Winter Kiss

by Deborah Cooke

  Magnus hadn’t been impressed by the extent of Jorge’s injuries. After all, Jorge had faced only Delaney, and Delaney had already been wounded. Either his new protégé was a less effective fighter than he’d imagined or Delaney had been more motivated.

  The second possibility was an interesting one.

  It was one worth planning for.

  Magnus also hadn’t been amused by the avarice and desperation in Jorge’s eyes when he’d demanded more of the Elixir than Magnus had been inclined to grant. He wouldn’t be making assumptions about Jorge, no matter how unctuous the younger Slayer became.

  Perhaps he would be more cautious as Jorge became more charming.

  Magnus lifted a hand to dismiss Jorge’s idea. “Manipulation requires a subtle hand. There can be no hint that the idea is not his very own.”

  Jorge looked as if he would have liked to have argued the point, but decided against it. Magnus particularly enjoyed when Jorge restrained his instincts in an effort to gain favor. His newest acolyte was far more transparent than he guessed, which suited Magnus well.

  “Let us entertain our guest,” he said, summoning his most gracious smile as he moved to the door between the two rooms. “It would be unforgivable to me to allow her to become bored.”

  Jorge chuckled and Ginger spun at the sound of his amusement as the door opened. She folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes as she watched the pair enter the room. Her expression was filled with resentment and frustration, a sign that she was even more transparent than Jorge.

  Good. Her gaze flicked over Jorge and her eyes narrowed. So, he’d revealed himself to her in human form.

  Foolish.

  Magnus smiled. “I do apologize for the delay in my welcoming you to my home,” he said, oozing hospitality. “And Jorge has not even taken your coat!”

  “That’s fine.” Her tone was hostile. “I’ll keep it on, thanks.”

  “No, no, I must insist. There’s a burn on the sleeve as well as one on the back. I’ll have it mended while we visit.” Magnus flicked a hand at Jorge, letting his index finger shift to a dragon talon. The red tinge on the nail was slightly more vehement than it had been the last time he had treated himself to a restorative sip.

  But it was no matter. All would be resolved shortly. Meanwhile Ginger stared at his hand in horror. Her shock was sufficient that Jorge was able to lift the coat from her shoulders before she could stop him.

  “Isn’t that better?” Magnus asked as Jorge limped from the room with the coat. He gestured to a pair of divans near the glass wall facing the inner courtyard. The snow fell in a silent symphony outside the windows. “Come, have a seat.”

  “I don’t intend to stay.”

  Magnus ignored that foolish comment. “Shall I order you some refreshment?” He lifted his half-empty glass, fully expecting her to recognize the cloudy red liquid within it. Her eyes widened slightly. “A little Elixir for whatever ails you, perhaps?”

  Ginger shuddered and Magnus allowed himself a chuckle. “No, thank you.” She looked at him, eyed his talon and the glass, then took a breath. “Weren’t you hurt this morning? Badly?”

  “Yes.” Magnus smiled and lowered himself to one divan. He didn’t try to suppress his grimace at the twinge of pain across his gut. He sipped, watching her over the rim of the glass.

  She considered him for a minute, then marched around the other divan and sat down facing him. “What is the Elixir, anyway?”

  She had spunk, Magnus would give her that.

  “Do you know the full name of it?”

  “The Dragon’s Blood Elixir. And there’s something in that vial.”

  “Something?” Magnus invited. “Or someone?”

  “I don’t understand.” Her eyes hinted that she did.

  Her curiosity interested Magnus and tempted him to tell her more than was absolutely necessary. It didn’t matter, anyway: she’d be dead within hours and he would find it entertaining to share his brilliance with an avid audience. “Let me tell you a story, about a dragon who came to be known as Cinnabar.”

  “That wasn’t his name?”

  “Not initially. He was a slave, a foreigner.” Magnus couldn’t completely hide his sneer. “Ignorant of his body’s powers in a most regrettable way.”

  “Where was he from?”

  “I don’t know! Somewhere in the desert, where he was raised by savages.”

  She said nothing to that.

