The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) (13 page)

I cuffed him on the skull but he didn’t let go. Blood welled up around his lips. I could feel him sucking on the wound,
even though his teeth were still in my flesh. I didn’t try to stop him. He thought my blood would give him a boost of strength, but then he thought I was a half-blood. This camouflage of mine was becoming quite convenient.

It wasn’t a well-known fact, but according to Vex, and the goblin prince, goblin blood was toxic–even to aristos. I had given Dede my blood in an effort to save her when Church shot her, and I ended up bringing about her death that much faster. I still had nightmares about it.

I would not feel the same guilt for this. Even if the Human League burned an effigy of me in the street and put a bounty on my head, I would not regret there being one less plague-fucked human in the world.

The betty’s bite eased. I winced as his teeth came free of the muscle in my arm. My blood flowed freely now, entering his mouth even as he gasped and tried to pull away. I held him down, fingers forcing his lips apart so that more of my poison filled him.

He convulsed, eyes rolling back in his head. My blood, mixed with the tar-like pus drying on his cheek, ran down his jaw. Only when he began thrashing did I get up. Crimson erupted from his mouth–more than he’d ever taken from me. It sprang like a geyser of gore into the night. He choked on it, coughed up stuff that was too thick to be just blood. He convulsed one last time and then went still.

“Xandra.”

I turned, focus shifting from the betty to Ophelia. I became aware of the sound of an engine–the lorry was driving away! I turned my head, frantically searching the area. The other betty was gone, and Ophelia was bleeding from a cut above her eyebrow.

“Where’s Penny?” I demanded? I couldn’t have lost her too. How would I face her mother? Or Avery? Was I totally and utterly incapable of protecting the people I cared about?

“Here,” came a faint voice from my right. “Xandy, I’m here.”

My shoulders sagged in relief. I didn’t care that the other betties had got away, or that Ophelia had obviously taken a hard knock. All that mattered was that my favourite drag queen was sitting on the steps with a torn stocking and a lopsided wig. Her left eye was swollen and her bottom lip was split–blood and lipstick smeared her chin–but at that moment sh Khathat mattee looked positively gorgeous.

I went to her and hugged her, pulling her hard against my stomach. I hadn’t lost her. She was here. Safe.

“You’re bleeding.”

I glanced at my left arm–rivulets of blood dripped from my fingertips–then at Ophelia. “Yeah. Be careful. My blood’s a little toxic.”

She arched a brow–it was like looking in a blue-haired mirror. “Xandra, that tosser’s dead.”

Was that my conscience I felt poking me in the back of my head? “He wasn’t long for this world anyway.” Judging by his smell and condition, he probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a few days.

My sister’s lips quirked. “Wouldn’t matter to me if he was. I’m not the one you’ve got to explain it to.” She jerked her thumb in the direction of the street. The sound of sirens could be heard drawing closer, then stopped. Doors slammed. Voices and footfalls on the stone.

Two Scotland Yard officers walked into the light–one male and one female. I took one look at their faces and ground my teeth.

“Good evening, Your Majesty,” said DI Maine in that flat tone of his. H
e didn’t look surprised to see me. In fact, he appeared rather bored with the whole situation. “How lovely to see you. What happened here, then?”

I glanced down at Penny, who was staring up at me with wide eyes. “Fucking brilliant,” I said.

Just what I needed when under investigation for murder–to be found with blood on my hands and a corpse at my feet.

Over the last couple of months, I’d decided that Fate despised me. This latest development only added to that certainty. A medic wearing a double layer of latex gloves cleaned and bandaged my arm. I thought about telling her not to bother, it would heal soon enough, but she squirmed in such a delightful way every time she had to touch me that I didn’t have the heart to stop her. My blood would only hurt her if she ingested it, and it wasn’t like I had consumption. A halvie with medical training should know that, right? Shouldn’t be so skittish.

