Inga nodded. “It’s not truly necessary. You could submerge yourself in the waters every year or so and maintain your youth, but it always seemed to give you pleasure.”
She was right. The water had offered a sense of peace that had been addictive. She’d had no idea it was also extending her life.
“Why only me?”
Inga looked confused. “What?”
“Why was I the only witch offered the waters?”
“That was Riven’s decision.”
“And I agreed.” Lilah pressed a hand to her churning stomach.
She suddenly wasn’t sure she wanted the rest of her memories to return. Not when she was going to be forced to recall the nights she was swimming through the magical waters while she knew her coven was relentlessly aging.
How could she have been so selfish?
She must have made a sound of distress, causing Chiron to tighten his arm as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
“Shh. It’s all right.”
She shook her head. It wasn’t all right. And it was time she revealed the truth. Turning, she met his searching gaze. “I’m not a very good person,” she told him.
He scowled. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not? I sacrificed my coven. Women who depended on me to keep them safe,” she said. “And just as awful, I agreed to help imprison your master. I didn’t care if he’d committed some crime or if he was a helpless victim. I thought of nothing but the promise of a pretty face and eternal life.” She stopped, giving a sad shake of her head. “Who would do that?”
She expected disappointment. Or even anger. Instead, Chiron pushed her curls from her face, his touch so gentle it brought tears to her eyes.
“The woman who came to this place is not the woman who is standing here now,” he said roughly.
“He’s right,” Inga chimed in. “I’ve watched you change from a cynical, selfish creature into a tenderhearted woman who is kind to everyone.”
Lilah allowed a sad smile to curve her lips. She wanted to accept their assurances. She needed to believe she’d become a better person. That didn’t, however, erase the sins of her past.
Swallowing a sigh, she glanced toward the female who’d pretended to be her nanny. “Why did you steal my memories?”
“I didn’t,” she protested, as if she’d been lying for so long she found it impossible to admit the truth.
“Inga,” Lilah chided.
“Well, not at first,” the older female grudgingly qualified. “It wasn’t until after your coven was gone that you began to regret your decisions. With each passing year, you became more and more restless.”
Lilah gave a slow nod. In the back of her mind, a series of images was sparking from one neuron to another, like the flickering frames of an old-time movie. The memories were returning, but they were still random and disjointed, making it impossible to sort through them.
“What did I do?” Lilah asked.
Inga glanced around the room, as if ensuring no one had managed to sneak in while they were talking. “You eventually threatened to open the prison and release the vampire,” she said, her voice pitched low.
Was she afraid Lord Riven was lurking in a corner? Lilah shrugged. The mermaid—or was it merman—was the least of her worries. “So you wiped my mind?”
“What else could I do?” Inga hunched her shoulders. “Riven intended to replace you with a new witch.”
“Replace?” Lilah flinched. That didn’t sound good. “How would he do that?”
“First, he would kill you.” Inga’s blunt words seemed to echo through the room. “Then a new witch would be chosen to protect the key.”
Lilah shivered. “A simple solution.”
“I convinced him that I could erase your memories instead,” Inga said.
Gratitude flowed through Lilah, helping to ease the sense of betrayal that had been searing through her like acid. Inga had obviously been as much a victim of Lord Riven as she was.
“He agreed?” Lilah asked.
Inga shrugged. “As long as I could ensure you didn’t do anything to risk your duty here. That’s why I decided to turn the building into a hotel.”
Lilah blinked. The ogress’s explanation had just jumped from A to Z with nothing in between. “I don’t understand. Why would a hotel help?”
“It allowed you to mingle with the guests so you didn’t feel so lonely,” Inga said. “You have the companionship you desire, plus it gives you a connection to the outside world.” Without warning, Inga sent a glare toward Chiron. “You weren’t supposed to form any intimate connections. And certainly not with a leech.”
