Vengeance of a Queen: The Resurrection of Queens, Book 2

I’m still not sure if I want to find a hole to die in. I knew having sex with Malcolm in the kitchen could mean someone would see us. I hadn’t cared—at least, not until someone had seen us.

And both of them have caught Caleb and Ayla? Did Ayla know about that? I doubt it, or she would have told me.

Looks like I have one more thing to add to my list of topics to discuss with her. My lips twitch. She’s going to kill all three of them.

“What else do you need to do today?” Malcolm’s voice is low as he peppers a few kisses along my shoulder. We’re not in the kitchen anymore. He followed me back to my office once we’d tracked down our clothes.

“Just a few more odds and ends. I really need to talk to Ayla. We’ve got a few community issues we need to discuss. You, Connor, and Caleb should be there too. We’ll have a few Council related questions.” I try not to lean back against him. We don’t have time for another round. At least, not until tonight.

“I can make sure they’re there.” He nips my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

“Malcolm,” I chide, a smile twitching on my lips. “I do need to actually finish a few things today.”

“Mmm.” He nuzzles against me before sighing loudly and pulling away. “I suppose if you’re going to be responsible, I should be too.”

I laugh at that. “It’s not like we’re in a life-or-death struggle against some boss bad guy or anything.” I roll my eyes at him.

“Nah.” He grins at me as he heads out the door.

I’ve never felt happiness like this before, never felt like I truly belonged with someone. Malcolm is everything I never knew I needed and more. Life certainly isn’t going to be dull with him. I wonder if this is how Caleb feels about Ayla. The thought makes me chuckle.

Beta to Supreme Ruler. Come in, Supreme Ruler. Over, I project to Ayla with a laugh.

Supreme Ruler to Beta, I read you. Over. She’s playing along like I knew she would. Bless.

I request a meeting.

Request granted. I’ll be there in a minute.

All hail the Supreme Ruler. Over.

Ayla pokes her head into my office a minute later, her eyes dancing with laughter. She plops herself in one of the chairs opposite me. “What can I do for you as your supreme ruler?”

She’s going to milk this until it’s so dead it’s dust.

“I’ve got a few things I want to cover with you before we discuss them with the rest of the gang.” I pull out my notebook, and Ayla groans.

“She even brings out the notebook. This is going to be great.” I can feel her excitement through the bond despite her words. We’ve been so focused on this whole demon and Hell thing that we haven’t been able to focus on settling the community we’re trying to build.

“Xin and a young witch named Ripley suggested a supernatural blood bank for the vamps. It’ll give them an extra boost for battle. They are working out some of the logistics, but we’re going to need to make the announcement and ask for volunteers.

“We also need to discuss general community protections now that our numbers have grown. We should get more people on the security team and start working out a better rotation. We should take more of the Council settling here into consideration now that it’s going to be disbanding.

“On that note, do we know when we want to dissolve the Council? And how many more are coming to settle here? We may need to expand the town, upgrade some of our facilities, and expand the infirmary, things like that.

“We need to do a supply inventory and have members who regularly go into the city bring necessary items back. But we shouldn’t do that until after we determine how many new residents we’re going to have or anticipate having.”

Ayla nods, holding a notebook and pen in her hands as she scribbles notes of her own. “Anything else?”

“A few non-community specifics.” I sigh and lean back in my seat. “We need to figure out how the demons knew we were in Ireland, touch base with Fayden about how her set up is going and the journal entries, and we need to have a girl chat with Kelly about being a sin eater. I haven’t seen her since we got back.”

Ayla winces. “Neither have I. I feel horrible about it, but I think she’s avoiding us.”

“It’s a lot to process. We’ve all realized that our parents have lied to us about this whole shitshow. Not to mention we’re gaining new powers, and it’s the first time many of us have actually fought. I don’t blame her for wanting time to herself.”

“Neither do I,” Ayla murmurs, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about her.”

“Well, let’s go check on her now,” I suggest. I stand, and Ayla does the same. “I feel her at home.”

