Cer sighed. “The bravado of you, Lucaius,” he said, like a father disappointed in his son. “This time will be different because you are in my land, at my mercy, and stripped of all defenses.”
“You will make me blush.”
Cerdewellyn moved back a few steps. A chair magically appeared, and Cerdewellyn took a seat, stretching his legs out, crossing them at the ankles, as if they were friends in a drawing room sprawled out by the fire at the end of a long night of whoring and gaming. “No. I will make you bleed. I will rip you limb from limb. It is nothing less than you deserve.” Death and promise in every word. Lucas wondered why Cerdewellyn waited. Why he didn’t torture him or kill him?
“1540 was a very bad year,” Cer said in a bored tone.
Lucas lifted his head, peered out under a halo of dirty-blond hair. “Believe me when I say that 1540 was a very long time ago. Time has left you behind, old man.”
Cer nodded slowly, taking the comment at face value and ignoring the sarcasm. “It was, wasn’t it?” He shook his head slowly, his gaze distant as though he were reliving a bad dream. “I had a sense of time passing while we were here…a knowledge that things were changing and that we were growing ever weaker…” Dozens of heartbeats passed, and then he leaned forward and said, “1540 was a very long time ago, but for me, it is as close as yesterday.” It was as though he were confessing a dirty secret.
“You need to let Valerie go. I endorsed her, Cerdewellyn. A representative of my kind to yours.”
Cer’s black eyes glittered in the guttural light. “There are no representatives when there is no one to represent. There are no more rules, Lucas. And over the years, I have learned one lesson at last—honor has cost me everything. My people, my lands, my queen. Your empath made a deal for you.” His expression conveyed how stupid he thought Valerie had been. “I do not think she would make the same deal again. Do you want to know what it is?”
“She cannot bargain for me. She is mortal, foolish and inconsequential,” Lucas said, his tone conveying how unimportant Valerie was to him.
His smile was roguish. “You drank from her. I can see it, Lucaius. That it is so very hard for you to keep it together and not go wild. I think you feel for the girl. I hope so.”
Lucas shook his head, saying nothing.
“You should be happy that I will make her mine. Be happy, because I will still be treating her better than you ever could. And you will get to see it. That was her price. I will not kill you for a period of time. And I will listen to any offers you have,” he said snidely. “I promised her I would not kill you. But that doesn’t mean someone else cannot.” He walked to Lucas and inspected the cuffs binding Lucas’s wrists absently. He suspected it was more to taunt him, than actual concern he might escape.
“My queen was young. Close to your Valerie’s age. I kept her out of the politics and orgies, preserved her innocence. I sheltered her from everything, and it was a grave mistake. Annika had her killed rather than give up the throne.”
“I saw Annika as we came in. Time has not been kind to her.”
Cer’s eyebrows raised in mock inquiry, “You speak of the desiccation? Indeed. We do not all grow old as gracefully as you. Virginia was to be my queen, but Annika would not sacrifice. She was so weak. My gravest flaw is idealism...and assuming that other people share it.”
“I believe your gravest flaw is that you will not shut up,” Lucas said, and strained forward, pulling with all his strength.
“Virginia was young, Lucas. Just as your Valerie is young.” Cer stared into Lucas’ eyes, as though he was looking for the truth. As though he was genuinely interested in what Lucas might say in response. “Do you think if they were wiser, more aware of the world, that they would want nothing to do with us? Wisdom is the great equalizer. Your Valerie will be wise.” He took a step back from Lucas.
“What do you want, Cer? Do you want power? Do you want to come back to the world? I can give you that. The world has changed. It is a wondrous thing to behold. Things we could not have dreamed of. They have machines to take them into the heavens, and means of traversing the world in hours rather than months. The invention of the wheel has nothing on the advances of today.”
“I do not need you, Lucas. I have Valerie, and she will restore us all. I will kill you and yours. I will take your Valerie, and I will make her mine. No more mistakes, Lucas. No more idealism. It is life or death from here on out,” he said, and turned, walking back to the steps, ready to leave Lucas here in the dark for some unknown amount of time.
