Guillaume laughed. Head back, chuckling out loud, free and long and deep. A sound that smoothed all the jagged edges in me too.
Smiling with less self-recrimination, I offered him my hand, and of course, he came straight to my side and dropped to his knees beside my chair. “We don’t know how long Basilia was imprisoned, or how deepherchasms may be. I refuse to incapacitate myself for a queen who has no existing ties to me. Unless I absolutely know for sure I love her and am willing to risk everything to save her, I won’t give her a chance to overtake my House or strip me of my Blood.”
Gwen nodded. “Not that you’re asking my opinion, but I agree wholeheartedly, my queen. I’ll show you where to look inside Basilia if you want to check the severity of the injuries to her magical system. I honestly was surprised you even attempted to heal Leonie. Most queens would’ve simply killedher, absorbed what was left of her house and power, and moved on. It’s far too risky otherwise.”
Leonie’s image flickered through my mind. The way her skin gleamed like polished ebony. The smell of her blood. The taste of her skin. “I have no regrets.”
Gwen’s lips quirked knowingly. “So I see. You’re blushing, my queen. Where is she, by the way?”
My cheeks burned hotter, making Gwen smirk even more. “Leonie went home to Africa to Call her Blood.”
“Would she be interested in taking over the tower?”
“I don’t think so. She has deep ties to her home in New Orleans. Once she has Blood of her own, I believe she’ll return to her family home.”
“I’ve compiled a list of the remaining queens in the tower and ranked them by trustworthiness and how much the other sibs respect them. And of course Kevin has done an incredible job, though I don’t know that a consiliarius will be enough to keep the other queens in line.”
I sighed. “We don’t have to decide anything right now. Whoever you left in charge can step up on a temporary basis when you leave. Once I take care of Basilia, we may need to spend a few days in New York City to remind everyone whyIsadoris on the tower instead ofSkye.”
“Would you rather stay at the tower or the Park Avenue House?” Gina asked.
“With Magnum, definitely.”
“I’ll let her know,” Gina replied. “When will you be ready to leave the city, Your Majesty?”
“As soon as possible,” Gwen admitted. “I’ve honestly been ready for nearly a month, but I hadn’t gotten the courage to ask.”
I rolled my eyes. “You make me sound like an ogre.”
“Indeed.” Gwen laughed, her eyes sparkling with excitement at finally moving to her own home. “I mean, silly me, worryingabout offending the Triskeles queen who’s on her way to kill another Triune queen.”
Well. When you put it like that…
I picked up my wine glass. “A toast to purging the old blood.”
Dark wings swept through my mind with the distant beat of war drums. The knights thumped the table with their fists, rattling the cutlery, pounding like the steady gallop of warhorses. “Hear, hear! Long live House Isador!”
Guillaume kissed my knuckles. “Long live the queen.”
43
OKEANOS
Surrounded by the rest of her Blood, my queen looked at me and smiled. “Ready?”
Already in my kraken form, I nearly filled the hot spring. My tentacles spilled over the slick rocks.:I have Undina’s position, my queen. She’s expecting us.:
Without hesitation, Shara stepped off the ledge onto one of my larger tentacles, holding on to a smaller one for balance as I pulled her closer. “Thank you, my kraken.”
With my queen in my grasp, the Deep Blue beckoned. Water so deep it seemed bottomless. So vast as to feel like infinity. One drop of her blood bloomed in the water, sharpening all the shades of darkness into brilliant indigo and blue. Streams of light flowed from her, brighter than any sun rays that might cut through the surface.
Always guiding me home.
For a moment, we hung suspended in the Deep Blue. Just me and my queen, surrounded by the ocean and all its creatures. Her hair slipped free to undulate and twine with my tentacles. I’d been overjoyed to assist her beneath the Delafosse house, but this moment was even more divine. More sacred.
In my element. My domain. Allowed to serve her in a way only I could provide.
Without hesitation, she lay against my monstrous body. No fear. No disgust. She pressed the small puncture to my beak and allowed me to taste her blood.
