by Kresley Cole
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.
Regin’s gaze found Chase once more. His eyes were focused on her, unwavering, even as he reached to his side and snagged another foe, wrenching its head from its neck.
Behind him lay a trail of carnage, one headless, twitching body after another. His speed was mind-boggling. All those years ago, he’d told her that he’d done incomprehensible feats in order to get back to her.
Now she was seeing them. A lean bear in winter …
Not far from him, Thad, Natalya, and Brandr fought back to back, dispatching the rest of the fallen Cerunnos and other creatures that had no means of tracing away. Soon the temple was filled with gore, but cleared of live adversaries.
Only the original six of them remained.
And Chase was storming toward her. Regin sheathed her sword and ran for him as well. “Chase!”
When he caught her up against his chest, she clutched him with all the strength in her body. I ran into his arms.
Her eternal mate. I couldn’t hold my heart back. “I was so worried!”
Voice ragged, he said, “Nothing keeps me from you.” His gaze was fixed on her lips. “Nothing.”
“No, Chase!” His words filled her with fear. Words from the past. Is it too late? She beat against his chest, clawing to get free. Declan could never remember.
Because I want him.
But he slanted his mouth over hers, plunging his tongue between her lips before she could yank her head away.
“Nooo!” She kicked him until he finally drew back.
“Sweet as honey,” he rasped. “The others had it wrong. You’re no’ like a drug.” Setting back in for more, he groaned, “Better than …”
She head-butted his throat with a vicious snap. “Chase, stop this!” To the others, she said, “He’s remembering. Help me!”
When Brandr, Natalya, and Thad stepped forward, Chase set Regin on her feet, still gripping her arm with one viselike fist. Pure menace emanated from him as he leveled his gaze on the three. Blood had spattered his torso, lines of crimson crisscrossing his scars. “Nothing keeps me from her.”
He wa
s a berserker in full rage, with his chest heaving beneath those chilling scars—a terrifying sight for most, yet Regin’s heart clenched for him. He’s magnificent.
Brandr advanced on him. “I can’t let you have her, friend—”
Chase launched a punch; his fist connected with Brandr’s face like a cannonball. Brandr’s head whipped around, his body lifted off the ground before it dropped. Limp.
When Chase narrowed his gaze at the others, Natalya and Thad both held up their hands.
“We’ll let you two work this out between yourselves,” Natalya muttered. “See you back at the boat.” They each grabbed one of Brandr’s arms and started dragging the man away.
Lothaire said, “No hard feelings, then, Blademan? Everyone makes a bad day trade now and again. … ” He trailed off at Chase’s look. “Very well, I’ll be at the boat. We’ll talk then.”
It’s left to me. Have to escape Chase. “Ah, gods, I don’t want to do this.” When he turned to her, she brought her sword hilt crashing into his temple.
FIFTY-THREE
“ Regin!” Declan roared, his mind mired in confusion as he pursued her through a rain-swept forest.
With each step, his body quickened for her, while memories of a far-distant past bombarded him.
Kissing Regin’s sweet lips by the light of a fire while a blizzard howled outside. Laughing with her upon a bed of furs. Teaching her about pleasure.
But those memories were dim compared to the last five days.
Kissing Regin’s body under the blaze of her lightning while the wind gusted over them. Lying side by side, talking in murmurs. Learning how to pleasure her. …
She was his. She owned his heart and commanded his soul and would forever.
Why would she flee him now? When he needed her more than he ever had?
He swiftly caught up to her as she tore along a streambed, farther and farther into a narrowing canyon. Until it dead-ended with high walls all around. “Nowhere to run, Valkyrie.”
She dashed across the stream and back, searching for a way out. “Damn it!” She raised her sword. “I’ll use this.”
He stalked closer. “Nothing comes between us.” Not time, not death. He lunged forward, snatching the sword from her grip, tossing it away. “Why would you deny me?”
“I have to—you can’t do this!”
“I can and I will.” His hand shot out to loop around her waist, dragging her close. “I need you so badly, Regin.”
Her eyes went silver. Yet then her expression hardened. “If you take me tonight, it won’t be without a fight.”
“So long as I take you.”
When Chase dipped down to kiss her again, Regin punched him with all her strength.
He drew back with his brows drawn, not in pain, but in confusion. The hit hadn’t even fazed him. He was stronger than he’d ever been, faster too. And she wore the torque.
Utterly impossible to best him.
It was her nature to fight, to rail—but she’d fought Aidan in the past. And look where that got me.
No more.
Maybe if she stayed calm, she could bring him back from the brink? Steeling her resolve, she raised her hand to cup his cheek. “I need your help.”
He frowned down at her.
“I have to talk to you. And I need you to be calm.” She brushed his wet hair from his forehead. “That’s it. Be at ease.”
When the mad light in his eyes ebbed somewhat, she continued, “I want to be with you for longer than one night. And to do that, we’ve got to stop this. We’ve got to pull back.”
“Nothing will stop me from claiming you this night. Nothing.”
“Then you’re going to widow me again? Don’t you care about me?”
He gripped her nape. “I fuckin’ love you, Regin!” Rain spiked his lashes as he gazed down at her, commanding her, “Love me back!”
Can’t lose him. “J-just wait, Aidan!”
His eyes went wild again; he threw back his head and roared, his neck straining.
“Please, Aidan, be calm!”
