Rogue

by Karen Lynch

  I stared at her. “You let her go?”

  “Nothing like a little hunt to spice up a party.” She made a pouty face. “Madeline proved to be more evasive than I gave her credit for.”

  “One of my guests was a warlock named Azar who was known for his gift of sight. Azar stupidly waited until after Madeline had gone to tell me he’d had a vision when he saw her. He told me that Madeline’s half-blood daughter would destroy me.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath, and I felt Nikolas’s start of surprise. All of this because a warlock had seen something in a vision?

  “Needless to say, I was quite upset Azar hadn’t shared that piece of information before I released Madeline. I discovered aged warlock is a very fine drink.” She let out a girlish laugh and some of the other vampires joined in. “We managed to pick up Madeline’s trail and followed her to Portland, which is how we found her human husband. Oddly, Eli saw no sign of a child even though he went to the house you lived in. It wasn’t until Eli found you in Portland last fall that we learned what you really were. I had no idea someone like you could even exist. But here you are.”

  She stood again and smoothed down the front of her dress. “I am bored with this chatter. I think it’s time we get the festivities underway. Ava?”

  The red-haired vampire hurried to her side.

  “Has everything been prepared as I asked?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Wonderful.” Elena smiled sweetly down at Nikolas and me. “Today is a very special day for me, and it wouldn’t be possible without the two of you.”

  Nikolas, I said fearfully.

  Be strong. He struggled to sit up and I moved to help him. “What are you planning, Elena?” he asked, sounding a lot braver than I felt.

  She walked over and leaned down to run a finger across his jaw. My nostrils flared and my hands clenched at my sides. I had to fight not to jump at her.

  “Why, today is my wedding day. All I needed was my groom.”

  “What?” I started to get up but Nikolas held me back. Fury seethed in my chest and my power clawed to get out.

  “I have been waiting for you for a long time, Nikolas. For months, my children have tried to bring you to me. I had to find Sara because of Azar’s pesky prediction. But you are my real prize.” Elena’s fingers moved intimately through Nikolas’s hair, but he didn’t react to her touch. I, on the other hand, was boiling with bloodlust.

  “You are a magnificent warrior,” she crooned softly. “And you will make an even more magnificent vampire and a fitting mate for me.”

  “No!” I lunged at Elena, only to find myself restrained by two vampires. “You can’t have him,” I shouted at her as Nikolas sent more calming energy through the bond.

  She smiled, unperturbed by my outburst. “Sara, what you don’t understand is that Nikolas and I were always destined to be together. He loved me, and we would have been mated if I hadn’t been taken from him. Is that right, my love?”

  Nikolas met her gaze sadly. “I loved you, Elena, but as a sister. I grieved your death as a brother grieves his sibling.”

  Her face hardened. “That’s not true. We were perfect together. If we’d had more time together, the bond would have grown.” He didn’t respond, and she kept talking as if she hadn’t noticed. “That’s all in the past. Today we’ll start over and create a new bond.”

  I twisted in the vampires’ iron grip. “Nikolas will never bond with you. He’s mine.”

  Elena’s eyes glittered like chips of ice when she turned toward me. “Just because he is your protector, does not mean he belongs to you, you silly child.”

  “He’s not my protector. He’s my mate.”

  “No!” Elena stood and stomped her foot. “You’re mine, Nikolas, not this half breed’s. When you become a vampire your Mori will die and the bond with her will be severed. Then we will be together forever.” She walked over to look down at me. “My wedding gift to you will be her. You will be very thirsty after the change. Her blood will be our wedding drink.”

  I saw the horror in Nikolas’s eyes. Sara, you need to get out of here. Use your power, he said desperately.

  I can’t. They drugged me again. I would never leave him even if my power was intact.

  Elena flicked her hand at me. “Take her out of my sight until the ceremony. Everyone leave us. I wish to be alone with my groom.”

  “Nikolas,” I cried as they dragged me away from him.

  Fight, Sara. Try to use your power. You’re stronger than they are.

