The Shadow Queen (30 page)

Well before dawn, Cassie’s scent changed.

Vae wiggled backward until her head was level with Cassie’s female place. Then she sniffed to confirm the scent.

Human females did not like to be sniffed there by anyone but their mates, so it was good that Cassie was still sleeping.

Jumping off the bed, Vae padded out of the bedroom and used Craft to pull aside a curtain on one window in the living area.

Early. No one awake yet. But when the first birds woke up and began to chirp, Cook and her helpers would wake up too and start making food for the day. Then the Blood who took care of the house would wake up.

But not yet. No one but Talon would be awake now, and he did not come to Cassie’s rooms, so he wouldn’t know about the change in her scent. Not yet.

She wore Purple Dusk. Since she couldn’t ride a faster, darker Wind than the Purple Dusk, the Keep was far away.

Cassie needed protection now. Cassie needed Yas.

Cassie would be safe enough until the males smelled the blood.

Vae leaped through the window, using Craft to pass through the curtain and glass. She landed lightly on air, two stories above the ground, and floated there for a minute.

Going up was faster than going down and around, so still floating on air, she trotted up one side of the roof and down the other before leaping away from the house and gliding over the ground and locked gates.

Landing lightly, she trotted over to the landing web and took a moment to make sure of her direction. Then she caught the Purple Dusk Wind and rode to Ebon Askavi.

Wanting nothing more than to spend an hour with the novel currently intriguing him before he retired earlier than usual, Saetan turned away from his suite and retraced his steps to one of the Keep’s private sitting rooms, where Lucivar was doing a slow prowl.

“Is there a reason why you’re showing up here every morning?” Saetan asked.

“I can count,” Lucivar replied.

“And that’s significant because . . . ?” He could think of one reason for the edgy prowling. “Is Marian pregnant?”

“What?” Lucivar jumped as if he’d gotten jabbed in the ass. “Hell’s fire, no! Although she’s working on it,” he added in a mutter.

“
She’s
working on it?”

Lucivar gave him a dark look. “She hasn’t talked me into putting aside the contraceptive brew. Not yet.”

Thank the Darkness for that. He loved his grandson, Daemonar. He really did. But he suspected everyone in the family would be grateful for a little more time before they had to deal with another miniature Lucivar.

Including Lucivar.

“Did Lord Burle say anything to you about Cassidy?” Lucivar asked.

“A few things. Are you interested in something in particular?”

“Did she have her moontime while he was there?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Why not?”

Saetan pressed his lips together, not sure if he was amused or appalled. He had known Andulvar Yaslana for over fifty thousand years, and even having all those years of experience with the straightforward way Eyriens had of looking at things didn’t always prepare him for Lucivar’s bluntness.

“That’s a delicate subject.” He studied his son. “You would have asked him.”

“Damn right I would have. Even if she’d had her last moontime right before she went to Dena Nehele, she’s late.”

“It does happen.”

“Especially with some help.”

Apparently Lucivar had kept a few things to himself about his last visit to Dena Nehele. Like the fact that Cassidy might feel too uneasy about being vulnerable around the males who were supposed to serve her.

“Her court,” Saetan said quietly. “You don’t trust them.”

“No, I don’t,” Lucivar replied. “But I’m sure I can get things settled enough that she won’t have to worry for the rest of the time she’s there.”

Preferring to have only a vague idea of how Lucivar might settle things “enough,” Saetan said,“If you don’t trust them, who is supposed to send a mes—”

*Yas? Yas!*

Of course,
he thought as he turned toward the door just as the Sceltie barreled into the room.

*It’s Cassie’s bleeding time!*

He felt his temper shift, sharpen. Recognized that same shift by the look in Lucivar’s eyes.

No, Cassidy wasn’t their Queen, and she wasn’t family. But she was connected to them because of Jaenelle—and Daemon—so they would respond in a way that was in keeping with their nature.

