Queen Takes Checkmate (Their Vampire Queen Book 5) Read online

  I touched the lighter inside the plastic. “They intended to destroy the mummy. But why?”

  Guillaume's gaze flickered to Madeline briefly, the one person in the room not wholly mine. “They had to know who he was, and they would have been acting out someone's orders.”

  The spark in Vivian’s bond was still there. A giant bull’s eye on Madeline’s back. Enough of this bullshit. I needed to bring things to a head. “You said last night that you were willing to stay on as my second consiliarius.”

  She set the cup down on the table. “Yes. It would be an honor to serve, Your Majesty.”

  Daire snarled at her beneath his breath. I bumped him with my knee to settle him. “Did Gina tell you what I would require to join my team?”

  Her eyes burned brightly, almost as if she had a fever. “Yes. It would be a great honor, Your Majesty. I'm willing to do whatever you wish to ensure your trust.”

  Vivian’s spark burned hotter, matching the heat in Madeline’s eyes. Something was definitely wrong with her.

  To be safe, I glanced at Carys. Her owl had hopped down off her shoulder to peck at a crumbled scone on the table. :What's the probability that Madeline will betray me in some way?:

  Carys looked at the woman beside me and twitched in her chair like someone had poked her. :Shockingly high. She's not to be trusted.:

  I touched Gina's bond. :I changed my mind. I can't trust her.:

  The consummate professional, Gina didn't reveal any surprise or disappointment. “Please excuse me,” she murmured as she stood and moved aside. “I need to make a call.”

  “I wouldn't mind tasting your blood at all, Your Majesty,” Madeline said, a little too eagerly. Even Gina, whom I trusted implicitly, had been surprised at first. It was a great honor, yes, but not something that most consiliari did any longer. At least that was the impression I got from her.

  Daire casually shifted closer to Madeline, putting himself between me and any danger. He was already licking his claws, though she didn't pay him any attention. Her second mistake.

  “Oh?” I drawled softly. “I didn't think it was customary for queens to make human servants nowadays.”

  “It isn't,” she replied quickly. “But it should be. It's a smart choice, Your Majesty.”

  “Did Keisha give you her blood?”

  “No, not at all. It wouldn't have occurred to her. She was too jealous of her power. She didn't trust anyone.”

  “How many years did you work for House Skye?”

  “Only ten, Your Majesty. Her previous consiliarius had cancer, I believe, and passed away suddenly.”

  Rik growled in my head. :She did die, I remember that. But I don't think it was cancer.:

  “Did she serve House Skye long?”

  Madeline shrugged apologetically. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I don't know.”

  “Which house did you serve before you came to House Skye?”

  Madeline blinked. “I didn't serve a house, but I worked in the best accounting firm in New York City for twenty years.”

  I sipped my coffee and blinked back at her, keeping my eyes wide and innocent. “I'm new to how the Aima do things. How did Keisha come to hire you, then? Gina worked for my family before I even knew anything about them.”

  “I came highly recommended.”

  I heard a bit of stiffness in her voice. I listened harder, letting my senses focus on her solely. Her heartbeat was rapid. I detected the flutter of her pulse in her throat. Her body temperature was also elevated. Sweat beaded on her brow.

  “I didn't work directly for any house, but I had many previous dealings with House Skye and had interacted with the former consiliarius several times. So Keisha knew me.”

  I settled back against the chair, seemingly relaxed. “What did you have on her?”

  “Excuse me?” Her voice rose in pitch. “I don't know what you mean.”

  “You had to have something on her. Some dirt she didn't want anyone else to know. So she hired you. What was it?”

  She stared at me a moment, her eyes hot and bright, almost delirious. She hadn't seemed off to me yesterday. I would have accepted her as my second consiliarius on Gina's recommendation alone. If I hadn't been so tired...

  “Please,” she whispered raggedly. “I need this. Desperately. You're my only hope. I'll do anything. Anything at all. But I must be by your side.”

  “Why?”

  “You wouldn't understand.” Her voice cracked with strain. She gripped the arms of her chair, her nails dug in like a cat's claws. “Keisha was only a stepping stone to get here. To be close.”

