19. Eivind

19

EIVIND

A s soon as Karmen crossed into the Isador blood circle, the rest of her Blood were quick to follow. No one wanted to let her out of their sight. Even Harris moved inside the circle with Dagny making introductions.

I stood close enough to the blood circle that the magic lashed my skin. Yet no one even looked at me. Let alone offered to bring me into the nest.

Fucking pussies.

Naked except for the blazing sunfire wrapped around her pertinent parts, the Isador Blood who'd done most of the talking until the queen arrived strode past me. Into the nest. Without a backward glance.

A snarl rumbled from my chest. "I go where they go."

Slowly, she turned her head to look back over her shoulder at me. Her eyes burned with golden flames, her red braids alive with fire, though they didn't burn. "My queen welcomed House Sunna. Are you one of Queen Karmen's Blood?"

My face twisted and crumpled like a tin can. Rage thickened my voice. Rage at myself. "No."

She shrugged and continued to walk away. "I'll ask my queen if she wants to extend an invitation to you, but for now, wait here."

So fucking rude. She could have used the Blood bond to ask her queen if I could step inside. Any of them could. It was a deliberate slight to make me stand out here like a fucking beggar. A nobody.

Which I am.

I'm no one to Karmen. Not now.

Even Harris has forgotten about me.

The whiff of wolf gliding past pushed me over the edge. I might not be able to see him, but I sure as fuck had a nose. My lips twisted into a silent snarl, and I attacked. I couldn't shift, but I still had wolf instincts. My nose never lied.

Though the unseen wolf delighted in taunting me. My fists sliced through thin air, the force of my punches throwing me off balance. I whirled around, kicking and punching nothing at all. "Show yourself, motherfucker!"

"Please do not hold Ironheart's attack as a mark against House Sunna, Your Majesty," Dagny said loudly. "We have no control over his actions."

"He's not one of yours?" The Isador queen asked.

"Fuck no," one of the Sunna Blood said.

"Xin, leave it."

The wolf scent dispersed into nothing. I still couldn't see him, but I could only assume he'd entered the Isador nest.

Giving myself a good shake, I glared across the blood circle at the Isador queen. "I'm not an it . I'm Ei?—"

"I know who you are," she broke in. "You're not a part of House Sunna. Why should I trust you to enter my nest while they have sanctuary? I can't vouch for someone I don't command."

I ground my jaws together, trying to come up with a solution. A reason for me to follow Karmen—other than the pitiful truth. The urge to follow anywhere she went threatened to pulverize me into oblivion now that I'd seen her again. Smelled her. If she disappeared again, I honestly didn't know how I'd function. I'd probably lose my ever-loving mind.

The invisible wolf shimmered into sight, sitting on his haunches at his queen's feet. She looked down at him, her hand automatically going to his ruff. Stroking his fur. No doubt listening to his bond, conversing with him. As I was meant to do with Karmen…

Shara Isador lifted her gaze to mine, and I recoiled at the hard, glittering weight of her gaze. Obsidian, cutting me to the bone.

"If you're willing to swear an oath on your blood to harm no one inside my nest, whether Aima or human, directly or indirectly, now or anytime in the future, then Xin offers to shadow you inside the nest. Though I should warn you, wolf king. You won't know my silver wolf is at your throat until it's too late. One move that he doesn't like, and you're dead."

I'd heard of an assassin silver wolf who could pass through any queen's blood circle. Even Karmen's? What if Shara Isador changed her fucking mind?

I didn't intend to harm anyone—but even I couldn't deny my wolf was unstable. I couldn't control the shift at all. I certainly trusted no queen enough to bleed anywhere near her, let alone near her fucking nest.

My entire body shuddered. No queen would simply stand by and allow a strong Aima like me to bleed without claiming me. Feeding on me. Karmen was out of commission. So it came down to whether I could trust Shara Isador not to bond me at the first drop of my blood. She'd helped Helayna and left me the fuck alone before. Could I trust her again? In her own fucking nest?

She had at least a dozen Blood now at her beck and call. Right? Surely she wouldn't be that desperate to Blood me. If I got into any trouble, I'd smell Xin's wolf, even if I couldn't see him. I'd get the fuck out if I had to. Though if Karmen was here, would I be able to leave? My head pounded with urgency. Every step of her Blood toward the house took her further away from me. Splitting my skull open.

I lifted a shaking hand to my mouth and used my fangs to make a small, tidy puncture on my wrist. "I, Eivind Ironheart, swear to harm no one inside Shara Isador's nest." Her blood circle pulsed with energy, sparking red arcs into the air as I neared, each step making my thighs tremble with dread.

"Human or otherwise." Her tone was pleasant. She didn't bare her fangs. Though every word echoed with command, making all the hairs on my body stand up on end. "Now or in the future."

I repeated after her, every word slamming home inside me like nails pinning my hide to her nest. Energy shimmered all around me. In her eyes. Dark, liquid bottomless wells of power that sheared through me. My teeth ached from being clenched so hard.

