Page 88 of Queen Takes Checkmate
I drew hard on my bonds, calling my reserves to flood me with power. Eleven Blood bonds emptied a bottomless well of magic directly into me.
I wrapped my body in the Morrigan’s Shadow, and the agony ceased immediately. With a thought, I healed my burned flesh. I hung suspended in a flood of liquid gold and stared back at the god who’d hurt so many.
My voice echoed through the Great Pyramid, rising with power. “I am Shara Isador, last daughter of Isis, She Who Is and Was and Will Be. Lady of Heaven, Queen of the Gods, hear your daughter’s prayer. What You began, allow me to finish in Your blessed name.”
I shoved my fist into the hole that Huitzilopochtli had made with his spear and closed my hand around Ra’s heart. With a shout, he threw me aside, but I clutched his beating heart in my hand and took it with me.
I fell into solid granite that clutched me like I was a baby kitten. Rik. He cradled me in his arms but didn’t try to stop me. He knew, as I did, that my greatest work yet remained.
Lifting my hand into the air, I held Ra’s thumping heart above us. “The red serpent made you mortal, Lord of Sun. It gave you a heart.” I paused, watching the horror slipping across his face like a frosted glaze of ice. “A heart that can be judged.”
He fell to his knees. “No. It cannot be. The Lord of All Things cannot be judged. I am immortal.”
A gong echoed through the Great Pyramid, resounding off the golden walls. A set of scales appeared before me. Whispers flowed down from above, though I couldn’t understand the words. I looked up, and the top of the pyramid was gone. People looked down from a balcony on all sides, watching the proceedings. From the Isador book, I knew they were the forty-two judges.
Beyond them, where the peak of the pyramid had been, I saw only clear, blue sky, shining like a single eye.
Something drifted down from the upper level and came to rest on one side of the scale.
Ma’at’s feather of truth.
Ra crawled on his knees closer to me, hands rising beseechingly.
Rumbling with fury, Rik braced against me. My wolf and black dog both crouched in front of us, hackles rising. My warcat pressed against Rik’s leg and roared. Ezra rose up on his hind legs, all nine feet tall of sheer bulk and vicious teeth. My gryphon let out a piercing shriek.
Tlacel and Nevarre streaked in above us, circling on silent wings. I didn’t turn to look behind me, but I felt the heat of Leviathan’s fire and smelled the burning cinnamon and myrrh of my phoenix.
Tears flooded my eyes, my throat aching. The only Blood missing was Guillaume.
Last Templar knight, made headless by my own hand.
Had this death been final because I dealt it to him? Was his life the price for the red serpent?Please,I prayed, closing my eyes.I can’t. Please don’t take him.
:What the fuck took you so fucking long?:Ezra retorted.
:You fucking made her cry, asswipe,:Mehen growled.:Fucking headless knight.:
Beloved hands cupped my cheek. Fingers once broken and twisted, now made whole, wiped my tears away. “My queen. Take me. I’m yours.”
I didn’t open my eyes but flung my free arm around his neck. My knight. Fully healed. I hugged him so hard he grunted, but my joy was short lived.
I still had to lose someone.
But first, I had to finish Ra.
I pressed a soft kiss to Guillaume’s lips. Rik set me on my feet and I stepped closer to the scale.
“Begin the Declaration of Innocence,” a deep voice boomed from above.
I laid Ra’s heart on the opposite scale, and for a moment, it balanced perfectly with Ma’at’s feather. Until he began to recite the required script.
“I have not done crimes against people…”
The heart tipped heavier. A tremor shook Ra’s shoulders, almost completely white now. His sun power leeched away, draining into the golden lake.
“I have not done any harm. I have not blasphemed a god or goddess.”
With each sentence, the heart tipped the scales and the whispers above grew louder.