“Then why are you here?”
Cerdewellyn didn't stop walking, his voice carrying from the stairwell. “I have not had a good conversation in ages. But I will take what I can get.”
Chapter 6
VALERIE’S PILLOW was lumpy. And it prickled her cheek a little. She opened her eyes, lifted her head and looked around. Cerdewellyn’s castle. She knew because of the dust, the bed curtains that hung in shreds—and the man who sat in the corner of the room, one leg crossed over another, staring at her with dark eyes.
“Cerdewellyn,” she said, and really wished she had some water.
“I am glad you awaken. I was worried about leaving you alone, yet time is marching onward. How do you feel?” he asked.
“Like shit. Thanks for asking. Like some psycho shoved me over a cliff, and I’m lucky to be alive.”
He sighed as though bored. “You are fine. Better than fine. You are now a full empath.”
“Voila? That’s it? It’s that easy?” Her arm burned, and she rubbed it, trying to make the pain go away. Out of all the places on her body that were in pain, the arm was somehow worse. She looked down at it, seeing nothing but a faint scratch. The sign of a true wuss.
“No. It is not easy to turn you into an empath. All I have given you is costly. And that is the problem. I can feel a change in the realm. I must see what that is.”
He stood up, came towards her, lips pressed tightly together. “Stay here and get well. When I return we shall talk about the future.”
“Wait. What…happened? I’m not Fey, right? And where is everyone else?” Did I go to an island? How come I didn’t wash up on shore?
He shook his head. “You are not Fey. Not yet. As for your companions…” He sat on the edge of her bed, and she wanted to kick him off it. “Do not concern yourself with them. Lucas is alive as I promised you, and shall not harm you further. Stay. Rest. And then we will talk.” He stood and tugged on the cuffs of his ivory shirt.
“Who is Virginia?”
His gaze was searching, voice quiet. “Why would you ask of her?”
“Did you love her?” Cause she loved you.
Cer smiled, but it seemed sad. “Our fates were so entwined that love did not matter.” A pause. “But yes, I did love her.”
“And she’s…dead.” Because knowing that I had a conversation with a ghost would really top this off as the trip from hell.
Or to hell.
Both suck.
“Once upon a time, I could have brought her back. I would have called forth her remains; the earth would have given them to me, and I could renew her.”
“You can bring people back to life?” she asked, surprised, Maybe he was someone worth hanging around.
“There was nothing I could not do. But that was millennia ago,” he said, looking towards the door as though desperate to leave. Men seemed to give her that look a lot. Curse the lot of them.
“You men and your millennia,” she grumbled. He gave her an odd look, and she realized he didn’t get it. Didn’t think it was odd to say the word ‘millennia’ the same way she might say ‘decade.’
“Yes, I could have brought her back to me. But the way things are now, no. And perhaps I will never have that much power again.”
She touched the silk bedspread, resisting the urge to pull it up her body and hide away. “Does that make you…a god or something?”
She could practically see him thinking about what to t
ell her. “You will know soon enough. Stay here. Food and drink is there.” He pointed towards a table that held a silver platter with a few cheeses and a mother of pearl knife beside it. There was also bread, fruit, and a silver pitcher with a beaten silver goblet next to it. Great. This again. She bit her tongue to keep her mouth shut. No need to tell him he could take his food and go fuck himself.
His voice was firm with resolve. “You will eat and drink eventually. I have given you a great gift, transformed you to more than you ever could have been. I hope that one day you will be grateful.”
“I’m sure you do, and I’m sure I won’t. I want to leave,” she said, loud and proud.
Cer turned away from her and headed to the door. Almost as an afterthought, he said, “Do not go searching for Lucas. Do you understand? I know the bargain. He will live until you tell me otherwise or the requisite time has expired.”
“Where is he?” Val asked, feeling so conflicted about him that just saying his name made her nauseous.
