Queen of Death

Solana

“How long will the wolfsbane last?” A voice as acidic as its source burns in my ears.

Elena.

Just the woman I was looking for. Ideally I wouldn’t be chained to a chair and drugged with wolfsbane, but I’ve faced worse odds.

“A few hours at least.” A scratchy voice wheezes from an unknown male.

“And you’re sure she won’t be able to shift into either form?”

“With the amount in her system I’d be surprised if she could even use her gifts.”

Mentally I roll my eyes. Like I’d need gifts to kill her.

“What about the two she was with?” Elena asks.

“Leave them to me. I’ll handle it.” The way he says it makes every hair on my body stand on end. I can’t stomach the idea of sitting here knowing his intentions to hurt my guys and not being able to do anything about it at this very second.

“That’s what you said last time, Alec! And not only did your son’s little boy band escape, but we lost more than half of our guards.” Elena seethes.

I refuse to allow my heart to break over Alec’s betrayal and the energy that it takes not to be upset boils my blood.

“Do not call him my son,” he spits at her, the force of which sends him into a wheezing and coughing fit. “We had an agreement. You get the girl, but Ace and his pack are mine.”

“That was before I knew who else he had with him. I want Hunter alive. Do what you wish with the rest but if you want me to uphold my end of our agreement then you’ll give me Hunter.”

It makes sense that Elena wants to see Hunter. She wants to find out what happened to her kids, and when she finds out the truth she’ll want to kill Hunter. What I’m struggling to reconcile is what I know of the guy who is supposed to be one of my dads’ best friends and the man in this room speaking to Elena.

I risk cracking open an eye enough to see a tall, spidery looking shape of a man with ghostly grey skin littered in liver spots and no muscles to speak of – just skin and bones. This can’t be Alec. I know she called him Alec but my Alec was strong and healthy the last time I saw him...not this creature who’s a half step from death.

As soon as he leaves the room Elena snickers. “You can stop pretending, I know you’re awake.”

I tip my head up before opening my eyes fully. The fire in my eyes burns bright. She better take a good, long look because they’ll be the last thing she ever fucking sees.

“Just like your mother,” she sucks her teeth and shakes her head disapprovingly. “Always jumping the gun. As reckless as a wildfire.”

“Lethal as one too,” I quip.

“And just as blind. Indiscriminately burning everything in your path. Inescapable.”

I can tell she’s ramping up to deliver a monologue about injustice and I’m already bored.

“If you wanted to compliment me you could have just sent a card.” I yawn obnoxiously to drive home my point that I’m not interested in anything she has to say.

The back of her hand whips across my face so fast it takes my body several full seconds to register the sting. I honestly didn’t think she had it in her.

“Listen to me you little bitch. Your family ruined my entire life. I lived happily in Drow Hollow for centuries. Our king offered your mother the world on a silver platter, and she snubbed his every offer like the arrogant, spoiled brat she is. Got her daddy and her boyfriends to storm our home and declare war.”

Obviously my mother told us a different version of this tale — the battle of Drow Hollow. Their so-called-king had trapped her there, tortured her — or tried to — and when she escaped she returned with an army to exact her revenge. They got exactly what was coming to them.

“I lost my husband in that war,” Elena continues. “I lost my friends, my home. They pushed us into a nearby pack full of man-dogs that didn’t know the first thing about dragon life. I was forced to marry one of them or be kicked out. Didn’t matter though because as soon as he died I was kicked out anyway.”

She circles the chair I’m strapped to and slaps me across the face again. The taste of metal blooms on my mouth. I spit the blood back in her face earning myself a third backhand.

“I recognized your uncle Dex the minute he stepped foot in the pack. He was there that day everything fell apart, he was responsible for helping force people into strange homes. I knew if I wanted my revenge on your mother, going through Dex was my best bet.

“I was naive. I didn’t think anyone could be worse than your whore mother, but then I met you. You didn’t cost me my husband or my home... you cost me my children.”

She storms out of the room, throwing the steel door wide open as she goes. I struggle against the chains to see if there’s any way to break them or melt them but they’re made of pure silver. They’ll burn me before I could melt them.

Elena comes back dragging someone by a long chain like a leash. My heart stalls in my chest when I see that it’s my uncle Dex.

He tries to run towards me but is snapped back by the chain she has on him. “Sol she’s a mirror —” his sentence cuts off when she butts him in the temple with the end of a knife.

“I swear to the Gods I will burn you to your core over and over every single day until the end of time.” I’m so mad I’m shaking, the sound of my rage rattles through the chains wrapped around me.

She walks up behind my uncle and kicks the back of his knees so he’s forced to the ground. Then she poises her blade against his throat. “What you’re going to do is sit there and feel what it’s like to be helpless with no hope of saving someone you love.” She pulls his hair roughly so his head jerks back. “Any last words?”

“Tell your mother I’m sor—” he rushes to get the words out before Elena runs her blade across his throat from ear to ear right in front of me.

I thrash wildly in the seat, silver burns be damned. I’m breaking out of these fucking chains and I’m going to make her beg for death.

“Don’t wear yourself out, little girl. You’ll need your strength.”

Elena comes behind me and places the key to the lock on my chains in the palm of my hand.

With my hands restrained behind me I work as fast as I can to position the lock so that I can fit in the key and finish what I came here to do.

By the time I free myself, she’s back on the other side of the room. I don’t hesitate. I grab my knife and throw it at her chest, aiming an inch or so above her heart. I don’t want her to die yet. She has so much more pain to endure before I’ll grant her that mercy.

As soon as the blade embeds in her chest I’m knocked backwards two steps. Pain between my heart and shoulder explodes and blood begins to spill out of a source-less wound.

Elena slowly pulls the blade I threw at her out of her chest, exactly where my mysterious wound is located, and tosses the knife at my feet.

She cocks a smart ass smirk and a lifted brow to match. “Care to try again?”

I school my expressions, channeling my inner stone-cold Ace, so that she doesn’t get front row seats to me recalculating how the fuck I’m supposed to kill someone who reflects their injuries.