It was because she knew who–and what–I was. It was getting tiring–fast.

Special Branch had made it clear they wanted to talk to all three of us, including any witnesses inside the bar. I was hoping that eventually someone would tell me who the dead bloke was, but no one did. They took his body away in the
ambulance without saying a word, and before I could search his pockets.

I had to admire Ophelia. Here she was, wanted in connection with the theft of halvie hospital records a couple of months ago, talking to the Yard without breaking a sweat, and it had to be close to thirty degrees–an unseasonably warm and muggy night for August. This summer had been so bloody hot.

“Thanks,” I muttered when the woman was done with my wound. She squeaked a reply, but I didn’t bother listening as I walked away. I went straight to Penny, who was sitting on the step with one of the club’s performers. I recognised her as a contortionist I had seen perform several times. No idea what her name was, though.

“You okay, dearest?ho t Nhat m">

Penny nodded. Her wig was straightened now, and she looked more herself. She reached up and took my hand. “Right as rain. You?”

I sat on the edge of the step beside her. “Other than having been used as a betty’s chew toy, and electrocuted, I can’t complain.” I was still a little twitchy–like the odd bug had crawled under my skin.

“Is it true you killed that betty?” the other girl asked, softly. She was looking at me as though she wasn’t certain if she should be afraid or not.

“He was already on his way out,” I told her. “I really didn’t do anything to him.” Except practically cave in his face and poison him, but she didn’t need to know that.

She nodded, and I watched her spine visibly relax.

Ophelia wandered over to us, a carefully neutral expression on her face. “I’m going to take off.”

I nodded. She’d already gone above and beyond by coming to Penny’s rescue with me. “Do you need a lift?”

She shook her head. “Nah. The alpha’s coming for me.” Her expression turned to one of amusement. “Reckon he’ll have some questions for you later.”

I sighed. “You just had to ring him, didn’t you?”

She grinned. “He would have found out anyway. I’m just saving you the trouble of telling him.”

That was when the temperature seemed to go up several degrees, thickening the air, weighing it down. The entire scene quieted, like just before a thunderstorm. I knew without looking that Vex had arrived. I didn’t have to see him. I could sense him, smell him. Every hair on the back of my neck stood at attention. I wasn’t the only one. He commanded the attention of each person in that little courtyard.

I peeked around Ophelia and watched him stride right into the thick of things. He was dressed in fitted black trousers, shiny black knee-high boots, snowy white shirt and black frock coat. He didn’t look the least bit affected by the heat either. Must be a wolf thing.

He lifted his head, as though scenting the air. Then he stopped and turned, his gaze locking with mine.

Fang me, it was like being shocked all over again. When he began to walk towards me, those pale eyes of his blazing with gold, I held my breath. It didn’t matter that I was a goblin–the most terrible of beasts–he was impressive.

And I was in shit.

Ophelia bowed to him, bending one knee. I knew then that he was not impressed with either of us.

“Go wait in the Sparrow,” he growled at her.

She didn’t meet his gaze. She simply nodded, rose and
walked away without so much as a word. That bothered me, seeing her cowed. I stood up, meeting his gaze once more. “Don’t be angry with her. She was only trying to help.”

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “Are you all right?” His voice was even deeper than usual, quieter.

I nodded. “Got a bite, but I’ll be fine.” We hadn’t been together long, but I’d never seen him like this. “Are you?”

He glanced away. “We can talk about it later. Do you want me to wait for you?”

Having him stand around in this heat, while his wolf hovered so close to the surface, was probably not a good idea. Never mind that Special Branch might think I needed t Snk s heathe alpha to hide behind.

“No. Take Ophelia home. I’ll bring Penny with me and meet you at my place later.”

Vex nodded, face tight. “Fine.” Then he turned his attention to Penny, and his expression softened. “You good, love?”

She nodded, offered up a faint smile.”You know it, gorgeous. I’ll take care of your girl. You go do what you need to do.”

