Page 70 of Queen Takes Blood

She? Not the queen of Rome, but I wasn’t sure who the bird meant. It picked up one of the petals in its beak and dropped it into the water. Another. Red petals drifting pass iron bars and curling vines of moss.

“Sing. Your queen will hear. She will free you.”

Goddess below, let it be so.

Sing.

* * *

Driftingin my own siren song, I thought I might still be dreaming. Shadows flickered down through the vegetation. Someone, a woman, stood nearby the pool. Since I’d managed to grab the cat, the queen of Rome hadn’t allowed anyone to get near me, though the cats couldn’t resist taunting me.

I ignored them. I didn’t want to lose even a tip of a tentacle’s length in case…

Your queen will hear. Sing.

More alert, I deepened my call with all the desperate longing in my heart.Hear me. See me. Free me. I’m here. Waiting for you.

Shadows flickered closer. A delicate glitter of gold.Can you hear me? Come closer, my queen.

The golden glitter came closer, even for me to see thin straps wrapped around her ankle. A shoe fit for a queen. Yet still I hesitated. How would I know it was her, the queen who would free me, and not the queen of Rome? If I dared pull Marne Ceresa into the pool…

I’d better be prepared to kill her or find myself served at her next Triune meal.

In my head, I heard the large bird’s screech.Now.

I slung my longest tentacle up through endless water and grabbed the queen’s ankle, pulling her down through the murk. As soon as my suction cups tasted her skin, I knew it wasn’t the queen of Rome. No, this queen tasted like the hot steamy waters, slick rocks, and blood-red petals of the dream. Carefully, I pulled her down, singing with all the hope of my heart.

Her dark hair floated around her shoulders, her eyes shining like stars far away in a midnight sky. I didn’t sense any gills or water creature in her lineage, but she didn’t flail and struggle against my hold. Her mouth didn’t open in a silent scream of horror when she saw the dark bulk of my body squeezed in the cage. The many tentacles writhing with my desperation.

In fact, she wrapped her hands around the bars and tugged. Her mouth set with determination. Her power gleamed around her like a blazing full moon, humming sweeter like a delicate accompaniment to my siren song.

You are mine.

* * *