Hot Blooded

Former Queen? “This puts both of us in a very dangerous position. This will spark a war between our

Sects, and I cannot launch my Pack into a war by my own stupidity. I should’ve been more careful. I

have no real idea what I am.” But, honestly, would I have let Naomi die if I’d known? I didn’t want to ask myself such a thing, because there was no way to undo my mistake.

I was going to have to be extremely diligent with my choices in the future.

“My brother will not betray me. He is very angry now, but our kin-bond is more powerful than his allegiance to our Queen. We were both damaged by our time with Selene. He will come around in time.” She paused and tilted her head inquisitively. “It is very clear to me that you do not realize how much power you wield. You have proven, in the short amount of time I’ve been in your presence, you are a fair leader, generous and worthy of following. I am over five hundred years old, and I do not give my fealty to anyone lightly or without thought. It is my belief you might be one of the most powerful supernaturals to ever be created. I have put my faith into you because I believe the side you choose will win.”

“Win what?” I tried not to act too surprised, but I wasn’t sure it worked.

“The war, of course.”

“What war? I just told you I didn’t want to start a war with your Sect.” My voice grated as my neck started morphing. I was too emotional to stop it. My wolf was right along with me, yipping and growling in frustration.

“It is not a war with the vampires I am referring to. The Sects have grown restless these last hundred years. As proof, my own Queen has accepted a pledge from your rogue wolves. The Sorcerers are on edge and the witches have been stirring. Demon Lords are coming to the surface. All of this points to a major uprising. There will be much fighting in our future until all can be settled again. I believe you will be the one to settle it.”

“What?” I gasped. “How do I settle a war between Sects? That’s impossible! I’m strong, but I’m not that strong.”

“Non,” Naomi said with confidence. “Your presence here is to keep it fair, to make sure all sides are forced to play by the same rules. It would be happening anyway, with or without you, because the supernatural races grow too large and there is too much power. We cannot be contained and live among the humans much longer without a major catastrophe. We will fight. The Coalition will wake.

And a new order will be formed. It is time.”

A new order?

“How do you know all this?” I asked. “You can’t anticipate that much, even if you had some of the information ahead of time.”

“I know, because I have read the Prophecy for myself.”

I sat down on a large boulder with a thump.

Everyone shifted uneasily, but stayed quiet. Ray had picked his way down sometime during this revelation and was perched quietly on the end of the ledge. Fur lined my arms and my canines had extended. Emotion roiled inside me. I didn’t have to ask her what Prophecy she was referring to. “It exists in written form then?” I said quietly.

“Oui,” Naomi said. “It seemed to be very old when I saw it, which was merely by accident. Selene had sent me to capture one of the Three Hags. She desired knowledge of her fate and she thought this job would be as easy as plucking an apple from a tree.”

“I take it that was not the case.”

“I almost lost my life. But before the Hag set me free, she showed me the Prophecy, giving me a potion to drink so I could decipher the ancient language it was written in. Then she told me there would come a pivotal time in my life when I would finally be set free. From this freedom I would be given a choice. I could either take the life for myself or I could pledge it to another. If I gave my pledge, I would live to see the wrongs of the world righted. If I did not, I would spend my days looking for something I might never find. I believed, up until this very day”—she bowed her head

—“that my freedom came from my escape from Selene and the pledge I gave freely was to my

Vampire Queen. I see now that I had made a grave mistake. I know now that you are that pledge. I am certain, body and soul, and I give it to you freely, without reservation.”

The world had just thrown me a gigantic curveball.

I took a deep breath and forced some calm back into my system with tremendous effort. The

Prophecy was true. And I couldn’t change my fate, no matter how much I wanted to. My features shifted back, almost reluctantly, as I shed some of the emotion gnawing at me. There was nothing I

could do, except move forward the best way I knew how. There was no time to bemoan my life. I had a mate to free and a goddess to kill.

I stood and brushed dust off my legs. “Naomi,” I said, meeting her gaze fully, “I accept your pledge, but I honestly have no idea what to do with it. I will offer you my protection, as freely as you’ve given me your loyalty. When your Queen finds out you’ve defected willingly, and eventually she will, it’s going to be like dropping an atomic bomb on your court. We will need to put our heads together and play this as smart as we can. Once we get back, I’m hopeful we can come up with something plausible—something that doesn’t include any mention of my blood. I owe your Queen a debt, which I am required to pay in a very short period of time, and if she finds out while I’m at court my blood is even more powerful than she realizes, she’ll do everything in her power to kill me —or siphon me dry. Either scenario is unacceptable.”

A slow smile spread across Naomi’s lips. “The Queen will not win.” Her features shifted down ever so slowly.

“If the Vamp Queen learns this information ahead of my scheduled arrival it will put us in even greater peril. Your brother is going to be a problem.” I glanced up in the sky. He’d left, but I was certain he was close enough to hear us. He wanted the information; he just didn’t want to accept what was happening. “How do we force him to cooperate?” Thinking of ways to convince Eamon not to expose us made my head ache. “He will not come on his own. I can guarantee that. He reviles me.”

“I will deal with my brother,” she said, her voice brisk. “He will not be so quick to turn against me.

Our kin-bond has held for all these years; it will prevail. He knows he will sign my death warrant if he dares breathe a word of our secret.”

“And if he does it anyway?”

Naomi’s face became grim, hard as ivory. “Then I will sign his.”

My eyebrows shot my forehead. “You could kill your brother so easily?”

“Non,” Naomi said. “But I know ways to incapacitate a vampire. He would not be able to move until I set him free.” She paused. “And that would be long after our side wins.”

16

We made it to the bottom of the canyon unscathed by any more of Selene’s traps. A large stream cut through the gorge at the base. Selene’s fortress was on the other side and up the steep mountain face, according to the vamps. My eyes shot to the water as something bubbled in the center. “There’s something in the water,” I yelled. “Everyone step back!”

Naomi took flight as I turned to my brother. “Let’s try to find a place to cross before whatever it is breaks the surface.”

He shook his head. “No. We have to see what it is so we know what we’re up against. It might be a fucking siren or a serpent with ten arms. We can’t risk it without knowing.”

“No way. Once that thing emerges it will be much harder to defeat. Let’s cross while we can. Most likely it’s something Selene has to conjure, so it might take some time to arrive. My guess is it was triggered once our feet hit the bottom of the basin.” I grabbed on to his arm. “It’s still not here yet; we have time. Come on. Let’s go!”

“I’m with you,” Danny called over his shoulder, trotting downstream. “Once that thing rears its ugly head we’re likely in for it. Best to get to the other side while we still can, and once we’re there we can fight it or just