Page 40 of Queen Takes Checkmate
:Did the new Blood tell you something useful about Ra?:
I breathed in Vivian’s scent of cinnamon and herbs, my mouth watering.:Yes. I know why he tried to take Xochitl and it wasn’t just to kill her. It’s horrible. Please, keep her safe.:
:Do you even know where he is?:Mayte asked.
Vivian lifted her head and stared into my eyes solemnly. “Are you going to kill him?”
Without hesitation, I replied, “Yes.”
Lingering tension bled out of Vivian until she lay soft and relaxed in my arms. “Then I will tell you everything I know. Including how to find Heliopolis.”
15
Shara
Iclosed my eyes a moment, battling down my dread. Not because of Ra—but because of the price I would have to pay. Knowing the horrors he was committing on young women… How could I not pay that price? I had to stop him. No matter what. No matter how many of us died.
If he’d managed to take Xochitl…
Thank you, Great One, for allowing me to save her. Please help me save them all.
“He hates us,” Vivian whispered, her voice raw as the words tumbled out of her. “Queens especially, but all women. He allows his minions to torture even the youngest, because he honestly does not care if we live or die. No, that’s not true. I think he wants us all to die, especially his children, because we’re a reminder of what he did to sire us, and his failure to sire a queen of his own. Not one of us are queens. We only carry his foul blood.
“For all the hate and filth that he spews, his desires are infinite. I’ve seen him fuck every female in the main temple and then walk naked and still erect through the breeding grounds, looking for anyone he might have missed. I think that’s why he hates queens so much. They remind him of his weakness. His desire. He doesn’t want to desire a queen, but he fucks like he’ll die if he doesn’t come.”
“Is he always there? How many queens does he have?”
“He stays away as long as possible. His priests are always trying to cleanse him of his thirst for Aima pussy like it’s some kind of poison or curse. He distracts himself with humans as long as possible. Sometimes it’s a day, or a week, maybe even a month. When I was a child, we sometimes were free of him for even a year at a time. But inevitably, his desires overpower him, and the longer he has denied himself, the worse it is for anyone in his city. The last time I was there, he only had two queens left, but that was over a hundred years ago. The rest of his captives have died, and Aima queens aren’t born often enough to satisfy his perverse pleasures. The sunfires rage all the time, desperate for flesh. It’s all he can do to keep them from breaking loose and ravaging the humans. But he dares not let them kill his last queens, for fear that he won’t be able to find another to take their place, if he hasn’t already killed them himself.”
I swallowed hard, inwardly shuddering at how close Xochitl had been to that horror. Or even myself. Maybe that was why my mother had decided to have me in secret. Not because she was afraid of what Keisha Skye or the Triune would do to me… but to keep me out of Ra’s grasp as long as possible.
I rubbed my thumb in one of the pockets of scar tissue in her back. “What are these from?”
She shrugged like it was no big deal. “The sunfires burn when they touch you. They like to drip their essence on us, sometimes as punishment, but sometimes just because they liked watching us scream. It burns like acid. Sepdet can make his arms into burning, liquid sunlight whips that curl around and dig into your flesh. That’s the worst. But they all can burn us.”
“How many sun demons does he have?”
She shook her head, her mouth a grim slant. “Too many. At least a thousand.”
Ideas exploded in my head rapidly, alternatives that I considered and quickly dismissed. If they were liquid sunlight, I didn’t think water or rain would affect them. Fire, I could smother. Maybe with darkness, somehow? My cobra wouldn’t be able to deal with them. Wings wouldn’t help me. My mind ticked through each Blood. Rik’s rock troll might be okay against sun demons, since he couldn’t melt, and probably Leviathan. Surely his hide would protect him. But the others…
Vivian brushed her lips against mine, drawing my attention back to her. “Maybe that’s one reason your goddess called me, my queen. You can fight fire with fire.”
I settled against the pillows, deliberately letting my thoughts turn to sex and blood. I couldn’t defeat Ra this very moment. It wasn’t time. Not yet.
I had to get stronger. Taking this new Blood would help in that regard.
She felt me softening against her and her eyes blazed brighter. “You hunger, my queen. May I have the pleasure and honor of feeling you come while you feed from me? Or have you had your fill of sex already this evening?”
Somebody snorted. Loudly. I didn’t have to look to know it was Mehen.
“Everybody out,” Rik said, giving a hard, no-nonsense alpha push toward the door. “Work in pairs and secure the building. Guard the main doors on the first floor. Mehen and Nevarre to the roof, and the rest of you fuel up. Our queen may yet have need of you again before she handles the rest of Skye business.”
I didn’t wait for them to leave. I locked my mouth to the punctures I’d already made on her throat. We Aima healed quickly, but when I sucked on the two wounds, her blood filled my mouth as if eager to hear my call.
She shifted closer on my left side and ran her palm down my flank in one smooth, confident swipe that brought my body to life. While I’d enjoyed my time with Mayte, we’d both been inexperienced in how to please another woman. With one touch, Vivian told me she could send me to the heavens as many times as we wished. Though she kept a wary eye on Rik on my other side, as if she didn’t quite trust that he wouldn’t interfere.
I didn’t have to ask him to give us a little space. He rolled from the bed and quietly paced around the room, checking the windows to make sure they were secure.
