Page 47 of Queens Will Play

The others were engaged in fighting at least five of the shandigoes, and another three were crumpled to the floor, dead. I slowly stood up, feeling the Moon Mother rising from deep within me. Staring forward, ignoring everything going on around me, I walked into the center of the cavern and held out my hands.

“Camille?” Morio spoke, but I could barely hear him. Instead, I kept my focus. I was here to destroy these creatures. I was here to protect, to stop them from feeding on the innocent and helpless.

I turned to the others and motioned for them to get out of the way. They quickly scrambled back as I held my arms wide and slowly began to turn in a circle. I was running solely on instinct, solely on what the Moon Mother was pushing me to do. As I began to spin, dark silvery beams began to emanate from my fingertips, and I felt like a blade, spinning on a saw, cutting my way through the danger.

The creatures began to back away, but I shook my head.

“No,” I whispered. “You don’t get to run away from this.”

I began to point at first one creature, then another. The silver beams washed over them like a moonlit spotlight, and—bathed in moonlight and magic—they began to shriek and convulse, their massive heads pulsating. I began to thrust the energy toward them, harder, and this time the beams were shaped like arrows, and their tips pierced the bulbous heads, ripping through them like a skewer through meat. The creatures began to shriek, one by one, as I let the Moon Mother destroy my enemies, using me as her conduit.

I laughed, dropping my head back, delighting in their destruction, reveling in the carnage. For one moment, I felt desperately afraid of myself, but as her laughter—which was my laughter—died away, the Moon Mother withdrew. The energy of the Hunt began to fade, for the Moon Mother was above all, a goddess of magic and the Hunt.

As I stood there, staring at the creatures, now silent on the floor, the pain of the venom came flooding back and I bent over, grimacing. Morio, who was closest to me, caught hold of me.

“Camille, are you all right?” he swept me up in his arms.

I shivered, resting my head against his shoulder. “I’m not sure what happened, but I feel like crap.”

“Come on, we’ll take you home,” he whispered. As we passed Wilbur, I saw that he was busy gathering up bits and pieces of the shandigoes. He deserved his payment for helping us.

We emerged from the cave, and Morio sat me down on the ground. He squatted beside me, rubbing my shoulders as the others emerged.

“I don’t know what happened,” I said, before anybody could ask me any questions. “But they’re gone, so Marion and Douglas should be safe now.” Again, my stomach cramped, and I moaned. “I need to see a healer.”

“We’ll head off the astral,” Smoky said as everyone gathered around. “If you’re sure they’re all gone?”

I nodded. “Trust me, I know they’re gone,” I said. And it was true. In my gut, this group of critters had bit the dust big time. They wouldn’t be bothering Marion again. Maybe, in the future, new ones might find their way to her, but that would be a different battle, and a different story.

“All right, let’s get Camille home and to a healer. Your advisors are going to pitch a fit,” Menolly said. She froze. “I have to go. It’s nearly morning. While it’s not sunrise yet, I can’t take a chance.”

“Let’s go,” Shade said.

Smoky gathered me up, and—with Menolly wrapping her arms around him so he could focus on holding me—one by one, our little group began to vanish, jumping off the astral, back into the world we all knew.

Marion’s house felt brighter and lighter—and her sofa was so comfortable that all I wanted to do was fall asleep. But instead, I forced myself to stay awake and call her.

“You can come home now,” I said. “Your house is clear.”

“Really?” The relief flowed through her words.

I glanced at my phone. It was 5:03 AM.

“You should go,” I told Menolly. “You need to get home before the sun rises. Shade, Delilah—drop her off, would you?”

“I was hoping to stay and discuss what happened,” Delilah said.

“I’ll take Menolly home, if you can grab a ride,” Shade said.

“I’ll give Puss ‘n Boots a ride,” Wilbur said. “After all, we’re neighbors.”

Menolly laughed. “Tell you what, Wilbur. Give me a ride home and that way Shade and Delilah can stay to discuss the case. You aren’t afraid of having a dead girl in your car, are you?”

Wilbur snorted. “I carted around my dead brother for years, so what do you think? Come on, Bloody Princess. Let’s get moving.” He held up his bag of shandigo parts. “Thanks. These will come in handy. Not quite as good as the living critters, but I can make good use of them.”

As they left, Menolly rolling her eyes at me, I tried to stretch out and relax. But the venom had hit me hard.

“Seriously, I need to see a healer. I want to stay to talk to Marion and you guys, but this is getting worse,” I said. I seldom complained, so when I did say I didn’t feel well, they knew it had to be rough.