Serina stood, her red tongue swiping over the blood smeared on her lips, licking away every drop. Dark eyes showed no emotion as she stared down at him, her lips curved into a cold smile. His sex, still out, lay against his belly coated with his expelled seed. The nymph gave it a disdainful sniff and moved away, her dark hair slowly settling around her shoulders as her agitation fell away. A more genuine smile tipped her lips as she headed toward Equiim, but she paused for a moment within arm’s reach of Saris and glanced up at him.
“Destroy him,” she hissed before slipping away to join the goblin.
A shiver of excitement stole over him. His eyes fastened on Gnaval’s vacant, horrified stare. If he left him at that moment, the male would mend—all save his mind, most likely—just as all of them had at various points in their lives over the centuries. This would not be such an occasion.
There would be no coming back again for Gnaval.
With a snarl, he dropped upon his prey again. This time, he didn’t bother to hold his prey down with his claws. It was unnecessary. Instead, he braced his palms at either side of the male’s head as he sank his teeth into the damaged tissue of the throat.
With the contact of his mouth against the flesh, he caught the cool, sweet, tasty, almost minty flavor of the nereid’s saliva that remained in trace amounts on the ravaged flesh. He almost dropped him, the female’s taste so different from his mate, but he ignored the impulse, his mind filling with red mist again as he clamped his teeth firmly around the ruined neck.
Saris savagely twisted his head, tearing deeper, the excited sounds of the lupi filling his ears as they milled, eager to join in on the carnage. He growled back at them, unwilling to share the spoils until the deed was done. With another jerk of his head, bone popped as his teeth finally snapped through the spine, severing the neck completely.
With his teeth still closed around the tissues of the male’s throat, Saris jerked back with his prize and flung it with all his strength away from the body that the two parts may never meet again. His breath came out of him in hard pants as he stood from his crouched position, slowly becoming aware of the blood that soaked his fur.
Staring down at the body of his old friend, Saris snarled in disgust, his lips still curled back from his teeth as he stepped back, dismissing the remains without any consideration. The male would receive no last rites from him to carry him into the next world.
Turning away from the disgusting remains, Saris faced the nagas, his fur still bristling from the mounting aggression as night drew closer. From them, he glanced around at the lupi gathering closer as they stepped around Gnaval’s remains. His eyes rested for a moment on Equiim as the goblin gathered the nymph close into his arms. The goblin would see to the nymph until he returned with Rose. Addressing the lupi, Saris growled his challenge.
“I go to get my mate, the true Mistress of this mountain. Who will stop me?”
Jalis tipped an ear toward Gnaval but shook his head. “With the vulpi rising, we will need her strength. Separating her from us was intentional, whether by death or physical distance. They know that they can’t succeed if we have her.”
“Then we will fetch her, and restore the integrity of the barrier,” Nagathanal hissed as he switched his spear to his other hand, lowering it to rest at his side as he regarded them.
Just behind him, the hydra bellowed, her rattling shriek filling the room. Two of the naga’s gripped her at either side, their hands running over her soothingly, as they exchange concerned looks with Nagathanal.
“She wishes to come find her mistress,” one of the nagas murmured in a soft voice, her hair shifting around her shoulders as she stroked one of the hydra’s bony-crested heads. “But you cannot leave the castle defenseless. She will keep any enemies out until your return. My brother and I shall remain here with her, keeping her calm so she won’t break the castle apart with her fury.”
Looking between the nagas and the lupi, Saris nodded. “We go to retrieve her… immediately.”
The lupi burst from the castle entrance, the nagas slithering at exceptional speeds at their flanks. They strangely met little resistance on their way down the lower slopes of the mountain into the upper foothills. Saris’s ears twitched restlessly, but he could feel the building weight in the air. It was quiet now as the sun sank lower in the skies and the shadows grew longer, throwing the forest into hues of blue and gray as they tore through it. The veils between the worlds of the living and dead were getting thinner, and the hosts of the underworld were creating a pressure as they waited eagerly to step through.
With that pressure in the atmosphere around them, Saris was aware of a red wave building in the back of his mind. It increased his speed and strength until he was practically flying down the mountain. When they finally arrived at the barrier, he was aware of the tide of bloodlust rising within him, dulling his ability to think rationally.
Instinct roared through him as he stood at the barriers he had not seen since they first crossed paths with Darthar. Sliding through it, the barrier sent a shockwave through him, and he trembled from the force of it. His kind were not meant to cross the barrier any more than the other monsters confined to the mountain. The wrongness burrowed deep within his mind even as his aggression spiked, riding him hard, throwing his instinct into a tailspin that unraveled everything but the need to hunt and destroy.
Panting, he glanced up at the slowly sinking sun and knew that they were running out of time.
Chapter 28
Her head felt funny, and her mouth tasted awful. Those were the first thoughts that floated into Rose’s consciousness as she woke. A sharp blow across her cheek whipped her head back, stars bursting behind her eyelids.
“Wake up, Mistress Almander,” a hard, raspy voice sneered.
