A Curious Twist of Lime

by Heather R. Blair

  “Of course I know,” he continues. It’s almost like he’s laughing at me. That awful laughter.

  I clench my half-frozen fingers. “But Georg . . .”

  “I am the one who told him what you are.”

  “But how did you know?”

  He shakes his head. “Why else do you think I stole you all those years ago? You think I wanted a brat to look after?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He laughs. “That’s rather the story of your life, isn’t it?”

  I grit my teeth. “I actually liked you, you know. As Konstantin. I didn’t know why you made me so nervous, but I liked you.”

  Something flickers in those shadowy eyes, but that smug smile doesn’t waver. “You’ve always been a simple thing, Alice. It’s pathetically easy to push your buttons. Throw you a bit of kindness, however grudgingly, and you’re blinded to what’s right in front of you.”

  It hurts, but he’s right. I never once suspected him. I wonder if Georg did. “What is right in front of me? Who are you really?” And the biggest question of all. “Why did you take me from them?”

  “So many questions,” he mocks me. The way he did as the Master. Year after year, until finally I stopped asking.

  People mock what makes them nervous. I narrow my eyes, wondering what could possibly make this man nervous about me. “You must have a reason for outing yourself now,” I continue stubbornly.

  “True enough.” He sighs, looking around the room. “I looked into your lineage after I took you. I was curious if it might be worthwhile to take your sister as well. Insurance, you know,” he says cryptically with a slight movement that must be him lifting his shoulders. His indifference makes me want to scream, but I hold my breath, willing him to go on. “It was a rare trait, though, showing up only once every few generations. Your father didn’t have it, nor his father before him. Your great-grandfather, however, was quite the asset to the original Council.” Tapping the hilt of his sword, he moves through the gloom. Something about this place makes him restless. I’ve never seen Konstantin so fidgety. “Before that it was a great-great-great-aunt who served the very first Firebird Prince. Your father, being a man of letters and science, suspected the line was due and that one of his offspring would have the power again.” He glances at me. “And he was right.”

  “If what you say is true, then what’s to stop me from using it to on you right now then?”

  “Simple—but clever. I always rather liked that about you.” I glare at him and he sighs again. “You really should be more appreciative. Unlike you, I don’t like very many people.”

  “Pardon me for my lack of enthusiasm.”

  He laughs. Unlike his Master laugh, this one seems almost genuine. “Oh, Alice. I’m so relieved you didn’t grow up completely simpering and stupid. You can’t attack me, at least not right now. The wall around this property—your entire home, in fact—is built with stones soaked in the Eitr.”

  “What is that?”

  “A potion that suppresses magical energy. Your father really was a clever man. Including it in the construction here was his way of ensuring you couldn’t touch your power until he’d taught you to deal with it. Thanks to me, he never got that chance.”

  “You bastard.”

  “Careful with the insults.” His voice is a cold thing in the dark. “You’ve no idea how to use your power properly yet. Practice makes perfect and the only practice you’ve really had is with the fake potions I gave you.”

  And Georg’s ‘experiments.’ I wonder how much he knows of those. “You were testing me then.”

  “Most certainly.”

  “Why? What do you want from me?” Frustration has me nearly screaming. I choke on the sound when he whirls and throws me back against the wall.

  “For you to fulfill the promise you already gave me,” he hisses, one hand around my throat. “The honor Georg refused you. I’ll make you my wife, my true queen, and together we’ll rule Hearthstone.”

  Suddenly, I get it. Konstantin would be first in line, but he’s a bastard. Not to mention, he can’t shift. Shadow elemental or not, it takes more than magic to make you one of us.

  Someone is trying to steal Georg’s throne. But it’s not Kolya.

  “Never.” The wall presses cold and hard against my shoulders, but it’s Konstantin’s nearness that has icy fear trailing down my spine.

  “You will give in. One way or the other.”

  “Don’t touch me!”

  Seemingly insulted, he drops his hold on my throat at once. “If I were inclined to rape, don’t you think I’d have taken you years ago?” He takes a step back, that smirk back on his lips. “Though you will have to come to my bed eventually. I’m afraid I must insist. Heirs, you know.”

