Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (18 page)

Na’min was back before Lucius
was. The blanket I had pressed to Ruby’s neck was soaked, my hands were slick and coated with her blood. I felt so helpless. “Eli is right behind me; he just had to gather his things.”

I nodded. I couldn’t speak.
I couldn’t lose her. She didn’t deserve this. 

Finally
, Eli came through the door. “Your Majesty, you have to move back so I can examine her. I know it’s scary, but when I nod, pull back the blanket. You’ve done well, but I’m going to heal the wound and I can’t have the blanket in the way.”

I shook my head. Taking the blanket off was going to kill her. I couldn’t do it, but when he nodded
, I pulled the blanket back. The blood bubbled up and overflowed. He mumbled something under his breath and the wound started to knit together. It looked like a zipper pulled across her neck. The bleeding slowed to a trickle and then eventually stopped. I closed my eyes and prayed to the Goddess to save one of her children.

I didn’t even notice Na’min leave
the room, but he came running out of Oona’s room. He looked terrified and he collapsed beside me.

“There’s so much
blood, but no body. Her room is destroyed; everything has been thrown around and broken. She must have put up a struggle when they tried to take her.” He was panicked and he looked frantically around the room like he had just misplaced her. He put his arm around me and I leaned into him.

“I wish I had better news, Your Majesty. I know you’re very fond of her. Brownies are notoriously tough, but she has lost an enormous amount of blood. Time will tell. Whoever did this meant to kill. Her wound was deep and it’s only a miracle that you came back in time. One minute more and you may have been too late.”

“Thank
you, Eli. Is there anything we can do? Would Lucius’ blood help her?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a vampire giving blood to a brownie. I th
ink it best not to try it. She’s still with us, but very weak, it might do more harm than good.”

Lucius came out of the room
. His fangs were down. He was angry. “I can’t smell anyone else besides the people who we know were here tonight. Na’min, can you have someone go find Dominick? His nose is more discerning than mine.”

I called for Kael. He hadn’t promised to protect Ruby, but I still somehow felt betrayed.
He promised to keep me safe and he hadn’t kept his end of the bargain.

“Little Queen
, I don’t understand why you called me. It was the brownie who was attacked. I’m sorry she was hurt, but you seem fine.”

I glared at him.
“An attack on Ruby is an attack on me. She is indispensable and she’s my friend. Plus, Queen Oona is missing and, by the amount of blood, I’m assuming the worst.”

“I don’t understand why they took Oona and left Ruby here
.” Lucius was looking over the scene.

I watched as Eli and Na’min gingerly lifted Ruby from the floor and placed her on the settee. They covered her tiny body and she looked like a little girl who had fallen asleep before her bedtime.

I was tired of playing the peacekeeper and the diplomat. Lucius was good at his job and part of his job was to investigate crimes committed by vampires. I didn’t care who didn’t like it. I was going to let him investigate this and we were finally going to get to the bottom of it. I could take being attacked myself, but not those I loved. They had crossed the line and now they were going to pay.

“They must have wanted Oona
, and Ruby just had been unlucky enough to be here.” It was the only thing that made sense to me.

“Why all the blood in Oona’s room? Unless she put up more of a fight than they were expecting.”

Dominick came running in, his face flooded with relief when he saw me. “Christ, Cass. I thought you were hurt. I could smell the blood from around the corner. You are okay?”

I looked down at myself and realized I didn’t look okay at all. I was covered in blood. Just not mine. “I’m fine
. It’s Ruby, Dominick. She isn’t good.”

“I’m so sorry
, Cass. What in the hell happened in here?”

I told him everything I knew
, which wasn’t much. I wanted to do something instead of sitting here, feeling useless.

“Na’min
, I know you’re upset, but can you gather my council? I need to get to the bottom of this and they are going to help, whether they like it or not.”

“Of course
, Your Majesty.” He gave one last look at Ruby and then left.

“Lucius, I don’t care who doesn’t like it, I want you to find out who did this.” He crossed the room and tried to take me in his arms. “I want that more than you know, but I need to keep it together
all right.”

“Dominick
, do you smell anyone here you recognize?”

“I can’t smell anyone that shouldn’t be here, but if
it’s okay, I’ll change to my wolf. He has a much better nose.”

Dominick started to shed his clothes and I looked away. When I felt his furry head nudge me
, I bent down. “Maybe you can try in Oona’s room. There won’t be as many smells.”

“I’
ll be right back, Little Queen. I have a matter to attend to.” I had forgotten Kael was even here and that wasn’t easy to do.

“He isn’t much help anyway.” Lucius was angry and he wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting so angry.”

He looked at Ruby. “That could have been you. I could have lost you. I just got you.
I couldn’t bear it, Cass.”

“I’m okay
; I’m never alone. I always have someone protecting me. We’re taking as many precautions as we can.”

“I want to question your council.”
His eyes dared me to challenge him.

“Then you will. Whatever you need to find out who did this.
I’m done stepping on eggshells. I want to know who did this. I have one condition; I’m sitting in on the interviews.”

He nodded and we watched Dominick saunter out of the bedroom. His amber eyes trained on me. He walked over to whe
re his clothes were and changed back. I got caught looking before I could turn away.

“There wasn’t a
ny scent in there but Oona’s, Na’min’s, and Lucius’. I don’t even know how that’s possible. Each fae have a signature scent, just like a human. Vampires, for the most part, just smell like death. Goblins are hard to tell apart, but there wasn’t any smell. Whoever did this must have been masking their scent.”

