Page 22 of Queen Takes Sunfires 1
"I didn't," he rasped, struggling to speak. "Not me."
I pulled harder on the fiery rage boiling inside me. Only then did I realize where that power was coming from, as I watched the golden glow in his eyes dim.
I was drawing power fromhim. Using the last bit of Ra's gift that sustained him. "Who?" I retorted, lashing him with my rage. "Who got me out of Heliopolis?"
He surged upward, stumbling to his feet and tossing my hand aside, as if freeing himself of my touch could save him. Cradling my crushed hand against my chest, I watched him flail. He couldn't stand correctly. His joints crumbled and slipped. He dropped the sword. The once-brilliant silver chest plate dulled as if it'd been buried in a sand dune for a million years to rust.
Falling against me, he tried to hold on to me again, but his fingers broke apart as he slid down toward my feet. "Please." I could barely understand his words. "They will burn you."
"I would rather burn for all eternity than save you. Let alone go back to that fucking city of gold."
Something slammed against the wall behind me. Wood splintered and cracked. I didn't turn around. I didn't need to as Eivind forced his way into the room. Instead, I kept my attention locked on Aurelian until he was nothing more than a pile of dust on the stained rug.
"Are you alright?" Eivind asked, eying the pile warily.
My hand ached. My fangs throbbed. I hadn't thought about anything but saving myself. Until this living, breathing man stepped closer.
Now all I could smell was his scent. Fur and pine dusted with snow. A shaggy black wolf howling mournfully on a rocky outcropping. Alone. Even when surrounded by the howls of his pack.
I could sink my fangs into his warm throat. His blood would be hot and good, washing away the horrors of Heliopolis. In a matter of moments, his blood would heal my shattered fingers. He would be mine. He would protect me with his life.
Hating me for all time. As I'd hated Ra. As I'd hated Aurelian.
"I'm fine." With Ra’s spark inside me, I could feel the rest of the legion closing in outside the hotel. Not nearly as many as their numbers had been in Heliopolis. Maybe some had defected already. Or their sunfires had killed them. Or they'd been trapped in Heliopolis. I didn't really know, nor did I care. "We need to go."
"We can't go back down the hallway. The flames are in the floor above. The whole thing's going to come crashing down any moment." He watched as I stepped over the soldier's remains toward the window. "Was that one of the skeletons?"
"Yes." I looked out the window, watching the skeletons close in. They knew exactly where I was. Like Aurelian, they went down on one knee, only they bowed their heads and bent low, bracing their left fists on the ground. None of them carried the telltale signs of flame around their bones.
Their sunfires were gone.
"What happened to him?" Eivind moved to the window and blew out a curse. "Fuck."
"Open the window and I'll show you."
I had to admit that once he actually believed me, he was a man of action. He smashed the glass with a careless slam of his elbow and then helped me climb outside. He didn't ask questions. He didn't grunt with disgust or hesitate. Maybe I was making progress with him. Not that it mattered in the end.
He'd made his feelings perfectly clear in that regard. He would never drop down to a knee and offer his protection as Aurelian had done.
"Princess," the nearest skeleton said as I neared.
Without pausing my step, I drew on the golden power I felt inside him. Inside each of them. It was like taking a drink of honeyed mead from a crystal chalice. It made me shudder, though I didn't hesitate to drain every last bit of their power. I needed it, even though they tasted like Ra.
Liquid sun tasted like sickening sweet honey. Cloying. Overpowering.
I would much rather have the taste of a wolf's hot blood on my tongue.
Eivind's step faltered a moment as the skeletons began to crumble, but he didn't say anything until he opened the car door for me. "That's what you were so afraid of?"
"No." I looked up at the sun, tipping my head back so its rays warmed my skin. Solar energy danced inside me, relishing its heat. Wishing it was summer. Longing for a long hot afternoon basking in the full blaze of the sun. My fingers knit back together under that power, though I still longed for his blood. "Those were some of Ra's Soldiers of Light. The sunfires are still out here somewhere, and they won't be as easy to kill."
I didn't tell him what Aurelian had said. Mainly because I didn't—couldn't—believe him. Not yet.
A man who'd relished torturing a woman couldn't be trusted. His word was highly suspect and his honor nonexistent despite his fame as a Roman soldier. Perhaps the sunfires would obey my command—or they very well might devour me as I suspected. He'd threatened both options. Until I knew for sure...
I would protect myself the best I knew how.
9
