SWNOVELS Queens and Monsters: Chapter 21
In the blink of an eye we stood in the middle of my bedroom. “Are you enjoying your chambers?” Antyne asked.
“Very much. This view is gorgeous.” I set my bag aside. “I feel incredibly grateful to have someplace so beautiful to stay.”
“To live, Rhysa. This is your home. These were your father’s chambers. I had them redecorated for you.”
These rooms sat untouched for twenty years? How incredibly sad. It actually tugged at my heart a little to realize how much Antyne grieved the loss of his son. I didn’t trust him and didn’t agree with his agenda, but I understood loss and loneliness.
“Lunch?”
He moved to the door. “Right this way.” He proceeded to give me the tour I missed last night. I made sure to memorize location markers in case I got lost later. It was another old habit I picked up after moving around so much. Most of the homes I lived in were easy enough to learn, but the schools and neighborhoods all varied a great deal.
At the end of my hallway stood a statue of a horse. That was an easy landmark to remember. Down the curved hall to the right was the library. I peeked in to find that it was as stuffy and unwelcoming as I remembered, but it provided many surfaces for which sex would be easy enough. A vision popped into my head of the men surrounding the woman last night, her breasts bared, their hands pawing hungrily at her body. In another corner two women had been drinking from each other as they ripped their clothes off.
“This study is excellent for reading by the fire on cool nights,” Antyne said, pausing at the next door. This room was closed last night, so it was the first time I was able to see inside to the large fireplace and couch. Two armchairs also filled the room. It was cozy.
Eventually we made our way to the formal dining room. Everyone was already there and waiting. Antyne indicated I should take the empty seat beside Helena.
Great.
She watched my every move but no expression crossed her face at all. I was starting to wonder if samhain had plastic surgery, and if so, maybe Helena couldn’t make any expressions.
This meal was for close family only, so everyone at the table was an aunt, uncle, or cousin, and their partners.
“I will begin the Call,” Antyne said, holding out his hands and unleashing a deep note from his throat. Everyone turned to the person beside them and offered their wrist.
For me, that was the stranger on my left, not Helena on my right, who glared at me when I tried to turn her way. At least now I knew she could, in fact, move her facial muscles.
On my other side stood a man who appeared to be about twenty-five, so probably in his sixties or early seventies. He seemed nice enough, but it was weird to offer my wrist up to someone whose name I didn’t even know.
“I’m Rhysa.”
He smiled politely. “I’m Jordyn, your second cousin.” Then he took my wrist and waited for me to do the same before he licked and ever so lightly sank his teeth into my skin.
His blood didn’t taste sweet like Dray’s. All of the Wren’s I drank from had a similarly sweet taste to their blood. Jordyn’s however, tasted like ash. It even had a gritty texture instead of the smooth silky blood I was used to. I didn’t want to gag or jerk away, so I drank and simply pretended to enjoy it.
We drank three or four draughts and then the call ended. We took our seats. I resisted the urge to grab my water glass and rinse my mouth out. No one else showed any signs of disliking what just happened. As the meal began I followed along, trying my best to not make a mistake.
But it wasn’t just that the blood tasted terrible, it seemed to upset my stomach as well. I could barely take a bite or two from each dish served.
“Don’t you like our food?” Helena looked down her nose at me.
“It’s delicious,” I lied. “I’m just not used to eating so many elaborate meals.”
She went back to ignoring me. On the other side of the table Rhymus watched every move I made. His anger was gone or repressed. Instead he seemed…calculating.
“So cousin,” he began as he cut into his fish, “how are you enjoying House of Axl after visiting House of Wren? Are we up to your standards?”
Yep. Definitely calculating. Looking for vulnerabilities and opportunities to throw me under the bus and make it clear I was not the ideal heir. All the eyes at the table swung to me. I needed to play this cool. If I stumbled he’d use it against me, if I lied, he’d call me out.
“How good of you to notice. I had no idea you were paying attention. Yes, before my Awakening I became friends with Georgiahana Wren. We actually go to school together. So I thought it was incredibly kind of her to invite me over to her family home for a weekend away.”
“With the Wrens,” he repeated.
“With the Wrens.” I picked up my fork and made a show of enjoying the meal I didn’t want to eat. “Oddly enough, all I did was sleep and rest. Not once did they try to turn me into a double agent or poison me or hurt me. I am well aware they are not my family. I know where my loyalty lies.”
Eyes swung back to him. “Good to hear that.” He picked up his wine and sipped. “It could be confusing for someone so young.”
“I’m not dead yet,” Antyne drawled. “She’ll be more than ready to lead when the time comes.”
“You don’t even know if Revenge will call to her,” Rhymus sneered. “Right now you’re operating on nostalgia and wishful thinking.”
Antyne had Rhymus against the wall in a flash, his hand wrapped around his throat, fangs bared. “Your jealousy is showing. You forget yourself.”
“My loyalty is to the House first. It’s not jealousy. It’s concern.”
Antyne towered over him for several more seconds, then released the man. Knowing I was being watched, I raised my chin an inch and tried to appear above it all, as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
“Rhysa, we should get back to work.” He waved for me to join him. “Enjoy the rest of your meal,” he said to everyone else.
