Read Online The Queen's Flight (Emerging Queens) by Jamie K. Schmidt - Free Book Online Page B

we need to be serenaded?” Reed asked, folding his arms in front of him. Aggression poured off him in waves.
    Sergei listened with a half an ear while they bickered about the singer. Cassandra would have already struck Reed for his impertinence and perhaps had him punished. Either Carolyn didn’t understand her power or she truly was human, even though her scent was pure Queen—but not the type that made him want to kill. Carolyn smelled like leather-bound books and fresh cotton linen. He could sense papyrus and an Egyptian sensuality around her. He watched her with hooded eyes and wondered if her innocence was a trick.
    “He asked me out for dinner,” Carolyn said. “But I told him no. Maybe I could tell him I changed my mind, and he can help us with Viola?”
    “When were you going to mention that?” Reed bent low so he was in her face.
    Carolyn tilted her head. “When did you last talk to Mei Hua?”
    “What?” He reared back as she caught him off-guard. Sergei felt like he was watching a tennis match. If things with Viola weren’t so serious, he would have leaned back and enjoyed watching Reed get served.
    “When did she last text you?” Carolyn prodded him with a finger.
    Reed turned to Sergei, puzzlement in every line of his body. “Carolyn has this ridiculous idea that Mei Hua has her sights set on me to be her consort. I told her that I would only be her consort.”
    “Are you insane? If you refuse another Queen’s request, she’ll be in her rights to kill you,” Sergei said. That’s why he stayed far away from the Queens. They were corrupt and unreasonable. A stud would wind up dead or punished.
    Reed’s phone beeped and he glanced at it. “We got a hit on Viola’s credit card.” He texted it to Sergei. “Find her. Bring her back safe.”
    “Needle in a haystack,” Sergei grumbled, but he couldn’t wait to be out of this madhouse and actually doing something productive. He’d find her. Or he’d make enough noise that she’d find him.
    “Look on the bright side—if she shifts, you’ll be close enough to follow her scent, along with any other stud in a five-mile radius.” Reed smirked.
    “Horseshoes and hand grenades,” Sergei mumbled, and walked out of the safe house.
    Carolyn was waiting for him by the door. She was a squat, formidable thing, with a face like a triceratops. She was hovering above the ground, her wings buzzing like an enraged bumblebee.
    “Are you going to find Viola?”
    “I’m going to try.”
    “I was thinking about her hoard. She loves yarn, right? Check out the local yarn stores where you’re going. Not the big box stores, but a little intimate place where chicks gather to knit.”
    “They’re going to love me,” he said and burst into his dragon form and shot into the sky. The sky cleansed his soul after being inside with Arianna and Carolyn.
    If these were truly going to be his last few days of freedom before Kira told her successor who murdered her, he was going to enjoy the small things. The feel of the wind as he dove through the clouds reminded him of the fresh bite of victory after a battle. He would go out on his terms.
    He’d find Viola, kiss her senseless, fuck her, and then once that was off his mind, the Cult of Humanity could be dealt with to make sure they never cursed dragons again.
    If he died trying to eliminate them, well maybe someone would remember him fondly when the truth came out.

Chapter Eight
    After a dismal night’s sleep, Viola used the dregs of her energy to power a last-ditch attempt to pick up the motorcycle from where she’d dropped it. With her back to the bike, she crouched down and held on to the handlebar with one hand and the back seat with the other. Pushing herself to her feet, she used the momentum to lift it upright. It was slow going. Both she and the Harley almost ended up back on the ground. Tears streamed down her face, but eventually it was upright, and she and the screaming pain in her back were on the