“Halfway there,” she mumbled as she curled up against me.
I held her close, knowing that this thing between us had an expiration date. I was going to betray this woman—I would do it to save her life and her freedom, but she would never forgive me for it.
Chapter Seventeen
Kori
I stood before the ivory trunk of the Tree of Life. The garden surrounding the tree had small changes from what I knew. The hedge that lined one wall was barely brush, and the roof above was solid rock. There were no balconies looking out, but the garden door was there, and many of the flower beds were familiar.
The younger version of Ravage that I had seen in so many of my dreams paced down the garden paths, deep in conversation with a ghost. The wraith floated just above the ground, and I could feel the malevolence from here. When the pair passed by me, I got a glimpse of the wraith’s face, and I saw the man Ravage had called Night. Unlike the dream where Night had burst into a tree, here his face was intact and beautiful. He looked like an older version of Ravage.
“Bring me more humans,” the ghost said.
Hands wrapped around my shoulders from behind, and Ravage whispered in my ear, “Wake up, Kori. Show me where you are.”
My eyes snapped open, and I looked straight up into Ravage’s face. He was only inches away in the cave beside where I lay on Ash.
He was here.
The blood froze in my veins. His emerald eyes were so familiar, but yet somehow wrong, like I’d been seeing him in the dark all along and suddenly the sun came up. The only reason I was seeing him at all was the ball of Ignis fire glowing in his palm.
“Ash can’t hear us, but if you move abruptly, you’ll wake him. You don’t want to do that. I don’t want to have to kill him while he’s under you,” Ravage said. Reaching forward, he rubbed a finger over my neck where Ash marked me as his mate. “I can forgive them doing what needs to be done to keep you alive.” Ravage’s gaze grew very cold. “But not this.”
All I wanted to do was to bat his hand away and attack Ravage. I wanted to jab him in the eye, but I knew him. He wasn’t bluffing. If he said he was going to kill Ash, he planned to do it. And, right now, that moment of confusion upon waking was all the advantage Ravage needed.
“Get up very slowly, and come to me,” Ravage said, holding out a hand as if to help me up. “Come with me now, if you want your lovers to live.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Kori,” he said, firmly, wiggling his fingers. “If Ash wakes, I will kill him.”
“If I get up, you’ll kill him faster,” I said, covering Ash’s body with mine.
“That’s not true. Come with me.” One arched brow rose on Ravage’s forehead. “Your brother is waiting for you.”
“You’ve killed Brendan by now,” I said. I didn’t believe it, not in the slightest. But I wanted Ravage to deny it. I wanted him to prove that he had Brendan, and my brother was safe.
Rocking back on his heels, Ravage said, “Is that what Ash told you? He had a chance to help Brendan in the troll’s hut, and instead, he pushed him aside.”
I shook my head. Ravage was lying. I knew it. But if he was lying about that, he could be lying about Brendan waiting for me somewhere. And that thought terrified me.
Ravage reached out for my hand again. “Brendan will tell you himself. He’s waiting for you, safe and sound. If you won’t come to me for your own sake, come for his.”
“Was that a threat?” I glared. “You’ll kill my brother if I come with you.”
Ravage’s hand came forward, caressing over my cheek. And I was stuck. If I jerked away, I’d wake Ash and likely get him killed. As Ravage’s fingers traced over my skin, the fierceness in his features drained away. “I was angry with you for betraying me and prying into my memories, but I would never kill your brother. Come with me, Kori, and I’ll take you to Brendan and leave your lovers alive.”
I hesitated. “If you’ve hurt Brendan, I’ll burn down your brother’s tree with Ignis fire.”
Ravage reeled back. His repetitious accusation that I was prying into his past made me suspect that my scattered dreams about his life were real. Ravage’s flinch was all the confirmation I needed.
His jaw set. “Your brother is alive and healthy. There’s no reason to even threaten to burn down Night’s tree.”
“That wraith isn’t really your brother, Ravage. You have to know that.” I started to stand.
