The Queen of Blood Read Free

deeper into their mother’s lap, pushing Daleina out. She thought she heard her father’s voice.
    â€œDaddy?” Daleina whispered.
    â€œStay here,” Mama commanded.
    Daleina began to pull away. He was calling. Wasn’t he? It was difficult to hear a single voice within the screams and the cries and the crashes and the thuds. Listening, she focused, trying to separate the strands of sounds—there, Daddy! She heard more pounding at the door. He was here, out there, trying to get in! Wrenching herself away from her mother, Daleina ran toward the door.
    â€œDaleina, no!” Mama cried, her voice a rough whisper.
    â€œIt’s Daddy!” She yanked at the bolt, pulling it back.
    Behind her, she heard Mama push to her feet, but she was slowed by Arin, who stuck to her like a pricker bush. A weight on the door shoved it inward, and a shape fell inside, hard on his knees —Daddy!
    A squirrel-size tree spirit clung to his shoulder, its teeth dug deep into his flesh. Daddy’s face was slicked with streaks of red, and blood speckled his hair. He surged to his feet, and the spirit gripped him harder.
    â€œGet off him!” Daleina screamed. She grabbed at the spirit’s waist while Daddy pushed at its face. Its claws tore his shirt and chest. One claw sliced the back of Daleina’s arm, and a thin bead of blood popped onto her skin. “Leave him alone!”
    It hissed and spat.
    And then Mama was there, a rolling pin in her hand. Shebashed at the spirit’s head and back. “Get out! Out of my house! Away from my home!”
    It twisted its head and fixed its eyes beyond them.
    Arin.
    Releasing Daddy, it ran toward Arin, faster than any of them could grab it.
    Scrambling underneath the kitchen table, Arin screamed, high and shrill.
    No! Don’t hurt my sister! Daleina felt as if her whole mind and body were screaming the words, as if they were ripped away from her and thrust outward. “Stop!”
    And, amazingly, it did.
    The spirit halted, mid-run. It pivoted its head to look directly at Daleina. Its eyes were red with veins that spread outward from its red pupil. It shifted from foot to thorny foot, hissing.
    â€œGo away!” Daleina said. “Leave us alone.”
    â€œAgain, Daleina,” Mama said, her voice low, strangely calm. “It’s listening to you.”
    â€œLeave us alone,” she repeated.
    â€œAgain.”
    Leave us alone, leave us alone, leave us alone . “Leave!”
    The spirit tore its gaze away to look again at Arin. Its spindly fingers reached toward her, but its feet didn’t move, as if it were rooted to the wood of the floor.
    â€œLeave us alone!” Daleina shouted, and she shoved every bit of fear and anger inside her into those three words, driving it all out through her body. She felt as if something were shattering inside her from the force of her shout.
    As if the words were physically shoving it, the spirit ran, skittering and shaking out the door—and Daleina caught a glimpse of outside. The bridges were broken, swinging from the upper branches, and the nearest house had collapsed. A man in green raced from branch to branch, a sword in his hand. Before Daleina could ask what was happening and who he was, Daddy slammed the door shut, and Mama slid the bolt.
    The house began to shake harder, and Daleina heard scrapingat the roof, as if something were tearing the shingles and shredding the wood. Mama and Daddy dragged the cupboard in front of the door, and they upended the table and pushed it against a window.
    â€œCommand them,” Mama ordered Daleina.
    Squeezing her eyes shut, Daleina repeated, “Leave us alone, leave us alone, leave us alone.” Thrusting the words out of her, Daleina sank to her knees. The cries outside drew back. Arin whimpered, and Mama and Daddy shushed her, and still Daleina kept chanting. The scraping on the roof stopped.
    Outside, through the walls, she still heard