Page 70 of Midnight Queen

They’re lined up like death row prisoners on their way to the electric chair. Quincey is their warden now, but I’m more than happy to take on their role as their executioner.

“I know exactly how much each of you bid on my blood.” She blows out a low whistle of astonishment as she continues her slow weave through them. “I’ll admit, I’m a little flattered you were willing to spend that much on me. Makes me all warm and tingly inside.” She pauses in front of a bald man and her face darkens. “But it wasn’t my blood you really wanted, was it? You wanted what it symbolized. A way to hurt Silas.”

I realize now that while our anger is the same, we are feeling it for two different reasons. I’m angry that they would try and steal her blood away from her, but Quincey is angry onmybehalf. It’s become my mission and sole priority in life to protect Quincey, and now she’s returning the favor.

Her face pulls in a sneer. “You probably thought no one would ever find out that it was you, but I did.” She walks with calm, unhurried movements to the man at the end of the line. His head is bowed in utter defeat. “I knew exactly who you were when you arrogantly stood in front of me, blabbing on about how relieved you were that I was alive and well.” Her hand smooths down the dark red silk scarf he wears as she purrs, “I told you I’d see you again, Álvaro.”

The Spaniard slowly raises his head and his eyes lock with the distraught-looking Bria in the pews. She stands with her hand covering her mouth in disbelief.

Bria turns from her mate and seeks me out. When her gaze lands on me, her head shakes. “I didn’t—I didn’t know. I had nothing to do with this.” Her voice shakes, something I’ve never heard from her. Bria’s unwavering confidence is what she’s known for. “Silas, believe me. I would never…” She can’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

“It’s true, she didn’t.” Quincey nods in confirmation. “She was completely in the dark about who she was sharing her life with. Poor girl was so snowed that she didn’t even know that for years now, her man has been stealing from her.”

There have been multiple instances over the years of Bria’s shipments coming up short. She’s accused her vendors and of course, they all denied it, but she never believed them. Bria dealt with them in ways she felt were appropriate, but in light of this new information, she’s realizing that she’s taken innocent lives and punished the wrong people.

“How’d you do it, Álvaro? My theory is you raided the ships before they could make it to port.” Quincey’s right. That would have been the time when the shipments were most vulnerable.

The disbelief morphs into hatred, and Bria’s muscles wind so tight, she looks like she’s going to spring over the pews and attack him herself. “Howcouldyou?”

Álvaro looks blandly back at her. The passion that was always in his eyes when he looked at his mate is nowhere to be found. He doesn’t resemble the man I’ve known for years. “It was business.”

Did he ever truly love her?

“He thought he could use you the same way Gideon thought he could use me as a ploy to hurt Silas,” Quincey turns around and addresses the group of vampires that watch with uneasy eyes. “As you can all see, I don’t take kindly to such behavior.”

“So, you’re going to…what? Kill them all right here in front of us?” Rowena barks an unimpressed laugh. “You don’t possess the gumption to kill something as inconsequential as an ant under your shoe, but you want me to believe you can take areallife.”

I think killing them all is a great plan. My fingers twitch at my sides, itching to do just that, but it’s no surprise to me that my love has other ideas. She’s proving she can be as cunning as the rest of them, but she knows when she shouldn’t cross the line.

Quincey’s nature is to spare lives, not take them.

“No, I don’t need to kill anyone. I think I’ve done a fairly good job at getting my message across.”

You want to punish someone or send a message, Silas? Fine, but send it to someone who can grasp just how truly fucked they are.When she said those words to me, I thought she was referring to the situation with Gideon only. Little did I know she was secretly talking about her overall plan.

And the vampires here truly see how fucked they are if the information Quincey has on them gets out. She scared them without drawing a single drop of blood.

She was right, delivering a message to people who can fully understand it is so much more satisfying. The nervousness and worry coming off the vampires are palpable. And the fact that it was Quincey who caused it makes it all the better.

Quincey told me she was ready for this world and that she wasn’t scared, I believed in her then, but watching her now prove it to everyone else in this room is one of the most magnificent things I’ve ever witnessed.

“Killing each of them would mean my message ends here, and that would defeat the whole purpose of this meeting.” Quincey takes Álvaro’s chin in her hand and forces him to look at her. His lips pull back in a warning snarl, his fangs extended, but she doesn’t flinch. “I want you to leave here and spread your cautionary tale. Tell them how bad you fucked up, and how I still had mercy for you even though I had every reason to want to blow off your head.”

Quincey shifts to stand next to me, creating a united front. I’ve never had a desire to rule with anyone at my side and now can’t imagine ever doing this without her again. Her levelheadedness will counteract the days that I act rashly, and her fiercely protective side means she will always be in my corner.

“The rest of you should also share what you saw here tonight too. The faster the news gets out that I’m here to stay and I’m not playing games, the better,” she tells the people sitting in the pews. “If we’re all on the same page, we’re pretty much done here. You’re all free to go.”

The vampires in the pews hesitate like they aren’t sure if they’re truly allowed to leave. Multiple sets of eyes flick to me for confirmation. “Why are you looking at me? She told you to leave.”

A mass quantity of them don’t need to be told a third time and scurry to the exit without a look back.

Before one of them can get too far, I call out his name, my booming voice echoes through the vaulted ceilings. “Pietro! You don’t honestly believe I’d let you leave this place, do you?”

If it hadn't been children he was trafficking through my port, I would have made his death swift, but now I plan on strapping him to a post and allowing the sunrise to burn him away. It’ll be slow and painful. Each second of agony will be payment for every child he ever hurt.

“Sir…” he tries to defend his actions, but I silence him with a single look.

I motion to the guards that have been standing silently by the door that leads to the cellar. In a flash of an eye, they’ve detained the offensive vampire. “Deal with him at sunrise. I don’t want his life to be prolonged longer than necessary,” I order them as they drag him past where we stand with our backs to the basement door.

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