  Magnus warmed to his story. “When first he came to Rome, he was known as Sahir. He lived on the street, by his wits, until someone showed him a great kindness.” Magnus’s voice hardened in remembered resentment. “He didn’t understand how gracious it was of that honestior to take him in, much less to give him a decent Roman name.”

  “Which was?”

  “Sylvanus Secundus.” Magnus still loved the sound of the name, still loved that it was evocative of a history that his slave hadn’t possessed. There had never been a Sylvanus the first. There certainly had never been a legitimate Roman father of that slave.

  “What happened to the slave?”

  “A regrettable situation. He was convicted of the sacrilege of a corpse.” Magnus left out the pertinent details of how his slave had been commanded to do precisely as he had done, and how his capture had been prearranged. He fixed Ginger with a look that he knew was filled with innocence. “Caught red-handed, as it were. It was disappointing and shocking, especially for his patron.”

  “Uh-huh,” Ginger said, so obviously biting her tongue that Magnus found himself liking her more.

  “We Romans had no sense of humor about such sacrilege, and he was immediately condemned to labor in the mines. As his was not a first offense, he was sent to Sisapo.”

  She watched him carefully. “Should I know where or what that is?”

  “It’s called Almadén now, in Spain.” He eyed her but she shook her head. “It remains one of the largest deposits of cinnabar in the world, and is still a working mine.”

  “What’s cinnabar?”

  Breathtaking stupidity. Magnus stifled a sigh. “Mercury sulfide. A red stone, which can be used to make the pigment vermilion. The Chinese used it to stain lacquer-ware. The Byzantines used it for coloring ink.” Magnus took the final sip of Elixir from his glass, a long swig that he savored as the mate watched him with disgust. “It was also used medicinally, to promote immortality. Oh, and its colloquial name was Dragon’s Blood.” He smiled.

  Ginger averted her gaze. “Isn’t mercury toxic?”

  “Yes, which is why criminals were assigned to labor in the mine. They worked until they died of mercury poisoning, doing service for the good of the Empire in their last days.” Magnus carefully put down the glass on a side table. “The oddity was, though, that Sylvanus Secundus never died.”

  She blinked and he could almost see her thoughts fly. “Because he was a Slayer?”

  “No, no. The schism between Pyr and Slayers occurred almost a thousand years later, my dear. To make such distinctions would be anachronistic.”

  “I see. My dragon history is a bit shaky.”

  Magnus smiled. “And forgivably so. Sylvanus Secundus was Pyr, albeit a Pyr who knew little of his abilities or his fellows.” Magnus made the necessary point for her, so that she could not miss it. “A primitive Pyr, but his blood ran crimson red.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The Pyr are not affected by mercury poisoning in the same way as humans. Perhaps the theory of cinnabar’s power to create immortality comes from observing us under its effects. I can’t truly say, but when Sylvanus did not die, in twenty years, forty years, fifty years, I had to find out why. I went to Sisapo, only to discover that he was virtually in charge of the place. Few overseers were eager to expose themselves to poison, so they paid him extra to do their work, never imagining that he’d outlive them all.”

  “I see.”

  She saw only a tiny percentage of the story, though. “Not only did his blood run red
, but his skin was flushed and his hair had turned auburn. When he shifted to dragon form, his scales, which had once been the glorious yellow of citrine, were becoming scarlet. The red tinge spread from the root, the lip or corona of the scale remaining yellow. He was quite magnificent, if not the Pyr I recalled.”

  “How did you know it was him?”

  Magnus smiled. “I knew.”

  “How?”

  “Each Pyr has a distinctive scent. We recognize one another’s presence at great distance.”

  “Because you have keen senses.” She eyed him. “His scent didn’t change?”

  Magnus smiled, appreciating that he didn’t have to explain everything. “It altered, it became colder, but the base note was the same. Think of the difference between the body lotion and the eau de toilette in the same fragrance.”

  “Fresh tomatoes versus preserved ones—still tomatoes but slightly different.”

