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He nodded. “I texted her just a few minutes ago that we were gathering to come to the tower. Should she bring the siblings together?”

“Not yet. I’d like to have a meeting with her first.”

His thumbs flew over the screen and then he tucked the phone into his pocket. “Done, my queen.”

I could have used my bond with her, certainly, but it seemed rude to issue commands into her head when I really had no memory of who she was as a person. What she looked like. Other than Gwen and Carys, the other siblings in New York City were all just a blur. I hadn’t really understood how complicated my life would soon become as I rose to the Triune.

Though now it was more important than ever that I know my siblings. Intimately. I needed deep, lasting bonds with each queen. I needed to be able to trust them.

Or they could leave my protection.

I pierced my thumb and allowed a drop of blood to open the way, envisioning the bone-white tree Itztli and I had grown in the tower’s basement. Bone white trunk stark against the darkness. The sprinkling of red buds where I’d lain in the branches with Itztli. Pure darkness swirling around its roots, never touched by the sun.

I wasn’t sure the watery portal would work directly to the tree, but Rik immediately sent Blood through. When the steady stream paused, Carys and Leonie passed through with Jenrade. My human team. The two new Blood, with Sekh and the sphinxes hot on their trail. Warwick kept flickering a wary glance over his shoulder at them after Sekh’s threat to let them take a bite.

Then Rik picked me up and stepped into the fountain with Guillaume at our back. As we sank beneath the water, I heard Harvey’s voice wavering as if from a great distance. “Sting of Tefen, Daughter of Isis.”

I willed the portal closed behind us, leaving my drop of blood as both lock and warning. My sting lingered in the water, cobra venom to poison anyone who thought to enter my blood circle without my permission.

I focused on the few drops of blood I’d given to Penelope, my little rat I’d befriended in the tower’s basement. :I’m going to New York City if you’d like to visit home.:

I heard her excited squeaks as she dashed over the thick roots of the heart tree and splashed into the grotto to join me. Her little paws grasped my hair and then she scrambled up to sit on my shoulder.

On the other side, Rik set me down on my feet and then dropped down to all fours so he could crawl out of the hole in the tree’s trunk before straightening back to his full height. Beneath the glaring basement lights, the tree glowed like polished bones. I watched the Isador birds settle into the eerie limbs, ruffling up their feathers to roost for the night.

Damn. I hadn’t thought about the lights being on. I’d planned to ask the creatures of darkness beneath the tower to make sure there were no thralls breeding beneath my city.

“The sphinxes are more than capable of cleansing the entire city,” Sekh said.

“Even master thralls?”

“Without question.”

Nodding, I looked at each of them. “Thank you, Ini and Isesi.” My lips quirked. “Have fun.”

Quivering with anticipation, they looked at their general, waiting for his order. His eyes glowed deep amber, his will heavy in my mind. The giant stone sphinx. Reminding them of his command. As soon as he nodded, they whirled and bounded away in opposite directions.

Penelope squeaked softly in my ear, also asking permission to go on her own hunt. I held my palm up for her so I could hold her close and look into her eyes. “I’m concerned about thralls, both human and other, beneath the city. Can you alert your kin and help track down and eliminate anything with ill intent the sphinxes might miss?”

She squeaked again, her nose twitching with excitement. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and then bent to set her on the concrete. She immediately scurried down the hallway, turned, and disappeared.

Sekh grunted softly. “The sphinxes won’t miss anything, my queen.”

“I know. But she’s smaller than them and will go places they may not be able to reach.”

The arc of Blood standing before me parted, allowing Kevin and Gina to approach with another queen, while Leonie and Carys came to stand on either side of me. The woman I didn’t recognize immediately dropped to her knees and bowed her head. Her dark hair was cut in an asymmetric style, shoulder length on one side and nearly shaved on the other. The thin straps of her black gown revealed heavily tattooed skin on her arms and neck. The first queen I’d ever met with so many inked tattoos, all black and stark against her skin.

“Your Majesty, this is Janelle Ysolte,” Kevin said. “Janelle, our queen, Shara Isador, Triskeles Triune queen.”

Janelle raised her head. “Your Majesty, welcome back to New York City.”

“Thank you, Janelle.” I offered her my hand, and she started to duck her head as if to kiss my knuckles, but I simply lifted her to her feet. “Thank you for taking over for Gwen before I had a chance to discuss with you in person.”

“It’s an honor, Your Majesty,” she stammered. “Of course.”

“You may remember Carys Tylluan from her days in the tower. This is my other sibling, Leonie Delafosse from New Orleans.”

Janelle inclined her head to both siblings. “A pleasure, Your Majesties. Carys, your old suite is still available if you’d like to use it, and we have numerous other suites prepared for you Leonie.”