by Cynthia Eden
“It’s harder to kill you than I thought.” A furrow deepened between his dark eyes. “You thrived in the mortal realm.” He glanced around. “And the kingdom withered all the more. People were starting to think that I was to blame.”
“Spoiler, you are.”
“I brought you back here so I could finish the job myself.”
“Oh, really? You expect me to believe you’re going to get your hands dirty?”
“You survived vampires.”
“Their bite isn’t so bad.”
“Werewolves…”
“I gave them something to howl about.” With some help.
“And even my wraiths.” Anger shook his words.
She blinked innocently. “Oh, no! Did someone lose his favorite toys?”
“Someone is about to lose a favorite toy. Only that someone isn’t me.”
Her heart thundered in her chest.
“You had no power, sister. You didn’t defeat your enemies on your own. I have spies in that realm. Spies who were closer than you realized. They told me all about your relationship with a certain hunter.”
The situation had just gone from bad to horribly, terribly screwed. “A hunter?” Her chained hand lifted as she tapped her chin. “Can you refresh my memory a bit?”
“The hunter you fucked…Harrison Key. You used him to stay alive.”
“Used is a strong word. I don’t like it. Enjoyed is better. I enjoyed him.” Another tap on her chin. The chain made a grinding sound as it dragged across the stone floor. She felt a tickle on her foot. She didn’t glance down, but she knew the spider was beside her. “What does the hunter have to do with any of this? I left him behind when you so forcefully pulled me home.”
“He’s not just a hunter, is he?”
“No. He’s the best hunter. The most amazing one out there. I don’t sleep with losers.”
Her brother’s eyes gleamed. “I know.”
“You know…what? That you’re annoying? A dick? Delusional? That you were brainwashed by our father and the little bit of real you is buried under a shitload of his deceit? How about try digging deep, finding that real part, and letting me out of this cell?”
“You don’t let bait out. You use bait. After she brings in the prey you want, then you eliminate her.”
Elise shook her head. “What?”
“I told you, I had spies close. A spy—”
“In the group of hunters,” she realized. Dammit. Who?
He gave a knowing smile. “You were trying to wake the beast, weren’t you?”
“What beast? You’ll need to be way more specific. There are lots of sleeping beasts out there, and, according to a friendly child I met, even some woman named Snow White who enjoys being kissed while she sleeps—”
“You thought you’d use him against me.”
“To be honest, I plan to use everyone and everything against you. I’m not just going to sit back and die.”
“No, you’ll sit back and burn. The beast you were planning to use against me…he’ll destroy you. He’ll come for you.” More of the laughter that she hated with her soul. “I’ve heard that he’s already crossed into this realm.”
Hope flared. A quick spurt of joy. Did she mask it? Did Ardon see it?
“Poor Elise. You don’t know what will happen to a being like him in our realm, do you? Think about it.”
“Um, he’ll kick your ass?” Excellent plan. Brilliant. “He’ll—”
“Be overwhelmed by the magic here. It will stir his beast into a frenzy. Oh, sure, if he’d been shifting his whole life, if he had control of the beast, there would be no problem. But he doesn’t have control, does he?”
She didn’t speak.
He winked. “My spy told me he doesn’t. Don’t feel bad. You’re not betraying any confidences.”
“Um…could you do me a huge favor?”
His eyebrows lifted expectantly.
“Go screw yourself,” she snapped.
He wagged his finger at her. Wagged that shit. “His beast will take over. He’ll be consumed. He will attack anyone and everyone near him. Guess who will be the closest when that momentous event occurs?”
She did not like where this was going. Elise turned away from him. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing any pain on her face. When she whirled away, the spider rushed up her body. His feet flew over her arm, then her shoulder, and he stopped for shelter in the crook of her neck. If spiders could hug, she thought he might be hugging her.
When Ardon had spoken, of her impending, fiery death, he’d sounded so satisfied and smug.
