Queen Mecca Read online

  “Anything,” she replied, straightening and setting her tea down.

  I smiled weakly. She was too good to me. What did I do to deserve such love?

  “I’m sending the queen heirs off to California to remain safe and continue their studies. I know we haven’t decided how the future monarchs will be chosen…”

  There was a world of possibilities now. Would it still be a male bear who accepted the crown from Kade, and a female wolf heir who fought her way through the Summit? Or maybe a vote from the people?

  “And I know we have decades to decide, but I want to protect the heirs and teach them the ways of the bear so that in the future it will always be us working together.”

  I finished my speech in a ramble and Annette nodded. “You want me to go with them to California and teach your heirs how we do things? To protect them and help in the event that…” She left it open but we both knew what words would come next.

  I nodded. “Yes, in the event I die, I want the next queen heir to be a friend of the bears.” I knew it was impossible to not fall in love with Annette, and that my fellow heirs would respect and bond with her, allowing for any future ruler to be as closely aligned with my way of ruling as possible. “Will you?”

  She grinned. “Of course. I’d be honored.”

  She stood and wrapped me up in one of her trademark bear hugs. As we embraced, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. If this war came to pass — and I suspected there was no way now to avoid it — and I didn’t make it out, then Winnie would be okay, my people would be okay, and the new wolf leader would have a soft spot in her heart for the bears.

  That afternoon, after Winnie and Annette were safely on their way to California, Violet found me in the kitchen of our Staten Island home. I was just about to leave to take a vortex to Manhattan.

  “I did it!” she shrieked, coming in from the garden.

  “Did what?” I asked as Violet tugged at my arm, dragging me out to the back yard before I could say anything more.

  I saw Blaine and Monica standing at the water’s edge. They were on guard duty today while Kade and Victor were preparing our land in Upstate New York for the final run with all the shifters today. I wanted one last run as a wolf with my people before I had to fight like hell to keep our home safe.

  Jen had gone to transport Winnie, making sure she made it safely, and then would return to me. That left my inner circle of dominants — that was once six — down to two. At least for today.

  I was truly mystified as to what Violet was talking about until we got closer to the water’s edge. Then it dawned on me why they would all be crowding around here.

  “The summer fae?” I asked her, peeking over into the water, and sure enough, in the reflection I saw a wooden grove and those bright bursts of flowers that were distinctly Summer Court. It was as if she had opened a mini portal to the Otherworld.

  “I’ve connected with one of the water fountains in the summer castle’s courtyard,” Violet told me. “It took a while to get anyone’s attention, but finally a guard came over. He’s run to get the prince.”

  I sat up straighter and smoothed my hair. I’d been waiting for this moment since Dalia fell into my lap two weeks ago. Movement in the back of the fountain caught my eye, and I recognized the stunning fae jogging toward us.

  Violet leaned into me. “I’m not sure how long the magic will last, and you might have to scream to be heard over the bubbling water fountain on their side.”

  I nodded as Prince Caspien stepped fully into view. He was breathing faster than normal but hardly winded. “Queen Arianna, I’ve been meaning to make contact but we’ve had our hands full and there was no chance for me to leave our lands. I’m so glad Violet found a way.”

  I nodded. “We don’t have much time, but I wanted to offer my deepest condolences for the loss of Dalia. She was a treasure, and I will never forget her help in getting Violet back.”

  The prince bowed his head solemnly. “Thank you. We have had no time to grieve, but she was an honored warrior and will be deeply missed.” He shook off his sadness and then got to business. “The winter fae attacked us in the night, sent assassins to try to take out our highest commanders. We killed all but one. That one we questioned thoroughly. He admitted under magical duress that the Winter Court wants to eliminate the Summer Court completely from this land, and they also want to commandeer the Earth-side mecca.” His eloquent manner of speaking was a little more rushed than usual.

