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

One moment, barely the blink of an eye, was all I got from Malcolm before I couldn’t find him again. It felt as though my heart had been ripped from my chest. Gods, this gaping part of me that I had no idea existed until now will eat me alive if I can’t get him back.

My panther roars inside me. We will get our mate back. We have to.

Thankfully, I was connected to Kelly and Ayla when I felt the blip from Malcolm, and we’d been able to pinpoint a city in Spain. Now that we’re here, it’s a bit easier to trace the magic of the weapon. There’s a lot of old magic here, which isn’t surprising, but it’s of a different nature than the magic of the weapon.

“There are a shit ton of demons around here,” Ayla murmurs as she sidles up next to me. We’ve been following the impression of the magic in a similar fashion as to what we did in Iceland—which basically means we’re aimlessly wandering the streets in a random city in Spain.

Like when we rescued Ayla, we brought quite a bit of backup. No one wanted to sit this one out. Malcolm has wormed his way into the community’s heart, and it was actually a struggle to keep people from coming. My heart lurches before plummeting again. I’m not about to assume the worst, but I won’t feel right until I’m back with my annoying witch.

We come to a villa that’s a few miles from the sea. This is where the pulse is the strongest. I find it interesting that when Ayla had been captured, she’d been taken to a house in the middle of nowhere in Mexico, and now they’re in the middle of a damn city. Humans could end up in the crossfire. We’ll have to be very careful.

“I can set up a barrier around the villa,” Kelly muses as she studies the building. “It should prevent humans from crossing, but it won’t help those already inside.”

“That’s a risk we’re going to have to take,” Caleb rumbles. “We need to get in there. We can try to get as many humans out as possible, but our main concern is retrieving Malcolm and the weapon with as little damage to the city as possible.”

“Understood.” Kelly takes a few of the witches we brought with us and starts to erect a barrier, while the rest of us continue to study the villa.

“What’s the best way in?” I look over at the others. Dante stayed behind with Darcy, so Xin and a few other vampires came in their place. Connor and Caleb stand behind Ayla and me like gargoyles.

We all move into the courtyard of the villa, the barrier sealing us in. I still can’t sense Malcolm, but I’m a little less worried than I was moments before. Caleb shifts and releases a roar that shakes the ground and rattles the windows. It’s a battle cry. A call to arms.

Demons start to pour out of the building, all lower-level, and none of them worth my time. Ayla, Kelly, and I make our way calmly past all of the lower-level demons with Connor right behind us. We step into the entryway of the villa and stop. The mage is here, standing mere feet away from me. There’s no sign of Malcolm, and more surprisingly, Malick is missing.

“I’ll admit, I thought it would take you much longer to get here. You surprise me.”

I hate that we can’t identify the mage. Keeping his identity secret like this makes me think we know who this is. Which is worrying.

“Maybe you shouldn’t underestimate queens,” Ayla retorts. Go look for Malcolm.

I give a subtle nod and start to slink away to search for my mate.

More lower-level demons start to move in on them as I slide into the shadows at the edge of the room. It’s torture to have to choose between my family and my mate, but we’re here to rescue Malcolm, and they’ll provide a great distraction until I can find him.

I follow the mage’s scent through the hall, quickly realizing that I won’t be able to follow my bond to Malcolm, even in here. The scent has a distinct magical smell to it. It’s possible the mage is trying to confuse any shifters who try to catalog the scent. They’ve still got something that blocks it. I can worry about that once I find him.

Before long, I’m standing in front of a plain wooden door. My heart rate picks up and my breath hitches. He’s here. I can just feel it. Right behind this door.

As my hand goes to curl around the knob, I hear the sounds of fighting on the other side. Both my panther and I bristle, ready to lay a smackdown on anyone who would put a finger on our mate. I slam the door open and pause at what I see.

Malcolm has a lower-level demon in a headlock, and he’s pummeling him with his fist. I try to fight the smirk that wants to curl my lips, but I can’t stop the laughter that bubbles up. Malcolm’s gaze flies up to meet mine.

“I am here to save the day, fair damsel.” I lean against the doorjamb with a brow arched. “Whenever you’re ready, lovely maiden.”

He pauses his thrashing of the demon to flip me off before he snaps its neck. Crude…but efficient.

“I like your style, my dear.” I keep the teasing lilt to my voice to hide the swell of emotion that’s rising in my chest at the sight of him. My muscles tremble as I fight the urge to tackle him to the ground. Now isn’t the time.

“Kitten, get your perky little ass over here before I have to make it red.” Malcolm sighs dramatically and holds out his arms.

I give into the urge and launch myself at him. My arms encircle his neck as my legs wrap around his waist. I bury my nose in the crook of his neck and take deep inhales of his scent. He holds me tightly and squeezes almost to the point of pain.

