Corruption of the Rose

by S. J. Sanders

  “Are you afraid of something? Of the dark maybe?” he asked, laughter rolling softly through his voice as he reached over and pulled the gag from her mouth.

  “Not exactly… no,” she muttered. Her mouth was dry as the desert and her jaw ached but that did not prevent her from glaring up at him. “But tonight, I am worried about just what that darkness will bring.”

  One of his eyebrows lifted, and he grabbed the other chair at the table, dragging it nearer to her so he could sit directly in front of her at eye level. His lips turned down in a mocking frown that was shy of a pout.

  “Will the terrible lupi boil out of the forests around their mountain and come save you?” he asked. His lips lifted into a sneer, and he let out a bark of laughter. “Do not waste your hopes and attempt to intimidate me, woman. While the Night of Veils is hardly safe this close to the mountain, the vulpi assured me…”

  A loud roar broke out that terminated with an eerie howl. It filled the streets just as the moon’s glow rose over the mountains in the distance, and for a moment, the orb seemed to rest at the pinnacle of the Urgal Mountains like a crown. Her eyes shot back to Roninbar, taking in his rapidly paling features.

  “What is wrong?” she hissed. “Did the vulpi assure you that the lupi would never abandon their mountain? You idiot! Saris will come after me whether I want him to or not. In the grip of the moon madness and the veils parting, he will destroy everything to reach me.” Taking in his sickened appearance, she laughed unkindly. “Feeling a little less safe, are you?”

  He shook his head nervously and bolted up from his chair. “No. It must be a mistake… someone’s loose dog perhaps.”

  Rose stared at him, aghast. “That sounded like a dog to you?”

  “The vulpi wouldn’t have lied to me. They even let me keep the amulet that they said would make my presence invisible and scentless to the lupi since it wouldn’t work for their kind.”

  Rose raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. “An amulet as powerful as that? If you say so.”

  He strode forward with a snort, and she concealed her smile when he leaned in and slapped her hard across the face. Her head snapped to the side, pain blooming on the side of her face once more, tempered only by the meaty fist that wrapped around her hair, yanking her head back to look into the reddening face of her captor. From under his shirt, he yanked out a chain that was set with a shining opal. She stared at it, entranced, and felt magic moving through it. An opal magically absorbed and reflected light. The enchantment was attached to it utilized the gem’s nature to reflect attention away from its bearer.

  It was powerful all right, but it would do nothing at all to obscure her presence if he was not touching her the entire time—one little detail they obviously had not been clear about. He must have put her down enough times to rest during the escape for the lupi to catch her scent, and he hadn’t touched her at all the entire time they were in the hotel except to strike her. She grinned up at him, as she dug deeper into the currents of magic woven into the amulet and touched the pulse of power at its core.

  Of course! The amulet itself was a cyclic vortex, but with the enchantment it turned into a magically created void captured within the stone, one that was constantly drawing everything surrounding it into itself and expelling its magic outward. No wonder it worked so well with whatever it immediately touched.

  Perfect.

  Rose grinned up at him. Her bonds, now brittle from having every bit of moisture drained from them over the last few hours, snapped as the last remnants of her magic came flooding back under her control. Roninbar only had a moment to release a loud cry of surprise before her hands came up to curl into his hair at either side of his head. His hand immediately dropped as he attempted to back away, but Rose wouldn’t let him get go.

  Keeping her grip stubbornly on him, she stood, her power freezing his blood as she yanked his head down and headbutted him in the nose as hard as she could. Blood spurted and he screamed, his hand coming up to his nose as she released him, her magic circulating around her in brilliant aqua waves, fueled with the exceptional power that came from the Night of Veils. She allowed him to scurry away from her. Magically holding him for longer than a moment would waste her resources… Besides, she had a better plan for him.

  Laughing softly, she followed him across the room. Casually, she lifted her hand and smiled as curved black claws slipped out from her nail beds. Rose danced her fingers in the air, each claw catching the moonlight with a silvery sheen. Roninbar backed up against the wall, his eyes flying around the room with desperation.

  “What’s the matter, Roninbar? You are definitely looking worried now,” she purred.

  The sounds of the lupi grew louder as they neared, rising with the chorus of shouts and screams of terror. Panic seemed to consume the town.

  His eyes slid back to her, his brows slamming down angrily. With a bellow, he rushed her, his eyes set frantically on the door. She laughed, her claws striking out and catching him across the gut. She felt hot blood rush over her fingers and hands as her new claws tore deep, ragged wounds in him. She did nothing more, her smile fixed gleefully in place as he stumbled toward the door. His steps grew slower, and she heard the door open slightly, but he made it no farther. The wet thud of his body hitting the floor met her ears, and only then did she turn and approach him.

  He watched her with wide, terrified eyes, his hand clutching his gut. “You are… a demon… a monster,” he croaked.

  “My dear, of course I am,” she replied as she stopped at his side. Her foot swiped out, kicking away the blade he drew from his belt. It clattered as it went flying over the floor. She cocked her head at him, curious. “What else did you think you would be bringing down from the mountain? Only monsters can survive there, as you should know. You are one as well, though a monster in a different guise. A monster made of your own zealous desires, but a monster nonetheless. Except this time, you found more than just a monster.”

