Vicente (13 page)

But it was too late for that now.

Chapter 12

There were too many people in the room. Abbie tried her best to breathe in long breaths like Auggie kept telling her to, but she just couldn’t seem to get a hold of herself. Vinnie had gone to get her a glass of water, and Auggie had gone to get Yve. She was making a fool of herself, and she just knew it.

It wasn’t just the people, she knew, but everything. The first thing that had happened was they were well overdressed for this affair. While everyone else in the room was in suits and nice dresses, she and Vicente were dressed in formalwear. Her gown alone had more material than most of the other women did on their entire outfits, including their coats. She looked around the room and her eyes were drawn once again to the woman sitting all alone.

Abbie hadn’t asked who she was. Vicente had told her he didn’t know anyone here, and she didn’t want to feel foolish by asking one of the other guests. But she was regal in her dress and manner, from what Abbie had noticed about her. Abbie also noticed that everyone gave her as wide a berth as they gave Abbie. Abbie could see that she was somewhat angry about something too. This time when their eyes caught, the woman motioned for her to come to her. Abbie actually looked behind her to see if she was wanting someone else. When she nodded for her to come, Abbie made her way to her, knowing that she was going to be asked to leave.

“Please have a seat. You look completely done in. I know that I’m exhausted just from getting ready for this thing. You must be Vicente’s wife. I had heard he’d finally taken a mate.” Abbie nodded. “I’m Nora. You must be Abigale MacIntyre.”

The name change startled her until she realized it was right. “Yes, ma’am. Vicente and I have been married for a few days. I’m still getting used to people calling me that. It’s very strange after being Abbie Curry for so long and—” Abbie shut up. She was babbling, something she rarely did, but despised when it happened to her. Instead of continuing with useless prattle, she nodded and looked out over the room. Neither of them said anything for several minutes, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but one that she enjoyed. When Vicente came into the room she waved at him and he came toward her. She saw his slight pause and wondered about it when Nora spoke.

“He’s a good man, your husband. But I’m sure you already know that. I think he’s a bit surprised to see us together, however.” Abbie started to ask her why when Vicente handed her the glass and sat at her feet. “Hello, young man. How have you been?”

“You know how I’ve been, you old bat. Why are you here? I thought you’d washed your hands of this pomp and circumstance a long time ago. At least the last thousand or so years, last I heard.” She laughed and Abbie felt out of place. Vicente took her hand and kissed it. “This is my grandmother.”

“Grandmother?” She looked at the woman. She looked to be in her early thirty’s rather than…. “How old are you?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Abbie started to stand, but the grip on her arm had her stilling. Nora laughed when she looked at her. The fingers on her arm were gentled but not released. Abbie sat down and Nora patted her on her leg, smiling.

“I’m old, let’s just leave it at that. And you, impertinent young man, I’m here because you were not.” Nora tousled Vicente’s hair as she continued. “I tried my best to keep you away from here, but…well, it’s time, I think. You need to step up and take over. Your father is dead, as you know, but there are things he left in poor shape.”

“No.”

Abbie started to ask what they were talking about when she saw a flash of movement in one of the other rooms she’d been avoiding because of the crowd. She stood up, excused herself, and left Vicente and his grandmother to talk to see what was going on. The moment she walked into the room, she felt her dragon shift beneath her skin. The entire room turned to look at her.

The room was filled mostly with men, but there were a few women. Most of them looked…well, uncomfortable, and she wondered about that for a moment. But there were six men standing around a seventh that drew her attention to them. This huge man looked to be in charge of whatever was going on, and he was laughing hard. It wasn’t until one of the men in the circle moved a little that she could see that the large man was holding onto a faerie by his wings. It was Auggie.

“What the hell are you doing? Let him go.” The man holding onto Auggie was flicking his feet. “I said to let him go right now.”

“And who would you be to make me?”

