Page 11 of Captivated
In our bond, I felt Shara so clearly that she could have been standing at my back. Her other sibling, Mayte, stood beside her. Three queens, united, their power at my fingertips.
Shara was the stronger queen, but she didn’t hold back her power from me. In my mind’s eye, her power gleamed like opal rainbows. Mayte’s power was green and lush like the jungle. My power was pure white light. I was to shine like a brilliant captured star on the darkest night.
I braided our powers together and pushed a blast at Arthur, smacking him in the chest.
He staggered back a step, his eyes widening. But then he chuckled, shaking his head. “My little queen has gotten stronger this time around. Excellent. We’ll be invincible together. Camelot will be ours once more, Guinevere.”
“Gwen,” I gritted out. “I’m not her. I never will be. I only have her blood in my veins and her nightmares in my head.”
:Can you kill him now?:Shara asked:What’s his weakness?:
:I don’t know. My light doesn’t hurt him. I’m mostly a healer. I can make him bleed, but he’d only laugh and enjoy the hell out of it. We’ve tried to kill him over the centuries, but he always manages to kill us too. We’re doomed to die together.:
:Not this time.:Mayte said in my head.:I’m mostly a healer too, but I could concoct a nasty virus or plague. The trick will be not allowing him to infect anyone else.:
I didn’t have a blood bond with her directly, but Shara’s bond acted as a bridge for us. In fact, I could feel Shara like a wagon wheel, with hundreds of connections spinning out around us. All the Isador siblings she’d acquired. The Zaniyah siblings. Her Blood. We all flashed and twinkled like fireflies around our beautiful dark queen.
:Let’s get him out of the circle before he kills anyone,:Shara said.:Unless you’re afraid he’ll turn on your Blood as they arrive.:
I wanted to throw my head back and wail at the risk, but it was our best move. I had to get him out of the circle to protect the tower. My Blood were well used to fighting him. Lance knew that most likely Arthur would be here lying in wait. He wouldn’t be stumbling into a fight unaware.Goddess, please protect them.
I shoved power at Arthur again, harder this time. He was prepared for me, but with two queens at my back, he couldn’t hold his ground.
Hissing, he started to shift to his dragon. Red scales formed on his cheekbones.
:Seize his dragon,:Shara said calmly, giving me a quick image of how she controlled Leviathan.:You don’t have a bond with him, but with the three of us, I think you’ll be able to prevent him from shifting.:
With our power roaring through me, I could see his dragon hovering inside him, swelling with power as he readied to shift. I looped our braided power around his dragon’s neck, and then held on for dear life.
The red dragon bulged against my hold, hissing and tearing at my magic. It didn’t hurt me, exactly, but I wasn’t used to channeling so much power. Sweat trickled between my breasts, and my knees trembled. My system was maxed out, red-lined, and quickly overheating. I wouldn’t be able to keep up the stream for long.
With my sibling queens at my back, we pushed and shoved the struggling man across the marble floor.
“You can’t do this to me,” he raged, fighting the wall of power inexorably pushing him toward the door. “I’m the King of Camelot. The Once and Future King! You’re mine, Guinevere. Mine!”
“I belong to no man.” I panted, gathering the last of my reserves. “Let alone you.”
All my rage. My fear, sorrow, and heartache. The suffering I’d endured thanks to this man. I took it all and shoved him with all my might.
He fell back tumbling through the glass windows, sliding across the sidewalk and out of Shara’s blood circle.
With my queen’s bond raging inside me, I stepped outside through the shattered window and focused on the shimmering wall protecting the tower. I jabbed the crescent moon into my thumb and allowed my blood to drip onto the circle Shara had laid around her building.
“Arthur Pendragon is revoked from this circle. He shall not pass. None of his blood shall pass. So let it be.”
He climbed to his feet, his eyes glittering with malice. He brushed at his once-flawless suit with sharp, jerky movements, his jaws clenched. Glass tinkled to the concrete, and he’d torn a hole in one knee. “You forget what I am. I’ll just fly over the circle tonight and feast. I’ll tear every single one of your precious siblings apart while you watch.”
Inside my head, Shara laughed grimly.:Leviathan assures me even he couldn’t soar high enough to get through my circle. Arthur won’t have a chance.:
“Good luck with that.” I kept my chin up, shoulders back, and locked my trembling knees. I refused to show any weakness before him. “The last daughter of Isis laid that blood circle. I think it’ll stand up to even you.”
A man roared far down the sidewalk on my right. “My queen!”
Lance. Goddess. My heart leaped with joy and terror both. If Arthur killed him…
People gasped and shouted as my knights charged up the sidewalk. Three of them. Tall, strong, proud, once the greatest knights of the Round Table, led by my shining golden-haired knight.
I would recognize Lancelot du Lac anywhere. Even with his hair cut short and spiky. Even dressed in jeans rather than armor. His blue-gray eyes blazed with the kind of love that keeps two souls locked on earth, struggling to find each other generation after generation.
