by S. D. Grimm
He was going to black out.
Going to fade out.
Going to—she touched him again and everything stopped.
Shaking, chest heaving, and lying in his own sweat, he stared up at her, helpless.
Her dark eyes glimmered. “Every ounce of pain you’ve ever felt leaves residue in your body like a map through your own personal road of torture. It’s a veritable playfield for someone like me to find.”
“S-someone like you?”
“A Healer.”
“I–I thought you were supposed to help people.”
“Only if you don’t anger me, pet.” Her eyes changed to match the ferocity of the black lion’s. Wild and animalistic and crazy. “When you anger me, I can unleash pain in you. Every piece of agony you’ve ever felt all at once. And don’t worry. If you’re not afraid of the pain inside you, I can give you plenty more to suffer. I will have you begging for my love.”
“Never.” Did I really say that out loud?
Her hand zipped back, ready to strike his face, but she froze. Her hand remained in the air, waiting like a dog vying to be released for the hunt. He didn’t cringe. Didn’t flinch. Held his ground. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to cry.
“I will break you.” The way she said it didn’t reveal any anger or persuasion. She believed she’d break him. “Stand up.” She motioned for her men to lift him.
He cried out as the pain in his back ripped through him again. Belladonna stood in front of him, the two men still supporting his weight, and pressed her hand against his chest. Warmth flickered into him, not from within him. From her. His wound closed, healed. His legs worked. Then, unbearable heat trickled into him and the ghost of pain spread out from his back. It stopped before his knees buckled.
“It’s that easy, pet. I give pain and I take pain. Which you receive depends entirely on you. Now, we’re going to meet the king. You will comply, or I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
He had to get inside. Had to remain the dragon. Dragons were not pets. He faced the gate and clenched his jaw. He had to be a Granden: strong and stoic.
“Good.” Belladonna purred. Then she ran her hand along his neck. He flinched. She chuckled. “This is going to be fun.”
Hands bound anew and a black lion breathing on his neck, he followed her into the palace. Up the stairs and into the throne room. As soon as the doors opened, a stench Ryan hadn’t smelled the last time he’d been there assaulted him.
If he had to name the smell, it would be death. Like dirt. Not fresh dirt. This dirt was old, the kind that sat atop dead-and-buried horses. It matched the awful smell of opening the cellar door to find all of the potatoes had gone rotten—only worse.
Someone in this room smelled dead. He had a pretty good idea who it was, too. The bony, wasted-away form on the throne.
The throne was angled sideways, as if to keep the figure out of direct sunlight. A skeletal hand draped over the armrest. The fingers looked thin and frail. Perhaps it was a woman.
Belladonna approached two men. She called the one with a hooked nose and long fingers Oswell. The other man turned as Belladonna sauntered toward him. A face Ryan would never forget. King Franco. The last time they’d met—for lack of a better word—he’d unleashed a black lion on Ryan and tried to bed Jayden.
She’d left him alive.
It was one of those things he loved about her.
Despite everything that happened, everything Franco had tried to do to her in the palace, Jayden had had the chance to kill him and left him alive. For some reason, that strange act of pity gave Ryan hope. It meant this, whatever it was—fate, destiny path—hadn’t tainted her heart fully. One of them might make it out of this unscathed. Untainted by evil. She was still Jayden.
Sure, when backed into a corner, she’d killed to survive. But when given the choice to spare a life, she had. There was still reason to hope for good.
Now that he’d killed someone—killed more than one person—and the venom pulsed in his every heartbeat, he wondered what would become of him. He thought of Belladonna’s men—of Cain, now that she’d given him a name—falling off his sword. Lifeless. Scared. Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
“Blood looks good on you. Dried and black.”
Ryan shook and crushed his eyes closed.
The wasted form on the throne moved. Her eyes met his. Blue like a sky trying to break through a thin veil of clouds. Cold and depressing. Hopeless.
Her hair was limp and stringy so that her ears—rather large for her head—stuck through the dull strands. Her hair almost looked wet. Not the wet of a rainfall. No, this wet resembled someone who was either just born or had been dead a long time.
