by Kresley Cole
Declan's hands tightened into fists as Lothaire moved behind him. "You're a fuckin' parasite." I could never become a vampire. Filthy leeches.
"Words still hurt, Chase. Besides, you should be thanking me. My advice about the Valkyrie clearly worked. And speaking of females, if I call you by one's name while my fangs are plunged deep in your neck, just run with it." The vampire leaned in.
Only one more day of this vow. Just one more day.
Declan's jaw clenched when Lothaire punctured his skin with a groan. The vampire's hands clamped his shoulders, those sucking sounds nauseating. Again and again, Lothaire drew greedily--
Over the blustery winds, Declan heard a horrified cry, swung his gaze up. "Ah, God, Regin!"
"What kind of sick kicks are you into?" Regin screamed as she bolted away.
Lothaire had been drinking Chase--and the man had been letting him.
No wonder Brandr had stood at that pass like a guard, telling her to stay put. Her ears had twitched, alerting her that something was up. But she'd figured Chase had taken Lothaire out to kill him--not to feed him!
She'd sneaked off after them because she wanted to interrogate Lothaire before he died.
Worse, it'd taken her several seconds to react to the sight of them together. She'd been almost hypnotized by the scene as Lothaire drank. Chase's masculine face had been tense, his gray eyes focused on the ground. Lothaire's face had been starkly beautiful, his pale blond hair brushing Chase's shoulder.
Light and dark. One terrible, one tragic.
And Lothaire had been... hard. "Oh, gods!" she cried as she ran back along the trail. Hot poker for my eyes! Hot poker!
Why couldn't she have stumbled upon Chase and Brandr necking? That would've been crazy hot.
"Regin, wait!" Chase ran after her, his bite mark torn and bleeding. He must've jerked away from Lothaire. "I didn't have a choice!" He grabbed her arm. "I had to make that vow to him. Without his aid, we wouldn't have made it past the first night."
She flung herself from his grip. "He can learn things about me through your blood. Can learn about my sisters!" She briefly covered her mouth. "He can see everything we've done! I don't want that leech to know what we do in private."
Lothaire strolled up, making a scoffing sound. "As if I don't watch you two live from a distance." He licked his crimson lips. "His staying power is increasing. As is yours. Bravo."
They both scowled at him.
"I made a vow," Chase told her. "I'm compelled by it. You understand this."
"Fine. Then you should've kept your distance from me until you were released from it."
He pinched his forehead. "I knew I had only days to win you."
Brandr, Natalya, and Thad caught up to them.
"What's going on here?" Brandr demanded. "Damn it, Regin, do you never do as you're told?"
She blinked at him. "It's taken you a millennium to get that?"
Lothaire said to her, "Valkyrie, I've seen little about your sisters that I don't already know. Mostly I've been treated to Declan's torture at the hands of my former allies, the Neoptera."
Regin swung her head around at Lothaire. "You're talking to me? You really wanna do this, leech? Clear the air?" Again she reached back for her swords and came up empty. With a glare, she dropped her hand to the sword at her hip. "Then let's go! The Valkyrie know what you did to our queen. You hid Furie somewhere, torturing her for decades. Rumor has it you buried her under the sea to drown a million deaths."
But Lothaire frowned disdainfully. "I assure you I do not know where Queen Furie is."
"We have it from a very reliable source that you do. Your old king said so."
"Who was crazed till the day he died."
Regin narrowed her gaze. Lothaire was physically incapable of lying. "Then... then where is she?"
"Again, I do not know--"
Chase raised his hand, hissing, "Listen!" He flicked his fingers for her sword. Without thought, she tossed it to him. In one fluid motion, he caught it, then flung it end over end down through the treetops below.
A Cerunno uncoiled with serpentine agility, narrowly dodging the blade.
When it slithered away with a bullet's speed, Regin cried, "We've got to catch it!"
"It'll be long gone, Valkyrie," Lothaire said. "You can't match pace with one of that kind, not when you have a torque. Besides, you need to be running in the opposite direction. The night of our escape, I saw the Cerunnos amassing with all the Pravus allies. Among others, there were vampires, shifters, and some Sorceri--Portia and Emberine, specifically."