  I let my breath sigh out softly. “Close to Huitzilopochtli.”

  Her eyes went wide, the whites shining. “You know? And you did nothing to stop him?”

  “Stop who? He's dead.”

  “A god is never dead. You should know that better than anyone.”

  Daire’s purr never changed. :I've got her.:

  Behind the woman, Vivian glared at him. :She’s mine, dickhead. I noticed she was off first.:

  Mehen chuckled in our bonds. :Oh, I like her. She fits right in.:

  “Why would I want to stop Huitzilopochtli? Why is he here, locked in Keisha's basement?”

  Madeline shook her head, a rough, jerky movement as if she'd lost control of her bodily functions. “It's time. It needs to be done.”

  Sweat poured down her face and her eyes glowed painfully bright. She started to rise, her movements stiff and jerky as if controlled by something else. She rose enough to fall on her knees heavily. She crawled closer to me, wringing her hands. Her lips were cracked and peeling, her tongue slipping out to moisten them. Her eyes burned so hotly. Pleading for me to do something.

  Vivian paced behind her and quietly unsheathed one of her swords.

  “You have the power. I need it. Please,” she whimpered. “You have to help me. You have to save me.”

  “How?” I whispered, pity welling in my heart. “What happened to you?”

  Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, blistering her skin in red welts. “He doesn't want you to wake him up. That's why he wants him dead. I'm sorry. I thought you could cleanse me. But it's too late now.”

  Her voice broke and she wailed, her head falling forward. She wretched and heaved, her shoulders straining. Heave after heave, while her body strained and shuddered. Finally, she vomited out... something. I couldn't make out what it was.

  Then it leaped toward me.

  Rik jerked me up so fast I squeaked. Daire swiped at the thing in the air, knocking it onto the carpet. Vivian pinned it to the floor with the tip of her blade. She lifted the squirming thing up into the air, skewered on her blade. “Bingo.”

  It was one of the blue-green beetles that we'd seen devouring Keisha's body. I shuddered and looked back at Madeline. She'd collapsed on the floor, mouth open, her eyes... melting. Like her eyeballs had exploded. Fluids leaked out of her eye sockets.

  "Goddess, above." Gwen whispered. "What the fuck happened to her? She seemed fine last night."

  "Did I miss one?" I asked. "Could one of them have escaped?"

  Rik wasn't taking any chances of another creature crawling out of the dead woman. He kept me locked high in his arms. "No. I didn't see one escape. Could she have been infested with one earlier?"

  Vivian concentrated on the wriggling beetle and it burst into flame with an eerie screech. “This thing was probably planted in her years ago. That’s how Ra works. He plays the long game, willing to wait for hundreds of years for his plot to come to fruition. She probably didn’t even remember when he planted it in her.”

  Grudgingly, Rik set me back in my chair. In the attack, I’d lost track of my cup. It’d tumbled to the floor and spilled on the carpet, so Daire started making me a fresh cup.

  Gina stepped back inside the room and gasped. “Oh, goddess. What happened?”

  Vivian waved the crispy critter at her on her way out the door. “Ra’s scarab. I’m going to flush it to be safe.”

&
nbsp; Gina looked at me, wringing her hands. “I’m so sorry, Shara. I had no idea. I feel terrible that I recommended her.”

  I shook my head and accepted the cup from Daire. “How could you possibly know? She was a smart choice. Who else on Skye’s team do you think could step up and help us?”

  “Going through her reports, I saw that many of them were generated by a single name, Kevin Bloom. I took the liberty of calling him up to join us.”

  Poor Madeline was starting to melt into the carpet. “I think we need to hire a really good clean-up crew that doesn’t mind dealing with strange shit.”

  “I’m sure Skye already had several clean-up crews on staff to cover up for all her… um… less savory dealings.” Gina hesitated and then lowered her voice. “Are you sure about Vivian? What if she’s carrying one of those things inside her too? Can you tell?”