“Mmmm, Kori?” Ash whispered from behind me.
I tensed, ready to defend Ash.
Ravage stepped back and glared past me. “Ask Ash about what’s happening to Brendan, Kori.”
“What’s happening to him?” I reached for Ravage.
The light vanished, plunging us in darkness save for a flickering orange glow from the cave beyond.
“We’ve slept too long, haven’t we?” Ash asked through a yawn. He peeled open his dark eyes and stretched languidly.
“Ash, Ravage is here.” I hopped up, getting between them.
In a whirl of movement, Ash was on his feet. He pushed me behind him and back to the rock. Damn it, a surge of panic shot through me. What would happen to Brendan if Ash killed Ravage or, even worse, what if Ravage killed Ash?
My insides iced over as I realized that I almost left with Ravage. I considered walking into god-knows-where with Ravage even knowing that he wanted to drain me of blood. The thoughts of what he could have done to me if I’d stayed disturbed me to my core. What was wrong with my head?
I wrapped an arm around Ash’s chest. “Ravage has Brendan, don’t kill him.”
“Where is he?” Ash growled, and Ignis fire ignited on his palm, illuminating the space.
Scooting along the rock, I peered around Ash’s wide back. The cavern stood empty.
“He was just here... He must still be here, invisible. He’s a mind mage.”
“I don’t see any boot prints in the dust except for mine,” Ash said. Keeping me behind him, he bent low. “Where was he?”
“Right there.” I touched Ash’s back and pointed past him.
Ash crouched down, lowering his nose to the cave floor. “I don’t smell him, either.”
“He touched my cheek, can you get his scent from that?”
Leaning in, Ash brought his nose to my skin and inhaled. “No, it just smells like you.”
“Are you sure?”
“I know your scent,” he said, before releasing me and pacing around the cavern. A thundering of footsteps came from our left, and we both tensed when Ruin and Death crashed into the space.
“What’s going on,” Ruin said as he slid to a stop beside us.
“Kori thinks she saw Ravage,” Ash replied.
“I don’t think I saw him. I saw him. He touched my cheek. He was trying to get me to go with him.” I pointed to my face as if it was some type of proof, but obviously, Ash didn’t think it was.
Death came over and sniffed my skin. “Just smells like you and Ash.”
I shook my head. “He said all these things about Brendan and . . .” I trailed off as Ash and Ruin shot a look between them.
“This really happened,” I said. “Ever since Nightendale, I keep having these dreams about Ravage’s past. I see things…” I trailed off, realizing that I sounded like I was telling the group that I only dreamed it, when I knew it was real.
“I’ll . . . check around the clearing, Kori,” Ruin said with a reassuring smile before he walked off.
Death came over and leaned down, sniffing my cheek again. “Is there a blood mage power that can trick what someone smells?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of, but there isn’t a blood mage power that can trick what people feel either. Ravage was here, and he talked to me and touched me. I felt his fingers on my face.”
Death’s gaze moved over the cavern slowly before he nodded. “Ruin is checking it out, but we should move on from here. I don’t like this.”
“Death…” I followed his gaze around the space, “Tell me what you’re thinking, please.”
“I’m thinking that if you believe Ravage was here, he was. I’m just not sure how it’s possible…”
A shiver ran down my spine, and I rubbed out the goosebumps on the back of my neck.
Ruin reentered the clearing, giving me a cautious examination. “Kori, I can’t find any sign of Ravage.”
“I know.” I rubbed the corner of my eyes. “But, he was here. I wasn’t asleep.”
Ash nodded, slowly. “What did he tell you?”
“That he had my brother, Brendan. He was threatening to kill you three if I didn’t go with him. And, Ravage told me to ask you about Brendan, Ash...”
Ash flinched. “What?”
I swallowed hard. “That’s the last thing Ravage said to me: ask Ash about what’s happening to Brendan, Kori.”
