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“You’ve never taken a misstep. Even today, you had no way of knowing the threat that lay in wait for us in the attic. Think what might have happened if you innocently allowed Mairead to take possession of the house, and she found the chimney by accident. We might all be dead. All Aima. Because you wouldn’t have been here to stop pestilence from spreading.”

“I could have taken control of the blood circle before we left.”

“True. But that wouldn’t have prevented anything except Charles burning a few documents in the basement. Which, by the way, allowed your team to find the storage area where the antidote flask was hidden.”

I tipped my face up to him, my lips curving in a wry smile. “So what I’m hearing is everything unfolded in perfect timing according to the Mother’s will, even though we all died today.”

He cupped my cheek, his thumb lightly stroking over my skin. “That’s exactly what I’m saying because Shara fucking Isador was here. No one else would have been willing to die and give the elixir to the knight. Once the illness mutated in a queen, who knows how many would’ve died. Even with the elixir.”

“Did you ever think we would be here?” I gestured at the sumptuous Egyptian bedroom. “In a Paris mansion with servants and a dozen siblings. When you found me, I’d just cleaned a flooded Jacuzzi tub and was headed back to my small, dark room to hide and hope the monsters didn’t find me one more night. I know it was just months ago, but it feels like an eternity.”

“It was an eternity ago. An eternity of blood and love, my queen. Because of you. I may be a giant, but that’s nothing compared to the size of your heart. You make all of this possible. Every stone, every brick, every drop of blood in this house. Every drop of Aima blood in Paris belongs to you.”

My breath sighed out. “It’s too much.”

He rumbled, whether a chuckle or a low growl, I couldn’t say. “Nothing’s too much for my queen.”

The door opened and several Blood stepped inside. I wasn’t aware of his orders flowing through the bonds, though he’d evidently called several to my side. Was my hunger so great?

I allowed myself to feel, sinking into my body. An immense gnawing black maw of hunger looked back at me from the depths.

“It’s too much,” I whispered again, my voice breaking. “I can’t keep up. I can’t satisfy it. I’m fucking exhausted. Again. I want to sleep for a week, like in the beginning, but I can’t.”

He tucked me against him, my face against his chest, his heart thudding heavy and strong beneath my cheek. “You need do nothing but lie safe and secure in my arms, my queen. Allow me to direct your Blood and make the arrangements and decisions about who to bring to your side. That’s what I’m here for, remember? Let us take care of you. You need do nothing but rest.”

Closing my eyes, I sank into him. Absorbing his heat. His unfailing strength. His gentleness as he stroked me, his gigantic palm covering my back effortlessly. He moved deeper into the bed, propping himself up against the pillows. I lay draped across him, letting the gentle bellows of his breathing carry me away. A life raft drifting on an endless ocean. The night sky stretched out overhead, sparkling with a billion stars. Streaked with fiery, eerie green comets. Lying here, I could feel the spinning of the earth as we moved through infinite space.

“That’s it, my queen.” His fingers moved through my hair, loosening the twisted braid to separate the long strands. Never tangled. Never knotted. Which was a whole other impressive level of magic.

The bed dipped slightly and I started to lift my head, but Rik rumbled again. “No. Lie still, Shara, my queen. Rest. Let us come to you.”

Someone took my left hand in theirs, pressed a kiss to my palm, then then jammed my nails into their thigh. I felt the skin and muscle part beneath my nails like layers of thin paper fluttering beneath my touch. Then only the hot sear of blood.

Blowing sands and lion fur filled me. Sekh. My general. Of course Rik would call him with his near infinite capacity to feed me.

“What about the sphinxes?” My voice was sluggish, my words drawn out as if I was drugged. I was—lured into a sleepy haze by Rik’s steady touch.

“I gave them a job,” Sekh replied. “They’re on a mission, my queen, cleaning the streets of Paris of murderers and rapists. Sadly, they’ll be busy for days unless we call them back.”

The ocean sky shifted to the sprawling City of Light. I saw through Ini’s shining eyes as she prowled the dark, ancient streets. Cobblestones beneath my paws. Ears twitching. Nose working. My targets had a particular smell, as if they’d rolled in their own excrement and stale urine, even if they wore expensive suits and modern clothing. There. A man trailing a young woman on the street. She cast fearful, quick glances over her shoulder, hurrying toward safety. The man quickened his step, his fingers curling, reaching out to snag her hair.

Instead, I sprang onto his back and locked my powerful jaws around his nape. Landing lightly, I whirled and dragged him into the shadows. The woman let out a quiet, startled cry but then fled up steps to a brightly lit apartment, not even sure exactly what she’d seen.

I pulled my awareness away from Ini before she began to feed. I’d already seen her action and didn’t need a frontstage pass to her gorefest.

While I’d been with Ini, another Blood had pulled my nails into his body. More desert sands, though tinged red. Hot, blowing winds. Swirling dry storms piled sand against a tall onyx obelisk. Swallowing it slowly, hiding its presence from the world, until even the long, pointed ears of the jackal at the top were buried.

Khalid. Who wanted only to be drained and drained again. With this endless, grim hunger spreading through me…

“I live to serve, my queen.”

RIK

Here, alone with her for a few precious moments, she allowed me to see the heart and soul of the woman beneath the crown. A woman who’d cried her eyes out today and screamed our names into the void. Who would’ve wandered alone for eternity in search of her loved ones. Because she refused to leave a single one of us behind.

I already knew her inside and out. Yet I treasured every moment she let herself be vulnerable. Especially when she admitted she was afraid. Not of any external threat.

Shara Isador was afraid to be so powerful. Too powerful.