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

Magnus’s eyes narrowed. “I disagree.”

The tension broke with the last syllable of his words. Evelyn smoothly drew two silver daggers the length of shortswords and shifted her weight to balance. Adam pulled two summoning crystals from his inventory and stood poised to throw them.

While on the other side of the study, Aliria pushed off the desk she stood against as chitin enveloped her, her hands elongating to wicked black blades.

Magnus stood impassively, but with his time magic, he didn’t have to move a muscle.

I had a choice to make myself.

It wasn’t the wrong choice, but as I drew my sword, I knew it wasn’t right.

My blade raised, I stepped toward Evelyn. “Don’t do this.”

She lifted her lips in a smile. “You would raise your blade to me?”

“If you two are not willing to see reason. Unless you have a better plan than wait and see, I’m siding with the plan that has the best chance of all of us surviving.”

“Even at the cost of thousands of lives?” Adam asked, his fingers twitching.

“I can’t save everyone…but I can save Eris. I can save Raven, the two of you, and the Gloom Knights. The rest of the world be damned. I’ll make that choice every time.”

We stared into each other’s eyes, just waiting for the pin to drop.

“All of you, stop this madness!” Eris shouted, breaking the tense silence.

I wasn’t expecting her voice; she hadn’t spoken since we entered the study.

Eris picked herself up from the dark floorboards and glared at all of us. “Look at where this has led! We’re family, all of us! And you’re about to slaughter each other? Over what? Because you can’t agree on something?

“Children, all of you!”

There was a single split second where we could’ve continued as we were and went to war, but as I looked at each of the people I would give my life for, I lowered my sword and chuckled.

It started as a soft single chuckle, but it grew, and soon I was laughing so hard, it hurt to breathe. I had to lean on the table to keep from falling over, and when I got back up, everyone just stared at me.

“She’s right! We’re children. All it took was one confrontation, and over ten years of loyalty snapped like string. I was ready to fight you, Evelyn, knowing I’d lose. That says something about the severity of the situation, but come on! We can’t do any better than try to kill each other over our differences?”

I eyed each of them and then walked out of the room.

“Where are you going?” Adam asked at my back.

“To the kitchen. I’m starving, and I think we could all use a drink. Come, don’t come. I don’t care. If you kill each other after I leave, that’s on you. But I’m not going to fight my friends.”

Eris and Raven followed me out, and I shut the wood door with a heavy thud.

Before I’d taken a step, Eris’s heated hand intertwined with my fingers, and Raven looped her arm through mine. I ran my hand over Raven’s smooth skin as I turned to Eris. “Thank you for that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“You were all scared, because I know I was. To face the end is a terrifying prospect, but it affords a measure of clarity once you’ve lived through it.”

“This isn’t just our end, it’s the possible end for everyone, its big…and I don’t know what to do, what I can do. I’m good at swinging a sword, but a sword can’t fix what’s coming. Maybe I should just let them handle it. I’m so far out of my depth I can’t see the shore, and I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Raven tugged on my arm, pulling my attention to her. “Maybe you just do what you can, when you can. I don’t think anyone is asking you to solve this yourself. Let those who know better handle the things you can’t. You handle the things you can.”

I smiled down at her. It was simple advice, but that’s exactly what I needed in that moment, simple, to the point. I kissed the top of her head. “Thank you. that’s exactly what I needed to hear.”

“Good, I’m glad I could help. You can spoil me later,” she said with a wink.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, our heads heavy with what we’d just been told, but I’d handled it better than the first time Magnus had shattered my world. It’s not like the signs weren’t there from the beginning. I just didn’t put them together, didn’t want to think about how everything shifted in my world so easily.

The only thing I can do is help where I can and do my best to protect those who matter more than anything else in my life.

When we got to the dining hall, we took a seat at the banquet table while Eris stared at the wide-open windows and wooden support beams along the walls that connected overhead. “It’s a beautiful place,” she said softly, clutching my hand as we all three sat side by side.

I laid my head down and rested my warm, almost feverish forehead against the cool smooth wood, waiting to find out if the others would join us.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the heavy wooden doors opened, and a parade of footsteps thumped across the stone floor towards us. After a few terse seconds, the chairs around the table scraped against the floor, and I finally looked up.

Magnus and Aliria sat across from us while Adam and Evelyn sat near the head of the table.

“Glad to see you all came to your