed and held out his scarred hands to me. I slipped one hand into his but held onto Gina, too. With Rik stroking me, and them holding my hands, I felt grounded, steady, and focused. “You will rule America. You will betheAmerican queen.”
“That’s not—”
