Page 62 of Queen Takes Rook
People started to inch closer to us, drawn by the smell of my blood and the promise of my power. Daire roared and snapped to keep them back. Itztli paused, bristling with a vicious growl rattling his deep chest. Tlacel and Nevarre swooped lower, sharp talons and beaks to add to the blood frenzy building in them.
Rik tightened his grip on me. :This could get ugly.:
:I’m counting on it.:
24
Shara
If I ever needed a reminder that I wasn’t human, I’d pull up this scene in my head again.
People in sequined gowns and elegant suits were shoving and pushing each other. To get closer to me. To taste my blood.
My period blood.
Which had dribbled on the white marble floor.
Daire pounced on each drop and licked it up, growling at anyone who thought to beat him to it. Energy rose in the room, a crackling promise of power that would tear through this skyscraper and blast it to rubble. Without turning my head, I asked Daire,:Is Vega looking at us, or following us?:
:Yes. She’s a few paces behind me. She tried to hold the crowd back at first, but now…:He paused a moment to snarl and claw a woman in the face who’d dropped down to her hands and knees too close to my warcat for comfort. She fell back and writhed on the floor, like she was going to shift.:She can’t look away from you. A push, and she’ll topple.:
I wasn’t sure how many of these sibs were queens or Blood that might have the ability to shift, but that would be one sure way to spread some seeds of chaos in the crowd, while also breaking Skye’s hold on them.
A wolf scrambled free of the woman’s shredded dress and looked at me. I stared back steadily. I didn’t draw on my power. I didn’t have to. My will was enough with the promise of my power flowing from me in waves of scent.Submit. I am your queen. You will follow me.
The wolf whined and dropped to the floor to inch toward me on her belly.
I shifted my focus to Vega. I didn’t turn to look at her but let my intention ripple on the raw power licking through the room. She hadn’t been able to hold Rik’s gaze. She’d already lost to him. She belonged to me now. I wouldn’t have to push very hard. And if I got Skye’s alpha to submit to me without a fight, the rest of the Blood would be mine before a single drop of blood was exchanged.
Submit to your beast. I am your queen. You will follow me.
A mighty roar told me she’d shifted, and that roar had other people in the crowd shifting too.
:They’ll be more out of control as their beasts,:Rik said grimly.:I wish we could get Leviathan up here to roast some Skye cats and wolves for dinner.:
:Brace yourselves,:I told them, closing my eyes. I tapped the blood dripping from my body and quivered at the instant rush of power tearing through me. I let the power flare out of me in a shockwave that sent the Skye watchers tumbling away from us. Many more shifted, and the roars, howls, and screams rose in to a deafening cacophony that made my lips curve.
Controlled chaos. Daughter of Monsters. I was born for this.
We started walking again. I let my power wash over the crowd, stirring up any hint of Aima blood that responded to me. A young, powerful queen sibling on my right, and her three Blood. They shifted and moved to follow Vega. An older queen with five Blood. Another.
No wonder Skye had ruled New York City for so many centuries. She must have pulled every queen in America to her.
:Except for Leonie Delafosse, Mayte Zaniyah, and you,:Rik said.
:Or they left.:Xin waited close to the throne for me as his ghostly wolf.:Like my old queen. She refused to offer throat to Skye.:
“What the fuck is going on?” A woman yelled somewhere ahead of us. “You know the rules in Skye Tower. No shifting!”
Oops. I smiled wider. People blocked the last few steps to the throne. Late afternoon sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making it hard to see. A large throne rose dark against the brilliant sunlight on a platform ahead, but I couldn’t see if Keisha actually sat there or not. My eyes started to water and suspicion sprouted.
Maybe Keisha Skye had more to do with Ra than I’d thought. She was certainly taking advantage of his punishing light. The glittering chandelier overhead added to the brilliance spilling through the room. Rather than crystals, shards of copper, silver, and gold tinkled, stirred by the swirl of power rolling from me, spinning and reflecting the light.
:Nevarre, can your Shadow tone down the glare so I can see what she’s up to?:
The raven flew straight toward the windows.:On it, my queen.:
I focused on the people blocking our way.