Lifting her head up, Rose blinked, focusing on the scarred face of a man she barely recognized. She swallowed back the nauseating taste in her mouth.
“Roninbar,” she greeted him flatly, her eyes traveling around the room. “Where are we? A boarding establishment would be my guess.”
“Correct,” he replied, his voice cool and remote. “We are at the Frenzied Stallion tavern in your town. It was too late to make our way back to the royal residence, so we shall make do with this for tonight.”
“The Night of Veils,” she murmured. “I suppose not even you would risk being on the road on such a night as this.” At his silent glower, she asked the next question that came to mind. “How the hell did you escape the mountain? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you would be the one left to torment me.”
That, at least, got a reaction. His laugh was ugly and sharp as he shoved her chair back and strode to the hearth, where he crouched to stoke the flames. He glanced at her over his shoulder only briefly, but in that look, she saw hatred burning in his eyes before he redirected his attention to the flames.
“As you, no doubt, can see. I didn’t escape. I was on your trail once I dumped those bumbling fools I convinced to help me, but I didn’t get far before the demons found me. Demonic foxlike beings. They toyed with me, playing with me until I told them that the prey that had escaped them was a mage. They found that very interesting, and my cooperation in assisting them in getting rid of you bought my life. But not before they scarred me terribly. Not just my face, but lacerating my body. That is the coin with which I paid for my queen’s desires.”
“I don’t understand. Why would the vulpi need you? You are nothing but a man without a lick of magic outside of your bespelled charms, which I doubt you possess anymore.”
A flash of annoyance crossed his face, confirming her words.
“They needed me,” he snarled. “I was the only one who could meet with their contact and trade information. They couldn’t get close enough to the castle to escort me, but crossing into the boundaries of the castle would have alerted your lupi to their presence. I was their go-between, my scent covered so that it wouldn’t carry. Every success they’ve had was thanks to me! Who do you
think brought the venom to that traitor, or the drug with which to incapacitate you? It was me!”
She let him talk as she worked the ropes binding her wrists, her fingers flexing as she attempted to call up her magic—and froze.
Cruel laughter surrounded her as Roninbar leaned back against the mantle, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Can’t magic, can you?” he mocked. “The vulpi gave me a special concoction to dose you with to keep your powers frozen within you. You are mortal, so you are still vulnerable to being drugged. In this manner, I can transport you safely to my queen for her use and judgment.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought you wanted to kill me?”
He shrugged and rose to his feet, pushing his tattered, once elegant cloak over his shoulder. “It suits our purposes to keep you alive. Your traitor couldn’t bear to kill you, but brought me some of your magics in an attempt to barter for your life. Imagine my surprise when the vulpi identified the essence of the Forial Rose. I know this is but one ingredient—but it is the most important one, isn’t it?” From the small bag tied to his belt, he pulled out the small blue vial. Rose recognized it immediately.
Mutely, she nodded, unable to deny the words she had said to him so many weeks ago. He nodded in satisfaction as if he already knew the answer. He tightened his hand around the vial but delicately put it back in the bag.
“I convinced the vulpi to spare you. Without a Master to unite the lupi with the mountain, the vulpi have finally managed to move into position to wrest control of it from the hellish wolves.”
A sick feeling turned her belly, and she shook her head.
“Impossible. The lupi are too strong to fall to them. Saris will…”
“Will what? He will be frantic over your loss, hunting for you rather than defending the castle. The castle will fall to the vulpi, and they will make powerful allies.”
“That is the plan?” she snorted and shook her head. “The king is not crazy enough to ally with those creatures. I am doubting your sanity that you would even agree to it.” She paused, glancing at him. “But that is why they let you leave, isn’t it?”
He brushed one hand over the shoulder of his tunic, trying to buff out a dark smear of dirt unsuccessfully.
“The king is not an issue. Not after my queen secures her heir and I depose the king to honor her.”
Rose sneered up at him. “And you’ll what? Live happily ever after?” At his silence, his jaw jutting out stubbornly, she started and broke out into a peal of laughter. “Oh, you fool! You do! You believe the queen will take you into her favor as her lover.”
He stiffened, his expression hardening. “The queen has confessed her love.”
“I am sure she did. How else would she send you on the errand or convince you to murder the king?” she retorted dryly.
“He whores eagerly—you have said it yourself. He thinks of nothing but rutting into his mistresses and ladies of the night without any regard for the bastards he will spawn. He will be the ruin of the kingdom. It would be far better in her hands, and with an alliance with the vulpi, her rule will go down in history. She will thank me and bestow all honors and affection on me as her consort when she learns of all I have done for her. If you are lucky, she might even keep you alive, imprisoned in the towers, to see the fruits of her victory.”
“How exciting,” Rose hissed, her tongue running experimentally along her sharp upper and lower incisors, each fang with a sharp tooth at either side of it.
That was new. It must have been part of what happened when she melded with Saris to force her energies to distill in the greatest rebirthed form. It was a window to the greater transformation that she still hoped to see. Her heart lurched painfully for Saris and the other lupi who had no idea there was a traitor among them.
She shifted in her bonds and lifted a dark eyebrow. “So what now, oh foolish one?”
