Shara

Hamilton on Broadway was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in my life that didn’t involve my Blood. We dressed up like we were going to the Oscars, and I dragged Winston, Angela, and Marissa along too. Stepping out of the long black limousine into the crush of fans all eager to make their way into the show, I felt like a movie star. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t hiding.

I was out in the open, in Keisha Skye’s home territory, as if I had nothing better to do than go see a musical, despite her summons.

It felt pretty fucking amazing, I had to admit.

I’d never done anything remotely as public like this. After Dad was killed because we stayed too long in the park, I’d taken more and more of my classes at home with Mom, until I was completely homeschooled by the time I hit high school. We certainly never went anywhere after dark. It wasn’t safe. It’d never been safe.

The lonely, lean years on the run were so far behind me that I could hardly remember how miserable it had been. The constant toll terror had taken on me, unable to rest for fear the next attack would come. No one to count on. No one to talk to. No one to help me.

Now I had an entire army of people eager to help me, whether that meant opening up a vein, or quietly maneuvering a cadre of financial advisors and attorneys to prepare for an extremely hostile takeover of the most powerful vampire queen in America.

I didn’t sleep that night. I didn’t need to. I had glorious music flowing through my mind as Gina went over my alternatives to address Keisha’s claim.

“She wants recompense for Blood, specifically, but the actual Triune law as written says blood for blood. An equal measure of your blood to balance the Skye blood she claims you stole from her house.”

“What if I gave the Skye blood back to her?”

Gina frowned, studying the ancient, thick book that smelled of dust, like it’d been forgotten on a shelf somewhere for centuries. “I suppose… Ah, here. Yes. ‘A queen may reject the Blood’—in this case, it specifically says Blood, capitalized—‘and return the house’s offering to nullify the implied alliance.’”

“I don’t want to send my Blood back, obviously. I just want to send back her blood out of my house.”

“I don’t think you can do that.”

“But if I can, will that satisfy the law?”

Gina re-read the passage, her mouth moving slightly. “Yes, I believe so. Because she set the precedent first of switching blood to Blood, I don’t see why you can’t then switch Blood to blood in return. But I’ve never heard of a queen being able to pull another queen’s blood out of anyone. Her blood won’t respond to your will.”

“You said there’s a Cleansing that queens do before they die.”

“Yes, absolutely, but that’s your ability to cleanse your blood. I don’t think you’ll be able to do the same to hers.”

“If I can’t, then worst case, I offer her my blood to equal hers. How would the appropriate amount be determined?”

“If this case went before the Triune, they would be able to magically measure the queen’s blood and demand an equal amount.”

“Since neither of us are Triune, how do we establish the appropriate payment, then?”

“Exactly. It’s a trap for you, because you have to depend on Keisha’s satisfaction. We both know that the only thing that will satisfy her is for you to become her sib, or for you to die.”

“I’m not dying anytime soon, and I sure as hell won’t become her sib. Is there another way to test whether or not an Aima bears a queen’s blood, even a drop?”

“Of course. Their blood won’t respond to her magic.”

“Like when you call blood to you to bathe your body in power,” Rik clarified. “Our blood is yours to command and will come to your call. If she can’t call any of our blood to her, even a drop, then she has no claim on us.”

“If she tests your blood, even as alpha, would it respond to her?”

He grimaced. “Yes. She couldn’t force me to do anything against my will, because your bond is too strongly in me. But she could command my spilled blood to come to her, if she still has any hold on me at all.”

“And if she took my blood…”

“She’d be able to do the same to you. She’d be able to call your blood, as well as ours, and strengthen herself at your expense.”

“But have I ingested her blood through you, then? Does she already have her blood inside me?”

Guillaume shook his head. “Queen to queen has to be direct, except in the case of Marne Ceresa. She has the ability to give a small amount of her blood with a specific spell as bait to bring a queen to her. Like that human in Kansas City. No other queen has that ability to my knowledge.”

