Page 60 of Queen Takes Rook
“No, no,” she babbled. “I started to bite you, didn’t I, Daire? I did. But Ashlee started choking. I was trying to help her.”
She made another grunt and turned to glare at Shara. “What the fuck do I tell my queen?”
Clear of the elevator, Rik set her back down on her feet, but she leaned against him, the white skirt scandalously thin. I could easily make out the dark cleft of her buttocks. The long curve of her thighs. I could smell her heat and need, despite the magic trick she’d figured out to contain her blood. Rik tucked her up against his erection, folding his big body around her protectively.
“Tell her exactly what I said.” Shara didn’t even look at the other woman. With the scent of our blood in the air, her voice had gone husky with hunger. Something Rik wouldn’t ever ignore. He lifted her up so she could get to his throat. “I asked them nicely. I warned them they would die. They ignored me.”
She sank her fangs into Rik’s throat. He groaned deeply, not trying to hide the fact that he was coming. His hips jerked, his big palms kneading her buttocks, pulling her harder against him. His eyes blazed with heat and he glared at the other alpha. He was so fucking big, pumped up, hormones blazing with the drive to protect our queen. Even while vulnerable in release, he was primed to kill in her defense.
Skye’s badass alpha bitch couldn’t fucking hold his gaze.
Vega’s face reddened, her lips tight and jaw strained. She jerked her head at Lissa. “Get a clean-up crew up here. Not a word to anyone. Do you hear me?”
Lissa nodded and hit a button to close the elevator doors. Wide-eyed, she met my gaze and she didn’t have to touch that old blood bond for me to read her mind.
Holy fucking shit.
Five minutes into Skye Tower, and we already had five bodies on the ground. It was going to be an epic trip.
* * *
SHARA
Standing outside massive double doors, I had flashbacks to the first time I’d been presented to House Zaniyah. That first night, our reception had been rather chilly from her people. They hadn’t had any idea what kind of queen I would be. How much I would take from them. I hadn’t had any reason to raze them to the ground, other than the geas Mayte hadn’t warned me about on her nest.
These people…
Already, they’d fucking pissed me off.
I’d been fine, until I felt Daire’s uneasiness and Itztli’s panic as the two females moved in to take what wasn’t offered to them willingly. How many times had someone been forced to give blood in this building? Penetrated by fangs they didn’t want, forced to give up part of their own bodies and power to another?
They’d raped my men for their blood, used them against their will, and they’d paid for it with their lives. If I had my way, everybody in this entire building who’d ever taken anything from anyone against their will would meet the same fate.
:You can absolutely do that,:Rik whispered in the bond, his voice a soothing, deep rumble.:But let’s take care of Keisha first. Without her influence, I think you’ll find that most of Skye will be more than agreeable to your rules.:
:I shouldn’t have to make it a fucking rule that no one takes something from another against their will.:Itztli took a hesitant step closer, his shoulders tight, hands fisted at his sides. I held out my hand and he immediately came to me, pressing up against Rik. For protection. Goddess, it broke my heart.:I’m so sorry, Itztli. Go to the car. We’ll be fine without you.:
:I would never leave you to theses vipers, my queen, but thank you. I’m not afraid of them, only terrified I might slip and unleash my darkest desires. I don’t want to ruin your plans entirely when I start ripping hearts out of their chests to feast.:
Gina set the satchel on the floor and bent down to reverently lift out Isis’s crown. The sight of the golden crown with arching horns holding the dark red sun disc centered me. I pushed my fury aside. I wouldn’t give Keisha Skye the fucking satisfaction of rattling me in any way, shape, or form. I wouldn’t be swayed from my purpose.
I was here to end her rule of torture and fear once and for all.
Gina set the crown on my head and helped adjust my hair so that tendrils curled down around my face.
:The presentation room is one long, narrow hallway that runs the entire length of the building,:Rik said.:Her throne will be at the end against floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Her sibs will line the walkway, shoulder to shoulder and likely several people deep to get them all in.:
:She’ll want to impress you with her numbers,:Daire added.:So they’ll be crammed in like sardines.:
:Will these sibs include other minor queens, or just weaker Aima?:
:Both. Minor queens that have been assimilated with their Blood and sibs from all over the country.:
I touched Mayte’s bond and she flooded me with warmth. Her arms came around me and I felt the softness of rose petals against my lips.:Shara, be careful.:
:Always.:I concentrated on Xochitl’s bond and sparkles filled my head like a glitter cannon had gone off. It made me laugh softly. :Have her unicorns shown up yet?:
:Not yet, but she insists she dreams of them every night.:
