by Kate Pearce
“No one has.”
“That’s stupid. Adam obviously has. I sensed him in there, and he’s not alone.”
“That’s because cygnet’s there, too.”
“Are you sure?”
“I heard Adam brought him in yesterday.”
Ella cautiously raised her shields. “I can’t feel him.” The emptiness was chilling. Even her anger wasn’t big enough to conceal the loss of her awareness of her mate.
“That’s probably because he’s being held somewhere that’s magically warded.”
“But can’t he get out of anything?”
Rossa looked critically at the walls. “It depends what they did to him. If he’s totally encased in lead, Han Solo style, even he might find it hard to get out of that.”
Despite the heat of the coffee, she shivered. “Surely, I’d know if he was dead...” She raised her head. “Can he die?”
“All Fae can die, given the right circumstances, you know that.”
“But Morosov’s different, isn’t he?”
“He certainly is.” Rossa sipped at his own coffee, his expression uncharacteristically somber. “But now that he has you, it’s certainly possible he could die.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “I told you he threatened to dismember his own family if they allowed Adam to take your face?”
“Yeah.”
“What I didn’t tell you was that he also said he’d take them all down with him if it meant that you survived.”
She forced a laugh. “He’s such a drama king.”
“That wasn’t his intent. He meant what he was saying, so technically, he could choose to sacrifice his immortality to save you.” He winked at her. “Ah, the power of love.”
“Don’t say that.” She hunched a shoulder at him and finished her coffee. “If I’m the source of his death, I want to be the one to hand out the sentence and execute it.”
“That’s funny, Soul Sucker.”
She bared her teeth at him until he stopped laughing. “It wasn’t a joke. Now how are we going to get into this place?”
He recoiled. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“You’re not coming?”
Rossa stood up. “Of course I’m not! What do you think I am, suicidal?” He bowed elaborately. “You have all the power you need to get into this stronghold and save your prince.”
“Thanks for the support.” Ella finished her coffee and handed him the empty cup. “Can I ask you one more thing before you desert me?”
“Certainly my lady.”
“Now that we’re both in Otherworld, when Morosov and I are communicating, can anyone else hear us?”
“In your thoughts, or did you mean something else entirely?” He winked lasciviously.
“I meant in our thoughts, you perv.” She frowned at him. “Sometimes I can catch other people’s internal conversations here.”
“Like the way I can communicate with you?”
“Exactly.”
“There’s definitely a familial link, but I’ve always been told that the bond between a mated couple makes those conversations impenetrable for anyone else. A family member might know that you are speaking to each other, but not what you are saying.”
“That’s a relief.
“You’re welcome. Good luck!”
He disappeared, grinning broadly, and she was alone once more. She hadn’t really expected him to join her, but it had been fun watching him charm his way out of it. She returned her attention to the task in hand. There had to be a way to get through the walls without going through the main gate. Surely there had to be a service entrance somewhere.
With that in mind, Ella walked around the perimeter of the wall, stopping every so often to scan the stone face and identify any other entrances, magical or not. Once or twice, when she detected a change in the surface, she attempted to magic herself through it, but nothing seemed to work. It was a tedious business, not helped by her awareness that she was being watched and that time was running out. Whenever she used Vadim’s magic, she was certain she was sending out a big fat “come and get me!” signal. She’d gathered so many enemies in Otherworld already, she was surprised she wasn’t being hunted down by a mob. But perhaps because she was Vadim’s mate, they were scared of her as well? It might answer the question as to why she hadn’t been killed on arrival.
She halted opposite the main gate again and studied the movement of the four guards from the shade of the trees. Would it be easier to simply walk up to the gate, ask for Adam and go right in? By the time the alarm was raised, she reckoned she could take most of the opposition out. She didn’t even need to see him. All she had to do was find where he kept his grisly trophies and take her face back.
How she was going to reattach it was another matter...
Well, it was pointless hanging about. She had to do something.
“Rossa? Come back here immediately!”
“What?” He reappeared, his expression grumpy. “I was just about to take a swim in a lake full of nubile young Water Fae.”
“They can wait. I need you.”
His smile widened and he placed his hand over his heart. “I’ve dreamed of you saying that to me. Have you decided to let fate take its course and follow your true destiny to have endless sex with me?”
“Not quite. I need you to help me create a diversion outside the main gate while I figure out a way to get in.”
He took a step back. “No way.”
She batted her eyelashes at him. “Oh, come on, Rossa. If you help me, I’ll tell Morosov not to kill you when he executes all his other relatives.”
“But if I don’t help you, he’ll die in there anyway.”
“Do you really believe that? I don’t think Adam has a clue what he’s taken on, do you?”
Rossa stared pensively at the gates. “All right, I’ll help as long as I don’t get caught...”
Chapter Twelve
“Just keep an eye on that fire and don’t let it get out of control!” Ella yelled back at Rossa as plumes of thick black smoke billowed into the air. “Two of the guards are coming over!”
