Blood of the Wolf: The Crown (Mackenzie Grey Book 11) by Karina Espinosa (best ebook reader under 100 .txt) 📕

I tossed the sheets off angrily and swung my legs over the bed. I stepped into my slippers and started to stand.

“Where are ye going, Mackenzie?” Alexander held out his hands to stop me or keep me from falling.

Without meeting his eyes, I focused on regaining my balance. “I need to get dressed. I need to go see it for myself.”

“Are ye mad?” Alexander yelled. “Yer going to get yerself killed!”

I grabbed a pillow and tossed it across the room with enough force, it knocked over a vase. Shards of glass littered the ground.

“How do you expect me to just sit here while that demon is killing children?” I exclaimed. “It has no remorse, no soul! It’s going to continue killing and creating chaos until we stop it!” Infuriated, I slowly walked to my closet where I changed into slacks, a sweater, and a pair of shoes. I stepped out of the closet to find Alexander and Ranulf arguing.

“She has to address the people!” Ranulf shouted. “They must see their Queen!”

“She has to protect the baby!” Alexander thundered in response.

“And I will,” I said as I walked toward them, feeling calmer. “Nothing will happen to me and the baby, but Ranulf is right. I must do my duty as Queen and go see my people. I can’t hide here forever.”

Ranulf nodded and led the way out of the room. I followed him, leaving Alexander behind.

Surrounded by a horde of bristling Queen’s Guards, we marched over the drawbridge and into the village. The cobblestone streets were empty, due to the guards securing everyone in their homes and enacting a curfew.

My guards led the way through a maze of streets, deep into a part of the village where I’d never been before. When we reached the southwest sector, I knew we had arrived because the area was taped off and there were guards posted all around the area. A white sheet covered each body lying on the ground. I scanned the location, noting we were in a residential part of the village; a small grocery store was on the corner and a daycare was across the street. The sight of the daycare made me nauseas.

How many children had been in there? How many were victims, and how many were witnesses to the horror that unfolded?

“What do we know?” I demanded.

One of the guards who had been kneeling on the ground, checking a body, tugged the sheet back up and stood to face me. He bowed deeply. “Your Majesty,” he said with an American accent. I hadn’t realized we employed any American guards. “From the looks of it, our preliminary theory is that everyone died of suffocation. The onlookers on the other street said that everyone just started gasping for air, clutching their throats until they collapsed to the ground. Anyone who entered the area to help, immediately lost oxygen and succumbed to the same death.”

“Did they see anyone suspicious in the area? Someone they didn’t know?” I asked, my frown deepening.

“No one.” The guard shook his head sadly. “I’ll continue to question the witnesses.”

I nodded. “Good. What’s your name?”

“Asher, Your Majesty. I’ll be leading the investigation with Ranulf.”

I held out my hand for him to shake. “Nice to meet you, Asher. I expect daily reports. Hourly, if anything new appears.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He bowed and excused himself to get back to work.

With a small contingent of my guards and Ranulf, I walked the impacted streets with the hope of finding any clues.

“What are ye thinking, Yer Majesty?” Ranulf asked as he walked beside me.

I sighed. “I don’t understand why he would do this. I met with him. I did as he asked.”

“There is no honor in a demon, Yer Majesty,” he chided.

Suddenly, I felt stupid for believing Abaddon’s promise. Now that I thought about it, he’d also promised not to hurt me, but ended up throwing me over a cliff.

“How do we secure the village from his attacks if he can literally cut off someone’s oxygen? How do you fight against a power that extreme?” I looked around, completely at a loss for my next steps.

“I don know, Yer Majesty,” Ranulf muttered. “I’m just as perplexed as ye are.”

“Surround the Queen!” one of the guards yelled. I was quickly surrounded by a wall of lycan.

“What’s going on?” I asked as Ranulf pushed past the wall to the front.

Thundering feet ran around me from all directions and I didn’t know if people were running away or towards the danger. All I knew was that I was in a protective bubble and couldn’t see what was going on outside until I heard Ranulf scream in agony.

“Ranulf!” I yelled and tried to push past the guards, but they refused to budge. I slammed my fists on their backs to let me through, but they didn’t even flinch. “Move, damnit! That’s an order!”

They hesitated for a moment before making a small gap to let me through. I found Ranulf on his knees at the front of their formation, clutching his throat and gasping for air. Twenty feet ahead, covered in shadows was a figure we couldn’t see. I instinctively knew it was Abaddon. Rather bold of him to return to the scene of the crime this soon, but then again, most criminals did.

I dropped to my knees beside Ranulf and grabbed his shoulders. His eyes were wide as he tried vainly to breathe. I’d never seen him in such a vulnerable state since I’d known him.

“Stop!” I yelled at Abaddon. “I said stop! What do you want?”

He tsked. “You didn’t follow directions, and these are the consequences.”

“What?” I furrowed my brows, trying to divide my attention between Ranulf’s seizing form and Abaddon’s shadowy one.

“I told you to see me alone. You did not listen.”

He knew. He knew I wasn’t alone. How? The Valkyries were so careful! There was no way he knew they were in the sky, hovering above us.

“Fine,” I relented. “I