  Bending her knees, Rose crouched over him, her fingers trailing down his neck until one claw hooked the chain, and she drew the amulet out from beneath his shirt.

  “Amulets are funny things. All kinds of magic can be used to make one that serves a specific purpose, but sometimes that magic operates in a manner that allows it to work in more ways than its ignorant bearer may know.” Her feral smile widened, and she leaned forward until her lips brushed his ear. “Oh, Roninbar, you are in trouble. You tried to kill me,” she hissed. “Even in taking me to your queen, you know that eventually she would have destroyed me after she got what she wanted from me. I could forgive that… Do you hear the frightened screams of the innocent?”

  He gurgled incomprehensibly and with a snarl she jerked his head around so that he faced the window.

  “Do you hear them?” she snapped.

  “Yes!” he groaned out in pain.

  “That I cannot forgive. The devastation that will come as the spirits of death and destruction run rampant over this world I cannot forgive. But neither will you escape it. I will seal you away where you will be trapped in this world, and you will witness all from within your prison. There you will dwell for eternity with no other contact with the world outside of whomever chooses to carry your weight,” she spat.

  “Not… not possible,” he whimpered.

  “Your blood says otherwise,” she sang softly as her claws of her opposite hand traced through the blood pooling around him. “Your lifeforce flows away with it. I can feel it. It sings to me, and I can trace it through to the center of your being… Ah, there you are.”

  Wrapping her bloodied hand around the amulet, she released the chain from her claw, moving them through the air, manipulating her magic as she closed around the bright spark that was his soul. Her eyes met his. “You never should have taken me from the mountain.”

  His breath gurgled from him, his final gasps falling from his lips as she yanked the cord of power she had woven around his soul, tearing it free from his body. He arched, mout
h widening in horror and agony as she forced it out of him, tearing it out from his chest, leaving a gaping psychic hole in the center of him. Without hesitation she slammed her palm over the amulet, drawing his light against it. At the combination of his blood and the touch of his soul, the vortex with the amulet roared as it spun tighter, drawing him down. Roninbar’s psychic scream echoed through the room as it tugged him deep within with a flare of crimson light, muted through the smear of blood.

  Lifting it up by the chain, Rose smiled as she peered into the heart of the exceptionally cut stone. There the light of his soul winked, caught perpetually within the magic inside the stone. Grinning in triumph, Rose snapped the chain from the corpse and stuck the amulet into the deep pocket of her dark robe. Standing once more, she spared him only one last dismissive glance before stepping over his body and out the door.

  Something crashed outside, and Rose’s lips thinned. The cries were getting more desperate as a loud snarl joined in, disturbingly close.

  She was going to have to put a stop to that.

  Chapter 30

  He was getting closer. He could taste her in the air now. He had her scent with his every breath. His mate. His female.

  Anger rippled through him. Why wasn’t she answering his calls?

  His thoughts were jumbled, caught up in the unleashed powers ruling over him. There was something important that he should know—that he should be doing—but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He ignored the call of the mountain, his entire being demanding that he secure his mate to him.

  The lupi snarled, snapping as they followed close behind. They moved among the shadows with ease despite the discomfort of the strange place they were in. This wasn’t their hunting grounds. The place was strange and stank of humans, and he was leery of the serpentine beings accompanying them. But naga were formidable creatures and they did not have the stench of the underworld, so they were no threat. He accepted their presence reluctantly as long as they did not interfere.

  The dirt path from the mountains changed to cobbled stone beneath his feet, and tall buildings surrounded him. Lanterns flared brightly, triggering some distant memory he couldn’t quite grasp… a welcome.

  Not for him.

  He shook his head and growled as he loped through the streets, ignoring the fearful humans safely contained behind their windows and doors. Annoying screams filled the air all around them, driving his agitation. Why was his mate hiding there? It was an unnatural place for one such as she to linger. The fear-smells threatened to overwhelm her beautiful rich perfume, and he bellowed, head whipping from side to side, drawing forth a fresh aroma of terror and cries from the humans.

  Ahead of him, he could hear the sounds of booted feet hitting the cobblestone, and he dropped his head, stilling as he focused on the view before him. Human men filled the streets, each of them reeking of fright as they brandished weapons.

  They dared?

  He roared and rushed forward, his clawed hands outstretched around him, ready to tear his enemies down as he sprung forward. It was quicker to run on all four limbs, but this had its advantage. He would vanquish every male—all who stood between him and his mate. He darted through the streets for what felt like hours, chasing away rivals, delighting the screams of the soft-bodied humans as they ran from him. He would bring the entire town down for his mate!

  A soft sound made his ear turn, and he skidded to a stop as a slim figure in a dark hooded cloak and robe stepped out from the side of the street, exiting a tall building. The scent rolled over him, her sweet perfume sweeping through him.

  His lips curled back from his teeth, and he drew deep mouthfuls of air, tasting her. She was too close to those males, and his fur bristled as he glared at them, but his gaze didn’t linger on them long. It kept returning to her, and he turned toward her, a low rumble echoing from his chest as he called for her to come to him.