  “Yes! Exactly.” Magnus was pleased that she showed some cleverness. “You see, he had become so infused with mercury that it had changed his metabolism, and that put me in mind of an old notion, that an Elixir could be created from the blood of a Pyr who has undergone such a radical poisoning. Understandably, there had been few volunteers to test the old tale.”

  “You tested it with him.”

  Magnus smiled. “One could suggest that by staying at the mine for so long, Sylvanus effectively volunteered.”

  “But he didn’t know what you knew.”

  “Of course not. His inclination was to serve, not to inquire.” Magnus sighed and returned to the core of his tale. “He might have come under greater scrutiny over time, but the Romans lost control of Baeticia—now Spain—by that time and chaos reigned. He continued to run the mines for the Visigoths, calling himself Cinnabar as if he were a different person. They asked few questions so long as the ore was mined.” Magnus sneered. “Mercenary barbarians, every one of them.”

  He saw the flicker in the mate’s eyes and read her thoughts. “I may not be an altruist,” he said, “but I like to think I have a certain refinement.”

  “Of course,” she murmured, her doubt clear.

  Magnus eyed her for a moment, debating whether she should pay for her skepticism, then decided she was more useful alive.

  For the moment.

  “It was the Moors who had questions, the Moors who guessed the truth and wanted to know the secret that had prolonged his life.” Magnus shrugged. “They were rather persistent in their studies.”

  “They discovered the truth?”

  “They suspected that something was different about Cinnabar. They were an inquisitive lot. I had to act before they had the proof. I had to intervene before Cinnabar told what he knew.” Magnus pushed the glass aside with his talon. “I had to act to protect our kind, so I did what had to be done.”

  “You killed him so he couldn’t talk,” she guessed.

  “I acted in my own defense.” Magnus smiled. “I persuaded him to trust me, and he did.”

  “You did kill him!”

  “He is not dead. Not technically. He is preserved in that vial, exuding the juice that gives immortality to all who drink it.”

  The mate shuddered, failing to share Magnus’s satisfaction with the story’s ending. “He can’t come to life again, can he?”

  “Regrettably, no,” Magnus ceded, no true regret in his tone. “You see, the Elixir draws its power from his life force. He has been slowly bled dry, so to speak, over the centuries.”

  Her gaze fell on the empty glass. “So, you’ve been drinking his life force, a serving at a time. You deceived him to check on the truth of that old story.”

  “And it proved to be true.”

  “Does he know?”

  “I don’t care. The important issue is that he pales from the surrender of his life force,” Magnus said quietly. “His time of usefulness is passing, and he must be replaced in the font of the Elixir by a new source.”

  “With what?” She caught her breath as she made the connection. “With whom?”

  Magnus rose to his feet, pleased that the Elixir had diminished his injury even further. “Come with me. We must go into the courtyard for the next chapter of the story.”

  The mate followed him to the door, preceding him into the courtyard at his gesture. She had time to shiver and pivot to face him before Magnus slammed and locked the sliding door. She was sealed in the courtyard while he was inside the house, perfectly poised to watch anger claim her features.

  “Hey! I need my coat!” She was clever enough to realize she wasn’t going to get it. She pounded on the glass with her fists, making almost no sound at all.

  There was no end to the benefit of buying quality. Magnus heard the distinctive rhythm of Jorge’s return, his cast hitting the floor without grace as he limped closer.

  “Double glass?” Jorge asked.

  “Triple,” Magnus said. “And tinted.” He sighed with satisfaction as the mate marched around the perimeter of the courtyard, trying every door and pounding on every pane of glass. So frail. She’d be dead by nightfall, whether Delaney came or not.

  But Delaney would come. The firestorm would compel him to come, and then he would be trapped. Magnus’s plan was proceeding perfectly. He was quite enamored of his own brilliance.

  “Shall I get you another drink?” Jorge asked, picking up Magnus’s empty glass.

  “No, thank you.” Magnus smiled at his minion, knowing precisely what Jorge wanted. “Did you have a second yourself?”

  Jorge dropped his gaze. “Of course not, not without your permission.”

  It was a lie but one that Magnus felt inclined to indulge. “Then please do have a sip, as a reward for a day’s work well done.”

