Black Queen (Shifters Among Us #3) - Lidiya Foxglove

Chapter One

Mina

I watched lights wink in the dusk as the airplane took off and took me away from everyone I knew. I felt like I was leaving behind the person I had always been. That girl was a pet.

I'm a Queen.

I wasn't so sure I trusted Viktor Castella, but I knew one thing: he said he was taking me to see my people. The 'Grandmothers'. He knew I was a Queen and I was determined never to act like a pet around him and let him control me.

Still, it would be nice if I could calm down the jitters in my stomach.

I hoped the Grandmothers could tell me how to use my powers so I didn't melt anyone's brain. Unless, of course, I wanted to melt someone’s brain…

Once we achieved cruising altitude and the lights of New York were quickly disappearing behind us, Viktor went to the bar and said, “You look like you could use something."

Alistair never liked me to drink, so it was weird to be offered. "Yeah, I definitely could."

“Are you a wine drinker, Mina?"

"I'm an everything drinker, honestly."

"Hm. Well, this is an excellent red." He poured me a glass and the first sip blew my mind a little, like I was drinking raspberries and flowers and maybe…leather? Something that tasted sexy.

"Do you have a beer?" Ansel said. "If we're going right to this part of the night?"

"He does, thanks to me," Decker said, rummaging in a small fridge behind Viktor. "I know you're a Guinness man."

"Excellent." Ansel popped the cap on an opener built in to the side of the bar and grinned at me, in a way I think was meant to reassure me.

I could tell Ansel was that kind of guy, one who would try to make a situation comfortable. He seemed so open and friendly, and I desperately needed someone like that, because no one around me was just...easy. I could also tell he was no pushover. He was alert to dangers and still projected confidence, which made me think that he wouldn't be quick to fight, but he could.

"So who's running the country, Vik?" Ansel asked casually.

“Vice President Bellairs, and the cabinet," Viktor said. "Diana is aware of the queens, as is my secretary of state. They know that the only real way to keep Istara safe and bring prosperity is to find the queens."

On the surface, Viktor reminded me of Alistair. They both seemed cold, secretive and emotionally distant.

"Is this your private plane?" I asked Viktor.

"Yes," he said. "I acquired this plane before the presidency...and better to use it now, because this is not presidential business--yet."

"It's nice," I said, because the one thing I could say about Viktor is that he clearly had style. The plane had a luxe 1970s interior, clearly original as it was an older plane, but with newer upholstery in a warm scarlet color and curtains in a red, white and gray op art pattern that complimented the old stuff without getting tacky. It was pretty flashy, almost something a bird would design. He probably just hired a decent bird designer, but Alistair basically lived in a white box of a room with a desk, a computer and a bed, like a robot.

Despite that, I felt a pang already, being away from him. I also felt relief to be free. I wondered if I would ever shake off that confusion...

"So you've been on the hunt for the queens a long time?" Ansel asked.

"I first heard of them in Europe," Viktor said. "As a boy. And I immediately sensed something about the story. It has long been my calling to serve as a queen's consort and bring the three of them together."

"Two down, one to go," Decker murmured.

"And then what? Do we just join hands and a healing rainbow shoots out or...?"

"Something like that," Viktor said, with a bemused look. "First things first."

"No, you can tell me everything now," I said. "If I'm really a queen, shouldn't I know everything I need to know?"

"I'm telling you what the grandmothers told me," he said.

I didn't believe him. But whatever. I'd find a different way around.

"It will be explained in Istanbul," he said, giving me a look that, I hated to say, stirred my loins. I was starting to think I liked older men. Viktor's eyes, and the cadence of his voice, had a quality that made me think he could handle anything life threw at him. I didn't have to know him for ten minutes to know he would never