Hmm. Lilah realized it did make an odd sense. She truly had enjoyed spending time with the guests and listening to their stories. It had given her the illusion that she was a successful businesswoman, instead of a screwed-up witch trapped in the swamps.
Not that she was ready to admit her gratitude. Not when Inga had lied to her for so long.
“Why were you opposed to vampires?” she instead asked.
Inga’s expression hardened. “I was warned the leeches might come in search of their missing clansman. I suspect that’s why Riven insisted the barrier be created by the witches instead of using his own magic. He didn’t want the vampires tracking him down to seek revenge.”
Lilah shook her head. Riven was a piece of work.
She was suddenly distracted by the low growl that rumbled in Chiron’s chest.
“You held her prisoner for centuries,” he accused.
Inga flushed, her brows snapping together at the accusation. “No, I was protecting her.”
“How many times did you wipe her mind?” he snapped.
“Chiron.” Lilah leaned her head against his chest, trying to prevent the brewing battle. “I don’t believe Inga intended to hurt me.”
“Of course I would never hurt you,” Inga insisted. “You’re like my own child.”
Chiron made a sound of disgust. “Are you also going to claim you didn’t try to kill me?”
“Why would I? I wanted you dead.” Inga tilted her chin to an aggressive angle. “I still do.”
Chapter 18
Chiron narrowed his gaze, ready for a fight.
He’d been terrified when Lilah had collapsed after he’d touched her mind. He had no idea if he’d done something that had caused her injury, or if there was some unseen magic attacking her.
She’d passed out for less than ten minutes, but it’d felt like an eternity before her lashes had at last lifted. Then, before he could even take a metaphorical breath of relief, he’d been grabbed by the neck and tossed across the room by the oversize ogress.
It was enough to make any vampire a little crabby.
“That’s the first honest thing you’ve said,” he growled, glaring at the towering female.
Lilah shook her head, her fingers lifting to press against her lips. “Why would you try to kill him?”
“Because I overheard him talking to that stupid gargoyle,” Inga muttered. “I knew he was here to search for the key.”
Chiron frowned. Had the ogress done something to Levet? Dammit, he shouldn’t have been so easily convinced the gargoyle had simply scampered into the swamp.
“Why not give it to him to release his master?” Lilah broke into his frustrated thoughts. “You can’t have loyalty to a family who considers you a blemish.”
Inga scowled, then folded her arms over her imposing bosom. “This has nothing to do with the mermaids.”
“No,” Chiron swiftly agreed. He’d been shocked by the revelation that Inga had mermaid blood flowing through her veins. And that Lilah was the witch who’d assisted in creating the prison that held Tarak. But he’d suspected from the beginning that Inga would never willingly let go of Lilah. “It has to do with her fear that she will lose you.”
A petulant expression settled on her broad face. “You know nothing.”
“I know Lilah is my mate. And that when I leave this hotel
she’s coming with me.”
The air sizzled with the scent of scorched salt as Inga glared at Lilah. “Is that true?”
Lilah pressed against Chiron’s side. “Yes.”
Inga returned her gaze to Chiron. “Then you sentence her to death.”
A strange premonition slithered down Chiron’s spine even as he squared his shoulders. He wouldn’t be intimidated by the ogress. She had kept Lilah captive for far too long.
“Do you think I’m afraid of you? Or a mermaid?”
Inga’s eyes flashed red. “He’s a merman, and you should be afraid of him. Do you even understand his powers?”
He didn’t. As far as he knew, he’d never encountered one. But he never doubted for a second that he could defeat any demon or fey stupid enough to try to harm Lilah. “I can protect my mate.”
Inga clicked her tongue in annoyance. “You are too rash and arrogant.”
“She’s not wrong,” Lilah murmured.
“Thanks.” He sent his soon-to-be mate a wry smile before he pointed a warning finger toward the ogress. “Lilah’s future is no longer your concern.”
“She will always be my concern,” the female stubbornly argued.
Without warning, Lilah stepped away from Chiron, grasping the ogress’s hand. “Inga, I realize you’ve always tried to do your best for us.”
Chiron clenched his teeth, his fangs aching. He wanted to yank Lilah back to his side. He didn’t trust Inga. Not as far as he could throw her, which wasn’t very damned far.
Inga’s features softened. “I have. All I’ve ever wanted was your happiness.”
“And I appreciate your loyalty,” Lilah continued in a soft voice. “But my place is with Chiron.”
“No, you can’t leave,” Inga rasped.
Chiron’s strained patience snapped. “Enough. Just give me the key.”
Inga narrowed her crimson gaze. “What do you think it is, leech?”
Chiron stiffened, sensing it was a trick question. “The key?”
“Yes. Are you imagining a lump of iron that fits neatly into a lock?”
Chiron bared his fangs. “Careful, female. I’m done playing games. You will give me the key.” He extended his arm, holding his palm up. “Now.”
Inga displayed her own teeth, which were razor sharp. “Or?”
Lilah muttered something about pigheaded idiots before she gave the ogress’s shoulder a gentle pat. “Inga, please. Where is it?”
The ogress paused, her expression suddenly guarded. Chiron could almost sense the wheels in her brain churning. She was plotting something. He would bet his favorite Jag it had to do with convincing Lilah to stay at the hotel.
“It’s inside you,” the ogress abruptly said.
Chiron charged forward, the air filled with ice crystals as his power swirled around him.
“I knew it,” he hissed. “You’ll make up any lie to force Lilah to stay with you.”
“Chiron, wait.” Lilah reached out to slam her hand into Chiron’s chest, her face pale. Grudgingly, Chiron halted. As desperately as he wanted to force the ogress to admit she was lying, there was something in Lilah’s expression that warned she wasn’t so ready to dismiss the wild claim. “What are you talking about?” she demanded of her friend.
Inga sent Chiron a death glare before glancing back at Lilah. “Riven insisted the key be bound in a way that it couldn’t be lost or stolen.”
“Bound to what?” Chiron demanded.
Lilah sucked in a sudden breath, her mouth dropping open. “To me,” she breathed.
Chiron shook his head, fear blasting through him. “That’s impossible.”
“It’s the truth,” Inga insisted. “Lilah is the key.”
Chiron continued to shake his head. As if he could alter the truth. “No.”
Lilah took a step backward, a stricken expression tightening her features.
“She’s right. I’m starting to remember.”
Chiron forced himself to take a minute to regain command of his emotions. The room was bubbling with a toxic brew of anger, fear, and jealousy. It was clearly adding to Lilah’s stress.
Then, grabbing her hands, he turned her so they were face-to-face. “Tell me.”
Her eyes were unfocused, as if she was lost in her emerging memories.
“When we arrived here, Riven insisted Inga create the key, but I was the one who spoke the spell that fused it to me.” She blinked back tears. “It was the price of immortality, and I did it without caring what it might mean to me, or your master.”
Chiron didn’t try to ease her guilt. Not now. He knew from painful experience it was something that would take time.
“If the key’s inside you, how do you unlock the prison?”
Her brow furrowed. “It’s not actually inside me; it’s a part of my magic,” she said slowly. As if she was struggling to make sense of what she was remembering. “Like the barrier.”
Chiron nodded, although she might as well have been speaking gibberish. He would never understand magic. “Can you release Tarak?”
“I’m not sure.” She paused before giving a frustrated shake of her head. “It’s all still fuzzy, but I have a strange image of standing in a large underground chamber.” Another pause. “And there’s a woman lying on the slab in front of me,” she abruptly continued. “I think she’s there to enter the prison.”
Chiron carefully studied Lilah’s tense features. A woman lying on a slab to enter the prison? That sounded…improbable. “Is she a guest from the hotel?”
Lilah gave a sharp shake of her head. “No, she has the same beauty as Riven. I think she was sent by him.”
