At last Inga halted and tapped the Tryshu on the ground. A panel slid open and she disappeared from view. Levet reluctantly followed. He could have spent an eternity exploring the hidden passageways.
Then, following Inga through the opening, his disappointment was forgotten.
His eyes widened as he spun in a slow circle.
The room was as large as Styx’s entire mansion. And that was saying something. It was shaped like an octagon, with shelves built into the walls. Overhead was a massive chandelier that started to glow as soon as Inga entered. The soft light reflected off the gold and pearls that crusted the domed ceiling. And in the center of the room was a marble fountain that spilled water into a shallow pool.
There was something very lush and sensual about the library.
Knowledge truly was sexy in here.
“Magnificent,” he breathed.
“Yes. It is,” Inga agreed. Her blunt features softened as she moved to stand next to the fountain. She reached out to allow the water to trickle over her fingers. “It almost makes it worth being Queen of the Mer-folk.”
Levet’s wings drooped. “Are you unhappy, ma belle?”
She held up the lethal trident that marked her as leader of the mer-folk. “I never wanted this.”
Levet furrowed his brow. “What did you want?”
“A family.” A wistful smile touched her lips. “A home.”
“You have that now,” Levet pointed out, confused by the hint of sadness in her voice.
“But at what cost?”
“Inga.”
She jerked, as if realizing she was revealing more than she wanted.
“The rare books are through here. Stay close to me,” she said crisply, marching to a space between two shelves. Levet followed, a portion of his delight fading at the loneliness he’d glimpsed in Inga’s eyes.
“You don’t have any security?” he asked, surprised when they walked through an arched opening into a much smaller space.
Inga shrugged. “You must be holding the Tryshu to penetrate the magic guarding this room.”
“Ah.” Levet shivered. He didn’t precisely understand how the magic of the trident worked, but he did know that no one could touch it unless they were the true leader of the mer-folk. Which meant precisely one person could enter this room. “Formidable protection, indeed.”
“You search those shelves.” She nodded toward the plain wooden shelves on the far wall. “I’ll look over here.”
Preoccupied with the realization that Inga wasn’t as happy as he assumed she would be in her new role as queen, Levet allowed his gaze to run over the books stacked in neat rows.
Which meant he nearly walked past the book that was tucked on the very bottom row. It was the shimmer of gold stitching in the binding that caught his eye. Bending down, he pulled out the slender tome.
A blue cover with two pyramids and a heavy medallion stuck into the thick leather.
“Voilà.” He held the book over his head. “I found it.”
Chapter 11
Brigette’s palms were raw and bleeding. Digging through a ton of jagged rocks was hell on a manicure. And despite being a pureblooded Were, her muscles were starting to protest the manual labor.
Tired, filthy, and aching from head to toe, she wasn’t in the best mood. Throw in the fact that Ulric had escaped, and her companion was watching her with a mocking expression, and she was close to snapping.
Where was the glorious destiny she’d been promised?
Arching her aching back, she glared toward the old woman, who was leaning casually against the far wall.
How many years had it been since she’d first snuck into this burrow? Six hundred? At the time she hadn’t been searching for anything in particular. She’d been bored and frustrated and looking for a way to rebel without getting in trouble. She might resent the authority figures in her life, like her father and the alpha, but she wasn’t stupid enough to believe she had the power to battle them. Not openly.
She had to content herself with working in the shadows to undermine their power.
She spread stories about the alpha, she encouraged fights and petty jealousies among the younger Weres. She attacked travelers stupid enough to pass by the village and risked exposing their pack to the humans.
Nothing seemed to matter. Not until she’d entered the burrow and the voice had whispered she could have everything she so desperately desired. Not only her freedom. But the opportunity to become the alpha.
Over and over she’d returned to the burrow, performing the tasks the voice had demanded of her. They were small at first. She brought small animals to offer as sacrifices. She removed a strange statue that’d been carved from a whale bone. And at last, she’d busted through the layer of rocks that had covered the skeleton. She’d been amazed by the sight. Not only because the bones were obviously an old sacrifice, but by the magic she could feel surrounding them.
Eventually Ulric’s father had sealed shut the burrow, but it was far too late. At least for him.
By then she could touch the spirit’s magic, allowing her to bust through the curse the alpha had placed on the entryway.
Still, it wasn’t enough. She was hungry for more.
Always more.
That’s when the old woman had appeared on a road outside the village. Brigette had first assumed she was a human traveler. But even as she’d crouched behind a rock and prepared to attack, the woman had wrapped her in bands of fire.
For hours the woman had held her captive, claiming she was the spirit of the burrow, a physical manifestation of the magic that had been whispering to Brigette for decades. She also claimed that Brigette had been chosen to share in a great reward just as soon as she helped Zella to fully enter this world.
Brigette didn’t know exactly what the reward was going to be, but the woman assured her it would include enough power to rule her own pack. Perhaps enough to become Queen of Weres.
