17. Karmen

17

KARMEN

S o much blood, waiting to be used. I had no idea I'd bled so much until I saw the energy shimmering around me.

Part of me worried about losing so much blood. It surely was a bad sign that I was hemorrhaging so heavily. Though I couldn't be too concerned when the spreading pool of blood on the floor made it incredibly easy to sling a blazing arc of power toward the portal.

All my hatred. All my rage. I willed every single droplet of blood to annihilate any trace of Ra's lingering influence. "This is all that remains of the God of All Things Light and Day, and he will never touch me again!"

High Lord Amun stumbled backward, his hands slowly rising to shield himself. Flinching, Greatest of Seers strained, his mouth moving frantically in a low, mumbled chant I couldn't hear. The fresh pink scar stood out in stark relief against his pale, clammy forehead. My blood splattered across the shimmering portal and melted through whatever protection he was attempting to cast.

Air stirred my skin, drawing my attention back, over my head. I watched in awe as the Scotsman flew over me in a giant bound, effortlessly clearing both Sunzi and the chair. Heavy broadsword clutched in both hands, he let out a bloodcurdling war cry as he soared straight at the portal.

Horror tightened my throat. I raised my hand, trying to call back the magic, but it was too late. I'd already set the intention. Destroy. Everything in its path.

Even if it was one of my Blood.

A droplet of my blood landed on Greatest of Seer's cheek, and he began to shriek.

Goyaa?é whirled toward me so fast his hair whipped around his shoulders. Sweeping me up against him, he shoved me backward, flying off our feet.

Straight into Sunzi's waiting arms.

We crashed to the floor, though Sunzi took the brunt of the fall. I couldn't see anything. Not with my Blood heaped around me. I felt Vlad and Marcus, War and Strife, Goyaa?é…

A solar storm rippled over our heads, filling the air with flames. Searing the breath in my lungs. The floor bucked and heaved through the explosion. My ears rang as the recoil reverberated through the building.

Closing my eyes, I reached for the Scotsman's bond. Afraid he may have leaped through to Heliopolis, or worse, been killed by my own hand. If I hurt him?—

:Dinnae worry yourself about me, my queen.: His laughter carried a sharp edge of danger bordering on madness. :Your blood could never harm me.:

Though he was hurt. Something deep inside pained him, and he tasted blood in his mouth. He was down on one knee where I'd been standing just moments ago, a fist braced on the floor before him, his hair dragging the floor, head down, while he waited for his senses to return. Yet he still carried the sword in his other hand, his body placed between me and the attack.

Panting as if he'd run for miles, Sunzi touched my head, face, and throat, seeking any injuries, but also to soothe us both. His bond roiled like a storm-tossed sea, full of self-recrimination, humiliation, and fury that he hadn't been able to protect me.

:I'm okay,: I assured him, fisting my hands in his hair.

:By the grace of the goddess, Goyaa?é and the Scotsman were able to do what I could not.:

:We simply had the good fortune to not be present when the magic activated,: Goyaa?é said.

Sunzi grunted an acknowledgement. :Not a deliberate strategy, but by goddess, it will be so from now on. We can't risk everyone being incapacitated at the same time.:

One by one, my Blood carefully disengaged from the heap and climbed to their feet. Strife licked my cheek and whined softly, as if apologizing.

"It's no one's fault," I said aloud.

Marcus looked just as abashed as the sundogs. "We should have known they would attack before you had a chance to gain allies or more strength."

"Agreed." Sunzi wrapped both of his arms around me, pulling my back flush against his chest. "I can only assume the attacks will continue until we kill them all, though perhaps the blood circle Dagny mentioned will keep them out."

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

War backed against my feet—bare since I'd lost my shoes in the tumble. A deep, vicious growl rumbled from his chest, and spiky flames flared down his back. Vlad took a single step, gliding in front of us, a sword held ready in his hand. Goyaa?é drew his bow, an arrow set to fly.

I wasn't sure what the threat was. The mirrored portal itself was gone. Whether Greatest of Seers had managed to close it before the rest of my blood hit or not, I wasn't sure. "What's wrong? Is Leonides still down? I don't know much about healing, but I'll try."

"I'm not in need of healing, Your Majesty." Though Leonides' voice didn't sound normal. A rough rumble distorted each word, growing louder by the moment. "Your blood is all I need."

I reached up for Marcus' hand and climbed to my feet. Though I swayed a moment, my head roaring with the distant winds of the infinite boiling sun. Sunzi wrapped his arm around my waist, supporting me as I took a wobbling step toward Leonides. Now that I was up, Vlad stepped aside enough for me to see what—or rather who—had everyone so tense.

Eivind crouched a few paces away from the pool of blood on the floor. A feral light burned in his eyes. His hair stood up, spiky as if his wolf's ruff bristled, but he didn't shift. Even though he was braced for attack, facing off opposite Leonides. The rest of my Blood stood behind him, weapons drawn.

Leonides hadn't drawn his sword. He was too busy lapping my blood off the floor.

Shaken, I could only stare. Watching him lean down like a lion drinking from a pool of water, keeping his eyes locked on his target. Lethal grace in every muscle of his body.

"Tempting, isn't it?" The rumbling growl deepened. "Come, wolf king. Taste the most exquisite burning magic imaginable. I dare you."

Eivind's mouth twisted in a silent snarl. His shoulders jerked, muscles clenching and flexing across his back, as if he was fighting the urge. Or perhaps trying to shift to his wolf. I wasn't sure. It honestly surprised me that he hadn't shifted yet, especially with four of my Blood behind him, blocking his escape. Maybe he was too worried about his human friend seeing him?

