“It goes in the vaults.” He looked down at a paper, tapping it with his finger. “It was already issued a catalog number and is secure. No vampires will be drinking your blood.”
“Yes, well, that seems like a waste, doesn’t it?” You died for it. It is yours. “I want to give it to Matthias.”
Maxwell leaned back in his chair. “That is a most unusual request.”
“Not more unusual than you asking me to become your killer, in addition to placating the vampire who forced me to make that relic.” She kept her eyes on his. “I’m due, sir. I’ve made very few requests and a lot has been expected of me.”
“You will need to meet with Lucius today. We need this agreement to start before he changes his mind. If we kill him, the effectiveness of this mission is…”
“I’ll do it.” What would it hurt to meet with Lucius? He would be secured. “The relic?”
“Done. I will give the relic to…”
“Me.” The word came out harsher than she intended. “You will give it to me when I return from seeing that monster. I will give it to Matthias.”
“I will record your choice as well as our arrangement. Matthias will need to sign some paperwork. Possessing a relic is typically a crime.”
“Do what you need to.” She stood. “Maxwell, you and I both know the choices you gave us were only an illusion. No matter what I pick, it pushes me closer to where I will end up.”
Maxwell sipped his drink and peered over his cup at Alice. “While I will continue to fight for you and Amarok to have these illusions, I’m glad you understand you are already theirs. I will enjoy what time I have left with you both.”
“Will you?”
“Yes.”
Amarok said Maxwell was one of the good guys. In a place where that was true, she hoped it took a long time before she landed in the hands of the bad guys. “Thank you. I’m sorry for any trouble I’ve caused you.”
“Alice.” He moved quickly, appearing beside her. “Don’t be trouble for them.”
Threat? Warning? Concern? What was that glinting in his almost human eyes? It didn’t matter. Her roll at the PPK had already been decided. “I never intended to be trouble for anyone. All I ever wanted was a cottage in the woods with a garden and tiara of flowers.”
“I will escort you to the checkpoint where a prison guard will meet you to take you to Lucius. Follow the rules. They are in place to protect you and keep them in.”
Alice let him lead the way. The weight of the truths they shared and her and Amarok’s ultimate fate, pressed blackness into her soul. A prison within a prison. Was she any freer than Lucius?
“DO NOT CROSS the line. Do not pass him anything other than the paper provided. Carefully nudge it to him in the center of the table in the marked area. I will be watching. Seconds away.” The lizard guard stopped at a door. “Seconds is all a vampire of his age needs to kill you.”
“I understand.” Alice glanced around them. The walls and doors blocked her from being able to sense what sort of creatures were behind them. High security. The area where prisoners were brought to meet with creatures for various reasons.
The guard swiped his card in a slot beside the door. “Even with the precautionary eye shield, I would not recommend you stare toward his eyes.”
“Thank you.” Alice stepped in the open door, which shut behind her as soon as she cleared it.
Lucius was standing against the back wall. Chains dragged across the floor as he strode toward her. “My precious one.”
Alice glanced down at the floor. In the center of the room was a set of lines with a few feet between them. In the middle of those lines it read: DO NOT CROSS. The table had been positioned so a portion of it straddled the line on both sides.
“You wanted to see me.” She moved closer. “I understand you are going to give me names and information regarding where they are.”
“That unpleasantness can wait. My blood healed you fully? No ill effects from the ritual?” The chain lifted off the floor as he moved closer.
“I didn’t suffer at all, thanks to you.” She pulled out the chair. The bottom scraped across the tiles, making a grinding sound that raced up her spine. “Even my scars from past injuries are healed.” Her thumb rubbed on her wrist and then over to her pinky where there was still a nub. “Most of them.”
“Perfect. Come closer.” He waved his fingers toward himself. The links of the chain clinked against each other.
“I don’t think so.” In the harsh lighting she let her gaze linger on the lines of his face. Beautiful.
“I can’t feel you against me. Don’t ball yourself inside. Let your presence brush mine, sweetheart.” His presence reached out, filling the room with the sweet aroma of maple.
“What do you want from me?” Heat raced over her as the strength coming from him wrapped her in an embrace. “Stop that.”
“You did this to me. Undo it. Let me die.”
She stumbled forward. “What do you mean?”
“I would rather be executed than give all the names to your keepers.” His lip pulled back into a sneer.
Were his eyes filled with hate under the protective shield, or that painful conflicted look that included love? “I’m not stopping you.”
“You are all that is stopping me. You’ve cursed me. All I can think of is leaving you alone and not being here to protect you from the dangers you are blinded to.” He extended his hand as far as the chain would allow and balled his fingers. “Never seeing you again is more crushing to my bewitched mind than staying in this wretched place.”
“I can’t undo it without blood.”
“Mine? Take it.” He opened his palm to show that his nails had drawn a small drop of blood.
“Not yours, my blood.” Did he really know PPK secrets? Would they die with him or did ancient creatures like Morrigana know too? Decker’s dad? The light creatures? The victors got to re-write history. Lucius wasn’t the only source. He needed punished for what he did. “You give me all the names and I will release you.”