By the stench in the room, he guessed the latter.
Her eyebrow cocked. There was no way she’d heard his thoughts, but his heart skittered like a skipping stone that failed to make its last skip. Now a small smile tugged her lips.
Thin, colorless lips.
Belladonna and Franco were talking. About him. He’d heard his name, but his ears wouldn’t tune into the conversation within reach. This woman had captured his attention and held it in a vise grip.
“Pet!”
Belladonna’s words dragged him slowly out of the reach of that dead-but-alive woman’s eyes.
“Yes, it looks as if he’s very in-tune with you, Belladonna.” The way Franco said her name betrayed his lust for her.
She jerked Ryan’s ropes and he stumbled closer. Now his gaze caught something else. A key. That snapped the fog away from wrapping around his brain. Morgan had been right. There was a key, and Franco wore it around his neck.
Franco glared. “I fail to see how he will be of any use.”
“He’s one of Logan’s.”
A flicker of heat shot through Franco’s eyes, and he rubbed his hands together. “Will Logan come to rescue him?”
Hopefully. Ryan swallowed. He didn’t feel very like a dragon right now. Time to stop being caught off-guard.
“Of course he will.” Belladonna purred.
“He won’t,” Ryan said.
Now he had Franco’s attention. The man walked closer. “What makes you say that?”
“He doesn’t know I’m missing. And he won’t until he heads back to the place he left me.”
“Kill him.”
“Wait.” Ryan was surprised to hear Belladonna’s protest precede his own. “I made sure the boy’s sister got away. Two of my men followed her. She’ll run straight to Logan.”
“We still don’t need him alive.”
“He killed my men. I need replacements. Do I have your permission to”—a sly smile slid over her mouth—“train him?”
Franco’s eyes narrowed. “In order to receive gifts, you have to have done something worthwhile.”
“Oh, I have.” She smiled. “I have a link to Logan. Well, not him directly, but that handsome one who runs around with him, protecting the Deliverer.”
Ethan? Ryan lost his breath.
“Tell me about this link.” Franco drummed his fingers on his biceps. They weren’t very impressive. Ryan instinctively flexed his own.
“In order to set the link, I need a spell.” She touched the key on Franco’s neck, and he watched her with his lust-filled eyes.
It was a key to the spells chamber? Oh great. Like he was supposed to be able to get his hands on that? Well, if Belladonna could use it, perhaps he could get it from her. If he played the part of her pet. Oh, Morgan, what did you see? Too bad her vision hadn’t come with a step-by-boring-step solution.
Franco reluctantly lifted the key from his neck. “Make your spell and train your little soldier. We need those Deliverers.” His eyes met Ryan’s for an instant, then he turned back to Belladonna. “If he doesn’t break, you’ll kill him, so don’t get attached.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll break.” She pushed him toward the door, and Ryan was careful not to look at the key as she placed it over her head and let it r
est in the dip of her collarbone. Okay, so he did look, but then he trailed the length of her body so it seemed a little less like he was trying to steal a key and fulfill some not-that-heroic destiny.
Then he caught sight of the bony figure in the chair one last time.
She watched him with her pale eyes. A smile tugged her thin, cracked lips. “I’m the Mistress of Shadows, Ryan. It’s nice to finally meet you.” And her voice matched the purring one in his head.
Chapter 6
Levels of Hell
What? No. Jayden’s heart stilled and her hands shook as Quinn’s words echoed in her mind. Ethan could not be one of the Deliverers.
Ethan backed away from Quinn, shaking his head. “I’m not a Deliverer, Quinn. I’m one of the Protectors.”
Jayden opened her talent and searched his emotions desperately. His pounding heart and denial matched hers.
Quinn’s eyes rounded. “Oh, Ethan, I’ve known you were a Deliverer since we first met.”
The sound that came from Logan’s throat was a deep growl. He fisted his hands. “How could I have missed it? Anna said the Deliverers would be drawn to me.” He stared at Ethan. “There’s one way to know for sure.” He walked over to his things and pulled out the velvet rolled-up bag.
Jayden knew that bag. It housed the Deliverers’ weapons. Her chest tightened.
