The Fires of Tartarus

by Emma V. Leech

  He shrugged, looking a little self-conscious. “I have small magics,” he said, holding his finger and thumb out to illustrate a tiny thing. I ran to him and pulled him into a hug, and he laughed. “I promised,” he said again, and I nodded, letting him go and smiling to see how fiercely he was blushing. He frowned suddenly.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “You smell ... really bad.” He held his nose, and I laughed, the sound just a little hysterical.

  “Yes she does.” Lucas agreed with him. “Come on, Jéhenne.”

  “You go,” Kai said. He made a shooing motion at me. “Go, do like he tell you. I stay with Corvus.”

  I smiled at him. He said Corvous with a strange inflection, rolling the R and drawing out the S, from the strange language of the sea that he spoke with the Selkies I guessed. “He not be alone. Promise.”

  I felt my heart swell with affection for him at that, and I nodded. “OK, Kai, thank you. I'm very grateful for your help.”

  He beamed at me, and I watched as he settled himself cross legged in front of the cage. “See you later, Jéhenne, you go sleep now.”

  And with that I was dismissed.

  I walked away from Corvus, didn't look back. I couldn't cope with anymore. Not today. Like Lucas said, we had time now, and I had a promise from Sariel. I wasn't about to give up. I had brought Corvus this far, I wouldn't rest until the man I loved was back beside me. I'd die trying if I had to. I wouldn't live without him.

  I felt a sudden rush of sorrow and realised that I hadn't been shielding my thoughts. Lucas had just shared all of that with me and his sorrow only matched my own. I reached out my hand without looking, and he took it. The comfort of his touch was so overwhelming that tears prickled at my eyes, and I stopped in the middle of the passageway, consumed with the misery of everything I had lost and gratitude for his presence. I felt him lift me and carry me back to my room. He sat me on the bed and somewhere in the far reaches of my brain I registered the shower being turned on. He came back and picked me up once more, and I submitted as he stripped me down to my underwear, too exhausted and too far beyond pride to care anymore. He stopped there and turned his back on me.

  “In you get, Jéhenne,” he said.

  I did as he said, dropping my underwear to the floor and stepping into the shower, feeling nothing as the hot water sluiced over me but trying hard not to notice the colour of the water as it pooled in dark pink swirls around my feet before draining away. I just stood there shivering even under the heated shower until Lucas' voice penetrated the bleak darkness my thoughts had tumbled into. “Wash your hair.” Once again I did as I was told, grateful for the direction as I didn't seem to be able to manage rational thought anymore. I washed it several times, just to be sure and then myself over and over again, feeling like I'd never get the stench of dead things from my skin, until I finally stopped and just stood under the water, too tired to move another muscle.

  “Come on then, that water will be freezing if you don't get out soon.” Lucas scolded me, his voice mild. “You've washed enough for three people now.” He held out a big fluffy towel, keeping his eyes averted as I stepped out and wrapping it tight around me. He lifted me, and I let him carry me to the bed where he laid me down. He yanked the damp towel from beneath me and swept up the duvet up in one swift movement, and I allowed my eyes to close. I was vaguely aware him moving in the room, and then the dip of the bed, the heat of a warm chest against my back and the sweet, intoxicating smell of his blood. I hadn't realised how desperately hungry I was until that scent hit me, and I snatched at his wrist. I felt his warmth flood me, his arms tighten around me, and I pressed back against him, into the comfort he offered. The scent of him, the taste of him, it was all tied up with family, with home, with belonging ... with Corvus. I longed for Corvus with an ache that threatened to consume me. Longed for the man I had loved for so very long. Not the poor, desperate creature huddled behind the bars of the cage we had created to keep him from killing us.

  Once my hunger was sated, I let Lucas go, but he didn't move, and I didn't ask him to. He moved closer to me, his body spooning mine. “Sleep, Jéhenne, sleep now. I won't leave you.”

