Page 71 of The Hive Queen

Frowning, I raise my shoe, and it sticks to the rooftop for a moment before rising. I spot the gooey substance as a faint shimmer beneath the moonlight, and then a rectangle at eye level on the side of the machine draws my attention.

Dread tightens my gut as I turn my head to look at the Joker card laughing at my expense.

“Fuck—” A flash of ley line magic blasts me to the side, tumbling me across the roof, and Amalia’s energy signal bursts into motion.

“You’re getting slow, Grandpa!” Amalia bolts over the top of the air conditioner, a pack over her shoulder. “You had your chance to work together!”

Sharpe bursts around the air conditioner, unaffected by Amalia’s booby trap, but too slow. “Halt, by order of the Joint Task Force of Paranormal Investigations!”

Amalia leaps off the opposite side of the machine and hits the ground running, beelining for the door off the roof.

With a groan, I push up onto my elbows and cast my magic outward, curling it around her energy core.

She stumbles, her head whipping back toward me. “You wouldn’t.”

Amalia, the wild animal I nurtured until she was strong enough to fly free, or the potential death of all life? Clenching my teeth, I tighten my hold on her core.

With a snarl, she lurches forward once more, her life force shimmering in my hold, pulling free from her body.

With a gasp, I release her, unable to hang on if it means her death. Not even at the risk of extinction.

Sharpe pounds after her, but he’s not fast enough, and she bolts through the door without a backward glance, escaping with the Shard.

honey seekers

- Sharpe -

I bangthrough the door into the stairwell, but Amalia is already gone.

How did she vanish so fast? I peer over the railing down toward the ground floor, but there’s no sign of her. Did she have a portal gun?

Flint could probably sense it if he were in my place, but any residual magic left by her escape slips right past me unnoticed.

I return to the rooftop, my shoes sticking with every step, and go to help Flint up. “Are you okay?”

“No.” He grasps my hand and winces in pain as he climbs to his feet. “I could have stopped Amalia, but I let her go.”

“You went into this saying you didn’t want to kill her. We’ll just have to come up with a better game plan before we track her down again.” I scrape the bottom of my shoe against the rooftop. “Ugh, what did she put out as a trap? It won’t come off.”

Flint balances on one foot and touches the bottom of his shoe, then brings his fingers to his nose. “Honey.”

“For what purpose?” I stride back toward the air conditioning unit. “If she just wanted to slow down anyone sneaking up on her, there are stickier options. And what was that flash? It threw you pretty far.”

“Amalia can charge inanimate objects with ley line energy.” Flint wipes his fingers on his pant leg before he limps after me. “I must not have pulled my magic back fast enough. She knew we were coming.”

I stop at the edge of glistening honey on the ground. It spreads out a yard to my right, and a yard ahead, impossible to avoid if walking close to the machine. I turn my head to examine the metal face where a scorched indent shows the point of the explosion.

My hand lifts to touch it, and surprise shoots through me. “It’s not warm.”

“No, it wouldn’t be.” Flint rubs his shoulder and winces. “Amalia uses pure, ley line energy. There’s no temperature.”

I trace the dented metal, knowing the matching one on the opposite side would have taken out Pen or Marc the same as it did Flint. But because it was me, I felt nothing. Amalia hadn’t planned on that, but she’s fast on her feet and quickly compensated.

I turn away from the explosion site to study Flint. “Are you really okay?”

He winces as he rolls his shoulder and massages his neck. “Just a little bruised. Nothing I can’t bounce back from. I should be grateful she wasn’t going for a kill shot.”

I scan the ground and walk around to the side where Amalia was hiding. “Are you sure she set this trap for you?”

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