“No.” Ethan backed away from Logan, waving his hands. “You already gave me a sword from there. It didn’t mark me.”
“Why would being a Deliverer be so bad, Ethan?” Serena touched his shoulder.
He whirled to face her. “I’m supposed to protect you. It’s my purpose.”
His emotions clung to that sentiment. The panic that coursed through him echoed Jayden’s. Surpassed it. He needed to protect.
Logan offered Ethan the sword, tip down. Jayden stared at the blade as it cut the empty space between her and Ethan.
Stormcloud fluttered her wings. “Why are you so sad, Jayden?”
The blade betweem then blurred as she finally let her gaze wander to Ethan. “Because, Stormcloud, I love him.”
“Not all the Deliverers die.”
“If he’s a Deliverer, he’s my brother.”
Logan nudged the sword toward Ethan again.
The cross guard consisted of a pair of wings and the head of a gryphon. A topaz jewel made the gryphon’s eye. Her heart clutched. It was his weapon all right, just like the daggers with lightning bolts belonged to her. Her emotions unraveled.
Ethan’s hand stopped a hair away from touching the weapon. “If it doesn’t glow?”
“You’re not the Deliverer. We head to Nivek and search for the Gray family. They adopted the other Deliverer.” Logan glanced at Quinn. “Or she remembers something else.”
Ethan swallowed. Hesitated. Closed his fist around the grip.
The topaz jewel glowed, and Jayden’s hope died. Yellow light wrapped around Ethan’s wrist and claimed him. He dropped the sword and it bounced on the ground.
She couldn’t tear her eyes from the weapon even as the light in the gem winked out.
“Jayden,” Logan said. He wouldn’t look up at her. Wouldn’t look at either of them. “Meet your brother.”
Her heart was speared in two. She couldn’t even bring herself to glance at Ethan. How could she have let herself fall for him? She clutched her shirt at the neck in tight fists and willed her feelings to remain locked deep in her heart.
“He could be my brother.” Serena’s soft voice clung to hope. “Ethan, I’ve always felt that you’re my brother. I—”
“Serena, I—I can’t do this.” He left the weapon and walked away.
“I’m sorry, Ethan.” Quinn’s voice followed him.
Jayden stood and watched him leave. Her talent hit a wall; he’d closed off his emotions. But he hadn’t claimed the sword. He didn’t want this either.
Quinn’s large eyes filled with confusion. “Doesn’t he like Serena?”
Serena patted the Whisperer’s shoulder. “Of course he does, Quinn. He’s just feeling overwhelmed right now.”
“Then I don’t understand.” Quinn acted as though her whole world was imploding. “He should be happy to have you as his betrothed.”
“My—?” Serena stepped away from Quinn.
Jayden’s chest cracked. “What?” The breathless question came out unbidden. She didn’t really want to hear more.
“The Creator made a special bond between all the Deliverers. When you meet one another, you will feel the deep kinship of love even stronger than a three-oath bond. If Ethan is Jayden’s brother, Serena is his intended betrothed. Just like Serena’s brother is your intended betrothed, Jayden.”
Air rushed out of Jayden’s lungs. Serena? Perfect, beautiful Serena? The sky wanted to open and pour down rain. Jayden choked all the feelings inside, turned, and walked away.
“Jayden?” Serena’s voice followed.
Jayden walked faster. She wasn’t supposed to be angry. Shouldn’t feel heartbroken. In fact it was downright wrong to feel any of those things. What was she going to be jealous about? That Serena, who wasn’t Ethan’s sister, was his betrothed while she was stuck being his sister?
Someone stepped up next to her, matching her stride, but Jayden didn’t feel like accepting comfort right now. She wanted to strike something with lightning.
“Bad break, Softheart?”
Jayden’s blood heated and she rounded on Kara. “Don’t you dare.”
“It’s nice to see that fire in your eyes, but you don’t exactly scare me.”
The sky crackled. Thunder rolled and lightning lit up the sky in fierce zigzags, all congregating above Kara.
She looked up and then back at Jayden. “Impressive.”
“I killed Queen Idla and King Franco. You should be scared, Kara.”
