Page 19 of Queen Takes Checkmate
“Guillaume.”
He moved, so elegantly and quickly that I doubted she felt a thing. Just like in Kansas City, when he’d killed the curious saleslady who’d been tainted by Marne Ceresa, he effortlessly beheaded Alessandra Sito.
The rest of my Blood inched closer to me, shoulders tensing. Hackles rising. Teeth bared.
They wanted blood. They wanted to kill, too.
Three men ran forward, jostling my Blood to get to Alessandra, evidently their queen, but they were too late.
I looked at Vega and she dropped to her belly on the floor and hid her face.
“Must I look through Llewellyn’s eyes to see your sins, or will you face what you’ve done?”
“Kill me, Your Majesty,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I beg you.”
The rest of Keisha’s Blood mirrored her, falling forward on the cold marble. Alessandra’s three Blood joined them silently. Accepting their fate.
I glanced at each one of my Blood except for Rik and gave them each a nod.
My stomach churned. My eyes still ached in my skull. But I watched every moment as my men executed the dead queens’ Blood.
6
Mehen
Ienjoyed drinking blood, but it was wonderfully feral to tear apart my queen’s enemies and feast on their flesh. I curled around the chair where she sat, my head on my tail, my belly pleasantly stuffed. It’d been a very long time since Leviathan had been so well fed. I hadn’t even digested the Skye sibs I’d eaten earlier when I’d finally managed to break through the fucking roof.
The warcat jumped up on top of me to get closer to our queen and I didn’t even bother with a growl. Daire stretched out along my heaving side and settled in to lick his muzzle and claws clean. The marble floor was coated in congealing blood, shredded fabric, and a few grisly remains that even I wouldn’t bother with.
On his knees, Llewellyn had folded himself up so she could cradle his head against her breasts. Lucky asshole. Even if some bitch queen had torn out his eyes. Rik had his beefy arms wrapped around her, his giant body swallowing her up. She drooped a little, her face pale, though she’d watched us carry out her orders without flinching. Even if that meant tearing into meat while it was still kicking.
“Call the blood to you,” Rik rumbled softly. “Then you won’t have to look at it.”
“It’s not my blood to call.”
I’d never heard her voice so… fragile. My slitted eyes locked on her, nostrils flaring. If she needed blood, I’d shift and offer a vein, even if my human belly would hurt for a week.
“It is,” Rik insisted gently. “This is your building. These are your sibs, even if you haven’t taken them. Their blood will come to your call.”
She allowed her head to fall back against his shoulder with a weary sigh. Closing her eyes, she relaxed against him. My scales itched as she called up her magic, the row of barbs down my head and spine rising with interest. Dried blood peeled away from my hide and floated toward her, joining the droplets from the floor and the rest of her Blood. She absorbed it with a small shiver.
If I hadn’t been in my dragon form, I’d probably have shit myself. Soaking in that much blood energy was no easy feat. Yet she took it into her reserves like she’d dribbled a little blood on the floor, rather than the slaughtered remains of fifteen people.
Her color improved, and she didn’t wilt so heavily against Rik. When she spoke again, her voice rang with confidence. “Virginia, come forward.”
A crying woman with a Blood on either side of her approached our queen. Lushly beautiful with full ruby lips and a curvaceous figure, she was gorgeous even with swollen eyes and drippy nose. I’d let G slice and dice my nuts if she wasn’t descended from Aphrodite. Once upon a time, I might have taken a great deal of pleasure in fucking such a queen before I ate her.
Now, though, all I wanted was the dark beauty ofmyqueen. My Shara. Mine.
Rik gave an alpha jab through the bond that knocked my possessiveness down a notch, though I still nudged my nose closer to Shara’s ankle so I could lick the top of her foot.
Virginia knelt gracefully several paces away with a wary eye on me, even though I made no defensive move toward her. My belly was too full to move quickly, but Daire tensed slightly. He’d be ready to pounce on her at the first moment of trouble.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. I colluded with Alessandra to bring down Keisha Skye for her, and indirectly, for Marne Ceresa. I didn’t object when Keisha tortured her alphas. May Aphrodite strike me down this very moment if I lie. I swear that I never participated in any torture, of any persons. Ever. Not here in Skye Tower or elsewhere. I was weak, yes. I was afraid. I did as I was told. But I didn’t participate.”
“I appreciate your honesty,” Shara replied. “I ask that you leave my tower immediately.”
Virginia opened and closed her mouth several times before finally saying, “I must leave? I’m grateful for your mercy, Your Majesty, but I have nowhere else to go.”