“Let’s do this.”

We’re standing in front of Kelly’s door. She doesn’t live in the packhouse. Her house is about a block away and tucked back enough that she’s got plenty of privacy. I can’t hear anyone moving around inside, which has me mildly concerned.

Ayla and I exchange a glance before she knocks. Nothing.

“Kelly, open the damn door!” Ayla knocks again. “We know you’re in there. Don’t make me break this damn door down.”

“She’ll do it!” I yell. “You know she will!”

A string of curses rings out, followed by hurried footsteps. Kelly rips the door open, wearing a scowl on her face.

Dios Mío, she looks rough. Oh, my poor sister.

Her hair is disheveled, her eyes look like someone punched her, her skin is pale and lacking her normal glow, and she’s lost weight. Fuck.

We’re shitty friends. I feel horrible that I’ve let her get this bad. We should have been here before now.

She’s blocked the bond, and there was a lot to deal with. Don’t be too hard on yourself, my panther soothes, but I can feel Ayla’s guilt too, which adds to my own.

“Hey, love.” Ayla moves to wrap her arms around Kelly. I step behind her and hug both of them. “We’re here now.”

A deep shuddering breath leaves Kelly. Her arms encircle us and her body starts to shake.

“Shh,” I murmur. “You’re not going through this alone. We promise.”

Suddenly, I feel Darcy behind me, joining in on our group hug. “No,” she agrees, “we’re all here for you.”

Things already feel better.

We slowly untangle ourselves and move into Kelly’s living room. I tuck her into her papasan chair and go to get her some tea. I’m learning that we can’t keep trying to spare each other from our shit. We’re best friends, sisters, and we need to be able to rely on one another to get us through this.

My mate bond with Malcolm is vastly different than what I have with these women. My sisters are the foundation of my strength. Malcolm helps to strengthen me, but these three, right here, are my base, my rock, and I can’t forget that.

I hand Kelly her tea and take a seat on the couch with Ayla and Darcy. It’s silent for a moment, all of us lost in our own thoughts.

“I should have said I needed help sooner,” Kelly whispers, her eyes locked on her tea. “I hadn’t realized how hard this was hitting me until I heard you knocking on my door.”

Shame floods our bond.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I state. “This entire thing has been so hard for all of us, and we’ve all gotten lost in our own heads. It isn’t just you, but it’s so important to know you aren’t going through this alone.”

Kelly looks up and locks gazes with each of us, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“Now, tell us what happened with your mother.” I get up and move to sit on the floor by her legs, wrapping my arm around her calf and leaning my head against her knee. Shifters touch to soothe. While Kelly is a witch, touch is still a very human element that comforts someone.

Kelly takes a long pull of her tea before she starts. “My mother said her line descends from one of the original sin eater lines. When they were being hunted, she said they started suppressing that trait. My grandmother was the first descendent born without the power, and they all thought it had finally been stripped from us by the gods. My mother doesn’t have the power either.

“They thought it skipped me too… until I was one. I accidentally pulled a sin from a human.” Oh gods. That could easily kill a human. “My mother felt the boost in my power, saw what happened to the human, and put two and two together.”

“Shit,” Darcy mutters. “I’m surprised the human was still alive. You were so young with no control.”

“That’s what my mom said. I guess I only pulled a small amount of envy from him. She panicked. She rushed me home to Dad and they bound that part of me. They decided they wouldn’t mention it at all until I confronted them the other day.” She sighs and tries to run her hand through her hair. Encountering several knots, she scowls. “I should probably shower.”

I move away from her legs to let her stand.

“I know I have more to talk about, but…I feel gross.”

“Go shower,” Ayla says. “We’ll be here.”

Kelly spends about half an hour in the shower. I can’t blame her. I’d be in there scrubbing myself until I was red.

She comes padding out of the bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel, dressed in leggings and a baggy shirt. Thank the gods she looks much better than she did when she answered the door. She still has black bags under her eyes, but they have a little more life in them than they did before, and her skin is flush from the heat of the shower.