  I shook my head. “I felt the spark in her bond and she warned me there was something of Ra’s in the room. I don’t think I would have sensed anything amiss, at least until Madeline started showing symptoms.”

  Vivian stepped back into the room. “We really ought to burn the body to be safe. I’ve seen scarabs hide for days and then burst out in search of a new host.”

  I shuddered. “Definitely, let’s burn it, then.” I started to press a silver nail to my wrist, but she laid her fingers over mine, stopping me.

  “There’s no need for you to bleed, my queen. Not when you have a phoenix at your disposal.”

  “You didn’t shift after our queen took you,” Daire said. When Vivian narrowed a hard look on him, he held his hands up. “Just curious. A Blood only gains his or her gift once the queen bond takes over. You said you’d never had a queen before.”

  Standing over the crumpled body, Vivian held her hand out, index finger pointed down. I felt her gift stir. Smoak uncurled from her slumber, spreading flames inside her. Holding her breath, she opened a tiny gate inside her and allowed fire to drip from her finger onto the body. It flowed like lava, hot molten rock that gleamed red and gold, sinking immediately into the body and catching flame. “I was born with this power, able to call Smoak at will. She’s my curse and my gift. For most of my life, she’s been my only friend. Though she’s very hard to control.”

  Her voice quivered with effort. In her bond, I felt the phoenix’s eagerness. Flames licked Vivian’s ribcage. Sweat beaded on her brow as she strained to hold the tiny gate open without allowing Smoak to spread uncontrolled fires. Her instinct was to rage and burn. Not carefully dribble fire on a body to dispose of it.

  I focused on my bond inside Vivian and glowed with power. Reminding them both of what I tasted like. What I felt like. The promise of pleasure and power in my blood.

  Smoak subsided without another complaint. Vivian swiped at her forehead and gave me a weary smile. “Thank you, my queen.”

  Someone tapped at the door. Gina stepped over to crack the door and see who it was, then she glanced worriedly over her shoulder at me. “It’s Kevin. Should I have him wait?”

  I shook my head. “It’s best that he sees what we’re dealing with. If he can’t handle it, I’d rather know now than later.”

  Gina opened the door wider and a beautiful young man stepped inside. His black hair was perfectly shiny and styled. His smile was dazzlingly white. His suit impeccable. His eyes were a brilliant blue, just a shade darker than Vivian’s. He started to bow and then caught sight of the flames spreading across his former employer’s dead body.

  He froze, his eyes widening. Slowly, he straightened and looked warily around the room before his gaze fell onto me. He quickly bowed again, even deeper. “Your Majesty.”

  “We had a bit of difficulty,” I said lightly.

  “So I see. We have several professional cleaning crews that we’ve used in the past with utmost discretion. Shall I ring one?”

  “Yes, please, but in a moment.” I gave a gentle tug on Vivian and she stepped away from the body and closer to the young man. I listened to Smoak, waiting to feel any spark or hint that he’d been contaminated too. Vivian shook her head slightly, and I nodded, letting her return to her work. “Is there another room we can talk, Gwen?”

  “Of course.” Standing, she led us down the hallway toward another meeting room. I took my coffee cup, and so did Carys. Vivian, Guillaume, and Xin remained behind. Rik didn’t have to tell me why.

  They still didn’t trust her. Not really.

  :It’s not that I don’t trust her,: Rik said as I sat down once more. :It’s better to be safe than sorry, and I will always err to safety when it comes to you.:

  :You said a Blood couldn’t be compromised.:

  He grimaced slightly. :So I did. But that was before you called a Blood sired by Ra.:

  Gina waited until we were all seated and then started the interview. Because that was actually what we were doing. Trying to fill a spot on my team. “I noticed that your work was showing up quite often in Madeline’s files, so that’s why I called you in. Her Majesty is in search of a second consiliarius, preferably someone who’s familiar with the Skye legacy.”

  “Oh.” He blinked and nodded his head slightly, his eyes dazed. “Oh my. That couldn’t be further from my mind. I thought you were calling me up to take me to task for failing to do a background check on SLI. I swear, that wasn’t my fault. I noted it in the file, but Madeline checked off on their lease. I let it go.”