  My gut churned with anxiety. “We’ve had nothing happen here for weeks. What’s the wait? When should we expect this attack?” The image wavered then, almost disappearing, but Violet thrust her hands forward and it held.

  The prince’s drawn features came into clear focus again. “We’re holding them at the edge of the winter woods, but if they really wanted to, they could overthrow us. We think they’re waiting as a part of their strategy. Aligning wi—” The image flickered again, before blanking out. This time Violet couldn’t hold it.

  My eyes bugged out, mouth open. “Violet!”

  She looked pained, throwing spells and powders at the image as the water swirled in a funnel. Finally, she sat back. “It’s gone.”

  “Can you make another one?” I urged. I needed to know what he was going to say. Aligning with whom? Fall Court? Or something more sinister. The Dark Fae Lord?

  Violet stared at the water, resigned. “Ari, that was fae magic. It took me weeks to teach myself and I had to try to match up time, which is different in our two worlds.” I knew she was internally punishing herself. She wasn’t used to failing at magic.

  I sighed and straightened. “It’s okay.” I patted her shoulder, careful to touch only the cloth and not her skin. “I got enough. We have time before they attack. Now let’s get to Manhattan and learn everything we can about the fae.” Those recently unsealed fae books were waiting for us, information that had been hidden away by the former council. There had to be something within those pages which could help us.

  Blaine and Monica fell into step with me; they would be on guard duty for the rest of the day. There was a convoy of SUVs at my disposal here, just as there had been in Manhattan. A bear drove us to the Staten Island vortex disc and waited for us to enter past the guards in that secure building.

  As I had the last few times, I waited for some sign of the Red Queen — her voice in the mecca energy, a vision of her, anything to let me know she was still there, still trapped in the swirling purple world. Since I had learned she was my birth mother, I found myself thinking of her more often.

  So far there had been nothing.

  And even though she had not been much of a mother … who was I kidding? She had been no mother at all, but she had protected me against the Winter Court. Against my father. It was worth something.

  “Your Majesty…”

  The mecca guards dropped to their knees as I appeared on the disc in Manhattan. There were three wolves and three bears. We were forcing all of them to work together. It was the only way to push aside previous prejudices and accept the new alliance. In truth, it had gone much smoother than I ever would have expected. It seemed the shifters had wanted change long before I was crowned. It’s just that no one had listened. It certainly helped that Kade and I were bonded mates and engaged. I was now queen of the bears as well as the wolves.

  There were still a few resisters, which was to be expected. But they were slowly getting weeded out — many leaving on their own. The greatest resistance had been from some of my oldest wolves. And honoring my promise to be a fair and just queen, I allowed them to live in segregation in the Bronx borough. They still recognized me as their ruler and would ultimately follow my command, but had asked to not be forced to mingle in their daily lives with the bears.

  I could respect their choice and so I granted it. Bronx was the only borough without much of a bear presence, so it was the logical choice. As long as they did as I asked, I would not fault them for being resistant to change. I also expected
that eventually they would come around. They just needed some time.

  Kade’s people seemed much more open; only a few had fled from our rule. There had even been a dozen or so bear-wolf bonded pairings to emerge after we started to mingle the two worlds together. Shifters could no longer deny the proof that bear and wolf belonged together.

  Violet, Blaine, and Monica followed me out of the vortex building and onto the sidewalk.

  “I’ll meet you all at the mansion,” Violet said. “I want to get a head start.”

  I just nodded, and she popped out of existence, her favorite way to travel. I enjoyed the short walk to the royal estate, having missed my borough. It did feel like home being here, but also like things had changed. I wasn’t really sure where I fit anymore.

  Guards bowed as I walked into the royal grounds; doors were held open for me, shifters lowering themselves as I passed. I hadn’t ever really enjoyed the subservient nature our rulers demanded from their people, but I could only try to change one thing at a time.

  Monica and Blaine stayed right behind me, one of either side, and I saw the way their keen eyes took in the room. It gave me comfort to have them at my side.

