Dark Deceiver

by Pamela Palmer

  Kade’s palms began to sweat at the impossible choice before him. Handing over the draggon stone to King Rith’s man could destroy her world. Not handing it over would destroy the woman herself. The woman he loved.

  “Call her down, Zander. I’m not giving it to you until you do.”

  “No, Punisher. I would enjoy nothing more than to end her as my Pensia was ended. But I won’t. Unless you refuse to give me the draggon stone.”

  “I had nothing to do with the death of your mate, Zander. I was an infant.”

  “Give me the draggon stone!”

  He didn’t trust Zander. As soon as he handed him the stone, he had little doubt Zander would push her into the water. But he would go after her. He’d find a way to save her. He must.

  Kade lifted the draggon stone from around his neck and tossed it to Zander. He rushed for Autumn, terrified she would fall into that dark water before he caught her. But Zander was surprisingly true to his word. With hands still cuffed, Kade pulled her toward him. Her skin was cold to the touch. She collapsed against him in a dead faint and he lowered her to the ground.

  Behind him, Ustanis began to chant. A sudden snap of magic burned over Kade’s skin. In a perfect circle around him, six green stones began to glow.

  Dread balled in his gut. “You found the last stone.”

  “Ustanis found it in the marina office.”

  “What are you doing? What magic is this?”

  Zander smiled, his white teeth glowing in the moonlight. “One of the black chants, Punisher. The black magic accessible only through the seven stones.” His expression turned hard. “For a millennia and a half you’ve wondered why I didn’t reveal your secret. It was because if I had, others would have challenged you. Destroyed your reputation, Punisher. Eventually, you’d have been banished and lost to me and I couldn’t have that. I have been waiting for the perfect revenge. And for that, you had to fall in love, Malcolm.”

  “I’m not Malcolm!” Kade laid Autumn on the deck and lunged for Zander, but he hit a wall as solid as any he’d ever encountered. “What have you done?”

  “Have you never heard of a shadow cage?”

  Kade’s blood went cold.

  “I said I wouldn’t take her from you, Punisher and I won’t. Ever. She will be with you for all eternity. It’s nearly complete, is it not, Ustanis?”

  “Aye, my captain. Forgive me, Punisher. This was not my choice.”

  Kade pounded at the invisible walls. “Zander, no.” Shadow cages were once used as prisons in Esria. Horrific prisons. “She won’t survive without food and water.”

  Zander ignored his plea. “When it’s done, we’ll drop it into the water to settle on the bottom of the river. You will spend eternity alone with your lady.”

  “She’ll die,” he growled.

  “Of course. And when we’re through here, we’ll take the stones to the gate and open it. At midnight tonight.”

  Kade stared at him. “The full moon is not until tomorrow.”

  “Another power of the seven stones in the hands of one who can use it. By opening the gate tonight, there will be no Sitheen to stop us. King Rith will have his stones and, when next we return to this world, ’twill be as conquerors.”

  “It is done, Zander,” Ustanis said. He placed his hands against the cage.

  Zander stepped forward until he was nearly nose to nose with Kade, and placed his hands against the cage’s walls. “Goodbye, dark blood.”

  And suddenly the cage was levitating. Kade turned and dove for Autumn, laying atop her to brace her as the cage magically lifted over the boat’s rail and dropped into the cold river. They hit the water with a jarring thud, then sank slowly, rocking from side to side until they settled on the river bottom.

  The dark forms of fish moved past as the dock lights and the moon glowed distantly from above. He held Autumn’s sleeping form against him and knew the darkest despair of his life. They were trapped, doomed to spend the rest of their respective lives in this dark abyss. Autumn’s would end quickly without sustenance. A few days and she would be gone, while he would linger here for thousands of years, his only company the remains of his one brief love.

  A magic cage could not be breached except by the most powerful of magic. A magic he’d never possessed even when he and Autumn were at their strongest.

