Page 47 of Queen Takes Sunfires 2
A basic boring sedan slowly pulled up toward the nest. The bridge connecting our island with the mainland had mostly burned away, thank Goddess. Parking the car, the driver got out and shielded his eyes as he looked across the water at us.
“Motherfucker,” I muttered beneath my breath. Detective Harris. How the fuck had he followed me all the way up here? He had to have bugged my car. That was the only explanation. I’d gone and brought a fucking human to my sister’s nest.
I was screwing up in epic proportions now.
“I take it you know him?” Helayna asked.
“Unfortunately. He’s the last person we want sniffing around here. Can one of your Blood eat him or something?”
“We’ll do better than that.” Shara gave a nod to no one in particular. A shadow flew across the ground.
I jerked my head up as the dragon flew overhead, straight for Harris. I’d forgotten all about the giant beast. At least he was big enough to eat the cop in one big gulp. Hopefully he wouldn’t suffer. Much.
Harris stood frozen as the dragon approached him, scrambling too late toward the car door. The dragon seized him in one big claw and swooped back to us, carrying the screaming, struggling human to dump him on the ground before his queen.
Without a single mark on him.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Panting and pale, Harris bellowed, even though he was unharmed. “You’re all under fucking arrest!”
“I can see why you two like each other,” Helayna said to me. “He’s as belligerent as you are.”
Harris focused on me, the known element in a whole situation of crazy. “You’ve got some explaining to do, Wild Man. What the fuck is this?”
Someone behind me snickered. I was so screwed. I would never, ever live this down. “How did you even follow me here?”
“I accidentally on purpose left my phone under your goddamned seat. Drive to Minnesota, I thought. How bad could it be? Then I see a… a…”
“Dragon,” Shara said politely.
“And some… demons.” Harris gulped at the three black-as-pitch Blood standing behind my sister. The mountain that shook the ground as he shifted closer to his queen. “And a… rock… thing… A fucking bear. And a… holy naked lady.” He jerked his gaze away from Vivian as if she’d burned him.
Shara gave me a look that was all too easy to decipher.This is your mess, and you’re going to have to clean it up.“Do you have any connection to this human?”
“No.” Helayna elbowed me so hard I grunted. “Your Majesty.”
“What the hell, Wild Man! You definitely know me, or I wouldn’t have been able to tail you into crazy land. Nobody is going to fucking believe the reports when I get home.”
“She means something else entirely, Harris.” He scowled at me, so I thought, what the hell, he might as well know everything. I’d have to kill him when this was all said and done anyway. “She’s asking if you have a blood tie to me or my sister. If you serve our House. And no, you don’t. You’re just cannon fodder.”
“What are you?” The man asked softly, his hand sliding down toward his gun.
I couldn’t see the wolf, but I could suddenly smell him. So very close. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Why not? I’m taking you all in for questioning. Hell, I’ll see if the doc can run some blood samples on you too. You can’t all be aliens, though I’m starting to believe him after all.”
The dragon coughed out a plume of smoke, and one of the Isador queen’s Blood interpreted it for us. “Leviathan says, ‘Good luck, asshole. I don’t think you have handcuffs big enough for me.’”
Eyes wide, Harris stared at the dragon like he needed to change his underwear.
“We’re not going anywhere, and no one’s going to believe you anyway. If you even think about touching that gun, you’re not going to live another second to even think about trying to fill out a report about this.”
“They all know I came up here, Wild Man. My captain will call out the National Guard if need be.”
“Enough,” Shara broke in. “Sort your human later, Ironheart. We need to come up with a plan of attack now. My shield is strained to the breaking point.”
Startled, I searched her face. I hadn’t sensed any strain or effort in her voice or manner, but there were fine lines around her mouth. I didn’t smell blood yet, but if she started to weaken…
We didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell if a Triune-level queen was feeling the strain before she even attacked the thing in the lake.
