I didn’t knowher alpha’s age. It honestly didn’t matter. However many years he’d served in Heliopolis had not prepared him to serve an Aima queen. Let alone as her alpha.
I was used to being considered the “young” alpha, but in experience as Blood—and even more importantly, understanding—I had this man beaten hands down. He didn’t avoid meeting my gaze—but when we did look at each other, there was no alpha push from him. I suspected that he simply didn’t care about alpha posturing, which I could appreciate.
However, he didn’t object to a tiny room in unknown territory with no exit route other than the door from which we entered, with Sekh and Nevarre at the ready. Sure, he had two other Blood with them, but I’d take the general over all of Sunna’s Blood at once any day. Even if he didn’t bring any of the legion through, no sword, tooth, or claw could penetrate his stone exterior, and his size alone would make him a formidable opponent.
But Karmen’s alpha couldn’t know any of that. He literally didn’t know anything about us, including our queen. He couldn’t know the immense power at her disposal. Let alone the incredible depth of her heart. The truth of her word. Even if he assumed Aima queens couldn’t lie, he surely wouldn’t trust another queen blindly. If they’d gone to House Ceresa for help…
Or perhaps he did understand, because he’d come to us, even though the Sunna consiliarius could have contacted any queen for assistance. Surely Sunna had other queens they’d once been allied with, before Karmen had been stolen away to Heliopolis.
For any Blood to bring his indisposed and vulnerable queen into new, foreign territory without knowing whether he could trust us or not would be a nearly impossible feat. The man was no fool. He kept his queen close in his arms, sitting where Shara indicated, rather than relinquishing Karmen to lie in comfort on the sofa cushions. Other than the subtle flex of his jaws, I read no sign of discomfort or tension in his demeanor.
“Gina, my consiliarius, is checking to see how close Dr. Borcht is,” Shara said. “Though we’re in direct communication with her so we can prepare her for assistance. Is Karmen injured?”
“No,” the alpha said, with no explanation.
Shara turned her attention to the human consiliarius. “But you were attacked by Heliopolis?”
Dagny’s hands trembled in her lap, betraying either her nerves at being in another queen’s nest, or simply a delayed reaction of shock. “Yes, though I’m afraid I can’t remember very many details.”
“Anything you remember may be helpful.”
“We were meeting for the first time at the hotel your consiliarius, Kevin, helped us locate as a place Her Majesty knew but would still be neutral and safe.” Dagny let out a harsh bark of laughter, shaking her head jerkily. “I failed her, not once but twice. Detective Harris arrived unexpectedly, and Eivind Ironheart followed him. We were handling their interruption when the attack came.
“At first, it was just a deep, golden ray of sunlight shining down on the table from the skylight. It was beautiful. But then, I couldn’t move. Something… I must have been knocked out cold. There was some kind of explosion, and the next thing I knew, Detective Harris was helping me up. My ears rang. Everything felt… odd. Stretched out. Then it sort of snapped back into place. The table where our queen had been dining was destroyed. She was down, on the floor, surrounded by a few of her Blood. At first, I thought the worst. Especially when I saw the pool of blood on the floor.”
Shara focused on the other alpha. “What did you see?”
His fingers convulsed, involuntarily pulling Karmen closer against him. He blinked slowly, closing his eyes as if remembering. “The same ray of sunlight, then a brutal flash of light. I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried. Her words came slowly, as if from a great distance, stretched and distorted through our bond. I couldn’t hear anything else, but I saw everything. A portal into Heliopolis opened.”
Golden flame rippled through his eyes like a flash of fury. “There I saw High Lord Amun, Greatest of Seers, and Alexander Argead, a Soldier of Light you might know as Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia. He didn’t have a sunfire but Soldiers of Light still walk the streets of Heliopolis.”
I read the subtle shift in his shoulders, the grinding of his jaw. Likely shouts of fury in another Blood, but he was a man of quiet control. Guilt and shame darkened the flames in his eyes. Shame I’d felt all too well before.
I’d seen Xin rip out the Seer’s throat in Heliopolis. Evidently it hadn’t been a fatal blow.
“The same thing happened to us in Kansas City before our queen had a blood circle of protection.” I allowed the memory to flicker over my face, letting him see my emotions. “I lay beside my queen in her bed, unable to move a muscle, while she screamed my name. As long as she lives, Great Mother let it be a very long time, I’ll never forget the sound of her cries while being completely unable to lift a finger to help her. Luckily her other Blood were outside the house and able to race to her defense.”
He inclined his head in a slight nod. “Two others of Her Majesty’s Blood were outside of the room and thus not affected by the spell. We won’t make such a mistake again. Are they able to open a portal inside the queen’s blood circle?”
“No,” Shara replied. “My circle is nearly indestructible.”
His eyes tightened ever so slightly, catching the wordnearly. Though he didn’t ask for an explanation.
“I find it useful to keep Her Majesty’s Blood separated into several groups so we have a variety of layers of defense and attack. Some always outside the nest, others patrolling the perimeter, some in other areas of the house, and yet more outside her door at any time. Can any of you fly?”
He contemplated for several long moments before answering, “Possibly. Kuros’ sunfire does have wings.” Then he met my gaze straight on and allowed his lips to twitch into a smile. “They have to be useful for something, right? The man’s intolerable otherwise.”
39
SHARA
Rik hadn’t said a word of disagreement about letting another queen’s Blood into my nest, let alone ten former Soldiers of Light. Nor did he voice a single concern about allowing another queen’s alpha so close to me with only him to protect me.
I had no concerns. Not because I trusted Sunna—but because I had the best alpha. Though I was sure the Sunna alpha would have a different opinion.
Though it wouldn’t hurt to use my resources, as Gina had said earlier, so I’d already asked Gwen to come.
Trying to give Karmen and her Blood some privacy despite the small room, I stayed near the door, which would hopefully relieve any of Rik’s misgivings about my safety as well. When I heard the Sunna consiliarius gasp with relief, I took a long, deep breath and then turned toward the sofa.
