Rejected Queen by Meg Xuemei X.

CHAPTER 6

Tessa

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m sorry, Archer!” I cried. “I failed you. I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry I couldn’t come after you. No, no! Dux, Fayette, leave me! Run!”

I blinked. My team wasn’t with me.

Hail slammed into my face.

Ragnarö clutched my throat, his army of ice giants and their bloodhounds forming an endless line. The world around me was all ice and storm. I was the Ice Fae’s princess, yet his ice could still hurt me.

I flailed in his grip, trying to pry his iron-like hand off my neck. I spat at him.

“He will not touch you!” A deep, masculine voice pounded in my ears, brimming with rage and the power of the inferno. “You’re with me in my realm, Bunny. You’re safe now. If he dares to trespass, my fire will burn him to a crisp. And I won’t toast him fast and feed him to my Hell Cat. I’ll crush every bone in him first for what he did to you!”

Only one man called me Bunny.

“Loki?” I whispered.

But it couldn’t be him, could it? I missed him. We’d had fun, then Ragnarö had come to take me. We’d broken free, then the next thing I knew, I was in the trials. I’d thought the King of the Underworld wanted me dead and had ordered the hit.

Carnage. Battle. Siege. And then I was poisoned. The images flashed in my mind, jumbling together in a hot mess. I wasn’t even sure which were fragments of memories and which were my imaginations or dreams.

I hurt everywhere. The last thing I saw was Loki’s black wolf. I must have died.

I didn’t get to say goodbye to my team. Tears flowed down my face.

“My fight is over,” I whispered, hoping Dux and Fayette could somehow hear me. “But you must live on. Mari will take care of you.”

Then I was thrust into a terrain of endless black ice, a world opposite to Loki’s inferno realm. I’d come to the afterlife. I no longer breathed out tendrils of frost. The dead had no need to breathe. I started shouting for my parents, my brother, my sister, and all my dead friends and fellow warriors. I wouldn’t be alone for long.

“Come back to me, Bunny!” the rich male voice insisted, so loud and demanding it hurt my sensitive eardrums. And who dared to call the rightful queen of the Ice Kingdom “Bunny”?

His flame wrapped around me, not to harm but to protect. The spark of ember he’d offered me before leapt in response, feeling safe in the presence of my mate’s fire.

Pyre to my ice.

“She’s still delirious,” an unfamiliar female voice said. “It’s a miracle she survived. The poison of the Reaper Thorn is one of the worst, yet it’s rare. It takes two seconds to shut down a victim’s nerve endings between the brain and the body and five seconds to stop the victim’s heart. She fought while infected. The girl’s strong, and you got to her in time, Your Majesty. Somehow, she’s receptive to your hellfire while no one else can stand it. I believe that your fire purged most of the poison in her before you brought her back to the realm. She’s also extremely lucky that she lived through this, because when I bled the last trace of poison out of her blood, I realized that she hasn’t settled into her immortality. She’s at her most vulnerable now.”

I heard the curses of the male who had demanded I stay with him. His warm hands grasped mine, his heat addictive. I wanted to edge closer to him and snuggle against him for his warmth, but I couldn’t move an inch.

Where was I? I was alive.

“She’s trembling like she’s having a seizure,” someone else said.

“She must be cold,” another male said. “I can warm her.”

“Fuck off,” the dominant male growled like a wolf. “She’s mine.”

As soon as I was pulled against a warm chest, I stopped shivering. I let out a sigh of satisfaction. Sometimes, all we wanted was a hug.

Even though I wasn’t a hug person.

His fire kindled something in me, recharging me, and fragments of recollection knitted together.

I was in Loki’s arms. His wolf had brought me here. He saved me. He didn’t want to kill me.

“I was trying to help.” It sounded like the Duke of Wickedness.

A punch, and bones cracked.

“What’s that for?” yelped the Duke of Wickedness. “It isn’t like we’ve never shared a woman before.”

Loki growled a death threat, a beastly sound rumbling in his chest. His wolf was all possessive and protective and menacing.

“If I were you, I’d disappear in the next breath for your own sake, Asmodeus,” said the Duke of Deception. “The king isn’t himself where Lady Tessa is concerned. I’ve figured out what she is to our king, even though our king has kept it from us. You can touch any woman, even Marigold, if you aren’t afraid of death. But never get any ideas about the king’s chosen.”

