Just as she’d said, I could feel residual power all around me. Every step I took across the nest made vibrations of fury ripple in the air. Every pebble and blade of grass inside this blood circle thirsted for retribution. All the lives of House Gorgos. Basilia’s blood soaked into the ground. Her pain and rage were so thick, I struggled to breathe until I stepped out of the blood circle.
Every dark emotion lingering here fed the oath I’d sworn.
Not urgency—like I was going to die—but with clamorous intensity, demanding my undivided attention. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be sleeping much until I’d fulfilled my oath to Basilia.
“How many of these trophies did you say you found in the Dauphine’s last nest?” Undina asked.
“Forty-four.” She made a series of high-pitched squeals and whistles that I assume was sea creature for“fuck.”“Some of them are already dead, but there are still twenty to thirty trapped queens needing help.”
“Each with some kind of trap or creature like a hydra protecting her.” Undina shook her head. “I would offer House Ketea’s assistance, but we weren’t much help with Gorgos. I don’t know what else we could offer.”
I didn’t tell her about Medusa’s request for an heir with Gorgon blood. For one thing, that was my business, and another, I didn’t want her thinking I was open to taking orders like a custom cake shop. I wouldn’t be opposed to having an heir with each of my Blood, but damn. That was a lot of babies, and I didn’t even know if I wantedoneyet.
Okay, that was a lie. I knew I wanted a daughter for House Isador. I refused to let my house die out after everything Esetta and Selena had done to have me.
As Rik had said, I was extremely young to have children as far as Aima queens were considered. Though if I dwelled on it too long, I could all too easily imagine a young dragon playing with a baby hell horse or rock troll or kraken…
Okeanos’ tentacles started turning pink, which drew a sharper look from his mother.
I quickly changed the subject. “Before I do anything else, I’m going back to see what particularly nasty surprise the Dauphine was up to in a New Orleans swamp. I don’t want them bursting free and beginning to wreak a new step of her forked attack. After that…” I sighed. “I’m not sure. Hopefully it’ll come to me.”
“Safe travels, House Isador,” Undina said. “May the tides carry you to exactly where you need to be.”
46
SHARA
Crouched down on one knee in the shallows of the Aegean Sea, I stared into my silver wolf’s eyes, sinking into his bond. My fingers grounded firmly in his ruff, our noses almost touching. I allowed a drop of my blood to drip into the water as his memory of the small, secretive blood circle he’d found deep in the swamp played through his mind.
Our noses twitched with the fetid smell of rotting plants and thick mud. The salty breeze turned to heavy, humid air. Sparkling golden sands and azure waters became massive cypress trees dripping curtains of moss toward brackish water.
The image firmed between us enough for the first of my Blood to pass through the portal. Rik stood at my back, Sekh and Guillaume on either side of us. I waited until everyone else passed through, and then I slowly stood, releasing Xin’s fur as I allowed the other side to close.
:Nothing’s moving,:Vivian reported as she circled overhead.
I checked the sky, relieved we still had several hours of daylight. I didn’t want to be out here in the dark, especially if there might be thralls around.
Xin slipped away in a flash of quicksilver with Itztli, noseworking, looking for anything that might not belong. Vore’s ushi-oni tagged along in case anything needed to be devoured, and Okeanos moved easily through the muddy water encircling the small island.
My lower legs were already wet and dirty, but Rik picked me up and carried me through the smelly water to a gray-green hump rising out of the water with several giant trees in a loose circle. Each heavy step of his rock troll made the mud pop and suck at his feet.
A faint tingle warned we were close to the blood circle. Rik paused, letting me study it. This one was unique from the others we’d been to because it was wholly Jeanne’s. Her true power from only her blood. Her will. Her magic.
Closing my eyes, I tapped into the circle.
Far from prying eyes in the middle of a swamp, Jeanne Viennois needed no disguise. Yet her features were still blurred and distorted. I wondered if she even remembered what she looked like after hiding for so long.
“This will do, Guigues. These trees are big enough.”
We’d already seen her alpha in Thierry’s memory, and Sekh had traced his history back as far as possible. The man looked… average. Basic. He wasn’t very tall or exceptionally muscled. He had regular brown hair clipped short in a modern style. There was nothing about him that signaled he was anything more than a human.
Until he moved. Then the innate grace of a swordsman was undeniable, though different from my knight’s. His steps flowed like a waltz, even though all he did was walk alongside his queen as she paced out the blood circle.
She only allowed three drops of blood to drop onto the ground, which explained why the circle was so faint as to be almost undetectable until we were a pace away. Once she let another drop fall, she mentally reached back and connected thetwo, then three, then finally closed it. Pretty impressive, really, and I made a mental note of the technique.
Certainly much easier than bleeding all over the ground, though I didn’t mind giving the sacrifice. The Mother’s earth welcomed every drop of Her daughters’ blood. But maybe that’s why Jeanne barely dropped any blood even to form her protective circle. She hoarded power and blood, stealing other queens’ natural gifts and using them as her own.
I allowed the magic to flow faster, waiting until someone else’s face appeared. A second Blood with Guigues. Between them, they dragged another man with his hands bound behind his back.
