Queen Alpha (NYC Mecca #2)(69)
I knew Selene. That was the devious path she’d take.
Kade grinned, his rumbles turning into chuckles. “In-house is perfect. That’s exactly what I hoped you’d say.”
He dropped my hand then and charged toward the guard, leaving me to deal with Selene, who was already back on her feet. I wasn’t worried about Kade. The guard was powerful, and he had a spelled talisman, but he wasn’t royal or magic born. He couldn’t manipulate mecca like we could, and he stood no chance against an almost seven-foot bear king. I watched long enough to see him slam into the giant guard, knocking him back into the wall, breaking his magical call for help. The guard quickly stood, pulling a blade from behind his back with a menacing look in his eye
Kade winked at me before diving into the fight; he looked to be enjoying it.
“Figures you’d end up slumming it with a bear,” Selene said, spitting blood out of her mouth as she advanced on me. “You always were scum. No idea who fathered you to even know if it was a decent lineage. All you had going for you was the Red Queen’s lineage, and look at what a whore she turned out to be. She let fae into our world. She caused all of this, and I think the red line should be wiped out now, forever. No longer are you fit to be heirs.”
Her dark brown eyes narrowed, her grin sinister, especially with some blood staining her teeth. Figures she would hurt herself so badly just from tripping over a stupid dress. Even though her shifter healing had kicked in, and the wound was closed over, the blood remained long after.
“Say goodbye, Arianna of the red line. You are a failed queen. A failed heir. And a true disgrace to all wolves.”
She dived toward me, pulling a knife from her arm cuff at the same time. The dress was a hindrance for her, but she was still a shifter, so she made the six foot leap with ease. We tangled together, my back crashing to the floor as she plunged the knife toward my face. I raised my forearm just in time to deflect the blow, capturing her hand and stopping her from stabbing at me again.
She was strong, filled with energy, and we struggled for dominance, neither of us wanting to give in. “The royal guards will be here any moment. You have lost. Time to say goodbye to your freak of a friend. She’s going to remain a fae plaything for the rest of her days.”
I remained focus.
Nix and I are holding off the guards. Finn’s voice was briefly there, then he was gone.
Take that, Selene, you bitch. I twisted my body to the side; her knife slipped along my arm, cutting through my shirt and slicing my cheek. I didn’t worry about the cut, it’d heal soon enough, and she let me move enough so I could swing my elbow across her brow. It clipped her hard, the brunt force enough to open her face up right along her forehead and down her temple.
She howled, rolling off me. Larak appeared then, slithering out from wherever he’d been, and launched himself at me. I knew that damn snake would be nearby, and let me just say, there is nothing scarier than a massive anaconda throwing itself at you with both fangs bared.
“Ari!” Kade growled.
Ari! Finn was in my head.
I focused on the snake. My hand brushed along a metal object as I raised both hands to defend myself. I realized a second later that it was Selene’s knife. I rolled out of the way of Larak’s first strike, scooping up the knife as I went. By the time I turned, he was launching at me again.
I twisted to the side to avoid his fangs, throwing the huge body over my shoulder and using the knife to slice along his underbody as he went.
Selene started screaming then, these long howling shrieks, and I felt a hot surge of energy crash into me as she started throwing mecca bombs at me. Only been queen for four days and she already knew how to form the mecca into powerful little balls of energy. Unfair. Sabina must have trained her with knowledge she’d hid from me.
Knocked down by a particularly huge blast, Larak went with me, his dark-brownish blood splashing across my chest and neck. It burned a little, and I was hoping it wasn’t poisonous like his venom. The mecca bombs had hurt, a lot – my side was bruised and aching where she’d hit me. I had to get moving; she would keep trying to kill me if I didn’t. But Larak’s huge body was pinning me to the floor. I was strong enough to move him normally, but my current position had me unable to get enough leverage to heave him off.
Selene’s face appeared above me, but she wasn’t looking at me. She bent down so she could run her hands frantically along her familiar.
“Larak, don’t you die on me.” Tears ran down her face, smudging her makeup and giving her a goth clown look.
I had a temporary moment of insanity, feeling bad for Larak and Selene, but then I remembered how he’d almost kill Finn in an underhanded sneak attack, and my pity fled. In a flash the weight lifted off me. Larak was pulled away and Kade was scooping me up. Selene scrambled to where Larak lay bleeding freely; the snake had his glossy eyes pinned to his queen. Over the bear’s shoulder I could see that Kade had knocked Selene’s guard unconscious. A burst of mecca rocked down the hall and all of us turned to see what was coming at us now.
Sabina, in all her cloaked glory. Her white hair was already fanning out around her as she channeled mecca. She then dropped her cloak and rushed toward us.
Her pale eyes were glancing between Kade and me, then back to Selene and Larak, as if she couldn’t decide whether to shoot a spell at me or to help the queen.
“Heal him!” Selene shrieked, so loud I was sure the glass sconces that lined the halls would shatter.