“I didn’t see it. My deepest apologies, my king,” the Duke of Wickedness said in a quivering voice. “It won’t happen again. From this moment on, it’ll be our honor to protect Lady Tessa as well. Only we can’t really guard her while she’s in the trials.”

I fought the heaviness of my eyelids and won.

I fluttered open my eyes, taking in the people in the room. Loki’s inner circle was all here, except Esme. There was one other female in the room, a healer. She’d purged the last trace of venom from my body.

I was leaning against Loki’s chest on a vast bed in a chamber of gold, ivory, and black. The arched ceiling was so high it seemed to stretch to the sky. Two dragon chairs adorned with emeralds had been pulled near a redwood table. Some other expensive furniture made the room look even more splendid. Outside the full window, streams of lava shot from a black mountain into the sky.

This must be the king’s chamber. I’d spied on his castle before I bumped into him fucking the vampire woman. Now I was in his bed, in his embrace.

A silky sheet covered most of my body. I touched my chest instinctively and let out a relieved breath. I still had my armor on. It had been magically made for me. No one else could remove it except me.

My feet were bare, with a bandage wrapped around my injured one.

“How do you feel, Lady Tessa? I’m Dr. Shayna, His Majesty’s royal healer,” Dr. Shayna brought me a mug of steamy tea smelling of mixed herbs. I recognized some of the ingredients. “The potion will speed up your healing.”

I smiled at her in gratitude. When I’d been injured in the past, I usually just waited for my body to regenerate, but now, without my team watching my six, I couldn’t afford to heal slower in the middle of the trials.

“Give it to me, Shayna,” Loki growled.

Dr. Shayna tried not to roll her eyes. “I’m only helping Lady Tessa drink the potion.”

“I can help her. I know how,” Loki said forcefully. “It’s my right to feed my girl.”

“Be my guest.” Dr. Shayna handed Loki the mug. She was probably in her thirties. She had a lovely face and big, gentle eyes. She really stood out since everyone else in Hell looked all mean, threatening, or apathetic. “Just remember, Your Majesty, I’m a healer. It’s my duty to take care of my patients. I’m not your competition.”

“You wouldn’t be even if you wanted to.” Loki bared his teeth.

“Like I want to.” Dr. Shayna snickered and shook her head. “I don’t even have a dick.”

Loki turned to growl at the dukes because they had dicks, and the dukes backed up two steps. Loki ceased scowling and turned to smile at me encouragingly, which was more of a wolf’s grin, and brought the brim of the cup to my lips.

“It’s not my fault that I have a dick,” murmured the Duke of Wickedness. His handsome, half-Asian and half-archdemon face pinched as if he’d eaten a lemon. “I was born that way.”

“Stay quiet if you don’t want the king to strike you,” the Duke of Deception advised. “He might regret it later, but he’ll strike you just the same. The king hasn’t been in a charitable frame of mind since Lady Tessa nearly died.”

My heart banged in my chest, aching and warm. Did I really mean that much to the King of the Underworld? I’d finally recognized that he was my mate, but I doubted he knew it the way I knew. He was attracted to me, probably taking to me as his newest fancy. 

I sipped the potion as Loki administered as much I could take in at a time. I let him be in control. I was grateful, and my throat was still on fire from the aftereffects of the poison.

I grew more conscious of my proximity to Loki and that everyone was watching us. Blushing, I jerked away from his embrace, which was solid, warm, and comfortable. But I had my dignity. I wasn’t going to be one of those women who draped herself over him.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Bunny,” he said, his pining gaze darting between my eyes and my lips.

Something fluttered in my stomach. My attraction to him wasn’t just fated. He’d let me see his vulnerable side.

“Thank you,” I said, offering him a smile. “I’m hard to kill.” And that wasn’t exactly a blessing.

“I’ll kill every vampire, demoness, and witch in the game,” Loki promised in a hiss. “They’ll regret ganging up on you. My dukes have tracked down most of the mercenaries. They have my order to snuff out those filthy dogs. They aren’t contestants. They weren’t even included in the Bride Trials program, and we have every right to root out those cuckolds.”

It was a big turn-on to see him protective toward me and vindictive toward my enemies. The walls of ice around my heart started melting. I’d been all wrong about him when I’d accused him of being like my ex-mate, believing he’d ordered the rocket hits on me.

“I’ll kill every fucking shifter in the trials too,” he added viciously. “And that bitch will suffer a much worse fate for dumping my Bunny into the river.”