She needed to shake that certainty. “How can you be sure of what will happen?”
“Because I know more about dragons than you do. You had some two-bit priestess feeding you information. I had the power of ancient fey. Want to know what they told me?”
“Not particularly.”
“They said that a dragon’s fire wouldn’t hurt a blood-born fey with power. Did you hear that last part? The key part? With power. Your power is gone until the next full moon, so that means if your lover breathes his flames on you, you will die.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Why not? It’s true. A dragon’s flames will kill you unless your power is back.” His voice dropped, as if he wanted to share a secret. “I have all my power right now. I have more than my normal amount. When you were cursed, it’s like your magic jumped to me. If your dragon breathes his fire on me, it won’t even mar my skin.”
“Oh, please.” She spun toward him. “You’re basing this whole evil plan of yours on something one of your crappy advisors told you? One of dad’s old flunkies? Those guys should have been executed long ago. They are as corrupt as they come, and if I were you, I wouldn’t buy their stories.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw.
“Maybe they are carefully deceiving you with their words. Or maybe they just have wrong information. You won’t know for sure. You won’t know anything for certain. Not until my beast opens his mouth and pours fire all over you.”
Her brother backed up a step. “You don’t have your power. The only other way you can possibly survive a dragon’s fire…well, that would be if you’re his mate. The dragon’s true mate. He would have to give you his very heart, and only then would you be safe.” A mocking smile. “We both know he doesn’t love you. He might want to fuck you, but he doesn’t love you. Love isn’t in the cards for you.”
“You don’t know him, and you don’t know me. You sure as hell have no idea what I feel for him.” Or what he feels for me. She had to think this through. Had to figure out a way through the darkness. “There is still time to change things.” Didn’t he see that? “Just let me go. Try being my brother and not my enemy.”
“If you take the kingdom, I have nothing.”
“That’s just what father wanted you to believe.”
“You’re going to let me rule at your side?”
Um, no. You’re crazy. You’re trying to kill me.
“Didn’t think so.” He turned on his heel. “We’ll test out the burn theory. We’ll let those flames rage on you first. Then maybe…you know what? Maybe I’ll just slay your dragon. I’ll find a way to pierce his heart, and it won’t even matter what he can or cannot do to me.”
“Don’t!” The cry tore from her, and, yes, she’d lunged for the bars again. Apparently, she was a slow learner. The spider went flying and the chains bit deeply into her wrists. She could smell her own blood.
Her brother stopped. “That was a mistake.”
Her breath heaved in and out.
“I may not know how to pierce his heart, not yet…” Now Ardon was the one to glance back. Torch light flickered over his face and made him appear extra sinister. As if he needed that additional touch. “But I know how to pierce yours, don’t I?”
She had to deny his words. “He’s a hunter. Hunters don’t fall for monsters.”
“But monsters fall for hunters. Yo
u did. Poor Elise. You went out into the mortal realm, and you fell for a man who will always hate you. Even if he does have a beast on the inside, he was raised as a hunter. Why do you think he even came to this realm? Not to save you. To destroy you. My spy said that was all Harrison wanted. He was enraged by what you’d done.”
“No.” They’d talked at the hotel. Things had been getting back on track before Ardon grabbed her. Hadn’t they?
“Yes. He left the house in that silly suburban neighborhood—”
“There is nothing silly about that house or the people who live in it!” Holly and Cassie were quite wonderful.
“Your Harrison left that house with one goal. To find you. To end you.”
He had been incredibly angry when he found her at the hotel suite. But…he hadn’t been planning to kill her. He’d said that he wouldn’t kill her.
“Oh, Elise. You were always too trusting. I mean, you believed I was the ruler for most of your life even though you had to see the signs of your own power. Until the curse kicked in, you were always stronger than me. You should have fought me long ago. Before it became too late. Instead, you believed the careful deceits father and I gave you…”
“You are my brother!”