“And if Keisha did have that ability, she would have forced you to her nest already,” Rik said.

I turned to Guillaume. “Could I borrow a blade a moment?”

He flicked his wrist and one of the blades dropped down into his palm. “Be my guest, my queen.”

I took the blade and lifted my gaze to Rik’s face. Without hesitation, he offered his arm, wrist up, even though he had no fucking clue what I wanted to do to him. I made a small cut on the inside of his wrist and took his hand in mine, turning his arm to allow his blood to drip onto the table.

The slow drip was arousing and hypnotic. Each tiny plop reverberated in my head. My hunger rose. The scent of his blood made my fangs throb. But I made myself watch for several long moments, until a small puddle of blood had gathered on the table.

I lifted his wrist to my mouth and licked the small cut shut. He cupped my cheek, slid his fingers deeper into my hair, and cradled my head, inviting me to feed long and well.

I pushed my hunger down and focused on the pooled blood. I’d fed earlier, and certainly had plenty of time to feed again to be sure I was at full strength. This was more important.

“What are you looking for?” His voice rumbled slightly like a distant thunderstorm.

Without my power, I sensed nothing unique or different about his blood. Obviously, I hungered for him. I could smell his blood and almost taste it in my mouth. But I couldn’t separate out the molecules of my blood from hers. It was impossible. It was just… blood.

I punctured the pad of my thumb with the blade tip and allowed my blood to well up. Power shimmered inside me, eagerly rising to my command. Rik massaged the back of my head, still holding me. I heard the slightest inhale from Guillaume, and each of my Blood’s focus sharpened on me. Their senses ready, waiting for my slightest need.

Focusing on the small puddle of Rik’s blood, I looked through power-enhanced eyes. His blood glimmered with a richer, brighter hue that called to my power. Tendrils of magic streamed softly above his blood, like wisps of fog dancing across a lake. Those streamers stretched toward me, eager to be used. Ready to be called, by me alone.

Ignoring them, I looked deeper, focusing on his blood that did not respond to me. It still looked the same, just shiny, wet blood. But that was with my power passively waiting to be used.

Intention was everything.

I concentrated on his blood and commanded my power. Show Skye’s blood to me. Let me see her touch on my alpha.

The sticky surface of blood quivered, almost like it was being stirred by an invisible hand. Tiny globs pushed upward against the surface, making the puddle lumpy. Those bits did not belong in his blood—because they were hers.

Holding my finger out above his spilled blood, I willed those globs to come out. His blood was mine, and those bits were not. I wanted them out. Now.

The drops rose up out of his blood, hovering beneath my finger. It wasn’t much at all—barely enough to fit into a thimble. He’d never fed from Keisha directly, so I would expect her blood to be diluted. How much more of her blood he carried… I couldn’t say. This certainly wasn’t all of it. Just what I’d spilled for the experiment.

Gina gasped softly. “Blessed be, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

With my blood trickling down my thumb, I willed those dots to burst into flame. With a puff, sparks exploded in midair and the droplets burned away.

“And it only took a drop of you blood to do it.” She stared at me, her eyes widening. “Goddess. I knew you were powerful but…” She shook her head. “That’s Triune level shit, Shara. I mean it.”

Chills dripped down my spine.

There was one empty seat remaining.

The thought of having to deal with Marne Ceresa and the unknown Dauphine on a regular basis because it was my fucking job nearly made me vomit all the delightful blood they’d fed me earlier. “No. I won’t take that empty seat.”

Even miles and miles away, I felt my grove stir. Trees rustled, restless and uneasy as if a tornado approached.

Deep inside me, a chime echoed through my mind, as if someone had gently tapped a gong. Wind swirled across desert sands, bringing the scent of night-blooming jasmine to me. Her words echoed in my head.

“I, Isis, am all that hath been, that is, and shall be. What I will, will be.”