Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (positive books to read .txt) 📕

put her collarbone at just above eye level. Her revealing shirt gave me a peek at her moderate chest.

I shouldn’t be focusing on that right now! There’re too many other, more important things to worry about right now than how nice her breasts are. Eris, control yourself!

I flicked my eyes away from the view and back to Reina, whose own widowed eyes seemed to be taking in me as well. She smiled sweetly at me and leaned in closer. “What to do with you, hmm? I think there’s a lot for us to talk about, and I want you to tell me everything,” she said, her smile not leaving me any room to negotiate as her face crept closer to mine.

I nodded, sweat beading on my forehead. “Let’s start at the beginning.”

And so, I told her everything.

I retold my story from the very start. My life a thousand years ago till that day, and through it all, Reina didn’t say a word until I’d finished my story and sat back up in her throne.

She smirked and turned toward me. “How far the once-mighty entomancers have fallen. Your entire species has been eradicated, just like the rest of the Hive─“

“Really? There’s none left?”

Reina shook her head. “The apocritans and mantearians have been gone for centuries, since long before we settled these woods.”

“What about the scorpius?” I asked, my hands shaking.

“Gone, too. Like us, some survived, but peace couldn’t be had, and they left.”

“When? Surely some must have survived all this time.”

“I don’t know. There isn’t anyone left alive from those times, and our records were destroyed in a fire. We have nothing left of our history, but stories passed from parents to child.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. In fact, it was the exact opposite; the worst thing I could have been told was that the history of the Hive was scattered to the wind.

“Why don’t you consult the Hive Mind, queen? I admittedly don’t know much about your kind, but the old stories told of your abilities. Surely the history is stored somewhere in that head of yours.”

I sighed, resting my palms on my thighs while resisting the urge to drum my fingers. “It’s not that simple. The Hive Mind is complex, mesmerizing in its vastness. If I linger or drift too deep, it becomes harder to pull myself of out. That and my limited magic makes trying incredibly dangerous.”

Throughout our conversation, the others had been very patient, letting me do the talking while they stood and listened, but Gil kept fidgeting, shifting balance from foot to foot, and Makenna had pulled out a book to read and sat cross-legged on the ground. Evelyn and Adam were barely listening; instead, they were absorbed in their own conversation. I was trying to not leave them out of the conversation, but Reina had no interest in them, and I had so many questions to ask that I forgot that they were with us in the room.

“Hey, Reina. Why do you insist on picking on her? You’ve been taking stabs at her this entire time,” Gil said, his deep voice only amplified by the echo in the room.

Reina scowled, her eyes shooting over to glare at Gil. “Human, while I’m thankful for your part in returning Cheira and Tegan to us, it is not enough to allow such insolence. Speak to me like that again, and I will devour you alive.”

The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant. The Gloom Knights shifted from abject boredom to defensive in a heartbeat, and Reina unfolded her limbs and revealed her sharp claws. The tension in the room was palpable, and I had to do something.

“Whoa, we didn’t come here to fight,” I blurted out, standing in a panic. “I came here to return the children and to meet you and the other Arachne. We’re friends.”

“Friends?” Reina asked skeptically. “Hardly. You’re a nuisance who dropped herself on my doorstep and complicated my life more than it already was. We’ve governed ourselves just fine for centuries, and all of a sudden, you entomancers come to fuck everything up.”

“What’s she like?” I asked when we’d all settled down.

“Aliria? She’s strong, capable. She waltzed in and overpowered my best fighters like it was nothing. She and her human lover both were unbelievably powerful.”

“Human lover?”

Reina nodded, grimacing at the thought. “You’re not the only one who’s taken a liking to the humans. But Magnus was something else. I honestly don’t know which was stronger.”

Her words hit me like a lightning bolt. And a collective gasp echoed from our side of the table. Magnus? Again? Who is he? And how does he tie into Aliria? What’s going on?

Reina furrowed her brow and pursed her lips slightly. “I take it you’ve heard of him.”

“He’s made our lives fucking hell for the last few weeks. What do you know about him?” Gil asked abruptly.

“Interesting,” she replied, her eyes lighting up with something I couldn’t place. She smirked and rose from her chair. “Let’s take this conversation outside, shall we?”

Without a word, Reina rose once more and walked past us as she headed toward the door. I gave the others a look. Gil shrugged and nodded, so we all followed after Reina.

She pushed open the doors and turned back to us as warm sunlight lit up her skin and eyes. “They came here around eight years ago now. Offering an alliance of sorts. The way Magnus spoke led me to believe he thinks something is coming—a war, or gods know what—but I refused. I didn’t trust him.”

“Why? What’s coming?” I asked as we shuffled outside.

She didn’t answer at first. Instead, she sauntered over the well-trodden dirt and went around the side of the palace to where a large stable was located. It was just as detailed and elegant as