  I turned in his arms, feeling the tremor of anxiety as he waited for me to push him away and the surprise as I curled against him, laying my head on his chest and holding onto him tightly, sobbing for everything I had lost. He sighed and put his hand to my hair, stroking it gently. “I won't leave you,” he murmured as I cried myself to sleep. “I won't leave.”

  I woke hours later. I knew it was night time, I could feel the tug of the vampire's minds as their curiosity sparked rumours. Corvus was back, they whispered among themselves and pressed each other for information, which was futile. The only vampires with any knowledge I had forbidden to say anything. Not until I was ready. Not until I knew what to say. They might have a long wait.

  I knew Lucas was awake too. His mind turned as well, though I trod around his thoughts with care, afraid of what I might find if I looked too closely. I was still in his arms and a part of me was horrified. It felt like a betrayal, but it also felt like my only hold on sanity after having looked into my lover's eyes and seen nothing but the burning desire to rip me apart and feast on my blood. His hand was moving, tracing a path up and down my spine. It was soothing, and I closed my eyes, trying to return to the comfort of those first moments of waking in familiar arms. Even if they weren't the ones I really wanted. He carried on, his fingertips soft against my skin as they followed their path, but I became aware of the fact that he strayed a little lower with each movement, until his fingers began to trail further towards more intimate areas.

  “Don't push your luck,” I said and heard the low rumble of his laughter through his chest.

  “Believe me I've hardly dared breathe for the past half an hour,” he said, and although I could hear the amusement in his voice I knew he was telling the truth. “I've been waiting for you to slap my face and kick me out of bed.”

  I huffed against his chest in annoyance and his hand moved to rest lightly on my waist.

  “Well let's face it, you must be seriously depressed to take any comfort from me.” His tone was light but you didn't need to be a genius to hear the bitterness beneath it.

  “You saw him, Lucas,” I said, feeling aggrieved that he had to push it after all. “What do you want, to say I told you so? Believe me, if you don't Cain will.”

  He let out a breath, and I felt him shake his head. “Jéhenne, stop thinking that we're all against you. We're not. I'm not. You did the right thing bringing him back but ... But now the reality of that is what we have to deal with.”

  I pushed away from him and flung the covers back, only to realise I was stark naked so I yanked them back again. Lucas rolled his eyes at me and got out of bed himself to fetch me a robe. Unwillingly my eyes followed him as he crossed the room. Of course he'd taken the opportunity to shed every stitch he'd been wearing too. His tattoo - like Corvus' crow - showed his age and power and was a sleek leopard. It stretched out along his spine, every bit as smug and gorgeous as Lucas, and the big cat's tail flicked out, coiling over one pert buttock as I watched. I looked away before he could catch me staring. The bastard was cocky enough as it was. He walked, very deliberately, around to my side of the bed and handed me the robe.

  “Thank you,” I said, keeping eye contact. He snorted and walked away, sliding back into my bed.

  “So,” he said as I headed towards the bathroom. “What now?”

  “Now?” I repeated with a hard smile. “Now I call Sariel.”

  Chapter 14

  Sariel was ignoring me. I took a breath and tried to dispel the urgent need to swear a lot and curse him to the depths of the place I'd just returned from. Loudly. But it was unwise to piss off an angel. Even I knew that much. As powerful creatures went they were among the most touchy, and I knew Sariel let me push things further than most. For some reason he seemed to like me, so he said. Unable to do anything more, I
made my way back to what we'd started to call the cage room, for lack of a better term and then stood dithering outside the door.

  I had held the image of Corvus in my mind and my heart ever since the dreadful day he had been taken from me. Now I had him back but so very changed that I felt like I was losing him all over again. I prayed that Sariel would be able to help him but for now ... For now I had to accept the fact that his mind had been destroyed by Tartarus. I would never accept that was something I couldn't change.

  I took a breath and opened the door. It was morning now and Corvus was sleeping. As was Kai ... With his head in Rodney's lap. I hesitated in the doorway, unsure if I was interrupting something but Rodney looked up from his phone to smile at me.

  “Alright, luv?”

  I nodded and walked over to him. “What's going on?” I asked, gesturing to Kai.

