Blood Queen

"I tell you to sit with her and I come back to find you in her bed?" Karzac came in and swatted Drake on the leg, just when I was beginning to think I might have to throw one of those boys on his back and see how his belt unbuckled.



"Damn," Drake grumped softly, sliding off the bed. Drew came off on the other side.



"Let's see the arm," Karzac said, asking for my right arm. It had been deeply sliced by the Flakkar.



"It looks okay," I said, showing him my scar. There was only the faintest of white lines there, and that was fading fast.



"Baby, don't come back to us like that again," Drake scolded from the foot of the bed. Drew nodded and agreed with his brother. "Karzac gave you three bags of blood this time."



"How long have I been out?" I was trying to sit up. Karzac pushed me down again.



"The best thing about your vampirism is that any blood will do to replenish what you have," he said, ignoring my question.



"You've been down a day and a half," Drew said.



"You didn't wake me?" I knew I felt sluggish, but a day and a half?



"You missed the family dinner at Grey House," Karzac grumbled. "I have informed Wizard Shadow of your condition. He has been upset and irritable ever since, according to my sources."



"That's not awkward or anything," I mumbled. "Have they found out how the big, bad and stinky things got onto the planet?"



"Not yet. Everyone is looking into it, however."



"Maybe they should check other worlds, too, and see if the same thing is happening elsewhere," I suggested.



"I will send mindspeech," Karzac said, folding out of the room.



"Good," Drake smiled. "Now, where were we?" He and Drew climbed right back in bed with me. When I woke the second time, it was to find a chest bearing a black dragon in front of my face. They'd taken their shirts off while I slept. Now there was a very nice nipple located in a strategic spot within the tattoo. I touched it lightly.



"I'll pay major money if you'll put your mouth on that," Drake said lazily.



"I'll bet you say that to all the girls," I removed my fingers from his chest and rose to a sitting position. Drew was lying on his stomach on the other side, his long braid in a curve down his back. "How do you guys deal with all this hair?" I lifted Drew's braid and fingered the thickness—it was like black silk.



"I'll give you thirty minutes to stop playing with my hair," Drew turned his face to me and grinned.



"Schmuck," I dropped his braid and considered what might be the best way to get out of bed. Crawling over one Falchani or the other just seemed undignified. In the end, I misted out of bed.



"Need any help?" Drake called as I materialized and walked into the bathroom to clean up.



"You need to stay where you are," I stuck my head through the door and pointed a finger at him.



* * *



Kyler and Cleo were waiting for me when I walked out of the bathroom later. "You don't look Falchani," I smiled at my nieces.



"We had to chase them away," Kyler grinned. "How are you feeling?"



"Better, I guess," I said. "My arm isn't split open." I lifted it to show them.



"Shadow almost had a heart attack when he heard, and he hasn't stopped cursing since," Cleo snickered. "He's got it bad. Raffian and Glendes threatened to send him to work with the beginning students after he ruined three spelled jewels. This morning."



"He ruined seven yesterday," Kyler agreed with Cleo, her gold eyes sparkling with mischief.



"I don't know what to do about that," I said, shoving hair behind an ear. I didn't. I had two Falchani who wanted me in the worst way, and now, a Grey House Wizard couldn't function because he heard I'd been injured.



"That’s, uh, why we're here," Kyler admitted, refusing to look at me. I saw the dimple in her cheek, though. She was up to something. I knew it, and I hadn't known her very long. It made me want to ask about her mother—my (now deceased) sister.



"We're going to take you to Grey House. Maybe Shadow will calm down when he sees you." An identical dimple showed in Cleo's cheek.



"Uh-huh," I said. At least my sarcasm was alive and well. The rest of me might be walking wounded, but my cynical side was just fine, thanks. I should have kept my mouth shut. My nieces had me whisked away as soon as the unintended assent came out of my mouth.



"I have us shielded," Kyler whispered in my ear. She and Cleo flanked me as I stared at Shadow Grey. We were in a dimly lit workshop and metal, jewelry, raw jewels and jewelry-making tools were scattered across a workbench. I imagined the workbench might be much neater under normal circumstances—I couldn't imagine a Master Wizard accomplishing anything while surrounded by such clutter. Shadow held his hands around a floating, diamond cut jewel, and intense light filled the space between his hands. I guess that's why he wore what looked to be welder's goggles. The light intensified and I winced—it was too bright for me to look at it.



