Rogue Within

by Mima

  “Mmm. How mercenary of my little Bear. I thought his kind was all about spiritual matches. Did he suffer immense guilt when he took you? I hope so.”

  An image of Donte’s broad, solid form against the moonlit balcony filled her mind. But he hadn’t commanded truth in this question yet. “He stormed my magescape and took me boldly. He basically stole me, defying his people’s tradit—Oh!”

  Sverre snagged Signy’s cloak. He slammed her body down and gave a series of dancing blows into the lax fabric. She was still. Hands braced on knees, he caught his breath, obviously badly wounded.

  Eventually he stood, staggered, and faced Thad. “I have won.”

  “Fascinating. They truly think I’m an idiot.” Thad went to work on another of Moriko’s buckles. He raised his voice. “They’re not dead, Sverre. None of them. Nice acting though. Almost like you’ve rehearsed.”

  Sverre wavered, clearly unsure. Signy sat up and blasted him in the back. He fell face first into the dome. It held him there, his body jerking violently.

  Thad slid back from her, groaning, legs restless, fingers gripping the grass. “Yeeesss. Ohhhhh, yesssss.”

  Moriko’s stomach heaved and she leaned over to wretch. It wasn’t the death of Sverre that bothered her, but the sexual thrill it gave Thad. Immediately noticing the small freedom she now held, she sent a quick strike of earthcraft to the area where Donte lay. Pain cut across her skull. Using her magecraft without Thad must be in violation of the slave spell. But she’d only needed that one moment, and the white spots across her vision were worth it. Compacting the soil, she had made a slight depression for Donte to roll beneath the dome’s edge. All she could see was the grass shift. Her gaze darted to Thad’s slack face, his lips gleaming with saliva.

  Roll out, Donte. Like a groundbear. Go down and under.

  Signy slid her cloak off. She wore a simple, sturdy gray gown like the kind Moriko preferred to work in. With her bloodied face and her arm hanging loose and covered in sores, she looked pitiful. But Moriko felt no sorrow. She hated. Signy’s soul was hideous and she needed to die. Moriko growled.

  Signy tossed her chin proudly and turned toward where Donte lay. Moriko growled louder. Thad sighed with deep satisfaction beside her as Sverre’s body slumped to the ground. With every step Signy took toward Donte, Moriko wound tighter and tighter. Her gaze burned into the grasses, seeking any sign on the far side of the dome that Donte had escaped it.

  She’d have a better view if she stood, so she did. Pain laced through her thighs, but she was getting used to it. Her face, both forearms, and her gut pulsed with agony. She could barely make out a still, tan length. Donte was in the depression she’d made, but remained unmoving, still inside the dome’s circumference.

  She turned on Thad. “You’re not going to let her kill him, are you? You didn’t send him in there to die!” She rummaged through the earth, dragging him farther down, and farther away, desperately trying to clear him from the dome before Signy got there, while distracting Thad.

  Her sight dimmed. It felt like the top of her skull had been sliced off. She had freed him but Signy knelt so close. He was helpless. Staggering, she couldn’t gather her craft. Thad’s presence coated her. Buzzing filled her ears and her skin tried to crawl inside her bones.

  He rocked his head back and forth and sat up as if drunk. “Of course I did. Clearly he was hoping to fool me and assassinate me. Our connection is too weak now. He’s a danger.”

  She couldn’t resist checking. Signy no longer stood in the dome. The grass rustled wildly near Donte. Moriko froze. Signy was following him out. Russ sat up. Even through the shimmering green, she could see his face was blackened with soot.

  Thad ruffled his hair. “If he gambled that giving you to me would lull me, he lost. Now he’s out his freedom, his mate, and his life.” He turned his gaze toward the dome.

  Moriko’s brain had never worked so fast. Thoughts flew through time. Donte hadn’t attacked Thad outright because he’d thought the others would defend their leader. He’d needed to rid himself of them. Thad himself had done that, but trapped Donte with them. Donte was out now, but still not safe from a rear attack by Signy.