Malcolm coils my braid around his hand and pulls my head back. We scan each other’s face. I don’t even realize I’m crying until he wipes a tear away, and my hand automatically lifts to do the same for him. He’s crying…about me.

“I love you.” I press my lips against his with an urgency that surprises me. The bond bursts to life between us, and I bite back a sob as I continue to kiss my mate.

He pulls me back, resting his forehead against mine. “As much as I’d love to sink my cock into that tight little pussy of yours, we have a demon army to kill. But when this is over, kitten, I’m going to fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk.”

“Promise?” I press a light kiss to his lips when he chuckles and releases me.

I take one more moment to just look at him. Healthy. Whole. Mine.

When we make it back to the entryway, it’s pure chaos. I can’t find Kelly anywhere, Ayla is fighting with her war club, and Connor is in his dire wolf form. Malcolm and I exchange a heated glance before I manifest my lightsaber in my hand, and going for gold, I materialize another one in my other hand. Yeah, baby.

“Okay,” Malcolm growls against my ear, “we don’t have time now, but the fact that you just created two lightsabers has me so fucking hard it hurts. You’re going to choke on my fucking cock as soon as I’m done here. I don’t give a fuck if the others watch.”

I blush but nod. With a flick of my wrist, I start beheading demons left and right. I can’t see the mage anymore, but right now, the focus needs to be on the demons.

A yelp has me spinning to find Connor currently pinned under ten demons, and it looks as though his hind leg is broken. Malcolm and Ayla are fighting to get to him, but more demons just keep pouring into the room. I start slashing my way in that direction, hoping one of us can get to him before it’s too late.

A screech has us all—including the demons—whipping our heads up. Another dragon? This one looks different. Instead of four legs, it only has two, and it doesn’t shoot fire, it shoots frost. It seems as though it’s sucking in a black mass all around it.

“Kelly is a wyvern!” Ayla shouts, glee lacing her tone as she points to the not-dragon above us. “And she’s using her sin eating powers!” The maniacal laughter that follows has me quickly wondering who the bad guys are here. That was a seriously evil laugh.

Kelly lands in front of Connor with a thud, her massive jaws making quick work of the demons attacking him. She then takes up a protective stance above him, lashing out with frost. She doesn’t appear to be draining anymore sins.

We finally make it over to them, and Ayla places her hands on Kelly’s chest. “You need to change back. If you can drain the demons, we can get out of here faster and get Connor help.”

The wyvern snaps at her, snarling low in her throat. Connor returns to his human form, using Malcolm to keep himself upright as he starts to gently run his hands along Kelly’s scales.

“It’s alright, my little nightmare. I’m safe.” Little nightmare? She has been keeping things from us. “Turn back for me.”

With a huff, the wyvern leans down and licks Connor before turning into a very naked Kelly. The two stare at each other with such heat, I almost feel the need to look away. It seems as though Connor certainly doesn’t have an issue with people looking—Connor is very happy to see Kelly—so I firmly glue my eyes onto Malcolm’s forehead.

Connor does something completely unexpected. Letting go of Malcolm, he steps into Kelly, fangs bared, and buries them in her neck.

Holy.

Shit. 

Kelly’s eyes flutter shut for a moment before snapping open, the eyes of the wyvern peering out as she latches onto Connor’s neck.

Well…okay then.

They just mate marked each other. Right here. In front of all of us.

Dios mio.

Ayla coughs “I hate to break up the newly mated couple, but Kelly needs to eat some sins so we can get out of here. Connor, you okay letting her go, big guy?”

A low snarl vibrates from his chest, but he pulls back, keeping Kelly tucked as tightly against him as he can.

“You good, brother?” Malcolm looks him over, more tense than he was when I found him in the office.

“Just get this over with.” Connor’s voice is tight and laced with his wolf’s dominance.

Kelly remains silent and wraps her arms around Connor, resting her head against his chest. She starts to glow. It’s soft at first, barely noticeable, but soon she’s shining as brightly as the sun. Dark wisps of smoke streak through the air, aiming for Kelly and absorbing into her.

It happens faster than I thought it would, only taking minutes to complete, but soon there are no demons left in the entryway.

“Caleb says the courtyard is clear. Let’s get out of here.” Ayla turns and heads out.

“What about the mage?” My anger at the mysterious magic user surges back to life.

“He isn’t here anymore. We can track him from home. Liv, we need to get our people back so they can heal.”

I growl but nod. Ayla is right. Connor needs to have his leg set before it heals in the wrong position, not to mention anyone else who was hurt while we were fighting.

I try to curb my frustration. Malcolm places his arm around my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. That helps center me a bit. At least he’s here and he’s safe.

“I have a lot to tell everyone once we’re all able to sit down together,” he says when we’re standing in front of a portal to head home. “You aren’t going to believe what I learned.”