15. Leonides

15

LEONIDES

O ver my dead body.

I shifted the hilt minutely against my palm, fully ready to decapitate the wolf king here and now to spare my queen one second of misery or discomfort. Eyes locked to Sun Tzu's, I waited for the order.

No, I begged.

Me. The unbroken king of Sparta, chopped into a thousand pieces while still hurling insults and dispatching my enemies. I would go down on my knees, stretch out flat on my belly, and kiss my queen's feet with absolute joy. For any reason.

But for the chance to kill the man who'd failed her? I'd surrender my spear and sword to Xerxes himself.

:She doesn't want him dead,: Sun Tzu reminded me, though even in our bond, an unspoken word echoed. Yet.

Goddess, let it be soon. Let it be me.

Such cowardice sickened me. The man didn't deserve to breathe the same air as our queen. Let alone taste her blood and feel her power spreading through him. The insignificant pain he felt from the old wound was laughable. Not nearly enough punishment for his failures.

The human named Harris held out a phone toward the wolf king. "You want to deal with them? Be my guest."

Ironheart whirled away with another snarl. "Not worth my fucking time."

Harris' lips quirked briefly, and he shoved the phone back into his pocket.

Yeah, me too, human. That's what I fucking thought. The wolf king's all talk, no action. The last thing he wants to deal with are human questions about what he is.

"Are you working for House Isador?" Dagny Sunna asked.

I wasn't sure about the human consiliarius yet. She hadn't had a chance to prove her loyalty. Though I appreciated her direct question to the human who'd come here without permission.

Harris might be a very good actor, but he gave her a sheepish shrug that seemed genuine. "No, though to be honest, I planned to ask if they had a job for me. Now that I know about all this vampire shit, I'm ruined for any basic job, but I still got bills to pay."

"A former detective could be useful, Your Majesty," Dagny said.

"He's a complete pain in the ass," the wolf king retorted.

Everyone ignored him, especially Harris. He might not know much about the supernatural world he'd been allowed to glimpse, yet he still understood the wolf king was all bark and no bite.

"I don't want any more Blood," Karmen said. "No offense, Detective, but I don't feel hunger when I look at you."

Harris gaped at her, paled, and gulped. "Well, that's good to know at least. The feeling is mutual, Your Majesty."

The wolf king made a low, guttural sound as if I'd shoved a sword deep into his bowel and stirred him up. Tempting, but that was more the Impaler's style than mine. I kept my mouth shut—a feat indeed—but I couldn't resist flashing a wide grin at the bastard. No more Blood means you, asshole.

"Oh, no. You misunderstood me, Your Majesty." Shaking her head, Dagny laughed, but not in a mocking manner. "The great houses often employ human servants to complete our work in the world. They're below the notice of other queens and have access to systems and information that even I can't access." Her eyes twinkled, a dimple popping in her cheek. "I do attempt to color within the lines of human laws as often as possible."

Karmen didn't answer right away. The idea of hiring Harris echoed in her head, bouncing around and not settling—but she also didn't reject the thought immediately. : What do you think?:

She asked us all, not just Sun Tzu. A deliberate inclusion of all ten of her Blood. My bond with her was permanently etched into my very bones, but I didn't often hear her words directly in my head.

Even more interesting, Sun Tzu didn't immediately answer, inviting the rest of us to weigh in so he didn't unduly sway opinion. The mark of a true leader.

:I like him,: the Impaler replied.

:Only because he annoys the wolf king,: Marcus Antonius added.

A low, sinister laugh slithered through our Blood bonds. :That's merely an extra boon.:

Her eyes focused on me, and every instinct in my body came alive. Ready to defend. Fight. Die. :Leonides?:

My name on her lips, in her bond, thrust through me like a spear as thick as my arm. :He gifted you a useful item of human technology without any expectation. In my opinion, that at least earns him a chance to prove his loyalty.:

Answer given, I waited for her focus to shift to the others, but she lingered. Her presence seeped deeper into my mind, spreading like warmed, sweet honey. : I'm sorry.:

Startled, I had no idea what she meant. If she regretted taking me as her Blood…

:No,: she replied quickly. :Quite the opposite, in fact.:

I watched her face, stunned by the smile softening her lips. The deeper sparkle in her eyes.