His gaze came back to me. The gold was gone, replaced by a faint twinkle of amusement. I knew I wasn’t going to get off this easily. “Don’t get arrested.”

Before I could respond, he turned on his heel and strode away. I wasn’t the only one who watched him go. I noticed DI Cooke’s gaze linger on Vex’s back longer than I liked. When she spied me, she quickly turned away.

Special Branch talked to Penny next. I just knew that bastard Maine was going to make me stew as long as he could. Finally Penny came back to the step. Her friend had long since gone back inside the club.

“Do you want to wait inside?” I asked her. “It’s probably
cooler in there.” In the distance I heard the dull roar of thunder.

She shook her head. “I’d rather wait out here. With you.” Poor thing. I could have hugged her, but I didn’t want her to think I believed her weak–and I didn’t want to give that appearance to those few still hanging about. “I won’t let them keep me long.”

There was no one left to talk to but me–no one who had been involved in the altercation. I made a beeline straight for Maine. He might be a first-class twat, but at least he wasn’t sniffing after Vex.

“I’m ready to give my account of events,” I told him when he looked up at my approach.

“Perhaps I’m not ready to hear it,” he replied, scribbling in his notebook.

“I’ll be on my way, then. Unless, you care to arrest me for something?”

Maine arched a brow at me–didn’t bother trying to hide it. “You’re accustomed to getting your way, aren’t you, Your Majesty?”

If that were true, Dede would be alive, and would have custody of her son. Val would be home with us and I’d still be sharing a house with Avery. My mother never would have been taken from me, and Rye–my first love–wouldn’t have been killed by humans hell-bent on ridding the world of anyone of aristo descent.

“Yes, you have that ‘I’m-privileged-and-I-know-it’ air about you.” Odd, but he made it sound like nothing more than an observation, rather than an insult.

“Your father was an aristo too, DI Maine.”

He smiled–rather bitterly. “Yes, well I reckon you have the
advantage of knowing who yours was. That’s why you were able to go to school to train for the Royal Guard and I was never given the option.”

Oh. I hadn’t expected that. “I’m so—”

“Spare me your pity. I don’t get invited to the palace, and I clean up the mess the rest of you make. I make sure half-bloods and aristocrats are held accountable for their actions, Lady Xandra. Queens, kings, freaks… it doesn’t much matter to me. I will find out what you’re hiding, because I know you’re hiding something.”

My jaw tightened. Wanted to play that way, did he? “If that’s how you see me, DI Maine, that’s your prerogative. Do you want to know what happened here or not?”

He pursed his lips. My knuckles itched to punch him. Hard. He held up his pad and pencil. “Do go ahead, ma’am.”

I told him that Val had last been seen leaving this place with two betties–either by his own volition or by force. Then I went on to tell him that Penny had rung me when the betties returned.

“Why didn’t she contact the Yard?” he enquired, rather suspiciously. Defensively. “CI Vardan is one of ours.”

I shrugged. “I suppose she had more confidence in me.” The expression on his face was almost as satisfying as jobbing him would have been. I continued with my story, leaving nothing out except for the fact that I’d been at Bedlam when Penny rang–and the truth about Ophelia. There was no reason to lie, and if the information helped Special Branch in their search for Val, then I wouldn’t regret being honest.

When I was done, he continued to scribble on his pad for a few seconds before glancing up. “Death certainly seems to like you, Your Majesty.”

I lifted my gaze to him, not bothering to look pleasant.”Does it?” This man had no reason to dislike me so much, but he’d come to my house believing I was a killer. I suppose that made him an excellent judge of character, but he didn’t
know
I was responsible for Church’s death. He was just very smart, and I despised him for it as much as he despised me–because I had been just smart enough in dealing with Church that he couldn’t prove a damn thing.

“Your sister, Churchill, the man who shot at Queen Victoria, Simon Halstead. All in the matter of what? A few weeks?”