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

I groan loudly when the sun’s rays stab into my closed eyes the next morning. The pain isn’t as bad as it was yesterday, more a dull throbbing than the searing heat I had to deal with before. I groan as my eyes flutter open. I’d much rather drag the covers over my head and rest for an eternity than get out of bed, but I know that isn’t an option right now. I need to talk to the others about what happened and what the plan is.

A dip in the mattress has my head turning as my eyes attempt to focus. Ayla is sitting on the side of the bed. She’s in yoga pants and a tank top, so she probably just woke up herself—if she slept at all. I know her too well to assume that she got the rest she needed while I was out of commission, even though we talked yesterday and I assured her I was going to be just fine.

“I’m sorry I left you to fend for yourself out there. I shouldn’t have stayed in the air so long,” she murmurs, shame lacing her tone.

“Hey,” I retort sharply, “don’t do that to yourself. You were able to take out more demons from above. It’s not your fault I haven’t learned how to fly yet.”

Ayla’s eyes are tortured as they bore into mine. “That’s not a good enough excuse, Olivia, and you know it.” She pinches the bridge of her nose before continuing, “I should have had your back.”

“You did have my back, woman. That’s what I’m trying to say.” Annoyance has me sitting up and grabbing her hand. “We had no idea when the others were going to get to us. Destroying as many of them as possible was the right call.”

She shakes her head, her eyes hard as they take me in. “No. The right call would have been to have us go back into the cottage.”

“And get roasted alive?” I scoff. “Right. We had no idea if they would be able to get in or if they would just set fire to the whole damn thing with us inside. I’d rather go out fighting than trapped in a burning building, and so would you.”

I understand her worry. I do. But to have all this guilt is ridiculous, and if she was able to think clearly, she would know that. We knew Malick would find another mage, and we should have assumed he already had one on reserve. There would always be someone willing to do unspeakable things for power. We should have taken extra precautions. We’d been lulled into a false sense of security these past few weeks. It was just as much my fault as anyone else’s.

As Ayla’s beta, it was my duty to take care of security, so technically, I’m the one who failed her. I didn’t consider all the possibilities. I was too caught up in the changes I’ve been going through to stop and think more critically about our safety.

Sure, we have the Council with us, but that doesn’t give me permission to slack off on my duties to Ayla and the community.

I rub a hand down my face, sighing loudly. “Look. I should have anticipated an attack and planned accordingly. I didn’t. I’m the one who got people killed, Ayla. It’s my job to take care of these things, so cut the crap.” My rebuke is harsh, and she blinks in surprise at my tone.

“Liv—”

“No,” I cut her off. “You know I’m right. You think you need to be in charge of everything, but we both know that’s not true. I’m your beta, security is part of my job. We got caught with our damn pants around our ankles. But it’s not your fault I was injured.”

She huffs out a breath. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”

“Yes,” I state proudly. “I do.”

With a laugh, Ayla throws her arms around my shoulders and hugs me tightly. I bask in the comfort her hug provides, sliding my arms around her just as snugly.

“Did they attack at home too?” I didn’t feel anything through the pack bond to suggest any of the shifters at home were fighting or injured, but I still need to be sure.

“No, thank the goddess,” she replies with relief. Thank the goddess indeed.

Caleb’s amused tone floats to us from the door. “I hate to break up the love fest, but Malcolm needs to look over Olivia to make sure everything is healing as it should.”

He saunters into the room, Malcolm slinking in behind him. We pull apart, my gaze narrowing on Malcolm. He’s got his hands in his pockets, and he’s watching me in a manner that unnerves the crap out of me. Ayla takes my hand as she turns toward them, and that touch keeps me grounded.

“I’m fine. I swear.” I look at them pointedly. “You’re all overbearing mother hens.”

“We care about you.” Ayla gives me a sharp look in return before raising a brow in Malcolm’s direction. I fight not to roll my eyes in response.

“Come on, love.” Caleb takes Ayla’s hand, giving me a quick once over himself to make sure I really am okay. “You scared us, Liv.”

“Sorry about that.” I tuck my hair behind my ear, feeling awkward at Caleb’s show of emotion. “I’m assuming once I get a clean bill of health, we’ll meet to go over what happened…with food?” I send them my best puppy dog eyes.

Caleb chuckles before responding, “Yes. We’ll meet in the war room and go over everything. I’ll make sure there is plenty of food. I know how much a healing shifter eats.”

“Bless you.”

He chuckles again before dragging Ayla out of the room.

My gaze goes back to Malcolm, who’s standing a few feet from my bed, his hands still in his pockets. I slide off the mattress, and his eyes track every move I make.

“I feel a lot better than I did yesterday.” I hold my arms out at my sides and spin slowly. I’m in a pair of shorts, and my chest is covered by the bandage that’s over my wound. “I haven’t even bled through my bandages.”

“I can see that.” His eyes are heated when my gaze meets his again. He steps up to me, closer than he needs to for an inspection of my injuries. His hands, glowing softly with his magic, roam over my body, not quite touching, but I’m hyperaware of them nonetheless.

“Malcolm.” My voice is breathy. I’m not even sure what I want to say.

He steps into me, resting his hands on my hips. He mumbles something I can’t quite make out before resting his forehead against mine. We stay like that for a heartbeat, two, three. Something shifts between us, solidifies.

“You’re almost fully healed, which is a small miracle.” His eyes close and he swallows. “Liv…” His voice is hoarse. “When we got to you—Christ. You shouldn’t have survived the blood loss alone.”

His words sink into me and ice rushes through my veins. I’d known I was losing a lot of blood, but I hadn’t realized just how much. Goddess. I search his face. His eyes are still closed, as though the thought of me bleeding out is just too much to face right now, and that’s when I realize what’s changed between us. We may continue to dance around each other, but he almost lost me. He doesn’t want to lose me.

