Kyldan grunted in agreement.
Fools.They were both fools.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re bleeding out on the ground.” I sighed. “You’ll wish you had listened to me when you take your last breath. No matter what, you won’t leave here alive if you don’t leave now.”
Maon rolled his eyes and tipped his head to the side, stopping in place—effectively stopping all of us. “Your cell awaits. Can you walk in there?”
“What do you think,” I griped, rolling my head to the side to glare at him. “These boots sure weren’t walking themselves a second ago.”
Kyldan grinned, showing fang. “The hard way then, I’d say.”
I shrieked as I was thrown through the air, right into my cell. I slammed hard against the darkened gems in the wall, tumbling down, scraping along them all the way to the hard ground. My frame bounced once from the impact, a grunt pushing from my lungs brutally. I lay in a heap of tangled limbs, my head cocked at an odd angle, unable to move.
I rasped, “You bastards. I’m happy you’ll die.”
The bouldercreakedas it began to roll back into place, my kidnappers, little by little, closing it.
My body was slow to heal itself, struggling to do so in my weak state. I shuddered hard on the cold, wet ground, a quiet sob ripping from my chest.
With one last shove, the boulder stopped.
I was “secured” once again.
The gems instantly flared to life.
I choked on my silent sobs and squinted at them through my tears. “I think I missed you. And I think I’m an idiot about men. But, fuck, I’m still scared.”
The gems that my side was crushed against warmed against my skin, sparkling so brightly I had to close my eyes.
Brutal power, only felt once before with a gifted necklace, captured my breath, and stole my thoughts. I tumbled into the vortex of power, gripping it tight, lest I be lost in the coil of its intensity…
I sat on a beach that sparkled like diamonds.
I peered left and right, searching for a little boy with blood-red skin who liked to dig in the sand, but there was no one else here during the twilight hour. I dug my bare toes down in the warm sand, my body shuddering in pleasure. I peeked up to the sky, ready for the odd phenomenon.
A sun the color of yellows, reds, greens, and blues—all gases and spinning in a lazy pattern—was on the horizon, watching down on me, radiating tenderness. A moon was on the other horizon across the stunning blue waves, white foam rushing over the pure, white sand. The bright white moon gazed upon on my person, pouring strength down on me.
I lay back on the sand, stretching my legs. I curled my fingers down into the sand, soft as silk. I whispered in my reprieve—my stomach no longer aching for blood, “This may be an illusion, but I needed this. Thank you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kimber
The people of Lick werebarely kind enough to lead us to the other end of the city through the tunnels. They weren’t pleased in any way that Aiko knew where they were hiding, but we also didn’t want to take the time to try to explain the whole situation to them.
Gwynnore was out there. Somewhere. I was fairly sure that while she was quite capable of handling Niniane, we didn’t want to leave her in the queen’s presence either. I’d had enough of the woman from the one encounter I’d had with her.
Within about an hour of being pulled in to the cellar, we were led out through the other end of the city and bid a very unfond farewell. They couldn’t have slammed the door shut with any more gusto than they did. I wasn’t even sure the door was going to open again without serious force.
“Nice people,” Belshazzar said.
“You really don’t get how awful this has been for these vampires, do you?” Aiko snapped. “For thousands of years, they suffered under Savion, and now they are suffering even worse under Niniane. It was why we all did everything we could to keep her hidden, keep her away from everything and everyone. Even Savion knew she was out of control—and what does that tell you when the madman thinks the queen is insane?”
“I can’t really find it in me to give a shit, Aiko,” he said. “Gwen is missing. We need to find her and get back to Earth to deal with the war that’s coming.”
Aiko turned and stepped right up in the king’s face. “I do give a shit because this is my home. This is where I have lived. I have fucked up enough for a thousand lifetimes, and I want to see it live and thrive.”
Belshazzar pushed him back a few steps. “Relax, vampire. You’ll have your home. I just want my queen.”