She nodded, and someone laid a hand on my shoulder, giving me a subtle push to pass through the blood circle. Then she was quickly following Karmen's Blood without a single backward glance. No lingering hunger-filled gaze at my wrist, licking her chops at my blood. The release of tension made me quiver for a moment.

She didn't fucking care. Not about my blood. That's good. No temptation to her. I'm safe.

But why did I still shake? Something had to be wrong with me. I was missing… something.

The wolf. He didn't follow her. I couldn't remember when he'd disappeared again.

I sucked in a deep breath, cracking open my lips, making sure to get a good, deep sample of air, but I couldn't smell a wolf at all. Karmen's scent tugged me toward the house, clean sunshine, cotton blowing in a summer breeze. The hint of smoke and burning spices from Smoak. Something like granite. Horse mixed with sulfur. Bear. Feline. Another breath, deeper. Holding it. Snaky dragon up above, lazily circling over the nest. Something else feathered and scaly. More feline mixed with feathers. An even bigger feline. Lion, I thought.

But no wolf.

The fingers on my shoulder squeezed a bit harder and released me. "Welcome to House Isador."

I whirled around but no one was there. No one at all.

KARMEN

I need to wake up. Open my eyes. It's important.

Even though my eyelids felt like chunks of lead encrusted with heavy gold.

Something wasn't right. Urgency pulsed through me, making my limbs twitch. Everything felt different. Foreign. Even the air tasted different. Smelled different.

Memory slowly came back to me. The attack. I vaguely remembered passing through the portal to House Isador, though nothing after that. I must have passed out.

:Sunzi?:

Immediately, his bond filled my mind, sure and steady and fierce. :I'm here, my queen. You're safe.:

Some of the anxiety eased, but I still felt exposed. My skin too tight, sounds too loud, smells too strange. All these scents and sounds filled my head in a dizzying array of sensation. :I want to go home.:

:As soon as we know you're okay, absolutely,: he promised. :Do you wish to return to the portal version of your childhood home? Or the home of which Dagny spoke in Norway?:

Just the word Norway sent a pulse of something through me. A pang of resonance.

Sunzi must have felt it too, because he simply said, :At once, my queen. The Keys of Heaven are at your disposal.:

Low voices neared. Female. Multiple. Shara Isador, I thought, but it seemed like an eternity since I met her at Helayna's nest. I lay still, absorbing as many details as I could before I revealed my awareness. Sunzi's arms around me. His thighs beneath me. Sitting. He was comfortable and not tense. No threats approached, at least for the moment. My head lay on his chest, the steady thump of his heart beneath my ear. A vibrant stream of sparks flared from his mind and bond. A midnight sky flaring with comets and meteor showers, blazing solar storms and streaming chunks of molten rock. I'd never seen such things with my physical eyes before, at least since I'd been trapped in Heliopolis.

More red-gold rivers wrapped around me like flaming ribbons, winding in and out of the midnight sky. Lighting up the darkness within me. But it wasn't a punishing, harsh light. The coolness of an evening sky still stretched within me, pulsing with the soft, warm light of my Blood. Inside me, a part of me, forever.

Steadier in my mind, I opened my eyes.

A small gasp escaped Dagny's lips, and her shoulders sagged. She buried her face in her hands and whispered what sounded like a prayer. "Blessed be, Mother. Thank you for sparing her."

I felt thin and stretched out but not injured or sick. So I wasn't sure why she was so relieved. "I'm okay."

"Ah, perfect timing." A familiar dark-haired woman stepped closer with an amiable smile. Shara Isador's eyes glittered like the night sky I'd seen inside my head though darker. Impenetrable, endless depths of space filled with distant twinkling stars, spinning ever closer. Sucking me under if I stared too long. "Welcome to my nest, Karmen. I'm so glad you're awake and feeling better. Would it be alright for my friend, Dr. Mala Borcht, to examine you? She's a human doctor but she's studied our kind extensively and has helped me tremendously over these past few months as I adjust to this new life."

"New life?" I asked hesitantly, not sure that I wanted to commit to a stranger poking and prodding me yet.

A mountain of a Blood moved a chair closer so his queen could sit down comfortably. Then he stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. Very much like Sunzi had stood behind me. Her lead Blood, then. A word flowed through the rippling ribbons of sunfire energy curling through me. Alpha. He's her alpha, and Sunzi's mine.

I glanced around quickly, taking in our surroundings. We sat on a sofa, Dagny close beside us. The walls were a deep mossy green with touches of dark wood. No window, at least that I could see without turning around, and the room was surprisingly small. Somehow I expected such a supposedly powerful queen to have a luxurious palace at her command, not this cozy, comfortable room.

In fact, the only person I didn't know inside the room was the alpha standing behind her. None of her other Blood were present, nor the human doctor she'd mentioned.

"I'm new to this life as an Aima queen," Shara said. "In fact, I've only known what I am since right before Christmas."

I wasn't sure what that was or how long ago that might have been. "I'm new to this life too."

A look flickered over her face that made me sit up and turn more fully toward her so I could see her reactions, though I remained in Sunzi's lap. She didn't school her face like I'd learned to do in Heliopolis. Her cheeks flushed and a look of something that might be shame darkened her eyes and turned down her lips in a grimace. "In fact, I didn't even know how to feed myself. For days, I struggled because I didn't have fangs. The hunger was merciless, which only made everything worse."

