Free Alterant by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love Page A

swallowed a snarl and concentrated on humility. Sweat sheened over her skin in seconds. This was more like the Flaevynn she knew and the reaction she’d expected, which was why Kizira had worn pants and a shirt instead of a bulky robe.
    She squared her shoulders and straightened up.
    The queen pointed a finger at Kizira. Her black nail lengthened two inches as she spoke. “I told you we donot have to wait any longer. The time has come to end this stupid curse. All you need to concern yourself with is locating the five Belador Alterants.”
    Kizira lowered her head, more to keep from exposing how she gritted her teeth. “I understand, Your Highness. I did not mean to challenge you.”
    Yet.
    “Have you conjured the fog in all the cities we discussed?”
    Did she really think I’d come back here without doing that? Raising her chin, Kizira said, “Yes.”
    “Are you sure you made no mistake in execution?”
    “I followed your instructions exactly. I generated hostility fogs scented with sulfur to mask the Noirre origin. The first cities infiltrated were along the coast in areas where that type of atmospheric condition already existed to hinder VIPER in figuring out too soon that the fog is behind the Rías shifting.”
    “VIPER has no way to dissipate the myst without Medb help.”
    That’s what we think, but there is always the unexpected in our world. And the ancient spell could only be used once, but that mattered not to the queen either. “Of course not, Your Highness, but it benefits us to impede their progress in defending against our attack any time we can.”
    “Has the fog reached Atlanta, where the female Alterant is?”
    Kizira nodded, enjoying a brief fantasy of Flaevynn being drawn and quartered. “It will soon. I conjured themyst in areas north of the city this morning. This will allow the haze to finger into Atlanta rather than originate there, which would alert VIPER too soon. I’m concerned about turning so many Rías that it will draw the attention of the entire North American VIPER resources.”
    Rías were the name given to descendents of a beast-line traced back over a thousand years to the famous warrior Cú Chulainn, who’d had superhuman abilities, as demonstrated by his ríastrad, a berserker-like battle mode during which he shifted into an unidentifiable monster that killed everything in his path.
    Flaevynn scoffed as though VIPER was no more than an inconvenience. “The Rías are not a concern as long as the Alterants are exposed when the sentient myst forces them to shift into their beast form.”
    Kizira warned, “VIPER and the Beladors believe all human forms that shift into beasts are Alterants. If Rías continue to shift too soon, you will not have an army of them when you’re ready to breach Treoir Castle.”
    “That’s ridiculous. Why not?”
    “Because VIPER is killing Rías as soon as they are discovered and VIPER is not the only force capable of destroying them. A group of humans with high-powered custom weapons is blowing up the beasts, too. They may kill the Alterants we seek before we locate them.”
    Shaking her head, Flaevynn chuckled. “One would think the lack of glowing green eyes would be a clue the Rías are not Alterants.” She sighed. “Beladors are not the brightest beacons in the night.”
    Only a masochist would correct the queen, but Kizirawould argue the Beladors were their most dangerous enemy and not one to underestimate. Flaevynn hadn’t left TÅμr Medb since Kizira had been handed the role of enforcer at eighteen, or she’d realize that.
    Flaevynn almost frowned, but wrinkling that perfect skin was out of the question. She murmured, “The fog should cloak the Rías.”
    Kizira clarified, “The fog is cloaking the beasts until they walk out of it.”
    “Don’t bring me problems,” Flaevynn cautioned. “I want those Belador Alterants. Now. Create a wider band of the myst, do something, but deliver them to me or I will find someone else who