Page 7 of The Queen’s Shadow

It was back.

And it was hungry.

It needed vengeance, and if I didn’t feed it, it would spill out and hunt for itself, with or without my permission.

Looking at Jeremy, I suddenly felt afraid. Not of the widowmaker, or Ash Nevra, but of myself and what I might do if I were to completely lose control. I couldn’t let that happen.

Rycon piped up again from where he sat in the pit, enjoying his sandwich.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. Let her go to Frira, it won’t take long. When she gets back, she can start worrying about the rest of the world. Give her a break, she’s lost enough. If this is what she needs to do to feel better, let her fucken do it.”

I glance over at Rycon, surprised at the fact that he had come to my defense, but he was just watching Dossidian intently.

“Mi agree wit di cat.” Conrad said, surprising me even more. That was a sentence I had never thought I would hear come out of his mouth. “Mi tink she needs tuh do dis, it might help wit di… anger.” He murmured, wincing apologetically as he spoke. I wasn’t offended, he was right. “In di mean time, mi can go petition with Di Board for an audience. Mi know Di Board have many powerful artifacts like di Lens in their archives. Maybe der’s someting we can use to help us overcome the power of Di Flute. Mi also must let them know about the war dat is looming. The Board would be powerful allies tuh have on our side.”

I perked up. “That’s a great idea, Conrad.” I beamed at him, and he gave me a solemn smile. I turned to Dossidian with hope. I didn’t need his permission to move forward with any type of plan, but he was my friend, and I wanted him to follow me because he wanted to, not because I ordered him to. He looked at me for a long moment, and I could nearly feel the sadness and concern radiating off of him.

“I hear what you’re saying, Dossidian,” I said quietly, “but nothing is more important to me than getting them back. I will not put anything else before their safe return. It’s not negotiable. Right now, knowing that she can potentially still spy on us and use that information to hurt them while she has them… I can’t stand it.” Dossidian ran a giant palm down his face and stepped closer to me, he cuffed my shoulder and bent down to my level, his dark eyes swimming with emotion.

“I know that, my little Queen,” he said roughly, “but Amon would not want you to forsake the wellbeing of his court in favor of his rescue.”

“I won’t. Like Rycon said, this won’t take me long. I’ll feed the fiend to Frira and be back before you can say ‘Origin.’” I tried to smile to lighten the mood. Finally, after a long moment, he nodded.

“Alright. You should go as soon as you can, I will take Conrad across The Veil while you are gone so that we may speak with Walter Abbey and work to get a meeting with the Sorcerer General.” He turned to Rycon. “What will you do?”

Rycon threw his now empty hands back behind his head and kicked his feet up onto the table. I wrinkled my nose again. His dirty boots were inches away from a plate of fluffy croissants.

“Get your feet off the table.” Jeremy snapped, I glanced at him, surprised by the outburst. I braced myself for Rycon’s inevitable rebuttal, but to my surprise, he did what Jeremy said without comment. Resting his elbows on his knees, the shifter looked over at me.

“If you’re going to the volcano and both Dossidian and the Obeah Man are going across The Veil, someone should stay here with Meredith and the slave. I doubt Ash Nevra is going to launch any sort of attack this early in the game, but we need someone here with claws to keep an eye on them.”

I nodded; he was right.

Jeremy turned to me. “I’m coming with you.” He said firmly.

Rycon snorted. “No, you’re not, you’re staying here too.” Jeremy glared at him but Rycon rolled his eyes. “Sorry Pops, but you’re just a delicate human. She’s going there,” he pointed to the forever erupting volcano that smoked in the distance. “Your little human body would melt the second your feet touched the ground.” Jeremy looked frustrated and torn.

Rycon continued. “Honestly, I don’t know what we’re going to do with you for any of this. You’re a huge fucken liability… wait… aren’t you a cop?” Rycon asked suddenly. “Yeah, you’re a detective. That means you have access to guns.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a grin spreading across his face.

Guns.

Rycon loved guns.

“We should rob your precinct’s armory and get you suited up. You’d be less likely to die immediately if we run into anyone who might be a problem.”

Jeremy looked like steam was going to blow out of his ears. “We are not robbing the Toronto Police Force!” He snarled as if the very idea was sacrilege. I guess to Jeremy it was. He had taken an oath to safeguard both lives and property. I supposed grand theft armory violated that oath. Rycon shrugged and leaned back again, looking amused.

“Suit yourself, but that just means you’re as helpless as a declawed kitten in this world. Which means we can’t really take you anywhere.” Rycon’s unspoken words hung in the air around me and a rush of anger and shame flooded through my chest.

We can’t take you anywhere because Raven has made it clear that your safety will come before anything else. I looked at my father apologetically.

“He’s right,” I whispered. “You need to stay here with Rycon until I get back. We’ll try to figure something out then.”

Jeremy looked like he was physically in pain, and everything he had known and thought to be true was slipping from his fingers. He was coming to the realization right before my eyes. He was realizing that he couldn’t protect me from the monsters that lurked under my bed. These monsters were real, and I had to face them on my own.

I hated doing this to him, but I didn’t have time to ease him into any of this. We needed to make moves, and quickly. Every second Amon and Kasha were with Ash Nevra was a second she could be hurting them.

“Okay, I’m going to go get back into my armor then I’m heading out.” I said matter of factly.