Na’min entered with his brother. Lochlan wore only a robe and his hair was messy. “Who would do this to Oona
? She’s been through so much.”

“I’m sorr
y, Lochlan, but we really don’t know what has been done to Oona yet. We will find her.”

“The dark fae took her. They wanted revenge because you killed Mab.”

“That has been settled for a while now. No one is holding onto that grudge. They see she isn’t in her right mind. They also know killing Mab was in self-defense, not some sort of sentence I handed down. You start talking like that and you’ll undo everything we’ve worked so hard for.” I was nipping that kind of talk in the bud. We had come too far to go back now.

“I don’t want to believe it, but who else would
want to harm her. She was…she was gone anyway, Mab made sure of that.” He was angry and scared. I hoped he’d see reason when he calmed down.

“W
as there anything else missing?” There had to be some clue as to why this happened.

“Not that I can think of. She was so fragile
. This will truly break her mind if she isn’t dead already.” Na’min gently sat beside Ruby and took her hand. “When Ruby wakes up, we’ll have our answers.”

“Cass
, I’m going to our room. I’ll interview everyone there.” He looked at Dominick. “Protect her while I’m gone.”

“I don’t need to be told that
,” Dominick growled. A thought flew into my head and I quickly dismissed it. Dominick could never hurt Ruby, even if he was a lone wolf. I hated myself for even thinking it.

“I’ll come over with Lochlan when everyone gets here
, Lucius.”

“I’m not being interviewed by a vampire.”

“Yes, you will. I want to know what’s going on and Lucius is the best man for the job. I’m tired of you looking down on him. He’s a good man and the fae have no right to judge anyone.”

“His sire was the one who locked us away
; he was the reason our children died. Do you really think that’s so easy to forgive?”

“Lucius had nothing to do with that. He wasn’t even born until 1000 years later. The fae were
locked away because they were interfering and killing humans. Quintus did what he did to protect his people. You sealed your own people away. There have been enough atrocities. It’s time to stop blaming and do what it takes to figure out what’s going on.”

I reluctantly left Ruby. I was terrified something would happen to her if I left, but Dominick promised to protect her with his life and I truly believed he meant it. One of Kael’s sons stood guard outside the door. Kael never returned; he just sent his son and word that he was going to stop whoever was doing this. To round out her bodyguard detail, Na’min and Eli stood watch as well.

Despite his protest
s, Lochlan went over and allowed Lucius to question him. He seemed to be cooperative, but didn’t reveal anything that seemed relevant. Lucius questioned Taryn and Lord Eton. Taryn was incredibly upset about Ruby and Lord Eton wanted to know if he would be compensated for working through the night. I began to wonder how the fae had lasted as long as they had.

Cian was up next. He was the only one I expected to have anything he could tell us that might help
. I told Lucius quickly what he had said earlier. I was surprised to see him still in his suit. He looked tired and worried.

“I’m sorry about your friend
, Your Majesty.” His voice was a little slurred. He hadn’t finished partying when he got home.

“Thank
you, Cian. I hope Ruby makes a full recovery.”

“Brownies are known for their strength and resilience.”

Lucius paced the room and Cian followed him with his eyes. “Where did you go after you left Queen Cassandra on the stairs?”

“I went to my room. It had been a very long evening. I settled in and decided to read a little.”

“You went nowhere else? Maybe to check on Oona?”

“Why would I do that when my beautiful
queen and Prince Na’min were on their way to see her?”

“Wh
y did you warn Cassandra that she might be a target?”

His eyes widen
ed and he looked terrified. “I didn’t warn my queen of anything. I merely stated that envy could be a dangerous thing. People do strange things when they’re envious.” He ran his hand through his fiery hair. “She has become loved by most fae. That can cause those who don’t love her as much as I do to become angry and frustrated. It was merely an observation, dead one.”

“You told her that she may
be in danger. Did you know that Ruby and Oona were going to be attacked tonight?”

He laughed. It was bitter and
short. “I know nothing. I observe. I see things that might occur, given the right circumstances. I don’t have the sight. I see how every day, more and more fae come to love her; it would make sense that those left behind might not like that.” He sounded angry, but I couldn’t shake the feeling he was scared too.

Lucius was lost his cool and grabbed
Cian by his shirt. He lifted him up from his chair and threw him to the ground. The fae stood up and brushed himself off.

“There was a time when my powers could reduce you to ash before you even knew you were burning. Those times are over. I can barely light a match. That doesn’t mean I am defenseless
. Don’t put your hands on me again.”

“Then give us something to work with.”

Cian turned to me and smiled. “Your Majesty, I have grown very fond of you. I am guilty of being one of those who are drawn to you. Against my better judgment, I told you some things. Those are the only things I can tell you. I wish I would have told you sooner, but I don’t think it would have changed anything.”

“I am so fucking tired
of cryptic fae talk. Your riddles are as good as telling us nothing.”

Cian looked
Lucius right in the eye. “Then I wasted my time. I was only trying to help, Your Majesty. I hope you believe that.”

“You can go
, Cian. I don’t know if we will meet tomorrow. I’ll let you know.”

“Of course
, Your Majesty.”

He bowed and left the room. Lucius paced some more and then punched a hole in my wall. He didn’t frighten me. Perhaps he should have. I knew he was frustrated.
I felt like punching a wall, but in my case, the wall would win.

“Are you done?”

“I want you to leave here tonight. I can’t protect you, Cass. Whatever is going on here, there are too many fae and goblins to make sure you are safe.”