Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (ereader iphone .TXT) 📗

as they doubled checked what Gil had said and a round of confused mutterings circled the room.

“Where do you think they went?” Makenna asked.

“I’ll give you one guess,” Sam said.

“Magnus? You think?”

“Only thing I can think of.”

“Those idiots. They’re going to get themselves killed if Magnus is a strong as you say he is.”

“I don’t know about that,” Sam said, drumming his fingers along the edge of the table. “Magnus is, without a doubt, powerful beyond my understanding, but so are those two. Evelyn could rule this world through her strength alone, and Adam is beyond a genius. He and his guild built Machine City in just three years, after all.”

“And how did that turn out for them?”

Sam rubbed at his chin. “Point taken, but you know what I’m getting at. Those two are stronger than anyone, and if anyone has a chance against Magnus, my money is on them.”

“What about Aliria?” Makenna asked, shooting a glance my way. “She’s an entomancer, like Eris, right?”

I couldn’t hold the pain from my heart as I breathed out slowly. I reached for Sam’s hand under the table for comfort. “Aliria is my mother.”

Makenna furrowed her brow, narrowing her eyes. “I thought you said your mom was dead?”

“She was. I don’t know how she is alive. It’s impossible.”

“Necromancy, perhaps?” Wilson offered.

“Doubtful. You didn’t see it, Wilson,” Sam began, running his thumb over mine. “There was nothing left but ash. Nothing left for any necromancer to use for resurrection, and even if there was, this happened before we arrived here─”

“Duran?” Wilson asked at his pause.

“Um, there’s something else I have to tell you all, something Magnus told me. Something that’s going to be difficult to understand.”

“Well, let us have it, bud,” Gil said.

So he did.

I didn’t really understand the significance of his revelation; a thousand years had passed while I was stuck in the void, so I didn’t get why they were upset out until Sam told us about losing their memories. I understood that well, since the Hive placed a high amount of reverence on memories and a person’s story. It was why what happened to my mother was such an extreme punishment; her being erased from history meant her memories died along with her.

How are you alive, Mother? It’s a wish borne from my darkest nightmares and my wildest dreams. I loved you so, and I hated you for what you became. I never understood that, and maybe now I can.

By the time everyone calmed down and accepted what Sam said, I came out of my thoughts and waited for what we were going to do.

Wilson pulled a flask from his vest pocket and took a small drink, running his fingers through his gray beard. “I─I don’t know what this means for us, can’t know if what you say is true, but I know you would never lie about something like this, so I believe you believe it’s true. Whether Magnus was telling the truth is a different matter.”

“I don’t think we can take the chance that he isn’t,” Sam replied.

“I agree. And unfortunately, it does make sense. All the little details we skipped over in our rush to kill things in this world are starting to make a whole lot of sense now.”

“So what do we do about it all?” Gil asked.

“We work with Magnus,” Sam said. “Whatever’s coming affects our entire world. This goes beyond any perceived retribution we owe him.”

“Agreed. So, I guess we hand over the Heart and go from there.”

“All right. Me, Eris, and Raven will get prepped and head out.”

With that, the meeting adjourned, and Sam and I left to get ready. While the others looked like they wanted to head to the bar. My hunch was proven correct when Gil piped up. “Anyone else need a drink?”

“Save me one,” Raven said as the others all voiced similar things.

Sam laughed and thumbed over at Raven. “Just watch your drinks around her, she’s not above snatching them from you.”

Raven laughed. “I would never do that to Gil!”

“You met him half a day ago!” Sam said, trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, and it took less than that to learn that he’s a lot nicer than you! And besides, you make it so easy.”

“I’ll show you easy,” he grumbled.

“You already did, four times.”

At that, Sam couldn’t stop from laughing, and Raven swiftly joined in.

I couldn’t help but smile at their antics. It’s good to see both of them smiling. I was right. Raven is going to be good for him.

I smiled sweetly at them as they composed themselves.

Sam’s eyes lit up as he gazed at me. “And whatever we do, don’t give any alcohol to Eris. She’ll have her clothes off trying to seduce us both after one glass.”

“That happened one time!”

That had been the wrong thing to say, as they both started laughing again.

Once they stopped, Sam and I made our way back to our room while Raven said she had to go pick up something.

“She’s something else,” Sam said as we both watched the sway of her hips as she ran down the hall.

“I really like her.”

He turned to me. His eyes widened ever so slightly. “I didn’t think you’d spent any time with her.”

I nodded. “We talked.”

“About?”

“That’s between the two of us,” I said and went inside our room.

We both changed into our armor quickly. I threw on my cloak and pulled it closed. Sam, meanwhile, changed into his new armor. It was pretty, as black as my eyes, with lovely splashes of green at his waist where a belt of some kind held his sword.

I walked over and ran my fingers over the sheath. “It’s like a leaf. It’s so pretty.”

“Yeah, I found