Sweet Ruin

by Kresley Cole

  "Ah-ah, Rune," Saetthan chided, all confidence. "If you aim for me, your pretty pet will lose her head."

  Rune gave a laugh. "If you believe that, then your spies didn't tell you quite enough about her."

  Saetthan shuttered a look of puzzlement. "You'll forfeit either your life or hers this night, to pay for taking my mother's."

  Keeping Saetthan in his sights, Rune said, "Josie?"

  "I got this. Do what you gotta do." She began to dematerialize, to the swordsman's shock. Descending through the floor, she forced the intangible male down as well. She made it slow, eerie.

  "What trickery is this?" Saetthan demanded. "Your mate's as much an abomination as you are!"

  While Saetthan gaped, Rune nocked his arrows, unleashing them with all his might.

  Each guard caught two.

  Reacting with uncanny speed, Saetthan swung his sword up to deflect the one-and-done.

  The arrowhead connected with the blade.

  Light erupted. A boom like a thunderclap.

  The sword . . . exploded !

  Charred metal bit into Saetthan's skin. Shards hissed and cooled as they plummeted, clanging against the glass floor. The blast hit the glass dome above; ominous fractures forked out.

  My gods. Rune had destroyed the sword--the uniting symbol of that entire accursed family. He quickly fired another volley into the smoke.

  By the time the air cleared, Saetthan had disappeared.

  Rune turned to Josephine. She'd dragged the swordsman to his waist, and he'd comprehended his fate; there was no fighting her. The hunter was terrified, his short yells chilling.

  The two sank below the glass floor, visible for a few moments as a dwindling flicker. Gasps sounded among the attendees still present on the outskirts of the ballroom.

  Josephine surfaced. Alone.

  Her secret was out. She must have the strength of an alliance to depend on.

  She gazed around at the appalled spectators. "Anybody else want to go to their grave tonight? I'll bury you so deep, they'll never find your body down there. You might die. Odds are . . . you won't."

  Oh, yes, he could get used to having her around.

  She turned to him with a sunny smile. "Best. Date. Ever."

  His lips curled. And it was in no way finished.

  Rune might have missed his opportunity to kill Saetthan, but that sword had been annihilated. Josephine was unharmed. All was well.

  As soon as the thought occurred, another crack sounded from above as fractures spread out like webbing.

  "Quickly," he told her. "Let's see if we get a clue." They hastened to a swordsman who hadn't yet succumbed to poison. Wide-eyed, the male twisted in pain, his limbs contorted. Rune bent down to him. "Any message from Nix? She's surely the one who gave you my whereabouts."

  Silence.

  "Talk, or the phantom will take you to hell."

  His eyes somehow got wider. "We each carried . . . a note for you. Pocket!"

  Rune retrieved it.

  Congratulations on reaching the bonus level! Now's your turn to try and get past my wraiths. Thaddeus and I will be in attendance at Val Hall tomorrow night, awaiting the pleasure of your (failed) arrival (attempts).

  XOXO, Nix the Ever-Knowing

  Rune rewarded the male with a quick decapitation.

  "What does it say?" Josephine asked.

  "Nix invites us to Val Hall. Tomorrow we'll face her--in her den." Considering the damage his arrow had done to that sword, how would the wraiths fare against a volley of them?

  When Josephine nodded, his attention dipped to the nick on her throat, and his heart thundered anew. Her dried blood matched the color of her choker.

  My blood courses through her veins. Only mine.

  Fractures continued to fork out above. Need to trace her away--

  She took his hands. With a grin, she made them intangible. She gazed up at him with that same adoring look she'd given him on the dance floor. Females had cast him that look for ages.

  For the first time, he wanted to earn it.

  The ceiling splintered, then shattered in a deafening burst. He and Josephine smiled at each other as shards fell like rain, passing harmlessly through them.

  FIFTY-ONE

  I'm in freaking Australia, wearing a ball gown!

  Rune had picked up a pack of supplies in Tortua, then traced her here: to the base of Ayers Rock in the middle of the outback.

  He stood behind her, his hands covering her shoulders, his rings warming against her skin. "What do you think? Do you find it quaint?"

