What the fuck had we been thinking? Letting our queen enter another queen’s nest? My queen was gone.

Fucking gone.

I couldn’t feel her bond at all.

I pounded massive boulder fists on the ground and against the invisible barrier, bellowing at one of them to bring me through. I couldn’t feel her. It was like she was dead. Again. And I couldn’t bear it.

The rest of her Blood surrounded her. Mehen dragged her up into his arms, and the queen who’d fucking betrayed her still clutched her hand. On her knees beside them, but still touching her. Tears ran down her face but I couldn’t make sense of what anyone was saying. Probably because I was roaring like a mad man.

“Calm the fuck down, man.” The other queen’s alpha came to stand in front of me. Safe on the other side, fucking pussy. “Your queen is unharmed.”

“The fuck she’s unharmed! Bring me through, motherfucker, before I tear this whole place down brick by brick!”

The other man’s eyes narrowed, his fists clenched at his sides. He glared at me through the barrier and I fucking glared back. If I had him on this side of the barrier, we both knew who’d be standing with his boot on the other man’s face, and it sure the fuck wasn’t me tasting his boot leather.

“I’ll bring you through, but don’t hurt anybody. What’s happened—”

I jammed my hand up to the barrier, ignoring the fierce cramp that rocked up my arm. If I didn’t move soon enough, the cramps would eventually knock me out. “Bring me through!”

The man sighed and wrapped his hand around my wrist. Immediately, I surged through the blood circle, shoved him flying out of my way, and grabbed Shara from Mehen. Panting, I clutched her, eyes closed, feeling along her bond gingerly, looking for any injury. At least I could feel her again, her bond whole and gleaming in my mind. I slowed my breathing, but didn’t ease my fierce hold on her. She still wasn’t moving and I didn’t feel her mind stirring at all. It was like she’d gone blank, though her body was still warm. She hadn’t died this time. But she was knocked out cold.

The crown had slid down, tangled up in her hair. Gina carefully loosened the tangled strands and took the crown off her head. Her hands were shaking as badly as mine. “What happened? Crossing a nest isn’t supposed to be dangerous with the host queen’s invitation. I told her there was nothing to fear.”

“There shouldn’t have been,” I gritted out, giving another glare at everyone. Especially the queen, Mayte. “You caused my queen pain.”

She drew herself up proudly, though she nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry, but there was no other way. I hoped she was strong enough, and she is. She’s wondrous.”

“She’s unconscious and suffered pain at your hand. I’ll not soon forget it.”

Mayte inclined her head. “I wouldn’t expect you to, alpha, though I hope to earn your forgiveness. Please, let’s go inside and get her comfortable. I’ll explain everything once she wakes.”

I paid little attention to our surroundings as we walked up to the main house. I was still too shaken at that horrible emptiness I’d felt in her bond. :G, take over.:

:Understood, alpha.: Immediately, Guillaume sent the other Blood into a guarding formation, two behind and three ahead, as we walked down a long graveled driveway. People lined the road, whispering as we passed. Isador. Queen. Everyone seemed hopeful and excited, but it only pissed me off.

Her first political meeting, that she’d been so worried about, should have gone off without a hitch, a purely entertaining and light arrangement with a fellow queen. Instead, it’d been a fucking disaster, and she wasn’t even awake to realize it. Let alone worry about making another mistake. I half hoped that when she woke that she’d want this entire nest razed to the ground.

Zaniyah led us inside a two-story Colonial style house and into a dark, quiet room with several long couches. “Here, please, sit. Rest.”

Biting back a growl, I sat down on the nearest couch, with Gina on one side of me and Daire on the other. The rest of her Blood spread out about the room, grim and cold, ready to kill anyone who looked at us sideways. Mayte had her four Blood and Bianca shut the door behind us, closing out the curious.

“Well?” I demanded, smoothing Shara’s hair back off her face.

“Wait until she wakes, so we only tell this story once.”

“If she wakes,” I muttered darkly. Though I already felt a faint stirring in her bond. When she opened her eyes, we all breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“What happened?” She tried to sit up, her eyes flying wide as she noted everybody staring at her. She looked around, not recognizing the surroundings. “Did I faint? Where are we?”

Mayte came closer. Bristling, I kept a wary eye on her as she knelt before my queen. “Your Majesty, do you remember me?”

“Mayte,” Shara whispered. “I took your hand. There was something warm between our palms, like a… a… stone. Then it caught fire, and a hurricane tried to kill me. I couldn’t breathe. The harder I pushed on the storm, the stronger it became. I finally found a thing like a spider on your blood circle. When I killed it, the storm died.”