“Really? Because I know for certain King Franco lives.”
The storm died away, leaving Jayden feeling barren and dry as a desert. Somehow, she knew this to be true. Another hit to her already shattered heart. “That’s impossible.”
Kara shrugged. “I would know. I’m bound to him by blood sacrifice. He lives and he’s with the Mistress. I’m sure of it. Before you start rousing the sky again, relax. His being alive is good for you for now. He wants what the Mistress does. He’ll fight her to get it. Enemy of my enemy and all.”
“Franco is not our friend.”
“No. We are his.”
“Are you insane?” Jayden paused and looked deep into Kara’s eyes. Like Thea, she had the uncanny ability to guard her emotions. “What do you know?”
Kara’s smile spread across her face. “You’re finally asking the right questions. I know Franco’s plan to take the power from the Mistress. I also know of Belladonna’s plans to take the power from her. So much power and so many people battling for it.”
“And you?”
A slice of hatred broke through Kara’s eyes and settled like a stab in the heart that Jayden’s talent felt. “I want King Franco to suffer for killing my sister.”
Jayden resisted the urge to turn off her talent. Feeling Kara’s anger soothed her more than anything else right now. “Enemy of my enemy.”
“You’re smarter than you look.” Her wicked smile returned.
“Do you know how to defeat Franco?”
“I have an idea.”
“Tell me.”
Kara leaned closer. “What’s in it for me? See, right now, if Franco dies, I die with him. Such is the unfortunate link to a blood sacrifice. You free me of the link, and I will help you kill him.”
“That’s why you didn’t go to Logan with this information. Does killing you kill Franco?”
Kara crossed her arms. “If it were that easy, I’d have slit my wrists.”
“No.” Jayden touched Kara’s arm, and they both froze. Kara looked into Jayden’s eyes, and something warmed Jayden’s heart for a beat.
Then it winked out, and Kara pushed Jayden away, laughing. “Softheart,
you’ve got to stop seeing the best in people. Sometimes it just doesn’t exist. I gave you a proposition. Now, do we have a blood oath or not?”
“The last time—”
“I kept my end of the bargain and then some. I made sure you all made it out safe. It didn’t look like things were going your way at the time, but the oath hand didn’t harm me because, like it or not, Thea and I had a better plan than you.”
Jayden glanced up the hill to where she’d been standing with the others. Serena was guiding Quinn away—toward the tents—and Logan looked to be deep in conversation with Gavin and Melanie. Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
Whether Jayden wanted to admit it or not, Kara spoke truth. She had upheld her end of the oath.
Jayden turned to the assassin. “What exactly am I promising?”
“Keep Logan from killing me or making me prisoner, and I will help you defeat Franco.” Kara took out her dagger and sliced her palm.
She handed the weapon to Jayden, who cut hers as well and shook Kara’s hand, wound against wound. Then Jayden let a devious smile light her own face. “Since when does an assassin need my help?”
Kara let out a bitter laugh. “You’re more powerful than you think, Softheart, but I’m the better chess player.”
She tugged Kara closer. “I think it’s time to share with Logan what you know about Franco’s plans and how to stop him.”
“Lead the way.” Kara stole her hand back.
Jayden marched across the hill toward Logan.
As they approached, Serena also towed Quinn to where Logan stood. “You have to tell him.”
“What’s going on?” Logan asked.
Jayden paused as she watched Ethan crest the hill on the other side. He only glanced at her, and Kara chuckled.
Jayden elbowed the assassin in the gut. That shut her up.
Serena motioned to Quinn. “She knows where all those animals from the chasm have gone.”
Logan stared at Quinn expectantly. They all did.
Quinn motioned out. “See the barren land ahead of us? See how the sky turns from red to darker red to near black?”
Logan nodded.
“In the book it’s called the borderlands. The Mistress created it when the Creator wanted to talk to her about destroying the abominations she’d made. If you go that way, you will enter the borderlands. Unspeakable evil dwells in there.” Her eyelids fluttered. “Here.” She pulled out the journal Logan had given her, and flipped out the leaf she used as a bookmark.
