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

"I won't let it," I said, but my words were hollow. I couldn't stop it; it had already proven as much.

I needed help, but Eris couldn't help me. She’d told me she couldn’t.

Aliria could, though, and she knew it.

What made everything worse was that I was playing right into her hands. Whatever game she was playing with me required me to steal Lachrymal’s Heart. They needed it, and this was just bait to reel me in.

"What are you offering?"

She smiled, and her kindness disappeared, back to her usual self. "You perform this task for us, and I can rid you of your monster."

There was no room for me to maneuver. She'd beaten me.

I would do anything to keep Eris safe, a fact that was too dangerous for my enemies to know. I was a puppet on strings, dancing for Aliria's amusement, to help achieve her and Magnus's goals. And I couldn't do anything against it. They had me hook, line, and sinker.

I wanted to scream at her, but I calmly made my way back to the table next to Magnus and Raven. I propped myself against the table and stared dead into Magnus’s eyes.

"All right, let's steal the heart of a god."

Chapter 5 - Rock and a Hard Place

Eris

It took a few minutes to calm myself down enough to speak without crying or screaming at my own helplessness. I wiped away what few tears managed to escape and composed myself. I took the hands of the children, and it helped.

Gil and Wilson looked at me with a mixture of concern and confusion. The others further down the table whispered about my outburst. Gil scratched his bald head and spoke first, his voice filled with worry.

"Eris, you all right? What's wrong?"

I tried to speak, but my words caught in my mouth, and I choked on them. I shook my head and tried again, but I had to force them out. “Sam's gone."

As soon as the words fled my mouth, my emotions threatened to spill out once more. I fought them down, held back my tears and squeezed Tegen and Chiera’s hands tight.

Gil drew his brows together, tilting his head. "Who's Sam?"

Oh no! In my despair, I didn't realize what I'd said. The fact that I let slip his name only sent me further into misery. I couldn't fight the tears that spilled over my cheeks.

"I meant Duran...please don't tell him I told you. He'll be angry with me."

Gil chuckled and grinned, trying not to break out laughing. He looked at me with a smile so warm, it made him glow. "Oh, girl. Have you seen the way that boy looks at you, and you at him? He isn't capable of getting angry at you."

He stood from the table and walked over to me. Gil leaned over and wrapped his humongous arms around me. He pressed his lips gently against the top of my head and whispered in my ear.

"Don't worry your pretty head. I won't tell him." Gil stood up to look at each of the members of the Guild. “None of us heard anything, isn't that right?"

A few yeahs and some nods of agreement rose from the table, all except one. Harper spoke up from further down. His bright orange hair and pale forehead were all I could see of him. "I heard what she said!" His voice held a devious joy in it. As if he was planning something.

Yumiko stood in a flash, her crimson eyes flared with anger. “Shut the fuck up, Harper. You didn’t hear shit.”

She brushed a lock of her beautiful black hair from her cheek and looked over to me. She gave me a curt nod and a twinge of a smile before sitting back down.

“Thanks, Yu,” Evelyn said, humor alight in her golden eyes as she looked over. “Now, what do you mean he’s gone?”

“He’s not in the castle. I don’t know where he is, but I know that it’s very far away, and that he’s afraid.”

“And how do you know this?” Wilson asked from the head of the table, a quizzical expression in his dark gray eyes.

"D and I are connected. He is my bonded, and we can feel each other, no matter how far we are.”

Gil whistled at that, which earned him a few chuckles from the others. Though Wilson didn't seem to fully comprehend what I meant, and I couldn't fault that. Humans don't have a frame of reference for bonding, and I'd be confused if I were in his place.

"So you can read each other's minds?" he asked, tugging at his full beard.

"No," I said, shaking my head. I’d expected that question and let out a small laugh. "Duran asked the same question when we first bonded, but no, we can't read each other's minds. We can only feel each other's emotions."

Wilson pursed his lips as he frowned, the lines at his eyes and forehead became pronounced as he sighed in frustration. He reached across the table to grab Gil's mug of ale.

"Hey!" Gil protested but didn't stop him.

Wilson chugged the contents and tossed the wooden mug onto the table. It rolled and splashed the last dregs of ale onto the wood, but nobody complained. Everyone was too lost in their own thoughts to worry about a little spill.

"I don't get it, but that's not important at the moment. Duran wouldn't leave without telling anyone, and with how attached the two of you have become, he definitely wouldn't leave without a word to you.” Wilson stood up from the table and looked at each one of us in turn. "That means Duran didn't leave here voluntarily."

"There is no way for anyone to get in and out of here without one of us noticing!" Gil shouted.

"That's