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I slipped out of the blood circle and stood on the same fallen tree as before. Shaking my fur out, trying to clear the stench of taint clinging to me, I waited for her next order. She sat at a table with Gina and Carys, Guillaume and Sekh at hand. Rik, of course. Llewellyn and Thierry. Nevarre too. Not surprising given his heritage.
Who better to help plan battle strategy than the Goddess of War?
:I’m headed here shortly.: She showed me a three-dimensional map in her head that flowed to the west, dropping a mental pin on the southern coast of Texas. :Can you meet me there, or are you too weary after traveling so far?:
Already running, I sent her a yip of excitement. :Your wolf is tireless, especially on a hunt.:
:I had a dream,: she whispered, her voice soft with reverence. :I don’t know how Skolos connects to the Dauphine, but our paths will cross there.:
A full Skolos Triune… and the Dauphine?
I ran harder, my teeth bared. :Then this wolf flies to you, my queen.:
* * *
SHARA
I updated everyone on what Xin had found.
Stiff as a board but shaking, Thierry stood beside Lew near the door. He croaked out several syllables, but I couldn’t understand him. Even if he knew who those other trapped souls were, he couldn’t tell us.
Black streamed from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. I shifted my focus to all the blood I’d poured into him, trying to measure how much of my power remained against the black rot spreading through him. Not much. Enough to keep him upright and moving through the day. At most.
So much pain. Razor blades sliced through him in a constant war as my blood tried to keep him alive. It would have been so much kinder to let him die. To give him eternal peace with my mother.
Though then he wouldn’t have had one last time with his two loves at his side.
If I could have Rik and any other of my Blood one last time, I’d endure endless pain too.
I touched Tlacel’s bond, standing guard at the door with his brother. :Could you find Magnum and send her to me, please?:
:She’s here, my queen.:
The door immediately opened, and she strode to the table. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“I’d like you to be a part of this conversation. And Okeanos…” I touched his bond and found him already coming down the hall as if he’d sensed I would need him.
He came to stand between Lew and Nevarre. His skin glistened with droplets of moisture, and his T-shirt clung to his chest.
Relieved, I smiled. “You found water.”
“I was going to use a bathtub, but Magnum told me about the pool house in the garden. It’s… a very special pool, my queen.”
Ah. My smile deepened. “I guess we know how we’re getting to the coast now. Do we have a map pinpointing where the queens are located?”
Gina smiled. “Kevin, why don’t you show what we know?”
“Sure thing.” He leaped to his feet and moved over to a small wall panel. He hit a few buttons and a large screen descended from the ceiling. “This is a map of the Texas coast. House Gorgos opened their house here on Tiki Island, and House Kijin’s mansion is all the way down here on Galveston Island. These are both highly populated areas, especially this month. Galveston is a popular spring break spot, and the beaches are packed.”
“Exactly,” I said, shaking my head. “So why now? Why that location?”
“Our best guess is Skolos would like to propose some kind of alliance with you,” Gina replied. “That’s why they chose to be close—without antagonizing you by opening their New York houses, for example. Plus they need to stay close to water for House Ketea. The only other place they could have chosen would be Florida, since both houses also have property in Miami, but they’d have even more college kids and tourists to deal with. House Gorgos doesn’t have any property on the west coast.”
“Do we have a house in Galveston?”
“We do.” Gina tapped the tablet screen, dropping a pin on the Galveston Island beach further down the coast. “Staff opened the house yesterday, quietly of course. But it’s ready if you’d like to use it during our visit.”
“I guess I’m still hung up on why they haven’t met yet. What are they waiting for? Not for me to show up, surely. Or they would have sent an invitation.”