It was only when Brigette was blinded by her lust for rank and position among her people that the female had revealed the necessity of destroying the current pack. Zella had insisted that Brigette could never fulfill her destiny as a ruler as long as they were alive. They were the enemy that kept her from achieving her dreams of glory.
Later, Brigette told herself she’d tried to protest. How could she endure such a sacrifice? But deep in her heart she knew she’d done nothing to halt the carnage.
She’d been willing to destroy everything, including her own family.
It wasn’t until after the massacre that she began to regret selling her soul to the devil.
Not only was the full force of the spirit still trapped behind layers of magic, but Brigette was compelled to accept that the freedom she’d been promised was nothing more than an illusion.
In fact, Zella had turned out to be a crueler bully than either her father or her alpha. And the worst part was that there was no way to form a new pack as long as she was at the mercy of the spirit.
No. The worst part was that she had lost the ability to touch her wolf.
It was almost as if the animal had turned its back on her human half, retreating farther and farther. Now she could barely sense the animal, let alone shift. It left a gaping hole in her soul.
Unfortunately, her regrets did nothing to ease her situation. She’d gone too far to turn back, which meant she had no choice but to discover which of the pack had survived so they could be sacrificed.
Her jaw tightened.
And she’d done it. She’d found Ulric and lured him to this spot. But instead of achieving her dreams, she’d once again been denied.
Glancing over her shoulder, she studied Zella with a sour dislike. “This would go faster if you would help,” she pointed out.
Zella sniffed. “You forget who the servant is and who is the master.”
Servant. The word rasped over Brigette’s raw nerves. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.
“The longer it takes me to open the passageway, the farther away Ulric will be when we do get out of here,” she snapped.
Zella continued to look unconcerned. As if she hadn’t noticed they were stuck behind a mountain of rocks while the sacrifice they needed was strolling away.
“He won’t go far,” Zella announced. “I destroyed his…” She paused. Although the woman had a remarkable grasp of the language, as well as the current culture, she occasionally struggled with the proper word. “Flying machine,” she finally said. “And got rid of his companions.”
Brigette frowned. They’d decided that she would be the one to lure her pack mate to the burrow while Zella made sure that no one lived to spread word about where or how Ulric had disappeared.
“The fairy can take them anywhere,” she said between clenched teeth.
“She’s not a fairy. She’s a zephyr.”
Zephyr? Brigette had never heard of them. “What’s the difference?”
“She can’t travel.”
“You’re sure?” Brigette immediately regretted the question as a fiery pain seared through her body. “Sorry,” she rasped, shuddering as the agony slowly faded. Shit. She hated Zella. With the power of a thousand suns. For now, however, she needed her. “I just don’t want to waste more time trying to hunt him down again,” she muttered.
Zella sneered. “Unlike you, I don’t allow my prey to escape.”
Brigette glanced toward the massive cave-in that blocked the tunnel. “Do you think they’re up there waiting for us?” she demanded in disbelief.
“I ensured that he will return no matter where he runs.”
“What did you do?”
“I don’t explain myself to servants.”
Okay. That was it. Brigette didn’t give a crap if the bitch could destroy her with a wave of her gnarled hand.
She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
Turning back, she glared at the woman. “You promised me I would be an alpha.”
“You are.”
“A leader without a pack?” Brigette hissed, waving her hand around the cramped burrow. “Stuck in this hellhole?”
Perhaps sensing Brigette was on the cusp of a complete meltdown, Zella straightened from the wall. “There’s no need to chase after the Were,” she assured Brigette.
“Why not?”
The wrinkled face tightened with annoyance, but Zella answered the question. “I can use my power to compel him to return.”
Brigette widened her eyes. She’d spent the past five hundred years endlessly searching for Ulric, while being told over and over she was an utter failure, and Zella could have used her powers to bring him to the village?
If she’d still had command of her wolf, she would have ripped the woman to bloody shreds.
“Why didn’t you do that before?”
Zella held up one finger. Brigette’s nose curled as she realized it was coated with a dark red.
“I didn’t have his blood.” A terrifying smile curved the old woman’s lips. “Now I do.”
“So where is he?”
Zella nodded toward the pile of rocks. “Once you’ve cleared away the rubble and I’ve prepared the altar for the sacrifice, I will call for him.”
Brigette frowned. Only an idiot would trust this woman. “I want what I was promised,” she warned.
Zella released a sharp laugh. “Be assured, Brigette, you will get exactly what you deserve.”
* * * *
Ulric slowed the ancient truck he’d “borrowed” from a human farmer. He’d also “borrowed” a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt along with a pair of boots that were a size too small. The seven-hour journey had been an agony. Not only had the vehicle jolted over the rough road with enough force to rattle his teeth. But it’d sent sharp pains from the wound on his side shooting through him.
Even worse was the suspicion that the crippling weakness that made it a struggle not to collapse into a weary puddle had nothing to do with his injury. And everything to do with the female seated next to him.
