Page 66 of Queen Takes Rook
“True. But none have been quite as hardy as Alrik looks to be. He’s got giant blood in him. I think he’ll hold up just fine.”
“Why do you want him?”
“To have a child,” Keisha replied quickly, but her words didn’t ring true. For the first time, she seemed nervous. She reached up and twirled a tendril of hair around her finger and laughed, but it sounded forced and heavy. “What I’ve always wanted.”
“But you already know how to have a child,” Shara said. “You know how my mother had me.”
Keisha shuddered delicately. “As if I would lie with a monster. Even to have a child.”
“But you would become a far worse monster? That doesn’t make sense.”
Keisha jerked upright, and a sly smile spread across her face.
Not good. Not good at all.
“Where’s Ezra Skye, by the way?” She said casually. “Did you not bring him?”
“He’s here.” Shara shrugged but allowed her lips to tighten with irritation. “He’s always wandering off by himself.”
Keisha nodded, a smile flickering on her lips. She stood and raised her voice to her people. “You’re all dismissed. When we settle on a blood price, I’ll call you back for a formal presentation.”
She stepped down off the dais and came closer to Shara. A growl rumbled from my chest before I could stop it.
Unfortunately, Keisha seemed to like that sound a great deal. She ran her gaze over me and it was all I could do not to shudder with revulsion. “You’d best come with me, Shara. I have something to show you. It seems that your wandering Blood has gotten himself into a bit of trouble.”
Dread churned in my stomach. I’d been so focused on Shara, that I hadn’t paid any attention to Ezra’s bond. I reached for him…
But felt nothing. Just a blank spot where her grumpy bear was supposed to be.
Shara’s jaws clenched but she didn’t say a word as we followed after Keisha. I felt her reaching for him, too, her rising worry for him. If he was in pain, we couldn’t feel it. Surely, he would have shouted or alerted us for help if he’d been captured.
“This is my consiliarius, Madeline Skye. She’ll be my witness to the Triune that I’m satisfied with the terms of our arrangement.”
“My consiliarius, Gina Isador.” Shara hesitated a moment, and then asked, “you’re not bringing any of your Blood? Aren’t you afraid we’ll try to kill you and walk out of here without a second glance?”
“Gina used to work for…her.” Keisha’s voice roughened, as if she was trying to say Shara’s mother’s name, but couldn’t, which pissed her off. “I’m sure she’s told you that the Triune will be most displeased if something happens to me before we can resolve this debt. Even if you’re foolish enough to try and kill me in my own nest, surrounded by more than a thousand sibs, you won’t be able to escape a Triune death sentence. Who knows. Marne has a twisted sense of humor. I wouldn’t put it past her to command Guillaume de Payne to do the deed himself.”
We walked down a hallway that I didn’t recognize. I’d never been important enough in House Skye to warrant ever seeing the queen’s personal areas. Daire and I had eventually shared an apartment on the fifth floor. One step up from the public leased areas. A true indication of how low in House Skye we were.
When we came to another elevator, this one a small service elevator that wouldn’t hold more than a couple of us at a time, Shara balked. “Where are we going?”
“To the basement. You should leave your Blood here, or at least make them shift back.” Keisha stepped into the elevator and turned around to face us with a shrug. “Ezra is your Blood now. If you don’t come with me, he’ll die. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t care, you can wait here, and I’ll be back shortly. But I assure you, I have something to show you that’s most relevant to your interests.”
:I don’t like it,:I growled in our bond.
Shara sighed back, though outwardly, she didn’t make a sound.:I know. But what choice do we have? I have to find him.:
She kissed each of her shifted Blood on their heads. “Wait for me here.”
Daire wound around her, almost knocking her down on top of him in his furious determination to stay with her.
“No, Daire. I want you to stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She untangled herself and took my hand. Gina and Madeline stepped onto the elevator, and then Shara and I joined them, though with my size, it was a tight fit. I hoped to goddess that Keisha had made the formal claim to the Triune. If she was lying about it…
Then we were headed straight into a trap and there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do about it.
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