by Kresley Cole
Cadeon gaped. "You considered giving up the
crown?"
"If there'd been a worthy replacement for me. Yes. Then, just a few years later, I lost the kingdom to a vicious murderer. I'd wondered if I'd fought hard enough, or if I'd let go too easily. The guilt was unrelenting, is unrelenting."
"But the crown was everything. That's why you've hated me all these years."
"I never hated you. And the crown had nothing to do with why I've been hard on you." At Cadeon's raised I brows, Rydstrom said, "All right, that was part of it.
But I was also angry because of the way you were living your life. You were selfish and uncaring." Rydstrom knew Cadeon wouldn't argue that. "Sabine's since told me that you would've been assassinated if you'd gone to Tornin. Omort had five hundred troops waiting for you."
"Sabine told you that?"
"She wanted to ease some of the strife between us."
"Kind of nice, for an evil bitch."
"Guard your words carefully, brother, that woman is going to be your queen." Just when Rydstrom thought they'd have another row, Cadeon raised his palms.
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry. But don't forget that she's part of the reason I gave up Holly. I thought if I got the sword, I could free you. It ate at me, thinking of you in a dungeon. Nïx told me the sorceress would ... use you."
The sorceress did.
With a nod at the now empty bottle, Cadeon said, "You've finished it-something I never thought I'd see-so are you ready to divvy what happened?"
Rydstrom exhaled. Then he told Cadeon almost everything, leaving out his false vow, ending with, ". . . I'm not making progress with her as I'd hoped. And I've only got another two days."
"Look, I know I'm the last person you want to take advice from, but you can't force this. You can't make her love you."
"Then what would you do?"
"You know, do nice shite for her. Buy her things. Really think about what she likes and what makes her happy and make it happen. She'll come around. And if
she doesn't, you can cut off your horns for her. Chicks
dig that."
Rydstrom's gaze shot up. Sure enough, Cadeon's had been shorn. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"Holly wanted a normal life, so I was trying to give her normal. She's since berated me, and forbidden me from ever touching my 'rock-hard, sexy horns' again. Then she outlined what she was going to do to me when they grew back. Gods, brother, that woman quicks my wick." Then he frowned. "Wait a minute. Did you say Sabine was going to be my queen? What the hell is she now?"
Deceived.
A storm was coming, outside the house and within it as
well.
Rydstrom was going to confess to Sabine about his sham vow. With a heavy heart, he made his way upstairs to their room, leaving Cadeon to finish his drink.
Though he'd been working to earn her trust, Ryd-strom was about to destroy it with one blow. But he had no choice. Every time she called him her husband was like a knife to the chest.
He sat beside her in the bed. "Sabine, there's something I must confess to you."
She didn't answer, didn't turn to him, but her slim shoulders tensed, letting him know she'd awakened.
"All I ask is that you try to understand the circumstances. Can you do that?"
No response. He laid his hand on her shoulder and tugged her over to face him. She opened her eyes.
They were filled with blood.
"What is this? Sabine, what's happening?"
"It's . . . here" Her words were slurred, her skin waxen.
He gathered her up in his arms. Her heartbeat was racing.
When a line of blood tracked from her nose and another from her ear, the sharpest fear he'd ever felt came over him. "Ah, gods, what is happening to you? Tell me, cwenal"
"Poison," she gasped.
"What are you saying? How? Who did this to you?"
Her back arched sharply, her hands fisting in Rydstrom's shirt. When she coughed, blood misted from her mouth.
Have to get her help . . .
"Cadeon!" Rydstrom bellowed.
His brother came bounding up the stairs, barreling into the room with his sword drawn. "What the hell?"
"Sabine's sick-where is Nïx?"
"I can go get her."
"Do it, and then meet us at the witch's coven-"
"Nooo!" Sabine screamed, thrashing in his arms. "No .. . coven."
"Easy, baby, we'll stay. Easy . . ." To Cadeon, he snapped, "Bring Nïx here. If you can't find her, then hunt for Mariketa the Awaited. Or even Tera the Fey. She knows poisons."
Without a word, Cadeon bolted from the room. Rydstrom heard the side door slam shut, then Cadeon's truck peeling away.
Rydstrom laid his palm on her cheek, wincing in confusion as pain suddenly shot through him, as if he'd laid his hand on a flame. But then her nightgown and the bedclothes were cold.
"Hold on for me, Sabine. Help's coming."
Pain razored through her body, making her muscles knot. The coppery tang of blood flooded her mouth. Feels like blades are slicing through my veins, and pumping into my heart.
Rydstrom kept demanding to know what was wrong, staring down at the blood in horror, rocking her in his arms.
She panted in anguish, her eyes squeezed shut. She'd been wrong. There was no way she could withstand this. So stupid, so arrogant to think she could live through this.
And now she'd pay for it. Unless Rydstrom can bring himself to do what needs to be done.
Her body twisted as the excruciating waves built, her mind overrun with visions of drinking her poison. Yes, downing glass after glass of it. .. just dripping the searing black granules straight onto her tongue, then swal-lowing them dry.
Ah, gods, she could accidentally poison Rydstrom with her skin, her blood. Must warn him. "Can't . . . touch me."
"Sabine, I have to get you to someone who can help!"
She shook her head violently. "No one here . . . can."
Another wave hit. Unthinkable ... unearthly agony. Her eyes flashed open when the manic pounding of her heart stopped.
Their gazes met. "Cwena?" he rasped, "your . . . heart?"
Over. Her mind went blank. Her lids eased shut. His unholy roar shook the room.
44
Her fucking heart had stopped . . .she'd almost died. He'd never forget how he'd felt when he'd heard that first dogged beat as her heart struggled on.