  He’d risked all to save Autumn and her world.

  And failed.

  Kade held Autumn’s shivering, unconscious body tightly against him, within the circle of his bound arms, as the fury that rode him slowly turned to desolation. Autumn was doomed. He couldn’t save her. Yet how was he supposed to watch her die? His heart twisted with a regret so deep he feared his soul would begin to bleed.

  Time was impossible to guess, but he suspected a couple of hours had passed when he finally felt her begin to stir.

  “Kade?” Autumn’s voice was tight with cold and she gave a hard shiver. “Where are we?”

  He wasn’t sure how he could tell her. Instead, he pulled her closer, wrapping his open jacket around her shoulders as far as it would go. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m…freezing.” She wiggled her bottom against his groin as she tried to press herself closer to his warmth. Her arms moved, and she gasped, clearly realizing her upper body was nearly bare. “My clothes…”

  Kade rubbed his cheek against her hair, his misery sharp enough to cut. “Zander stole them while you were enchanted.”

  She went rigid against him.

  “He didn’t hurt you, sweet one. Ustanis told me as much, and he had no reason to lie. Besides, they had no time for such mischief. It was a ploy to make you appear more vulnerable. A ploy to get the draggon stone from me.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Too well. I’m sorry you’re cold. I would have given you my clothes, but I can’t get out of the shirt and jacket. I’m still wearing the handcuffs. The best I could do was open my coat and pull you inside with me.”

  “What happened?” She looked up at the ceiling of the cage as if trying to make sense of where they were. He followed her gaze to the dock lights flickering high above. As he watched, the dark shape of a fish obscured first one light then another.

  “We’re underwater!” she gasped.

  “Yes.”

  “But…I’m breathing. And it’s dry. I don’t understand.”

  “Magic.” He spat the word with all the hatred he’d ever held for Zander and those who used, and abused, that fine power.

  “Are we stuck?”

  He didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. Instead, he pulled her tighter against him.

  “Kade, tell me what’s happened.”

  “I couldn’t let him harm you.” He shuddered, but knew he couldn’t keep the truth from her. He owed her that much. His palm stroked the chilled flesh of her bare arm. “It’s called a shadow cage. One of the dark magics the power stones are capable of.”

  “Are we really underwater?”

  “Yes, but you don’t have to worry about breathing. We can’t run out of air.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that. How do we get out?”

  He couldn’t bring himself to utter the words, but he didn’t need to. She understood.

  “We don’t, do we?” There was no fear in her words. No panic. And he suspected it was too soon for her to fully comprehend the utter bleakness of their situation.

  That was just as well. He understood their situation all too well and wished he didn’t.

  “How did we get in the water?”

  “Zander. He has the stones.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes. Ustanis used them to build this cage.” He would use them to open the gate tonight. But she didn’t need to know that. Let her think her friends would stop the Esri during tomorrow’s full moon. Let her think her world would survive. If only…

  A harsh breath escaped his lungs. “I shouldn’t have let you come with me. I should have sent you away, far from this city where you could
n’t be touched by Zander’s hatred.”

  He felt her pull away, then twist in his arms until her soft breasts pressed against his chest. Her arms wrapped tightly around him, at once easing and intensifying his pain.

  “This isn’t your fault, Kade. I saw Zander in the Metro station. I knew we were in trouble.” She rubbed his back with her palm. “He won’t leave you behind, will he? Won’t people come looking for you?”

  There would be no one to seek him out even if it were possible. “A shadow cage deflects magic. No one would find it unless they specifically looked for it. And, yes, Zander will most happily leave me behind. He’s somehow convinced himself that I’m the human who killed his mate. He can’t kill me, or he could never go home. Ending the existence of another Esri is strictly forbidden. But he found the perfect revenge.”

  “You can live without food and water?”

  “Not pleasantly. But, yes, I can live.”

  “But I can’t.” A hard shudder went through her. “There’s got to be something we can do. What if we tried to raise the power again?”