"Then those bitches will be coming for us! We've got to attack them first."
Lothaire gave a harsh laugh. "They're too powerful. You're not much stronger than a mortal right now. What hope do you have against a being who can move mountains?"
Natalya said, "As soon as Portia knows we're on this mountain, she'll level it."
Lothaire turned to Chase. "You and I are faster than the others. We need to lead the Pravus away from this group. Make a lot of noise while descending as swiftly as possible, and hope they follow us. Or this mountain will fall."
Chase gave a curt nod, then faced Brandr. "You take the others to the boat. Due west from here there's a covered berth in a leeward cove. We'll meet you there before sunset."
"Oh, no, no. This is a shit plan." Regin crossed to stand before him. "For one thing, Valkyrie don't flee. We fight."
"We're running out of time," Lothaire intoned.
Chase pulled her close to say at her ear, "Then do this to protect Thad and Natalya." The bastard was playing on her sense of loyalty. And it was working!
When he drew back, she said, "This is still a shit plan. I can fight--I can help you!"
"I ken you can fight. Which is the only reason I'd let you out of my sight." His confidence in her abilities continued to surprise her. "But right now, we are faster than you and the others. You know this is the most logical move."
She did, but was pissed that they were in this position.
When she pursed her lips, he said, "If for some reason we don't show by sunrise, take the ship." Then Chase shared a look with Brandr. "You watch her back."
Brandr gave a curt nod.
In Old Norse, Regin murmured, "Take me with you."
Chase's brows drew together. "This is the best choice, lass." Trying to make light, he chucked her under the chin. "Is the big bad Valkyrie worried about me?"
Peering up at him, she said one word. "Yeah."
Chase dragged her close with the crook of his arm. "Mind yourself, Regin." Against her hair, he vowed, "I will no' be long apart from you. "
The Endgame commanded action, Lothaire thought as he and Chase sprinted through the brush. And I'm about to obey.
"Come, Magister, you're flagging. Did I drink too much?"
Chase was utterly exhausted, more than from merely ceding blood. He was depleted--as if from a berserkrage. Between breaths, he snapped, "Do no' bloody call me that!" He cast another glance back in the Valkyrie's direction.
"You look worried. I'm sure Regin will be fine. We should be concerned more for ourselves down in this forest."
"If something happens to me, what would it take to get you to watch over her?" Chase wiped sweat from his brow. "To make sure she gets off the island alive?"
"More than you can give. Such as a firstborn to go with my others. Matching set and all."
"Then just move your arse. There's a clearing up ahead."
They broke from the trees onto a bare plateau. Chase stopped, stared. "What the hell is this, Lothaire?"
Pravus beings--fire demons, Horde vampires, shifters--had all congregated here around Portia's makeshift stone temple. The structure looked like a roofed Stonehenge, with Emberine's flames crawling over its stones like living things. Portia and Ember strolled out, gazing on with interest.
Lothaire tilted his head at Chase impassively. "This is a day trade. You for my freedom."
"You son of a bitch!" He l
unged for Lothaire, but a cadre of vampire guards traced to intercept him.
"I delivered you unto them for the late Fegley's severed hand, or, more importantly, his thumb," Lothaire explained as the guards whaled blows on Chase. "As for your fate--the Pravus are planning to gather here at sunset and make a proper sacrifice out of you."
Chase thrashed as the vampires forced him to an upright slab of stone, binding his limbs to it. "How long have you been plottin' this, you fuck?"
"Emberine came to me this morning. As soon as she'd realized she hadn't killed you in the facility." Apparently she and Portia would've attacked the group earlier, but they were wary of young Thaddeus. At last Lothaire had discovered what the boy was.
They were right to be wary.
As the guards took turns beating Chase, Ember tossed Lothaire the rotting, discolored hand. "Your payment, Lothaire."
"Spasibo. With my deepest thanks." He took the bloated thumb and pressed it against the lock on his torque. Nothing. He turned the hand upside down, trying it the other way. Still nothing. "My dear Emberine, I hate to be a bother, but the warden's print doesn't work."