I followed him down another hallway, a set of stairs, to a door with a keypad. Antyne punched in a long code. A moment later a lock clicked. The room housed the dark armor similar to Dray’s. A large sword was housed in a clear case with another keypad. He punched in a different code and withdrew the sword.
“Revenge, our ancient family weapon.”
Like Dreadnought, the blade was made of the dark metal forged in the fires of hell, and contained a dragon’s egg. “It’s impressive.” The whispers returned.
“Not everyone can wield it,” he moved with the sword, “simply being a member of the House of Axl isn’t enough. One must also be right with the Plane.”
So Rhymus got to him. I was here to prove I was the heir. Maybe it wouldn’t call to me and Antyne would lose interest, let me leave and live a life elsewhere.
But I wasn’t lucky enough for that to happen. As soon as he set the blade down on the counter in the middle of the room, the whispers intensified.
Yes, yes, yes.
Now.
She is yours.
I knew before I stepped closer what they meant. That I’d feel the hum, that it would make my hands tingle. I moved my palm over the dragon’s egg and electricity sizzled in my palm. Instead of a soft hum like a felt with Dreadnought, this time the hum grew into a vibration that synced with my own natural vibration. When my hand closed around the hilt, the electrical charges in my hand turned to power.
I held up the blade. “Like this?”
His eyes grew wide with relief. “Exactly like that,” he whispered. “You are the true heir. There is no doubt.”
I fell into bed exhausted. Truly exhausted. Down to my bones tired. I began to drift off when I realized I hadn’t had time to text Gigi once. She was probably freaking out, so even though I wanted to fall asleep in my clothes, I forced myself to my purse and pulled out my phone.
She answered on the first ring. “Finally! What happened to I’ll text you constantly, huh?”
“I love you, too.” It was nice to see her face.
“You’re okay?” her voice softened.
I snuggled back into the soft blankets that covered my bed. “I’m okay. Exhausted as hell, but okay.”
“Busy day?”
“So busy I haven’t even gotten to the homework I’ve been assigned.”
“Ew.” She wrinkled her nose. “Homework on your summer break? Torture.”
I shrugged. “I have a lot of learning to do.”
“And what did you learn today. If you can tell me that is. I don’t need anything that will get me killed.”
I managed to get out a chuckle at her over exaggeration. “Well, I learned how to shift to get from one place to another. I saw my first Dregs. I know all about wine now. And… oh, I actually need to ask you something.” Lunch seemed like ages ago.
“What?”
I licked my lips remembering the awful taste of blood. “Before lunch they performed something called the Call. Everyone drank from the person beside them.”
“Okay…”
“It was awful, Gigi. It tasted like ash and then acid. I wanted to spit it out.”
Her eyes widened. “Ash?”
“I take it that it’s not normal?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, I’ve never drank from a full blooded Axl. Just you, who is half, and Lou is like one-eighth or something. I’ve never heard of this.”
Well that wasn’t reassuring. “Do you think maybe there’s something in those big books of yours? Something from history?”
“Oh, I’ll be researching like mad. And I’ll reach out to some contacts. Be careful, Rhysa. Something’s not right.”
I nodded because every time I spoke I seemed to yawn.
“Ash. Ash? What in the world?”
My eyes began to flutter closed. “I’ll keep pretending all is well. I don’t want anyone to know something is wrong.”
I peeked out to find her chewing on a nail. “How bad is it?”
“Oh…just a few targets on my back. Totally normal day.” I was too tired to explain the challenge from my cousin or the rush to prove I was worthy. I could catch her up tomorrow during my morning of studying.
“You need sleep. Call me when you can.”
I yawned again. “I will. Good night, Gigi.”
“Sweet dreams, Rhysa.”
As soon as the call ended I dialed Dray. My eyes closed again while it rang.
“Wake up sleepy.”
The sound of his voice calmed the muscles I didn’t know were still tensed. “Hey.”
“Long day?”
“The longest. I don’t think I can visit with you tonight.” I was so tired that sex—even metaphysical Plane sex—was too much.
“That’s all right. You need rest. That’s important.” His eyes wandered over me. “You’re still dressed.”
“I’m too tired to change.” I was almost too tired to hold this phone.
“What if I come to you? Will you change if I stay with you?”
“I don’t know.” I really just wanted to close my eyes.
“End the call, Rhysa.” He disappeared before I had a chance to hit the red circle.
Hello. Time to get up.
Dray was in my head again, but this time it was also like he was here, his arms on mine, pulling me to my feet. I somehow managed to stumble into the bathroom and wash the little bit of makeup off my face and brush my teeth.
The whole time I felt warm and cozy, like I was in a constant enormous Dray hug. I wasn’t sure if that was what was really happening, but it made me happy to think, so I went with it.
Off with your clothes.
I unbuttoned the pretty blouse and tossed it aside, then pushed out of the slacks, and last the bra and panties, before collapsing back into bed.
Pull the blankets up. Don’t want you getting cold.
I reached for soft cotton and pulled it up around me at the same time it felt a lot like Dray was wrapping his big body around mine. I liked thinking my head was on his arm, not my pillow. That my back was to his front.
I felt warm kisses on my neck and shoulder. Sleep, Rhysa. Sweet dreams.
I drifted into the dark wondering when I’d get to actually sleep in his arms.