  She elbowed him. "This place is unreal!" The rock was the same color as a terra-cotta pot. Yet as the sun set, purple tinged it.

  The shade of Rune's eyes when he was relaxed.

  Over her shoulder, she asked, "You've been here before?" The full moon they'd enjoyed in Titania was just rising here.

  "On occasion. The portal to the Quondam realm is nearby. Among mortals, this monolith is central to Aboriginal lore. It's known as the ancestors' rock. The Aborigines revere their ancestors." He traced her to the plateau.

  "Oh my God!" She spun in place. "I never thought I'd see stuff like this. For two weeks it's been sick." From this height, she surveyed the alien landscape. They could have been on Mars.

  She craned her head up. Had she ever seen so many stars? They glimmered like beacons.

  "You approve?"

  She lowered her gaze to take in just as riveting a sight: Rune grinning. He knew he'd blown her mind.

  From his pack, he drew a thick blanket and spread it on the ground. He waved her to sit, then tossed her a jeweled flask.

  "What's in this?"

  "Blood mead. You'll like it."

  She settled herself happily, her satin rustling. "Is it black?" Heat emanated from the surface of the rock, making her even more comfortable.

  His grin deepened. "It's baneblood, as my vampire craves."

  "Aren't you full of surprises?"

  "I'm told stargazing is thirsty work." He dropped down beside her with his own flask of demon brew.

  She took a sip of the mead, and her eyes went wide. "It's really good. Got a kick to it."

  "When blood bites back, huh?"

  "No wonder your friend Blace loves this stuff." So stars, and a blanket, and booze? Definite seduction vibe.

  Rune knew this final step would mean they were exclusive; she couldn't have made her feelings clearer. And still, he'd brought her to this dream place with sex in mind.

  He was ready. In her excitement, she briefly dematerialized.

  And once his seal was broken, he could never doubt their fated connection again. Which is why you're about to give in, Jo.

  "Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" He reached forward to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "Your ensemble was a huge fuck-you to fey snobbery. Jet satin trumps pale gauze any day."

  "This old thing?" she teased. Compliments as well? I'm a sure thing, sport. "Speaking of fey snobbery--who was the blond guy? He kind of looked like you." He'd referred to her as Rune's mate, and Rune hadn't denied it!

  "King Saetthan, my half brother."

  "Why is he so bent on killing you?"

  "Probably because I'm so bent on killing him. He's now the head of the royal line I plan to wipe out. If you're with me, situations like tonight will keep happening. The bounty on me is steep. You'd be hunted just for associating with me."

  Rune was giving her a chance to cry off--before they went eternal. "I'll already be hunted just for what I am, right? Makes for another level of excitement." She sipped her flask. "What about that invitation? How will we get inside Val Hall?"

  "If my arrow can destroy a sword made of Titanian metal, why not wraiths?"

  "That was seriously badass." She play-punched his shoulder. "Big bada boom."

  "Indeed. At Val Hall, we'll use my most powerful arrow. If that doesn't work, you could try your telekinesis."

  "Maybe I can nudge their hula hoop of evil off its axis
. Before they get back into position, we'll trace for the door. You'll take care of Nix, and I'll snag Thad." She sounded optimistic, but she had to wonder: why would Nix have alerted Jo to her telekinetic potential?

  Either Nix was a shitty psychic and a really stupid Valkyrie--or she was playing with them yet again.

  "If all else fails, you can try to ghost us inside," Rune said. "We have options."

  "Nix seemed so cocky in that invitation."

  "Perhaps she's slipping. She is mad after all."

  "Still, do you want to tell me about your plan B?" Maybe he'd already requested his allies' help, and they were on the way to gather like the Super Friends. Hmm. What was the villainous equivalent of the Hall of Justice?

  Rune brushed his knuckles over her cheek. "It probably won't come to that. For now, let's celebrate tonight's victory and drink to our upcoming battle."

  Reassured, she raised her flask. "Good warring." She bit her tongue as soon as the words left her lips. In her dreams, she'd heard Rune say that to his allies, even to foes he respected.

