Page 89 of Queen Takes Triune
For a moment, yeah, I was afraid that he’d eat me. But that fear passed as I neared him. He could have dragged me into the water as soon as I’d neared the pool. He could have ripped me limb from limb or bashed my head against the side of the pool. Instead, he drew me steadily but gently down to him. He’d waited, somehow sensing the perfect moment to drag me under.
Besides, I’d seen a hint of his existence in my grotto, which told me all I needed to know about his purpose.
He was inside Marne’s house. He satisfied the compromise I’d asked for.
But he wasn’therBlood.
He was mine.
I could see him glowing blue-green in the tapestry of my mind, answering my desperate call for a way out of Marne’s terrible bargain.
Because it was terrible, for me at least. I loved my Blood and always would. If I had to start taking Blood I didn’t even care about just to keep my power and win a Triune seat, then fuck it all to hell and back again.
I wouldn’t do it.
He pressed his giant head against the bars and the singing stopped. He gave me such a mournful, desperate look. I didn’t need a bond with him to know what he was saying.
Get me the fuck out of here.
I grasped one of the ancient bars and gave it an experimental tug. It was still solid despite its age and as slippery as an eel with all that moss. Besides, he could have ripped them out with his tentacles if it was possible.
His glowing eyes moved down to the bottom right-hand corner of his cage, his tentacle shifting me in that direction. I used my hands, walking my way over to a black hole in the side of the rock.
Goddess. I didn’t like unknown, dark holes only big enough for my hand to slip inside. If a sea snake bit me, Rik would have to swim down and drag me back out. Though I didn’t think Marne would bother healing me.
Braced for something nasty to swim over my fingers, I stuck my hand gingerly into the hole, carefully feeling around for a lever to grab. Something tickled my fingers. Moss, I told myself. It was only moss. Not a creepy crawly.
I had my arm in the hole midway up to my shoulder before I found what I was looking for. There was a depression in the bottom of the hole, but the lever or switch that had been inside was long gone.
Frustrated, I pulled my hand out and scanned the ground. I needed a—
Oh, fuck me sideways. I had it. I had exactly what I needed.
I fumbled for the edge of my cape, searching for my knife that Rik had dropped into the secret pocket. My fingers were being stupid and ignoring what my brain told them to do.
My vision was getting darker, and my chest ached.
:Hurry,:Rik whispered in my head.:Even a badass vampire queen needs to breathe eventually.:
At his touch on the bond, my mind flashed to the scene above. Pulling off the act of the century, my Blood paced furiously along the edge of the pool, searching the water. Even though they felt me alive and unharmed, working to free the trapped creature at the bottom. Rik had them well in hand, though Ezra and Mehen were having a grand time yelling at each other while they threw punches and wrestled around on the ground.
Why they were fighting each other… I had no idea. But it made for an effective distraction.
Finally, I managed to slip the slim pocketknife out. Unsure how long I needed it to be to trigger the mechanism, I flipped it open to add the blade’s length to my makeshift lever. I gripped it firmly, willing my numb fingers to hold on as I pushed my hand back down into the hole.
As if made for the slot at the bottom, my knife slid into place. Gears groaned. Metal screamed, echoing oddly in the water. The bars were moving.
I didn’t try to swim for the surface but allowed the sea creature to pull me close against his body. He wasn’t slimy at all. Though now my hands glowed too in the thickening darkness.
I wasn’t afraid. I did my best work in the darkness.
My mother’s voice floated through the dark stillness.Look.
I opened my eyes. I was still underwater, but the fronds in the koi pond had been replaced by slick rocks and roots. The water was deliciously hot, and my soul sang with joy. I recognized this place.
My grotto, but deeper than it had ever been.
Silver flickered, drawing my attention to a shadowed hole at the base of my heart tree. A place where the roots had opened up into a cave. I wasn’t afraid as I floated closer. I was destined to be here. I was born for this.
