Page 77 of Queen Takes Checkmate
We’d all die.
No one else could stop him.
Someone nudged me with their foot. “Look, witch, and tell us which Blood this is.”
Groaning, I opened my eyes and forced my head to turn. An inch. Two.
Guillaume.
Oh G. My poor Templar knight. What are they going to do to you?
I rolled my head back around and to look up at the three men. Huitzilopochtli wore a convincingly arrogant sneer. The bald one had to be a priest. The other man with the jewelry…
I wasn’t sure. He wasn’t Ra. Other than that, I didn’t know.
I swallowed painfully, trying to get my mouth to work. “No. One.”
The man with the jewelry smiled with a strangely benevolent look on his face. “He’s no one you know? Is that what you’re trying to say, witch?”
He said witch like a slur. I wasn’t a witch. At least, I didn’t consider myself a witch. I was a motherfucking badass vampire queen who also worked some magic thanks to the Great One’s blessings.
Something told me all women were witches in his eyes. We all deserved to be burned at the stake. Boy, was he in for a big surprise when I torched his ass instead.
He leaned down and I noticed a golden disc hanging about his neck, marked with the rising sun. It started to glow, and I tried to avert my face to save my eyes. But he seized me by the hair and forced me to look into the burning orb that grew on his chest.
My eyes. They were bleeding, melting out of my skull.
Panting, I curled up in a ball. I didn’t know how long he’d blazed into me. If I had any eyes left.
I heard their low voices whispering several feet away. I couldn’t follow the conversation, only that the evil one said, “no bonds,” but doubtfully, as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
Please, Great One, help me. Help me hide my Blood until it’s time. Help me to keep them safe.
I heard their footsteps nearing. Shivering, I curled tighter, seeking the Shadow once more. The balm of endless night filled me, taking away the agony in my eyes. But they wouldn’t let me rest in the Shadow. That would be too easy.
They seized me, wrestling me up to my knees. I was sure one of them was Huitzilopochtli. He touched me like a warrior with grim, unwavering hands that were calloused and hard. No priest would have hands like that. The other man was probably the priest. I didn’t hear any golden chains sliding or tinkling as they dragged me up.
“If this man is no one to you, then it should be easy for you to feed on him and kill him.”
Don’t react. Don’t betray us.
I didn’t dare open my eyes. Not until the fires stopped burning in my skull. I could only hope that Guillaume didn’t react too. He was the most honorable man I knew. He couldn’t possibly betray us.
No.Iwould betrayhim.
“Heal yourself, witch. You’re in no shape to entertain His Imperial Majesty until you drink. You’re easy meat right now. He likes a little fire and spunk in his whores.”
I reached out a hand, blindly feeling for my knight. He snagged my hand, drawing me near.
I needed to make this convincing.
Feeding on him alone wouldn’t be convincing.
His gentle hands pulled me to him. Hands that had been twisted and broken in torture.
His body welcomed me. He told me without words that he understood. He made himself available to me, to use however I wished. He would endure with honor, proudly, regardless of my need.
I would have cried, except my eyes were a ruined mess.