  I stare at him, saying the first thing that comes to mind. “You’re serious? Georg will kill you.”

  “No, he won’t. See, that’s why I am here. Georg is headed to Niflheim in the morning to look for me. Or, rather, the Master.” He shrugs. “With you gone, the heir is going a bit stir crazy. He decided to take a small party over. See if he can find any clues to who abducted you.”

  Something inside me goes warm and fluttery despite the mad situation I’m trapped in. Georg is thinking of me. Even though I left him, he’s still trying to help me.

  “I’m going to drop you off about a hundred miles or so from Hearthstone, and then go oblige him.” He drops a hand to his sword and all the warmth inside me drains out. “You get to decide how that goes down. Do I take his head or simply imprison him?”

  Ignoring the twist of panic in my belly, I laugh in his face. “Georg won’t be easy to kill.”

  “No.” His careful acknowledgement bothers me worse than bravado would. He’s thought this through. And knowing Konstantin, he has a plan. “But do you want to take that chance? You’ve seen what I can do.” The screams of Kolya’s guards echo inside my head at his words. “And he trusts me. Unwillingly, perhaps, but just enough to make all the difference.” A small smile as he touches his sword again. “The second he turns his back on me . . .”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “You know better than that.”

  “What do you want?” The question that falls from my lips is dull.

  “For now? I want you to make your way back to Hearthstone and kill Kolya.”

  I sink back against the wall. “Kill Kolya? But why?”

  “Because he’s the only one besides Georg standing in my way. Without them, the bruins will kneel at my feet with barely a whimper. Come now, it shouldn’t be too hard. He did almost murder you.” That deep hollow in his jaw tics once. “I came very close to killing him myself for that. But this way is better.” His smile is slow and satisfied. “Make it big and make it messy. Once they see what you’re capable of, they’ll never ignore you again.”

  “What I’m capable of?” I gape at him. “You said so yourself, I’ve no real control of my power.”

  He spreads his hands, smilingly far too widely. “Indeed. But here’s the rub. When it comes to magic, necessity is the mother of invention. You will do this, because if you don’t, Georg is going to die.”

  I shake my head, tears pricking my eyes. “What’s to stop you from killing him anyway? I may be simple”—I spit the word at him—“but I’m not stupid.”

  To my surprise, his voice is gentle. “I’m in this for the long haul. I know very well if I murder the man you love, my leverage over you will cease. I’m not stupid. I need you, Alice, I always have. I have every intention of maintaining the status quo. You continue to do what I ask and share my bed for a few nights when the time comes, and your bear will be fine.” His eyes glitter through the gloom. “Visitation will be out, I’m afraid. But I’ll allow you his life. I’ll even tender messages back and forth.”

  Niflheim will be Georg’s dungeon, just as it was mine. “But I’ll never see him again, will I?”

  “Not in the flesh, no.” There isn’t even a hint of an apo
logy in that silky tone.

  “What makes you think anyone would be mad enough to agree to such terms?”

  “Because you’re in love, dear girl. And people in love are the easiest creatures in the world to control.” He smiles as he walks out the door. “As your bruin is about to learn firsthand.”

  23

  It feels like the damn castle is holding its breath, waiting for death.

  Samuel has fallen deep into a sleep from which the healers say he will not wake. The end is inevitable. I can’t do anything for my old friend, but I am determined to do something.

  I need to before I lose my fucking mind. Three days. Three days she’s been gone and every minute, every second is scored into my very bones. I don’t need anyone to tell me letting her go was a mistake, but it’s one I’m going to have to live with. Sending Aggie with her was the least I could do. I would have sent an army with her if I could have, but there is no way Alice would have accepted that. With the powers she has growing every day, she could slip through my fingers if I’m not careful. I may not be able to hold her literally, but I damn well plan to watch out for her.

  In more ways than one.

  Jaw tight, I look at the men milling around me. Mist drifts along the bridge as the way begins to open up. I’m the first one to put a boot to those rickety planks.