My shoulders relax as she comes back to the papasan. I hadn’t realized how tense I’d been, but seeing her marginally more like herself is a huge relief.

“My parents hadn’t realized that my being a sin eater was connected to what’s going on,” she starts. “I told her about how I’d eventually come into my queen powers, but it didn’t dawn on her to mention my other abilities. I guess because they’d been bound for so long without incident, she honestly didn’t think to mention them.” She seems as though she doesn’t quite believe her mother. She sounds angry and betrayed.

Emotions Ayla and I have felt recently too. It kills me that our friend has to feel like this as well.

“They can’t remove the binding.” Kelly takes her hair out of the towel and starts to run her fingers through her honey gold locks. “They aren’t strong enough now. I guess I’ll have to see if the binding will break when I come into my new powers.”

“We can try to break the binding if you want,” Ayla offers.

Kelly shakes her head. “Not yet. I want to wait. I’m…I’m not sure what will happen.” Her eyes find mine. “I hope I come into my powers on the battlefield against the demons the same way Olivia did. That way if I hurt anyone, it’ll most likely be an enemy instead of a friend.”

“Fair enough.” I can see the logic in that. “We’ll wait.”

“Would you like me to tell you what I know of the sin eaters?” Darcy inquires. Our gazes turn to her in curiosity. I keep forgetting she’s an original. The first witch and the first vampire. She’s seen it all.

“Please.” Kelly smiles at her. It’s the first real smile we’ve seen from her. I relax a bit more at the sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ayla relax visibly as well.

Darcy sits forward, her elbows on her knees. “Sin eaters were a special breed of witches, not born of my bloodline. They came from Jesus’ bloodline.”

Wait a minute. I hold up my hands. “The Jesus?”

Darcy’s lips twitch. “Yes, the Jesus. He was a guardian. One of the first witches.”

“I’m sorry…” My brain must be offline. “Did you just say Jesus was a witch?”

Darcy’s laugh echoes through the living room. “He was a guardian, just as I was. We all have our roles to play. He was devoted to the god who created him. His sacrifice was important.” She pauses, a frown marring her features. She shakes her head. “Anyway, he was the first sin eater. They were meant to aid in the fight against demons. Demons were born from mortal souls that had been led astray and could not be reborn because of this. A sin eater can rip the sin from that soul and effectively…reset, for lack of a better word, that soul. They will start their reincarnation chain all over again.

“If the sin eater pulls too much, they can destroy the soul altogether. That was part of why they were hunted not just by demons, but supernaturals as well. Sin eaters learned that they could eat the sins of mortals and supernaturals. Those who had been tainted by demons carry the same stain.”

“I’ve seen that taint,” Ayla interjects. “They appear…fuzzy? Almost like I can’t quite focus on them, or like they are ink on a page that has been smudged. That’s how I knew which trail to follow when I first got involved with Kelly and Olivia. Well, I figured it out along the way anyway.”

Darcy nods. “It makes sense that a queen would be able to see the stain or sense it. It’s possible for a supernatural to work for a demon without tainting themselves. So long as they aren’t doing the killing or dark magic themselves, they won’t show the taint that those who have dabbled do.”

“So you’re telling me that I can rip the sins out of demons? Kill them? Just like that?” Kelly sounds astonished.

“It’s not quite that simple,” Darcy cautions, “but without you being able to feel your powers, yes. That’s the basics of sin eating. I’m not entirely sure how you do that. All I know is that you’ll be able to sense or feel the sin and then take it into yourself. You’re then able to convert that energy into something you can use. The soul should then be released back into the universe to begin anew.”

“Mierda,” I whisper. Kelly is badass.

“You’ll need to be careful not to take too much,” Darcy warns. “Too much power can kill you.”

That sobers us all.

I’m not sure any of us are certain what our limits are, but the thought of an overload is scary. Do we just…explode? What happens? I shake myself out of those thoughts. I don’t think I want to know.