She ran headfirst into the magical smoke, using her hands to push it ahead of her like a shield. Her vision blurred, but she kept her sights on the gate and the two remaining guards. No one had seen her yet; they were all too busy staring at the fire she’d started. She sidestepped one of the remaining trolls, who had deserted his post, and slammed right into the massive door. Luckily, with all the noise, no one heard her, the bang or her muttered expletive.
Dammit, the door was locked. Duh. She closed her eyes and concentrated on exhuming its secrets and its weaknesses. Even as she searched, the timber groaned and shivered under her hand like a living being.
A snap of light whizzed past her nose as the smoke began to clear. Could they see her? Rossa had tried to help her with an invisibility spell, but she wasn’t sure she had the ability to maintain it.
“Watch out!”
He was bellowing in her head. On the road behind her, she saw a figure approaching on the back of a horse, long blond hair flowing in the breeze, a hand raised to cause magical mayhem. If that wasn’t Rossa ratting her out, it had to be Vadim’s father.
Another blast of deadly power hit the door, bounced off, and buried itself in her left shoulder. It also weakened the integrity of the door. To her complete surprise, her desperate spell worked. She fell flat on her face on the other side and looked up into the unwelcoming black eyes of yet another troll, his long spear an inch from her nose.
“Hang on!” She got to her feet, arms raised, and ignored the horrendous pain in her shoulder. “I didn’t mean any harm. I was just getting away from the smoke.”
He didn’t reply, just gestured at her with his weapon to move off. She didn’t argue, and let him walk her down the narrow corridor. When he grunted, she paused obediently before a locked door. As he reached past her to unlock it, she brushed against his hand, pushing the smallest amou
nt of power into him. Without a sound, he crumpled to the floor.
Using all her strength, she bundled the troll into one of the empty rooms and shut the door on him. She had no idea whether she’d killed him or not and didn’t have time to check. At least he hadn’t exploded all over her. A quick glance back at the entranceway confirmed her fears that Rossa and the fire’s usefulness had ended and that the guards were once again mustering at the door. Would they sense her presence? Had the Fae king seen her escape through the smoke, or had he simply been attempting to get into the castle himself?
She didn’t have time to care. With her current luck, she’d be captured before she even had a chance to look for her face. She could pick up no sense of Adam, so what should she aim for? An image of Brad and Ms. Phelps came into her head, and she focused on that instead. If she followed their empathic signals, she would hopefully find hers.
Carefully reciting the invisibility spell Rossa had hurriedly tried to teach her, she locked the door, gathered herself and ran toward the back of the massive building. Bits of her eluded the cloaking hex, so she caught the odd glimpse of her arm, her boot and her jacket like pieces of an ever-changing kaleidoscope. It was quite bizarre. Even though she was in a rush, she couldn’t fail to notice the beauty of the place. It was a monument to the work of the sect, like a treasure seeker’s private paradise where they could come and gloat about their cleverness.
There was another long hallway and, at the bottom, two huge gold doors, which were guarded. That had to be the place. Flattened against the wall, Ella spared a moment to touch her shoulder, and discovered the cloth of her jacket was still smoking and seared right through. Her skin was broken and discolored and radiated a weird metallic glaze. What the hell had the king fired at her? Molten lead? She stuffed one of Vadim’s old handkerchiefs over the wound and used magic to repair the damage to her jacket. It would have to do.
After a deep, steadying breath, she sauntered down the hallway toward the two guards, her hands at her sides and her expression pleasant.
“Hey, what’s up?”
The guards glanced at each other and then barred the door with their crossed spears. Ella flexed her fingers.
“I need to get in there, and you two are in my way. I’m giving you this warning, because my magic is a lot stronger than my control, so I might accidentally fry you both.” She raised her eyebrows. “So if you want to leave right now, I won’t tell anyone, okay?”
The taller troll hissed at her in his own language and brought his spear up, nearly taking off the top layer of her new face.
She wasn’t even aware she’d brought her hand up. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Power sliced from her, and the nearest troll screeched and fell to the ground. She swung to face the other one, but he was already running in the opposite direction, no doubt to raise the alarm. She stepped over the smoking body and pushed open one of the golden doors. Dark power streamed past her and through her, strengthening her magic.
She drew the door shut behind her—there didn’t appear to be any way of locking it—and walked toward the furthest end of the vast cathedral-like room. The ceiling was domed and painted, the walls covered in trophies. It was also silent in the vast space, as if someone held their breath.
There.
Already aware of a huge commotion behind her, she ran toward her goal, her gaze fixed on the smiling face of Brad Dailey, the agony of Ms. Phelps, and her own familiar features.
“Thank God,” she breathed, and reached out her hand to claim her prize.
Agony hit her hard and she staggered and held on to the nearest shelf. Looking down, she discovered her ankle was clasped firmly between the jaws of a small black dragon with eyes like rubies. Blood dripped from his jaws, and she knew it wasn’t his.
“Oh, holy crap. No one said there would be dragons.”
Before she could even think of retaliating, blackness engulfed her. She collapsed onto the carpet, aware of claws scrabbling at her legs, and then no more.
* * *
His cell door opened, and Vadim winced at the glare of the torch. Adam appeared, silhouetted against the light. He threw something at Vadim that hit him hard on the chest and came to rest on his lap.