Ash’s eyes went wide, and I saw a flicker of something in his expression, but it disappeared in an instant. “I don’t know what that means,” he said, voice suddenly cold. “Are you accusing me of something? Because I told you that I hold myself responsible for the fact Ravage took Brendan already.”
I held up my hands. “I’m not accusing you of anything. That’s just what Ravage said. He also said that you had the chance to rescue Brendan, but you pushed him away.”
Ash’s expression closed off, and his gaze iced over from concerned to cold. “Is that what you think happened? Is that what you suspect in the back of your mind?”
“No.” I shook my head vigorously. “Ravage is a liar and manipulator. That’s what he said to me, but I don’t trust him for a second.”
Ash turned away, but not before delivering one more verbal strike. “It’s what you said to yourself, Kori. Ravage was never here.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kori
All that next day, we ran for hours without any marker of how much time was passing. The narrow tunnel emptied out into a massive cavern that could hold two Portland Domes side-by-side within it easily. Craggy rocks jutted out of the cavern floor, making a rough terrain that stretched on for miles with no path to smooth our way.
Ruin insisted that I wrap my arms and legs around him from the front, just as Ash did, but instead of supporting me under my thighs, he shamelessly cupped my ass in the guise of holding me up. I appreciated the affection, even if he was doing it more to tease me than anything else.
Ash took the lead, holding up a handful of Ignis fire. He didn’t even glance at me as he passed within inches of us. He was acting as if I’d made up the whole Ravage encounter just to accuse him of abandoning my brother to die.
I didn’t even believe Ravage.
One vampire had proven himself a liar as far as I was concerned, and that wasn’t Ash.
Ruin smacked my ass gently, grabbing my attention back. “What are you thinking so hard on, goddess?”
I smiled at him, but it slid away quickly. “In the time that I was your consort, did Ash and I get along, or did we hate each other?”
Ruin chuckled, low and deep, and there was something particularly sexual about the sound.
“What?” I asked.
“Well… I’d say that no, you two didn’t get along most of the time, but that didn’t stop you both from thoroughly enjoying each other. You two even invited me along for some of that.” He lightly smacked my butt again and smiled with his fangs peeking out. His messy brown hair was pulled back and knotted behind his head. “Ash can be a really hard person to love sometimes, but he’s worth it.”
“What’s with smacking my butt?” I asked through a smirk.
Leaning in, he whispered, “Because you grin every time I do, and I like to see you smile while my hand is on your ass.”
“Do you now?” I laughed.
He nuzzled into my messy dark hair. “While I’m here, can I ask you a question?”
“Ask.”
He rubbed his cheek along my neck, and I pulled my hair away, which wasn’t easy. My hair was doing its best to form a single dread down the back.
“Ash bit you,” Ruin said.
“Yes.”
“Ash didn’t just bite you, there are little upraised marks, meaning that his fangs were in you when he came. . .” Ruin scraped his fangs gently up my neck, sending a shiver over my skin. “Now you have two marks… one from Death and one from Ash.”
“And none from you.” Heat rushed down low into my belly, and I squeezed my legs around him a little tighter.
“It’s a damn shame, don’t you think?” Ruin asked through a chuckle. “Last time, you chose me to be the second to mark you—I never would have expected first, but--”
I cupped his cheeks. He was teasing me, but I sensed a thread of insecurity in his joke. “Ruin, clearly there was a massive oversight. The world won’t feel right until you’re my mate again.” A thrum of longing surged through me. A sudden desperation to have Ruin mark me pulsed in my heart. I needed to right the fact that Ruin’s mark was stolen from me. I had felt the exact same sensation with Ash yesterday, even though I was pretty sure Ash resented our connection. To lighten the sudden intensity of my mood, I gave Ruin a coy smile and asked, “But where would you mark me?”
Ruin leaned back a little and regarded me with a very impish grin. “Oh, Kori, I was thinking neck, but if you want me to get creative, I’ll mark you right here…” his hand slipped up under my inner thigh. “That way every time Ash and Death lick your sweet pussy, they’ll have to stare at my mark.”
