If it were any of my Blood…
Shuddering, I closed my eyes and squeezed her harder. I’d be a screaming, crying, throwing up mess.
No.
I’d be dead. So I promised to Coatlicue.
Rik touched my back and I leaned into him again.:We all go together, my queen.:
:Me too?:Leonie asked.
Surprise jolted through me that she picked up so much from my bond with my Blood. More than even Gwen. But I had given Leonie an immense amount of my blood to heal her. She carried a deep bond with me now.:If you wish.:
:I do, Shara, my queen. If you die, take me with you.:
10
SHARA
Isent Leonie inside to get cleaned up and dressed, assuming her clothing was undisturbed by the Dauphine. My Blood dragged an armchair outside and placed it beneath the oak tree for me so I could sit down. I didn’t need to rest, or so I thought. But it was a relief to lean back against the cushioned frame and have Rik’s hands steady on my shoulders.
Sekh stood at my right hand, Guillaume on my left, while Itztli, Xin, and Lew brought the captured thrall to stand before me. They’d tied him up with thick ropes and gagged him with a torn scrap of clothing after one of my Blood had shifted.
Still in his dragon form, Leviathan curled around my chair. He huffed out a plume of smoke.:My underwear.:
:I hope you left shit streaks,:Sekh said.
Leviathan grumbled, not quite willing to be offended, though he was far too fastidious to even joke about staining his underwear.
Before we unbound him, I studied the former Blood, looking for Jeanne’s power inside him. He didn’t carry a leech like Leonie’s Blood, so there wasn’t anything for me to kill to free him from the Dauphine’s command. He was a true master thrall—a former Blood who turned to slaughtering humans after he lost his queen. But would he alone have had the forethought to hide beneath Leonie’s body, lying in wait for anyone who came to free her? Or had that been a command given to him by the Dauphine before she departed for Galveston, pretending to be Basilia Gorgos, the Skolos Triune queen?
:Even if he tells you anything, you can’t trust it’s the truth,:Guillaume said.
Like Greyson telling me that Leviathan was my father before I destroyed Mom’s former Blood with fire in Kansas City. Though thanks to Thierry, I now knew there was so much more to Greyson’s story. He’d been tainted by the Dauphine too. Locked in a tree in the middle of the swamp while her magic warped and contaminated him, he’d been released and set on my trail like a prized hunting dog. Filled with lies shewantedtold to me.
:His lies will tell me whatshewanted me to believe, or at least think about.:
:Very true, my queen,:G replied with an approving nod in the bond.:Spoken as a Triune queen.:
I gave a subtle nod to Lew, and he jerked the cloth out of the thrall’s mouth.
The thrall snarled. “I won’t tell you anything.”
“That’s fine.” I kept my voice light and unaffected. “Do you know who I am?”
He gnashed his teeth, tearing his own lips to shreds. “You’re the fucking bitch who murdered my queen.”
I allowed my lips to curve ever so slightly but I didn’t confirm nor deny his accusation. “Who was your queen?”
It shouldn’t have been a difficult answer for him. I honestly expected it to be a throwaway question, just to get him talking in the right direction. But the thrall snarled and jerked, shaking his head. “You’ll only ever be a poor imitation of her. You’re nothing like her.”
That’s a fucking relief.Though it made me wonder if her own Blood didn’t know exactly who his queen was. Or if he simply didn’t have the mental capacity remaining to keep the tangled weave of lies straight in his head any longer.
Dressed in a long, flowing black maxi dress, Leonie slipped in between Rik and Guillaume to sit on the arm of the chair, leaning against me. As if she needed the constant assurance of my physical touch. I didn’t mind—but I wasn’t sure how this would play out long term.
The thrall jerked backward, reeling and stumbling into my other Blood. Red eyes flashing. “No. Not possible. You were dead. Ressusciter!”
Guillaume translated the French for us.:Resurrect.:
