Long Live the Queen (The Immortal Empire) by Kate Locke Page B

her.”
    “She wouldn’t be alive if they couldn’t, and she certainly wouldn’t have been kept where anyone could find her.”
    “Or maybe they’re getting too cocky.”
    He shot me a look I couldn’t quite decipher. “You don’t want to think of her as a weapon, do you? Especially not one to be used against you.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed, but my heart gave a hard thump in my chest. How could I tell him that she was mydaughter? And worse, that I feared the rest of her might have come from his son, who had been able to shift.
    I couldn’t tell him she was his granddaughter – not until I had proof.
    “You’ve become attached. Already.”
    I scraped potato from the bottom of the pan with my spatula. Those crispy bits were the best part – and it kept me from having to look at him. “Of course I feel for her. Who wouldn’t?”
    “Me. William. Valentine. Ophelia. Victoria. You want me to keep going?”
    “No. That’s quite all right.” I sighed. “You’re right, of course, but when I’m standing right in front of her – and she’s not trying to kill me or someone I love – I do feel responsible for her.” Fang me, I felt ridiculous making that absurd statement.
    Vex smiled gently. “You feel responsible for people you don’t even know. You take this queen business entirely too seriously.”
    I chuckled at his teasing tone. “Since you included her in your list, I gather you don’t reckon V’s behind the labs?”
    “No, she’s too smart for that – and probably too afraid of human retaliation to support something so overt. But vampires are involved, whether she knows it or not, and you know what I think of them.”
    Indeed. The only thing worse than a vampire was an English vampire, according to my prejudiced wolf. I suppose he had reasons for his dislike; God knows, there were several vamps I wouldn’t trust with postage. But my father was one – an English one – so there was at least a very small part of me that wanted to insist they weren’t all bad.
    But who would I be trying to kid?
    I flipped the sizzling, golden potatoes. “There’s nothing we can do for her at all.” I had to say it out loud to make it stick.
    “Not a bloody thing.” He stuck a fork in each steak he was pan-frying and turned them over. Perfect.
    “I just hope she… is ended before too many people have to get hurt.” I knew it was a lame hope, though. She’d prob ably already killed again. Special Branch was out hunting her, so that was good. Val would make certain they had the sort of weapons that could take her down.
    She’d torn into me like I was nothing. I couldn’t even stop her from taking a huge bite. Would my blood be toxic to her? Or did my DNA give her immunity, just like any other goblin?
    “A creature like her can’t hide for ever,” Vex commented.
    If I’d done the right thing earlier, instead of taking her to the den, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Or perhaps she would have eaten her way through most of Special Branch by this point. Maybe her makers would have tracked her down.
    “Wait.” I pointed the pepper mill at Vex. “All halfies have trackers implanted in them, yeah?” It was a rhetorical question, because I’d had one of the devices under my own skin until just a few months ago.
    He took the pepper and twisted it over the frying pan. “You reckon they put one in her too?”
    “It would be smart, wouldn’t it? Regardless of what their intentions for her were.”
    Vex set the mill aside and folded his arms over his chest. “Go on, Inspector.”
    I smiled absently. “We know Church was involved in these labs, and we know he was behind the assassination attempt on Victoria.” But I saved her life that night. I ruined his plans.
    He leaned his hip against the counter. “All right.”
    “Let’s say you’re right about why they made her. They started out studying me because they wanted to increase the aristo birth rate, but Church took it in