Page 55 of Queen Takes King
“My child. What may I help youwith?”
Closing my eyes, I pictured my bedroom at home with the golden glow blazing from bits of skeleton andarmor.
Her arms tightened against me, crushing me to her. “Ra has marked you. He tried to take you. How did you escape hisnet?”
I let the memory of how I’d broken the portal flicker through mymind.
She laughed and white roses suddenly burst up from the ground and wrapped around us, their perfume divine. She loosened her fierce grip on me. “I would have dearly loved to see his face when you broke hismagic.”
“My Blood are afraid the lingering magic will draw his fanatics to us. That it’s like a beacon. So how can I get rid ofit?”
“It will, left unchecked.” She sighed against my ear. “One thing to remember about light. Everything living needs it to an extent. Everything living can use its warmth and glow for themselves. Just control how much sunlight you take. You’ll feel when you’ve had too muchsun.”
She kissed my neck, her lips hard and strange. Again, all I could compare it to was a statue, coming to life. I wondered what it would take to make her warm and softagain.
“More blood than you have in your body, dear one. And I need you alive and well too much to indulge in even one small taste of your blood, even though you tempt me. You tempt me greatly. So alive. So sparkling and rich andpure.”
“My mother said I’m controlled chaos. Is that why you needme?”
“Yes. One reason. And someday I hope you’ll continue my line with manydaughters.”
The thought of children almost made me run in the opposite direction. I’d never been around children. Never wanted one of myown.
“Someday youmay.”
I liked that She didn’t make demands of me. It was my choice. Even if Her line died withme.
She loosened her arms, slowly moving away, and I didn’t want her to leave. Not yet. There were so many things I wanted to know. I wanted to ask her about my mother, my father, theking—
“Take your king.” Her voice sounded further away, though I still smelled the perfume of her hair. “And build a place of safety that Ra cannotpenetrate.”
Iopened my eyes,startled when I realized everyone was staring atme.
Rik’s face softened, the lines between his eyes smoothing. “Myqueen.”
“She told me what to do.” I paused a moment, looking at my two human… servants. I was going to have to get rid of the negative connotation that word carried in my head. Gina was my friend, not someone I wanted to order around. Even though I was her employer, her queen, it felt demeaning to think of her as a servant. “Brace yourself. When I do this… I don’t know what it’ll feel like for you. If you’ll feel anything atall.”
Gina nodded, settling more firmly on the bed. Frank braced a hand against the bed, still on his knees besideus.
I looked up at Rik. I hadn’t felt so tired in a long time. My eyes were already heavy, and I had to concentrate on putting words together. “This is probably going to knock me outawhile.”
He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “Sleep well, myqueen.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. Some of the blood here was period blood. I knew what that would do. I wasn’t sure how hard the sunlight would hit. So I decided to deal with itfirst.
In my mind, I carefully touched one of those glowing bones. Golden light clung to me, but it didn’t burn or hurt. I rubbed my finger and thumb together, spreading a pleasant glowing warmth into myskin.
I spread my arms out, palms up, and pulled the light toward me, concentrating on my hands. Droplets of liquid sunlight floated to me, dancing through the air like fireflies. My hands glowed brighter, almost like twin suns. There was a lot of golden energy in the room. I could feel the power coursing through my hands. Enough solar energy to power the house. Maybe the whole city. I pulled all the light to me, until the landscape in my mind was dark, lit only by the deep red glow of blood and the light of mybonds.
Rik’s molten lava swirled around me. I carefully poured some of that golden light directly on his bond. I heard him inhale at the touch of warmth spilling through him. Then Daire’s purring warcat and Xin’s silver wolf. His eyes flashed like golden lamps in the darkest night. Guillaume’s snorting stallion pawed the ground as I neared. I stroked liquid sun into his black fur and it rippled, gleaming like a burnished coin before sinking down into hishide.
I still had a whole handful of light to dole out, so I moved to Gina and Frank’s bonds. They were thin, like threads, but I could feel them. I trickled light onto their bonds, but it didn’t seem to hold much. Hopefully it was enough to helpthem.
Some of the golden warmth sank through my skin as I worked. My blood heated, like it danced and sang in my veins. It was nice, yes… but deep down, I couldn’t forget that skeleton’s bony grip on my ankle. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that magic touching me, so I didn’t take much ofit.
I thought a moment, trying to decide what to do with the rest. It was a lot. I had to get rid of it, but that much might hurt even myBlood.
Thousands of miles to the south, I felt a tug. Chains rattled in a deep, dark space that time hadforgotten.