  “The power is gone, Autumn. I tried to control the cops who cuffed me, and I failed.”

  “They were probably wearing holly. Jack’s got the whole force wearing it even though most of them don’t know why.”

  “Even so, I’m not as strong. I can feel the difference.”

  “Can’t we at least try? I mean, really, what else do we have to do?”

  He stroked her soft hair, hearing the hope in her words and knowing it wouldn’t last. His brave, determined girl.

  “Yes. Of course we can try.”

  “Do we need to sit up?”

  “I believe so, yes.” Kade lifted his bound arms to his head to release her.

  Autumn sat up and wrapped her arms around her chest. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’d welcome a shot of that power about now. Burning from that fire sounds better than freezing to death.”

  He reached for her and she unfolded her arms and put her hands in his. “How big is this cage?” she asked.

  “I explored it briefly before you woke up. Not quite tall enough for me to stand up in, but long enough to lie down.”

  She shuddered. “You can’t spend the rest of your life like this.”

  He squeezed her hands. “I’m more concerned about your life at the moment.” He lifted their joined hands. “Now, concentrate. Fight me.”

  Autumn rose until she was kneeling, then took a deep breath and squeezed his hands. He could tell she was pushing, could feel the quivering begin in her muscles, but nothing happened.

  Finally she sat back, panting. “It’s not working.”

  He’d known it wouldn’t. Despair lapped at his courage, but Autumn was not yet defeated.

  “Kade, there has to be a way. There has to be something we can do. In the morning, when the sun comes up, one of the boaters will see us.”

  “No human can see within a shadow cage.”

  “You mean, we’ll be able to see the boats overhead, but they won’t see us?” For the first time, he heard real fear in her voice.

  He pulled her against him, slipping the circle of his arms over her head and cradling her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry, sweet one. There’s no way out of this.”

  “Dear God. He’s buried us alive.” Shivering now as much from fear as cold, he suspected, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against the warm skin of his throat. “This can’t be happening.”

  He pulled her against him, wrapping his open jacket as far around her as it would go. Her breasts flattened against his cotton shirt. His cheek rubbed against her hair, misery stinging his eyes. “I won’t let you suffer. When it becomes too hard for you, I’ll end it. All you have to do is tell me you’ve had all you can take and I’ll end it for you quickly and without pain. I promise.”

  Then he’d hold her corpse until it fell apart in his hands and hate himself for not protecting her. For not saving her from this fate.

  “I’m sorry, Kade,” she murmured against his throat. “I shouldn’t have insisted on going with you.”

  He pulled back and kissed her. “No recriminations. No looking to the future. We have now. We have each other.” He kissed her again, her lips soft and welcoming against his. “Until I met you, I realize now, I’d never lived at all. I’d gladly trade the rest of my existence for these few days with you. I love you, Autumn McGinn.”

  Her arms tightened around his neck. “I love you, too.”

  He held her, letting her words flow over him, but knowing they were born of the desperation of the moment and not true reflections of her heart. No one could love a monster.

  He kissed her. “Thank you.”

  She unwrapped herself from him and put her hands on his cheeks. “You don’t believe me. I can hear it in your voice. But I do love you, Kade. Honest-to-God, cross-my-heart.”

  The wish to believe her threatened to overwhelm him. Along with the certainty that she couldn’t. Mustn’t. His hands tightened at her back. “I’m not worthy of your love.”

  “Oh, Kade. Why? Because you’re Esri?”

  “Because I’m not a good man. I’ve done terrible things. Millions of them.”

  “You hurt people.”

  “Yes.”

  “But they healed right away.”

  “Yes, but you don’t understand. The fear…The terror in their eyes as they begged me for mercy…” He pulled her into his arms, needing her warmth to battle the cold tearing at his insides.

  His hands fisted at her back as memories poured through him and the need to end the lies. She couldn’t love him. And she deserved to understand why.