  “He's been awake all night, poor sod's done in,” he said, his voice quiet. “Corvus woke a couple of hours after you left and every time Kai tried to leave he went mental. So he stayed, talking to him, singing too. Seemed to keep him calm.”

  I looked at him in surprise, turning towards the sleeping figure in the cage with pain filling my chest. “Why did Corvus react like that? Because of the magic Kai put in the cage do you think?”

  Rodney shrugged. “Dunno, luv. Maybe. P'raps it's stronger if he's here?” He tucked his phone into his shirt pocket before looking back at me. “Anyway, I came in a while back an’ he was spark out on the floor. Didn't look too comfy. I offered to get him a pillow but ...” He shrugged again, and I realised that Rodney was utterly clueless. I was going to have to have a word with him about Kai soon before Amelia bit his bloody head off. Literally.

  “Well he can go now,” I said, “Corvus is asleep, and I'm going to activate the cuffs. We need to get him cleaned up and fed.”

  Rodney looked at me, his eyes full of concern. “You goin' in the cage?” I could hear the anxiety in his voice and smiled at him.

  “Don't worry, he's too weak to wake during the day now and with the cuffs he's docile enough. I can control him if needs be.”

  He blew out a breath and I patted his arm.

  “Lucas is coming to help me.”

  “Durin' the day?” he replied, his surprise evident.

  I nodded. The oldest, most powerful vampires could stay awake during the day with no real trouble, they just really didn't like to. It was never a good idea to deny a vampire his beauty sleep but I needed Lucas' help. “I'm afraid all the shutters are down,” I said with a wry grin and Rodney chuckled. Not so long ago we'd both have happily fried Lucas to a crisp.

  Rodney nodded, but I could tell he wasn't reassured by the idea of just Lucas and me in the cage. To be honest I wasn't either, but I couldn't leave Corvus in the filthy state he was in and this was when he would be at his weakest. Also he needed blood. Even though he'd fed on Guillaume he'd been starved for so long it would take a while to make him strong again. I pushed away the image of Guillaume in the last moments of his life.

  Lucas came in followed by a couple of vampires I didn't recognise. I hadn't had the chance to officially meet most of the vampires I was now Master of, let alone learn their names. These appeared to be part of a group I had mentally labelled ‘lackeys’. They were old and so should be powerful, but it took more than age to make a powerful vampire and some just never made it. So they ended up serving those who might be younger, but were still more powerful. They were easy to control, though and if Lucas told them to forget what they'd seen, they would. They brought soap and hot water and clean clothes and then left again, stifling yawns and casting fearful looks at both me and Corvus.

  Lucas looked at Kai, asleep in Rodney's lap and glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. I bit my lip and woke Kai gently. He glanced up at me, blinking sleepily and quickly looked away again with a blush. He scurried after Rodney, who remained oblivious as the two of them left, heading for the kitchen and leaving me with Lucas and Corvus.

  “I think you might need to have a word there,” Lucas said with a chuckle.

  “Why me?” I demanded, already knowing the answer. Anyone else would have the sense not to stick their oar in. But if I didn't, I was afraid someone was going to get hurt. Lucas just shrugged, pretty much confirming my assumption.

  “You ready then?” he asked, gesturing at the sleeping form in the cage. I nodded and activated the cuffs. Corvus didn't stir.

  I went inside the cage, my heart beating too fast, and Lucas passed me in everything we would need.

  It was a strange thing to have him laid out in front of us in such a vulnerable fashion. It was too intimate with Lucas beside me and yet I was afraid to be alone with him, a fact that broke my heart. I couldn't be stupid about this though. I needed to be hard-headed and practical and to get through each problem as it arose. There was nothing else I could do.

  We stripped and shaved him, scrubbed away the filth and as I tended to each wound in turn it became harder and harder to keep my composure. He looked just the same now. A little thinner perhaps, but that would change once he'd fed again.

  “I can finish here if you want, Jéhenne,” Lucas said, his voice low. “He's clearly not going to wake.”

