by Susan Hayes
“So the apprentice—Raul, he wants you, and the master won’t agree. Thank the fates for that.” Vamir’s stomach twisted at the thought of what she’d endure at Raul’s hands. The man lived for cruelty and seemed to get immense pleasure at witnessing someone else’s pain.
“At this point in his training, Raul should no longer be interested in such pursuits. You’ve seen the master’s face, the way his body is wasting away. That’s the way of their kind. The more powerful they become, the greater the physical cost. Raul’s obsession with physical pleasures is unnatural for a Magi.”
“I saw. It’s not the first time I’ve seen one of his kind, either. We’ve killed a few of the Magi over the years. Though none of them were as far gone as your master.”
“Then you have not yet found any of the elder ones. Their bodies are little more than withered husks. My master will be like them in another century or so.”
“He won’t live that long. Once I have you free of this place, I’ll bring back my men and destroy him.” There was a slight stab of pain behind his eyes the second he spoke of killing the Magi, but it passed quickly. No doubt it would have been worse if he hadn’t already been dosed with pain-numbing drugs.
“I told you already. I can’t be freed. The torc and ring that summoned me took my master nearly ten years to craft.” She swept back the heavy fall of her hair and bared the collar so he could see the glyphs and etchings that covered every golden inch. “He poured more power into their creation than you can imagine. The spells that enslave me are nearly unbreakable.”
“Nothing is unbreakable,” Vamir argued.
“I’ve spent most of my life watching the master work his dark arts. I know more about the craft of the Magi then anyone not of their order. There are possibly a few powers in existence that could free me, but I don’t know of any, save the master himself.”
“We’ll find a way.” He paused as the rest of her words sunk in. “Being that close to his rituals must be painful for you. You’d feel the essence being torn apart.”
She shrugged one shoulder in casual dismissal. “Why do you think he orders me to stay? He’s as cruel as Raul, in his own way.”
Unable to resist the temptation any longer, Vamir brushed a tender kiss to her cheek. “I will find a way to free you. I give you my word. I’ll get you home someday.”
She turned her head, her lips grazing his for one sweet moment before she turned away again. “First, we need to get you home. After that, you can come back for me.”
He didn’t argue with her, but Vamir knew there was no way in the hells he would leave her behind. When they left, it would be together or not at all.
***
Chapter Five
Gwyn was stunned by his kiss and even more amazed by her response. She’d never willingly kissed a man before. She’d had only a few sexual experiences, all of them in the distant past.
Her reaction to Vamir, a stranger, didn’t make any sense, but his actions weren’t what she’d expected, either. He should be raging at her like the others did, blaming her for his captivity. She’d even confessed that his beatings had been because of her, and he barely reacted save to express his relief that she hadn’t been given to Raul.
His hand cupped her chin, turning her head so that she was once again looking into the gleaming depths of his eyes. “Why did you kiss me, little one?”
“I could ask you the same question,” she retorted.
He chuckled, and the sound made her stomach turn a slow flip as a delicious shiver ran down her spine. “That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t know why. I wanted to, so I did.” Her answer sounded lame, even to her own ears, and based on the deepening laughter from Vamir, he felt the same way.
He stroked the calloused pad of his thumb across her lower lip. “I’m not complaining that you kissed me, but my ego hoped there was a little more to it than simply a random impulse.”
“I don’t do anything on impulse, at least, not usually. There’s something about you that makes me reckless. Having you here is dangerous for me, Vamir. We need to get you home.”
Every time she mentioned or even thought about helping him escape, the spells in her collar inflicted her with pain, but it was bearable. She knew that once they started talking details, it would get worse. By some twist of fate, the master hadn’t given Vamir his usual speech about the rules, forbidding even the thought of escape or rebellion. She knew the master would assume she would convey those instructions, but she didn’t intend to. That small lapse was the key to setting the guardian free.
Vamir grinned with pleasure at her confession. “So, I inspire you to take chances, do I? You make me feel the same way, and you’ll find that I am not reckless by nature. In fact, my men often complain that I overthink everything. I have to, though. Growing up, I didn’t have anyone to watch my back, so I had to be more cautious than the others, and now I’m responsible for the lives of everyone who serves under me. It’s not in my nature to take risks, but you tempt me to think about things I shouldn’t be…”
She blushed, the heat of it warming his fingers where they still rested against her jaw. “You’re saying that I’m dangerous to you, too?”
“Very.”
He kissed her again, and this time, he didn’t hold himself to a gentle touch of the lips. He devoured her. Mouths mated, lips parted, breath mingling. Her arms went around his neck, and she moaned softly as she leaned closer, her lovely eyes gleaming like burnished silver as she held his gaze. At that moment, Vamir knew without a doubt that she was a potential soulmate.
