by Sarah Kent
Aslan leaned over and snagged a chunk of beef from Melchior’s plate.
“And yet she dreams of him. She is going to lead him here Mel, you know it.”
Melchior frowned, but a heavy feeling descended on him.
“Yes. That I know to be true. He is using her somehow, and I think it is to find me. He has not killed her yet for a reason. But she is here now and I will protect her. I won’t let him touch her,” he said.
He could feel the room grow still as all eyes locked on him.
“What’s that my man?” Aslan asked with a quick sideward glance at Blane that Melchior did not miss. “You feeling her?”
Melchior stilled any more comments with a glare.
“Let me say this. She is of special interest to me. And nobody will touch her.”
His eyes held Blane’s yellow ones for a second longer than the others. He nodded and looked down.
“Nice,” Aslan let out a slow breath. “You deserve it man. She’s hot she can kick your ass. I like her already.”
Blane choked back a laugh. Melchior stood up and turned his back, calling an end to the small tête-à-tête.
But Aslan jumped up and walked with Melchior as he headed back to the storeroom.
“Have you been with her yet?” he asked.
They all knew about his curse and Aslan had nursed him back to health during the one and only time he had tried to defy the gods. He had stood beside his Lord as they had sent the girl off into her final resting. The last thing Melchior wanted right now was his old friend’s wise counsel.
Melchior shot him a look, but shook his head. “Not yet.”
“What if he finds her,” Aslan asked, his voice low so the others couldn’t hear. “She could put all of us at risk. If he finds her, he finds us. You are taking a big risk my friend.”
The thought that had been plaguing Melchior was now out in the open.
It was a no-win situation for him with Beth. Better to get rid of her now and save himself the undeniable pain of her loss later. He knew she had to go, but he also knew that to send her out alone into the human world was to risk her certain death. The very thought of it sent a pang of pain through his chest. And the uncomfortable truth was that he didn’t want her to leave. The thought of never seeing those dark fathomless again laughing up at him again was inconceivable.
Aslan’s searching blue eyes held him. Nothing was worth the lives of all these people. Not even a female he craved with his every being.
Melchior felt himself nod.
“I can’t compromise the location. I’ll going to get her out of here as soon as she wakes.”
But even as he spoke a piercing scream cut through the air.
Beth.
Aslan’s eyes were cold as he reached for the long blade hanging over his back.
“Too fucking late,” he said.
Beth was sitting upright in the centre of the bed as Melchior burst into the room, the other’s close behind him. Her eyes were wide in terror and a deep crimson stain of wet blood was spreading down the sheets she held clutched to her chest.
He raced over and, shielding her with his body he ripped down the sheets. Behind him he heard Shara hiss.
A deep cut slashed across Beth’s chest. It was not a deep blow, but it was long and deep enough to send blood streaming down her. Melchior felt his hands shake with rage.
“What happened,” he spat as he fisted a sheet and pressed it against her chest to staunch the bleeding.
“The deathbringer from my dreams,” Beth gasped, her eyes wide in her exhausted face. “He saw me in this room. He is coming for me.”
Melchior heard a curse behind him. He swung around and faced the crowded door.
His eyes met Aslan’s fathomless blue ones. There was an unspoken accusation there that Melchior had to ignore right now. He turned to Shara.
“Get ready,” he barked. “Get the soldiers ready for a battle. The Dark Lord Niyan knows our location. He will be here as the sun sets tonight.”
He saw Shara’s eyes glint with anticipation.
All three of the warrior behind him stood together as one. They hit their fists against their chest and roared to his command. Then all dropped their heads to him.
Only Aslan’s eyes held his in a cold accusing stare before they all turned and left the room.
CHAPTER 13
“The Dark Lord Niyan” Beth breathed the name into the room. She was standing right behind him, the sheet wrapped around her. “That is the thing that kills me in my dreams.”
“He is real, isn’t he?”
Then the realization lit her eyes. She recoiled in horror.
“Earlier he said something strange to me that he had never said before. He said, ‘you have found him for me’. He was talking about you, wasn’t he?”
Melchior nodded.
“Why?” She whispered her eyes wide. “What are you?”
“I am the Warrior Lord of this Realm. I was born from the Gods, but sent here many centuries ago as a punishment. My job is to guard the Sentinel, the gateway from this world into ours. I am not a human like you. I am immortal.”
Beth nodded at him. Gone was the hard edge and her blue eyes were fragile as the weight of what he had shared with her sunk in. Her dark head bowed for a second.
“This Sentinel. You guard it from him?”
Melchior smiled. She was smart and capable. More than just not wanting to lose her, he had a deep respect for her courage and her mind.
“Yes. From him and other immortals that live in other realms. But the Dark Lord is our greatest threat. He was one of us, an immortal living above before he was cast out. He turned to the dark forces for his powers and has drawn off them ever since.”
