Page 20 of Queen Takes Knights
He pressed his lips to mine in a hard, searing kiss. Goosebumps raced down my arms and my inner muscles clenched. It’d be very easy to lie back on the mattress and pull him down with me. My stomach gurgled again, so hungry for food, his blood, and his body that I couldn’t tell which I wanted more.
“Trust us,” he whispered against my mouth. “I swear on your sweet blood burning in my veins that there’s nothing we can’t take care of in your service. Absolutely nothing.”
Trust wasn’t something that came easily to me. I’d never had anyone but my parents to rely on, and they’d been gone a long time. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. My brain still whirled frantically about the best way to get blood out of the carpet, but I nodded.
“I’ll pack your things. Just tell me where everything is.”
I pointed to the backpack by the door. “That’s it.”
He looked at the single bag and Daire winced.
Alrik tightened his grip on the bedding and something ripped in protest, but his voice was even when he spoke. “Very well. We’ll get you dressed and get the hell out of this fucking town. As Isis is my witness, we’re taking you shopping in New York and Paris as soon as possible.”
I’d never been out of the Midwest, let alone the country. I still couldn’t get my mind wrapped around the idea of having that kind of money, rather than cleaning rooms just to have a roof over my head, but I let it slide. “I should jump in the shower first.”
“There’s no need,” Daire said as he grabbed my bag and last night’s clothes so I could decide what to wear. “You’re bathed in power now.”
Bathed in power? What? I looked down at my self and cringed. Blood splattered my skin and I felt gummy and sticky between my thighs. I should have gotten up in the night and cleaned up—
Alrik gave my shoulders a gentle shake. “My queen cleans nothing, even herself.”
“But—”
“Last night, how did you seek us that first time? Before we reached you?”
Unsure what that had to do with anything, I answered slowly, “I imagined the area around me like a tapestry in my mind.”
“Go there in your mind now. Picture this room as the tapestry.”
I closed my eyes and brought up the internal map of my surroundings. Involuntarily, I gasped. We glowed. We glowed so brightly it hurt my inner eye to look. Daire and Alrik were the deep, rich hue of molten lava and red-hot embers, and I gleamed with a soft pearly light that spun rainbows out in all directions. For miles and miles. Before they’d found me, I’d only been able to feel a few miles out, but now… I swear I could see the Missouri border, without even trying. A spot on the tapestry gleamed like a tiny candle in the window. I knew without touching it that was my childhood home in Kansas City more than two hundred miles away.
“See the blood in this room,” Alrik whispered. “The drops shine like jewels. If you touch one, you’d know whose blood it was.”
I pulled my awareness back to our vicinity, but it took me a few moments to see past the glowing lights to the droplets of ruby blood. They did glow like priceless jewels. I concentrated on one and I could taste Daire, feel his fur rubbing against me.
“Draw that blood into yourself. Pull it to you. Gather it up like you’re picking flowers, or calling birds home to roost. Our blood is yours to command. It will come to your call.”
With my eyes closed, I opened my arms and turned slowly, basking in our brilliant light. It was like dancing naked in a clearing beneath a full moon, incredibly liberating and exciting. The droplets of blood rose, dancing around me like ruby-red butterflies. They swirled for me, wove patterns in the air, and when I dropped my arms, the blood butterflies swarmed into my light.
I quivered, feeling the impact of that power in our shared blood. Even old and dark stains still carried power.
“Let the power roll through you. Imagine it pulling away anything impure that you don’t want to be on your body.”
The power was already washing down my body, as if it’d known what I wanted before Alrik had given me the idea. I could feel the prickle of energy racing down my skin, head to toe, and yes, I did feel cleaner. I opened my eyes and pushed my hair back. It was full and floating about my head, as if I’d loaded it with static electricity. “Um, wow.”
“Some queens can change their appearance that way—though it’s said to take a great deal of blood.”
The slight grim edge in Alrik’s voice told me that “great” didn’t mean a single feeding. In fact, he implied… violence. Maybe even murder. “Like Elizabeth Bathory?”
“Indeed. The Magyar was well pleased with Her daughter. Since her death, her house has never been the same.”
I wasn’t surprised that some of our kind had been evil. The touch of power still hummed on my skin, making me feel alive and full of energy. My hair had never been silkier. I felt like I could leap tall buildings and outrun thoroughbreds after tasting my two Blood. How much more power would I gain as I fed from them daily? What if others came? How much power would I gain? It gave me pause and sent a chill down my spine.
I had no illusions about human nature, let alone my own nature. I’d had my fill of hiding and running from the monsters. If I had a chance to fight, I’d take them on. I’d take them all on. If a queen came after me, I’d take her on too. I wasn’t going to let anyone take this newfound power from me, certainly never take my Blood from me. I’d fight for what was mine.
And if I gained more and more power each time I fed…
I had no idea what kind of monster I was capable of becoming.
