Page 25 of Queen Takes More
News footage started playing with an anchorwoman standing outside on the street. I couldn’t tell the location immediately. “Dr. Walsh, have you ever seen anything like this?”
A woman in an elegant pink blouse and white linen jacket spoke. “Not at all, and for several reasons. Primarily, this infestation is shocking because North America and Antarctica are the only continents without a major species of Acrididae. Until today, we haven’t had a live sighting ofCaloptenus spretussince 1902.”
“This Rocky Mountain species was supposedly extinct?”
“Yes. So where did this swarm come from? Even more interesting, a swarm is usually a widespread event, covering dozens or even hundreds of square miles. For this swarm to settleonlyon this property is… quite honestly, astounding, especially when we consider their normal habitat was the dryer Great Plains. They’ve devoured every blade of grass and leaf on this entire block, but they haven’t left yet.”
The cameraman panned the shot to the property, and I gasped. Bugs crawled everywhere. On the ground. The walls. The fence. The tree trunks. The ground was quite literally moving and crawling.
With locusts.
Vivian smirked. “Does that building look familiar to you, my queen?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Let me guess. This is a seemingly unimportant old mansion in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans, right?”
“Bingo. Wait, it gets better.”
I focused on the video.
“Are they dangerous to people,” the anchorwoman asked.
Dr. Walsh practically clapped her hands with excitement. “They’re annoying and can bite, but they’re not known to attack people. We’ve seen birds and small rodents killed by locust swarms before, and these are even larger and in greater number. I’d love to get onto this property and speak to its owner.”
As if on cue, a side door flew open and a small group of people raced down the sidewalk. Three men in suits pressed close to a barely visible woman in the middle. They held black umbrellas over her, trying to shield her from the locusts, the cameras, or both.
Not that they helped much at all, because the swarm immediately descended on her with a vicious, loud drone that sounded like microphone feedback. Flailing arms and swinging umbrellas like bats, they hurried to a waiting car parked on the wrong side of the street.
Outside the Dauphine’s nest, of course. Because these locusts had been commanded to cover every surface and attack anything that movedinsidethe nest. They weren’t merely a nuisance either. All the men had bleeding bites and scratches. Another person broke from the house and raced after them, only to fall, screaming, as the locusts covered them. I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman, one of her Blood or merely a human servant.
The Dauphine certainly didn’t pause or try to help them. Her men hustled her into the car as the news people raced over.
“Ma’am, are you the owner? Leonie Delafosse? Please, can you tell us what’s happening here? Can we investigate your property and find the cause of this swarm?”
Wearing dark sunglasses with a black scarf tied over her hair, Leonie—aka the Dauphine’s alter ego—glared into the camera. “Be my guest. I’m never returning to this cursed place.”
Vivian set the tablet aside. “There’s not much more, other than more people getting chased off by locusts. Where do you think she’ll head now?”
I took a bite of the crepe and closed my eyes in bliss. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll find her again. I told Marne exactly how the Dauphine wards herself. Gina said the Triune offices usually send out a new book once a year or so, though with my ascendency to Triskeles, she thought a new batch would go out within the month. As soon as we get the new book, we’ll know exactly where the Dauphine has tried to hide herself again.”
“There’s more,” Rik said. The deep rumble of his voice made me open my eyes so I could see his face. His bond was solid rock. Not upset or worried—but reserved. “There are visitors lining up outside the gate.”
My eyes flared. “Visitors? Like who?”
“Potential Blood.”
Other than the place of darkness, I hadn’t dreamed anything unusual last night. I didn’t remember anyone walking my dreams. I certainly hadn’t called anyone deliberately. Shrugging, I turned my attention back to my breakfast. “They’re not mine. I didn’t call anyone.”
Rik didn’t reply or react, but his intensity remained heavy and focused. All alpha, ready to beat some skulls together if anyone annoyed me.
“We could use more help,” Vivian said slowly. “A queen of your stature…”
I sat back with my coffee cup and arched a brow at her. “Nothing has changed. I don’t take Blood that I don’t love. I can tell you now that none of them are mine.”
Rik wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tucking me against him. “Are you sure?”
I knew he only wanted the best for me. Even if I didn’t want a bunch of new Blood interfering with our lives. To be sure that none of these visitors were meant to join us, I closed my eyes and focused on the tapestry in my mind. My beautiful manor house rose up in the center, surrounded by impossibly ancient trees. My beloved Blood gleamed like burning rubies and drops of molten blood in my mind. I could feel them all around me, their bonds shining in the darkness of my mind.
My blood circle gleamed like a fiery rope around my nest. A bright knot of lights waited at one end. Brighter than how humans normally showed up on the tapestry, but none of them called to me. None of them glowed any brighter than the others,or drew my attention.