He saw her understanding. She nodded, a warrior who accepted her fate and her destiny. With a start the word rang on his tongue. Destiny. She was his. He knew that he needed to have her, even if it could only be once.
“Tell me what I am,” she whispered. “I need to know.”
Melchior stepped towards her.
“You are mine,” he said.
Beth’s face was as white as the sheets as he picked her up and carried her into the stone bathroom. Just outside the window he could see the first snowflakes starting to fall, their white petal fluttering down through the night sky.
Her haunting face was etched in pain as he put her feet gently to the floor. Her rested her against the stone basin as he turned on a steaming shower.
God he had so little time now.
He pulled down the sheet that was now soaked in her crimson blood and let it drop to the floor. Then he picked her up and walked into the shower with her. The hot water streamed down his body, caking his clothes to him. Below him the floor ran red with her blood.
Melchior lowered her feet again and slowly washed every inch of her skin clean. His fingers moved over her as if in prayer. Reverent and careful.
Beth did not say a single word as he cared for her. As his fingers moved over her wound it closed, skin merging with skin and binding as the bleeding stopped and the flesh mended. She watched him in a daze.
“What am I?” she whispered
Melchior didn’t need to talk. He took his hand and placed it on her forehead, closing his palm over the point between her brows. Then he closed his eyes and unleashed his power. His knowledge flowed into her, stories of Dreamwalkers through the ages merged with her own thoughts. As did dark memories of each of their deaths. Beth stood there as the knowledge of her kind filled her mind. When it was over he lowered his hand, and stroked it over her delicate cheek. Her dark lashes lifted and her eyes lifted up to his. They were as black and endless as the night, but filled with a peace he had never seen in them.
“Love me,” she whispered.
*******************
Beth felt herself being lifted off the ground and her arms came around Melchior neck on their own accord, weightless as he carried her through towards the bed. She felt a deep sense of peace as
he lowered her to his bed.
She opened her eyes lifted her head towards him, pulling him closer. Their lips met somewhere in the middle and she felt her mouth open, taking him. His kiss branded her. She opened her eyes and watched his face move in the moonlight. The dark lines of his face softer now as she drew back and ran a finger down his cheeks.
“How did you get these?” she whispered.
Melchior didn’t answer her, but just lowered his head again and crushed her with a kiss. It was slow and gentle, a contrast to the hard man rising above her. He had shown her nothing but power and strength, but in this kiss he gave her more. It was what she had craved forever. From the first second her eyes met his in that forest glade.
Her blood heated instantly and she arched below him, pressing her body against his.
“Be with me,” she whispered against him neck.
He nodded. She felt a deep sadness in his eyes.
He backed her against the bed and lowered her to it. There was none of the desperate need they had felt before as he moved his mouth against hers. This was slower and deeper. A slow, languid seduction as he moved his lips down her chin and onto her neck. Her blood was heating now. There was nothing between them this time and they both lay naked in the soft light. His fingers raked down her body and she moaned gently into his neck. He moved over her, his hot tongue flicking down her breasts. He skipped over her taught nipples and moved down her stomach, circling slowly.
Beth felt her hands rise, as if in dream, as she ran her fingers through his hair. His mouth found her nipple as she arched up into him. Her body was boneless now, a molten pool of need. His fingers knew where to move as they moved lower over her stomach, dipping lower each time. They slipped between her legs and he buried two fingers inside her. Beth arched against them, feeling the twin sensation in her breast and deep in her core.
He pushed her legs open, his movements rougher now as the slow movements quickened.
Melchior moved against her now and she felt his arousal press between her legs. The scent of his sweat was all over her now as he moved above her. Her legs fell open of their own accord as the heat rose inside her.
She had never wanted a man like this. Sure, she had lovers before. But none had made her feel this way. Nothing had ever felt this way.
She was drunk on him, she thought as he slipped another finger inside her tight sheath. She gasped out loud as his thumb moved over, stroking her as his fingers drove her wild. He could hear his breath sawing in and out now, as his thin veneer of control started to slip.
In the dark he rose above her like a dark god, a moving mass of flesh and hard muscle. She was ready for him, her core screaming for him to fill her. He moved above her, positioning his tip just at her entrance. Then he buried his face into her neck as he pushed inside her in one long thrust.
Beth came in a wild rush of pleasure, her body contracting around him.
He moved inside her, his massive girth filling her completely as she rose up to meet him, her hips pounding as he moved. He drove into her again and again.
Then the dark lust he had set aside flared in his veins. His control snapped and with a roar he moved like the wind, slamming into her in desperate, aching, primal need that rocked her. This was the wild man she had craved. His hips were wild above her, driving deeper and deeper into her in a mad possession she had never imagined.