“Bad news, Death Bringer. Now you have every reason to stay and fight.”
He left the torch in the sconce by the door, giving Vadim some light, and withdrew. Still half-constrained by the leaden chains, he stared down at an all-too-familiar blue-and-red backpack.
Rage and grief coalesced in an unstoppable crescendo. He roared his fury at the top of his lungs, making his prison shake and the torch go out, leaving him in darkness with madness his close and dearly desired companion. Pain flooded his senses, tearing down his carefully constructed barriers. Inwardly he screamed for her, not willing to expose her precious name to his captors.
Slowly he came back to himself, his breathing ragged, his claws and fangs extended to their fullest, more beast than man, more filled with bloodlust than love. He forced himself to think through his instinct to simply destroy the world that had destroyed her.
A growl escaped him and he shut his eyes.
Think.
If she were dead, there would be no reason for him to do anything but annihilate Otherworld.
Adam wouldn’t want to provoke that.
Would he?
Treacherous hope stirred in him. But if she wasn’t dead, she was being held captive, her survival subject to his good behavior. If Adam expected him to fight, he obviously had to offer him an incentive to do so. Vadim took a deep steadying breath. If Ella was in Otherworld, he would find her, and be damned to anyone’s expectations of him playing nice.
He reached out a shaking hand, grabbed the backpack and brought it to his face, inhaling Ella’s scent. Beneath his tightening grip, the fabric started to tear, and he forced himself to relax. She felt close, but was that an illusion created by his need or was it reality?
Dammit, he was touching the backpack. His hands were free of the chains... His rage had fueled his power to new heights and he was recovering far more quickly than Adam might have anticipated. Vadim smiled into the darkness. Luckily, the attempt to undermine him had simply made him stronger. If Ella was near, he was going to find her and then let loose hell...
* * *
Ella sat upright as a burst of magical power shook through the building, and more importantly, right through her. That had to be Vadim, but what was up with him, and where was she? Her head pounded and she was thirsty. Dammit, she was tired of waking up and not knowing what the hell was going on...
Her leg hurt.
Looking down, she couldn’t see the damage the dragon had inflicted on her ankle, because someone or something had bandaged it up. Were dragon bites infectious? Would she need a shot? Where the hell would she get that?
She was in a small room with just a bed and a sink, rather like a monk’s cell. There was a window, but it was set high in the wall. She didn’t think it faced the outside, because the light was wrong. Tentatively, she searched for Rossa in her mind, but he wasn’t there. All she could feel was Vadim, and even he felt different.
Her backpack had gone, which meant she had no food. Her stomach rumbled in protest. Maybe they knew that after twenty-four hours without coffee and donuts, she’d be willing to tell them anything they wanted. She couldn’t sit here and wait for that to happen. With as much care as she could manage, she lowered her injured foot to the floor and immediately winced.
Would the cleanup spell work on wounds? It had certainly worked on clothes. She had to suspect that the words Vadim had given her were rather more complex than he’d let on. Or was it the power of Otherworld that enhanced them? She didn’t know, and as long as it kept working, she wasn’t going to second-guess herself. She felt her left shoulder, which was still throbbing like a bad tooth. Would it work on that too? Sounds beyond the door made her lie back down on the bed and close her eyes.
The door opened a scant inch, and a troll
looked in on her.
“She’s still unconscious, sir.”
“Good. Leave her, then. The master wants to see her when she awakens.”
The master? Ella wanted to snort. Adam obviously thought a lot of himself, but then power-crazed individuals usually did. The door shut, and she was alone again. She counted to five hundred and then cautiously got up and went over to the door. There was no sound from outside, but that didn’t mean much. One of those stupid dragons might be curled up right on the threshold.
She turned back to the window. Surely that was the better option? Vadim had been a whiz at opening locked doors and getting through stuff, so she assumed she would be too. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure her ass wouldn’t fit through the space. Maybe she could be like Alice and minimize herself a bit? She’d managed to do that at the front door without even thinking about it. Or could she walk through the wall?
She tried that first and ended up with a bump on her head and a bruised right knee. So the wall was out. How about the window? What would happen if she got stuck halfway? She sat back on the bed and considered her options. Another wave of raw power shook the building. Her heart rate sped up in response. Vadim was seriously pissed about something. Did she dare try and contact him? Did she want to? She took off her boot and threw it toward the open window. It bounced back off some invisible barrier.
She shoved her foot back into the boot and stood up. There was no time for finesse. Fuck it. She had to get out right now. From her position by the bed, she raised her hands and blasted power at the door. It blew outward and crashed against the door opposite with a horrendous crash. She didn’t wait to see the reaction from her captors, but tried to magic herself back outside the complex. Nothing happened. In desperation, she started to run along the corridor in the hope of finding her way to the exit.
Her mind seemed to know where she was heading, so she followed her instincts, aware of pursuit but more than willing to kill to reach her goal. She reached an inner covered courtyard with a Japanese-style koi pond, miniature temple and a covered glass ceiling, her breath loud in her ears. The only other sound was the tranquil stir of the fountain.