I cradle his cheeks in my hands, and his eyes snap open. “Malcolm, I wasn’t about to give up out there. We’ve got too much between us right now for me to just casually die.”

Malcolm’s rough laugh, startled out of him, brings a smile to my face. “Casually die, she says.” He shakes his head in exasperation, gently enough that my hands don’t leave his cheeks. “There was nothing casual about yesterday.”

He takes one of my hands and presses a kiss to my palm. I feel that kiss all the way to my toes.

“You can take the bandages off your chest and side. You’re healed enough, so you don’t need them. Get dressed. I’ll meet you in the war room.”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. I’d forgotten Caleb had mentioned a war room. “You guys really have a war room? I thought he was kidding.”

“It’s legit, kitten.” My panther bristles at the endearment. “It’s the first door on the right after the kitchen.” With that, he leaves me to get ready.

I take a moment to just breathe. Drunken karaoke with Ayla feels like years ago, not two nights prior. How did Ayla handle all of this? It’s overwhelming. I know I’m not alone, but that isn’t exactly the point. Having a support system to help is so important, and it’s what’s gotten me through up until now, but they aren’t able to process or deal with everything for me. They can provide love and encouragement, but I’m ultimately the one who has to do the heavy lifting.

No one can make me feel anything. They are my emotions. I need to own them, which I’m usually pretty good at. The problem right now is that I don’t even know what I’m feeling. Too much, I’m feeling too much.

I now understand why Malcolm wanted to give us time, my panther rumbles. A part of me wants to bitch slap her, but she’s right. I had a good handle on things until we hauled ass here to Ireland.

But he shouldn’t be part of the problem. He should be part of the solution, I reply, and she doesn’t argue. As our mate, Malcolm should be here to help with things like this. Not with owning my emotions, but with sorting out how I feel, just as I should be there for him.

Admittedly, him holding back from the bond, from me, is causing more harm than good. I’m just not sure how to explain that to him in a way that will make him get his head out of his ass.

Making my way to the war room is easy, just as Malcolm said it would be. Getting into the room, however, is a different beast. I can feel the magic radiating off the door before I’m even in front of it. This room is warded to high heaven.

Taking the opportunity to test out my new magic detection abilities, I pause in the hallway, letting my magic free. It reaches across the space and caresses the wards around the door. I’m not entirely sure how my magic tells me, but it communicates that the energy won’t hurt me since it’s been keyed to me, but if it wasn’t, it would burn me to a crisp. Good to know.

The magic warding the door eases, allowing me to pass, and my magic curls back inside me. The door opens smoothly, and the room before me has my jaw dropping.

The size of a ballroom with vaulted ceilings, the war room has one wall that’s floor to ceiling windows with French doors that lead out to a stunningly beautiful garden. The wall opposite the windows has a world map that’s been enchanted, and there are tiny glowing dots all over it. I’m not sure if it shows all known supernaturals or Council bases. The wall farthest the door has a floor to ceiling bookshelf and is completely filled with tomes. The vaulted ceiling boasts two glittering chandeliers, and the floors are a white marble with black and gold veins running randomly throughout. The most impressive item in the room, however, is the table that commands most of the floor. It’s a shimmering black onyx with plush, high-backed chairs evenly spaced around its circumference. The table itself, while beautiful, holds the most intricate piece of magic I’ve ever seen.

It’s a three-dimensional casting of the area around the cottage. I assume it can show similar images of everyplace on the planet. It feels as though I’ve stepped into a futuristic, science fiction, galaxy traveling novel. It’s not a hologram, it’s solid, and it appears to be playing Ayla’s memories of the battle we fought yesterday.

I want one.

“I’ll let you play with it if you promise not to drool all over it.” A tinkling laugh reaches me and shakes me out of my stupor. “It’s not that hard to master.”

The witch before me is tiny, about the same height as Ayla, and she’s slender, almost elven in appearance. She’s got a cute pixie cut that’s dyed a shocking hot pink. Her eyes are a unique shade of violet, and she’s got a wide grin on her face.

“I’m Fayden!” She holds out her hand, and I shake it. “I’m the head of tech for the Council.”

“I feel like ‘head of tech’ is extremely misleading, Fay.” Malcolm comes over to stand next to her. “She’s got an insane ability to combine magic and technology.” He shakes his head. “She’s also my sister and she’s only fifteen.”

Fayden sticks her tongue out at Malcolm, crossing her arms as she mockingly glares at him. “I like head of tech. It sounds mature.” Malcolm chuckles.

“I’m Olivia.” I smile at Fayden, purposely ignoring Malcolm. “I’ll refer to you by whatever you want if you get me one of those at home.” She grins. “Especially if it’ll annoy your brother.”

“Deal.” She looks at Malcolm, triumph glittering in her eyes. “Finally, I don’t need to get your approval to go somewhere.”

Malcolm just shakes his head and musses her hair before winking at me and turning back to the table. Fayden looks mildly annoyed and completely exasperated.

“It’s also able to show different future scenarios as needed. There’s also a magical A.I. component that tries to calculate future events. The more information we put in it, the better it’s able to make predictions.”

If I didn’t need one before, I absolutely need one now. “Did I mention that I need it?” We laugh. “I’m seriously impressed, Fayden. If you ever want to ditch your embarrassing brother, you can totally come work for me.”

Her eyes go comically wide. She stares at me the way I’m gazing at the display over the table. I meant every word. I’m more than happy to have her join the community. We seem to be continuing the trend of having women in positions of power, and I see no need to stop.

“I heard that!” Malcolm calls. “Careful what you wish for, Liv. She’s a menace.”

I roll my eyes and loop my arm through Fayden’s. “He says the same thing about me.”