His eyes shot open as his green gaze met hers. Then his body bucked and strained as he let out a roar that stripped her to her very core. And when her release came, she felt him buck inside her and join her in the mindless pleasure as he roared her name.
*****
Beth felt his massive weight on her as they both lay stilled. He groaned as he rolled to the side, taking his weight off her and allowing her to gently breathe again. His hand was still holding her hair tightly as he lifted himself onto one elbow and ran his finger down her cheek. Beth let her eyes close as she felt the warmth of his hand, allowing herself to lie in his warmth for a while longer before she faced what was going to happen that night.
Melchior leaned down and brushed a kiss over her lips.
“I can’t be with you ever again,” he said.
Beth’s eyes flew open. It felt as if he had doused her with cold water. A stabbing pain tore through her heart. She pulled away from his touch, sitting up in the bed.
“Why is that?” she asked, deceptively cool. All her defenses were rearing back up. The ones he had stripped away, leaving her raw before him. But he caught her hand and held it to his face.
“Beth,” he said. “Look at me.”
She lifted her gaze. His face was stricken with pain. Beth cursed. This was a man who suffered. It was a small relief. This was not his choice.
“Tell me everything,” she ordered.
Melchior sat up now, pushing his long back hair back from his face.
“I am cursed. It is my punishment from the Gods. It has been this way for thousands of years. I was cursed to rule alone, and never to have a mate. We can never lay together again.”
Beth frowned.
“Why, what will happen if we do?”
“You will die,” he said.
Beth felt a cold dread through her. No, she wanted to cry out. This is not possible.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“It only happened once, many centuries ago. Since then I have never risked it. And I would never risk your life.
Beth.” He looked at her. “If things were another way I would never let you.”
“Is there no way you can change this,” Beth asked as tears sprung into her eyes, hot and burning. He didn’t answer as he pulled on some clothes.
“Don’t make it harder than it already is for both of us,” he said. “By the Gods Beth I want you,” his voice was hoarse. “I want you like I have never wanted before. But this is my fate. I will go now and kill the Dark Lord. Tonight I will keep you safe. But you will leave in the morning.”
Beth stood up.
“Just go now,” she said, running her hand down his cheek “Go and finish this. I will be waiting for you. I am not going anywhere.”
He pulled her into a tight embrace. Then he turned and left the room.
CHAPTER 14
Beth slipped the deep emerald green robe from the back of the wardrobe over her head and stared at herself in the mirror. It fitted her perfectly, like its silk folds had been made for her alone. Her deep black rings had gone, and her face looked more alive than it had in months.
Her lips were swollen from Melchior’s kisses, but most of all her eyes blazed with a feeling she never knew could come to her. Belonging. She had never had it as a child, never had a family. As an adult she had never needed it, nor wanted it. But now it surged inside her. She had never belong anywhere until that moment she had stepped into the forest. Now she knew where she belonged, and to whom.
She ran a finger over her lips and she could still taste him there. His dark and spicy sent that drove her wild. This was all new to her. Both the strange and wonderful world that he came from, and the feelings her stirred deep inside her.
She was not going to lose him now, not when she had just found him.
She opened the door and padded out of the room. She knew what she was going to do.
She had dreamed of it her entire life.
She walked down the long staircase in the now-empty tower. Outside she could hear the roar of thunder as an almighty storm slashed across the sky. The fight had begun. Her fight was about to start too.
Beth let her feet lead her lower as they moved across the floor as if they had done this a thousand times. Before her stood a great door, so high its top seemed to reach up to the heavens. She pushed it open and stepped into the cathedral. She had been in this room before; it was the one Blane had taken her to before he had carried her up into the tower. But she had not seen the full beauty of it. Before her was a marvel of colour and light, as plants and trees grew up the walls, creating a massive space out of th
eir bows. Huge trunks reached upwards to a roof that had no end. Just the stars floated above in the empty space. But not any stars she knew. These were different, huge globes that hung in the sky aeons away. Lights from another realm, one she was now part of.
Beth moved across the floor as if in a dream. There in the front of the room was the stone dais. She walked quickly now, feeling the power of the space urge her forward. She could feel Melchior in this room and she knew that this was his domain. It made what she was about to do easier.
She climbed up onto the stone and lay down, resting her head on the raised end.
Taking one last deep breath, she fixed her eyes on the gentle lights above her and closed her eyes.
“Come and get me,” she breathed into the vision as it ripped her sight away.
CHAPTER 15
Melchior’s fury knew no bounds as he tore across the sky with his army.
The Dark Lord had wasted no time. He had roused his entire army of half-demons to take on this battle. It raged in the skies above the forest. But Melchior knew with a surge of pride that these fighters were no match for his forces. Shara shimmered across the sky, her flaming hair blazing out behind her and sizzling the enemy with its single touch. Behind her stood the army of soldiers as they slashed and fought their way through the waves of attackers.