  I shook my head but reached out a hand to touch his arm, to show I appreciated the thought. I couldn't speak.

  Once Corvus was dressed in his own clothes again, Lucas stepped out of the cage and moved away to prepare the IV of blood. It was the only way we could feed him as he'd clearly kill anyone foolish enough to donate. Lucas turned his back, and I knew he was being discreet. I lay down beside Corvus and stroked his face. He looked peaceful like this and it was only too easy to believe that he would wake up, and I would see that quiet amusement in his blue eyes, that he would lean over and kiss me and hold me and everything would be as it should. He sighed in his sleep and moved closer to me, his arms pulling me to him and my composure shattered. I buried my face in his chest, breathing in the scent of him, holding him tight and crying as hard as I had the day he died.

  I wasn't fooling myself. I knew he had only pulled me to him for warmth. Vampires hated to be cold and Corvus had always loved to use me as his personal hot water bottle. It was nothing more than that, but his arms were around me and that was something I'd feared I would never know again. For now, that was something of a miracle.

  I stayed until the blood bag was empty and then forced myself to slip from the comfort of his embrace. I took pity on Lucas who was yawning his head off despite spending so much time in my bed and sent him to get some sleep. I made sure there were guards on the door, and then I went to find Cain.

  Unsurprisingly Cain wasn't resting in his room as he'd been instructed to. Big shocker. I eventually tracked him down in the office setting up a spell.

  “What on earth are you doing?” I scolded him. He looked like hell and as he walked around the desk I was shocked to see that he was moving slowly, like an old man. Of course he was as old as Corvus but still, that didn't count for anything where Cain was concerned.

  “I figured you'd like your missing puzzle piece back,” he said and gave me a smile that was barely the right side of a grimace.

  “Oh,” I had been trying hard to ignore the cold, gnawing sensation but now he'd drawn my attention to it, yes - yes I wanted it back right now.

  Happily there was no blood-letting this time and it was the work of moments to put my soul back together again. I closed my eyes and sighed as I felt myself complete again, or at least as close as I could get until Corvus was well. Cain nodded, apparently satisfied, and got to his feet. I felt another tremor of unease as I noticed him wince with pain. He shouldn't be taking this long to heal with all the magic Inés and Heloïse had thrown his way.

  “Are you OK?” I asked, not really expecting an answer, not an honest one at least.

  Predictably, “Fine,” was all I got by way of reply.

  I waited, wondering how to approach him. Cain was not the easiest person in the world to talk to. I
n fact he was undoubtedly the most difficult. He looked up at me, cool green eyes giving me a resigned let's get it over with expression.

  I stepped towards the desk where he was putting away his tools

  “You're sick,” I said, waiting for him to deny it or make some excuse. He just looked away and continued put stuff away. I decided to try another tack.

  “How do you stand it?” I asked. “You took one tiny piece of my soul and the chill of it was awful. You've been slicing away at yours since I died the first time around, Cain. Just how much do you have left?” I demanded, hearing the catch in my own voice. I couldn't bear the thought of losing anyone else. Especially not my pigheaded, bad-tempered, impossible brother. I pressed on. “The feeling is appalling, of being ... incomplete, empty and …” I searched for the words to describe just how dreadful it had felt. “And the knowledge that there is something ... evil lurking just out of sight, waiting for you.” I whispered the last part, almost reluctant to put in into words, as though that thing was literally waiting for him, watching for the moment he could no longer carry on.

  He shrugged. “I've had a long time to get used to it.” I watched his face but Cain never gave anything away and those eyes were as empty as they ever were.

  I reached out and covered his hand with my own. “Talk to me, Cain,” I pleaded, my voice soft. There was a pause and then to my surprise he cursed and snatched his hand away. His face was white with fury as he threw the small pottery dish he'd been holding against the wall where it shattered, sending shards flying. He then stalked from the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Shit. That could have gone better. But something had come out of it. I was now certain that there was something dreadfully wrong with my brother. And that he'd rather die before he let me help him.

  Chapter 15