“I can’t agree to that while my mind is tethered to you by your curse. I want to touch you. I need to make sure you are all right.”
Jesus, her magic was too powerful. The PPK should just execute her with him.
“I’ve upset you.”
“If I hadn’t cursed you?”
“I would have killed you. I still would. You smell delicious. You feel like dinner.”
Could she trust him to give her the names? “Sit at the table.”
Lucius dragged the chains to the chair and sat with a grace that shouldn’t have been possible while he was chained.
She fidgeted with the charm at her wrist. “I have a small vial of my blood. Its glass. You can’t have it, but I will pour the blood on a paper and you can rub it on your skin. That is the only way I can reverse the curse and this is the only time I will offer.”
“Your compassion for me is undeserved.” Sarcasm tinted his voice.
“It isn’t about you. My compassion is about who I am and who I will remain no matter what I am forced to do.”
“You are not happy here? We can escape, my dear.”
“No. You will die here, as will I. Until then I will hang on to my light with everything I have and that means showing you compassion enough to free you from my spell.”
“Your light will never die. It is you.”
“No, I am a witch and light elf. I get the feeling both are dark.”
“They are. One darker than you can imagine. The light comes from your human.”
She laughed. He hadn’t been paying that close of attention to human history. “Humans are the darkest of them all.”
“No, my treasure. Humans start out with a light so bright that every supernatural creature is drawn to it. It is the loss of that light that makes them such vile creatures. Sadly, it is usually extinguished before it matures. Not yours. Your light survived. It thrived. Maybe because of what you are, but I think because of who
you are. Everyone wants it. Most of us want to destroy it.”
“They will.”
“Why do you let them chain you? A creature with your gifts shouldn’t be…”
“I’m not the issue here.” Why did she let them keep her? They couldn’t. Not really. Amarok. Matthias. Home was where the heart was. This was home. There was nothing in the world for her. She wrote something on the page and popped the vial, spilling her blood in a small drop. “Hurry before it absorbs.”
Lucius took the page, swiped his thumb over the blood and hesitated. “Forever. I will protect you.”
Alice bunched her brows. “What?”
He sucked the tip of his thumb. “Now I will always know how my treasure is feeling.”
“No. That… that was just two. At the den and now.” She shook her head. “Two. Are you so old two makes a connection?”
“I tested the relic.” The smile that formed on his face was one of dark satisfaction. “Ask your master what it means for one of my age to connect with you.”
Three feedings? Would that undo her link to Matthias? “Jesus. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You are afraid? I can feel it so instantly now. You never have to fear me.” He licked his lips.
“But I was helping you. Why did you do that? I already have a connection. One I want. Will this?”
“No. You can’t undo that, just as you can’t undo this.”
“Why?”
He pounded the table. “Because your curse is stronger than my desire to die. Bitch.”
Never have to fear him? “It’s not too late. Rub some on your skin.”
“Here are the names.” He scribbled names on the page as well as the den and coven locations. “They are most likely to want my empire.” He circled two at the top. “Kill them. They have both made relics. If you investigate them, you will find evidence.”
Her stomach knotted in a strange mixture of hate and pity. “I’m sorry I’ve locked you in this prison. I should have killed you.”
“Yes, you should have. Do it.”
Alice balled her fists. Magic popped to life. She let it fizzle out. He wanted death. That wouldn’t be punishment. “No. I’m not as light as you think. I gave you one chance. You chose to strengthen our bond. You live with that choice. Forever.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
ALICE HELD HER hand balled and ready to knock on Matthias’ door. The relic vibrated in her pocket with a darkness that didn’t match the sunshine fragrance she wore. It wouldn’t matter to him. Whatever darkness he saw when he looked into her eyes, he would love her. Wouldn’t he?
The door opened.
Matthias grabbed her by the waist and pulled her inside, closing the door, and pressing her against it. He parted her lips with his tongue and kissed her in a way that said she belonged to him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as the need to be one with him overwhelmed her.
He tugged at her shirt, breaking the kiss long enough to pull it over her head. Before returning to her lips, he trailed cold kisses along her collarbone, and up the column of her neck.
“Matthias.” Sexual tension came off her in waves of magic.
“Alice,” he spoke her name into her mouth. His hands drifted to her waist, running under the fabric and meeting at the button.
Alice untangled her fingers from his hair and put one hand over his. “Wait.”
A low growl rolled up his throat. Disappointment filled his face. “I can’t turn things back this time, dearling. You know that.”
Her other hand rested on his jaw, with her thumb rubbing his lips. “I don’t mean wait for us. I just mean slow down. We have to talk about a few things before we end up in an exhausted tangle. We will end that way tonight, but first.”
“Talk?” He took his hands off her waist, eyeing her lacy bra. “I’m always here for you when you need to talk.” A small trickle of blood came from where he bit his lip.
“You won’t have to behave too much longer. It’s important.” She wiped the blood and sucked it from the tip of her finger. “Don’t think I don’t want to wrap my legs around you and…”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Now, now, don’t test my will. I may be dead, but I’m still a man.”
“It’s important.” She extended her arms, putting space between them. He was definitely a man.
