His hand slipped around to grip my chin in a surprisingly hard grip. He leaned down into my space with a fierce, hard look burning in his eyes. “You owe her nothing. You did not do this. You’re here to end her suffering, not bear witness and endure every moment all over again with her. My queen does not suffer needlessly. Not one single moment. Let us do our job now and save your power for what only you can do.”
My throat ached, my eyes filling up with tears. But I nodded. “You’re right, my alpha. Thank you.”
For the benefit of the other queen, he gave his orders out loud. “Leviathan, your job is to kill the hydra, or at least keep it occupied long enough for one of us to get to Basilia’s body. General, will your sphinx be vulnerable to the hydra’s stare?”
Sekh shook his head. “I’m already stone. What more can she do to me? But I’m too large to fit into that cave.”
:I’ll fucking drag her out by the hydra,:Leviathan said.:Assuming they’re still chained together.:
“While the dragon’s trying to get to her heart, I’ll use my weight to pin her. I’ll cover her head if possible.”
Leviathan blew out a plume of smoke on a draconian chuckle.:Sit on the bitch’s head, motherfucker. Just don’t detach it or you’ll have two to deal with.:
“Xin, use your invisibility to get close enough to kill Basilia. The hydra won’t be able to see you, even if she gets away from the others.”
Everything made perfect sense to me. Except for one very important question. Looking around at my loved onesencircling us, I asked, “How do we kill her if she’s already the same as dead?”
“Take her head first,” Guillaume said. “If that doesn’t kill her, then we advance to plan B, which was my plan before you Called me, my queen.”
In his bond, flames rippled around him as he walked into an inferno.
Goddess. I did not want to burn her to death. “I’ll need to free her spirit first. I refuse to burn her alive.”
Rik set me down on my feet. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”
MEHEN
It was finallymy moment to fucking shine…
And I had to share it with the motherfucker.
Still, it felt pretty fucking amazing to be one of the few Blood who could actually do something against a hydra. Other than having to partner with the motherfucking general, the only thing that would make this better would be fighting in the deepest part of the ocean.The King of the Depths has finally come for you, Gorgon bitch.
Even the last Templar knight had to sit this one out, though he gave one of his bigger swords to Xin to cut off Basilia’s head.
:Don’t forget her poison,:I said in the Blood bond.:She can spit at least twenty paces, and it’ll dissolve diamonds.:
:Not even hydra poison is going to pit my stone hide,:Sekh said.
:Wanna fucking bet?:Though I felt Rik’s bond turning to granite. I didn’t need a thump from the alpha to remind me I had a job to do.:Going in after her now.:
Nevarre’s crow cawed overhead at the edge of the blood circle.:How far can her death stare reach?:
I didn’t want to admit I didn’t know.:If you can tell what color her eyes are, you’re too fucking close.:
I’d gotten a pretty good look at the battlefield earlier, but I didn’t want to be too hasty and look like a fool in front of my queen. I made a quick pass over the cave, making a mental map of the area for the rest of the Blood in case this got hairy. Most of the stone statues clustered directly in front of the cave, as if they’d tried to use each other as shields to get as close as possible. Cluttering the ground in jumbled piles, they were going to make it harder to drag the hydra out if I came at her from the front.
Sweeping back out of her possible line of sight, I dropped onto the rocky stones higher up the hill and began to slowly slither closer.:I need some fucking bait.:
The general heaved out a grudging sigh, though he obligingly walked out into sight of the cave. His giant sphinx rattled the statues against the ground as he walked closer.:I don’t see any movement inside the cave. It’s barely more than a slit in the rock. I thought a hydra’d be bigger.:
:I didn’t see the hydra come out of Basilia,:Shara said.:But I felt it. It’s tied to the silver disk like an anchor. I’m guessing she’ll materialize out of the disk when she feels threatened.:
Ignoring the cave entirely, he used a massive shoulder to shove some of the upright statues over. Knocking them back out of our way.:Let’s see if I can piss her off.:
If she was cognizant enough to realize those statues had been servants and people of her own house, fuck yeah. That’d piss her off for sure.
A wave of Gorgon stink filled my nostrils as if she’d materialized right below me.:She’s coming.:
