Sweet Ruin

by Kresley Cole

  Despite how powerful tonight had been, he couldn't let that affect how he went about his life. He'd tried to postpone this with her, but she'd pushed. He suspected she might even have mesmerized him at one point.

  The Morior were still his priority, and war loomed. As the eyes and ears of his alliance, he couldn't shirk his duties at the cusp of an Accession.

  And without the Morior, his quest for vengeance could fail. He'd been so close to taking Saetthan out, but the prick had escaped him. Destroying that royal sword had only whetted Rune's appetite for retribution.

  He would stay the course, refusing to change his existence yet again. It was someone else's bloody turn. Tomorrow he would inform Josephine what he had to offer, knowing it was far less than she expected.

  Using his silver tongue, he'd seduce her into his way of thinking, and she would adjust. She was addicted to their sex, enamored with the idea of not being alone.

  She'd never give him up.

  "Rune," she drowsily murmured.

  "Hmm?"

  "You love me." She drifted off again.

  His eyes flashed open in the dark. That hadn't been a question.

  To go from cold ash to inferno in two weeks? Couldn't be possible. But then, he'd also believed he could never have a mate. Or progeny.

  A generation to come after him. Offspring with Josephine. She'd be fiercely protective of them.

  Them. Already he'd jumped from a single potential child to plural.

  Lorean parents were the true immortals. They lived forever in memories. If he had children, he would tell them about his own mother, whose sacrifice had allowed Rune--and his entire line--to live.

  He would avenge her, help win the coming war, and then a life with his mate and their young could be more than a dream. If his stubborn female could see things his way.

  FIFTY-SIX

  Jo watched Rune as he prepped his arrows for their upcoming battle. Black, gray, red, and white.

  With no weapons to prep, she'd been ready for a while, had dressed in frayed jeans, a funk-band T-shirt, and boots. Her version of war wear.

  Night would soon fall on New Orleans, and he had on his game-day face, looking deep in thought.

  Ever since Jo had awakened, he'd seemed like he needed to talk to her about something. But they'd gotten distracted by dozens of bouts of sex. Wild, immortal sex.

  They'd showered together, breaking the tiles. Handy magicks had already repaired them!

  Her guy was strong. To keep up with him, she'd fed throughout the day to speed up her healing--of rug-burned knees, sore muscles, and more love bites.

  She suspected he wanted to talk about their future, solidifying things. Broken seal equaled commitment. Fate said so.

  Did dark fey marry? Would he get her a ring? Shit, they were probably poor after she'd destroyed his expensive stuff and all. She'd have to go out and roll tourists--or Fort Knox. Since he'd be quitting his gig as secrets master, she could be the main breadstealer of the Darklight family.

  Today between kisses, he'd told her they would find a new place to live. Somewhere for them to start fresh. A place where Thad could--at the very least--visit. In other words, no orgy observatory.

  "You'd really do that?" she'd asked.

  "You're my mate--which means he's my brother by fate."

  Now she sighed as he strapped his quiver to his leg. Her long, lean, dark fey assassin.

  He glanced over at her, caught her grinning stupidly at him. Yet he didn't return her smile.

  "I'll be back in a minute," Rune told her. "I need to take care of something."

  She frowned. "Okay."

  With a last glance at his mark on Josephine's neck, he traced to the observatory.

  Over the day, he'd had time to think about his plan to retrieve Thaddeus, and doubts were creeping in. Last night, Rune had been high from victory, but now he wondered if he could remove the wraiths.

  Should his arrows--and Josephine's telekinesis--fail, would he have to resort to Meliai, the nymph from Dalli's covey? She'd promised him a key. He suspected it was a lock of Valkyrie hair.

  When he'd rebuffed her, she'd made her own vow: "I'll never give you my possession until you bed me, and bed me well."

  Sleeping with another female for this mission had always been a possibility.

  Sleeping with another female for the Morior was a certainty.

  Now that he produced seed, he'd have to use that contraception spell routinely. Not that he would ever take release with another female, but he feared even his pre-cum could kill.

