Page 63 of Queen Takes Blood
VIVIAN
“You had but one purpose, witch.”
Ra slammed his fist down on the ornate carving of a lion’s head on the arm of the Sun Throne, mashing the soft, malleable gold. His hand melded with the golden lump for a moment, distracting him. He pulled his fingers free and smoothed his palm back and forth over the lump, flattening it out almost lovingly.
As if he cared more about the fucking throne than the living, breathing woman shivering with dread beside me.
“Though perhaps I’ve misjudged the situation.” He continued in an amiable tone but when he looked up at us, his eyes burned white-hot. “Witches need blood to feed their power. Perhaps you simply need blood from some of your kind to bring your power back enough to conceive my heir.”
Gulp. Suddenly, I was pretty sure what this challenge was going to be, and I didn’t like it one bit. I was half her kind. Her blood stirred my hunger. Would mine feed her power?
Ra turned that blistering stare on me and my heart froze into a cold, shriveled lump. Smoak huddled deep inside me, curled into a tight ball. “You’ve been volunteering at every assembly, even though you can’t possibly win against Soldiers of Light. It’s time to prove your worth. Show me which gifts you inherited through your bloodline. Mine, or your witch mother that spawned you?”
Behind me, I heard whispers and a derisive scoff that made the skin on my back flinch and quiver. Remembering the sting of Sepdet’s sunfire lashes punishing me. Though since I’d been practicing with the Impaler, my foul half-brother had left me alone.
My chin inched up, my stance squared-up and proud. “What would you have us do, Your Imperial Majesty, Lord of Sun?”
His eyes narrowed and the blazing power in his eyes began to whiten his entire face. Not good. At all. Though I had no idea why he was so furious.
“If you’re a true spawn of Helios, you’ll kill this witch without a single weapon.” He leveled that frost-burn glare on the woman beside me. “And if you’re a true witch worthy of being God’s Wife, you’ll drain this half-blood Aima and power yourself into giving me an heir. This is the challenge I’ve set for the two of you.”
How could I possibly kill a queen without a single weapon? My brain flickered through all the techniques and skills I’d picked up by watching the soldiers. Drilling with the Impaler. Practicing alone with Smoak. Everything involved a weapon.There has to be a way.
I didn’t wish harm to Dawn. I barely knew her. But if killing her was my ticket out of here…
“And if I win?” I blurted out.
Ra’s head whipped back to me, the icy heat of his gaze cutting me before he even spoke. I smelled my blood before I felt the pain. Three slashes on my right arm, deep enough that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to lift it. Not that it mattered if I couldn’t use a weapon.
“Win your challenge first. Then you may humble yourself before the Almighty God of Light to ask for your heart’s desire.”
Stiffly, I bowed at the waist, crossing my left arm over my chest. My right hung limply at my side. “I hear and obey.”Father.I almost said it aloud just to piss him off. I’d never been a daughter to him. Just a disappointment. Female—but not a queen. Useless.
Before I straightened completely, Dawn slammed up against me, surprisingly strong despite her slight frame. She didn’t attack me—only locked her mouth over the wound on my arm.
A strange feeling came over me. A dormant instinct roared to life. In a million years, I’d never have guessed that I wouldn’t feel the urge to reach for a weapon to protect myself. Maybe it was the softness of her body against mine. The flow of her silken hair over my forearm. The strange but incredibly intimate feeling of her lips wrapped around my flesh. My blood in her mouth. Flowing down her throat. Her touch—without pain. I couldn’t remember ever being touched before that didn’t hurt.
In all the burning agony of Heliopolis, I’d never felt such peace. Allowing this queen to feed on my blood. As our goddesses intended.
Sharp fangs slid deeply into the muscle, making me groan. Not with pain, but arousal. In all the horrors I’d endured in the breeding grounds, I’d never felt like this. Like my body was melting into bliss. Even Smoak rippled inside me, basking in the luxurious sensations.
My knees buckled and Dawn followed me down to the ground. She hauled me across her lap, my arm still locked to her mouth. She smelled so good, a delicate flower blooming in the first light of day, glistening with droplets of morning dew. Soft white wings and clouds, lifting me up. Carrying me away from this horrible place. I would die like this. Gladly.
It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen or felt.
Until she groaned in pain.
I tried to lift my head but I didn’t have the strength. My vision wavered and blurred no matter how hard I blinked. After unknown centuries of starvation, her hunger was so great that she’d nearly drained me. Heaviness suffused my limbs. Barely, I managed to roll my head toward her so I could see why she cried out.
Tracks of blood ran from her sky-blue eyes. Urgency sparked inside me, making me twitch. Urging me to struggle to my feet. Draw a weapon. Protect her. My instinct. I was hers now, right? I didn’t know much about Aima or how queens typically fed but surely…
She lifted her head and let my blood spill from her mouth. Spitting it out like she was revolted, where just moments ago, she’d been happily draining me dry.
“What—” She croaked out, as if her throat was raw. “Did you. Do. To me?”
“Me? What’s wrong?”
Falling forward on her hands and knees, she heaved and wretched, throwing up my blood.