  All relaxation left him, and he stood. "How long?"

  She scrambled to her feet. "Since the night I met you."

  "What have you seen?"

  "In the beginning I saw Magh summoning you and your first kill. You were really young."

  Muscles gone tense, he grated, "I stole, I killed, and I fucked for that bitch. I did anything she wanted of me, and I still couldn't save my mother." He narrowed his eyes. "Have you seen what happened after Magh sold me? I wasn't merely a slave, as I told you." He loomed over Jo, a challenge in his tone. "She peddled me to a brothel, Josephine."

  Did he think this admission would send her packing?

  " 'Please or perish,' Magh told me. Each morning, a guard would raise his sword over my neck to take my head if I'd failed to please a single patron over the night." Rune let that sink in. "No commentary? No blunt remarks?"

  She needed to touch him, but didn't want him to think she pitied him. "I wish that hadn't happened to you, but I'm glad you did what it took to survive. To get vengeance. I saw that too, Rune. I only wish Magh was alive so I could hunt her and drag her into the earth over and over again."

  He drew on his flask. "Why didn't you tell me about the dreams?"

  "At first because I was worried you'd try to kill me again. Then I didn't want anything to get in the way of . . . us."

  "What else did you see?" As if his head was suddenly splitting, he pinched his temples.

  "Your first meeting with Orion. And I saw a battle--it seemed from long ago--where you were all fighting together."

  "Have you seen me sleeping with others?"

  She shook her head, admitting, "But I saw you tortured in that brothel."

  His gaze slid away. "Once I was freed, I chose to be there."

  She eased closer to him. "You couldn't imagine life getting better, because for so long it hadn't. Orion has my loyalty just for showing you a new future."

  "But the past can never be undone, and mine is sordid. I'm tainted in more ways than one." He drank deeply. "I bet you've never been with a whore before."

  Unable to stop herself, she laid one hand on his strong face. "That's not you anymore." I'm falling for you. I want to be with you always. "You're a different male."

  "Different." He gave a humorless laugh. "How many times can a male be different in one lifetime, Josephine? I'd like to get to a place where I never have to change again." He peered at her, as if saying more than just the surface words.

  She'd realized he was ready for her; now he'd just confirmed it. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I kept waiting for the right time."

  He exhaled. "You didn't do anything wrong. Just the opposite; you saw my past and didn't leave. And you didn't pity me." As if just registering these facts, he grasped her nape. "Gods, that means a lot to me."

  "You won't get rid of me that easily, Rune Darklight. And how could I ever pity a male like you, my archer?" She could tell he liked that.

  "I'm relieved you know. I would've confessed all this to you eventually."

  Before they made love? Before they went forward? "I'll tell you when it happens again."

  He nodded, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "This is supposed to be a celebration." He pulled her down on the blanket with him. "Gaze, woman."

  Little by little, his tension dwindled, and their usual companionable ease settled over them. In silence, they watched as full night fell and the moon climbed higher--though she could have sworn Rune was looking at her more often than the sky.

  All the times in the past when she'd turned her questioning gaze to the stars, she'd been alone.

  No longer.

  He drew her closer. The sky above was vast and unknowable, rounded over them like a shield. She sighed, "The world is so big. . . ."

  FIFTY-TWO

  Rune turned on his side, taking in Josephine's sweet profile.

  His gaze flickered over her lips, nose, cheekbones, and eyelashes. Stars reflected in her eyes as she stared up in awe, and he felt a tugging in his chest. This world's actually so very small, love.

  He could show her thousands of worlds. They'd need lifetimes to see them all.

  He drank more brew. He'd been with her for the merest blink of an eye, yet now he was going to travel? Live a life of leisure? He had wars to wage, and secrets to uncover.

  Maybe after the Accession . . .

  His brows drew together as he watched her. She wasn't just gazing at the stars--she seemed to be awaiting something. Almost as if she were listening.

  "I want to know why stargazing is your favorite thing," he said.

  "Whenever I stare at them, I feel like I might be on the verge of remembering my past."

  "Do you think your parents are still alive?"