She took a step toward the group of men and felt Yve land on her shoulder. The faerie didn’t say anything, and Abbie wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. The man holding Auggie took a menacing step toward her, and she lifted her chin. She was tired of having men think she was nothing but a wimp.

“You’re nothing to be ordering me about. Hell, you’re nothing but a half-breed dragon, and I’ll not be taking orders from the likes of you. Go about your business of looking pretty on another man’s arm. Unless, of course, you want a real one to take you. But for now, I’m having a bit of sport, and if this little man will cooperate, it’ll be over soon enough.”

When he started to touch Auggie again, Abbie found herself standing right next to him. She put her hand out to stop his fingers, but he smacked her away. Before she could think of the ten billion reasons she shouldn’t do it, she reached out and punched the man in the nose. Blood poured from his lip and nose almost immediately, and Auggie was freed. When she started to turn away from the man, she was jerked around so quickly that she nearly lost her footing. As it was, she fell forward and was tossed back almost immediately. She was sure that the only reason she didn’t fall on her face was because she’d been afraid of hurting both Yve and Auggie, who sat on her other shoulder.

“You cannot hit me and simply walk away as if you’ve not done a thing. Do you have any idea what I have done to lesser men when they tried that sort of shit? I killed them. You, my dear, are going to pay for that.” She felt rather than heard Vicente come into the room, but she ignored him for the moment. The man had her full attention. “What are you anyway? Some dragon’s whore? Or are you hoping to be one before you leave? I might take you up on it after I teach you a lesson in manners. I’m the next king…or did you already know that, and that’s why you’ve decided to prove yourself?”

A man’s low growl came from behind her. She didn’t have to look to know that it was Vicente. The man in front of her laughed when she lifted her chin a bit higher. She felt her dragon pull at her, and she had to work hard to calm her. But the man was either too stupid to know what he was doing to her or he simply didn’t care. Abbie wanted to eat him up and spit him on the floor.

“You’re a MacIntyre bitch, aren’t you? Is that what this is all about? You feel you need to have him come to your rescue and be the little damsel in distress? Should have guessed it by the stink on you. Has he fucked you enough to get you with child yet? I’ll tell you now that it’ll never be worth anymore than—”

Her dragon shifted again, and this time she knew she was close to showing herself. Taking a step back from her, the man stared at her for several seconds before he threw back his head and laughed. Confused, Abbie turned to Vicente, who was being held back by Nora. She didn’t look any happier than Vicente did. But Vicente was staring at her and not the man, and she wondered how much trouble she was going to be in when the man spoke from behind her.

“You can’t be. There is no fucking way. You’re all dead.”

Abbie looked at the man and felt her dragon stir again. When the man started cursing and screaming at the others in the room that she was a fake, that no one should believe her, she looked as well. Everyone there had gone down on one knee and had their head bowed. Abbie looked at Vicente again.

“I don’t…what’s going on?” She looked at Nora and then back at her husband. “He was hurting Auggie. I’m not sure why he was picking on him, but it pissed me off. And I know I shouldn’t have hit him, but he said our child would be worthless.”

Vicente nodded and moved toward her. Nora did as well, but she could only think of what she’d done to upset Vicente. He took her hand into his and kissed her palm. No one in the room moved.

“You’ve shown them what you are, and they know you’re their leader.” Abbie shook her head, and he smiled. “It’s fine, love, really. It was bound to come out sooner or later. Grandmother said she’d never seen a golden dragon before. I guess you’re rarer than I thought.”

“Why are they doing this?” Vicente looked at the people in the room, then back at her. “Tell them to stand up and go on as they were before.”

“They won’t listen to me. It’s all you now.” She looked at Nora, who was staring at her as if she’d done something really wrong. Before she could ask Vicente if they could go home now, Auggie stood in front of her.

“You’re their queen, my lady. A golden dragon is born but once in several lifetimes, and when she is born, her greatness is spread far and wide so that all dragons will know that she’s come again.” He looked over at Yve when she snorted. “I read it. That’s what it said.”

