Page 115 of The Hive Queen

After a moment, he sets the spear back down. “This is the original Shard, so it should have worked.”

“Well, it didn’t.” Amalia rubs her chest. “I shoved it right through that bitch, and she didn’t even flinch.”

Darius frowns. “You burned all the hives?”

I shake my head. “There weren’t any hives, which was odd.”

His frown deepens. “What about the handmaidens?”

Mayn’s braid slithers on her shoulder in agitation. “The only female present was the Hive Queen.”

Brow furrowing, Darius glances around the table. “No hives or handmaidens? Then what was guarding the nest?”

My stomach sinks. I hadn’t questioned the fact that all of her drones were male, but I should have, especially knowing that Pen had been stung.

“We only encountered male drones,” I say. “We followed one to her lair.”

“Ah.” Understanding smooths Darius’s frown. “You went to the fawning ground.”

“The what now?” Trent’s lips twitch. “Is that what it sounds like?”

Darius shrugs. “It is where the Hive Queen cements her link to her male drones. They rub all over her, hoping to be chosen as the next mate.”

Trent’s smile breaks through. “So, it’s a fuck fest?”

He doesn’t even flinch when Elizabeth smacks him this time.

Darius shakes his head. “No, drones aren’t suitable mates, but if one brings her someone who is, he may be given the gift of being consumed.”

“Ah.” Trent nods in understanding. “Like a praying mantis, but without the fucking.”

Darius makes a so-so gesture with his hand. “More or less.”

“By suitable mate, you mean a witchblood who hasn’t been turned into a drone?” I look at Flint, as do Pen and Marc.

Darius’s eyes shift to the soul witch, too. “Were you touched by one of her drones?”

“Yes,” Flint admits, his body stiff. “Two nights ago. And she recognized me last night.”

“If she had someone like Flint,” Darius says slowly, “she wouldn’t have to leave her nest to find new source material. She could take her eggs and move them to a new location unreachable by us and breed to her heart’s content.”

Flint scowls. “You could show a little more concern.”

“While I’m grateful you helped save me, Ididget my heart cut out for you, so I’d say we’re even.” Darius picks up his grease-free pepperoni. “But we’re far from friends.”

“Darius,” Marc admonishes.

The ignis demon dips his head. “I will try, Marceau, but only so far as he is civil in return.”

“Hey, don’t act like you volunteered to lie on that altar for purely unselfish reasons,” Flint snaps, then holds up his hand when Marc glares. “But I can play nice, so long as he does the same.”

Darius is too dignified to roll his eyes, but his expression conveys the same sentiment. “Putting that aside, the Shard didn’t work because the Hive Queen is only vulnerable in her nestafterthe hives are destroyed. They are a source of power for her. And there are her handmaidens to contend with, who will be guarding her inner sanctum.”

“I knew it was too easy last time.” O’Hara rips off another slice of pizza. “We practically waltzed into that place.”

“And half our people were injured,” I remind him. “It wasn’t a walk in the park.”

“How do we find the nest?” Pen asks.

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