Thankfully, his memories of Chiron discussing the time he’d spent at his master’s lair helped him to locate the castle on the edge of the cliff without having to backtrack too many times.
Pulling to a halt, he studied the sturdy structure that was obviously in the mad throes of reconstruction. There were newly restored walls that had been carved out of gray stone. And heavy shutters covering the windows. Plus, a pathway had been cleared over the moat and up the steep incline to the front door. But even with an intact roof, it had an air of abandonment.
It wasn’t easy to sweep away five centuries of neglect in a few months.
Rainn glanced through the filthy windshield. “Do you think that’s his lair?”
“Yeah,” Ulric said.
He’d caught Tarak’s scent as they turned onto the road leading to the castle. Plus the faint hint of salt that didn’t come from the ocean. A mermaid.
Ulric pushed open the door of the truck and slid out. He grunted as a burning sensation crawled up the side of his body.
What the hell had the woman done to him?
He shook his head. That was a worry for later.
Rainn joined him, her gaze on the castle. “I don’t think anyone is here.”
Ulric sucked in a deep breath. Tarak’s scent was muted, but it was impossible to determine if he was inside the castle.
“It’s midday.” He glanced overhead at the sun that was spilling a welcome warmth over them. Then he snorted. His years in Vegas had made him into a wimp. A brisk ocean breeze and he was shivering as if he was in the Antarctic. “He’s probably tucked in some secure room below ground.”
“Are we going inside?”
“No.” Only a fool tried to enter a vampire’s lair without his invitation. Who knew what sort of nasty surprises were waiting for them? “We need to find someplace to wait for nightfall.”
Ulric glanced around the empty landscape. Their choices were limited. They could drive the truck to look for a local town. Or…
Suddenly he remembered a story that Chiron had told him long ago. He turned to walk toward the cliffs.
Rainn scurried behind him. “Where are you going?”
“Chiron lived here when Tarak first brought him into his clan,” he said, walking along the edge of the cliff until he found the narrow path.
“That doesn’t explain why we’re doing the whole mountain goat thing again,” she muttered, her voice strained as they headed down the steep, zigzagging trail.
He glanced over his shoulder, noticing her unexpected pallor. “Are you afraid of heights?” he asked in surprise.
She wrinkled her nose. “I prefer flat land.”
“Why?”
She crouched low to the ground as she inched her way down the cliff. “When I was very young I used my magic to float for hours at a time. It was my favorite game.”
Ulric kept his pace slow and steady. Not only because he didn’t want to rush Rainn, but because his legs felt like noodles.
Damn. His weakness was accelerating.
“You could fly?” he asked, hoping to keep her distracted. Not only from her phobia of heights, but from noticing his stumbles.
She shook her head. “I could only float,” she corrected. “But one day I was away from our hidden lair and I drifted too far. The wind caught me, and I was swept over a canyon. It would have been fine, but I hit a downdraft and before I knew what was happening, I plummeted to the ground.”
Ulric winced. Rainn was always in complete command of any situation. It was difficult to remember that she was more fragile than most demons.
At least physically.
“Were you badly injured?”
“You have your own powers,” he assured her. “You rescued me in that burrow.”
She shook her head, clearly not ready to discuss what’d happened. That was fine with him. It was going to take a while for him to process what he’d discovered.
Like a century. Or two.
“Where are we going?” she instead demanded.
“Before Tarak found him, Chiron lived in a cave for centuries,” Ulric said. “When Tarak brought him here, he refused to sleep aboveground. Chiron told me that Tarak created a private bedroom for him in the caves beneath his castle so he could feel safe.”
Near the bottom of the path, Ulric stumbled onto the rocky beach. He turned to grasp Rainn by her waist, gathering his waning strength, to set her gently on the ground next to him.
Together they headed toward the nearest cave carved into the cliff. It was empty, but Ulric crossed the cramped space to squeeze through a narrow crack. He hissed as his skin was scraped off his back. He was considerably wider than Chiron. Thankfully, Rainn had no problem following him into the tunnel that led deeper into the cliff.
They continued to travel in silence, both on hyperalert as they moved through the darkness. Ulric had allowed himself to be led into one trap. It wasn’t happening again.
At last he climbed the shallow steps to enter a large cavern that had been dug into the hard granite.
Immediately a soft light filled the space, glowing from the crystals embedded in the ceiling. Magic? It had to be. The entire space looked as if it’d been a creation of fey enchantment.
There was a massive bed that had been hand carved out of driftwood, and heavy tapestries that lined the walls, with images of sundrenched meadows. There were delicate carpets to hide the hard floor, and trunks stacked in a corner. Ulric assumed they were Chiron’s old belongings.
It was clearly a place that had been designed for maximum comfort.
Rainn moved forward, laying a tentative hand against the tapestry. “It’s no wonder Chiron was so loyal to Tarak if he had this created for him.”
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