Home > Queen Heir (NYC Mecca #1)(8)

Queen Heir (NYC Mecca #1)(8)
Author: Jaymin Eve, Leia Stone

Were there even any plants in the room? Had the queen been in her garden this morning before having her tea? She’d been killed very early, long before the sun came up. It didn’t make sense that she would have been walking in her garden at that time. But then again, what did I know of the queen’s habits. I needed answers. Everyone in the castle needed to be questioned.

When I reached the doorway, I turned to Cruz. “Seal this room. No one else goes in and out until a new queen is appointed. Then it will be her duty to investigate fully.”

He nodded. “As you wish.”

Selene rolled her eyes, but before he could shut the door my hand snaked out and touched one droplet of blood, touching it to my forehead. I whispered, “I will avenge thee,” and tried to ignore the wetness that had gathered in my eyes.

“Showoff,” Selene murmured as we walked away to the council hall.

My teeth clamped down in anger at her coldness. “I hope the final round is you and me,” I told her.

She grinned. “I’ve been hoping that since the day I met you.”

Bitch.

Her creepy snake slithered down her arm to come face to face with Finn. Finn confided in me once that familiars could talk to each other; I wondered what they were saying now. Whatever it was, my wolf wasn’t sharing.

The scent of the queen’s death lingered as we took the elevators back to the ground floor. From there we were led into the grand hall. The moment our group stepped through the door, I was under the scrutiny of the legendary wolf council. I took a moment to scan my surroundings. I would not be trusting anyone until I had the queen’s murderer’s head on a stick.

Once I had the room mapped out, I focused on the eleven council members who were all sitting with their backs very erect against their high, ornately carved chairs. Each had a codex of honor on their laps. This book brought me back to my school days with Calista. I threw my copy of the codex in the fire when I was twelve.

Firstly, I hated that outdated book.

Secondly, I had memorized the entire thing.

Being queen meant you ruled all, yes, but the damn council was intertwined in everything you did. So I had to play nice here.

Bowing my head only a few inches as protocol demanded, “Council,” I said in a strong but respectful voice.

Selene bowed deeply, gave a low curtsy, and a few council members frowned. The low curtsy was appropriate when we were just heirs, but now that the Summit had started we were in line to the throne and above our previous place. I tried not to grin. When I was queen they would give me a head bow and I would never bow to anyone again. It sounded cold but it was our way.

“We heard you had trouble getting here?” Councilmember Jeran asked me. His eyes lingered on my honor marks before falling to observe Finn.

“Yes, we were attacked. Two of my guards were murdered.”

A few council members frowned, a few looked angry, and the others simply nodded as if it was an acceptable part of the lives we lived.

Suddenly, the doors flew open and Breanna walked in. Her yellow shirt was covered in blood, brown hair a matted mess, and she wore one honor mark on her forehead. Her large brown and black hawk was perched fiercely on her shoulder.

The council looked disturbed.

“Where is Devina?” one of them asked.

Breanna pointed to the honor mark on her forehead, her hand shaking slightly. “Gone.”

Now that caused an outrage. The entire council stood and began shouting, gesturing wildly.

“Lock down the building! Close the hall. No one leaves this house until a new queen is chosen.”

I picked this completely inappropriate time to think about why the hell I hadn’t eaten breakfast. The Summit until coronation could last anywhere from three days to two weeks. Looked like I was living here until I either died or took over. Already it was down to three of us.

May the best heir win.

I stood upon a dais, Breanna on one side of me and Selene on the other. We wore fresh sets of our royal colors – red, purple, and yellow for the line we descended from. There was no longer a green representative. That still hadn’t settled with me. Too much death, too quickly.

Below us, gathered together in the large space, were some of our people. I still had all six of my trusted dominants, Blaine, Jen, Derek, Ben, Victor and Monica, bloodied but alive. They had arrived not long ago from the vortex battle. They’d heal soon and be back to fighting fit. Well, the physical stuff would heal. All of us mourned our friends who were lost guarding the vortex.

My dominants were joined by another fourteen of the strongest members from my Bronx wolves. The council ordered that each heir have twenty of their pack members to join with the royal guards who would be split between the three of us. Since this Summit had begun in bloodshed, we would be on high alert for the full duration.

Finn sat beside me. All the heirs had their familiars close by, and I took comfort from his presence. His energy was not unlike the mecca itself, on a smaller scale, and I was used to the strength and warmth of it.

We got this, I said to him. He winked one of his large, yellow eyes, and I couldn’t stop my grin.

“We need to secure the next queen immediately,” Torine said, drawing our attention. With his tufts of white and black hair, small stature, and large dark eyes, Torine was one of the oldest still walking this earth and his council was respected above all others. That being said, he was approaching his three-hundredth year, and at around that age a wolf began to go rabid, losing all humanity, all reason. The alpha of that wolf then had the duty to carry out the Act of Honor, ending the life of their ailing charge. I couldn’t really imagine Torine going rabid one day.

   
Most Popular
» Nothing But Trouble (Malibu University #1)
» Kill Switch (Devil's Night #3)
» Hold Me Today (Put A Ring On It #1)
» Spinning Silver
» Birthday Girl
» A Nordic King (Royal Romance #3)
» The Wild Heir (Royal Romance #2)
» The Swedish Prince (Royal Romance #1)
» Nothing Personal (Karina Halle)
» My Life in Shambles
» The Warrior Queen (The Hundredth Queen #4)
» The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)
werewolves.readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024