  The moment I stepped into the room filled with magic books, Violet jumped on me. “I think I found something.”

  I chuckled. “Well, that was fast. You’ve only been here for like ten minutes.”

  She didn’t smile or join me in laughter, she just gave me that serious look she wore most of the time now. Those hard eyes. “I had an idea of where to start looking, and luckily it provided some important information.”

  Crossing the room, I peered over Violet’s shoulder, looking down at the book she held.

  “You can read this now, right?” she asked.

  I nodded, leaning even closer. “Yep, this is the language of my people. Apparently.”

  Blaine gave a snort from behind us. Yeah, it was another one of my changes — I could now read the fae language.

  Scanning the page, my stomach dropped. I read aloud: “Forged in revenge, of evil and bone, the Dark Fae Lord rose to be one of the first fae demons.” Great. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about with the winter queen, aka evil-grandmother, who was hell-bent on ruling the Earth-side mecca, now I had to worry about an honest-to-God demon. The summer king had mentioned him of course, but information was limited.

  “Okay…” I started pacing. “I want to know everything about this fae demon. Where does he live? What does he eat? How the hell do I kill him?”

  Kade was going to flip when he heard about this.

  “That’s not all,” Violet piped in. “I did a little scrying spell to see if this Dark Fae Lord was even alive.”

  I swung around to face her, my eyes wide as I opened and closed my mouth. Finally I said, “Can you please try and be a little less reckless? I need you alive and safe after the Otherworld experience. At least let me know when you’re playing with magic and demons.” I’d known for years that Violet was probably going to be the death of me one day. There was no other person I worried about as much as her. Even more so now, after she’d been taken.

  “So what did you see?” I didn’t really want to know. No way was it good.

  Her lips creased into a tight line. “I saw a dark shrouded figure, which I assume was the Dark Fae Lord. It was impossible to make out any defining features, but he was speaking with someone who was very clear. And familiar.”

  My stomach dropped. “The winter queen.”

  Violet nodded.

  “Shit!” I bit out, frustration in my voice.

  Blaine and Monica, who were taking point on either side of the main door, keeping guard, both spun around, weapons in their hands. Yeah, I might have overreacted a little, but the last thing I needed to hear was that Samson, the summer king, was right, and those two psycho evil fae had teamed up.

  “Could that be the delay?” Blaine said, dropping his sword back into its sheath. “She’s cementing this alliance with the demons, and then both of their armies will come at us full force.”

  I’d had that thought already, and it looked like we had to accept that inevitability. No one spoke; there really wasn’t anything that could be said. In that moment, we were all caught in a tangled web of fear.

  Finn’s energy entered the room a moment before he did. I reached along the bond I had with my familiar, allowing his vast strength to brush against me. Finn and Nix had been out patrolling Central Park and the waterways, as the pair did every day.

  Finn stepped to my side and brushed his soft white fur against my leg. Demons or not, we can win this. We just need more knowledge.

  I nodded, letting my body relax. Finn was right. Knowledge was power, and I intended to find out all that I could about this Dark Fae Lord.

  “Violet, Blaine, Monica, Finn,” I called out, “we’re having a sleepover. We’re not leaving this room until I have identified and read every book that pertains to the demon fae.” I paused. “Well, except for the run we have tomorrow morning. But other than that, we are on study duty. You’re going to cram like you’ve never crammed before.”

  Blaine’s random crooked grin washed away some of my stress. It reminded me of when he was a little boy, always up to some mischief.

  “What are you smiling about?” I fake huffed, acting affronted. Truthfully, it brought me true joy to see him looking like his old self. Things had been strained between us since Kade — since Blaine told me he’d expected that one day we would be together romantically. I never wanted to lose him, I needed him in my life, but Kade was like part of my soul. A part I could not and would not live without.

  I thanked the gods that Blaine and I had found a way to be just friends again. Even better, it was finally starting to feel like he had accepted that there would be nothing romantic between us.

