So can I, Rhys said in surprise.
“Those of the royal line can,” she agreed. “It’s a useful skill.”
I’ve always thought so.
“I searched the currents of the future for those who might best protect you. The Sight led me to Tom and June Kincade. I knew it would never occur to Votos to seek you among the powerless humans of Mortal Earth. And since they had lost a child, they could be made to believe you were theirs. I transformed you into a human infant and gave you to June, bespelling the rest of those present to believe you had been born to her. You were so thoroughly disguised I knew Votos would be unable to sense you.” Her lovely mouth curled into a snarl. “And so you would have stayed, had Gorin not encountered you and gone running to Votos, who had offered a bounty for your death.”
“Why did Votos suspect Rhys was alive?” Olivia asked.
“Because he never succeeded in getting an egg upon me.” The queen’s gold eyes glittered. “And believe me, he tried. He let it be known even among the Sidhe and the dragons that he searched for a griffin child.” She shrugged with a smooth lift of slim shoulders. “And eventually, our luck ran out.”
Why didn’t you come for me sooner?
“You were not yet of age, so you could not yet host Kiate.”
I’m thirty-three!
“As a human. As a griffin, you are barely an adult.”
“What I don’t understand is why you put Kiate in me instead of Rhys,” Olivia burst out, sounding deeply frustrated.
The queen indicated the waterfall with a graceful wave. “Rhys had to be brought here for the ritual at the Great Portal Falls, where Kiate’s magic is strongest. I couldn’t do it myself—Votos has spies who watch my every move. He’d have ambushed us before we had a chance to complete the spell. I used my Sight to search for an alternate host, and decided you were the one most likely to achieve my ends. I took you as you left your dojo and implanted Kiate in you, so that he could bring you both here when I signaled him the time had come.”
Olivia absently stroked a hand over Rhys’s wet feathers as she studied the queen. “Why can’t I communicate with Kiate? The other hosts I’ve met seem to have no trouble talking to their elementals.”
“Your Sidhe brain is too different from a griffin’s, so Kiate finds it difficult to influence your actions or use you as a focus for his magic.” She lifted a golden brow. “But that’s as well, else he’d doubtless have destroyed your mind.”
“Yeah, he hasn’t exactly been friendly. Why did Kiate knock me out the first time I attempted to create a gate to the Mageverse?”
“Because I had warned him to prevent you until that Sidhe assassin used his gate trap to transport Rhys. The Sight showed me Kiate would have killed Rhys if he arrived any sooner, because he would have failed the elemental’s tests. It was only after you took him to Avalon that he gained the insight he needs to have any hope at all.”
But why did you cast a geas on her to make her sleep with me? Rhys demanded.
Nirar shot him a haughty frown. “I put no such spell on her. Why should I want such a thing?”
“There was definitely a geas,” Olivia told her. “I saw it. It was the green of Kiate’s magic.
“Yes, his magic is green,” the queen admitted, frowning in puzzlement. “He must have done that on his own, then. His reasoning is not always something we beings of flesh understand.”
“What happens to Rhys if you work this spell to bind him and Kiate?”
Nirar hesitated a little too long. “I . . . am not sure. It depends on whether Rhys passes Kiate’s test.”
You keep talking about tests. What do you mean? What test?
“You must prove yourself worthy of Kate’s great power.”
“Which could be really tricky,” Olivia told Rhys. “That creature is old and incredibly powerful, and it’s not exactly friendly. Its thought processes are so alien, I haven’t been able to communicate with it, no matter how I try. Eva told me being psychically bound to a being that old and powerful is difficult, especially when you first make contact. It could burn out your consciousness like a match.”
Rhys stared at her, then at his mother.
The griffin queen did not speak for a very long moment. “Yes,” she admitted at last. “That is part of the test.”
Chapter Twelve
Exactly what kind of test are we talking about? Rhys demanded. He was more than willing to fight Votos, but he didn’t want to walk blindly into a situation that could kill him and result in Olivia’s death.
