“I would’ve,” Mehen retorted. “If her mother had been outside a fucking blood circle, then she wouldn’t even exist. Maybe you should’ve been around to bring down the queen of Rome’s nest. Then I could’ve nailed both of them at once.”
“Enough,” Rik rumbled. “You’re late for duty. You’re supposed to relieve Vivian.”
Rolling his eyes, Mehen started to turn back to the frontdoor. “I was on my way when I picked up on Basilia’s name stinking up the house.”
“Wait just a minute,” I broke in. Mehen turned back to look at me. “Do you have personal, specific experience with Basilia?”
He grimaced. “No. I never met her. She didn’t even fucking exist when I was locked away. But trust me when I say?—”
I held up my hand. “Thank you, my dragon. As I said, I want to see her first to be sure.”
Guillaume flipped effortlessly to his feet and then took my hand, lifting me up in one smooth move to set me back into my chair at the table. Though instead of leaving or moving back to his chair across from me, he hovered beside me, still holding my left hand. Rik took his place behind me, his hands cupping my shoulders.
I tipped my head back to see his face. “Sorry, I accidentally told you a little fib. I meant to go to Triskeles to ask the Mother what She willed, but I ended up in my mother’s room in New York City.”
His fingers kneaded my shoulders. “I’m glad you received the information and comfort you needed, my queen.”
“I just needed a minute or two to let everything sink in. I got so focused on using my power to do the next big, wonderful thing that I forgot there are always consequences. Esetta paid a terrible price to free Guillaume from Desideria. I will pay any price to ensure you all remain free from any other queens. Even if that means I kill a queen I could have healed and lose another power to her vengeful goddess.”
I squeezed Guillaume’s hand and reached up with my other hand to clutch Rik’s. “As long as I still have you, that’s all I’ll ever need.”
37
VIVIAN
Unless I shifted into my phoenix, I usually wasn’t aware of my sunfire as a separate entity. Smoak and I were one consciousness. Sometimes more male, other times more female, always with fiery, burning blood. It was easy to blend the lines because sunfires were already parts of one whole.
Smoak was one of many, even as he was a part of me.
On my way back to the kitchen after my watch shift, I jerked to a halt. A flash of burning gold rippled through my mind. My physical surroundings faded away beneath the distant roar of solar winds. A horse trumpeted, spewing flames through my mind, followed by the image of a woman cradled in sunfires, her face pale and streaked with blood, her eyes fluttering.
Karmen Sunna, their queen. Her red-gold hair burned with living flames against the infinite sun. I didn’t receive words but I felt a visceral tug. Distance closed between us as easily as rolling up a piece of fabric.
But the way was closed. Locked by my queen’s blood.
The tug demanded I answer. Open. Make the way for them. Yet my queen’s bond came before anything else, even a part of Smoak’s essence. Shuddering with urgency—yet locked in place—I sent the message down my Blood bond.:Karmen’s in trouble, but they can’t come to us as long as I’m inside the nest.:
:Go,:Shara ordered without hesitation.:Get outside the blood circle so they know where to come.:
Smoak surged up out of me, and I flew the short distance to the edge of the blood circle. As I landed just beyond in a clearing, the tug expanded like Rik had shoved his entire fist into my abdomen and dragged all my intestines out. A burning ring flared in the air, hovering as it expanded into a circle a foot off the ground, large enough I could have passed through even as the phoenix. The flames coalesced into a shimmering pool of gold and then cleared to reveal a large room somewhere earth side. I caught a glimpse of a broken table, food, and dishes scattered everywhere, and then Karmen’s Blood started to jump through.
I didn’t recognize them from my days in Heliopolis. I’d never seen them in human forms before, only as Soldiers of Light. Even then, most were hard to identify without their sunfires’ distinctive shapes or specific armor or weapon.
Four men glared at me, swords and spears at the ready, guarding the portal behind them. Leviathan swept overhead, casting a dark shadow over the clearing. Rik already had most of the other winged Blood up in the air, held in reserve inside the nest, though the gryphon and feathered serpent were clearly visible and close enough to swoop down for attack.
Xin’s silver wolf slipped closer in the trees, invisible even to me, though I could feel him in our queen’s bond. Ezra’s bear crashed through the undergrowth, and he burst out into the clearing, rearing up on his hind legs to tower over the encroachers.
:I’m on my way,:Shara said in our bond.:Tell them we mean them no harm.:
I shifted back into my human form so I could talk, though I kept the blaze of sunfire energy wrapped around me likeburning clothing. Both to remind them I was on their side—sort of—and to hide my nakedness. I didn’t care one way or the other, but my queen’s directive was clear. “My queen is on her way to welcome you to House Isador.”
“Some fucking welcome,” one of the men growled, jabbing the ten-foot-long spear in Ezra’s direction. “Tell the furry to stand down.”
Shaking his massive head, Ezra let out a disgusted humph, though he dropped to all fours.:I don’t think he knows what furry means.:
:Forget the fur suit jab,:Rik rumbled through the bond.:Ask them if they were attacked.:
My lips quirked. “My queen specifically says we mean you and your queen no harm. Were you attacked? Is your queen injured?”