:I regret that I haven't yet had the chance to enjoy another taste of you.:

KARMEN

Immediately, Leonides strode toward me with the focused intensity of a man who saw his target on the opposite side of a battlefield lined with thousands of enemies but was determined to reach me anyway.

Nothing stood in his way except the table, but that didn't lessen the speed of his stride or dim the fire burning in his eyes. Every step closer made my fangs ache. I didn't know if I had any room at all in my stomach after eating so much human food, but goddess, I wanted to taste him again. Now.

Though I hadn't meant to cause any sort of vampire scene before so many humans. Dagny might understand, but did I want to allow her to see me feed on one of my Blood? Let alone Harris.

Especially not Eivind.

A deep, throaty cough rolled from Leonides' chest that rattled the delicate crystal glasses on the table. A lion's roar from a human body. "Please, Your Majesty."

A strange word from such a powerful man. Even in modern clothing, his body was thick with sculpted muscle simmering with explosive violence. A warrior, honed from centuries of warfare.

Not please let him feed, but please, allow him to give me his blood. Here and now in front of strangers. He didn't care.

Casually, he sheathed his sword in a sheath hanging over his shoulder without even looking at it. Grim grooves lined his forehead, his golden eyes locked on me. On my mouth, which automatically cracked open to make room for my fangs so I didn't tear open my lips.

He grabbed the edge of the table and shoved it away effortlessly, giving himself enough room to drop down to his knees in front of me. Dishes clattered but I couldn't drag my gaze away from the smooth column of his throat laced with jagged scars. As if someone had hacked repeatedly at his neck until his head was severed with ragged, gaping wounds.

"Her Majesty needs a moment," Dagny said. "Mr. Harris, if you'll come with me, I'll get the team started on a connnnnnnntrrrrrrrract?—"

Time slowed. Her words stretched out. A dark golden haze hung in the air, slowly dimming the rest of the room despite the light. Rays of bronzed sunbeams arced from the ceiling. Shadowed light. So strange.

Ever so slowly, Leonides tipped his chin upward, rolling his eyes toward the light, even as he started to fall toward me. Covering me, sliding his upper body against me. Blood dripped from his eyes and nose. It took a moment for me to shift from raging hunger to concern. I hadn't bitten him. I hadn't called my power or the sunfires. :Not……me….:

The words hung in my head, creeping down our bonds with an odd echo. As if our bonds were stretched to the breaking point.

His mouth tightened, his jaw set in a harsh, forbidding glare. :Ahhhhhhh-larmmmmm!:

Yet no one moved. Sunzi still lightly gripped my throat, but beyond a faint twitch of his fingers, he didn't react. He didn't pull me up into his arms. Vlad didn't draw his sword. Something dripped onto my foot, hot and wet. Blood? Simmering hotter.

It took all my will to lower my head enough to look down at the floor. My entire body felt like I was trying to walk along the bottom of the ocean with all the world's water bearing down on me.

The sundogs still pressed against my lower legs, War's muzzle on my foot where it burned. Liquid sunfire dripped through his bared teeth, his color shifting brighter. White hot. Blue center. Bristling with sharp flames down his spine, he quivered and strained—but couldn't even lift his head. A random thought flickered through my head. If he wasn't careful, his flames would scorch my new dress.

So dumb. I have plenty of other clothes to try. Sunfire flames will never harm me.

But this wasn't sunfires. Light, yes. But not anything I'd ever seen before. The air was too thick, cloyingly sweet yet somehow filled with ashes. Charcoal. Tainted.

Goddess. I didn't want to breathe.

Not Sól. None of Her power would hold us captive like this.

Terror shrieked through me. The window shining down onto the table. Sunlight. It had to be him . His power was strongest at noon, though it'd been late in the day. Surely after eating and talking it had to be almost dusk.

Despite glowing rays of golden shadow pouring down in thickening waves.

Ra's dead.

Shara Isador killed him.

Right?!