“When the spell links your consciousness with Kiate’s, the elemental will test you to determine if you have the strength to be trusted with his power.”
“What happens if Kiate decides he doesn’t?” Olivia demanded, sinking her fingers into his neck feathers.
“The elemental will kill him,” Nirar said heavily. “But if Rhys doesn’t attempt to meld with Kiate, Votos will slay you both anyway.”
If I attempt this, what happens to Olivia? Will she die?
“Once Kiate leaves her mind for yours, she’ll be free. She can gate to safety. I shall not stop her.”
What if I fail?
“She can still escape.” A bitter note tinged her voice. “Votos will be too busy punishing me to care about her.”
Rhys twisted his head to look back over his shoulder at Olivia, who sat on his back wearing a stony expression.
“Make your decision swiftly, my son,” Nirar said softly. “Votos and his coterie are on the way. The test must be complete before they arrive, or they will slay you both. Without Kiate, you won’t have the power to defend yourself.”
Rhys drew in a breath even as his stomach tied itself in knots. There was some comfort in the thought that whatever happened, Olivia would survive. If he died, she’d be able to make her escape. And if he didn’t, he’d still send her away while he dealt with Votos and his griffins. Work your spell.
“Rhys . . .” Olivia protested.
He turned his feathered head to meet her gaze as she perched on his back. I want you safe, and this is the only way I can ensure it.
“But what about what I want?” She touched hid beak with gentle fingers. “I want you safe, Rhys.”
Olivia, when it comes right down to it, we don’t have a choice. This is the only way we’re going to get out of this alive. And I will not fail Kiate’s test.
She stared at him, lips parted in pain and protest. Then her expression cleared and she squared her shoulders. “I know you won’t. Do what you have to do.”
The queen closed her eyes as something that looked like relief flashed over her features. “Move under the spray.” Without waiting to see he obeyed, she transformed in a blinding blue-white rain of sparks. In griffin form, she leaped upward from the bridge. Air blasted down on them as her great wings carried her toward the origin of the cascade.
Rhys struck out for it, dog paddling, lifted wings streaming water. The hiss and pound of the falls grew louder as he swam.
“For thousands of years, those of the matriarch’s line have become host for the elemental, or died in battle to win his approval,” Olivia said, her voice dreamy.
Surprised, Rhys glanced back over one shoulder. A chill rolled over him as he saw that her eyes glowed green. How do you know that? he demanded.
She blinked, looking startled, then confused. “I . . . I have no idea. I just know.”
Apparently Kiate’s ability to touch her mind was increasing, maybe because of all the ambient magic from the falls.
Rhys didn’t like that at all. I’ve got to get that thing out of her.
When he reached the falling spray, his paw hit a stone platform under the surface. As if the contact had broken the water’s magical grip, he found he could scramble out onto the rock. The glowing water beating down on his head seemed to burn his skin even through the fe
athers.
He heard Olivia gasp, a ragged sound, though he couldn’t tell if it was pain or pleasure. Or both.
Above them, the griffin queen began to sing. Not like a bird—her song was too raw, too primal, more like the rumble of distant thunder. Rhys stared upward, watching her spiral so close to the falls, her wing threw an explosion of shimmering droplets through the air as it cut the water. A dim rainbow flashed from the refracting drops.
The magical glow brightened as she spiraled, clipping the falls with her wing on every pass. The magic burned hotter until he had to clamp his beak against the urge to hiss.
Olivia’s thighs tightened around his massive chest as she dug her fingers into his feathers. Energy began to whirl around him amid a shower of sparks.
Light blazed from the corner of his eye, and Rhys jerked his head around to stare back over his shoulder at her.
Olivia was glowing. Green sparks spiraled around her, intensifying until the color bled into blinding white. She cried out, the sound strangled, as if she fought not to shriek. Knowing the strength of her will, he realized how much pain that thin cry represented.
