Chapter 5
SHARA
Iwas still getting dressed when I felt Gwen enter my nest with her Blood. Guillaume had gone to greet them, so I didn’t feel too bad about not being there myself. But if I hurried, I could meet her at the door.
Rik gripped my shoulders and leaned down to level a hard glare at me. “My queen never hurries. Not for anyone.” Then his face softened, and he lightly brushed his lips against mine. “Thank you.”
I leaned against him, curling my arms around his neck. Though I wouldn’t have been able to reach if he wasn’t already leaning down close to me. “Always, my alpha. You have my back, and I have yours.”
He straightened, lifting me off my feet since I kept my grip around his neck.
I dangled like a kitten against him, relishing his size and power.
Even without feeding, he was pumped up, his bulging muscles veined and ripped.
His palms were so massive he could palm my head like a basketball. Not that he ever would.
My hair hung to the floor and then some, sweeping like a giant wedding train that curled around furniture legs and people if I wasn’t paying attention.
If we were going to get messy today, I really needed to corral the crazy long tresses into something more manageable.
Focusing, I willed my hair to coil and twist into a tidy—yet huge—bun at the base of my neck.
Then I mentally whispered with extra emphasis, “Stay.”
Hopefully it would hold even if I got distracted.
Rik scooped me up, cradling me in one beefy arm so I was perched against him rather than dangling, and headed for the stairs.
I didn’t need to be carried, but sometimes it was nice.
Especially when I knew what it meant to him.
The special closeness we had, reinforced with the little demonstration I’d given to Sekh earlier.
Downstairs, my house was delightfully full—and loud.
My Blood were talking with Gwen’s and fueling up in the kitchen, especially since Rik hadn’t let anyone feed.
Sekh gripped a meaty raw leg of something and gnawed on it, listening intently to the knights preparing for a possible sword fight.
My Blood ran up and down the stairs, changing clothes, grabbing bags and weapons.
In the living room, the rest of my household had gathered, waiting for me to join them.
Winston, Gwen, and Gina chatted while the security team—Frank, Angela, and Marissa—looked at a map of the grounds.
Everyone stood or turned to face us as Rik carried me into the room.
Of course Winston bowed, even though he saw me every damned day.
He was a stickler for propriety. On one large flatscreen, Kevin grinned and waved from Isador Tower in New York City.
Beside it on a matching monitor, Anne Magnum curtsied from the Park Avenue house.
I hadn’t asked Mayte to join us. Her primary focus was protecting her daughter, and rightfully so.
Picking up on my train of thought, Gina said, “I texted House Zaniyah and notified them to stay on high alert over the next few days.”
“Perfect, thank you.” Rik set me down in my normal chair, but he remained standing behind it, his palms warm and heavy on my shoulders.
“Sorry for the scramble. I hoped to have a few days to rest before going to Mykonos, but Thierry told me Leonie’s still alive.
He promised that House Isador would return for her, and I can’t bear to think about her still lying trapped beneath her house. ”
“Goddess, of course.” Gwen shuddered. “How awful.”
“Though we have to assume the Dauphine might guess I would go there next, so we are very likely walking into a trap. Either her former Blood, now thralls, or even more of those goule creatures. G, you want to fill them in on what you saw from Thierry’s memories?”
My Templar knight stepped forward and lifted a thin, elegant looking sword. “Her alpha carried an épée, or rapier, similar to this one.”
Mehen rolled his eyes. “Three Musketeers shit.”
“Basically, yes,” Guillaume replied. “They were popular in France during the Seventeenth Century, but we must assume her alpha is far older than that given her age. Don’t make the mistake of assuming he’ll follow normal fencing etiquette in his swordplay.
” The thin sword sliced and danced in his hands.
“Because they’re so light, he’ll be lightning fast. He won’t take any of our heavier blades blow to blow but will slip beneath defenses and skewer hearts and livers directly. ”
Rik rumbled out a growl. “So don’t fucking make the mistake of getting close enough that our queen has to heal you unless you’re up to Sir Guillaume’s or Sir Lancelot’s sword ability.”
Gwen’s alpha shook his head. “Even I wouldn’t want to duel against a rapier. The fighting techniques are completely different from my broadsword skills.”
“Kill them as quickly as possible,” G agreed. “Don’t let them dance around and wound a bunch of us. That’ll tax our queen’s reserves, and then boom, here comes the second or even third wave.”
“Are you expecting more of those zombie creatures, Your Majesty?” Winston asked. He didn’t look worried—but rather a little hopeful he might be able to pull out his rifle and flamethrower again.
Before I could even ask, Gina added, “I made sure your human father’s body was cremated along with Selena’s.”
I barely remembered the man who’d helped raise me.
His features had softened in my mind. But I still felt a surge of love and grief at his loss.
He died carrying me home from playing in the park, just feet away from our home.
Protecting me from the same monsters who hunted me relentlessly for years.
“Thank you, Gina. I don’t know what the Dauphine might have planned before she left for Galveston, but she probably boobytrapped the shit out of everything she could.”
“We’re up to ten full-time security guards here,” Frank said. “Our standard issue weapons now include flamethrowers. We’ll patrol the grounds around the clock until you return, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you, Frank. How about in New York City? Kevin? Magnum? Do you need more security?”
“We’re good here,” Kevin replied. “We’ve got a full-time security staff of twenty around the building and public levels.”
I glanced over at Magnum, and she gave me an elegant smirk of a grin that made me smile in return. “We have someone at the front and rear entrance twenty-four hours a day, but I doubt anyone will dare enter here, Your Majesty.”
Agreed. Esetta swore that anyone who entered the Park Avenue house with nefarious goals would never leave. Since it was tied directly to Isis’ temple pyramid, the entire property emanated a “fuck off” vibe to anyone who didn’t belong.
“I’ve also promoted Janelle Ysolte to cover the Tower in my absence,” Gwen said. “Before Carys headed to the Library of Congress this morning, she evaluated her trustworthiness and agreed she was the best candidate currently in the tower.”
“Perfect. Are we missing anything?” I waited several long moments, making sure anyone who wanted to add a concern had time to tell me. I even closed my eyes and listened. Not just to my bonds, but to the nest around me. The world. As far as I could sense.
My grove rustled and murmured with news from across the countryside.
Trees talking to other trees and other creatures.
The crow queen, Nightwing Starlight, had returned to her nest through the heart tree to a giant sequoia in California.
She clucked softly in my mind, as if to say, “Not to worry.” She had baby birds on her mind, but hundreds of thousands of her kin scanned for our enemies.
We might not know their faces yet, but crows were incredibly smart and delightfully devious.
They looked places humans—and Aima—wouldn’t expect for anything out of place.
I didn’t sense any warnings from Isis or the Mother Herself.
I touched the Triskeles table in my mind, just to be sure nothing had changed.
A deep, secret circular cave-like room. Dark, indistinct walls of roots and ancient wood.
A circular hole in the ceiling allowed pearly moonlight to spotlight the Mother figurine.
She was back to the smaller statue rather than the full-sized version I’d seen in the dream that called me to go to Galveston.
I lingered in the Mother’s presence for a few moments, soaking in Her majesty.
A calm confidence filled me. Not peace, not exactly. This wasn’t gentleness, only the quiet before the storm. A moment to reflect and prepare myself for the next stage.
A hint of copper tinged the sacred space. Blood, mixing with the scent of rich, earthy soil.
I opened my eyes and stood. “Let’s go get Leonie out of that fucking pit.”