“Is it not enough to know he is alive? Is that not more than he deserves?”
She’d been betrayed by her father. By Jack. By Cer. But Lucas…maybe his betrayal hurt the most. He had lied to her, taken her memory, wiped away her free will. “What have you done to him?” she asked, her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands.
Cer rubbed his brow tiredly. “The tenderness of empaths. He brought you here, betrayed you, and still you cannot let him go. I have him, yes. And I have hurt him. Nothing that will kill him. He has destroyed my people. Nothing that I can do to him will balance the scales. He is alive. Leave it at that.”
He opened the door, but Val couldn’t let it go. “Where is he? I want to know what you’ve done to him.” Because I am a huge fucking moron.
“He betrayed you,” Cer said tonelessly.
She laughed unhappily. “Everyone betrays me. I’m not going to go to him. I just want to know.”
Now he looked at her. “Lucas is no longer your concern. Your concern is me. My people. What I have given you. And maybe you should start being more concerned for yourself. I have expectations of you, Valerie. My world is falling apart. I made it worse by giving you such powers. Reconcile yourself to staying here with me and being my consort. Drink the water. Eat the food. For when I return your life will start anew.”
He shut the door behind him hard. Not slamming it. She suspected he wouldn’t slam a door no matter how riled he was. He prided himself upon his control.
The pitcher of water caught her eye, and she was so thirsty she thought she could smell it. This was the waiting contest. How much longer could she go without food or water? Valerie got out of the bed and went to the mirror. Her face was pale, and she had deep, black smudges under her eyes. So, that’s what haggard looks like.
Her skin felt raw under her shirt, and she lifted it up, exposing her stomach, then her bra, wanting to see what the damage was. Thin black lines were on her chest, radiating outwards from a central point. Her heart began to pound. She leaned forward, looking closely at the lines and patterns, noting that they looked like vines. Don’t freak out. Don’t scream. That’s what they do in the movies, and that helps no one.
“It will settle down. It does not hurt for long.”
Val jerked her gaze up, saw movement in the mirror behind her. Virginia was there, walking past the bed, trailing one finger along the coverlet. Valerie whirled around, but the room itself was empty.
“I am not really standing behind you; I am in the mirror. Sorry, did not mean to scare you.”
“Really?” Somehow Val doubted that.
Virginia smiled prettily. “Really.”
Val licked her lips, fingers still tracing the pattern on her chest. “What is this?” she whispered. It felt smooth, and if she couldn’t see it, she wouldn’t have known it was there. Somehow that made it worse, like her body wasn’t even fighting this terrible change. This was just happening to her, and she couldn’t do a damned thing to stop it.
“I am not your enemy, Valerie. We are both women whose lives have been determined for us by men. Whose lives have been taken by another. Not much separates us.” She gave Valerie a look of compassion. “Do you want the vines to disappear? So you do not have to see them?” she asked, her voice kind.
Before Valerie could speak, the vines vanished. “How did you do that?” Val demanded. But the image of Virginia was gone. She looked behind her and back to the mirror, searching in vain.
Val’s heart was pounding, and she decided to get the hell out of that room before Cer or Virginia came back. She had to find Jack…which meant finding Rachel, unfortunately, and she had to get out of here. What would she do or say? How could they leave?
One life-threatening problem at a time.
What if he was in the middle of boning Rachel? The thought of it made Val want to hit something. Not just because her feelings about Jack were so messed up, but because their lives were in danger. And if she was going to put hers at risk to find him, instead of leaving like a smart person would, then the least he could do would be to put his dick back in his pants and try to escape.
Maybe I should leave him here.
Although, the sad truth was that Rachel had a better chance of getting him out of here than she did anyway. She was an idiot leading the blind. She didn’t know anything about Fey, escaping, or witchcraft.