It’s burning her! Stop it, he bellowed at his mother.
But Nirar made no answer as she continued to spiral faster and faster around the falls, raining sparks like the tail of a comet. Green light exploded out of Olivia and slammed into him.
It was his turn to scream.
* * *
Agony stole Olivia’s breath as her consciousness dimmed. Distantly aware she was falling, she grabbed for Rhys’s neck, but his feathers were too wet and slippery. He reared with a roar of pain and she lost her hold.
Olivia plunged underwater with a huge splash and a fountain of sparks. She almost sucked in a lungful before she got her lips clamped shut. Ignoring the hot burn of the magic flowing over her skin, she stroked grimly for the surface.
Her head broke into the air and she gasped, then went into a spasm of coughing. When she finally regained her breath, she swiped water from her eyes and looked up.
Rhys balanced on the platform, surrounded by a swirl of emerald sparks, his huge body shaking, eyes blazing green.
“Rhys!” Olivia reached for him through their psychic bond they’d shared since his transformation.
It felt as if she’d plunged her head into a vat of acid. It’s killing him! The weight of Kiate’s profoundly alien mind . . . Rhys didn’t know magic well enough to know how to shield his consciousness. Not the way she did. And unlike Olivia’s, his griffin brain was similar enough to Kiate’s to give him no protection.
He’s failing the test!
A memory rose, scalding her worse than the hell in Rhys’s head. The worn rug he lay on was dyed red with blood. A small arm lay flopped over one of his shoulders as if the child had fallen asleep in his arms.
Staring up at Rhys as he writhed, Olivia wanted to scream. No. Goddess curse it, not this time. I’m not going to lose my love again. This time I’m going to save him, if I’ve got to die to do it.
There had to be something she could do. Gathering her power, she levitated into the air, heading for Rhys’s back as he reared over her, battling Kiate in whatever hell the elemental had created.
Images sliced into her mind: Nirar warning her not to interfere. Rhys must live or die on his own.
“Fuck that and fuck you! Rhys needs to know how to protect himself.”
Hovering just above his withers, she reached for his straining neck, meaning to land on his back again.
A savage crackle alerted her. She threw up a shield on sheer instinct—and it was a good thing she did, because a lethal bolt of magic shot from Rhys’s feathered head to hers. For a moment, she thought it would eat through her shield, but it splashed off the barrier. She threw herself onto Rhys’s back, wrapping her thighs around his huge torso.
But even as her weight landed on him, another vicious crackle ripped the air. She ducked and shielded. Again, the attack dissipated. Kiate must be distracted by its battle with Rhys.
Dammit, Rhys, let me in! But the whirling storm of magic around him blocked her access to his thoughts. She needed to get closer to his head, needed to touch him . . .
She levitated higher until she could wrap her legs around his feathered neck, then stretched her arms until she could lay both hands over his tufted ears. He twisted against her grip, snapping his beak viciously. The green glow of his eyes told her Kiate was in control.
Yeah, fuck you, too. An idea flashed to mind, just harebrained enough to work. To hurl his spell, the elemental had to drop his own shield. That left her with a path to Rhys, if only for a heartbeat. It was a terrible risk. If she miscalculated . . .
Another menacing crackle. Fuck it. This time she didn’t shield, plunging her consciousness through that split-second gap in the elemental’s defenses. Sensing what she was doing, Kiate aborted the attack, tried to raise its shields again . . .
Too late. She plunged into Rhys’s mind.
And found herself floating in a darkness ringing with screams.
Oh, shit. She threw herself deeper, seeking the bright burn of Rhys’s spirit.
There.
In the psychic image, he was naked, human—and covered with blood. A huge green griffin was ripping at him with beak and claws as if eating a rabbit.
Kiate.
As she stared in sickened horror, the elemental lifted its green-feathered head, a bright red coil of intestine dangling from its beak.