“Talk to me.” He backed away, holding her hands to bring her along to their chairs. His gaze drifted down to her bra and lingered a moment. “I think we might need to sit in the chairs.” With his foot, he pushed his a little further from hers. “Unless you need me to hold you. Is it that kind of talk?”
“No. Maybe. It shouldn’t be.” Alice sat across from him. He was perfect. Inside and out. Beautiful. Dark. He wouldn’t judge her. What to start with? Sandwich the good news about the relic between all of the difficult topics. “Before we can take this out of the shadows there are people I need to talk to.”
“I realize that. We’ve been falling in love for a long time. I haven’t rubbed Amarok’s snout in it. That’s not my style.” His jaw twitched.
Did the thought of Amarok really irritate him so much? “I love him. I can’t tell him when you are here. He will lose control to his beast, who also loves me. I don’t want you hurt, or him in trouble.”
“How ever you feel is best. I agree his temper needs coddled.” All of the sexy was gone from his tone.
“Amarok isn’t the only creature I need to talk to about us. I won’t have our love being a dark thing to anyone. What we have is better than that.” She wet her lips that had gone dry. This was still the easy topic.
“Yes, Jasper. I would be more than happy to escort you offsite for a visit.” He ran his hand along the arm of his chair. “Your worry is growing. Is there someone else?”
“There is.” That was the least of what would make him retract his love.
His head cocked to the side. “Dearling, are you trying to test the level of my possessiveness? I’ll save you time. You belong to me.”
She grinned. Even with the heaviness on her heart, being in his presence filled her with peace. “I’m yours. There was someone, well, it was never anything real, but I do want to make sure they understand.”
The energy from him lightened. “Fair enough. Can we carry on now? You sitting there half-dressed is…”
“Almost. Lucius, he…” A wave of aggression rolled across their connection, slamming into her. “Matthias. Please listen.”
“I’m listening.” A tick started at the edge of his right eye.
“What would it mean if a vampire that old drinks from me enough times to… well, will it?” She swallowed against the growing tensions between them. “Is it going to change things? He said to ask you.”
“He fed from you on three separate nights?” The blacks of his eyes engulfed the whites. “No matter. He’ll be dead soon. If anything, the PPK is efficient at executions.”
“He drank my blood twice, but he also tested the relic.” She glanced down. “They aren’t executing him. He’s made a bargain for his life because of…”
The chair arm snapped into splinters. Matthias brushed his hands together and a forced smile filled his face. “Fine.”
“No, not fine. What does it mean?” She took a few steps and hugged his head against her stomach.
“It means nothing. You are mine. If they choose to let him out of that cell…” His cold lips on her hot skin burned with possession. “He’ll find out what that means.”
“Matthias, no. If it doesn’t alter what is between us, then it doesn’t matter to me. He can tell what I am feeling and that’s fine. You know what a mess I am. He’ll suffer.” She kissed the top of his head.
“A vampire his age will hear your stronger thoughts. He may even feel your dreams, if they become intense enough.” Matthias tilted his head up to meet her eyes.
“Then he will know I hate him, and that my heart, body, and soul are yours.” She reached
in her pocket. Something good was needed before they moved on to her new darkness. “I have a gift for you.”
“Aside from you? The chess game was lovely. I look forward to our first game.” He pulled her into his lap. “Let me unwrap you.”
A soft purr escaped from Alice as he slipped his hands up her thighs. “I demanded the relic.” She held the relic in the palm of her hand. The deep red of her blood in the center faded to pink toward the edges of the crystal.
Matthias put his hand over hers. “For me?”
“Yes. I don’t want your lips on another creature again. Ever.”
“Is my dearling possessive too?” He lifted the relic from her hand. “It even feels like you.”
“I’m not possessive. You are mine though, and seeing that witch in your lap the first night made me want to rip out every single one of her beautiful red hairs.” She shrugged when she saw the glint in his eyes. “I want to be your everything.”
“You are. I don’t like red-heads as a rule.” He brushed her lips with his and winked. “They have a bitter taste.”
“Try it?” She nudged the relic toward his mouth.
He moaned as the crystal pressed to his lips. “That’s…” He closed his mouth around the bottom of the relic and shut his eyes. “Perfect. My perfect love.”
“Can you do me a favor?” She traced a finger along his jaw, near his ear.
“Anything.”
A shiver raced over her. A vampire would do anything for his dearling. She wouldn’t use him. Not ever. “Don’t call me dearling again.”
He looked at her with a puzzled expression. “You are mine.”
“Yes, and this mission has shown me that a dearling isn’t always loved by her master. Worse still some of them actually use their masters and don’t love them at all. It’s an ugly relationship. I know you meant it as a sign of devotion, but I’ve seen it at its worst. We aren’t that.”
Matthias sat the relic on the side-table. “I’ll never utter it again. Are we done talking?”
“Almost.” She wiggled in his lap. “Is the blood getting to you? I still have something serious, the most serious to talk about.”
“I only had a few drops.” He brushed the back of his knuckles along her cheek. “I’m ready to get lost in you.”
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