Page 61 of Queen Takes Checkmate
Poor Winston was shaken to see me downstairs before noon and didn’t have anything ready for breakfast. Despite my assurance that I wasn’t going to dry up and blow away from starvation, he insisted I sit at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee and toast while he quickly whipped up a masterpiece omelet.
Nevarre strode in and handed me a cellphone. Sliding my arm around his waist to keep him from leaving, I answered, “Hello?”
“You’ve rattled everybody with this new schedule,” Gina replied tartly, though I heard the amused grin in her voice. “Frank came here instead of the house. Should I send him over or would you rather come here?”
I didn’t have to think very hard. “Please send him over here, and if you’re free, I’d like you to be here too.”
“Of course. We’ll head over straight away.”
“No rush, unless you haven’t had breakfast yet.”
I disconnected the call and handed it back to Nevarre. “I’d forgotten I even had a phone. Have you had it the whole time?”
His lips quirked, and he nodded. “We thought it would be easier if one of us was responsible for it. Only Gina ever calls you, and since she’s usually with you, you shouldn’t need it very often. I’m happy to keep it charged and ready for you, my queen.”
He even made managing my phone sound dirty. Which I liked, very much indeed. I trailed my fingers down over his buttock playfully. He wore his kilt, tempting me to reach underneath and see exactly how charged and ready he was.
His voice deepened. “I’m always ready for you, my queen.”
My fingers found bare skin and I started to make my way up his thigh, pushing the hem of his kilt up with my wrist. “Where do you even put a phone? Does your kilt have pockets?”
Winston coughed politely. “Your omelet is ready, Your Majesty.”
Regretfully, I allowed the material to fall back in place. “You need to show me later, Nevarre.”
He bowed formally, bending at the waist, which sent his shiny black hair waterfalling over his shoulder to brush my arm. “With pleasure, my queen.”
I’d barely taken a bite, when I heard Gina talking with Magnum as they headed to the kitchen. They stepped inside, and Gina gasped. “Miracles do happen! She’s awake before noon!”
“Haha, very funny,” I grumbled with a blush.
The marble island went on for miles, so there was plenty of room for Gina to take a seat beside me. Frank carefully set a box covered in white linen in front of me and then backed away slowly, like it’d bite him if he startled it.
“Thank you, Frank. Sorry to drag you all the way out to New York City.”
He started to blush too and waved off my appreciation. “It’s an honor, Your Majesty. Besides, this gave me the chance to check on the new hires. I hope they’ve been doing a good job for you so far?”
“Yes, a definite improvement over the guards Keisha Skye had. I love the uniforms too.”
He wore the black Isador shirt, though he wore black cargo pants rather than khakis. “A team always seems to perform better when they have a uniform they can be proud of. If it’s alright, I’ll head back over and make sure they’re following procedures.”
“Of course. Thanks again.”
“Should I give you some privacy, Your Majesty?” Winston asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I pulled off the white linen cloth and set it aside so I could look at the box itself while I finished my breakfast. Daire refilled my coffee cup before I was ready to open it up.
I’d put off looking at its contents since that first time in Kansas City. I knew what was inside. I’d seen it before, or at least glanced at it. Four ancient clay jars and a thick, leather-bound book that had been hand-stitched and painstakingly copied by my mother from all the Isador queens before her.
A compilation of my family’s entire history. Hopefully, it also included some hints on how I was supposed to defeat Ra. Without dying.
Dread tightened my stomach and I had to push my plate aside. I couldn’t eat another bite, not with my stomach in knots. Those four jars represented pieces of the goddess, Isis. Her gifts that Her daughters had inherited over thousands of years. Since I was the last daughter of Isis…
She’d given meallHer gifts.
I’d already transformed into a giant cobra queen and envenomed Rik. I’d sprouted wings in Venezuela when I freed Leviathan from his prison and added Mehen to my Blood. As the wyvern, I’d saved us both when he shifted back to his human form after centuries of imprisonment and tumbled out of the sky.
In Mexico, I’d gained the new form of a winged jaguar, partly Isis’ gift, and also partly my new queen sibling, Mayte’s, whose gift was calling jaguars.