  He rolled up his left sleeve and gazed at his unmarked forearm. Though Josephine would be hurt, she needed to get used to this reality of their lives.

  This is bigger than just me, than what I want. I'm the eyes and ears. Hadn't Rune sworn his resolve would never falter?

  Of all the beings in the worlds, Orion had chosen him--for some reason considering him a worthy ally.

  I've striven every day since then to be one.

  Rune began to ink the runes for that spell once more.

  FIFTY-SEVEN

  When he joined her ten minutes later, Rune was still as serious as before.

  "Everything all right?" she asked with a forced smile. "Was I too rough with you today?"

  He raised his glowing wrist. "Nix has gone to ground." Ah, he was now in ultra-game-face mode. "Are you ready?"

  "You bet. Let's put the breaking back in B&E."

  With a nod, he looped an arm around her shoulders and traced to Val Hall.

  Into chaos.

  Jo clapped her hands over her ears against the deafening sounds. Constant thunder boomed so loud she could feel the percussion in her belly. With piercing shrieks, the wraiths swirled like a furious red tornado. Their skeletal faces looked enraged, their jaws hanging low around their screams.

  Nix had invited Jo and Rune; the Valkyries' guards were prepared for an attack.

  Eyes watchful, Rune yelled to Jo, "Is he here?"

  She barely heard him. She had to yell back, "Here!" She'd already caught Thad's scent coming from the manor.

  Rune waved at her. Ladies first, he mouthed. Let's see what you've got.

  She nodded, starting to ghost. "Get ready to trace inside!" As she fixed her gaze on her target, her body levitated, her feet floating above the ground.

  All she had to do was nudge the wraiths away for a split second. She raised her hands. Power leapt from her mind to her palms like Tesla coils.

  The force kept building until it was too strong, about to blow up in her face. She needed an emergency brake! Her eyes darted. She was losing it, couldn't contain that power any longer!

  With a scream, she hurled it at the wraiths.

  Contact!

  Their circle shifted. She and Rune traced at once--

  The next thing she saw was a cloudless sky above a silent field. They'd caught her and thrown her?

  Across the field, Rune shot to his feet, shook his head hard, then traced to her. "Are you all right?"

  She took his offered hand, standing. "How'd they touch me? I was ghosting."

  Rune inspected his bow. "They're dead warriors. You're half spirit."

  "Well, I crapped out. It's up to you," she said, puzzled by how disappointed he appeared. Surely he hadn't been laying odds on her success. "Batter up, Rune."

  Back at Val Hall, the wraiths' shrieks were even louder. The red funnel bulged outward, like an inflamed wound.

  Rune nocked seven arrows, all black. One-and-done. He drew the string to his strong chin, and his archer's gaze grew lethally focused. This male was her mate. He'd overcome so much--to become a hero.

  My God, he's magnificent.

  He exhaled. Body frozen like a statue, he released the string.

  The arrows were a detonation. IMPACT. Shockwaves fanned out. Smoke billowed.

  She was about to trace for the manor, but he grabbed her arm, shaking his head.

  The shockwaves faded, revealing an inner ring of wraiths. Th
e scattered beings in the outer ring congealed again, their low moans joining the other shrieks. Had those freaks arranged for cannon fodder?

  She thought Rune muttered, "Failure."

  The wraiths were immovable. Thad remained trapped. She rocked on her feet when she caught her brother's scent again. He smelled of . . . fear.

  Rune clasped her shoulder. "Josephine, your heart's racing."

  "Thad's afraid." She was desperate to reach him, to protect him. "I'm ready to hear about your plan B now."

  Without another word, Rune teleported her to a location amid a rustling stand of woods. The air was cooler here, the winds even more blustery. It took her a few moments to register what towered before her.

  The largest tree she'd ever seen.

  Boisterous laughter and music sounded from within the hollowed trunk. Floors were carved into the wood, lit with lanterns. Rooms occupied the gigantic limbs. Between enormous roots was an arched entryway. "Where are we?"

  He released her and slung his bow over his chest. "The Dryads' covey."

  "As in tree nymphs? Naturally the solution to our problem involves the nymphs." Jo wrapped her arms around herself, wondering why he was being so standoffish. "Not even surprised anymore."

  "There's one here named Meliai. She's supposed to know of a way inside Val Hall. I suspect she owns a lock of Valkyrie hair."

  "The key! Let's go talk to her."

  He gazed to Jo's right as he said, "She won't talk for free."

  "Okay. Then we'll pay her. I've got cash and can get more like nobody's business." Fort Knox, anyone?

  Finally he met her eyes. "This one has no interest in money."

  FIFTY-EIGHT

  Josephine asked slowly, "Then what is she interested in?"

  In their time together, Rune had never seen her afraid for herself. Fear for Thad had made her breaths shallow, her lovely face gone even paler.

  Rune had failed his mate the day after he'd claimed her. I got used to winning. But the game wasn't over yet. She wanted her brother back. Rune could turn his failure into triumph. Storm Nix's lair in the process? All the better.

  With one measly lay. "Meliai won't talk unless I fuck her. And well."

  Josephine's vivid eyes dimmed. "You've gotta be kidding me."

  "It's a status thing," he said. "I've been with everyone who lives here, everyone but Meliai."

  "How many?"

  He exhaled. "I don't think you want to know."

  "Because of my jealousy issues, you mean?" She started toward the tree. "I can get that bitch to talk."

  He grabbed her arm. "Ah-ah. You do not threaten a nymph. If you commit violence on a covey's grounds, you'll be shunned by every single one of their species."

  "So?"

  "They are everywhere, and they are necessary. They can make life very easy, or nightmarishly difficult."

  "When you offered me your 'open relationship'--to stray but then meet up after--you were talking about nights like this?"

  "It was going to happen eventually, Josephine. I told you I broker in information, and I use sex to get it. This is part of my job. I can't retire from it right at the Accession." He curled his finger under her chin. "Better to get this out of the way, so you know what to expect." So you don't get your hopes up.

  "You would choose your job over your mate?"

  He dropped his hand. "I am choosing to remain myself. My mate should try to understand why that matters to me!"

  "This is your plan B? The one you had in place before you screwed me last night?"

  "Yes, I've known I might need to transact with Meliai," he said, his ire at the ready.

  Josephine's was just as much so. "I made it clear if you had sex with me, it was as good as saying we were exclusive. Maybe you should've thought about that before you did the deed!"

  "Did I ever agree to those terms?"

  She blinked repeatedly, as if she'd been slapped. "Wow. I am as naive as you accused. You schooled me, didn't you?"

  "I tried to back out, for just this reason. You manipulated me into it."

  "Maybe I did--the first round. But not the next twenty!" A gust of wind blew her hair over her pale face. She tossed it back. "What are you going to do about your poison? Your demon seal's gone."

  He shoved up the sleeve of his shirt.

  Her eyes widened at the contraceptive rune. "You really were planning on this."

  "I prepared for any eventuality."

  "Meliai better not claw your skin like I did last night."

  "Nymphs don't have claws."

  In a disgusted tone, Josephine said, "And you would know."

  "The sooner I get done here, the sooner we can free Thad." Rune hadn't been able to save his own mother, but he could save his new brother. "Do you want him back or not?"

  She looked stricken. "Of course I do."

  "I intend to protect both of you, and right now, we're wasting time--more of it than you think. Each minute here equals several in the mortal world."

  Her lips parted wordlessly. Then she rallied to say, "I don't want Thad to be in that house of horrors a second longer than he needs to be, but there's got to be another way."

  "Do you think I want to do this tonight? Do you think I wouldn't rather be back in our bed, anticipating the night with you?"

  "Our bed? You say that like it's sacred or something. You've taken me to this place because you intend to be in her bed."

  "Any other time, I would keep these parts of my life separate, out of respect for you." He started toward the lantern-lit entrance. Over his shoulder, he said, "However, this counts as part of our mission to kill Nix--which means you're to stay with me." To himself, he grated, "Yet another example of my mate getting her way."

  Less than two hours ago, Rune had been inside her. Less than one hour ago, Jo had been thinking about wedding rings.

