“Do you need Dr. Borcht?” Rik asked.
“No. I’ll be fine after I settle my stomach.”
His big hands were always gentle, but his voice rumbled deeper with concern. “I’ve never seen you throw up before. Are you sure?”
Straightening, I leaned back against him. “Yeah. I’m just a little shaken.”
He dabbed a cloth on my mouth, cleaning me up. I hated wasting my blood, but I didn’t care to absorb blood that’d been in the toilet. So I sent it into the earth inside my nest. Let the Mother have it, or the trees. I didn’t need it back to conserve my reserves now that I had Sekh and Vore to help balance me out.
Naturally Rik carried me back into the bedroom, not even giving me the chance to see if my knees were still wobbly. Hetook me back to bed but sat propped up on the pillows, cradling me in front of him.
After a light tap on the door, Guillaume stepped inside carrying a tray. “We pulled together some light snacks that should help your stomach, my queen.”
Of course I didn’t even have to ask for a cup of tea, perfectly toasted fresh bread, a bowl of my favorite fruits, and an assortment of cheese cut into perfect cubes. “Perfect, thank you.”
He set the tray over my lap. “I can’t take full credit. Winston always has your favorites ready to go, though only he gets your tea duty.”
Before Winston, I’d always been a coffee girl, but his tea was impeccable. “What day is it? I mean, how long have we been back home?”
“You’ve only been asleep for a few hours, my queen,” Rik replied. “We just got back this morning.”
“Good.” I nibbled on the toast and took a sip of the tea, letting it work its magic. Winston’s tea really was the best. Strong without being too sharp or bitter, lightened with perfect cream and just a little sugar or honey, depending on the brew. I reached for Nevarre’s bond and found him in the sky on guard duty. Though as soon as he sensed my touch, he immediately wheeled in the air and flew toward me. Rik sent Vivian up in the air to take his place.
I settled back against Rik’s chest with the cup of tea, waiting the few minutes for Nevarre to reach me before launching into planning. He might be one of my quietest, gentlest Blood, but he effortlessly managed my phone and all my contacts, the travel, and my wardrobe. While still flying on patrol and doing all the other Blood tasks Rik sent him to complete without complaint.
Barefoot and bare chested, Nevarre strode in with my phone in his hand and his green and black kilt wrapped around his hips. “Gina’s at Frank’s but she’s on her way.”
Sekh came with him, already picking up on the action vibe.If we were going anywhere, especially where I might need some cleanup duties completed, the general of the All Seeing, Never Sleeping legion wanted to be involved.
Whoever had originally built my manor house must have been of an older generation—or just an obscenely wealthy and privileged human—where they were used to having lots of staff and family living nearby. There were several smaller but well-built cottages and houses on the property. Frank had claimed the house near the gate for himself. When we’d first moved into the nest, Gina spent her nights at the main house with me, but I was pleased to see them spending more and more time together. Maybe we could plan a wedding or handfasting this year…
Sighing, I pulled my attention back to the problem at hand. No amount of delay tactics and happy thoughts were going to make the power I’d inherited from the Dauphine go away.
“Thierry told me that Leonie was still alive when he was first imprisoned. He promised her that House Isador would come back to free her.”
“I take it that whatever the Dauphine did to her was unpleasant,” Guillaume said.
I waited a second to make sure my stomach was solid. “She cut off Leonie’s writing hand and her tongue and preserved them somehow,” I replied softly. “So she could better pretend to be her. Then chained her in the mud pit.” I swallowed another mouthful of tea, letting it wash out the nastiness. “With the leeches.”
“Did she have any Blood?” Rik asked.
“Thierry said there were two Blood when he first arrived that didn’t behave like normal Blood. He thinks they were spelled like the Gorgos Blood.”
“So we have to assume they’re either still standing frozen, waiting for a command that will never come, or they’re thralls like Thierry,” Sekh said. “I know you don’t like to dwell on thesenew powers, but do you know the difference in how they were made?”
My hands trembled slightly on the cup, but I took another calming sip of tea before closing my eyes and focusing on Thierry. I heard the flap and swoosh of his wings and then the soft weight of his bird hopping across the bed. When I opened my eyes again, he perched on the edge of the tray across my lap. His head tilted inquisitively.
“Do you know how the Gorgos Blood were spelled—differently than what she did to you?”
His head shook.
Closing my eyes, I let my breath out in a slow, controlled sigh. “Show me what she did to you when she first put you in the pit beneath Leonie’s house.”
Immediately I was there. Inside him, looking out of his eyes. Lying on my back, incapacitated with a blow of power so immense it felt like my heart was crushed beneath the weight of Mount Everest. The man with a sword?—
I paused the memory and said aloud, “Are you seeing this in the bond? Do you recognize him?”
“That’s an épée,” Guillaume replied. “Commonly used in formal fencing in seventeenth century France. I don’t recognize his face though.”