Her life-force called to his, and he could already feel the two energies blending at the edges, bleeding into each other, seeking to become one. If that happened, they would become more than soulmates, they would be soulbound, tied together for this lifetime and all that followed. Being with her like this was the most perfect feeling in the world, a sense of symmetry and rightness that he never wanted to lose. He’d heard it described by those who had experienced the rush that came with finding the one person they were destined to spend forever with, but this was far more than he’d imagined.
He wanted to go on kissing her forever, but he knew they had to stop. He might have never expected to find a soulmate, but it was a good bet that Gwyneth didn’t know what was happening between them. He owed her an explanation. More than that, he owed her a choice.
“I take that back. You’re not dangerous, little one. You’re deadly,” he said when he finally managed to rein in his desire and end their kiss.
“What in the hells was that?” she demanded the moment his mouth left hers. “I wanted…I don’t even know what I wanted, exactly. I can barely think straight right now.” Gwyn wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew something out of the ordinary had happened. There was no other explanation for the powerful pull she’d felt, or the fact that she could see the essence shimmer and dance in the air around them.
“How much do you remember about soulmates or the traditional binding of souls?” he asked.
“Not much. I remember that souls recognize each other somehow and want to connect to the one that could complete them. If they both agree, then they can decide to be soulbound, linking their life-forces together for all their lives. Why do you ask?”
“Because it would seem the fates haven’t finished causing chaos. What we’re feeling is a response to the fact we’re potential soulmates. I felt the beginnings of the pull last night, but I didn’t recognize it until now. The longer we’re in close contact, the more intense it’ll get.”
Her heart skipped a beat and for a moment she was at a loss for words.
Soulmates? Is that even possible?
“But you’re Garda! We’re not even the same race,” she declared once her mouth started working again.
“And my people were created by your people, remember? We share a number of traits, including soulbinding. Normally, the men of my race are born with a twin, so each pair claims a single mate. To be h
onest, since I was born alone, I never expected to meet…well…you.”
“And I hardly dared to dream I would ever meet someone else from my homeworld or even my own plane, but here you are. Sit up, Vamir, and let me finish cleaning up your injuries. While I do that, you can explain to me what it means to be soulbound.”
He ran his knuckles down her cheek in a tender gesture that filled her stomach with butterflies, then settled himself so that his back was against the stone wall and his long legs were stretched out in front of him. He leaned his head against the wall, then cursed and narrowed his eyes at her. “I just obeyed your orders again, didn’t I?”
“I’m afraid so.”
He reached up and flicked a disdainful finger against the edge of his torc. “Have I mentioned how much I hate this fucking thing? I’m the damned commander of a legendary fighting force. I do not take orders from anyone!”
She almost managed to suppress a chuckle at his outrage. “I hate to point out the obvious, but right now, you take orders from whoever wears your ring.”
“The rings that control us. We’re going to need to get hold of those in order to escape, aren’t we?”
Gwyn rose from the bed, taking the wet blanket with her so she could hang it near the fire to dry. She then refilled the bowl with water and returned to his side to start washing his chest and arms. She made sure that her face was hidden by her hair before she spoke again, well aware that her next words were going to cause her pain.
“I don’t need your ring to free you, Vamir. I can break the spell on your collar on my own.” She gritted her teeth against the agony that exploded behind her eyes and forced herself to think of nothing at all until the pain receded again.
“What about your collar, little one?” He asked the one question she’d hoped he wouldn’t.
“If I could free myself, I would have. I can’t, I’m not strong enough for that. To break the spells on your collar will take all that I have. Before we try it, you and I will both have to be prepared and well rested.” She’d tried so many times to free herself, but the result was always the same. The pain caused her to black out before she could finish undoing the master’s spells.
“I think you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. You’ve survived here, and somehow you’ve managed to keep your sanity and your soul intact.”
“How can you know that? You don’t know me, Vamir. We’re strangers.”
“No, we’re not.” He reached up and captured her hand in his, holding it against his chest. “We’re soulmates, Gwyneth. My soul is already reaching out to yours, learning who you are, even though we haven’t bound ourselves together. I know you better than you think, and you could know me, too.”
Panic welled up inside her, and she tried to jerk her hand out of his. “No! If you knew the truth, you’d hate me.”
He tightened his grip on her hand, refusing to release it. “I don’t hate you, Gwyneth. I know you have darkness in you, but so do I. I’m a warrior. I’ve killed people and done things that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
“But you were doing your duty, weren’t you? That means you did those things to protect your home and people.”
The things she’d done weren’t honorable or for a higher purpose. She had done her master’s bidding for decades, ruined countless lives because she wasn’t strong enough to take her own life. Magi had many powers, but they couldn’t travel between the planes, and even teleporting themselves required an elaborate ceremony. Her abilities had made it possible for her master to scout new worlds and tailor his summoning spells to draw in exactly what his clients wanted. There was no honor in her life at all.
“And you had no other choice. Look at me, Gwyneth. You need to hear this, and then you need to believe it.”