  Blue eyes watched him, and her hand lifted to him, her long claws retracting as she gestured to him, bidding him to come to her. He frowned. She should come to him, not the other way around. She was his! The pleased rumble ramped up into an aggressive growl, and he stretched out a hand in a clear demand, swiping through the air in a demanding gesture for her to approach.

  “Come, female,” he snapped.

  Her hand immediately dropped, and a red flush of displeasure colored her face as she stepped back in refusal. His fur puffed up angrily in response. He snapped his fangs and strode toward her.

  If she wouldn’t come on her own power, he would make certain that she would be taken to safety. She was his to protect.

  A human darted forward with a torch, yelling violently as he brandished it at a low angle. Saris spun around, identifying the threat to his mate, and roared with an angry lunge. A rush of magic surrounded him as a female’s voice rippled over him on a wave, like the blending melody of every note of the harmonic spheres of the cosmos coming together. The human flew back with the power of it, his body colliding hard with the men who stood behind him. Even Saris nearly felt flattened by its strength.

  “Stop!” his mate commanded, and to his surprise, his muscles seized and he stopped in place.

  Turning his head, his eyes narrowed on her, insult filling him at her attempt to control him rising to the fore.

  Chapter 31

  Rose stared at the lupo standing in front of her. The other lupi shifted restlessly, their eyes darting back and forth between her and their leader with uncertainty. There was nothing of the keen intelligence and personality that she was accustomed to since living among them. Only predators remained. Now she understood exactly what Saris had been afraid of; she could see it in his possessive gaze as he glowered down at her, resisting her command. He was Alpha and demanded control.

  That was a shame, because she wasn’t going to give it to him. This was her one chance. She had to Master the lupi and bond them to her in alliance. She stared at him, regret filling her at what she had to do.

  “Saris,” she whispered.

  His ears tilted toward her, and his fierce expression eased slightly at the sound of his name falling from her lips. He shifted on his feet, his tail was still held out from his body, and his ears remained pricked to her. His terrible grimace was the only thing that eased, and not by much. His teeth were still stark in the lantern light spilling out into the street.

  Her eyes snapped to the lupi, who growled and prowled forward. Unlike Saris, there was nothing at all softening in them. Their expressions were pure feral fury. They had been agitated enough by the threatening presence of the villagers, but the weight of her magic commanding them had incited hostility she had never seen among them. Even the yellow of their eyes had bled into red with their bloodlust.

  Rose fought the shiver as she realized just how the mages had died. It wasn’t some accident by their magic or even the process of alchemy on their spiritual bodies… That was common enough among mages, even if the methods of the mountain were more unorthodox. It was this critical part that each of them had failed. No mage could hope to bind the mountain to them without gaining the allegiance of the lupi.

  Her eyes drifted from them to meet Saris’s red-tinged stare, and a heavy weight settled in her chest. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t command him as if he were some pet. He was her lover, her mate, the other half of her. She didn’t want to master him—any of them. They were her family. Even with their moon madness and the power of the hallowed night running through them, they were still hers. She would need to get through all of that and try to convince them.

  Rose focused on the emotional connection she had with each of them, most especially Saris. Rather than commanding, she sent it out as a warm tide to wash over them and surround them with peace and love. Seven pairs of eyes blinked at her. Their expressions and body language still remained fierce, but their growls died as they watched her. Saris stepped nearer, emboldened by the comfort of her magic running over him. She didn’t move as he drew closer. The rest of the lupi were stayi
ng back, leaving just him and her. He gave a couple of wary glances toward them as if he wasn’t sure if he would have to attack his brothers for her, but none of them even so much as shuffled toward her. Saris suddenly loped toward her in a rush. One of the villagers shouted in alarm, making Saris turn his head lightning fast to snap his teeth in warning only seconds before he was on her.

  His arms swept around her, pulling her from her feet as he drew her up high against his chest. His nose immediately went to her neck, scenting with small grumbling growls. Rose brushed her hands through his fur, entangling him further in her magic. His teeth suddenly clamped hard on her shoulder, not hard enough to puncture through her cloak and robe into her flesh, but hard enough to be a clear warning.

  Rose glanced at the humans still gathered. “Go home,” she commanded gently. “There will be no death here among you on this night. Go home with peace.”

  An older guard stepped forward, and her heart squeezed with recognition at the teary way he looked up at her.

  “Mistress Almander, we were so worried when you disappeared.” He glanced hesitantly at Saris and the lupi. “Are you sure you will be safe with them?”

  “Yes. They are my family. Please let us have some privacy and then we will go.”

  The guard’s look turned speculative, and he slowly removed his hat, his graying head bowing. “Been told in these parts that this day might come when the mountain would claim one of our own. I’m sad that it’s you, but gods be with you, Mistress. And we thank you.” Turning away, he lifted his arms, waving the people back. “Come on, back to your homes, all of you. And if I catch any one of you trying to make trouble tonight, you’ll be spending it in lockup,” he growled. “Get home and prepare the midnight feast for your ancestors. There is still time yet.”