It’s torturing him to death. It was an illusion, but to Rhys, it would feel utterly real. And the pain and shock of the trauma could kill him just as dead as if a real griffin had eaten him.
But he wasn’t dead yet. She could sense the spark of him, fading but still clinging to life despite his horrific psychic wounds.
No! Olivia roared as she flung her psychic self over his helpless body, throwing up a shield of raw will, driving the elemental back. The griffin shrieked in rage and pounced, beak and claws rebounded off her barrier.
Get out or die! Kiate screeched.
Fuck off, Olivia snarled. Forcing herself to look at the horribly torn body barely recognizable as human, she shouted, Rhys, listen to me! All of this is an illusion! He’s using your brain to do this to you. But you can make it stop. You can take the power from him! You control your own mind!
He is weak, Kiate hissed in contempt. Here in Rhys’s mind, she could understand the creature as she’d been unable to in her own. He is not griffin, and he’s unworthy. He lacks even such strength as you have.
Bullshit! She shot a bolt of power into the elemental’s face with such force, she drove it back a pace. For all Kiate’s real-world magic, this was the realm of imagination and will, and she’d never lacked for either.
Olivia, get out! Rhys’s mental voice gasped, so weak she could barely hear it. He’ll kill you, too!
As you richly deserve, Kiate hissed. You interfere in business that’s none of your affair.
Too damned bad, Oliva growled. Rhys, the elemental can’t do anything that you don’t allow. This is your brain, and Kiate must work its illusions through you.
Which means you’re dead! The elemental dove at her.
Olivia threw herself into the darkness and fled, knowing it would follow her. And leave Rhys alone, if only for the space of moments. Any time she could buy him might be enough to let him wrench control of his body away from the elemental.
* * *
The griffin darted after Olivia, claws extended as he prepared to snatch her out of the air. She put on another burst of speed, barely avoiding a vicious swipe.
Rhys knew just how it felt when Kiate ripped you open.
I can’t just lie here and watch her die. He tried to sit up, but the agony of his ripped guts drowned him in fire. Gasping, he fell back again.
Olivia screamed.
Oh, sweet C
hrist. Despite the agony, he forced himself to roll over. Teeth clenched against a scream, he drove himself to his feet, though it felt like a blowtorch seared his guts.
Rhys swayed in the blackness, teeth gritted. This is not real, he told himself, though his palsied body shook as if it were. Olivia had said so, and she wouldn’t lie to him.
She’d also said that he could control what was happening. Which meant he could stop this. All he had to do was overrule the feathered fucker who’d hijacked his brain.
Never mind that it’s an incredibly powerful immortal who is thousands of years old.
Shut. Up.
Thirty feet away, Kiate leaped at Olivia like a cat chasing a catnip mouse, drew back a glowing paw, and knocked her out of the air. With a screech of triumph, the elemental darted after her flying body, clawed paw-hands extended.
Shit. Olivia was too damn stubborn, too damn courageous, to leave him to his fate. She’d die if he didn’t get control of the elemental.
He’d damned well get control.
Rhys took a staggering step into the dark, though agony seared him like a blast from a flamethrower. The pain’s not real. Neither is any of the rest of this fucking nightmare.
This was his brain, dammit. No matter how much power Kiate had, it was his mind, his magic, his body.
Rhys looked down at his gory human torso. No matter how solid it seemed, his true form was a griffin. He hadn’t actually transformed, and Kiate hadn’t actually eaten him with his own beak.
Magic was an act of will, imagination, and emotion. And he needed something a lot bigger to fight the elemental than this illusion of frail humanity Kiate had created to be its victim.
Damned if Rhys would be a victim any longer.
He forced himself to ignore the pain, even as he stared at the bloody, obscene red tangle of intestines bulging from his belly. It’s not real. I’m not going to let him use me as a weapon against Olivia.
Master of Magic Page 16