She raised her head and found him staring at her, his expression deadly serious.
“You are not to blame for what he made you do. Those acts are his to answer for, not yours.”
“I could have refused,” she argued.
He shook his head from side to side and gave her a crooked smile. “And what would that have done? I know what happens when you try to resist that thrice-damned collar, and I know how much it fucking hurts. You warned me if I fought it too long I’d black out. How many times have you passed out trying to disobey your master’s orders?”
“It doesn’t matter how many times I tried, I always failed!” The guilt was like a thousand whips, flaying her soul. “I wasn’t strong enough to stop it, and I wasn’t brave enough to do the one thing I could have. I should have killed myself. He couldn’t use me if I were dead.”
“You will never say that again. Hells, woman, you’re not to even think it!” Vamir had seen anguish like this before, in the eyes of soldiers who had seen too much death and horror ever to forget. He wouldn’t lose her to that darkness. He couldn’t.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, guardian. Only the master can do that. I’m his to command until I’m dead, or he is.”
“Then help me kill him. Don’t you see? You’re the greatest weapon we could have. You know the Magi better than anyone. Hells, you can even undo their magic! Teach us what we need to know to put an end to them, and then we can all go home.”
For a moment, there was silence between them as she weighed his words. He was about to try again to convince when her expression turned solemn, and she nodded stiffly. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my girl.” The possessive term was out of his mouth before he even knew he was going to say it, but once said, it became the truth. She was his. She wasn’t a potential mate. Gwyneth was the only one he would ever want.
“I’m not a girl.”
“No, you’re a woman, beautiful and brave. And if I have my way, you’ll be my woman soon. All you have to do is give in to what’s already growing between us.” He kissed her again, gently this time.
“I don’t know you well enough to make that decision.”
“You don’t know me that well, yet. If you drop your guard, you could know me better than anyone else ever has.”
“Not until I’ve got you fixed up. Then you must rest. I’ve been ordered to see to it you heal quickly, and you can’t do that if you’re exhausted.”
“If I could change forms safely I’d be healed in minutes. But if I’m seen it would prompt questions neither one of us wants to answer.”
“I wish you could. I’d like to see you in your other form.”
“You will, soon. But for now, this gives me an excuse to have your hands on me, so I can’t say I’m sorry it will take me a day or so to heal up. Do you think I might need more ointment tomorrow?” he asked and winked at her.
“Are you always like this?” She set aside the water and cloth and began gently applying the ointment to the worst of his injuries.
“Only with you. When I get you home, you can ask anyone, and they’ll all tell you I’m usually a serious, grumpy bastard.”
She snorted in disbelief and dropped her head again so he couldn’t see her face, bracing herself for another wave of pain as she spoke of freeing him again. “I don’t believe you. And Vamir, you cannot take me with you. I have to stay here.”
“If you stay here, the sorcerer will punish you. I can’t leave you here knowing that.”
“I’ve been punished before. I’ll survive it. Especially if I know you are coming back to kill him and take me away from this cursed place.” Agony tore through her as her words triggered the collar again, and Vamir tensed beneath her hands.
“What’s wrong, little one? You’re hurting.”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, hoping he believed her.
“Liar.” He cupped her chin in one strong hand and made her lift her head so he could see her face. “You’ve gone pale.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Something else you should know about soulmates. When they’re in close contact, like we are right now, there’s enough of a connection that I can tell when you’re trying to hide
something from me. It took me a while to understand what I was sensing, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”
She frowned at him. “Well, hells. You might have mentioned that earlier.”
Her comment made him throw back his head and laugh until the sound bounced off the walls. “This is all new to me, too. Now, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m bound by more rules than you are. The master was distracted last night. Your arrival was not expected, and he dislikes surprises. Because of that, he didn’t give you all the commands he normally does. He assumed I would have done it for him, but I didn’t.”
Vamir already knew he wasn’t going to like the answer to his next question, but he needed to hear it. “What rules?”
She answered him in that same matter-of-fact tone she’d used before, as if she were talking about the weather and not her life. “I’m not permitted to consider escaping or helping any of the other slaves to escape. I am not to think or act out against the master, and I am forbidden from ever using my powers to counter his. In fact, the only place I am permitted to use my powers freely is this room, or when I have his express permission.”
“You’re telling me that every time you discussed freeing me, or escaping, your slave collar punished you?”
“Discomfort is a small price to pay for what we’re planning.”
Vamir wanted to kill the bastard who had done this to her. Now he was paying attention, he had started catching on to the vague way she worded certain things. She was dancing around the edges of the collar’s control. It was subtle, which is why he hadn’t noticed before. Like anyone forced to live in the shadow of violence, Gwyneth had learned how to walk the knife’s edge between safety and pain.
“From now on, let me do the talking as much as possible. You stick to pain-free words like yes and no. Okay?”
Her quicksilver eyes darkened, and she shook her head. “You’ve already…”