Page 44 of Queen Takes Knights
That could mean a lot of different things. Overcome by someone? Or overcome by a geas? A spell? An illness?
“Can you tell me anything else?” Shara asked softly.
“Regrettably, I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. Not…” Dr. Borcht sucked in a loud breath. “Now. Another. Time. You…” She cleared her throat forcefully. “You’re very strong. I have a feeling that you will be able to take care of this if you set your mind to it.”
Something crashed outside and we all jumped. It sounded like a tank was trying to tear down the gate.
I flexed my hands, eager to tear some thralls limb from limb for scaring my queen. Daire leaped down off the bed, claws ticking on the wood floors. “They’re here,” I said for Dr. Borcht and Gina.
“I can send some private security over to help,” Gina said. “They’re human, but trained soldiers. They won’t hesitate in shooting something they can’t explain and can be trusted not to spread stories about it.”
“No,” I replied, “but thank you. Our queen has Blood. We will defend her.”
Shara ended the call. I could still feel her fear shimmering in the bond, but she tipped her chin up and shook her hair back over her shoulders. “You’re not going to lock me up in the basement and leave me while you go fight.”
I inclined my head, even though I would have loved to do exactly that. One did not try to keep a queen from the battlefield, though. No matter how much I wanted to keep her safe. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
“How can I fight them?”
:She can use my ketars,:Daire said through the bond.
I dug around in the pile of clothes and found his weapons. I showed her how to wear them, slipping the greaves onto her forearms. The inside grip was made for Daire, and her hands were much smaller. I’d need to make her a custom set of her own if she liked them.
“I do,” she whispered, one side of her lips quirking. “You made these? Then I like them even better.”
:We joke that he was born in the wrong century because he’s a natural blacksmith.:
I watched her give a few experimental swipes. The blades on the ends were wicked sharp. She ought to be able to decapitate anything that came within arms reach, but I didn’t intend to let anything get that close to her. “Remember your power, my queen. Leave the physical fighting to us, but use your magic to hurt them.”
“What magic? I don’t know how to use it.”
I picked her up and headed downstairs to see what they’d used to try and breach our defenses.
:You will,:Daire purred through the bond.:Magic has a way of knowing how to work itself out when your need is great enough.:
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Shara
Everything was happening too fast. Just days ago—had it really only been three?— I’d been going about my job as usual, dreading having to move. Now I had two lovers, learned that I was a vampire gazillionaire, and that Dad wasn’t my biological father at all. I needed time to process everything, which I didn’t have, because monsters were trying to break down the fence protecting the house.
The backyard was completely dark, so it took me a moment to figure out what had taken out the super-bright light pole. A car had crashed into the pole, which now lay over the top of our wrought-iron fence. The fence still stood—but thralls were clambering up the pole, using it as a bridge to get into the yard.
Like a black shadow, Daire silently raced across the yard. As soon as the first monster dropped off the pole inside the fence, he snagged it in his mighty jaws and ripped it in half.
Alrik lumbered over and picked up the pole like it was a toothpick and heaved it back over the fence, shaking monsters off for Daire.
I mostly stood there and felt useless.
Which pissed me off. I had blood simmering in me. Blood that was supposed to give me powers directly from a goddess. The fuck I was going to stand here and wait for my men to save the day.
But I really had no idea what to do, or how to do it. It was so dark that I couldn’t see beyond the fence, so I had no idea how many more monsters were coming, unless I used the mind tapestry. Only I’d have to close my eyes to see the pockets of evil moving toward us, and I didn’t want to lose sight of the battle.
I needed some light.
With that thought, I noticed a gleaming ember on my arm. Glowing like a red firefly, the drop of blood spun soft light across my skin. I concentrated on that ember and pictured the other smears and droplets on my body and dress also shining. I would glow like a bonfire. The blood would light up the night. Brighter. I looked back toward the yard and I could see the crashed car now, still smoking. I had no idea monsters could drive cars. That brought a whole new thing to be terrified of.
The ketars Daire had lent to me were too heavy and my hands ached already from holding on to them. Besides, they weren’t going to let any of those monsters get anywhere near me. I knew that much. Sighing, I bent down and let go of the handles, leaving them stacked on the ground by the back door.
