Page 90 of Queen Takes Checkmate
He lifted his face, hope burning in his golden eyes. “Citla waits for me?”
“She always has.”
He laughed with joy, settling back on his heels. “Thank you, Mother. Thank you.”
My Blood knelt around me. Rik beside me, his right arm around my waist. Daire pressed against my other side. My first two knights. Losing them would destroy me.
Losing any of my Blood…
“Great Mother.” Rik’s voice rang with authority, drawing Her gaze to him. “As alpha, I ask that you take me for the cost that must be paid.”
“No,” I whispered, pressing harder against him. “No! I won’t allow it.”
Coatlicue nodded. “Very well, child. Which would you ask me to take in his place?”
I trembled. Tears choked me. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t say a single name. I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t ever choose just one of them. Not to love. Not to kill.
I loved them all.
I needed them all.
“It’s as I thought,” She said, not unkindly, but as a weary mother who had lost many children in a long lifetime. “It’s never easy to choose.”
She plucked one of the writhing serpents from Her skirt and gave it a gentle toss in my direction. It plopped in front of me and rose up several inches, scanning us all. Its tongue flicked out, as if trying to decide who might taste better.
“The oldest Blood?” Coatlicue asked as the snake slithered closer to Mehen. Emerald eyes glittering, he gave the snake a sardonic bow. “He’s certainly had plenty of lifetimes already, but so few days with a queen he loves.”
“The headless knight has already paid a cost for your love,” She said as the snake bypassed Guillaume. “The bear’s grumpy attitude is needed to help you laugh. I think I should not take him. This time.”
The snake passed to Nevarre and hesitated, its head swaying back and forth.
“Ah, now, this one is quite interesting,” Coatlicue said. “He was already dead, but the goddess of life and death returned him to you. He’s a likely choice.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Nevarre. My Celtic raven.No, please, Great One. Not him.
Daire snorted. “You can’t take him. She’d miss his kilt too much, and he has the best hair.”
“I beg your pardon,” Vivian retorted, slinging her fiery red hair over her shoulder. “If anyone should be taken, it’s me. I’m her greatest enemy’s daughter.”
“No,” Llewellyn said roughly, pushing to the front of my Blood. He dropped down beside Huitzilopochtli. “I’m the logical choice. I served her mother faithfully for hundreds of years. Send me to her side and spare her daughter any pain of losing one of her own Blood.”
I pushed free of Rik and Daire and hurried to Llewellyn’s side. “No.”
Coatlicue didn’t even look at me but stared sadly at my mother’s Blood. “I’m afraid that your former queen does not wait in paradise for you. Instead, you must go ahead and prepare a place for her, because her spirit refuses to leave her daughter alone in this world.”
“Very well.”
“No!” I cupped his face, turning him to look up at me. His eyes were dark, the red-gold falling stars already extinguished. “You have too much to tell me. You haven’t shown me any of the scenes with my mother. You haven’t had the chance to tell me anything about her. How will I ever know her if you’re taken from me?”
“She walks with you,” he whispered, his face ravaged with sorrow. “You will always know her.”
I pulled his face against my stomach, wrapping my arms around his head. “No. I can’t bear it. Please, Mother of the Gods, please don’t take him.”
“Mother,” Huitzilopochtli waited until she looked at him. “This queen resurrected me. She saved me. How can you cause her such grief when she returns a beloved son to you?”
Coatlicue shook her head. “She has not returned you to your former glory, my son. Your heart is missing. She has breathed life into the shell of your body, but your soul will depart once this body fails.”
His heart was missing. Of course.