  Was Signy more of an ally against Thad, or more of a danger to Donte? She couldn’t chance it. In the time it took Thad to focus on the scene, Moriko surged the earthen hole closed under the dome, driving Signy up into it. Signy had cleared it to the waist. Her torso reared up on the far side of the dome, her legs drumming so hard inside it her heels flashed in the grass.

  The pain of moving Donte without Thad’s permission had been horrendous, but breathable. The pain of doing harm to Signy was not. Her mind screamed, her heart burst, and she crumpled into a spasming, curling clutch. Dimly she heard Thad laughing uproariously as darkness took her.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Donte’s arms trembled, his body struggling to obey his will. But it had plenty of practice working beyond its capacity and so it held despite the blood, wounds, and exhaustion. His gaze just below the heads of the tasseled grass, he stared through the glimmering green of the dome to the far side of the clearing. Moriko stood above where Thad stretched out on the ground. Signy was cursing, puffing, clawing through the gap his mate had made. The slave spell screamed at him, insisting he fight the mage as Thad commanded.

  He debated whether or not to let her make it. If he did, Thad would be distracted in a dual attack. But he’d be leaving Moriko open. The dome would likely fall the instant Thad died, but he’d run with Moriko instead of fighting the others, his main goal accomplished. His secondary goal, for her to survive, would kick in. Once she was safe, he’d come back.

  We promised her Signy would never touch her. Kill the thing now.

  Bear had been a rock of strength inside, never more in tune with what he needed. He’d been watchful, a buffer against Thad’s internal prodding, and held Donte together when Thad had yoked Moriko’s beautiful, bold spirit to his.

  And I told you never to make promises we can’t keep.

  But just then someone else took the decision away. The earth shuddered back into place and Signy was sealed to the dome’s edge, right across her waist. Her old gray eyes bulged, her feet kicking inside as her torso twisted. She blasted a lash at him, but he flattened and it whiffed over the top of him. Black blood burst out of her mouth. She swung her body wildly, loud gagging noises wrenching from her.

  Russ was up inside the dome. No doubt the dangerous scavenger was drawn to her death. At least the bitter attacks from that quarter were on pause.

  Donte processed the fact the dome was sealed again, the earth heaved in a fresh, muddy mess. Earthcraft. His gaze ripped across and there was Moriko writhing on the ground with twice the pain Signy experienced. She hadn’t known what the slave spell would do when a slave attacked a darkmage. He’d seen slaves’ minds break from the punishment feedback.

  Bear moaned, bouncing his front feet in distress. Now? He asked for the twentieth time.

  And unlike all the others, Donte growled back. Yes. Now. He sank inside his own mind, feeling the rush of energy and fur as Bear stormed past him, taking control of their body.

  Bear gathered their weight up onto the balls of their feet, torso low to the ground. Signy was still flopping next to them, but they left her to enjoy Russ’s approach. We will take our mate away from here. Bear was very focused on Moriko.

  After we kill Thad, Donte ordered. All of this has been to get him. She joined us in this mission. Don’t waste it.

  They hovered there, muscles quivering. It was time to let go of the slave spell, time to be free and complete the pledge made so many months ago.

  Russ sent one of his clever knives through Signy’s spine. She died. Donte knew by the way Thad quit laughing and seized. His body arched in ecstasy, his foul power surging to immense levels. Soon, he’d be incomprehensibly powerful, fueled beyond any pain Donte and the slaves had given him. But in this moment, he’d never been more helpless.

  Di
e. Both souls shouted it with perfect intent. All of their suffering, all of their bondage, all of their betrayals had led to this moment. Muck flung under their feet as they propelled forward. Their toes curled in their soaked boots as they thrust, straightening their legs in a burst. The jump took them along the side of the dome. The green haze fell away, revealing with clarity the two bodies flailing in the muddy grass. It was too far. Thad would emerge much too fast from the death-feedback.

  Faster! He poured all of himself into Bear. They were airborne in a second leap that took all his strength.

  A year ago, Donte had thought to accept the slave spell just long enough to escape with the two hawks near death. Letting it sit on Bear while Donte hid inside had tricked Thad … and Donte. He’d been trapped, but not completely bound. The greater trap had been his own will, his own fierce need for vengeance.

