Page 73 of Queen Takes Rook
:You kill the shell it inhabits and force it to vacate the body,:Guillaume said in my mind. He raced toward me, knives in both hands. Leviathan had finally torn through the roof of the building and was blasting fire at anyone who thought to come after me.
My flames burned inside her, crisping her body, but she still lived. I wasn’t sure what else I could do, short of sinking my fangs into her. But the last thing I wanted to do was risk giving the demon a hold in my mind and body too.
Then I remembered. My knife. I patted the tiny pocket Alice had sewn into the delicate skirt and found my old knife. I flicked it open and moved closer to Tanza’s thrashing body.
“Help,” she whimpered in her child’s voice. “Help me. Save me. Please.”
My mind quailed. I couldn’t harm a child. Mom had died to save a child.
I thought of Xochitl lying hurt and scared like this and my stomach heaved at the thought of sinking my knife into her.
Sensing my hesitation, the demon chittered inside her, a high-pitched metallic laughter that tore at my flesh. Tanza’s hand shifted into a black talon that lashed out at Xin and sliced deeply into his stomach, nearly disemboweling him. Doubled over with pain, he struggled to hold on to the claw, using his own body to shield me from the brutal weapon.
Gritting my teeth, I clutched the knife in both hands. The only way to save the child Tanza had been was to end the demon’s dominion in her body.Forgive me, I thought at the universe in general, and slammed the blade into Tanza’s heart.
Guillaume brushed past me and swiped his blades in a quick arc that sent her head rolling to the side.
Black blood leaked out of her. Not human. Not Aima.
I crawled over to Rik and pressed my wrist to his mouth. Eyes closed, he sank his fangs into me. Nevarre helped Xin up and brought him to me. I offered him my other wrist. I sank into them both, letting my power flow through their bodies. Xin was easy to heal, though his wound was ugly.
Rik didn’t have as many visible injuries, but he was hurt internally, as if the demon had rubbed a cheese grater all over his organs and nerves, shredding them from head to toe. He fed long enough that I sagged against him, despite draining Keisha dry just moments before.
Guillaume stepped close and offered me his bleeding wrist. Nevarre pressed against my back, supporting me while I fed.
“Make sure you burn out the contamination from them both,” Guillaume said. “If not, the demon may be able to track either of them down, even years later, and slowly infect them with its evil.”
I cast my senses through Rik’s body, searching for any hint of the blood he’d been forced to take from Tanza. Small drops had spread through his body like a black cancer. I took my time, making sure I touched each one with my power until all traces were wiped away. He sat up and wrapped his arms around me, though he didn’t release my wrist yet. I nestled against his chest, breathed in his scent of smoking hot rock, and didn’t mind the tears of relief that dampened his shirt.
When he finally lifted his mouth, I sighed with regret.
“Perhaps we could continue this once we return to your home, my queen.”
I nodded, still feeling rather fuzzy, like my head would float away. Something wasn’t right, though. I wasn’t complete. I looked around my Blood and finally settled my gaze on Ezra.
He knelt at the edge of my Blood, head down with shame.
“Ezra.” He flinched but lifted his head. I held my hand out to him, and he slowly crawled closer to bury his face against me. “Shhhh. We’re all safe now.”
“I’m so sorry, my queen. I fell right into their fucking trap.”
I wrapped one arm around his shaggy head and held him to my chest. “This trap was set for me before my birth. If not you, then another one of us would have sprung it. It doesn’t matter now. We won. It’s over.”
He lifted his head, his eyes haunted. “Is it? I still feel her inside me.”
I looked over at the smoldering body. The fingers on her hand twitched.
Pressing my bleeding wrist to Ezra’s mouth, I sank through his body, searching for those black cells of her blood. As with Rik, I took my time, making sure Ezra fed well, and that I didn’t miss a single drop of contamination that he might carry.
Something rustled in the hallway. Rik dragged me up into his lap. Daire crouched over our legs. Guillaume whirled with a foot-long bloody knife in his hand.
“It’s me,” Vega said hurriedly, stepping out into the blue-tinted light, hands up. “Just checking on you. The troops are getting restless. They don’t know whether they should flee or swear to Isador.”
I blew out a sigh. This was the part I’d dreaded from the beginning. The business of taking over a house as large as Skye was going to be tedious in the extreme. I held out my hands and Nevarre took one, Itztli the other, helping me stand. “Let’s make sure this body is completely destroyed before we leave.”
“Good idea.” Guillaume used his boot to push the severed head closer to the body. “You may have to douse it with your blood and light it on fire that way, my queen.”
I nodded, holding my hand out to him. He cradled my palm in his and carefully widened the bite in my wrist to allow my blood to drip in a steady stream. I coated the small body in blood, until my knees quivered, and I felt lightheaded again.
