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

strongly caution you not to try it again if I were you.”

With a nod, the paralysis on my body vanished, and I could move again, though the world was still awash with gray. How is this possible? Dance should’ve timed long ago.

“How are you doing this?”

He shrugged and turned, walking back to his throne, the dark mantling of his cloak slapping against his emerald tunic. As he sat back down, he snapped his fingers and Dance shattered.

My battle fatigue rose to nearly max, and exhaustion sunk into my muscles, robbing my already-fading strength. I sank to my knee as sweat ran in rivulets down my forehead, dripping into my eyes.

Aliria glanced back at me with delight in her eyes. “I guess you were about to try something foolish.”

“He was, though you deserve a bit of foolishness. Try to refrain from harming our guest going forward.” Magnus glanced down at me, nearly collapsed from blood loss and fatigue. “Ah, let me ease your discomfort.”

Another snap, and my exhaustion vanished in an instant. Strength returned to my limbs, and my battle fatigue dropped to zero. I was back in perfect condition, and I had no idea how it was possible.

“There, good as new,” Magnus said with a wry grin. “Now that our little drama has ended, I’d like to invite you to dinner.”

"It's midnight."

"I'll see you in an hour, then."

Without another word, he stood and strolled out of the throne room, Aliria nipping at his heels. As the door to the throne room opened, the maid who'd led me here was waiting patiently outside the door, her russet hair covering the side of her face.

Aliria looked at me with a dark grin. "If you need anything before dinner, just ask Jasmine. She's programmed to receive."

Then she was gone, and I was left standing in the hallway of a strange place, and my only company was a maid. Yeah, that’s about par for the course with my life lately.

“Follow me.”

Jasmine escorted me back through the maze of identical hallways to my room, and even I had to admit, it was the nicest prison cell I'd ever been in. Expensive wooden furniture and a bed big enough to fit half a dozen full-grown men. Magnus hasn't said it, hasn’t even come close to saying it, but I'm a prisoner here. I was held here against my will, by his mere presence, for I could do little else.

I walked over to the bed and sat down, sinking deep into its luxurious softness. The dark comforter was like lying on a cloud, and I hated it. The bed was far too comfortable. I'll never be able to get any sleep on it. But it was only half because of the bed.

Gods, I miss Eris. We didn't get to spend hardly any time together on the road, and now this. Seems like months since I've seen her.

Out of habit, I checked our connection. She's sound asleep, dreaming deeply. It wasn't much, but the fact she was safe and sleeping comfortably was a huge relief. Muscles I didn't even know were tense uncoiled themselves, and relief eased my troubled mind.

Now that my guard was lowered, I took note of my body—namely, my stomach. It screamed in protest, probably thinking my throat had been cut.

I tried to put my hunger out of mind and went to wash up. The only other door in the room led to a bathroom, and I just stared in amazement. If I thought the bathroom I'd built was large before, I'll need to reevaluate. To call it a bath was laughable, as it was the size of a swimming pool and sank deep into the floor.

Whereas my bathroom was all stone, Magnus had a flair for the ostentatious, floor to ceiling wood, vibrant hues of chestnut through mahogany. The warm air hit me as I stepped through the door.

Magnus knows how to impress; I'll give him that. The steam rising off the water in the bath was tantalizing, too much for me to resist. Even if I was clean, the hot water would help ease my apprehension.

I stripped out of my extravagant clothes, tossed them aside and walked down the steps to bask in the heat that licked my skin with the perfect amount of warmth.

I'm surprised Magnus had the foresight to set the temperature ahead of time, but with Aliria around, he's probably well-versed in entomancer body heat.

"Shit." Eris isn't going to take the news of her mother being alive very well.

From what she told me, Eris and her mother hadn't had the easiest relationship. Her family had caused so much pain in her life, but never again. She's a threat, and I don't care that she's Eris's mother. I'll kill Aliria if it means protecting Eris.

Assuming I even can.

I waded through the chest-high water to reach a shelf on the far wall. It was laden down with all manner of soaps and wash rags. I picked one at random and set about scrubbing myself clean. I ran soap through my hair and looked around for a brush to help detangle a few knots that had accrued. I searched in vain. My brush is with the rest of my supplies back at Gloom-Harbor. I'm defenseless here. Well, almost. Even if I didn't have my gear, I still had my class Abilities.

I pulled up my character page.

Character Name: Durandahl

Level: 51

Exp: 4100/5100

Race: Hybrid (Hive)

Class: Hive Knight

Reputation: Wanted Criminal

Bounty: 1300 Gold

Stats (-)

Strength: 100 (80)

Sub-Stats (-)

Attack Damage: 30

Constitution: 100 (80)

Sub-Stats (-)

Health: 25

Health Regen: 25

Durability: 15

Endurance: 75 (50)

Sub-Stats (-)

Battle Fatigue: 10

Battle Fatigue Regen: 10

Agility: 50 (30)

Sub-Stats (-)

Attack Speed: 15

Movement Speed: 10

Wisdom: 25 (5)

Sub-Stats (-)

Mana: 20

Luck: 0 (10)

Charisma: 0 (0)