  I screamed and fought all the way back to my cell. The vampires threw me inside and left without a backward glance. Alone in my stone prison, thoughts of what Elena was doing to Nikolas tortured me more than any physical pain. I couldn’t hear him down here, and the sudden loss of his calming presence in my mind added to my torment.

  His parting words to me rang in my mind. Fight, Sara. I would fight for him until there was nothing left in this body to fight with. I beat against the wall between me and my power, and I felt my power trying to reach me from the other side. A few threads escaped, and I hugged them to me, gaining strength from their familiar warmth. Hours passed. I pummeled the barrier relentlessly and felt it weaken around the edges.

  The door opened and two vampires appeared. “No,” I almost cried. I needed more time.

  I didn’t struggle as they led me up to the main floor. When we entered the kitchen, Ava Bryant was waiting to take me from them. She led me down a hallway and up another flight of stairs to a guest room. Laid out on the bed were an emerald green dress and a pair of matching shoes.

  “The Master wants you to look nice for the ceremony.”

  The laugh that burst from me was almost hysterical. “You want me to dress up?”

  Ignoring my question, she pointed to the attached bathroom. “Clean up in there. You smell.”

  I stared at her incredulously and she shoved me hard. “Do it or I will do it for you.”

  My movements were robotic as I stripped out of my clothes. I showered and dried my hair in a daze. This couldn’t be real. I wasn’t getting dressed up for my own death. I felt numb as I donned the soft dress that fell in flowing waves to my knees. The shoes were a size too big, but I was too out of it to care.

  “You’ll do.” Ava opened the door and shoved me out into the hallway where I almost ran into Grigor. The demon stared at me with his big orange eyes until Ava barked at him. “Grigor, what are you doing up here? Get back to the lab.”

  Instead of leaving, he bowed his head to me. “Talael esledur.”

  I gasped and stared at the demon as Ava yelled at him for disobeying her. Movement caught my eye, and I looked down at his hands where he flashed a glass vial filled with yellowish-brown liquid.

  A myriad of emotions assailed me as I realized what he was showing me and why. In the next instant the vial was gone, and he raised his eyes to mine again. “Talael esledur,” he said again then turned and walked away.

  “Idiot demon,” Ava spat as she shoved me toward the stairs.

  My head spun from the magnitude of Grigor’s revelation, and I barely saw where I was going as we descended the stairs. Had he known that I’d recognize troll bile or was he sending me another message? He was a chemist so he had to know the potency of troll bile, that it could counteract any poison. Was he trying to tell me he’d mixed troll bile with the drug they had given me last night? Was that why the barrier blocking my power was weakening?

  Nikolas? Filled with new hope, I called to him as we approached the French doors.

  Sara, he answered, his voice full of agony and regret. I don’t want you to see this.

  I sent him my love through the bond. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.

  We passed through the doors into an empty room. I looked around in confusion as Ava led me to the wide glass doors on the other side of the room that led to a large snow-covered courtyard. A blast of frigid air hit me when she opened the door and pushed me outside. I rubbed my ar
ms and tried not to trip in the too-large shoes.

  Night had fallen and dozens of gaslights had been lit to illuminate the courtyard. I could sense Nikolas, but I couldn’t see him because dozens of vampires blocked my view. Cold blossomed slowly in my chest until I could barely breathe. I struggled to maintain my composure. If my radar was working, then my power was coming back. Please, don’t let me be too late, I prayed as the vampires parted to let us through.

  “Oh, God.” My knees weakened when we emerged from the crowd.

  A raised stone platform sat in the center of the courtyard, and on top of it lay Nikolas, unshackled and dressed in a black tuxedo. A female vampire stood on either end holding his legs and arms down. Standing beside the platform and facing me was Elena, dressed in a white bridal gown and veil that made her look like a little girl playing dress up.

  Nikolas turned his head to look at me as we approached, and I could see blood staining the collar of his white shirt. His eyes had a glazed, pained look, but they softened when they met mine. “My beautiful little warrior,” he rasped as, if speaking was painful for him. Look away, Sara. Please.