She laughed, and wisps of fire flew from her lips. "I never said it would work. I merely vowed that it was Fegley's."
Portia snickered. "Come, Lothaire, days have passed since the hand was. ... harvested. Out in the rain, it's decomposed."
Blyad'! That they would dare pull this stunt with him?
He hadn't seen this coming, hadn't predicted it--because now there was a new variable. His weakness. His inability to remove this collar.
So I'm no closer to escaping this place. To rescuing her. His fangs sharpened with rage. But his master dictated coolness.
Lothaire gave them his most charming smile, the one he usually reserved for imminent victims. "Shall we negotiate for a ride from this island? One of these demons or a brother vampire could trace me from here in a heartbeat."
Portia said, "What do you have?"
Lothaire answered, "I can get you the Valkyrie."
FIFTY-ONE
Where is he? Regin thought as she paced along the water's edge. I'm going mad without him here.
Hours ago, they'd arrived at the shore. Just as he'd promised, there'd been an enormous boathouse in a protected cove. The boat was actually more of a ship, like one of those coast guard cutters.
Thad and Natalya were aboard, making coffee and surveying charts, while Brandr waited on the beach with her.
Dusk would come soon. "I don't like this, Brandr. Chase should've been here by now."
"I've never seen you this worried." He sank down on the sand, resting his elbows on his knees. "But that can't be right. Just days ago, you wanted the man dead."
"A lot's happened since then." She wasn't merely worried, she was sick with worry for Chase--like claw-biting, hair-pulling, pacing-for-hours worried. Because she might be ... she might be falling for Declan Chase.
At the thought, guilt racked her. She'd refused to allow herself to love Aidan because he was mortal, and yet she seemed to have no control over her emotions where Chase was concerned.
Which made no sense. The stakes were even higher. Before she'd held her heart back because she'd feared Aidan dying of old age. Now she knew Chase's death loomed, and she still couldn't stem her feelings for him.
Because, gods help her, she wanted her scarred, surly, fucked-up Irishman more than she'd wanted her perfect Viking.
Brandr skipped a stone into the cove's calm blue water. "And this morning, you were flying off the handle because Lothaire drank from him."
"After I realized my eyes would eventually stop burning, I calmed down. I understand why he did what he did. I don't like it, but I understand."
"Can you imagine how hard that must've been for a man like Chase? To allow a vampire to take blood from him?"
Yes. Yes, she could. Her Celt was trying, struggling to make the best hand out of what fate dealt him. "Damn it, where is he? We never should have split up--"
"Valkyrie," Lothaire said. He stood at the edge of the tree line. Alone.
Panic surged through her. "Where's Chase?" I can't lose him. Not again. Her lips drew back from her fangs. "I'm going to kill you, leech!"
Must get back to Regin. Every minute since his capture, Declan had waited for his heart to start pounding, for his strength to return. Now the sun was setting.
He'd begun to suspect that Lothaire's feedings somehow forestalled his berserkrage. Which the leech had likely put together--and used to weaken Declan today. How long would the effects last?
Have to get free. Surely, Regin would know better than to trust Lothaire. She would never be tricked as Declan had been. She hated that vampire.
But what if Lothaire tells her I've been injured? She'd admitted she would worry for Declan; the vampire could prey on that.
Declan had to escape before Lothaire lured her to this place--a vile, tomblike camp filled with blood foes.
These creatures had beaten him repeatedly, mocking his pain and ridiculing his scars.
Between those beatings, he'd listened to their conversations. They either thought he couldn't hear them or didn't care because he'd soon be dead.
He'd learned that Carrow and her ward had made it off the island, along with Malkom Slaine--who'd acted as protector to the two. And he'd heard that MacRieve had organized Vertas shifters, holing up in the mountains and rigging traps for the Pravus.
Apparently, three of the beings Regin worried for still lived--
The two Sorceri females swept into the temple. Myriad beings, probably three dozen of them, followed the pair inside, eagerly gathering for the show.
"Night comes, Magister," Portia said. "Make your peace."
Declan had no reason to think he'd suffer a less painful fate than Fegley's burning. Yet all Declan cared about was protecting Regin from them.