“It most certainly did not say that. It said that when a golden dragon is born, whether from blood or body, she will rule the others with a firm hand and a steady heart. Her rule will be spread far and wide. Do you not ever get things right?” Auggie started to no doubt argue, but Yve cut him off. “You are the servant to the queen. Should you not be doing something about that? She must be protected, and this is not the—”

“I don’t want to be queen.” The room seemed to lift their eyes to her as one, then lowered them just as quickly. “Well, I don’t. I just want to be with my husband, not rule a bunch of rude people who don’t even know how to treat someone else’s friends.” The man looked at her, then came toward her. Abbie nearly backed up, but Vicente held her to him and there was nowhere for her to go. As the man got closer to her, she could see his anger. And she saw something else. The man was going to hurt her.

“Good. Then as your second, I demand that you give all your powers over to me. It is customary for the queen to be a purebred, not some…whatever you are. You’ll give it over to me and then leave here. You have no sense of honor, and you are nothing but a half breed anyway. Things were bad before you got here, and I had already planned to take care of that tonight when this thing was over. And as soon as I’m king, you’ll see how things should be run. I, for one, refuse to bow down before you.” Abbie wanted to point out she really didn’t care if he bowed or not, but he took a step toward her again. “You should also learn to control yourself before someone takes exception to you and your painted dragon.”

Her hand was out and around his throat before she could think of the thousand and one reasons why she shouldn’t be doing this. When he struggled, she tightened her grip on his neck a little more and held him up off the floor. His eyes were bulging when she tossed him across the room. He landed in a heap near the door, and she decided that she liked him right there, near the door where she could toss his ass out. As she moved toward him she noticed that the sea of people parted for her, but didn’t think too much about it. She was a woman on a mission, and the sooner she took care of him, the better as far as she was concerned.

“You’ll learn to have respect for others, or so help me I will tear you apart. And I don’t just mean verbally either. I’m sick of men like you thinking you’re all that simply because you have a bigger mouth and run it all the time. Well, I got news for you, buddy. You can go to hell. I’m not leaving you in charge of my broken down piece of shit car.”

Abbie had started for him when three faeries seemed to come out of nowhere. Afraid of what they might do to her friends, she pulled Auggie to her heart and held him there as the three of them bowed before her as well. That was when she noticed how they were dressed.

The first one looked as if he had been dressed during the time of the gladiators. Even his sword looked like something she’d seen in history books. Helmet and boots covered most of his body, and along with the breast plate, he seemed to be dressed all in gold. The other two men were dressed similarly, but while this man was in gold, their armament was silver. She’d bet anything that this was their ranking system. When Auggie struggled beneath her finger, she let him go, only to almost snatch him back when he went to the leader of the three men.

“We shall take him away. If it would please you.” Auggie nodded and watched as the man she’d hit seemed to be covered in faeries for a minute. Then they and the man were suddenly gone. She looked at Auggie, who was grinning from ear to ear. Abbie looked at Vicente when he took her hand.

“I’d like to go home now.” He nodded, then shook his head. “Don’t tease me. I want to leave now before someone has me arrested.”

“No one here would dare.” He laughed again and kissed her on the mouth. “You’re the queen, and there’s not a lot we can do about it now.”

“I already told you. I don’t want to be queen.” He pulled her to his body, and they were being led away by Nora. No matter how much she protested, Abbie could not get anyone to take her home. When they entered a large room, she was asked to have a seat and declined.

“I’d rather walk, thanks. I can still run if you don’t tell me how the hell to get out of this mess. There has to be a way.” Nora laughed and sat down. Vicente leaned against the fireplace and smiled. “What the hell just happened in there?”

“You commanded and they listened.” Nora laughed when Abbie glared. “I’m sorry, my dear. I’m really enjoying this much more than I should. I never dreamed that my Vicente would mate with the queen of all dragons.”