  The pair smiled at each other, each as distrustful as the other. Then Jorge limped across the room, moving with new purpose.

  Magnus drummed his fingers, considering his options. He needed a bit of rest to let the Elixir do its best work, all before Delaney was brought to the sanctuary again. He would leave Jorge in charge of Delaney’s inevitable attack on the house and capture, in order to ensure his own strength.

  The mate could cool her heels, so to speak, for the moment.

  In the meantime, he felt the need for a backup plan. Time was of the essence and Delaney was proving to be elusive. Magnus could ensure that there was another candidate, another red-blooded Pyr infected with mercury poisoning.

  But Jorge would not be the one Magnus sent upon this errand. There was no reason for this student to know everything.

  And he was so easily manipulated.

  “I trust that I can leave you in charge of Delaney’s capture,” Magnus said just as Jorge reached the door.

  The younger Slayer glanced back, unable to hide his predictable pleasure. “Of course.”

  Magnus yawned and stood, rubbing his stomach and grimacing as if it hurt more than it did. “I have need of a rest. I’ll be in my suite.” He shuffled across the room, feigning a feebleness he did not feel, aware of Jorge’s ambitious gaze. “Send Mallory to me. I have a task for him to fulfill.”

  “I can do it,” Jorge said, his ambition clear.

  Magnus turned to look at him. “Even you cannot do everything for me. I must save your expertise for the more important details.” He smiled.

  Jorge hesitated only a moment before he also smiled.

  Fool.

  Once Mallory understood the challenge given to him and had left to ponder his course of action, Magnus locked the door of his suite. Confident that he wouldn’t be disturbed again, Magnus moved more quickly.

  He opened the hidden door in one wall, which revealed a flight of stairs. Tucked into a niche opposite the door was a funerary urn with the name AURELIA inscribed on the base.

  Magnus smiled to himself as he lifted the lid from the urn. Ah, Aurelia. His wife was long dead and occasionally he missed her.

  Of course, Aurelia’s ashes were not inside the urn, not after all these centuries. What he
kept in the jar was a more powerful talisman. He tipped the urn and a rounded stone the size of an egg tumbled into his hand.

  A bloodstone. And not just any bloodstone but one inscribed with ancient symbols for the four elements guarded by the Pyr.

  Aurelia had tempted him with this stone. She had found it and recognized it for what it was—or at least for the token of power it was. A sensitive and beautiful woman, one possessed of both arcane knowledge and ambition, she had targeted Magnus years before, sensing his truth and seeing his wealth. He had been content to savor the feast she offered, for Aurelia had been an inventive and passionate lover. And discreet.

  But one night, one night after he had again partaken of the pleasures she offered with no promise in exchange, she casually showed him the bloodstone.

  Magnus had recognized the stone instantly. It could only be the one thing he sought and though he tried to hide his excitement, Aurelia had known him too well.

  And she had been watching him closely. Aurelia had manipulated him brilliantly after that and Magnus had married her in exchange for a promise of the bloodstone’s surrender. That had only been the beginning of the games between them, the beginning of his quest to possess both lady and gem. Magnus yearned for the way Aurelia had been able to trick him and surprise him and keep him fascinated for decades on end.

  She had been a worthy adversary, his sorceress, and Magnus had lost his heart to her cunning and manipulative powers. He had loved and he had lost, and the species responsible for the death of his beloved would never earn his forgiveness.

  That humans had been manipulated by Magnus in order to finally give him uncontested possession of that bloodstone was a detail he chose to forget.

  He also chose to forget that the bloodstone was what Sylvanus Secundus had been dispatched to retrieve from Aurelia’s corpse. Magnus had claimed the stone before condemning his slave.

  Flooded with bittersweet memories, Magnus touched his lips to the ancient bloodstone. Its time to serve him had come again.

  He pocketed it as well as a loaded syringe from the niche. He then entered the secret passageway, inhaled deeply of the smells of rock and water and the faint tickle of the Elixir, then secured the door behind himself. Even the scent of the Elixir quickened his steps, made him anxious for a restorative bath.