  We’re going to try and find the Master. A dozen men agreed to go with me to Niflheim. As the sun’s rays part the foggy morning with fingers tipped in blood, I look around, counting them silently as we cross.

  Konstantin is supposed to be here, too, but I don’t see him in the line. My eyes narrow as I watch the men file warily by. It’s weird. The fucker has been my shadow for so long, I was actually growing used to his enigmatic face. I am the last to cross into the eighth realm. After only a few steps into the unnaturally quiet world, a soft hiss has me lifting my head.

  It’s that damn cat, lying on a tree branch next to the roadway. I lift a hand, and his fat green tail twitches once. With a low order to the others, I stop beneath his perch, fingering the sword at my side. The king’s sword is used rarely, as bears have teeth and claws and little need of the steel forged by men. But as I suspect the Master of being a man, custom dictates I be prepared to fight him as such.

  I eye the cat. “Are you sentry or observer?”

  He ignores the question, asking one of his own. “Looking for the Master, are we?”

  “Yes.” I tug at my sleeve. “I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me where he is?”

  “Certainly.” The cat smiles. “Right behind you.”

  Caught in mid-crouch, Konstantin’s eyes widen as my fingers wrap around his throat before he can melt away. He gasps, clawing at my arm, ripping away the fabric to reveal the gleaming black gauntlet that sleeves my arm from elbow to fingertip.

  “You like it?” I whisper, tightening my grip. Smoky steel bites into his flesh. “I had Samuel’s armorer start on it the night we got back from Niflheim. It occurred to me, when you kept slipping through my fingers, that it might be handy to be able to catch a shadow.”

  “Vorpal sand,” he chokes.

  I nod. “There was enough in my fur when I shifted back for him to collect a few pounds.”

  “You don’t seem surprised?” His fingers scrabble over the armor, unable to get a hold.

  “I’m not. You always knew too much about Alice, about what she is.” I squeeze harder, and he turns purple. It makes sense. Viktor is powerful enough to hide one like Alice for a century, especially with Konstantin running interference. Though I wonder it was his uncle before him who put the plans into motion. The former king had never intended his heir to marry a witch. Perhaps Viktor has resisted his plans, but in the end, when he lost Ana, Alice became an option he couldn’t resist. After all, with her at his side, the Firebird King would be invincible. “You’re still working for that bastard.”

  “Viktor?” Konstantin’s hands drop, realizing he can’t get free. He’s barely able to breathe, but somehow the wretched man manages to croak out a few last words. “You think this was Viktor?”

  Then he starts to laugh, wheezing and choking with it. The men lift their heads uneasily as the forest around us stirs to life. Howls ring out along with a hundred cries too strange for my ears to recognize. A shouted warning has me turning.

  Too late.

  As shadows rush us from all side, a terrific blow to the side of my head knocks me sideways. I stumble before falling down the rise, my elbow banging into the ground with a painful thwack. The gauntlet skitters across the dirt. Coughing, one hand at his throat, the Master of Shadows puts out a booted foot and halts its movement.

  I twist my head. Asher stands at the edge of the path, half of a tree in one grizzled paw. “Traitor,” I snarl.

  He growls back, but the sound is lost in the fighting around us. One after one my men are overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Where did he get all these monsters? Of course, the Court of Fire has nearly limitless coffers.

  “Asher was never spying for Kolya, but for you.”

  The mercenary smiles, lifting my sword—Samuel’s sword—in one hand. He eyes it before looking down at me. “Correct. Turns out Asher prefers a bastard of the old guard over a pureblooded outsider. Stupid ass.”

  Then he draws his own blade. I tense, preparing to shift. Before I can blink, the blade is whistling over my head. Five feet of polished steel buries itself in Asher’s throat. Gurgling, the old bear goes to his knees, gagging and bleeding, eyes bulging. His claws swipe at the hilt, only causing more damage. The man lists sideways, then falls face-first into the dirt.