  Elena clapped her hands sharply. “My children, we are gathered here for a very happy event. Tonight, I will take a mate.” Applause erupted from the vampires surrounding us until she raised a hand to silence them. “The transformation has begun, and in a few hours my mate will be born.”

  Begun? I shook my head as I saw the horrible truth in Nikolas’s eyes. A scream tore from my throat. “No.”

  Nikolas’s face twisted in pain and shudders wracked his body. I struggled in Ava’s grip and she released me, allowing me to run to him. I took his cold face in my hands and crooned softly to him. “I’m here, Nikolas. I won’t leave you.” Fight it. Your Mori is strong. You can defeat this thing.

  Sweat broke out on his brow as another wave of pain hit him. I wiped it away and my touch eased him. Through the bond I felt some of his pain, and I realized he was blocking me from the worst of it. Even now, he was trying to protect me. Listen to me, Nikolas. I’ve seen vamhir demons, and they’re weak. They control through pain. Fight the pain, and you’ll beat it.

  He grew still and his eyes opened. “I’ll fight until my last breath for you. But if this thing takes my body, I want you to remember that my soul belongs to you. No matter what the demon does or says, I love you. I will always love only you.”

  “I’ll fight too. I promise.” I tested the barrier, and my pulse leapt when more power slipped past it. It wasn’t enough to use as a weapon, but it meant the barrier was failing. We just needed a little more time. Nikolas, my power is coming back. Just hold on a little longer, and I’ll be strong enough for both of us.

  You can’t save me and fight Elena. Use your power to get away from here.

  No. I won’t leave you.

  His eyes pleaded with me. Get out of here, Sara. Get help and come back for me.

  I shook my head. “It’ll be too late.”

  Elena’s hand gripped my shoulder painfully. “You two have had plenty of time to say your goodbyes. It’s time to get on with my wedding.”

  “Wait, Elena, please.” Nikolas begged and her grip loosened.

  “Yes, my love?” she asked sweetly. I could hear in her tone that she liked hearing him beg.

  “One kiss before you take her.”

  Elena snarled, and I was glad I couldn’t see her face. “You’re my groom, Nikolas. You don’t kiss another girl on your wedding day.”

  “Just a goodbye kiss. You will have all the rest.”

  “Oh.” She let out a girlish giggle that made me grit my teeth. “Very well. One kiss.”

  “My arms?” He gave her a beseeching look.

  She huffed then ordered the vampire to release his hands. “Fine. Get on with it.”

  “Nikolas, what are you doing?” I whispered. He’d said he would fight, but he sounded like he was giving up.

  I nearly wept when his arms wrapped around me. He smiled tenderly as he brushed aside the hair that had fallen on my face.

  The first brush of his lips against mine was so achingly sweet I couldn’t stop the whimper that rose in my throat. It felt like weeks instead of days since the last time he’d kissed me, and I pressed close, needing more. His mouth parted under mine and he deepened the kiss, drawing me in until I forgot everything but him. For one blissful moment, there was only Sara and Nikolas, and there was no world outside of his arms. The bond between us expanded as we opened ourselves completely to each other and shared our love and fear.

  I didn’t realize I was crying until I tasted my tears on my lips. Nikolas kissed the tears away and whispered that everything would be okay. I buried my face against his throat and wept.

  “Time’s up,” Elena snapped.

  I lifted my head, but Nikolas tightened his arms around me. “Be strong, Sara,” he said against my ear. “Live – for me.”

  I gasped when a tidal wave of energy surged through the bond, overwhelming me in its intensity as it coursed through my body. Never with my own Mori had I experienced such raw power or felt the kind of strength that was saturating every cell of my body.

  Nikolas’s arms fell away and I staggered back from him. “What have you done?”

  His face was gray and clammy, and his eyes were clouded when they met mine briefly before they closed. A violent tremor shook his body, and the vampires had to restrain him to keep him from falling off the platform. The episode passed and his head lolled to one side.