I dragged my gaze away for a moment to see if Dagny had been hurt in the attack, just in time to see Detective Harris helping her to her feet. She started toward me immediately, shaking off his attempt at stalling her. She limped closer, her eyes tight with worry. "Your Majesty, how badly are you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt." Though her eyes tightened even more, her lips white with strain.

Slowly, Leonides lifted his head, licking his lips and chin. "That's what I thought, wolf king."

"What?" Eivind retorted.

"Wolves never change their skin." He swiped his palm through the blood and lifted his hand to his mouth, slowly and deliberately licking each finger. Noisily. Slurping. Making sure to get every drop. "You weren't forged in battle."

Eivind rolled his eyes and huffed out a shaky breath. "I change my skin all the time, asshole."

"Motherfucker." Leaping to his feet, hands fisted, arms cocked at his sides, Leonides let out a lion roar that rattled the shattered glassware on the floor. "At least acknowledge my fucking name!"

Eivind laughed and shrugged, though he swiped a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "Sure thing, Leonides ."

"Dude." Harris let out an incredulous breath, slowly shaking his head. "You're even dumber than I thought. Don't your kind take history classes?"

Eivind forced out another harsh laugh. "What use is human history to me?"

Dagny shot him a look that made me think she wanted to smack him in the back of the head. "If you bothered to pay attention to world history, then you'd recognize King Leonides, Lion of Sparta, the warrior who led three hundred of Sparta's finest warriors to hold off thousands of enemy soldiers from the Persian Empire at the Battle of Thermopylae."

"He's still only a human," Eivind said, curling his lip in disgust. Though he scanned the room quickly, looking back over his shoulder. No doubt looking for the closest exit.

Leonides shook his arms lightly, loosening his fingers, rolling his head from side to side. "If you'd listened to Her Imperial Majesty from the very beginning, you'd understand that all her Blood are former Soldiers of Light. You'd understand what that entails. I'm certainly not the only king standing in this room, and far from the greatest warrior this world has ever seen. Though I promise you one thing, wolf king."

He paused, deliberately waiting until Eivind looked back at him with a snarl on his lips.

"As soon as my queen allows it, your hide is mine."

SUNZI

Squabbling was beneath us, though for the wolf king, I was willing to make an exception. When I thought the man couldn't make himself appear any more reprehensible, he managed to reveal another facet of his character flaws.

I didn't fear our queen wanted the man as Blood. Her immediate involuntary response at seeing him again was immensely satisfying. However, she was reluctant to put him down, and a rabid wolf could only be allowed to cause mayhem for so long before he became a threat to all.

Eivind's head jerked around, and he stared as if dumbfounded. Paling, he flickered a quick glance over at Leonides and back to her. The blood on her gown, the material wet and clinging to her thighs. The blood on the floor. Painfully, slowly, he finally connected the dots.

"You need medical attention immediately." Dagny focused on me. "She's hemorrhaging, which is a very dangerous thing for an Aima queen outside a nest. Her blood will be a beacon to all sorts of vile creatures."

"I'm fine," Karmen protested. Though her knees trembled. In slow motion, her body started to fold and crumple toward the floor.

I scooped her up into my arms. "Can you call this blood to you, my queen? We dare not leave a single drop behind."

"What if it's tainted by Ra?"

"It's not tainted in any way, Your Majesty," Leonides said. "All I taste is you."

Her eyelashes fluttered shut against her pale cheeks. Her breath sighed out softly as she held out her hand, palm up. "I don't want it, so I'll give it to all of you."

That was the only warning we had before she dumped a flood of sizzling solar magic into our bonds. Golden sunshine, pure and bright, full of life. Warm and thick and sweet like honey fresh from the hive.

I drew a shuddering breath, allowing the rush of magic to seep into every muscle and cell. Incredible. Her sun power was as potent as Ra's, if not even stronger. But where his sun punished and damaged, her light provided only life-giving magic. A goddess' love for the earth and Her people.

For me. Us, her Blood.

Clutching her against me, I thought through our options lightning fast. If she needed care—that we couldn't provide—she needed another queen, or at least a human doctor. I was loath to take her through to her family's home in Norway if she was weakened in any way. Even if Dagny didn't mean her any ill will, we couldn't know another queen or threat wasn't waiting on the other side of any portal I might open.

My sunfire flared to life inside me, feeling my urgency, ready to open a portal. But where?

An image flashed through my mind of another sunfire, flying like a burning comet through a night sky. Firming into fiery shadowed wings and a proud phoenix head. Then a woman with dark skin and long red hair whirling like a tornado around her. I recognized the Isador Blood who carried the sunfire called Smoak. I hadn't interacted with her in Heliopolis, but Vlad had sparred with her. Unfortunately, she was one of Ra's spawn, but as Vlad had reminded me before, her sunfire stayed with her. Like they'd stayed with us.

My sunfire burned brighter, a golden dancing flame without any shadows or doubt, prancing in my mind like a spirited horse. The smell of roasted spices rolled over me. Not cinnamon or myrrh but Cinnabar, its name given by my queen. She'd fed on it first. Before I'd even had blood to give her. If Cinnabar trusted Smoak, then so would I.

The portal already started to flare in midair, sunfire energy easily reaching toward its own, feeling Smoak's location to the south. I sent an image of my queen limp in my arms, hoping Smoak would understand we came in peace.

"We're going to House Isador."