“King Loki,” I said, placing my icy hand on his muscled forearm under his rolled-up sleeve. He wore a white dress shirt that stretched over his broad chest and tailored gray slacks that hugged his powerful thighs. He looked delicious and handsome, and I could stare at his hooded bedroom eyes, straight noble nose, and sensual lips for hours. My thoughts drifted to the memory of his naked body and how he’d pounded into me from behind, and then—

I wanted to experience that again. I wanted him to hold me as I soaked in his inferno heat and have his large, hard cock fill me. And then the empty ache in me would dull and vanish.

I flushed, shaking off my carnal thoughts, and dragged myself to the here and now. A roomful of people were still watching Loki and me.

I cleared my throat and let my ice magic anchor me. My magic hadn’t replenished itself, but I could still summon a tendril of it and try to keep a cool head.

Loki laid his hand on mine, which still rested on his forearm. He liked me touching him.

“Yes, Bunny?” he asked gently, his gaze so intense I flushed again, but I restrained myself from brushing a lock of his rich brown hair that had escaped to dangle near his chin. I wasn’t used to showing public affection, and that gesture would be too intimate for all to see.

But Loki was my mate, even if he didn’t know it. No one knew it except me.

“Do not harm the pack, please,” I said. “They saved my life. I told them to toss me into the river.” I darted my gaze around the room. “Water is one of my elements, in addition to ice.”

Dr. Shayna nodded. “That’s how you stalled the invasion of the venom. You might have healed yourself by now if you’d stayed in the water. It helped you.”

Loki looked guilty. “And I dragged you out. I could have killed you instead of helping you.”

“You helped me,” I said. “You and your team saved me by bringing me back. You didn’t need to, but you watched my back.”

We held gazes; it was hard to turn away from him. For a heartbeat or two, it felt like it was just him and me in the room. Our worlds had collided, and fate had brought me to him. Maybe I could finally catch a break, considering how the King of the Underworld was cherishing me. Would he always value me? Could I hold his interest for long?

“I created this whole mess,” Loki sighed.

“If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten to know you,” I said. I’d have killed him right at the beginning or died trying.

“She actually meant it,” said the Duke of Deception in surprise, and Loki gave him a glare.

“If the shifters hadn’t helped me by tossing me into the river in time,” I continued, “the poison would have killed me long before you came to me. I owe the pack a life debt.”

“Mari came through and got them to help you,” Loki said and drew in a sharp breath. “All I’ve done is put you in one danger after another. My wolf wanted to go to you earlier. My team and that demigod jackass stopped me because I am the King of the Underworld and the Wild Hunt was goading me into violating its rules. But in the end, my beast still lost his shit. He dragged you out of the water. Fortunately, the trial ended as he did that, so it wasn’t a rule violation.” He ran his hand over his face. “Maybe we’re bad for you.”

A wolf couldn’t swim. He hadn’t considered his own safety when he’d come to save me. Gratitude shone in my eyes. The wolf probably knew that I was his mate, even if the man in front of me didn’t. Maybe the beast had acted out of primal instinct, but I’d never take it for granted that it was his job to keep me safe.

“Maybe,” I said with a faint smile. “What are you going to do about it?”

Loki smiled back, looking smitten and stricken. “Let me make it up to you.”

The dukes darted their incredulous gazes at him, then at me, then at their king again.

“We’re screwed.” Esme strolled in, wearing one of her impeccable white pantsuits. “First, our king shifted to a wolf when we didn’t even know he had a wolf in him all these years, and now the beast wants to control him.”

“That’s some fucked up shit,” the Duke of Envy agreed.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you’re also a wolf shifter, my king?” the Duke of Deception asked. “We could have helped you rein in your beast.”

Loki growled. “I didn’t know either until Tessa walked in on me…well. My beast scented her and no longer wanted to go back to sleep. That fucker has been bugging me ever since, offering me all sorts of aggressive, dumb ideas, like dragging my Bunny into a closet to sate its insatiable carnal need.” He sighed over my alarmed look. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Bunny. I wouldn’t listen to that fucker. But sometimes it’s hard to fight him. The prick is very powerful.”

A beastly growl rumbled out of his chest. His wolf was angry at being depicted like that.

