Page 28 of Queen Takes Blood

Motherfucker.

No.

Not me.

Never!

She lurched up, locked her good arm around my neck with sudden impossible strength, and sank fangs into my throat as if I didn’t have thick, impervious dragon hide. Those fangs burned like white-hot knives in my flesh. Too deep for Aima fangs.

Too deep. She’s in me too deep.

Her blood blazed in the darkest, deepest depths like crystal cold moonlight.

Looping.

Locked.

Around my neck.

A bond that nothing could break.

No fire would melt these chains. No darkness would squelch her light. Not fueled by a blood bond. I couldn’t even kill her now. Her power sheared through my mind, slicing and dicing my plans and thoughts effortlessly. She pressed too closely to me now. Inside and out. I couldn’t rip her free. I couldn’t tear her limb from limb.

She. Refused. To allow it.

She. Controlled. Me.

When all else fails, dragons fly.

I tore up the tunnel. Claws scrambling frantically. Wings tight to my body. I needed to fly. I need to soar free. Of this prison. This queen. This nightmare existence. But I’d failed so many times. Queens had bled and died trying to conquer me. To free me.

This queen bled. But with her fangs still anchored in my hide, she fed on my ancient, powerful blood. The strongest queen I’d ever seen—growing stronger with every passing second.

The veil shimmered ahead. Freedom—from this prison. Only to be enslaved to this queen. For the first time ever in my very long imprisonment, I wanted to fail.

Her bond severed through my mind.:I will not fail you.:

* * *

Shara takes Mehen as her Blood in Queen Takes King.

QUEEN TAKES… NEVARRE MORRIGAN

Song: Bring Me to Life by Evanescence

14

NEVARRE

Warriors of the Morrigan’s bloodline weren’t used to the bitter taste of failure.

I sat on a rocky outcrop, staring out at the choppy waters of the firth, not sure why I was here. Let alone still alive.

My heart was a dull, empty hole in my chest. When I remembered all that I’d lost, it didn’t even hurt any longer, which was a blessing I didn’t deserve. I watched as fishing boats moved out into the deeper waters with the dawn. I envied their hustle and purpose, setting out like generations of fishermen before to provide for their families.

Ah. The region of my heart wasn’t entirely dead after all. A pang of loss rippled through me.

My family’s gone. Our legacy, destroyed.