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

Still can’t get used to them. I look alien, like I’m a different person. I chuckled. I am a different person. I can’t even deny that anymore. Over a decade of being Durandahl, and in less than two months it’s all come crumbling down.

As I stared into eyes that weren’t quite mine, I sighed. I don’t know who I am anymore.

I’d spent so much time burying Sampson Acre that I couldn’t quite remember what it felt like being him again. Maybe that’s for the best. Sampson Acre ran from his problems, and Durandahl buried them under too much alcohol and violence. Maybe I don’t have to be one or the other anymore.

Maybe I can just be Sam. The good and the bad together.

As I walked away from the mirror, I glanced at the placid water and decided maybe for once, I would heed Wilson’s advice.

I climbed back into my pants and exited the steam-filled bath. My open balcony caught my attention, and I habitually poured a drink from my decanter and walked outside to lean against the stone railing.

I can’t believe what my stats are right now. It’s ridiculous.

Character Name: Durandahl

Level: 69

Exp: 3800/6900

Race: Demigod

Class: Hive Knight (Errant)

Reputation: Wanted Criminal

Bounty: 1300 Gold

Stats (-)

Strength: 100 (Max)

Sub-Stats (-)

Attack Damage: 50

Constitution: 100 (Max)

Sub-Stats (-)

Health: 25

Health Regen: 25

Durability: 85

Endurance: 100 (Max)

Sub-Stats (-)

Battle Fatigue: 50

Battle Fatigue Regen: 10

Agility: 50 (90)

Sub-Stats (-)

Attack Speed: 25

Movement Speed: 20

Wisdom: 25 (35)

Sub-Stats (-)

Mana: 20

Luck: 0 (30)

Charisma: 0 (10)

Errant Knight: +10 to all Main Stats (+15 within 20 meters of Hive Monarch)

Arachne’s Blessing: +15 to Strength and Agility

Scorpius’s Blessing: +15 to Constitution and Agility

I closed my interface and marveled at the view that I never got tired of looking at. It was hot, August was in full swing, and it let itself be known as sweat formed almost instantly as I stared over my castle’s walls and out into the wide, green hills. The drink was cold in my hand, courtesy of the frost stones I’d dropped in there, but as I went to take a sip, I paused.

The familiar scent of whiskey burned deliciously in my nose, and my mouth watered as condensation dripped cool over my fingers. I wanted to drink it, wanted it very much. And that was the problem.

Magnus was right.

I pitched the entire glass over the edge in disgust and turned to go back inside as the glass shattered far below me.

I threw on a clean blue shirt and was about to go train with the girls. I opened the door and nearly walked into Adam as his fist raised to knock.

He froze, a half smile on his pale face as his dull golden eyes lit up with humor. “Well, we couldn’t have timed that better if we tried.”

“Adam!” I clapped him on the shoulders and gave him a huge bear hug.

“Okay, okay. I missed you too, buddy. Put me down!”

I released him and invited him in. He chuckled as he walked in and glanced around the room. “You know, you haven’t changed the room at all since the last time I was in here, three years ago.”

I shrugged and sat back on my bed. “What can I say, if it isn’t broken, why fix it?”

“Fair enough,” he said as the humor dropped from his eyes.

Damn, guess neither of us could keep it up for long. “Where’ve you been? We were worried about you.”

“Uh,” he said and tugged on his ear, not looking at me. “I went to bury Jess.”

“You went back to Magnus?”

Adam nodded. “Had to. I couldn’t leave her there.”

“What do you mean? Her body should’ve disappeared.”

He shook his head and sighed. “The bodies of guardians don’t fade, so hers stayed, as will mine and Nick’s when the time comes.”

“Where is she?”

“Machine City. Our old home. She liked it there, and no one will disturb her.”

Adam stared out the window, his mind miles away. I went over to my nightstand and poured him a glass of whiskey. I handed it to him and poured one for myself.

“To Jessica,” I said, raising my glass.

“To Jess.”

We drank, and I sighed as the fire burned down my throat. It was delicious.

He handed me the glass, and I sat them back where they belonged. “I hate to ask while you’re grieving, Adam, but we need to talk.”

Adam sighed and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, motioning me to follow as he walked out to the balcony. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them.”

“Okay…by the nine kings of hell, where do I start?” I threw my hands up and once again caught sight of my skin. “Let’s start with whatever the hell that crystal was Evelyn gave me?”

“I’ll tell you what I know, but it’s not much,” he said, leaning on the railing. “They’re called Shards of Divinity. Fragments of creation. Where they come from, what they can do, I don’t know. But from what I’ve seen, they defy reality, or maybe they transcend it. I didn’t get a chance to study them much before we entered the Ouroboros Project. Though I think I can say one thing for certain: I’m sure you’ve seen your character page, at what’s written there.

“They’re god-makers.”

“Gods?”

He nodded. “And not like the ones we programmed to help watch over Nexus. Actual divinity.”

“How did you get them?” I asked, my hands shaking.

“That’s a very long story for another time. But I do know that Jess chose you to be her Shardbearer. She liked you, even if she didn’t always show it.”

I paused, letting my mind absorb what Adam had told me. It was