  Finally the thumping, crowding pain he’d held to since his run from the island vanished with a whoosh of euphoria. He cast it off. Moriko’s presence bloomed inside with the force of a piling thunderstorm. Bloodlust soaked him, lighting up his spine.

  The battleform Donte had always denied Thad rippled across their frame. His heavy, longer arms sliced through the air as if he could swim in it. As he began his descent, he tossed Moriko’s too-still body away with a thrust of earthcraft. He’d never thought to move bodies with earthcraft before. His brilliant mate was clever. And would be clever again when she awoke, and survived, and recovered from Thad’s taint.

  He drew the fire around himself as he brought his arms and legs forward to land. Thad opened his blue eyes one instant before they hit the ground. His pupils contracted in shock at the view of Donte descending with his own private inferno.

  It was perfect.

  Bear landed with their feet on his thighs, one hand skewering his shoulder, the other his heart. Fire crackled and hissed across the rank clothing that reeked of pain and blood and sickness. One of Thad’s hands slashed toward him. With a flick and a flex of his wrist, Bear cut it off.

  But the other hand managed to graze Donte’s ribs. Agony pounded at him. Thad’s scream of rage doubled, grinding inside Bear’s mind, seeking to grab onto the echo of the slave spell. It wasn’t there, but Donte was. He blocked Thad’s mental lance, snapping it off. Bear would never know this thing’s yoke again.

  Donte sent the fire hotter, drew the ring closer, burning his own skin. Roaring, he crossed his arms and wrenched them wide along Thad’s neck. Thad’s head rolled free, the fire following it greedily, first gobbling all the hair into a curled, blackened hat. His eyes melted, then his skin.

  Bear leaped up and back, spinning to put himself between Russ and Moriko. They poured more energy into the fire, urging it tighter, stronger, not quite believing Thad’s death.

  Russ was already running full out across the clear field toward the forest. Donte lunged forward, but Bear was in charge of their battleform and remained immovable.

  Go! Donte ordered, his own hands clawed inside, his legs flexed for the jump. One leap and he’s gone.

  Bear’s legs twitched, but he straightened. That one now has all the power of the other three and we are weakened.

  As if to prove Bear’s point, Russ lit up a horizontal wave that flowed away from him like a cape. It was black and killed everything he passed by, crisping it to ash.

  Go! Finish this! Donte could taste the end, it was so close. Thad’s flesh scented the roiling clouds of smoke. They could do anything.

  Our mate lies helpless.

  And that was the final statement. Donte moaned, falling to his knees in their jungle. He watched Russ’s dumpy form bobble out of sight toward the sifting stone. Victory vanished. Bear turned and approached Thad.

  Their battleform rippled and faded. Bear retained control of their body. Raising his claw-free hands, Bear pounded fireball after fireball into the lump of organs until there was nothing of the body but a bloody, festering pile of muddy goo.

  Then Bear went to Moriko’s crumpled form. He knelt and gathered her up. She was stiff in their arms, face blanched and sweaty, creased with pain.

  “Something’s wrong,” Bear said out loud.

  Donte and Bear reached together down their Bond, feeling their way into their mate’s magescape. What Donte saw made him wretch.

  Bear hissed. This is what you’ve made of her.

  Donte stepped out of his jungle onto her mental beach. He chafed her hands as she laid on a black blanket, the distances frayed by swirling smoke. “I’m here, mate. Your husband is here. I’m free. It’s time to let go of the slave spell.”

  This shouldn’t be possible. A human shouldn’t have the power to hold a slave spell after the originator had given it up. It was eating at her, ripping up the fabric of who she was.

  I have to get her away from here. I do not trust Glasses not to come back for us. You know how they value the hearts. Bear stood with Moriko and began to head back toward the City.

  Donte let Bear have his body completely, fading deep inside to focus on Moriko. He rubbed her arms, patted her face, stroked her hair, loose here, back from her cheeks. And still the dark slave spell pulsed.

  Desperate, he leaned down and brushed his lips over her heart. She gasped.

  He froze, kneeling by her side, staring at her face.

  Her black lashes fluttered and her eyes opened, rich gilded chestnut.

