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“Take me instead, my queen.” I stepped closer, holding the blade out to the side. Letting her see it in my hand before I dropped it to clatter on the floor. I reached behind me over my shoulder, pulling another blade out of its sheath hidden beneath my hair. Metal clanged as I dropped it beside the other. “I come to you willingly. Unarmed and ready to die.”
I took another step, and something wrapped around my ankles, binding my legs together. Not her coils, but a deep purple tentacle.
Man from the waist up but with kraken tentacles writhing across the floor, Okeanos yanked me off my feet and flung me back over his shoulder. “Take me, my queen.”
Tucking my head, I hit the floor and rolled back to my feet. Already running back toward her, I paused only to snag a blade. Okeanos flicked one of his tentacles at me, surprisingly fast given it was as thick as his thigh. Slicing it aside with the same bloody blade I’d used to behead the knight, I leapt for his back, using his shoulder to vault myself up toward our queen’s brutal fangs. Close enough to see the black venom dripping from the tip. The dark maw of her mouth. The red diamond crowning her hood above her glittering eyes.
I dropped the blade and closed my eyes, letting my head fall back.
Only for a wall of fur to slam into me like a linebacker. We crashed to the floor and skidded against the bed, splintering the wood frame.
:Enough!: Shara roared in our bonds.
Stilling every muscle in my body as if she’d injected me with a paralytic drug. Panting, Ezra stared down at me. :Huh. I never expected the bear to move so fast.:
:You’re a motherfucking idiot,: he grumbled back but without any real fire.
With another crash, Rik dropped to the floor beside us. He immediately surged to his feet and moved closer to her, holding his hands up soothingly. “All is well, my queen.”
:No.: She hissed with displeasure, rattling the tip of her tail against the wall hard enough chunks of plaster fell from the ceiling. :No, it’s not. My alpha failed to keep the Blood under his control. Guillaume is dead and out of commission until he heals. Okeanos and Xin would have been next. The rest of the Blood are incapacitated. Do we even have anyone other than Frank’s team guarding the nest? What if the Dauphine is watching? Now would be a perfect time for her to attack while we’re distracted and ill prepared. And I’m still so fucking hungry I’m afraid I’ll kill you all.:
Her bond simmered with fury and thirst, but when Rik reached out to touch her, she recoiled, withdrawing into the furthest corner of the room. Her eyes burned like red pits in the thick shadows.
“Llewellyn and Tlacel are in the air, still guarding the nest. You fed the others well, so they’ll recover quickly.”
True, but what he didn’t admit was they hovered directly overhead. A heartbeat from crashing through the ceiling to join the fun.
:G,: She raked her fangs across the wooden floor, splintering the boards and leaving a thick trail of venom like an oil slick. :Itztli. I almost took his heart again.:
“They’re both healing. Look at them, my queen. Itztli’s grinning from ear to ear, and G’s head is almost completely reattached. They’re both stronger than ever thanks to you.” Rik stepped closer, finally placing a hand on her black scales. “Feed from your alpha to slake your thirst until the new Blood arrive. Xin, Okeanos, and Ezra are also here, eager to feed you.”
Ezra looked a little pale and sweaty at the thought of allowing the cobra to feed, but to his credit, he didn’t object.
Her coils tightened, her head swaying. :I don’t want to kill you again.:
“Then shift first, my queen. Though I’ve never minded your cobra, either.”
I risked her wrath by rolling to my feet and moving to stand by Rik. “Nor I. You’re the most glorious queen I’ve ever seen, Your Majesty.”
:Agony.: Ruby eyes slitted, her tongue flickering the air. :Death.:
I shrugged. “I’ve fed from Rik so I should already have the antidote to your venom, but if not, I’ll recover.”
Her head lowered enough for her tongue to dance across my chest. Black venom still dripped from her three-foot-long fangs. I caught some in the palm of my hand, holding her gaze.
“Nothing you could ever do to me will make me afraid.”
And I tipped her poison into my mouth.
* * *
OKEANOS
As the newest Blood of House Isador, I was still carefully searching for my place among them. I didn’t crave to be as solitary as the bear and the wolf, though I was often as alone. I couldn’t coach our young queen on court etiquette, though after being trapped in Marne Ceresa’s court for a century, I knew enough about the queen of Rome to get me killed.
Older than Daire and Rik—but since I was caged and abandoned by my mother when the kraken grew too powerful, I still felt young and green. Especially compared to Leviathan. The other Blood, I still didn’t know very well. My need for water kept me in the grotto more often than not.
I hadn’t even known I could partially shift until I was able to wrap Xin in a tentacle and give him a toss.