“I’ll be back in four days,” Lucivar said.

Saetan nodded. “I’ll go to your eyrie and inform Marian. Anything I need to know?”

“No, there’s nothing that needs particular care at the moment.” As Lucivar headed for the door, he added, “Come on, Vae. You’ll ride the Ebon-gray Wind with me.”

Saetan stared at the empty doorway a long time before saying softly, “May the Darkness have mercy on you,Theran, if you do anything in the next few days that pisses off Lucivar.”

You can’t hide in your room for the next three days,
Cassie thought as she pulled a long, moss green sweater over her head.
There’s work to be done, and how can you prove to Theran and the others that you’re capable of going out among the people if you can’t even move among your own First Circle?

She couldn’t hide in her room. But she wanted to. She knew what to expect from the males back home, but not here. Would they work together, or would the personalities that rubbed against one another turn savage?

No way to tell. Not from her bedroom.

Pressing a hand to her abdomen, she took a deep breath, blew it out, and left her suite.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, she thought a few minutes later. The male servants she had passed on the way to her office had given her a sharp glance, but that was the only change in their behavior.

As she rounded a corner, she thought,
I guess I was worried over noth—

Theran drew in a breath, no doubt getting ready to “ask” why it had taken her so long to come down when the Steward and others were waiting for her.

Then his nostrils flared. His eyes glazed. And the look in those eyes was predatory, not protective.

“Cassidy,” Theran growled.

She took a step back. Took another. “I need some air. I’ll join you in the Steward’s office in a few minutes.”

“I need some air!”

She turned and headed for the nearest door that would take her out of the house. She almost made it, almost got the outside door open, when Ranon stormed into the room, moving with an intent that made it plain he had caught the scent and come after her.

The glazed eyes. The power and savagery. Warlord Princes rising to the killing edge and honing their tempers to lethal intensity because of a blood scent.

She knew she should direct that savagery, turn it into a fierce kind of service. She was a Queen, and dealing with a Warlord Prince when he rode the killing edge was part of her training.

“Lady,” Ranon snarled, taking a step toward her.

If she trusted him, trusted any of them, she could stand her ground and find a way to keep things from turning deadly. But she looked into Ranon’s eyes and realized he had taken advantage of those vulnerable days to kill witches he had hated, and right now, he was struggling not to see her as prey, not to see her as he’d seen most other Queens.

One hundred Warlord Princes in Dena Nehele. For the first time, she understood what they must have done to survive, how much blood they must have spilled to keep the failing heart of their people from being destroyed completely.

“I need some air,” Cassidy said, easing herself out the door. “Take care of your duties, Prince. I’ll join you shortly.”

Did he sense the lie?

But she hadn’t been frightened last night. Not really frightened. She’d had a false confidence, based on her experience with the Warlord Princes in Jaenelle’s court. She’d never felt threatened by those men, even the most powerful among them. Hell’s fire, Lucivar didn’t waste time discussing anything with a witch during her moontime. He’d simply pick her up and haul her to wherever he wanted her to be, and that was the end of it. If she was lucky—and he was feeling generous in a snarly kind of way—the witch would have a choice of what she was going to eat and whether she had one blanket tucked around her or two.

Despite his power and temper, despite what she’d heard he could do when he rode the killing edge, she had never had a moment when she’d thought Lucivar would hurt her.

Her thoughts fled in every direction. She kept her head down and her eyes focused on the ground as she hurried without considering where she was going. When strong hands grabbed her upper arms, she let out a breathless shriek.

“Cassie?” Gray asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Gray,” she gasped. “Nothing’s wrong. I was just . . .”

His nostrils flared. His eyes glazed. And a friend was replaced by a stranger whose hands tightened on her arms when she tried to step back.

“You’re hurt,” Gray said, his voice roughened by a temper turned unpredictable. “You need the Healer.”

He started to pull her toward the house. She dug her heels into the ground, resisting.

