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Let alone Winston, who kept my house in order. All of Frank’s team who took such pride in wearing the Isador logo on their uniforms. Angela, Marissa, Kevin, and countless others who assisted Gina in keeping the massive Isador legacy in order. Dr. Borcht. Magnum at the New York City house.
Not to mention the sibling queens under my protection and their households. They all depended on me to protect them.
I’d found a way to protect my Blood when I’d made the agreement with Coatlicue. I’d have to find a way to protect everyone again. Because I refused to sit around and wait for the Dauphine to send another zombie-like goule into my nest and harm my people.
Despite the food I’d just eaten—and what felt like gallons of blood I’d taken from my Blood—a gnawing sense of hunger ached in my bones. A feeling of being unsatisfied and uneasy in my own body, and it only got worse with every passing day. A gnawing black hole expanded inside me.
Need. A need for more. Always more.
I promised I wouldn’t take a Blood I didn’t love. When queens made oaths, those words melded with our power, enforcing the promise into our very being. I’d sooner give up my nest and my Blood than even begin to think of breaking my word.
I already have twelve Blood. How many more can I possibly need?
Daire let out a rumbling purr as he pressed against my knees. “As many as you want.”
Stroking my fingers through his long tawny hair, I closed my eyes. The tapestry unfurled in my mind, showing me the map of the nest. My house, the sacred grove of ancient trees with the heart tree in the center. My grotto, steam rising from the ground.
My blood circle burned against the night, glittering red jewels casting fiery light up into the sky. I could feel the burning energy deep in the earth as well, protecting the house and grove. Strong, well defined, as deep and tall as I could possibly make it. Yet it hadn’t been enough to keep the Dauphine out.
The trees rustled, whispers on the soft wind. They’d sensed the undead and had immediately circled the goule. They would do so again until I could arrive and take care of the threat.
Though next time, maybe the intruder would bring fire. Or axes. I’d rather lose a limb myself than feel steel hacking into the Morrigan’s ancient trees. I’d felt Nevarre’s pain when his mother had lost the grove. Devastating agony, much worse than when I’d grown the heart tree and nearly died. I’d been willing to sacrifice to grow the tree. I couldn’t bear to lose one branch.
Scanning outside of the circle, I looked for anything that didn’t belong. A sense of unease or danger. The twinkling city lights of human lives in and surrounding Eureka Springs dotted the nightscape. I felt animals in the forest. Birds and squirrels, foxes and hares, coyotes and yes, wolves. They slipped south to speak to Xin and then ran back to their home territories, carrying wolf business across the country.
:Not wolf business,: he whispered in my mind. :They’re noses and ears for House Isador.:
:And the crows are your eyes,: Nevarre added, sending an image of flocks of birds streaking across the sky. :We’re on the watch for where the Dauphine settles.:
Marne Ceresa had driven her out of New Orleans, but I wasn’t sure where she might have gone. Our ancient, powerful Houses had ridiculously large fortunes, so she might have gone anywhere in the world without blinking an eye at the cost. For all I knew, she probably had massive houses in every major country in the world. But something told me she wouldn’t have gone far.
She’d lived as an obscure little-known queen named Leonie Delafosse in New Orleans—on the off chance she’d find me. So she could eliminate me before I could even step into my power. She might have been forced to abandon House Delafosse, but she wouldn’t hesitate to stamp my house out before I could take any more Blood or siblings.
So she had to be close. Maybe the west coast, where Xin’s former queen had held court. Or Canada.
:Once we have her scent, we’ll find her anywhere on earth,: Xin swore. :No matter how hard she tries to hide.:
I swept my attention outward, looking beyond the immediate city for any sign of Aima. Something pulled my attention southward to a large city dotted with millions of human lights. Geography was hard for me to estimate exactly where I was looking, but with the large body of water nearby, I guessed it to be near Houston. Where humans looked like tiny twinkling stars, there was a small group of steady white glowing balls.
Not red glowing streams of lava or fire like my Blood.
Queens. Plural.
I touched Gina’s bond in my head. :Do we have news of any queens gathering near Houston?:
She couldn’t answer directly, but I felt her immediately reach for a phone to call the team.
I let my focus wander across the land, lightly marking my siblings’ locations. Mayte and House Zaniyah. The brilliant prism of little Xochitl’s energy gleaming like a rainbow. Far to the east, Gwen in Isador Tower, overlooking New York City. She managed hundreds of siblings for me. She might only have four Blood, but the White Enchantress of Camelot blazed like a beacon of power.
House Ironheart lay to the north in Minnesota. Helayna wasn’t my sibling, but I’d been welcomed to her nest. I didn’t make my presence known to her, but merely flitted by the island in the middle of the lake she called home. On the shore, a giant black wolf sat staring across the water. Her brother, Eivind, the wolf king. His nose twitched as I passed, his wolf rising, ears perked. Not to attack—his hackles didn’t rise, and he didn’t growl.
His hind quarters slumped down, and he tipped his head back with a mournful howl.
Ah. He thought I might be Karmen Sunna, using my power to seek him out. Though why she’d even consider taking him as Blood when he’d left her alone and scared, I had no idea. I didn’t sense her anywhere nearby, and her phenomenal, blazing power would be unmistakable, even when she wasn’t my sibling.
A thought rippled across the quiet pool of power flowing through my mind. I could take him. He was a powerful Aima, a wolf king descended from the goddess Hel and the infamous Fenrir line. If I decided to call him…
He wouldn’t be able to resist me.