  Gwen set the coffee service tray on the table and took a seat. “Now we know why.”

  He shuddered. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t want to know. But I can’t say that I’m surprised that she turned out to not be… suitable.”

  That was one way to put it. I studied him, trying to get a sense of his character. He reminded me of a young Winston, probably because of his gorgeous suit. “Have you worked for Skye long?”

  “Only two years, Your Majesty.”

  Gwen shook her head. “Fess up, Kevin. She doesn’t know the houses. She wasn’t born in a nest.”

  He gave himself a little shake. “Of course. I worked as a sort of intern for Byrnes. He’s my grandfather.”

  The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place it.

  “Byrnes is Marne Ceresa’s American consiliarius,” Gina added.

  Oh shit. I didn’t know which was worse. A consiliarius contaminated by Ra, or one who’d worked for the Triune queen.

  Kevin grimaced too. “Yeah, I get that a lot. People are terrified of her, and rightly so. But she runs her massive house like a finely oiled machine, with the help of people like Granddad, of course. I’m grateful he allowed me to work by his side.”

  “For how long?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Pretty much my whole life. My earliest memories of Granddad were sitting beside him while he worked on the books. He taught me as much as he could, given that I wasn’t sworn to House Ceresa.”

  “Why didn’t you stay on as his replacement?”

  Kevin laughed, shaking his head. “Replacement? Surely you’re joking. Granddad won’t be retiring anytime soon, and the queen made it clear that she had no intentions of hiring me on. She already has seven consiliari and has no need for a snot-nosed smart-aleck.” He smiled. “Her words, not mine.”

  I laughed softly. “If you managed to irritate her, then I think you and I will get along famously.”

  “How much involvement were you allowed with the Skye legacy, though?” Gina asked. “I did see your name on many reports, but it wasn’t clear to me how deep your knowledge went. Madeline may not have even allowed you to gain enough experience to make this a worthwhile endeavor.”

  His hands smoothed over his pants, flicking away an invisible piece of lint. “Well, to be honest… I’m a tad bit nosy. There’s not much I don’t know about the Skye legacy itself and I have an eidetic memory. When Madeline realized how much I already knew, she pretty much gave up and allowed me to take on more responsibility.”

  I took a deep breath and met Gina’s gaze. The real q
uestion wasn’t his ability or his knowledge of Skye matters, but whether he’d end up being eyes and ears for Marne Ceresa inside my own court. But I liked him. I liked his intelligence and his personality, at least so far. He wasn’t contaminated by Ra, at least not the same way that Madeline had been. And we needed help. We needed to get through the Skye legacy as quickly as possible so I could head home.

  :What do you think?: I asked Carys. :Will he betray me?:

  She snorted and shook her head. :Not that I can see. He’s on the level of Winston as far as probabilities of doing a great job and being dedicated to you. Though that doesn’t mean he won’t still be eyes and ears for Marne Ceresa too.:

  I focused on Gina’s bond. :Let’s give him a try, but slowly. Don’t give him any Isador details if you can help it.:

  Aloud, I asked, “Would you be willing to assist Gina on a trial basis for a few days? Then if things go well, I’ll add you to my team as second consiliarius.”

  He inclined his head. “It would be an honor, Your Majesty.” Then he leaped up to his feet and whooped so loudly that Daire twitched against me, and Rik’s fingers tightened on my shoulder. “Woo-hoo!”

  Seeing our reaction, he laughed sheepishly, his cheeks turning beet red. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just exciting. Granddad would be so proud of me that I’m making my own way and working into my own house. If it works out of course, Your Majesty. Regardless, I’m honored to assist you in any way that I can.”

  Gina lifted her large satchel onto the table in front of her. “Well, then, now that that’s settled, let’s go over the Isador sibling contract, shall we?”

  Inwardly, I groaned. Daire took my cup and poured me more coffee. I was going to need it.

  19

  Shara

  We worked well into the wee hours of the morning, pausing only to eat sumptuous meals brought in by my team.