When he faced her again, he bellowed, “I am no’ goddamned Aidan! You’re talkin’ to Declan. Do you no’ see me, woman?”
“N-not Aidan?” She blinked against the rain. “What? How?”
He gave his head a harsh shake, clearly struggling to gain control of his emotions. “I’ve got his memories. No’ the other way around. He’s a part of me. That’s all.”
“You’re still … Declan?” This had never happened before! Maybe the outcome could be changed as well? Or maybe you’re grasping at straws.
Voice hoarse, he said, “Aye, it’s me. I will never be your perfect Viking, Regin! I’ve made unforgivable mistakes. I’ve no family or friends, and my men hold no love for me. I’m scarred inside and out. And I’m bloody askin’ for you anyway!”
You’re the one that I want. Yet then she shivered with fear. “But the curse—”
“Has no reign over me, no’ over us. The past has no hold!” He brushed his battered knuckles along her cheek again and again. “Can you see me, see the man that I am? Accept me, Regin, because I’m holdin’ on to nothin’ but you.”
A thousand years ago, Aidan had taken her hands in his own and asked her to accept him. Tragedy had followed for all his days. “Declan, I’m … afraid. I’m scared to.”
“You know this is different. You have to feel it too.”
Do I? Or do I just want him so much?
He dipped down, his lips slanting over hers. He gave a sharp groan at the contact, but he was gentle, tempering his brutal strength for her. And she loved him for it.
Gods, how she loved him.
In the past, whenever the frenzy had seized him, she’d been swept up, answering his beast. Now some long-dormant part of her was waking, clamoring for his kiss, for his claiming.
Resisting it went against her every instinct. She couldn’t deny that primal pull—not when her heart craved him just as feverishly.
Want him so badly, love him so much. …
The conflict within her grew stronger. She feared, but she hungered—soon she was deepening the contact. Even as she lamented her weakness, she savored his firm lips and lapped at his tongue.
When he returned her forays with wicked flicks, shivers raced over her. He kissed her until they were breathing for each other, until she got lost in the bliss, scarcely aware as he began stripping her, then himself. She only realized she was naked when she felt the rain on her sensitive skin.
By the time she lay back on their discarded clothes, she was panting with need; he looked on the verge of losing control as he moved between her legs.
His body was taut with readiness, his brawny arms and pecs bulging. His shaft was a heavy rod, straining toward her.
Lightning flashed, shadowing his scars in relief, like brands over his skin. But each raised lash called to mind his strength, his will to survive.
Magnificent male.
As her gaze was lovingly tracing over every inch of his body, he’d been regarding hers just as intently. “Look at you, my beautiful Regin. You think I’d surrender you to another? You are mine.” He fisted his hand in her hair, yanking her up to him. “Say my name, Regin.”
She breathed, “Declan.”
He leaned forward to suck her earlobe. “I’m goin’ to fuck you till you scream it. Fuck you till we lose count.”
She gasped, his words making her tremble.
“But I need to get you ready.” He drew back, his smoldering gaze riveted to her sex. “Spread your thighs for me.”
When she eagerly obeyed, he bent down. She could feel his hot breath against her flesh as he nuzzled her curls, making her nipples pucker into aching points.
“Never get enough of this.” He pressed his opened mouth to her, his tongue snaking over her clitoris.
“Ah, yes, yes!” she cried over the thunder booming through the canyon.
His low growls, his hungry mouth. Already she grew close.
When he delved his finger inside her, he groaned, “Gettin’ so wet, baby.” He wedged another one in, thrusting them just enough to ready her—while keeping her on the brink.
The pleasure soon bordered on pain. Gazing up at the sky in agony, she begged, “Declan, please.”
“What do you want, Regin? Tell me and it’s yours.”
She couldn’t fight this. Inevitable. But it was different this time—because Declan remained himself. “I n-need you inside me.”
“You’re wantin’ my shaft, then,” he murmured against her. “I’ll make you come so hard with it.”
She gave a strangled cry. Gods, she did want it—she ached for it, shamelessly rolling her hips.
He rose, pressing wet kisses up her body, his dog tags trailing up her torso. A hard suck on each of her nipples made her head thrash.
“Ah, please!”
The corded ridges down his torso rippled when he knelt between her legs, his biceps flexing as he clamped her hips and jerked her closer.
He fisted his length. When the broad head found her wetness, she cried out; his eyes went heavy-lidded, his jaw slack.
He began running that swollen tip up and down, groaning in anguish each time it briefly breached her core. “You’re goin’ to be so tight and wet for me.”
Keening his name, she mindlessly undulated, rocking on the crown.
“That’s it, lass, move on me!” In that husky voice, he told her, “Get your honey all over it.”
His gravelly words sent her to the very edge. When he fitted the broad head inside her, she demanded, “Deeper.”
He bit out, “Need to … go easy—”
“Deeper.” Her claws sank into the tight muscles of his ass.
“Ah, Regin!” He surged home, filling her with thick, pulsating flesh. “Mine!” he roared in triumph.
His shaft was unyielding inside her, stretching her, forcing her body to accept his. When he seated himself as deep as he could go, she surrendered with a scream, her sheath contracting around him. “Declan!”
As her orgasm burned through her, his steely gray eyes held her gaze. “I can … can feel you comin’.”
When the waves of pleasure finally crested, they didn’t recede. She was still as frantic for him, her lightning forking out over them.