“And you are in my way.”
“Technically, I’m in a cell.”
“You can’t count on your lover to save you. He’s coming to kill you. I’m just making it easy for him. When he arrives, he’ll join you in that cell. His beast will take over, and then everything will burn.”
“Well, that explains why you didn’t put me in a cell inside your castle. You just shoved me in the pit on the side of a mountain because you didn’t want people questioning a giant blaze.”
“They’ll still question it. I’ll say your lover killed you in a furious rage. Truth. Because you know, fey must always tell the truth.” With that, he left her. His steps echoed over the stones.
“We don’t have to tell the truth,” she whispered. “Not when we can just twist our lies.”
The spider rushed toward her. She knelt. “Beaux, what in the hell are you doing here?” She carefully stroked the top of his head with her pinky as she whispered to him, “It’s time to cut your losses, buddy. You’re not on the winning side. Maybe you should consider going to the mortal realm. Find some sexy guys over there that tickle your fancy and party like there’s no tomorrow.” She had to gulp down the thick lump in her throat. “Because for me, there isn’t gonna be a tomorrow. There isn’t going to be anything else.”
A circle of blue light surrounded the spider. She sat back, slumping on the dirty floor as more effervescent blue swirled around the spider. Beaux grew and, in a burst of brilliant light, he stood as a man.
She stared at his face. His gorgeous face. Beaux never worked his concealment magic on her. She always saw him exactly as he was.
“You’re a sorry sight,” Beaux told her as he raked her with his stare. His hand motioned toward her. “What is that precious fragrance you’re wearing? The scent of defeat? And maybe a little urine?”
“Get out of here,” she told him as she refused to let her nostrils inhale that stench. “My brother will be back or he’ll send in some of his lackeys, and if they find you with me, you’ll die, too.”
He drew himself up. “I’d rather die at my queen’s side than run away like a coward.”
“I’m not a queen. I’m not even a princess right now. I’m a prisoner. Besides, did you hear what Ardon said? Harrison is going to kill me. I thought he’d be my big gun in this battle, but he’s just—”
“I’m right here.”
And…he was. He stood on the other side of the cell, just beyond the bars. She wanted to run to him, but Elise wasn’t in the mood to be wrenched back by the chains again. Also, the fact that Harrison’s eyes were swirling with flames? That would be reason number two why she stayed rooted to the spot.
“What have you done?” Elise asked Beaux.
“Oh, you know, the usual. Avoided detection by all the bad guys, snuck in a hunter, and arrived to save your ass.” He gave a perfect bow. “Always happy to save that, my royal prince-ass.”
Chapter Fifteen
It wasn’t true.
He wasn’t a beast. Sure as hell not some dragon. Dragons weren’t even real. All hunters knew the last of the dragon shifters—a savage, brutal group—had died out long ago.
“He looks like he wants to eat you,” Beaux loudly whispered as he eyed Harrison.
But she shook her head. “No, it looks like he wants to burn me alive.” She hunched her shoulders as she sat on the dirty, stone floor. “You walked into a trap, you know. My brother is going to jump out of the shadows at any moment and watch you roast me. This whole sorry deal will end poorly for everyone involved.”
She couldn’t lie. She really thought that was the end?
He eased out a low breath. Surely smoke had not just blown from his mouth? Harrison shook his head. “I’m a hunter.”
Her head turned toward Beaux. “Did you tell him?”
“Gave the guy his entire tragic back story. Don’t think he believed me. I mean, sure I get it. We’re strangers. I could be some crazy psychopath who makes up dramatic back stories for kicks. I’m not, of course, but he doesn’t know that. Why should he believe me? Why should he—”
“Does he always talk that much?” Harrison interrupted curtly. “I noticed when he starts, he doesn’t stop.”
Slowly, her gaze tracked back to Harrison. “Beaux grew up alone until I found him. The other fey children shunned him because he was different. Sometimes, children can be very cruel.”