Rose steeled herself for the blow as the hand descended, but there was little she could do to absorb the blow to keep it from hurting. The sharp crack of his palm connecting snapped her head to the side, the taste of her own blood blooming in her mouth. Opening her eyes slowly, she turned her head to face him again, her lips parting in a bloodied smile.
As expected, Roninbar recoiled, his eyes widening in horror.
“What sort of monster are you?”
“The best kind, I’m told,” she growled at him.
He stumbled back, shaking his head. “This isn’t right. They said nothing about you being inhuman. You are a mage, a disgraced and failed one at that—just barely an alchemist who has confined herself to the perfumery occupation.”
Her smile widened, and he turned away to begin franticly pacing, his voice rushed as he spoke to himself.
“This changes nothing. The vulpi assured me that the drug would work on you as long as you had not ascended to Master, and it has. I will just wait out this night and leave before daybreak. I will keep you silenced and blinded, and will have you delivered to the queen before sundown.”
“Gagged and blindfolded? Oh my,” she murmured as she ran her tongue over her exposed teeth. “That doesn’t sound like much fun. Wouldn’t you prefer to see how much fun I can be? You like pain… So do I. Release me.”
A shiver raced through him, and he shook his head roughly in denial. “I am loyal to my queen, and only to her. You will not tempt me.” His hands shook as he turned away, his facing flushing red as he walked to a table set at one corner, lit with one small lantern. “It is a good time to silence you, I think,” he snapped, glaring at her from across the room.
Picking up a stained wad of cloth that appeared less than clean, he shoved it into her mouth and tied another band of fabric over it to keep it in place. Rose gagged and tossed her head at the soiled taste flooding over her tongue.
Backing away, he eased to the bed, his hands resting on his thighs. He nodded again, as if to himself that time.
“This will be fine. This will work. I just need to rest and clear my mind.”
She watched him as he reclined on the bed as comfortably as he could on the lumpy mattress, his eyes closing. It was a shame she hadn’t been able to tempt him. She wouldn’t have fucked him—that pleasure was one she chose to share with Saris alone—but she would have been happy to take some chunks out of him with her newly acquired teeth, perhaps even relieve him of a bit of flesh that he wasn’t going to need in his fruitless chastity to his queen.
Rose seethed as she glared at him, worry gnawing in her gut. But the worry wasn’t for herself.
She worried about what would happen without the lupi there to protect the mountain. With Saris so distracted at her absence and his madness upon him, he would abandon the castle to find her. She knew that without a doubt. He wouldn’t be able to resist it. If the town didn’t fall to his rage, the true monstrosities from the mountain would descend.
Rose stared bleakly out the window, her eyes falling on the sun shining through the window. How was she going to stop the madness to come?
Chapter 29
Rose lifted her eyes to the window again, as she had been regularly doing throughout the day since waking in the boarding room. From the years she’d spent in the town, she knew that the women were setting the lanterns in their front windows, inviting the shades of their ancestors to visit at their silent suppers. There would be a solemnity outside as old ancestral songs were sung, inviting the dead to return. It was always her favorite time of year, and now she sat in dread of the coming night, wondering how many would suffer and fail to survive.
The hallowed night would flow with blood.
Even though her body ached from hours tied to the chair as Roninbar slept, she couldn’t bring herself to care. She ignored the discomforts as she worked at her bonds with her gradually returning magic. Roninbar didn’t even matter when she was focused on watching the descent of the sun through the heavens and painstakingly pushing the drugs out of her body.
That was something that she knew t
hat the vulpi hadn’t anticipated. If she hadn’t discovered the importance of blood manipulation in the physio-spiritual alchemy of the mage, she wouldn’t have known either. She never would have become familiar with the process of purifying her blood through the water vortexes of power through her.
Not only was it incredibly useful for this purpose, she was certain that was the key to bonding to the mountain. Although the tapestry had clearly been Darthar, the water that rested below his feet, lapping in great currents, had been a significant clue. She would need to stir her own water magic, but like in her practice with the nereid, she would need it sustained and built higher by powerful elementals. More than Serina alone. But that wasn’t the most immediate problem.
With the decline of the sun and the poison leaving her system, she could feel the acute change in the energy around her. She needed to purify herself and find the lupi before they found her. Before Saris found her. He would tear the town apart, his instinctive need to join with her driving him until he found and seized her. She needed to command control over the lupi before that happened… before he tore her apart.
A shiver ran through her as tiny drops of perspiration once again beaded on her skin, pushing more of the drug out. The hollow rush of her magic sounded louder in her ears, the power rolling toward her in increasingly larger currents as the drug abated. Rose licked her lips, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she strained to grab ahold of the current.
Roninbar stretched, his body rolling to his side for but a moment before he sat up. Brushing the loose locks of his hair out of his face, he glanced toward her, a smug smile curling on his face as he pushed himself to his feet. Rose watched him, her eyes tracking his every movement as he leisurely approached her. His smile widened when she peeked at the window, dismay filling her at just how quickly the sky had darkened. The last traces of light were waning.
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