  His grin turned into a full smile. “Remember when we all had a sleepover for Monica’s thirteenth birthday?”

  Now it was Monica’s turn to bust up laughing, but I didn’t find it so funny. I remembered that sleepover very clearly.

  “Yes, Blaine, I definitely remember. You fell asleep with your stupid mouth open and your gum got in my hair. I looked like a jacked-up Barbie doll for months after we cut it out.”

  I’d had heir duties and photos that month too. Suffice to say, the Red Queen had had more than a few nasty comments to make about my new hairstyle.

  It was pretty funny looking back though.

  Blaine and Monica were shaking with barely contained laughter, until finally the sides of my mouth quirked.

  “I nearly killed you,” I told him.

  He nodded. “That you did, Princess. And I gave up chewing gum on that day.”

  I chuckled. “Well, for old time’s sake, one final sleepover?”

  Violet nodded; she had even been smiling, which I loved to see. “It’s a deal. I’ll invite Nikoli. He can help with the magical end of things.” I wondered if she knew how her voice softened — her face too — when she spoke about the bear magic born.

  “Really, tell me more about Nikoli?” Blaine teased. Clearly he had picked up on it too.

  Violet gave a devilish grin. “Well, he’s a pretty good kisser.”

  Whoa! Kisses … she wouldn’t, right? I mean, not without telling me — I was her best friend. Blaine seemed shocked too, his eyes widening as he blinked in her direction. Monica leaned in a little closer. She might have been a serious sort of warrior chick, but she loved gossip. Jen and her always had the juiciest information about the other shifters.

  Violet gave a shrug. “It just happened. At first I was looking for a distraction, and Nikoli is a very nice distraction. But then it felt like something more. Plus, the guy went all the way across the Otherworld to rescue me. He deserved a little something.”

  “Do you have problems kissing another magic born?” I asked. “Do your powers collide or something?” I’d always been curious about that.

  She’d always said touching me was harder than most peopl
e; I had so much mecca in my energy. Even before I became queen it was like that. Probably my undiscovered fae side causing problems. Still, I expected another magic born would be even worse.

  She shook her head, arms crossing over her body as the grin disappeared. “Actually, it was perfect. Our energies meshed, which is a rare occurrence between magic born. It was definitely … unexpected.”

  My mind was racing. My best friend rarely got into relationships. No one understood what it was like to be a magic born, to not be able to touch without getting overwhelmed. So this was huge. Violet dropping her guard to kiss Nikoli … triple extra huge.

  Blaine leaned in close to her. “Hey, baby, I traveled across the Otherworld to rescue you as well.” He puckered his lips.

  Violet snorted, some of her old humor returning. “You wish. Besides, you already have a girlfriend.” The second the words left her mouth she seemed uncomfortable. “Or … I mean you will.”

  Blaine dropped his sleazy act and went very still. “Explain. Now.”

  Yeah, what did she mean?

  Violet chewed at her bottom lip. “It’s just one of my future-sight things, that’s all. I saw something, but I’m not supposed to tell you about it. It can mess up the timeline — I shouldn’t have mentioned it at all.”

  She spun around and began rifling through a box of books; Blaine was staring wide-eyed at her back. The moment he recovered from her shocking statement, he strode closer.

  “You have to tell me who it is.” His voice was low, controlled, but I could hear the wolf in there threatening to break free.

  Violet looked over her shoulder, giving him an “Oh, do I?” look, before turning back around.

  “Violet…” I prodded. I needed to know too, mostly to make sure she was good enough for my best friend.

  She turned to face us both. “Look, the future is an ever-changing thing. If I tell Blaine who it is, it might mess up the timeline. Like, what if he goes after her now, before he’s meant to, and it doesn’t work because of that? Or if I say who it is and he always wonders if his feelings are real, or if I influenced them? It needs to happen naturally in order to last. Just trust me.”