I laughed before biting my lip and shaking my head, looking up at him through my eyelashes. “Oh, Ruin, your dirty mind sounds like it has some tantalizing plans for us.”
“You want to find out just how dirty I am?” It sounded like a promise. His dark brows rose, and light eyes twinkled.
“Literally?” I asked.
The smile didn’t fade, but he faked a wince at my words. “It doesn’t matter. This is just a natural musk. Everything I do to you will be natural.”
“And I want to naturally take a bath,” I said, still grinning wide at him.
“That’s a great idea.” Leaning in, he whispered, “I would be honored to wash you if you’d let me.”
“Oh, Ruin.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “I missed you… and I’m just talking about the times I remember.”
His teasing, seductive tone dropped, and he whispered, “I’ve missed you too, goddess.”
I knew what he was doing, he was changing the mood from tense and angry to fun and sexy. But masterful as he was at it, the moment I closed my eyes, all of the horrible events of the last week rushed back like an avalanche coming down on my head.
“Do you think I dreamed Ravage finding us, Ruin?” I asked as I squeezed on tight. “I saw him. I felt the touch of his horrible fingers on my cheek.”
Ruin’s hands moved up from my butt to rub down my back. “I think you’ve had a hell of a couple of days—not to mention the week you’ve had or the year. After we get to safety, each of us are going to need a week of sleep. And… you’re welcome to take that sleep in my room. Or, we could do it in your room, either way is good with me.”
I blew out a laugh. “Fine, it’s a date. Except that as soon as I get answers from the queen on how to fix this blood-drinking issue, I’m setting out after my brothers.”
“No, you’re not,” Ash yelled from where he ran ahead of us. Somewhere. Positioned as I was, I couldn’t see him, and I didn’t really want to.
Ruin leaned in, again. “You’re not going anywhere without me, goddess. I can’t even tell you how boring life was without you.”
“And you’re not going anywhere without me,” Death rumbled.
“She’s not going anywhere, period.” Ash added as if he had any authority in that matter.
Sighing, I looked back up into Ruin’s roguishly handsome face. “Is it okay if I get some of that sleep now?”
“Yeah, please, pretend like I’m your bed.”
Resting my
head against his chest, I watched the dry, craggy rocks rush past in a blur.
It wasn’t worth my energy to try to convince the men that Ravage hadn’t been a hallucination, but he had been there. Ravage had collected almost all of the blood mage powers—it was in the realm of possibility that he was now able to do things that defied the laws of known magic. Either my brother was alive and badly injured, or Ravage was lying to lure me out. Something in me still held out hope that Brendan was alive. I may not trust Ravage, but I had to trust my gut. It was what led me this far.
A thundering resonance started behind us, and I glanced up, looking over Ruin’s shoulders. My heart jumped as darting lights appeared at the far side of the amphitheater sized cavern.
“Lights,” I called out, loud enough that the men around me could hear. “There are more of them every second. There’s at least a hundred, and they’re still appearing.”
“Fuck,” Ash roared from somewhere ahead. “It’s Ravage’s army. I thought we had more of a head start.”
“We probably did have that, until Ravage found us last night,” Death called, and even though my heart was racing in terror, it warmed a bit. I’d got the feeling that Death was the only one who believed me about Ravage’s visit—but this confirmed his faith in me.
The soldiers must be sprinting because the lights were getting brighter by the second.
“They’re moving fast,” I said.
“We have to get out of open fucking ground,” Ash yelled. “I say we break up in three directions. Ruin, you take right, because that’s the closest cover. Death, you take straight ahead and lead them into the caves, and I’ll take left and loop around behind the army.
I glanced back in the direction my warriors were running. Ash’s ball of Ignis fire illuminated a quarter-mile in all directions, but there was no cover anywhere around us. Panic surged through my heart, and I turned, only to find the lights had stopped moving.
“The army stopped,” I called, as Ruin veered right and sprinted even faster.
To either side of us, Ash and Death fell behind.
Ash (Fire & Blood Book 2) Page 13