It suddenly dawned on me that she was incredibly young. Much younger than her calm, confident exterior proclaimed. I might be a babe to this world, but in experience and years of life…

I was ancient compared to her. In some ways, at least.

She casually reached up and wrapped her fingers around her alpha's plate-sized hand, and her demeanor changed completely. Her lips curved. Her eyes shimmered with sensual heat. Evidently feeding meant a great deal more to them than just the blood.

I swallowed a sudden mouthful of saliva. Yeah. I could see one thing leading to another very easily. Feasting on Sunzi's blood. Touching him. Feeling him touch me…

He didn't move a muscle, but the sparks flared brighter in our bond, a steady stream of molten gold shooting across the night sky. Like he'd climaxed in my hand. His back against my face. The taste of his skin, his blood, hot on my tongue.

"If you need to feed, please do so," Shara said softly. "I'll give you privacy if that would make you more comfortable. Feeding is the best way to regain your strength after losing so much blood."

My fangs ached, but I hesitated. "Is it impolite to feed in front of others?"

"Not at all. It's entirely up to your personal preference. I wouldn't bite one of my Blood in front of you unless it was an emergency, but I wouldn't hesitate to feed if I needed to."

I blinked several times, trying to connect the dots. Biting was bad, but feeding wasn't?

Seeing my confusion, she added, "My bite is orgasmic. I'd rather not put on such a display in front of another queen, unless we were romantically involved. Even then, I would hesitate to involve my Blood."

"Oh." I took a deep breath, letting her words bounce around in my head. "That's a lot to take in at once. Now I have even more questions."

She laughed softly. "Then it's my pleasure to answer them. But first, I do hope you'll feed. Your cheeks are still pale, and your eyes are hollowed. I can tell you more while you feed."

I liked the way she laughed. It wasn't mocking or hurtful but open and husky with sensuality. Something I wished I could pull off someday, though I couldn't remember laughing. Maybe as a child before Heliopolis? I wasn't sure. I touched Sunzi's bond. :Would you mind ? —:

Before I could complete the question, he pressed his bare wrist to my mouth. As soon as his skin touched my lips, I had my fangs in him before I even realized I'd bitten him. My eyelids fluttered a moment, my entire body flooded with energy. Pure sunlight, blazing with warmth and light and emotion. Raw, unfiltered emotion.

Love. Desire. Lust. All tangled together in a glorious mixture that sparked through me. The kind of love that would do anything before I could ask, including laying down his life. If he could die and spare me a single moment in Heliopolis, he would have done so without hesitation.

"I was raised as a human," Shara continued. "I had no idea that we were different, though monsters were always trying to break into the house where we lived in Kansas City. We never went out after dark, and we lived a very quiet, reclusive life. Dad died when I was young, killed by those monsters in the street. Then Mom died in nearly the same spot outside our house, and I went on the run for five years. Constantly moving, hiding, running from the monsters who always followed me.

"Until a few short months ago, the monsters ran me down a few miles away from here and surrounded me. I thought that was the end, until Rik came to my rescue." She tipped her head back slightly, bumping the big man behind her. "My alpha, Alrik. He took me to Kansas City where I was able to reconnect with my consiliarius, Gina. They had to teach me about everything. Feeding, other queens, how the Triune works, and of course, I'm still learning. But if I can help answer any questions you have, I'm at your disposal."

She paused for a moment, as if giving me a chance to ask. But I wasn't ready to let go of Sunzi's wrist yet. He tasted too good.

"Dr. Borcht has been helping me with my menstrual cycles since I stepped into my power," she said slowly, as if feeling the way ahead down a dark hallway. Gently, carefully, as if the ground might fall out from beneath her feet at any moment. "My periods are very regular every month and extremely heavy. I know now the monsters were tracking the scent of my blood. Now that I have Blood of my own, my cycles have been even heavier. We've been experimenting with human medications to help calm my hormones down, but they've honestly not been very effective."

:Do you know what she's talking about?: I asked.

:Not at all, my queen,: Sunzi replied. :Unless she's talking about the monthly cycles that human women go through when they come of age.:

Oh. The pit of my stomach sank like a stone. I licked the punctures closed and lifted my head, braced to see the expression on her face. She must know. Or at least suspect.

Sunfires swirled through my head in a fiery tornado of agitation. I felt only innocence from them. Smoak was one of them. One of us. Unified. At least in this. She hadn't betrayed me.

"I only bled once in Heliopolis." I kept my voice flat and even, devoid of the dread and horror of those days. "I don't know how old I was. But that's when Ra decided I had come of age. I never bled again." I grimaced, a half-crooked smile and shrug. "Until now."

Shara didn't say anything. Her face didn't twist with disgust, no eyebrow arching in surprise. Instead, she simply listened, radiating an open compassion that made my throat tighten and tears pool in my eyes.

I took a deep breath, willing the emotions to settle. Another. "I refuse to spare any more tears for that monster."