Abruptly, Bane went still. His head was tilted back, streaks of red forking across his throat. When the red bled his eyes, he slipped past the circle of corpses to cup her cheeks and fit his mouth over hers. An action he’d performed many times in the past, trading passion for passion. Now, a river of heat poured down her throat. Too hot, too hot! The pain!

She screamed against his mouth, but she didn’t retreat, not even when pain graduated into agony, the worst she’d ever experienced. Cannot stop. Stopping equals death.

Smoke wafted between them, and she breathed it in, letting tendrils fill her lungs. Heating...burning...boiling...melting. Power.

Just as flames erupted over Nola, no part of her left unscathed, Bane leaped back. The blood smeared on her skin courtesy of the slain soldiers acted as some kind of life-giving fuel, providing another dose of strength. Strength she desperately needed as flames overtook her.

Not just burning...old Nola was dying, a new Nola soon to be born. Let it happen. Don’t resist. Once this was done, she would have everything she’d ever wanted. A man who loved her. A family. A kingdom to rule.

When her body was nothing more than a pile of ash, her spirit—mist—remained in the circle. The pain faded, her world dark and cold. One heartbeat. Two. Three.

—Come back to me, love.—

Bane’s voice invaded her mind, clearer and louder than ever before.

Determined, she kicked and clawed, tying to fight her way out of the void. A fleck of light beckoned, and she fought harder. Just a little more...

Tingles erupted in her torso, quickly spreading to her limbs. For a moment, her senses got scrambled. She tasted fire, smelled sounds, heard a drumbeat of emotion and felt the soft brush of colors against her flesh.

As the light brightened, the kinks ironed out and her body was remade. Realization struck: her mind hadn’t just linked with her warriors. Her mind had also linked to a hive of past queens. Their knowledge, anyway. So much to soak up! And she could. She had time now.

She’d done it, she’d survived! Nola wiggled her fingers and toes, experimenting with motion. No problems arose. Even the coldness vanished from her awareness, the blood gone. Instead, glowing, swirling designs—runes—etched her skin, like tiny rivers of molten gold. When the glow dimmed, a faint outline of the runes remained. So pretty.

Bane stood outside the circle, his shoulders squared, his spine straight, his legs braced apart. Concern and relief dominated his features. Love sparkled over their connection...a connection now strengthening, just like her. Knew he loved me.

He knelt before her, bowing his head. “All hail Queen Nola.”

Queen Nola. Queen. Finally! Must guard my title at all cost.

All cost?