Page 82 of The Hive Queen

“Her trail ended at a cement wall.” Mayn’s braid whips faster. “She must have a portal gun. But if I find her scent again, I can follow it.”

Surprise shoots through me at the news. Portal guns aren’t easy to come by, and even the one witch at the Conservatory who can make them can’t produce them quickly. Our supply is nearly out, and Reese hasn’t gotten the hang of the portable-portal spell yet. At least, I don’t think he has.

I lean past Pen to raise my brows at Flint, who shakes his head.

Amalia must have paid a fortune for that gun, and she can’t have very many shells at her disposal.

“We can ask around in the Bone Yard.” I lean back in my chair. “If she’s using a portal gun, she’ll want to restock her escape plan.”

“She’s broke,” Flint counters. “It’s why she’s sleeping on rooftops instead of in a hotel.”

“Which means she can be anywhere.” Sharpe frowns. “We should focus on the Hive Queen. Amalia will be tracking her, too, so our best bet of locating her is to locate her target.”

“The Hive Queen will be holed up with her eggs,” I point out. “She won’t make another appearance until she needs more specimens. She’ll be relying on her drones to bring her fresh blood until then.”

Sharpe stops pacing. “Yes, she will. Which means we just need to set a trap for those drones, then follow them back to her lair.”

Hendricks frowns. “How will we find one of the drones, though? Anyone we bring in will still be in the conversion process, right? Are we going to wait for them to turn?”

Sharpe shakes his head slowly. “No, we just need a lot of honey to lure one in, and a convincing enough victim for the drone to bring back to his queen.”

the honey trap

- Flint -

Marc pullsthe van to a stop in front of the grocery store and turns to give me a firm stare. “Stay in the van.”

“You’re such a mother hen,” I snap, the command making me grumpy even though I’d originally planned to do what he suggested.

The meeting at the Woo Woo Squad had pushed my limits, and the stiffness in my body from sitting at the hard, cramped desk only made the aches and pains worse.

Pen’s hand covers mine on the bench seat. “Try to take a nap. You need all your energy for later.”

“Fine.” I lean my head back against the seat. “But leave the heater on, or some concerned citizen might break the window to save me.”

“Such a drama queen.” Marc ruffles my hair, which is the only part of my body that doesn’t hurt, and climbs out of the van.

Pen scoots out on the other side, leaving me bereft of their body heat and cold, despite the heat blasting at full power.

Spring really needs to hurry up and arrive.

Shivering, I open my eyes and twist to stare back at Anny, who lies in the back of the van. “Come up here and keep me warm.”

She flicks an ear at me but doesn’t stand.

Clearly, she’s pouting. She wanted to sit in the front with the rest of us, and when Pen put her in the back, Anny kicked up a fuss before finally settling onto the large dog bed Pen had laid out for her.

The dog bed is probably more comfortable than where I sit.

I shift uncomfortably, trying to ease the pressure on my injured hip. When did the seat become so springy?

Twisting around once more, I eye Anny’s large dog bed. Would I fit on that?

Her eyes crack open, and she gives me a baleful glare.

I glare right back. “What? I wasn’t thinking anything bad.”

Her tail swishes, and she settles hard on the cushion in a clear declaration that I’ll have to fight her if I want to lie down back there.

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