“A mermaid?” he demanded.
“Yes.” She released a small sigh. “That’s all I can remember.”
Chiron turned his head in a motion that was quick enough to catch Inga’s worried expression. The ogress knew exactly who Lilah had seen in her memories.
“What does she have to do with Tarak?” he demanded.
The ogress jutted out her lower jaw. “Nothing.”
Lilah lifted her hand to her head, as if it was hurting her. “Inga, please.”
The large female’s belligerence faded as she studied Lilah’s pallor, her eyes darkening with concern. Whatever her sins, Inga loved Lilah as fiercely as any mother loved their child.
“She arrives once or twice a century and demands that the prison be opened,” she reluctantly admitted. “I think she feeds him.”
Chiron lifted his brows in shock. Was Inga mistaken? A vampire would weaken, and eventually go mad, without food. But he wouldn’t actually perish.
“Why would the mermaids feed a prisoner?” he asked. “It would make more sense to leave him weakened.”
“I don’t know.” Inga lifted a hand as Chiron’s lips parted to demand the truth. “I truly don’t. Riven doesn’t explain; he simply commands me to obey.” She sent him a pointed glare. “Like someone else I know.”
Chiron was distracted by a low sob. Jerking his head back toward his mate, he realized there were tears streaming down her face.
On full alert, he wrapped his arms around her shivering body. “Lilah, what’s wrong?”
“This is my fault.”
“No. The blame belongs to Riven. As well as the previous Anasso.” He held her gaze, willing her to listen to his words. “They were the ones who betrayed Tarak.”
“If I hadn’t been so selfish—”
“Shh.” He pressed his finger against her lips. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It does.” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears, emphasizing the shimmer of gold. Chiron’s unbeating heart twisted with an emotion that felt too big to be contained in his chest. “Your master is still trapped.”
“If you created the spell, there must be some way you can undo it, right?”
“Perhaps.”
“No.” The ogress stepped forward, the floor shaking beneath the impact of her heavy feet. “You can’t.”
Lilah made
a sound of impatience. “Inga.”
“Listen to me,” the female insisted. “If you try to open the prison without Riven’s permission, you will die.” She sent Chiron a crimson glare. “Is that what you want?”
He scowled at her ridiculous question. “Of course not.”
Chiron felt Lilah shiver. “Why would I die?” she rasped.
“Lord Riven feared that one of us might decide to double-cross him by releasing the vampire and revealing who was responsible for holding him captive,” Inga explained. “He placed a curse on you.”
Lilah gasped, wiggling out of Chiron’s arms to stare at Inga in disbelief. “A curse?”
“If the vampire escapes, you die,” Inga said.
She bit her lower lip. “There has to be a way.”
Chiron released a low growl. His burning need to rescue Tarak was smothered beneath his need to keep his mate safe. He wasn’t screwing around with a curse he knew nothing about. Not when Lilah’s very life was hanging in the balance.
“Perhaps, but we’re not going to take any chances,” he said, his voice edged with a warning that his decision was nonnegotiable. “We’ll wait until we can discover more about this curse before we decide what steps to take next.”
“But we can’t leave Tarak imprisoned,” she protested.
Inga took another floor-creaking step forward. “I hate to agree with the leech, but he’s right. You can’t take any risks.”
Chiron turned toward the ogress. Soon, he was going to teach her what happened to demons who shot arrows at him. For now, unfortunately, he needed her help.
“The only certain way to get rid of the curse is to find Riven and destroy him,” he said. “I need you to take me to him.”
Inga released a sharp breath of disbelief. “That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible.” Chiron stepped toward the female. The last thing he wanted was to be separated from Lilah, but the sooner he killed Riven, the sooner they could start their lives together. And, of course, the sooner he could release Tarak. “You have to have a means to contact him.”
“No, Chiron,” Lilah protested. “It’s too dangerous.”
Darkness Returns Page 19