Long Live the Queen (The Immortal Empire) by Kate Locke Read Free Book Online

of Bedlam – where there lived halfies who had been badly damaged by these experiments. She said that the girl had been impregnated by goblins. Was this the same halfie Ophelia was talking about?
    “He’s going to be all right, you know.”
    I looked up.
    “Vex. He’s going to be okay.” She said this so earnestly I had to smile. I didn’t tell her where my thoughts had gone. She’d lived at Bedlam, and if she hadn’t thought of that girl, she would soon enough. And Vex… well, I knew he was going to recover simply because he was still alive. He wasn’t the sort to give up.
    “Thanks. It’s very… scary to see him like that.”
    “It was horrifying to see it happen.”
    I didn’t even want to imagine it. “Did he tell you not to call me?”
    She nodded. “I figured after what happened in the den earlier you wouldn’t appreciate being kept out of the loop again.”
    “Indeed.” I wouldn’t have either, and I would have made that clear in a spectacular display, no doubt. “Well, thanks for the consideration.”
    Fee looked at me – really looked at me. “Xandra, you’re my sister. You’re also his mate, and friend to this pack. You’ve saved my life; of course I’d tell you.”
    I arched a brow in the hope she wouldn’t notice my eyes were a little wet. “I also tried to rip your throat out.”
    She shrugged. “No one’s perfect.”
    It was such an absurd remark that both of us chuckled. I was still smiling when Ethan came out of Vex’s room, followed by every pack member. My mirth soon faded.
    Some of them showed deference towards me, but others retained an air of defiance. Were they daft? By now, all of them knew it wasn’t me at that lab, so what the bloody hell were they snarling at? How was I the least bit responsible?
    “They’ll come round,” Ophelia whispered as they paraded by. “It’s easier to blame you than them. Have to blame someone, right? Otherwise they’re powerless.”
    I supposed I understood, but it was still rubbish. “Do me a favour? Tell Ethan to let me know when he’s ready to leave.”
    She said she would, and left me outside Vex’s door. I was nervous as I turned the handle. I knew he wouldn’t blame me for this, but there was a part of me that thought the pack was right. Maybe I was responsible on some level. More rubbish, but there it was.
    He was sitting up when I walked in. A mountain of pillows supported him. He watched me with his good eye as I approached, and what I saw there warmed me. He wasn’t angry. There was nothing but love in his gaze. Love and concern.
    “We have to stop this thing, sweetheart,” he said. No declaration of affection, no jokes, no telling me not to worry. I suppose I should appreciate that he respected me enough not to attempt placation.
    “We will stop it,” I promised, as I sat on the side of the bed. He didn’t flinch, so that was a good sign. “But right now I’d just like to sit with you for a minute, if that’s all right.”
    He smiled. God, he was a mess. A beautiful, battered mess. “Of course.” He reached out and touched my cheek. “I didn’t need to catch her scent to know it wasn’t you. Even if I was blind and had a human’s sense of smell, I would still know you.”
    One of the tears I’d tried so hard to hold back trickled down my cheek. Vex brushed it away with his thumb as I leaned in to kiss him. Whoever, or whatever, this creature was, she had almost taken Vex from me.
    I was going to kill her for it.

CHAPTER 4
HAPPINESS WAS BORN A TWIN
    Queen V was no more pleased to see me again that night than I was to see her. Still, this was bigger than both of us, and required immediate attention. If the thing with my face was running around London, no one was safe. And if it could take down Vex, it would have no problem eating a tiny little morsel like her.
    Her son, Bertie, Prince of Wales, was with her. He was the official vampire liaison and heir to the throne, and he’d been getting a fair bit of