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

“Miguel, a distributer of sorts. I thought he was calling about a job he keeps bugging me about, but its bad business. We really need to get going.”

“Get going as in right now or…can it wait a few minutes?” she purred in my ear.

I wound my hand over her cheek and brought her in close for a kiss. Her mouth parted, and her tongue met mine in a gentle embrace as her nails dug into my back. I took her lip between my teeth and bit down, drawing a single bead of blood that swirled iron-red over her lips.

“Harder,” she moaned.

I bit down just a little harder, savoring her blood as it washed over my tongue. Raven’s hand trailed over my chest and down my obliques as she slowly wrapped her hands around my length.

Before she could do anything with her hand, something poked my side, and I turned over to find Eris awake, sitting on her knees with one arm folded under her chest, the brown of her nipples barely covered, while her right hand jabbed into my side.

“No fair. You two started without me,” she said, frowning, almost pouting.

Raven peered around me, took one look at Eris’s pout, and burst out laughing. A full-bellied laugh that had her nearly rolling on the bed, shaking.

I tried to hold it in, but Raven set me off and I joined her in laughter.

All the while, Eris stared at us with the same expression on her face, which just set us off again when we stood up.

When I came to the second time, I pulled Eris in for a kiss because her face got so red, I thought she’d burst. Her frosty eyes quickly thawed after our lips touched. “Good morning, love.”

“Good morning, my bonded,” she said and looked around me to Raven. “Good morning, dear.”

“Same to you, sunflower,” Raven said to Eris, then turned to me. “So, I’m guessing we’re not going to pick up where we left off?”

“’Fraid not. We’ve got places to be, loves. Let’s get ready.”

We dressed and left the castle in under an hour. I wasn’t sure what to expect with Miguel, but he’d given the code that was designated critical emergency, so it had to be big.

It took just under four hours to fly to the outskirts of Arroyo and walk into town. It was quiet this afternoon, no ships docked at port, so most of the town was void of life. Our walk to the Gray Cask was uneventful. The worn stone building was quiet as we approached, and when we stepped down the steps into the bar itself, we were met with absolute silence.

The Cask was never closed, never this empty. It unnerved me so much that I immediately drew my sword and stepped in. The multitude of wooden tables were empty, their chairs on top of them. The bartender was nowhere to found, and only one occupant sat silent at the bar, nursing a bottle of brandy.

Miguel’s fancy black shirt and pants were wrinkled, his oil-slick hair disheveled, and his rich brown skin was pallid, like he’d had hadn’t slept.

He took a sip of his drink and waved me down. “Put your sword away, Duran. No one’s here.”

“The Cask never closes.”

“It does today, kiddo. Maybe never to open again.”

I took another look around, and my instincts told me that Miguel was telling me the truth, so I sheathed my sword and stepped fully into the bar. Eris and Raven fell in behind me, and Miguel looked from me to them and dismissed them, turning to face me.

“Take whatever you want from the bar, my treat.”

“I’m good─”

“Thank you, Miguel. Sam speaks highly of you,” Raven said as she meandered behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of top shelf whiskey.

He let out a bark of laughter. “You’re a terrible liar, but I appreciate the sentiment,” he said, brushing his fingers through his hair. “Sam, huh? You look like a Sam.”

I shrugged. “What’s this about?”

“It’s bad. I got the most recent batch of mushrooms, the Gloam, from your mage and started selling them. Things were going well; people couldn’t get enough of them, and we raked in a mountain of gold.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“We fucked up, both of us.” Miguel threw his hands up. “From what your mage told me, he didn’t have time to test the mushrooms, and I didn’t vet them before I started selling them.”

“Oh shit, don’t tell me─”

“They’re not poisonous or anything, but they are incredibly addictive, and people can easily overdose from them.”

“So were the Gloom Shrooms, what’s the difference?”

“The Gloom never killed one of the Compass Kings’ sons.”

“Godsdamn it, who?”

Miguel sighed and downed his brandy while I waited for an answer. “Fabian Clark.”

“Gerrard Clark’s only son. Fuck.”

“Right,” he said, pouring him another drink. “No one cares when it’s a nobody, but soon as someone important dies, everyone is up in arms.”

I sighed and absentmindedly reached for the bottle of whiskey next to Raven. She moved it just as my fingers brushed it, and my hand closed around empty air. She smiled at me and placed her hand over mine. “You told me you’re trying to quit.”

“Thanks,” I said and went back to the task at hand. “Okay, so what’s the backlash? We can handle the vengeance of one king.”

Miguel stood up suddenly, his wooden barstool tipping back and clacking against the uneven stone floor. “You don’t get it. It’s not just one king. It’s all of them, and they brought in Kincaid, too.”

My blood ran cold. “By the nine kings of hell.”

“You understand now?”

“We can’t take on the Merchants Guild.”

“We flew in their faces too long; you know as well as I how swift and terrible their retribution will be.”

“How bad