Val opened the door and peered down the empty hallway. This was a different floor than the one she’d been on with Lucas, Jack and Rachel. There was a runner on the ground, and the hallway she’d left Lucas in didn’t have a carpet. She remembered his shoulders and head hitting the floor. The tear sliding down his cheek. The sound of pure, desperate joy when he’d swallowed her blood. It made her shiver in desire, confused her, and made her want to cry; all at once.
Distracted by her thoughts, Val found herself on the ground floor in front of a stairway that continued down another level. It was dark, and she could feel a cold draft. Great. Cold, pitch black, freezing and kind of scary. Of course, that was the way to go.
Some people just had all the luck.
Chapter 7
VAL WALKED down the stairs, and all she could think about was how nervous she was. Her legs were shaky, and she held on to the wall, in case she fell down the stairs. Lucas was here. She knew it. She could feel him as if there were an invisible rope leading her to him. All she had to do was follow it. Isn’t that the premise for Hansel and Gretel? Right before they get eaten?
She stopped a few steps from the bottom. Once she turned that corner, she would see Lucas again, and she needed a game plan. She’d betrayed him. And Lucas wasn’t the sort of guy one could betray, and he’d let bygones be bygones.
Val thought of why he’d wanted her. How he always would have. Thought of what he’d taken from her—her free will and her memories, and she felt fury. She nursed it, kept it close, and prayed that when she saw him, the fire would still burn. There were several ways that seeing him again could go wrong. One—she could get really angry and yell at him. Two—she could cry. Three—maybe he’d be angry, or now that he was emotional, he’d cry…Nah.
Plus, she wanted him. Still! Even after all that he’d done, there was some stupid part of her that thought he was worth a damn.
Isn’t that just cause he’s gorgeous and the sex is insane? She took a shallow breath, imagining the flash of hunger in his eyes as he sank to his knees before her in the hallway. He’d given in, let down his defenses, and she didn’t even want to think about how good it had felt to be inside of his head. Then don’t. Just get it over with.
Their last moments together had been so personal and intimate…and yet, it had ended in betrayal. He’d betrayed her, and she’d left him there like a present for Cerdewellyn. It wasn’t the stuff Disney made movies of. Too much blood and violence for Cinderella.
And she had seen his secrets. Those were not even his bad secrets. No one was murdered or even tortured. What had made them awful, was that they were hi
s secrets about her.
Val went down the final steps quietly. Why? Not like I could take him by surprise. She made herself stand up straight—like people did before they went to the guillotine. The room looked like a dungeon. No, it was a dungeon, she corrected herself. She was in a genuine castle, so this was a real dungeon. And it felt like one too. Dark, cold, a weird smell, and a feeling that this room had seen bad, bad things.
There were a few torches lit and Val reached up for one, taking it down off the wall, so she could see into the gloom. The fire was so bright that it made everything more than a few feet away impossible to see.
As he came into view, the first thing she could see was his bare chest. Always a good look, it was true.
But not like this.
His skin was streaked with black. Soot or dirt were the good options; blood the bad. His hair was lank and matted with dried blood. Lucas was shackled to the wall, his wrists and ankles in manacles, so he couldn’t move, let alone escape. Cer was taking no chances it seemed.
“Wow. Look at you, rocking the chained look,” she said, voice not as confident as she wanted.
His gaze landed on her, and she felt the weight of it. Heat, anger and passion. Might be all in my head. He looked away, and she mentally slumped in relief. Somehow, it was a relief not to see his face.
“It is my confident attitude,” he said, in that emotionless tone he had. She wondered if it was an affectation because it wasn’t always there. “No matter the role or the attire given to us, we must embrace it with confidence.”
She nodded. A joke. He was joking with her. She wanted to hit him. “Don’t pretend we are friends, or can have a civilized conversation. Not after what you did to me.”
He raised an eyebrow, and the force of his stare came back to her. “What about lovers?”
It felt like a hit. I let you into my body; I cared for you, and you did this to me. It took everything she had to ignore him and not start screaming about what an ass-hat he was. “I need to get out of here,” she said.
Love Is Mortal Page 5