“Let me tell you a story about the last time a queen came to visit me,” Mayte said softly, looking up at my queen earnestly, her eyes begging for understanding. “Forty-nine years ago, Keisha Skye came here uninvited and asked to parley with House Zaniyah. I knew what she wanted, and I refused to invite her into my nest. She spent the next few years attacking us. She sent humans to infiltrate my court. She had sibs of her own stationed nearby, ready to attack if anyone ventured out alone. She nearly succeeded with her ants, but I don’t think she counted on our voracious fire ants being willing to help defend the nest. When all her attacks failed, she made one last trip here to contaminate my own blood circle.”

Mayte reached out to take Shara’s hand. She flinched, her skin still tender from her ordeal. “She laid a geas upon my own nest, so that no other queen could pass until I allowed her to enter. She couldn’t break my circle—but she dropped enough of her blood on top of it to spoil our haven into a prison. I couldn’t invite any queens to ally with me, unless I thought she’d be strong enough to break through Skye’s geas. You broke that geas, Shara. You were able to cross and reach us.”

Fuck. No wonder crossing the circle had hurt her so much. Rage bubbled like acid in my veins. “And you never thought to prepare her for such a trial? To warn her of the danger?”

Mayte bowed her head, pressing Shara’s hand to her forehead. “I couldn’t. All I could do was hope that if you came, you’d be strong enough to break her hold on us. And you were. You are. You broke a geas laid by Keisha Skye like it was nothing.”

Nothing. Never mind that she’d been knocked out cold for longer than I cared to remember.

Shara lifted her other hand to her temple, her fingers trembling. “I still feel… fragile. Like my head will explode if I move too quickly.” She leaned forward a bit to sit up, but slumped back against me.

I tucked her head up beneath my chin and wrapped my arms around her, giving her my body heat and strength.

Guillaume stepped close, knife in hand. “May I feed you, my queen?”

“I will,” Mayte cut in hurriedly. “Gladly. It’s the least I can do. Zaniyah is ready and willing to swear to House Isador immediately.”

Shara looked at her a moment and shook her head. “No. Not yet. I don’t know how I feel about that, especially…” She didn’t finish the sentence, but her meaning was clear.

Mayte looked at her consiliarius, desperation sharp between them, and yeah. I was fucking glad. They needed to squirm a bit after what they’d done to my queen. Let them worry about facing Skye’s rage alone, now that her geas had been broken. Even hundreds of miles away, Skye would have felt that snap in her magic. I could only hope it’d laid her out cold too.

“I want to taste Rik first,” Shara said softly.

I raised my wrist and Guillaume made a neat cut for her, mindful of her dress. I pressed my forearm to her mouth and glared at Mayte and her Blood. Especially her alpha. If Shara decided to take Mayte as a sib, I didn’t want those Blood anywhere near her. They didn’t deserve a single drop of her blood. Not after silently letting her step into a trap of Skye’s making.

“Why doesn’t she bite to feed herself?” One of the other queen’s Blood whispered to his friend, a little too loudly.

“Because she doesn’t want him to come until he’s inside her,” Daire said on a rumbling laugh. “Our queen doesn’t like to waste a single drop.”

She fed a long time, enough that I started to feel a pleasant lassitude flow over me. But I didn’t stop her. I wouldn’t, not in front of these strangers who’d already allowed her to be harmed. Finally she licked the small slit and lifted her mouth, but she wasn’t done yet. In fact, her hunger had grown as she felt incrementally better. Guillaume made a cut on his wrist and offered his blood without a word. She fed from him almost as long again, making Zaniyah’s court uneasy. They whispered among themselves, watching as she went through us one by one, feeding deep and long from each of us.

Her message was crystal clear, whether she intended to make the point or not. She was powerful enough to feast on seven powerful Blood and bring us to our knees.

And still need more.

That was simply how great her need—and her power—was.

Each swallow of our blood strengthened her, yes, but it also increased her confidence and her stature among these new Aima. It wasn’t common for a queen to feed from so many at once, let alone so deeply. She made them all wait while she saw to her need too, as her right as the highest, most powerful queen. When she was done, she didn’t apologize for the delay or ask for dinner to be rescheduled or moved. She simply turned to Gina and held out her hand.

For her crown.

She placed it carefully on her head and accepted both Guillaume’s and Mehen’s offered hands to stand. She waited a moment, making sure she was steady. Then every inch the proud, regal queen, she looked at Mayte. “My Blood need to eat now.”

“Of course, of course.” Mayte nodded to Bianca, who hurried out the door clapping her hands and calling out in Spanish. “This way, Your Majesty. Dinner is ready.”

Shara turned to me and held out her hand. I wrapped her hand around my arm, folding her close to my side, and led my queen to dinner.

Head held high. No more nerves. Shara Isador owned this fucking nest now, and by the goddess, she knew it.