  “Let it go, Moriko.” He said it hard and mean, a firm order.

  His delicious tart shook her head faintly. Her walnut hair against the black towel glowed in the harsh warm sun here. “We’re not done.”

  Shock hit him in the lungs. “Bear wouldn’t leave you. Russ got away, yes, but I won’t take you after him again.”

  “It’s not about them. You killed Thad, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” His voice thickened with satisfaction. It was ugly but he couldn’t hide it.

  “I’m so glad,” she whispered faintly. Her head lolled to one side.

  “Cupcake. Keep talking. Why are you doing this?” He scooped under her neck, shaking her enough to get answers.

  “My Cities. So many left. The potion is still out there. We need you as much as we did before. Your mission is met, but we must ask more of you, Executioner.”

  He scowled. “I had to let the slave spell go to take Thad.”

  She smiled, tired. “Then it’s a good thing I’ve still got a piece.” Her eyes grew heavy.

  He jiggled her head again. Her lids fluttered and she met his gaze. It was like a club to the gut. She was in his arms but he was losing her.

  “What are you saying?”

  “You must hunt them for the Queen. I need you to keep going. I’ll hold the slave spell, and you’ll go where I sense them. We’ll be a team.”

  “Absolutely not.” He bared his teeth at her. “I didn’t drag you through this in order to have you live with that kind of pain. Let their stink go. I’ll fight for you, but—”

  “We need it, Donte-Bear. Did you think I took your suffering as a matter of course? I knew you were in agony and I accepted it as something that couldn’t be avoided. For me it was never about Thad. It was about all of them. Every single one.” She looked out at the splintering horizon of her calm beach.

  “We’ll go kill Russ right now, then.”

  “Not just him. Let someone else take the brunt of him now. No, I need to clean out all the little ones. City by City, and through the wildlings outside the Walls, too.”

  He snorted, shaking his head. “You’re going to hold onto that slave spell, think you can function with it, until they’re all dead?”

  She nodded. “I’ll get better at it.” She winced, her hand clamping on his arm. “I can hold this. You’ll have to risk so much in battle. This will be my share.”

  Fuck no. Every single bone inside him rebelled. He knew what it was to live with the darkness, the creeping pain, the grinding heaviness like a boulder tied to his head, shoulders, and heels. There was no way he would ever allow his mat
e to live like that.

  His fingers brushed the skin of one elegant cheekbone. In her real body, it was split from Thad’s strike, bruised and swollen. “I had no idea I’d mated such a warrior.”

  She snorted. “You think I’m all buttercream.”

  It was amazing to him, how this woman could make him laugh. How she forgave him for dragging her into that. There wasn’t a drop of anger in her toward him. All of her, a miracle.

  He cupped one breast. In the magescape, her nipple was bare of his decorations. “You’re serious. You’re willing to hold the slave spell until we track them all down.”

  “And kill them. Every last pain-sucking, death-drinking scum.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  Glancing at the horizon, he saw that the wisps of foggy darkness had eaten quite close toward her shore. He drew in a steadying breath.

  “Yes, Moriko. I am your weapon and your husband-protector. I will be your sky, watching over your people, and you will be the earth, growing them. You are my stolen treasure, my woman, and I bow to your desire.”

  “Thank you, Donte.”

  “Now give me the spell.”

  Her eyes fluttered wider. He cradled her closer, massaging the breast he still cupped.

  “You had it long enough.” She frowned. “I’ll carry it now.”

  “It’s killing you. Whether Russ is trying to do it, or the echo of Thad’s spirit is dragging you along, I don’t know. All I know is that I can live with it. I know how to banish it, how to use it when I need to and keep it apart as much as possible when I don’t.”

  She shook her head mutinously, chin jutting, gorgeous lips locked.

  “Woman, don’t make me angry. I’m strung out on battle adrenaline right now.”

  She snorted.

  He looked away at a palm tree whose leaves were starting to fade where the fog danced closer. His fingers closed around her throat. In real life, it was badly bruised and scratched. Thad had put his hands on her, his tongue and lips, too. None of that flesh existed anymore.