Harrison nodded. “So can adults.”
“Beaux decided he didn’t need those others, so he just talked to himself.”
Beaux cleared his throat. “I like to hear my own voice. I find it quite beautiful and melodic. I don’t see where the problem—”
“Your voice is beautiful and melodic,” Elise agreed immediately. “But if we’re going to live, we need to get out of here and save some of that beauty for later.”
An excellent plan. Except for the fact that Elise was still staring at Harrison as if she expected him to attack her.
“I’m not,” he gritted.
Beaux moved in front of her. A protective stance.
“I’m not going to let either of you die,” Harrison clarified. “We’re all getting out.”
“Good luck.” Elise waved toward the bars. “Do you have any idea how heavy those—”
He yanked the cell door right off the thick hinges.
“Oh.” She blinked. “That was sexy, and I’m working hard not to find anything about you sexy because I’m afraid you’re going to burn me.”
He stalked toward her. Distantly, he heard an echoing bell.
“Alarm,” Beaux snapped. “Shit, probably tied to the cell. If her door opened—”
“Or got torn off by a powerful dragon,” Elise added smoothly.
“It must have been set to blast an alert.” Beaux winced. “That means Ardon will be rushing here any moment.”
She curled her hand around Beaux’s wrist. “Get out of here, now.”
“No, no, I will not leave—”
“You have to stay free in case something goes wrong. Get out of here.”
Blue light flared. As Harrison watched, Beaux shrank down to become a spider again. The spider rushed toward the shadows.
Harrison had to admit, “That shit freaks me out. Seeing a man turn into a spider takes some getting used to.”
“If you think that’s bad, wait until you see a guy turn into a dragon.” She stared pointedly at him.
“I’m confused as hell.”
“Yes, and I’ll help out with that, but for now, I could use some help.”
His focus sharpened on her.
Elise licked her lower lip. “Help if…you’re not planning to torch me.”
Rage burned through him. He stalked across the cell. He expected her to cower more and the i
dea of her cowering before him—no, I don’t want her fear.
But she didn’t cower. Elise shot to her feet. She tipped back her head, sending her hair sliding over her shoulders. She was dressed in some fancy, fantasy-like gossamer dress and if they weren’t in the pits of hell, he would have appreciated her outfit a whole lot more. As it was…he saw, he appreciated, and he planned to revisit later. After they were out of the cell.
He closed his hand around one of the chains that circled her wrists. “Been over this before.” He yanked the chain and it broke, freeing her wrist. “I’m not planning to hurt you. I would never hurt you.”
She sucked in a breath and held out her other wrist. “That’s what the man says. But that beast inside that you want to pretend you don’t carry? What does he say?”
Mine. The dark, possessive cry slid through his mind. He wanted to deny there was a beast. Wanted to say everything was a lie. A terrible, crazy lie.
But…
He’d been hearing that dark whisper all his life. Trying to ignore it. His father had told him that it was nothing. He’d even given Harrison drugs to shut up the voice. He’d made Harrison think he was insane.
The drugs hadn’t stopped the voice.
Nothing had stopped it.
He broke the second chain. “The beast says he’s keeping you.”
Her lips parted. “What? You—you believe me?”
He held up his hand to her. His fingertips were burning. “This shit started when Beaux and I were running across the fey land coming to save you.”
She swallowed.
He fisted his hand. The flames died. “I don’t know what I believe right now. Could be some fey trick. Could be…” A beast inside. Something that wants you, Elise, just as much as I do…
“It could be truth,” she told him. Her fingers lifted and hesitantly curled around his fist. “It could be the first time you’ve heard truth in a very long while.”
“Knew you’d come for her!” A mocking voice called out. “Just couldn’t stay away, could you? Don’t feel bad. My sister has always been irresistible to her lovers.”
Harrison stared straight at Elise.
“That’s Ardon, my brother,” she told him. “He’s a dick.”