Page 65 of Queen Takes King
He tucked his wings around her, folding her close against him.:It is finished. So we end, myqueen.:
They hovered a moment, sliding to a halt. And then they started the long fall back down toearth.
Faster. Picking up speed. They plummeted toward the ground at a speed that made me want tovomit.
Shara sucked on his throat, straining to take more of his blood. Fuck, she was so strong. Stronger than ever. Her power blazed like a beacon in the night, rising higher and higher. The ground split and cracked open. Trees quivered and crashed. Boulders rumbled down the steep sides of the mountain. The stars dimmed in the sky, unable to shine against the bright supernova that blazed fromher.
Ears pinned flat, Guillaume galloped in a dead run toward her, but I didn’t think he’d make it. Even if he managed to catch her, I didn’t think it would help. He’d only be deadtoo.
:Let go of him,:I roared through our bond.:Use your power to slow yourdescent.:
:I can’t let go of him or he’lldie.:
:Then let him die! We can’t loseyou!:
Grim determination shone in her bond like a naked sword hot from the forge.:No one’s dying. Nottoday.:
I felt Leviathan ripple against her. Spiraling ever faster toward the earth, he started to shift. Wings dissolved. Scales melted. The dragon swallowed up by our queen as she drained him dry. She literally took the dragon into her. I could feel its massive form slithering inside her. It hissed and roared and blazed with all its wrath inside her. Tearing at her bonds, her heart. I felt her bleeding inside. Battered. But she wouldn’t let go, not of the man in her arms, nor of his dragon that was trying to tear its way out of herbody.
Seconds slowed. I had time to gauge how hard she would hit the ground. Guillaume was close… but he wouldn’t make it. Xin’s wolf leaped into the air, soaring higher than I’d ever seen a wolf jump, but he fell short and landed hard, rolling and tumbling into a steep ravine with ayelp.
Ten feet.Nine.
Horrifying visions filled my head. Her bones broken. Her blood splattered everywhere. Her screams of pain, but worse, would be her silence. Helplessness ate through my gut like acid. I couldn’t save my queen. I couldn’t catch her. None of us could. We were doomed to love her, to hear her call, and enjoy her sweet blood and spirit this short time, only to watch her die a horrible death before our veryeyes.
Eight.
Her power surged even higher. Light blinded me, but it wasn’t Ra’s golden glow. Shara was white-hot. Lightning and ice, moonlight and cold, water and pure. She glowed brighter, so fierce, I had to shield my eyes. Something grew in that brutal light but I couldn’t make out itsshape.
The dragon finally clawed its way out of her, but it was changed. It didn’t have hind legs at all, only a long, black body and massive hood like her cobra queen. A ruby-red diamond gleamed on that hood, the same as when she’d envenomedme.
Cobras couldn’t fly. Even my cobraqueen.
Seven.Six.
Guillaume leaped toward her, neck outstretched, jaws wide, as if he could catch her in his mouth. The tip of his nose brushed the end of her tail, but he too fell short. He landed hard, whirled, ready to tryagain.
Wings unfurled, knocking him aside. With a mighty snap, her wings caught air and she swept away from us and back up toward thesky.
:Wyvern:Guillaume panted in our bond.:Never saw thatcoming.:
My lungs burned, my massive thighs aching like I’d run a marathon. I was built for strength, not speed, and rock weighed a ton. Literally. I stumbled to a halt and braced my hands on my knees, head down, and just breathed deep and hard a few moments. Daire wormed his head under my arm, panting just as hard as me.:I’m going to go check onXin.:
I gave him a single nod, too tired to even respond in the bond. He loped over the edge of the ravine to find thewolf.
Guillaume trotted over, his sleek sides wet and splattered with foam. Blowing hard, he scanned the sky.:Do you seeher?:
I straightened and looked too, but she was impossible to see against the night sky. “She’s close. I think she’s comingback.”
Straining to hear the beat or rustle of her wings, I listened to her bond, trying to pinpoint how far away she was. Goddess, it felt like she was right on top of us but I couldn’t see a fuckingthing.
A black shape dropped in front of me, so close I flinched back involuntarily. Tucking her wings tight to her body, she dropped into a neat coil with a dark-skinned man in her smaller forearms. He didn’t move. I wasn’t sure that he was alive. His throat was a mess, torn open by two huge punctures. Blood coated him and her muzzle, dripping down herchest.
She arched up, her hood flared wide. The ruby stone caught fire and she swayed, eyes closed. A sound filled the night, almost like singing without words, music without notes, rhythm without actual beats. Like if I could just hear it a bit more loudly, I’d recognize it. I’d know the song and remember its melody. It stirred something deep inside me. Something ancient that had slept as long as the mountains and had only just realized it had opened itseyes.
That music pulled our beasts back inside before we’d even realized we’d shifted. Including ourqueen.
Bleeding but whole, she shifted the man’s head up with her good arm, lifting him to her throat. “Rik, canyou—”
