Chapter 40
GUILLAUME
The remaining Sunna Blood stared at me expectantly. Almost as if they were awaiting their orders.
Not from me. Surely not.
It’d been a long fucking time since I’d dealt with soldiers instead of Blood, but that’s exactly how they looked at me. As if I was part of their chain of command—or at least someone who’d explain the chain of command to them.
I’m not their fucking alpha.
The longer we silently stared at each other, the more I was afraid they didn’t even know what having an alpha meant. Usually my name alone was enough to strike terror in the heart of any Aima warrior. “Since my queen asked me to make introductions, I’m Guillaume de Payne Isador.”
The seven Sunna Blood didn’t move a muscle or blink an eyelid.
Fucking great. Either they didn’t know me at all, or they simply didn’t care.
The dragon stayed in the sky as ordered, but I introduced the rest of our Blood by name.
Though when I pointed at Xin, the only person anyone saw was Ironheart.
“You’re not Blood, so you might as well head up to the house with your friend. ”
Muttering under his breath, Eivind hurried after the queens’ entourages. I couldn’t see Xin without tapping on our bond, but I had no doubt he was nipping on the wolf king’s heels.
Suppressing a smirk, I focused on Musashi. At least he was a legendary swordsman who’d created his own two-handed fighting technique. “Could you introduce the rest of your men?”
Arms crossed before him, he lightly touched the wrapped hilts of his swords. A threat? Or a nervous tick? I didn’t know him well enough to be able to tell. “Perhaps it would be best for each man to give his own name. You may call me Musashi.”
“Kuros.” At least the haughty king didn’t give his full title again. “This is Chak Ek’. He doesn’t speak.”
Itztli and Tlacel stepped forward, short knives in their right hands. Pressing the blades to their chests, they bowed to him. “When the Great Star shines in the sky before dawn, it’s a good time to go to war,” Itztli said. “House Zaniyah is honored to stand with you.”
Chak Ek’ bowed, and Kuros spoke for him. “He asks what Zaniyah means.”
“We were born to House Zaniyah near Mexico City, formerly known as Tenochtitlan,” Tlacel said. “Our mother’s line is descended from Coatlicue, Mother of the Gods, and our sister is descended from Huitzilopochtli.”
The Sunna Blood looked at each other, no doubt conversing through their bonds.
Mentally, I sighed, but I didn’t allow my face to betray any impatience. “All Aima are descended from a goddess, who in turn is a daughter of the Mother of All. We trace our lineage through our birth house’s goddess until we’re Blooded to our own queen.”
Musashi’s eyebrows rose. “You were a Templar knight. Is that not how you were selected to be Blood?”
“I served many centuries as a knight, yes, but most of my fellow Blood weren’t soldiers. They didn’t fight in any human wars.”
Kuros scoffed, shaking his head. “Then how could your queen possibly determine if you were worthy to serve?”
Oh boy. Even mild mannered Tlacel narrowed a hard look on the idiot. “Only the most worthy are called by their queen to be her Blood. We didn’t need to fight in a human skirmish to prove our willingness to die in her defense.”
Itztli merely examined the edge of his obsidian blade, lightly running his thumb over the paper-thin, nearly transparent edge of volcanic glass. As if hoping he might knick himself—so he could start a fight.
Vivian let out a disgusted growl. “You think serving as one of Ra’s motherfucking henchmen in Heliopolis made you worthy? Fuck Ra and fuck you too.”
Even Mehen—who’d hated the thought of serving as Blood—swept low overhead, an ominous shadow of death and menace. :Let me blast them with dragon fire and see how quickly they figure out what it means to be Blood.:
Kuros shook his head at Chak Ek’. “She doesn’t mean literally fucking our mothers. It’s a modern curse word.”
I held up my hands soothingly, though I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Let’s return to the matter at hand and finish the introductions. Then I think we should have an in-depth discussion of what being Blood entails.”
The tallest Sunna Blood stepped closer, gliding with the effortless, loose-jointed prowl of a predator. “I’m Vlad of Wallachia, better known as the Impaler.”
He offered his hand, staring me down as steadily as Musashi had earlier. I gripped his fingers exactly as hard as he gripped mine. Nothing more, nothing less, letting nothing flicker in my eyes. No challenge. No promise. No boasting. I didn’t need to bother, and neither did he.
“Nice scar,” another man said, waiting for Vlad to let go of my hand. “Leonides of Sparta.”
He bore the same kind of thick, angry scar around his throat that told a similar tale as mine, though his entire body was laced with additional scars. I allowed a slight smile to flicker on my lips as I shook his hand. “My queen healed the rest.”
He arched a brow. “Then I have hope my queen will do the same for mine.”
“Goyaa?é.” The man didn’t offer his hand but nodded politely. He carried a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder and no steel that I could see.
I nodded, matching his depth. “I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with your name as a warrior.”
“I’m Bedonkohe Apache. The Mexicans and Americans called me Geronimo.”
“Ah, yes. You led wars against both countries with only a small band of warriors at your side. Most impressive.”
The last man didn’t carry a weapon that I could see, though I doubted any of them could accurately guess how many blades I had hidden on my body despite their claims to fame. “Hannibal Barca.”