Here it comes, Cleo sent mindspeech. Light blasted away from the jewel, the jewel exploded, Shadow flung his goggles away and cursed so fluently and vividly my ears turned pink.



"Ahem." Kyler's single word made Shadow stop in mid-rant, and when he saw I was there with Kyler and Cleo, he walked straight to me, lifted my face in his hands and kissed me. And then kept on kissing me, while Kyler and Cleo deserted us.



"Don't ever," smack, "let me hear," smack, "you're wounded like that," smack, "again." Shadow muttered between kisses.



"That was an unplanned wounding," I tried to step away. Tried. Shadow came right along with me. His gray eyes narrowed as his lips met mine again. Eventually, we were backed against a wall in his workshop, and the only choices I had were to mist away or stay and try to calm Shadow down.



"Shadow, we don't know each other," I held a hand over his mouth (he was preparing for another round of kissing). And while his kisses were getting hotter (I can't begin to describe it—and the tongue part was about to drive me wild) I didn't know him, just as I'd said.



"Fuck." Shadow stepped away and raked a hand through thick, nearly black hair. "I'm sorry. It's just, when Cleo came and said you'd gotten hurt and couldn't come to the dinner, all I could think was you were dying and Dad and Grampa wouldn't let me go to you. I sent mindspeech to Drake and Drew. They sent a few images back, but all I saw was blood." Shadow paced before me. "They said you were fine, but I couldn't fucking be there."



"See, I'm really fine," I held up my arm. "It was just a slice here, that's all." I pointed to the fading white line. "Karzac's really good with this, and Pheligar helped."



"Look, I know you don't feel this as intensely as I do. When a M'Fiyah hits a Grey House Wizard, it's a little consuming. I'm sorry." Shadow shook his head. He was a handsome man, even with worry lines and his mouth set in a frown.



"How many jewels have you ruined, Shadow?" I asked, watching his face.



"Fourteen, now," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and offering an ashamed grin. "Fifty million credits' worth."



"Oh, lord."



"Don't worry," he held out a hand. "It's the spells that are worth so much. The jewels are manufactured, and are relatively inexpensive. It's my power and the complexity of the spells that command such high prices."



"What are you working on?"



"Crown jewels," he said. "For the new King of Parthin."



That's how I spent my day (with a short break for lunch) watching Shadow Grey spell fourteen jewels and place them in a gold and platinum crown. He explained while he worked that he'd gone to school on several worlds, earning three engineering degrees before coming back to Grey House and working spells for a living. And he explained that the fifty million price tag only covered the jewels he was making—the crown was extra. "It'll kill anybody who attacks the King of Parthin," Shadow sighed as he placed the last jewel in the crown with Power. He was exhausted, I could tell, but he'd made a deadline he might not have made otherwise.



"If you hadn't come," Shadow rubbed my shoulders gently as we walked out of his workshop. "I'll send somebody in to clean up," he added, closing the door behind him.



"You're the one who needs the shoulder rub," I pointed out. "You ought to get that taken care of and go to bed."



"I don't suppose you'd come with me?" His gray eyes held a bit of hope.



"Shadow, I'm trying to come to grips with all this. Can we give it some time?"



"If you promise not to consider removing the M'Fiyah," he muttered, pulling me into an embrace.



"I won't." I knew, first hand, just what that could do to somebody. Merrill's actions had cost me, and I didn't want anybody else to suffer as I had.



"Good. Please say you'll come back. It was easy to get the work done when you were with me."



"I'll see what I can do." I leaned away from him. He used that as an excuse to kiss me.



"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Shadow asked when he pulled away. I watched his mouth—a lazy grin formed there.



"I'm going to move a boulder," I said.



* * *



"Twenty-seven worlds are being attacked by Flakkar," Pheligar gave the information to Griffin, Kiarra, Adam and Merrill. "One world is already devastated; fifty nesting pairs are there and the population is unprepared to handle the onslaught. They do not have the necessary weapons. Thirty pairs were found on another world, where a similar situation is developing. We are at a loss to explain this. When we Look, it is as if the reasons slide away from us and we fail to grasp them. We cannot find the Flakkar themselves by Looking; their shielding prevents it. We had to Look for the killings and then go find the creatures physically. Before, we would have said the Flakkar numbers were small. This defies logic."