  My Mori wailed. Every part of me froze, incapable of accepting what I was seeing and feeling. Solmi! my Mori cried, freeing me from my paralysis. The bond was still there, but already I could feel it weakening. I threw my arms around him and pushed the strength he’d given me back into his body. “You promised you’d fight!” I screamed. “You said you wouldn’t leave me.”

  Nothing.

  I beat on his chest. Beneath my fists something moved, and my power surged around the weakening barrier to get to the vamhir demon growing inside him. I pushed desperately into his chest, but I already knew it was too late.

  I sagged against him and stared down at his lifeless face. “No. No, no, no, no.”

  “Nikolas?” Elena ripped me away from him, and I fell to my knees in the snow, gasping for breath.

  He wouldn’t leave me. He’s not gone. He’s not gone. He’s not gone.

  Elena’s scream of rage penetrated my shock and sent vampires running from the courtyard. “You killed him.”

  Her words sent a shockwave through my body, and I felt something fracture deep inside of me. Out of the fissure poured grief unlike any I had known before, and it burned through me, consuming me until I knew there would be nothing left but an empty shell. My Mori roared its own agony, and I called to it. It joined with me and our pain became one. I hung my head and let the grief take us.

  When Elena’s hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed the air from my lungs, I didn’t fight her. When she threw me across the courtyard and I lay in a heap in the snow, I didn’t try to get up. When she screamed all the ways she was going to torture me, I didn’t flinch. She had taken the only thing that mattered to me. There was nothing else she could do to hurt me.

  Then Elena stalked over to the platform and picked up Nikolas’s body.

  My head lifted from the ground. My vision tunneled on the vampire holding the most precious thing in my life.

  Blood roared in my ears. I trembled as the demon’s energy suffused my body until I didn’t know where I ended and it began. I stood and the snow crunched beneath my bare feet.

  A growl rumbled up from my chest and echoed through the courtyard.

  Elena turned and shock crossed her face before she snarled. “Ava, I need to tend to my mate. Deal with that until I’m ready for her.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  Ava blurred across the courtyard and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”

  Blue static erupted across my skin, and she hissed and dropped my arm. “That�
�s not possible,” she uttered as my body began to glow and my hair crackled and lifted off my shoulders. She took a step back.

  I captured her wrist. She screeched in pain and tried to pull away, but my hand was fused to her. A jolt of power took her to her knees.

  “Ava Bryant,” my Mori and I said in one voice. “You hurt our mate.”

  Her eyes rounded and she shook her head. “I didn’t. She wouldn’t let me touch him.”

  I tilted my head to one side and studied the fear in her eyes. Her fear turned to shock when my hand blurred and punched straight through her ribcage. She made a wet choking sound as my hand reappeared holding her demon-encased heart. I squeezed and they both turned to dust.

  “Piece-by-piece,” I said as she toppled into the snow.

  I turned to face Elena as she laid Nikolas on the ground. Seeing him lying at her feet intensified my rage until there was room for nothing else inside me.

  The world slowed down. Elena moved, and I raced forward to meet her attack. We collided and she grabbed for my throat while I went for her chest. My strike was not enough to disable a Master, but it tore her away from me and sent her flying backward. She landed easily on her feet and came at me again. Her claws scored my chest before I struck again. This time she stumbled when she landed.

  Hands grabbed my arms from behind. Elena sneered triumphantly as two vampires held me for her.

  Flames erupted on either side of me. Screams tore at my eardrums before the two vampires exploded. Burning gore spread across the snow and splattered Elena’s white wedding dress. She shrieked and smacked at the fire licking at her skirt. At the same time, an explosion came from inside the house, followed by screams. It sounded like Grigor’s lab had blown up.

  Elena stared hard at me. “I think, niece, that it is time to end this little tantrum of yours. Now, stop this and come to me.”

  I felt a soft push against my mind, and I batted it away as if it was an annoying gnat. “Your weak little mind has no effect on me.”

  She started to circle me, visibly agitated by the discovery that I wasn’t such easy prey after all. “I can’t believe Nikolas took a half breed for a mate,” she sneered. “Look where it got him.”