Page 91 of Queen Takes Checkmate
I released Llewellyn and scanned the ground, trying to remember where Ra had melted. Buried in the malleable golden floor, I found the necklace he’d been wearing. I pulled it up out of the gold. Frantically, I scanned each glyph, trying to tell which one was Huitzilopochtli’s. I didn’t know his language. I couldn’t read the glyphs like I could Egyptian ones, but there was only one with a bird on it.
I jerked the scarab free of the chain and stepped back to Huitzilopochtli. I held it out toward him, and the scarab started to glow. It thumped in my hand. Once. Twice. Faster as it neared his chest.
Pulling my hand back, I gripped the amulet fiercely in my fingers and held my fist up. “His heart. For my Blood.”
She jerked back in Her throne as if I’d slapped Her. Eyes narrowed, She gave me a long, hard look that spoke of a maddened mama bear protecting her cubs. “One of your humans, then.”
“No. Not one. What this queen takes, she loves, and she loves for all time. I love them all. I won’t give them up.”
She leaned forward, the snakes on Her skirt hissing furiously. The jaguars on either side of Her bared their teeth, braced, ready to pounce. But I refused to back down. “We. Had. A bargain.”
I squeezed the amulet harder. It was some kind of stone. I could crack it into pieces without much effort. “Yes. And I gave you exactly what you wanted.”
Rik stepped up and wrapped his hand around my fist, stroking my fingers until I slowly loosened my fierce grip on the scarab. “My queen, Great Mother, I believe I have a solution that will please you both.”
“Yes?” We both retorted.
“Take all of us.” I started to open my mouth to retort,are you fucking crazy?But he gently laid his fingers against my lips. “When one of us dies, take us all. Especially if it’s our queen. We’d all rather go with her when she dies anyway.”
“Aye, yes, take me,” echoed around me, my Blood stepping up to join us.
“You Aima live a very long time,” Coatlicue said, though Her furious glare faded. “How long must I wait to collect on this bargain?”
“As long as it fucking takes,” Ezra retorted. Gulped. Then added, “Great Mother. Sorry.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Ah, child. What a collection of interesting creatures you’ve called to your side. How about this. No matter how many Blood you call in the future, they will all die at the same time. Not one will be left behind to mourn the others.”
I closed my eyes a moment, concentrating on settling my emotions so my voice didn’t crack. “Even me?”
She nodded, her eyes gleaming with amusement. “Even you. Few would stand against the Mother of the Gods to fight for what she wanted. I’m satisfied with the price of my red serpent,if,” She hardened her voice. “You give my son back his heart.”
“Done,” I said faintly and quickly pressed the scarab to Huitzilopochtli’s chest. The stone fell away and the glow disappeared into his flesh, though I heard the rapid beating as it sank inside his ribcage.
Huitzilopochtli stood, towering higher and broader than ever, fully restored to his former glory as the god of sun and war. He bowed low to me and took my hand to press a kiss against my knuckles. “Lady, I thank you.”
I inclined my head to him. “Thank you, my lord.”
“Huitz,” a sweet voice called to him. He looked toward his mother, and a young woman stood beside the throne. Her face gleamed with joy, her eyes shining with happy tears. With her long brown hair and delicate cheekbones, I recognized her easily as Mayte’s mother, Citla.
He swept her up in his arms. “My star.”
I blinked, and they were gone.
“Let’s blast this shithole,” Mehen growled.
I threw my arms around Rik’s neck and burst into tears.
37
Shara
We flew down the freeway in the middle of the night. Stars twinkled in a perfectly clear sky, with a crescent moon rising. Freshly fallen snow made the world clean and perfect, reflecting the pearly moonlight so well we didn’t use headlights.
Rik’s chest was warm against me, his mighty arms braced on either side of me with his hands on the handlebars. Daire rode close beside us, and Ezra’s muddy Ford truck paced us in the other lane.
Mehen and Guillaume had raced each other for awhile, enjoying the purring rumble of their engines, but all too quickly they dropped back to ride near us.
Near me.