  “There was one…” His voice broke as his mind shied away from memory. But he had to tell her. She had to understand why she couldn’t love him. “There was one that haunts my sleep even though it’s been centuries.”

  “Tell me,” she murmured.

  “Yes. Rith had just risen to power. The law in the land required girls to be twelve before their virginity was sold, but it was well known most were ripe younger. King Rith changed the law and demanded all ripe virgins be brought to him.”

  “He wanted to rape them himself?”

  “He wanted their virgin’s power, yes. There were only three. Two Esri and a Marceil slave. The Esri came willingly, but the little Marceil ran. She was ten years old. She’d just come into her ripeness, but was still little more than a child. And Marceils are so small anyway…” She’d been a wisp of a thing, barely reaching his waist. “I was sent to bring her in.”

  “Not to hurt her?”

  “At that point, no. I caught her quickly enough. She begged me to hide her. To protect her. But a girl’s virginity is a powerful weapon. Though she might have had a couple more years to get used to the idea, she would have had it taken from her eventually. No, I pitied her for her fear, but no girl keeps her virginity past twelve.”

  He shuddered with the memory of what came next. “What gives me nightmares was Rith’s punishment for her disobedience. He took her brutally, then locked her in a room with me and told me he wanted to hear her screams until morning.”

  “You tortured her all night long?”

  “No. She was already on the verge of hysterics. I broke a few of her bones while Rith watched. Her bones healed quickly enough. Once Rith left, all I had to do was look at her to get her screaming again. But her screams live in my nightmares. Not until today have I ever been so close to renouncing my loyalty to my king.” He’d hated Rith that night.

  “What happened to her?”

  “I don’t know. She was sold to a new master soon after and I never saw her again.” He laid a gentle kiss on her head. “Don’t love me, Autumn. I’m not worthy of so precious a gift.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  Her words astounded him. Hadn’t she heard his confession?

  “You hurt people because you had to, Kade. Not because you enjoyed it. There’s a huge difference. It was Rith’s
cruelty that hurt that girl, not yours.”

  “But it was me she feared and would have continued to fear if she’d remained at court.”

  “Another bit of Rith’s cruelty.” Her sweet lips touched his cheek. “You don’t enjoy hurting others. When you were sent to kill innocent people, you couldn’t do it.” Her mouth brushed against his temple in a touch so gentle, he could swear he felt the kiss caress his heart. “And when you realized the evil your king meant for this world, you turned against him.”

  She kissed him full on the lips this time, stirring his senses. He was so tempted to capture that mouth in a thorough kiss, but he sensed her words weren’t finished. And her words were like light filling the darkness of his soul.

  “You’re a good man, Kade. A wonderful man. I knew you were the one for me within an hour of meeting you, though I think I fell in love with you on the roof that night.” Her eyes went wide. “Dear God, they could have killed you up there.”

  “I thought they were going to.”

  “But you never acted like it. You threatened to sue them!”

  “I had to make them think I was human.”

  “It worked.” She planted another gentle kiss on his cheek. “Afterward, you were standing there in the middle of that circle, surrounded by the Sitheen and you looked up at me, where I was standing by the rail. I can’t even explain what happened. I felt as if you saw me. Really saw me. And I knew you were the one I’d been waiting for.”

  “And then you discovered I was Esri.”

  “Yes, well, that threw me for a bit. But even while my mind was screaming, He’s Esri! my heart was saying, He’s Kade.”

  Her words seeped into the cold chambers of his heart, filling them with warmth and light and a love beyond bearing.

  “I knew I loved you after you hit me in the head with that pole, then pushed me into the chair to find the injury. You were so concerned. No one had ever shown me such concern.”

  “I was afraid I was going to have to call an ambulance. I’ve been a klutz all my life, but that was the first time I nearly killed someone. I could have done some real damage to you with that thing if you’d been human.”

  “You changed me.” He kissed her soft cheek.