Loki clenched his teeth in an inner struggle. A second later, he seemed to regain control, but a sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Sorry about that, Bunny,” he said. “He always loses his cool when you’re around.” He darted me a nervous glance as if afraid that I’d judge him and leave him the next second. “He’s a beast who thinks he’s extremely intelligent. And I have to put up with him. I’m new to this, but I’ll make sure he cooperates. After all, he’s a beast, and I’m the King of the Underworld.”

Another growl tore out of Loki’s throat, and Loki cursed.

“Don’t be afraid, Bunny,” Loki said, embarrassed. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Your wolf will never hurt me,” I said, and I heard a satisfied growl.

The wolf and I had an understanding. He knew who I was to him even though Loki didn’t. The beast wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt me, but when his overprotectiveness took over, he’d hurt the world if he thought it was going to harm me.

“A big, bad demon wolf.” The Duke of Wickedness chuckled. “If Lady Tessa has no problem with our king being huffy and puffy and hairy and furry—” He snapped his mouth shut at Loki’s snarl.

“We might have gotten it wrong about our king’s true heritage from his mother’s side for all these centuries,” said the Duke of Deception. “We assumed she was an ordinary mortal. But it seems she was a shifter.”

She was more than that. She was a goddess disguised as a mortal, and she’d fooled even Lucifer. Obviously, the beast wasn’t sharing even with Loki that he was a wolf demigod originating from Asgard, even though he and Loki were two sides of the same coin.

Peeking into Loki’s eyes, guilt surged into me. But I wasn’t ready to tell all of them that the King of the Underworld was a powerful half-archdemon and half-god. If I did, I would have to reveal so many dark secrets about myself as well.

I hadn’t told Loki the whole story about Ragnarö and me. Unbearable shame and fear were embedded in my bones when it came to my past. He’d despise me if he knew that I’d once been infatuated with my abuser and the tormentor who had murdered my family.

“What’s the second screw-up?” Loki grated.

“The rockets weren’t manned by anyone,” Esme said, her face paling, even though her voice remained cool. “They went off by themselves and locked on Lady Tessa. Mari and the demigods have joined our investigation, and we came up with two possibilities.”

My blood ran cold.

My heart skipped a beat.

Loki had said that the gods had probably returned to Earth. But he, the demigods, and Mari hadn’t found out the identity of their “guests” yet.

“One,” I murmured. “The gods might have returned to Earth. Only they have the kind of power to remotely control Earth weaponry. They could be other superior beings, or they could be the Ice God and his Jötunn bloodhounds, who have been hunting me.”

If my enemies were here, Loki and his inner circle and Mari would need to know what they were dealing with.

“There might also be several groups or entities working together,” I said, a sudden coldness piercing me, and I had a hard time breathing in. If Lucifer had been lurking on Earth—

Loki and his team stared at me.

“There are all sorts of possibilities,” I murmured. “I was trying to brainstorm.” 

If they knew that I’d been sent to kill Loki, they’d grant me a slow, torturous death. When I’d told the King of the Underworld that I was his worst nightmare, I hadn’t lied. And now as I stared back at the faces of those who’d helped me, I wished they hadn’t saved me from the poison.

“Do not fear, Bunny,” Loki said fiercely. He pulled me into his embrace and held my icy hand, pressing it against his warm chest. “My wolf will eat the ice bastard’s black heart after I roast him if he dares to hunt you in my realm.”

I fought back my tears. No one had helped my team and me against Ragnarö until Loki came into the picture. He was the only one who wasn’t afraid of the Ice God.

“The second possibility is worse,” Esme said, rubbing her temples. “The Wild Hunt itself has taken a great interest in Lady Tessa, either because of her or because it’s sensed the start of the romance between Your Majesty and her. The Underworld Bride Trials was initiated by you, and you shouldn’t have a favorite. The Wild Hunt has now found its perfect quarry after millennia.”

The dukes cursed. Loki’s face became unreadable. 

“What about the vampire princess?” asked the Duke of Envy. “She’s hellbent on bulldozing anyone who gets in the way of her reaching the queen’s throne.”

“Veronica is but a pawn, like the others,” the Duke of Deception confirmed.

“We have serious issues either way,” the Duke of Wickedness spat.

I didn’t even blink, as such was my luck, and I’d gotten used to all these adversaries. But I’d make sure I wouldn’t drag Loki and his team down with me if I lost the battle.

“We’ll brace for both possibilities,” Loki said softly and lethally. “We find the gods and banish them, and we’ll counter the fucking Wild Hunt.”