  She'd yearned for a relationship with him so badly that she'd ignored the countless warnings--while he'd had other intentions all along.

  But if he was too stupid to realize how amazing things could be between them, why would she want to be with an idiot? Maybe she should accept his offer of help, closing off her feelings for him.

  I'll use him to get Thad back, then my brother and I will leave New Orleans together, leave Rune in the dust. She could get another lover, but she couldn't get another Thaddie.

  Barely maintaining tangibility, she caught up with Rune.

  He must've thought she'd signed on with this plan, because he took her hand in his, gripping it possessively. "We'll get past this. With age, you'll see things more realistically."

  She gaped down at their hands. How many times had she dreamed of walking like this with a guy, the other half of their whole, two souls linked in an unbreakable bond?

  They were bound by fate, supposedly in an eternal union. She'd thought her dream had come true with Rune.

  Now she felt like she was going to the gallows, dread making her queasy. The noisy laughter and blaring music coming from the tree seemed to mock her feelings.

  No, no, Rune could talk about this open relationship all he wanted, but he'd been crazy jealous when he'd thought she had a mate. He'd been jealous of Desh.

  Over the day, Rune had gazed down into her eyes as he'd rocked inside her, and she'd felt his love. They hadn't just had sex; they'd made love.

  When it came down to it tonight, he would balk. Surely he would. He had the last time with that other nymph!

  They neared the huge arched entryway. Any minute now, he'll pull the plug on this.

  But he kept going, squiring her inside a loud barroom packed with partying immortals. Dozens of demons were here. Some of the other guys looked human, just bigger and more animalistic. Lykae?

  She could pick out the gorgeous Dryads. They wore nothing but gauzy skirts, their bare chests painted with leaf images.

  Rune had slept with all of them.

  Except one.

  When he entered, cheers broke out. As in the other covey, these creat
ures acted as if a rock star had come to visit.

  He smiled at different females, greeting them.

  Any minute now . . . Meliai might not even be here. Or she could be screwing someone else. With more time, Rune would see reason.

  "She's here." He jerked his chin toward a redheaded nymph at the bar.

  Jo's stomach dropped. Meliai was . . . off-the-charts. Flawless body. Waist-length red hair and porcelain skin. Pink cheeks glowing with health. Doe-brown eyes. They sparkled when she caught sight of Rune.

  She was the most beautiful female Jo had ever seen. Even the tall, graceful fey at the ball couldn't compare.

  Rune had asked, "Do you think I want to do this?"

  After looking at the half-dressed Meliai, she could honestly say, "Yes, Rune the Insatiable. Yes, I do."

  If he screwed the redhead, Jo was done forever. She was about to lose him, just when she'd found him. Her claws decided to dig into his hand.

  "I'll return with what we need as quickly as possible." He tugged his hand away.

  To her shame, she clung before letting go. "Wait! You expect me to just sit here?" With all the other women he'd previously enjoyed?

  As Meliai sauntered over, he told Jo, "You must stay--because of the terms of your vow."

  Jo swiped at her forehead, her queasiness worsening. She might have to chance never drinking blood again.

  Meliai smiled at Rune in welcome, seeming unconcerned he'd brought another woman with him. "How wonderful of you to visit."

  The nymph, with all her experience, was probably a much better lay than Jo. Would Rune arrive at the same conclusion? Nausea churned. Too hot in here. Jo was about to throw up blood, needed air.

  Would Rune make Meliai scream?

  Of course he would. He was supposed to fuck her "well."

  He wasted no time with the nymph, lowering his voice to say, "You can get me past the wraiths?"

  Meliai looked him up and down as if he were a piece of meat. "I have the means." Her throaty voice dripped with innuendo as she said, "And I just so happen to need something of yours very badly."

  FIFTY-NINE

  Josephine's face was paper-white, her outline flickering.

  Why couldn't she understand how little swiving another would mean to him? He was a taken male; he was Josephine's. Meliai was a grudging chore to be done with--

  Josephine darted for the exit.

  Fury welled inside him. He'd told her over and over this would happen. But she'd chosen to believe whatever she wanted to.