Viktor's eyes were narrowed. "Not...yet. I'm bringing Alistair here to be with you, Mina. But his flight hasn't departed yet."
"Alistair!? Here?"
"What sort of car is it?" Viktor asked Ansel.
"That is a Jaguar," Ansel said. “Waylon's dream car. He made me take him to a car show once just to sit in one and play pretend games for a few minutes."
"Untie me," Viktor said.
"Nice try, but no,” I said. “Whoever it is, they can chillax and you can continue to tell me what your planned to do with me."
"It's Rohan," Viktor said. "He's worth eight hundred million dollars, he has some very dangerous friends, and if you don't enjoy me controlling your thoughts, I can promise you'll like him even less when I'm not exerting any influence over him. You know what I've done for shifters in Istara--at least give me the benefit of that."
"And if we hadn't tied you up, when Rohan showed up, you'd have us all wrapped around your finger," Ansel said.
"Please," Viktor growled as the door knocker sounded.
"Tonight, we untie you and see to Rohan," I said. "Tomorrow, you give me the pendants that belong to the other queens and you take my bands off and then you tell me ev-ve-ry-thing." I slid every syllable off my tongue.
"I swear to you on my mother's grave, Mina Nash," he said.
Pets never got their last names to keep with them. I only knew that name from my ID and passport and occasionally the bouncers and bartenders at shifter clubs would use it, like a secret we shared. Viktor knew the weight it had for me.
"Untie him," I told Ansel, as the door creaked open downstairs and I heard a man downstairs.
The voice was low, with a musical, cheerful quality that had a vaguely threatening undertone. I knew this voice well. A lot of powerful people had this way of ordering people around. ”Hello there, Viktor! Are you home? It's your old pal Rohan...and do we ever need to talk.”
Viktor looked at me with a half-grin that suggested he could take care of Rohan…as long as he wasn’t tied up and shoved onto a bed. “I must say, my dear,” he said in his softest tone, “that was unexpectedly devious. Good job.” He went to the door. “You might want to change.”
Damnit.
He was still really sexy.
Chapter Thirty-One
Frankie
When we came home, there was a whole crowd of shifters gathered in front of Merrymore, and Esther was holding a bouquet of flowers. Actually, a lot of people had flowers for me this time. When I stepped out, they all cheered and applauded and some of them even hugged me. Wolves were huggers. My guys hurried to protect me from my sudden fan club.
"What is this?" I was confused by the warm welcome. "Calm down, everybody. It wasn't exactly...successful."
The shifters broke into loud outrage that I would dare suggest this. "You used your powers! We saw the video on the internet too! It was sooo cool! Like magic!" a young cat shifter boy exclaimed, practically exploding from his dad's arms with his excitement to see me.
"It was magic," I said, smiling a little. I'd never had a dad, but this dad had obviously brought his excited son out past his bedtime in the cold just to see our return, and that was pretty damn cool.
"The humans never thought the prophecy would come true. They're freaking out," a bird shifter girl with a pink streak in her hair said.
I was still worried, thinking about that. I wondered if a bomb might just drop on us in the night.
"Frankie, there is a lot of support for you too," Esther said. "Lots of humans want us to come together too, and what decent people saw today was a young woman being attacked by a bunch of tough older men and winning. On behalf of all petite, unassuming women of all species...i think that resonates." She handed me the flowers. "Enjoy your victory. It's only the start. You don't just have enemies everywhere, but friends, too."
I felt my guys just behind me, supporting me, Ian and Waylon's hands on my back as I slowly made my way through the people--a hundred of them, at least. It was cold and dark outside, under the stars, and they had come to share my first homecoming after going out to fight for them as the Black Queen.
I clasped and shook hands, kissed a few babies, all of it very surreal. Despite all the things that went wrong, they just saw...
A hero?
Someone to fight for them after thousands of years?
Is that what they see?
I knew it was, because when I was a little girl, living with Ian's family while not having a family of my own, learning survival more than I learned math or English, I would have loved to have a me to look up to. A girl with my kind of power. Seeing that girl put the humans on defense.
Dugan was there in his wolf form, giving Ian and the other wolves a nod of approval. The birds gave us dignified bows of respect. Michelle was grinning ear to ear. "Cats are getting it done."
"Did you get to use any of the bombs?" Aurelia asked Waylon.
"I attached them to a van and it drove off," Waylon growled.
"I think you're supposed to push the button," she said.
"Darius' sister was in there, you little punk. I'm not going to blow her up."
"Damn. So you didn't do anything?"
"I located the van."
"Oh. Sounds hard. Jeez, one of you guys help him find the van next time."
"Get outta here." Waylon gave her arm the classic impatient-cat swat to shoo away a kitten. I found it very endearing.
"I brought a medical unit to the house to look at your leg, Waylon," Esther said, pointing to a pair of vehicles parked at the side of the house. "And if anyone else has any injuries, please have them looked at now."
"We're okay," Ian said.
"You look quite bruised," Esther said to Flor.
"Nothing more than that," he said dismissively.
Having greeted everyone, the shifters pulled back a little, respecting our space, and we went into the house, except for Waylon, whom Esther dragged off to the medical unit over protest.
She left out food for us too, and Flor and Ian tore into some sandwiches. I just ate one tiny tin of fancy smoked fish, a treat I could never afford at home.
"Fancy Feast, huh?" Flor teased me.
I stuck out my tongue at him, but I couldn't stop smiling and tearing up at the same time.
I had changed on this trip. I had used my powers, for the very first time, with full awareness.
Next time, it will be easier. And the time after that, even easier.
The thought was terrifying but thrilling.
"I want you both to come to bed with me tonight," I said. "And Waylon too. All of you."
"All three of us in the same bed?" Ian asked, while trying to swallow a mouthful of sandwich.
"Yes. That's what I need tonight. And probably...many nights. It was a long day, and the thought of choosing one of you...just makes me tired. Besides that, I keep thinking about having five orgasms in a row and how it wasn’t actually that bad…”
"Damn," Ian said huskily.
"Bold demand," Flor said. "I like it."
"Good," I said. I didn't know if they'd go for it, but I was feeling ready to rule. I really did need this. I needed my family together, close to me, to wipe away the death and destruction and replace it with pleasure and life.