  She shook her head. "I don't believe my mother is. I have these vague impressions of fire and chaos. Like there was a natural disaster or something. I've never had an impression of my father."

  "Your mother could've traced away from a natural disaster, no?" Unless she'd never been away from her home.

  "I don't even know if those scenes are dreams or my imagination or part of my memories." She sipped her flask. "I've wanted to know my parents so badly and for so long I could be making stuff up."

  For so long? Says the twenty-five-year-old.

  At least Rune could name his parents. "Is that why you want a bond so much? The absence of a family?" Surely recovering Thad for her would help fill that need--and alleviate some of the pressure she'd been putting on Rune.

  "No, it's more than that. When I hang out in shells, I get to experience other lives. One time I ghosted into a bride on her wedding night. Her groom ended up being a dream man who gazed at her like she was everything. He promised her he'd die for her--and I believed him." She turned on her side as well, facing Rune. "This man was looking me in the eyes and telling me these things. I know, not really me, but I was still staggered. Other people take being cherished for granted. But if you've never had it and then you get a hit, you need it."

  Dream man. Everything. Promises. Cherishing.

  Damn, no pressure there, Josephine. She'd taken a wedding--an event engineered to be ideal--and she'd built a template for her love life.

  Not for the first time, Rune recognized he wasn't the man to give Josephine her dreams. He tried to make light. "The combat-boot-wearing blood-drinker wants romance."

  "If I had that bond, things in my life would get . . . fixed."

  "Like what?"

  "I have a fear as strong as your phobia about heights." She nibbled her bottom lip. "I'm afraid I'll just float away. Especially if I sleep-ghost."

  "Sleep-ghost? Like sleepwalking?"

  She nodded. "I float through the bed into the ground. When I come to, I'm basically in a grave. Why shouldn't I fear going the other way? And those stars seem to call to me."

  "You never did that during the past two weeks."

  "It only happens when I'm filled wit
h . . . loss. Or yearning. If I had a bond with someone, it would--I don't know--maybe anchor me here."

  She fears floating away; I fear extinguishing my emotions forever.

  Every time he went cold with a target, he wondered if he was like Darach--one fateful transition away from permanence. Or like Uthyr, the dragon shifter, who'd abandoned his human form and became a dragon forever.

  Josephine wanted Rune to be her anchor? To hold her hand and keep her tethered to him? That, at least, seemed achievable. In return, she could make sure his heart never fell to ash again.

  Maybe we could be each other's anchors.

  He reached for her, smoothing his thumb over her full bottom lip, that little dip. Her eyes grew even more luminous. As he stared into them, he said, "I could keep you with me."

  Her face lit up; his fell.

  He'd used zero qualifiers. Was she mesmerizing him again? Exasperated, he said, "I want you, Josephine. I'll wait no longer." He was about to go into all the reasons her refusal was ridiculous--

  "Okay."

  Huh? "I want you completely."

  Her lips curled.

  "As in sex. I want sex." He was fumbling. What in the hells was wrong with him?

  Her smile deepened.

  He could disabuse Josephine of her hopes right now. Or he could let her believe they would be exclusive, when he had every intention of bedding others.

  Every intention of remaining the same.

  She'd told him she had expectations, and they were sky-high. Tomorrow he would manage them for her. She would change. If they were to have any kind of future together, it would be on his terms--or not at all. "Are you sure you want to risk my poison?"

  "Already told you I don't think there's a risk. But if we're even talking about this, then you must think there's some chance I'm your mate."

  "I'm not going to lie. I do think there's a chance. I've got protection." He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a runic combination he'd inked in preparation.

  "I've never seen those symbols."

  "It's an ancient contraception spell to keep me from spilling seed." He was about to get what he wanted. He'd won. He had seduced the impressionable Josephine with a ball and drinks and compliments.

  If she knew how much he'd manipulated her--a millennia-old master versus an inexperienced young woman.

  "But how will you know if I'm your mate?"

  Rune already did. In that ballroom, when he'd seen her black blood . . . even amid his panic, a bewildering thought had arisen: She's me, and I'm her. "Does it really matter? Tonight won't change how we go forward. We're still going to be together."