Page 9 of Their Blood Queen
She rules by power alone, just like I do as the Elite City King.
She’s a better ruler than I am. The city lights blink through her, my magic that allows me to speak to her working only through reflections, so I can’t truly appreciate her form in its entirety.
Mirrors are portals to other worlds, as well as faraway places.
Like Monster City, the hub between the ever-increasing realms and dimensions, with new monsters appearing every year.
New opportunities.
New alliances.
New hope.
“What about me?” she whispers innocently, but the wickedness in her sharp, silvery gaze is anything but.
We were lovers, once.
It nearly destroyed this realm. Helia brings out the worst in me, and I in her.
And the fact that she brings it up now means she’s definitely feeling off.
“You know what would happen,” I casually inform her as I allow my gaze to shift through her and focus on the city instead. “Perhaps I do need a mate, though.”
But does such a mate truly exist?
It’s been centuries of cultivating the highest-quality mates for even the most powerful monsters, but one has never been born for me.
None that has ever survived, anyway.
Maybe not all monsters are worthy of one.
I certainly have done unspeakable things. No matter what excuses I try to make, I am a monster through and through.
A soft hiss comes from the reflection, and I flick my focus back to Helia’s dark form. A shimmer of scales ripples over her body. She rarely wears any clothes. Her naked appearance isn’t very human in that her breasts are full and rounded with no nipples—any spawn she might create wouldn’t feed on milk.
The dip between her thighs is solidified, and it only opens when aroused and ready to mate. It’s not unusual for powerful female monsters to have bodies that naturally protect themselves against procreation with the wrong specimen.
If a male can’t arouse her, he’s not worthy.
Her nakedness doesn’t bother me. It isn’t lewd. Rather, it’s attractive in a fascinating way. She looks as if she’s wearing a tight suit made of silky amethyst and it’s styled perfectly for her long frame.
However, some things about her have changed.
I frown at the unusual spikes that sprout along her forearms and the new armored scales that indent around her abdomen and chest—areas that cover vital organs.
Even Helia has a heart in there somewhere.
The male beneath her whimpers, her nails having gone to his nape in a punishing grip. Blood trickles from the slight punctures she has created.
“Helia?” I ask, because this isn’t like her.
She’s not cruel to her playthings.
And her monster form seems to be preparing for battle and sex all at the same time, something I’ve never seen it do.
A tremor goes through her when I say her name, as if I’ve reminded her that we’re still talking. She flicks out her tongue and gently releases the male. He scrunches in on himself as though trying to become small.
“Go, Jason. I’ve no further need of you,” she says, and if I’m not mistaken, I swear I can hear a note of apology in her tone.