“I don’t need a Healer, Gray. I’m not hurt.”

Mother Night. “It’s moon’s blood, Gray. You know about moon’s blood. Don’t you?”

Did he? Boys didn’t notice the smell of moon’s blood until they began to mature sexually. When she’d first met him, Gray’s psychic scent had said “boy” despite his physical maturity.

“I know about it,” Gray finally said.

There was just enough hesitation in his voice for her to wonder if she could believe him.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” Gray said. “You should be inside. Someone should be looking after you.”

Well, he knew that much.

She thought of going back inside, thought of the look in Theran’s eyes—and Ranon’s eyes—and shuddered.

“Too many people in the house.”

“You mean too many males.”

“Yes.”

His hands gentled. His voice gentled. “You need to rest, Cassie.”

“I—” She couldn’t deny it without lying, so she said nothing.

Gray released her, then slid a hand down her arm until he could take her hand. “Come on. You can take a nap in my bed. You’ll be safe there.”

Gray’s little room in the shed. A quiet, private place where she could gather her wits and her courage.

She didn’t argue with him when he coaxed her to lie down on the bed her father had built. She didn’t argue when he removed her shoes.

She didn’t resist when he tucked himself in beside her.

“Get some rest, Cassie,” he said quietly. “You can rest.”

His fingertips gently stroked her forehead, stroked her hair. Such a soothing motion. When he told her to close her eyes, she obeyed.

Cradled by the warmth of him, she fell asleep.

 

Gray watched her sleep. That sunset hair, with its streaks of honey, was spread over his pillow. He studied that wonderful face with its crop of freckles. An honest face. A face he could trust.

Just like she trusted him. She hadn’t stayed in the house with Theran or Ranon. She’d come to him, trusted him to keep her safe.

And he would keep her safe. He’d put a Purple Dusk shield around the gardening shed, as strong a shield as he could make. It wouldn’t keep the other males out if they were determined to get in, but it would give him the precious moments he’d need to prepare for a fight.

*Gray?*

*Leave me be,Theran.*

*Are you all right? Why have you put a shield around the shed?*

*I’m fine.* More than fine. His blood was singing in his veins, potent and ripe.

*Have you seen Cassidy?*

When a minute passed without another call from Theran, Gray relaxed again. Turned his attention to the woman.

Cassie.
His eyes focused on her neck. He bent his head as he carefully pulled her sweater away from the spot that intrigued him so much. Then he breathed in the scent of her. His lips pressed against her skin, and his tongue got the taste of her.

He raised his head and looked at her, seeing something different. Something wonderful.

In response to the thought, a strange feeling flooded him, body, heart, and mind. A feeling fierce and powerful. A feeling that shattered the husk he’d lived inside for so long—and no longer wanted.

“Cassie,” Gray whispered. “Cassie.”

He pressed his lips once more to that sweet spot, feeling a hunger stirring his body, arousing much more than his cock.

Smiling, he looked at her, asleep in his bed, and whispered, “Mine.”

 

Theran watched Gray and Cassidy walking toward the house, hand in hand.

“That little prick,” Theran growled. “He
was
hiding her in the shed.”

“At least we know where she was,” Ranon said, rubbing the back of his neck to ease some tension.

“He could have said something,” Theran snapped.

The whole household had been in a state of quiet panic since Cassidy walked out the door.

Even if you couldn’t get the Queen the first time, you could start picking off her protectors, could get a feel for who was loyal—and, therefore, a traitor to his own people—and who wouldn’t get in the way of the fighters trying to hold on to the little in Dena Nehele that hadn’t been corrupted.

He hadn’t been out in the open—not like Ranon or some of the others—but he’d done his share of fighting. And he knew there were plenty of men out there—including some of the Warlord Princes who had presented themselves for consideration—who wouldn’t hesitate to attack a Queen because that’s what they’d spent a lifetime doing.