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

The bags disappeared into Adam’s pocket as the memory faded away.

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but even though I’d never seen them before, I knew whatever those gems were, they were important.

The final memory came in quickly.

The whitewashed walls of the room shook. Dust rained from the cracks in the ceiling as it buckled. Desks and chairs toppled to the ground as a low pounding thrummed with each pulse of my heart.

Evelyn and Adam were in the center of the room, their guns in their hands as they stood back to back.

“Why the hell did I let you talk me into following you?” Evelyn asked as something flashed by the cracked, grimy window that looked out to midnight sky.

“Because it was this or death. Edna said this building had the best bet of keeping us safe.”

“Actually, I said that this location offered a thirty-two percent chance of survival, which was marginally higher than any of the surrounding buildings,” Edna chimed in from the device at Adam’s wrist.

“Fucking perfect,” Evelyn said, her gun booming as another flash crawled over the window. There was a spurt of blood, a long howl of pain, and then a bone-crunching thud a second later. “They’re going to swarm us in the next five minutes if we don’t get out of here!”

“And go where? The street’s crawling with dozens of them!”

Adam pressed a button on the side of his gun, and it changed with whine. A ghoul I hadn’t seen crawled into the room, and Adam jammed the front of his gun into its mouth and pulled the trigger.

It exploded into a cloud of ash and fire.

“Damn it, you know what we have to do.”

Evelyn nodded, ejecting a slim block from the bottom of her gun and replacing it with an identical one. “I don’t like it, don’t know what it’ll mean for our future, but it’s this or not having a future at all.”

Adam let out a heavy sigh, sounding ancient as he pulled the bags holding the gems from his pocket. He tossed one to Evelyn and held the other in his palm. “You ready for this?”

“Nope,” she said and tipped the bag over, letting the bright amber gemstone rest in her hand.

As soon as it touched her bare skin, it began to glow. A bright orange light radiated from the center of the crystal, and the same light pulsed from Adam’s hand as well.

“Shit!” Evelyn hissed as the shard began smoldering and seared her flesh as it burrowed into her palm. With one last grunt of pain, the gems was gone, leaving behind a single thick scar in each of their palms.

“By the nine kings of hell, that hurt like a bitch,” Adam said, clutching his hand.

“Agreed, but is that it?”

“I don’t kn─“ Adam began but let out a low groan of pain.

“James!” Evelyn shouted and took a step toward Adam, but she sunk to her knees in pain.

They both stared at each other, and for a split second, their eyes light up a bright gold, the golden tint I’d come to know them by.

Before they could speak again, bright orange light spilt from their chests and illuminated through their veins. They both doubled over, whimpering as the light grew until even I had to avert my eyes.

The light built and built until it became a blazing white and obliterated my entire view.

It threw me out of the Mnemosyne, and I bolted upright, gasping, holding back a scream.

I was in a room that I’d never been in before. The natural wood walls and iron chandelier that hung above my head reminded me of Reina’s palace; the hand-carved furniture matched as well.

“You’re finally awake,” Reina said from beside me. She was sitting in a chair with a hand-sewn green cushion, reading a book bound in smooth bark. She looked up and put down the book as I sat up properly. “You’ve been out for a while.”

Before I could even form a reply, an itch crept from the back of my head. It was panic, an overwhelming amount of panic. I smiled despite the worry my bonded was feeling. Sam. I’m all right. I promise, my love. I poured as much love and reassurance I could to him, and when his sweeping relief swept over me, I knew he knew I was okay.

Reina noted my smile and drew her lips up to mirror me. “Your human lover was quite worried about you. He kept ‘calling’ the big, ebony human, trying to make sure you were okay. Though from what I heard, he has much bigger problems to worry about right now than you.”

“What?” I asked, nearly shouting at her. “What’s going on with Sam?”

“I don’t care.”

Reina rose from her chair and place a firm hand on my shoulder as I attempted to get out of bed.

“Not so fast, Eris. We still have much to discuss.”

I calmed down and checked over myself, making sure I was okay. It was then that I realized I was clean—and completely nude.

“Where are my clothes?”

“Ruined, given the giant hole in them. I’ll have some fresh ones brought in for you once we finish talking.”

“Okay…what do you need to talk to me about?”

She sat next to me on the bed, her body turned toward me. “You accomplished something I thought impossible for you. I was sure you were going to die at Misumena’s hands, but you surprised me and killed her instead. First and foremost, you have passed the trial and are worthy of the title Hive Queen. Even Aliria couldn’t defeat Misumena, though she was alone.”

“So you’ll help us?” I asked.

“We’ll see. It’s not in my nature to take sides before I know the stakes, but honestly, I’d rather support you