  “Enchanted blade,” Konstantin says conversationally as he walks across the forest floor. “Only I can remove it.” He kicks the bruin back onto his side, places one boot on Asher’s chest and withdraws the sword. In one swift, economical movement, he lifts it high before severing the turncoat’s head.

  It rolls down the incline to splash thickly in a pit. Vorpal sand clings to the gruesome trophy as Konstantin sighs. The men I brought with me are contained in a grove next to the trail, all many of monsters watching their every move. The cat, however, is no where in sight.

  “Always hated that old man. He fucked my mother, you know.” His lip curls. “After Nazary was done with her. Asher loved that son of a bitch so much he was honored to have his leftovers.” Shaking his head, he turns back to me.

  “Now, here’s the deal. As you see, I’ve ordered my army not to kill. You come quietly, a good little prisoner of war, and their lives will be spared. I’ll have them quartered here at the castle under heavy guard, but they’ll be safe. Fight me, and, well . . .” He waves a hand. With cackles and shrieks, my men are forced one by one to their knees.

  “Fine.” Gritting my teeth, I extend my arms. “But I will get free.”

  “Oh, I think not. I’ve arranged more secure quarters for you.”

  Lightning fast, as only a shadow elemental can be, he moves behind me and shoves. Caught off guard, I stumble down the hill.

  Right into the pit next to Asher’s slowly sinking head.

  I curse, lifting my hands free of the muck before they can stick, but it’s too late for the rest of me. I’m stuck.

  “That’s better.” Konstantin smiles.

  With a roar, I grab the severed head by the hair and pull until it rips from the sand. He only laughs when I try to brain him with it.

  He dodges easily, leaning down to clean his blade on a bit of moss before stabbing Samuel’s into the soft earth at the top of the rise.

  “I’ll be back for that,” he promises. “And you’ll hand it over on your knees, along with your would-be kingdom.”

  It’s my turn to laugh. “You’re delusional. They’ll never let you rule, no matter what Viktor promised you.”

  “With Alice at my side? And nine-tenths of the succession dead?” He smiles. “They won’t have a choice.”

  My heart stills in my chest. Konstantin lifts an eyebrow, sheathing his sword. “Finall
y getting it, are you?”

  I think I am. Fuck.

  “It was never Viktor or his uncle, was it?”

  He shrugs. “I told you I advised them it wasn’t wise to employ a conduit.”

  “Because you wanted to use her for yourself.”

  “Of course.” His lips curls. “And after years of laying the groundwork— just when she’d finally acquiesced—you showed up.” He spits in the sand. “You’re a pain in the ass, your Majesty.”

  “She never wed you now. You’ve no hold over her anymore.”

  “Now that is where you’re wrong.” He laughs. “There’s more than one way to trap a woman.” Taking a seat on a hillock, he watches me start to sink with narrowed eyes. “I admit it made me mad when you stole her. I almost killed you that morning. You turned your back on me to wake her, and I thought, I could do it right now. Go back and tell Samuel I found you dead. Then I could have been the one to play rescuer.” He smiles. “She’d never have known it was me who held her all those years. But it was too risky. I had sworn to bring you back—literally. Samuel may have been happy to take me into his service, but I don’t think he ever trusted me. He made me vow to bring you back safe and sound. It was a real catch-22, as the humans say. Then I noticed the way she looked at you. The way you looked at her.” His smirk has my teeth grinding together. “I don’t know how you didn’t know she was your mate right off. I sure as hell did.

  “Alice was always both the key and the weak spot to my whole plan,” Konstantin continues with a sigh. “I’d hoped she’d grow attached to me and I could control her that way, but alas, I’m not the sort young women fall for. Unlike some.” He slaps his thighs before getting to his feet. “It was hard to stand by and let her fall for you, but in the end, it’s worked out better than I could possibly have imagined. Because you’re right. I never really had any hold over Alice other than power and isolation. Her family is long dead, an oversight on my part. I should have kept them as leverage. Eventually I had to let her discover her power or she was worthless to me. But then how was I supposed to control her?” The bastard winks at me. “Thanks for being the solution to all my problems.”