Raised voices sounded from outside the temple. Declan swung his head up. Regin's voice.
Lothaire was forcing her into the clearing. He'd tied her wrists behind her back.
"You sold me out, leech?" she cried. "I'll kill you!"
Declan thrashed against his bonds.
In a bored tone, Emberine said, "So you fetched us the Valkyrie?"
"They're so trusting, it's like leading lambs to slaughter," Lothaire said. "However, this prisoner should be of particular interest to you--she's the magister's woman. That's why she's here. All I had to do was tell her she could save Chase."
"No!" Declan bellowed. "Lothaire, don't do this!"
Emberine studied his reaction. "Intriguing." She asked Lothaire, "What do you plan for her?"
"I intend to snap her neck, a particular fondness of mine. Eventually, I'd like to drink her to the quick, but of course, the killing blow is reserved for my gracious hostess."
"I'll rip your fuckin' head off, vampire!" Finally Declan's heart began pounding, his blood coursing to his muscles. But he still couldn't hit his berserkrage.
Emberine waved Lothaire on, leaving sparks in the air. "By all means."
As Regin flailed, the vampire snaked an arm around her head, palming her chin with one hand. He reached the other across her neck to seize her shoulder.
"No! Nooo!"
Regin met eyes with him, as if she were trying to tell him something--
The vampire snatched both of his arms in opposite directions. Declan watched in horror as Regin's head twisted. Face lax, body limp, she collapsed to the ground.
He roared with fury. She's not dead. Not dead. She would live through this. If he could get free. Save her.
These fucks cheered. He stifled another yell as rage flooded his body, the strength of a berserker growing rampant inside him. One hand free.
"Come, Emberine," Lothaire said. "The honor is yours."
The sorceress created a fire sword in her palm. Playing to the crowd, she raised it above her head teasingly. All attention was on her.
Another arm free.
The crowd began to chant Ember's
name. Punish them. A red haze covered his vision. Thoughts came at random.
With one final violent thrash, Declan escaped his bonds. As he stalked toward Regin's body, he seized the vampires closest to him, yanking them into each other, bashing their skulls.
Never taking his eyes from her, he ripped anyone between them limb from limb. Closer. Blood sprayed over him.
Nothing keeps me from her.
FIFTY-TWO
Three... two...one.
Regin's legs surged forward, kicking the sorceress's ankles and sending her crashing to the ground. With another kick, she slammed her boot heel down onto Ember's throat. At that moment, Thad, Natalya, and Brandr burst into the temple with weapons raised. Lothaire drew his sword, slaying two nearby demons with one swipe of his blade.
The leech's plan was working. Might let him live.
When Regin popped up unharmed, free from the fake knot at her wrists, she met Chase's wild gaze. She couldn't imagine his bewilderment; his mind should be a chaotic frenzy by now. She'd never seen him so big, so fully berserk. Across the melee, he ravaged through demons and vamps to get to her.
Lothaire tossed her another sword. "I told you this would work." His tone was casual, even as he laid waste to his former allies.
"Maybe if you hadn't screwed over Chase in the first place, huh?"
Ember gaped from the ground, her lips working silently before she hissed, "Die, Valkyrie." She shot to her feet, raising her fire sword.
But Regin had already swung. "Gotta disarm you. Bitch," Regin said as Ember's arms fell to the ground in a cloud of wafting ash.
Ember screamed, her butchered limbs spurting streams of fire like blood. But Portia was ever watchful of Ember; a massive boulder hurtled toward Regin, leveling anyone in its path.
At the last minute, Regin ducked. The stone crushed Ember's head.
Portia shrieked, speeding toward them. A swarm of something that looked like locusts followed her. Not locusts.
Sand.
"Lothaire!" Regin yelled. "Take out Portia!"
At that, other demons and vampires turned to him. "Lothaire betrayed us! Again." A dozen or so demons and vampires traced away at once, dragging their wounded.
Turning to Portia, Lothaire eerily chided, "If you're not with me ..."
Deciding to fight another day, the sorceress snatched Ember's hair around her fist, then latched on to a vampire about to trace. The three disappeared.