AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Later,” I said lightly, ignoring the thunder in his voice. “I’ll eat G’s snack first and see how I feel.”
“Do you have any other questions for him at this time?”
I yearned to soothe him. To lay my head on his shoulder and…
My throat tightened and tears filled my eyes again. Pretend like I just found out I’m a vampire queen, and it’s just me, him, and Daire riding motorcycles through the winding mountainous roads toward Kansas City.
Where everything would change once I learned of the Isador legacy Selena and Esetta had left for me.
Rik surged to his feet so quickly a squeak escaped from my lips, though he didn’t jostle me at all. He shifted me down to sit in the chair. Alone.
Dropping to his knees beside Llewellyn, he prostrated himself before me just like G had done the first day in Kansas City. Though he had to shove my sleeping warcat and dragon out of the way with his foot. Without a word, Llewellyn mimicked him. My two powerful, magnificent Blood, on their bellies, before me.
“We’re yours to command in any way you see fit, Your Majesty.” Rik didn’t lift his head, and I didn’t hear any commands rippling through the bonds, but the other Blood came to me, silently and quickly, dropping down behind him on their bellies.
Vivian at a run, her red braids snapping the air as she rushed ahead to beat the Blood who’d been asleep, though they were all stirring now. Itztli poked Ezra on the couch—with the tip of his knife from the way Ezra growled. Though his eyes widened, and he rolled off the sofa to his feet without another complaint. Okeanos, dripping water from the grotto, where he spent most of his time when not in my bed. Xin, his wolf running hard enough his tongue lolled. He’d been miles away outside the nest, checking our territory. Mehen let out a rumbling breath as he awakened, and for once, he didn’t bitch about anything at all, shocking me as he, too, stretched out before me. Though he lay on his back, belly exposed. Beside him, Daire was quiet, not even purring or making a smart-ass comment in our bonds.
I didn’t know what to say. Their bonds gleamed like hard, bright swords in my mind. Ready to kill. Ready to die.
Especially Rik.
I glided along his bond, listening to his thoughts and absorbing his feelings. He wasn’t offended or upset or even jealous. Anger pumped through his veins with every beat of his heart, but he wasn’t pissed at me. He was angry at himself. For holding me back.
:You don’t?—:
:I do,: he snarled before I could complete the thought. :You’re a Triune queen. You need a Triune-level alpha.:
:You’re the alpha I choose. I love you.: Aloud, I repeated the words so they all knew. “I love you, my Blood. Each and every one of you.”
Rage pulsed through his bond, cutting deeply like a double-edged sword. “And that love weakens you.”
I shrugged. “So be it. I love all of you. I won’t ever stop loving you.”
Slabs of granite crunched in my mind, crumbling to dust. Rik tipped his head back enough to glare up at me again. “You’re destined to be the most powerful Aima queen to walk this earth. You can’t?—”
“If I can’t walk with you by my side, then I don’t want to be a queen at all,” I broke in.
Guillaume strode back with a plate of all my favorite foods from the kitchen. He bowed low, set the plate on my knees, and backed up a step so he could drop to his knees. There wasn’t room between the other Blood and my chair for him to prostrate himself like the others, but I felt his absolute willingness to do so in our bond.
I didn’t really want to eat, but my stomach still felt queasy and unsettled. My head ached. Too much turmoil and emotion in a span of minutes. The realization I needed to call more Blood had put me into a tailspin.
“What would you do?” Guillaume asked.
I met his gaze, not sure what he meant.
“If you weren’t a queen,” he added. “If you walked away from it all.”
It could be done. Selena had left everything in London, even her Blood, to be with the human she loved. Alan Dalton had been a father to me. They’d raised me in Kansas City without me knowing a thing about Aima courts or queens or Blood.
Though the monsters had continued to hunt me. I’d slept in a window-less, high room to keep them from getting me at night. Dad and Mom hadn’t been able to escape.
I tried to imagine what our lives would be like if I gave up my power. We could keep the house…
But it’d just be a house. A mansion, for sure, but the thick velvety darkness beneath the house would leak away. I wouldn’t need a place of darkness for my magic any longer—not that I’d used it yet. The trees. My heart panged at the thought of losing the heart tree, grove, and its grotto. Maybe they’d still be here—as regular, everyday trees. We wouldn’t be able to travel anywhere in the world simply by stepping into my heart tree. I wouldn’t be able to pass through the grotto to the Deep Blue with Okeanos again. He’d be trapped in a little puddle of water far from the oceans.
If I gave up my power, he wouldn’t be able to control his shift. He’d return to the ocean, roaming wild and free, but alone. Always alone.
I’d lose Mehen too. He’d go back to his dragon form. Would he find himself trapped beneath the mountain again, locked outside of time and space? I wouldn’t be able to free him again.