“Rome’s most feared enemy,” I replied softly. “And one of the greatest wartime strategists of all time.”
“Hannibal’s at the gates.” His upper lip curled slightly in a wry, self-deprecating grin. “Though this war we fight follows no known strategies I understand.”
“Perhaps we can help with that. As I said earlier, most Blood never fought in a war. Serving as a queen’s Blood is more than just keeping her safe, though of course, that’s the primary concern. Are you eating well?”
They did the silent looking around at each other again. Barely, I suppressed a sigh. :Do you know what they’re asking each other?: I asked Vivian.
She gave me an affronted look. :I’m not eavesdropping through Smoak.:
:But…?:
:They’re too embarrassed to ask for fear of looking foolish. Most of them are fucking ancient, you know? But they feel as ignorant as newborn babies.:
Aloud, I said, “A common misconception among new Blood is that we’re meant to be the queen’s bodyguards, but it’s more than that.
A well-fed queen is strong enough to defend everybody in her nest, and I mean blood, not food.
She can and should eat regular human food as well, but her magic needs your blood.
So the single most important thing you can do for your queen is give her your blood as often as she can take it.
As much as she can hold. I’m guessing it’s been centuries for most of you since you even had a physical human body, so be sure you’re fueling it with food and lots of it. ”
Vlad looked from me to Vivian, his gaze narrowed and heavy as if reading our body language through his sunfire and then verifying it with Smoak.
“We didn’t eat any food at all until recently, and we’ve been able to feed her.
” He hesitated, his eyes tightening ever so slightly, as if to say, “so far.” Perhaps not as often as he would like.
I allowed surprise to lift my eyebrows, and I slowly shook my head. “You need to eat. It’s crucial to replenish your own blood stores quickly for her.”
“Though maybe Karmen’s hunger isn’t as great as our queen’s,” Vivian added. “She’s starving all the fucking time. Has she drained you to unconsciousness yet?”
Vlad stiffened like someone had goosed him with his own spear, though his face remained implacable. “That’s possible?”
“Our queen has drained all of us in a single night until no one’s even left standing,” Vivian admitted.
“The first night I came to her, I was able to walk into her house without any other Blood noticing because they were all unconscious. Though since she’s added the last few Blood, it’s been a lot better. ”
:Not that anyone was fucking complaining,: Leviathan retorted. :She can fucking drain me dry for all I fucking care.:
Kuros turned red in the face. “How the fuck were we supposed to eat human food when nothing even exists on the other side of the portal except—” He grunted and clamped his lips shut.
Evidently one of the other Sunna Blood told him not to spill any of their queen’s secrets.
“Let’s go up to the house, and I’ll show you how the Isador kitchen works. Hopefully you can build or acquire what you need. If I’m not on duty, I’m eating.”
Vivian and Daire fell in step with me, and we led the way up to the main house.
“Is that all you do?” Vlad asked.
Vivian gave him a skeptical side-eye look, but evidently she couldn’t read his expression either despite having prior experience with him.
“Blood really don’t need anything else. We don’t need to sleep, though—” Her eyes flared wide and she stumbled a little.
She snorted under her breath. “Oh. Yeah. Um about that… Every queen is different. Some queens don’t need or want that at all. ”
I didn’t have to have a sunfire to know what she meant. Opening the back door to the kitchen, I held the door and waved for her to go on ahead. “Some queens feed on sex just as much as blood. It depends on their lineage and the gifts they inherited from their queen.”
Vlad hesitated at the door, searching my eyes with a solemn weight that wiped the knowing smirk off my lips. “Is this the first and only queen you served?”
I shook my head. “No. My first queen was a fucking nightmare who trapped me with my honor and used me to exterminate entire nests. She never had any sexual interest in me, thank the Mother.”
“But you do share this queen’s bed?”
Heat pulsed through me just thinking about my queen. The scent of her skin. Her hunger. “Every single moment I’m allowed.”
His head tipped to the side. “How does that work exactly? With so many Blood, I mean. Not…”
I slapped him on the shoulder with a hopefully friendly smile. “My queen’s appetite is ravenous in all things.”
He didn’t return the smile, merely nodding as we stepped inside.
Vivian was showing everyone the hot food Winston always had in the ovens, the wide array of prepared food in the massive refrigerator, and then she took them to the new walk-in commercial freezer where we kept the raw meat for Sekh, Mehen, and now Vore.
“Was she always ravenous?” Vlad asked without turning his head.
“Yes, at least once she came into her power. She’s still very young for a queen.
” I hesitated a moment, trying to decide how much to say.
I didn’t want to imply any reservations about his queen or their possible relationship but also help them understand and set realistic expectations for what it meant to serve a queen, especially if she’d been injured and abused.
“I can only imagine the horrors Queen Karmen endured in Heliopolis, but I know what a powerful queen feels like, and your queen carries tremendous power. As she heals, her hunger will certainly grow to sustain her.”
“Goddess, let it be soon,” Vlad whispered beneath his breath. Then he shoved his way between Sunna Blood so he could load a plate of food. “We’ll be ready.”