He sat with his back against the headboard, squeezing her in his arms, rocking her as they both sweated from pain. When she moaned, he murmured, "I'm with you, baby. I'm with you."
Whenever he touched her skin, he felt eviscerating pain, so he continually smoothed his palm over her forehead and face, hoping to draw it from her.
Her bloody coughing had subsided, but he sensed this was in no way over. He was grappling to keep the rage reined in so he could take care of her.
A storm had descended on them, with lightning streaking all around the house, thunder rattling the glass doors. With each lightning bolt, Sabine's face looked even more deathly pale.
When Cadeon squired Nïx into the bedroom half an hour later, the Valkyrie's gaze flickered over Rydstrom's
face, as if gauging his sanity. His horns were straight, and he knew his eyes were black, but he was holding on.
"What is going on here?" she asked. "All Cadeon would say is, 'Have you ever wanted to see a scene from The Exorcist in real life?'"
"She's sick," Rydstrom said. "She told me it was a poison. You know poisons. Tell me what to do."
In the darkened room, figments of Sabine's illusions began flashing in a delirious procession, like words babbled.
Nïx approached the bed, tilting her head. "There's a blue tinge to her lips." She turned Sabine's arm over.
Streaking down the pale skin was a jagged red injury, like a burn. It ran all the way to her palm, where it made an X.
Nïx abruptly dropped her arm, wiping her hand on her pa
nts. "She's been condemned."
"Condemned? What the fuck are you talking about?"
"This is the morsus, the crudest poison-because it causes inconceivable pain upon the withdrawal. Sabine would have had to take a regular dose of this poison to keep it at bay."
"Ah, gods, she'd been trying to get back to Omort days ago. I . . . stopped her."
"Then he's the one who has done this to her. It makes sense that he'd use this to control her for all these years."
"What will happen to her?"
"Have you touched her skin? Did you feel that pain?" When he nodded, she said, "You're experiencing possibly a percent of what Sabine is. There's supposed to be
no greater agony. It feels like being scalded and stabbed, as if your skin is being pincered from your body. Demon, this will get a thousand times worse. The pain will become so great, it will prove a shock to her body, so intense that her heart will stop."
"It already has!" Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm his tone. "What can I do?"
Nïx shook her head sadly. "Absolutely nothing help her. The only person who can save her is the one who poisoned her. Rydstrom, you need to prepare yourself. Sabine will have one heart attack after another
"No! No, someone has to be able to help her," he said, his voice breaking. "Tera, Mariketa-" "Will only confirm what I've said." "What about Sabine's sister-she's saved her
before!"
"Ah, Melanthe, the potential Queen of Persuasion. Healing another is one of the hardest processes to effect. And her power is weak, only manifesting itself in unpredictable fits and spurts."
Rydstrom rested his forehead against Sabine's, desperate to take this pain from her. "There has to be something I can do for her." He gazed up at the Valkyrie, unashamed to beseech her. "Nïx, please ..."
"There is something you must do. Rydstrom, if you care anything about Sabine," she said, "you will kill her now."
In between fevered waves of agony, she'd heard Rydstrom speaking to her.
With his voice growing thick, he'd pleaded, "Cwena,
fight this forme." He'd threatened, "What am I supposed to do without you? You can't leave me like this! I'll fol-low you to the gods damned grave, Sabine."
And when another wave had crashed down and she'd thrown back her head and shrieked, he'd roared with his own pain and confusion, clutching her so tightly, until her screams died down....
Sometimes, she heard other voices. The brother was
often here. Two females came and went.
Now she perceived Rydstrom sitting beside her on
the bed, stroking her hair. But another wave was build-
ing.... building . . . And each one was worse than the
last.
"Rydstrom..."
"I'm here, Sabine." He kissed her palm, then rubbed
his face into it. "I'm right here."
"Kill me," she begged as residual pain seared through her body. "Please..."
His dark eyes were frantic. "Never!"
"You say . . . you care about me," she whispered. "But if you did ... you would kill me."
"I don't fucking care about you! I'm in love with you, Sabine. You told me I needed you," he said desperately. "I do. Freely, I admit it." He held her face, seeming to grit his teeth against the pain of the contact. "We'll fight this together."
"You . . . love me?" She'd known, had felt it every minute with him. But to hear him say it. . .
"Ah, gods, cwena. You have my heart. Anything that I possess is yours. Just heal. Just feel no pain."
"Then let me go." Damp tendrils of red hair framed Sabine's pale face. "Please . .. I'm begging you ..."
He couldn't hear these words, couldn't imagine the pain that would drive her to speak them-
She seized again, her back arching, more blood gurgling from her lips as she screamed again and again. Nïx and Cadeon rushed inside just as her body fell limp.
But her eyes were open.
They were sightless, staring at nothing.
Nïx said, "She takes no breath, demon. She's gone."
"No!" Rydstrom roared, clutching Sabine's shoulders shaking her.
"Rydstrom!" Cadeon gripped his arm. "She's gone, brother. She wants you to let her go."
"Never!" More shaking . . . "You come back to n Sabine!"
Sabine's lids twitched, her muscles visibly knotting.
She lives.
"No . . . no more," Sabine moaned in despair, real' izing she hadn't died. She gave Rydstrom a look of utter betrayal then fell unconscious in his arms.
"You've only saved her until the next wave hits," Nïx said. "Demon, next time, you must let her go."
No, there is another way. "There won't be a next time." He narrowed his eyes at the Valkyrie. "You knew this would happen. You knew all those nights ago when you asked me if I could pick one, which would' I choose-my kingdom or my queen. And you asked for a reason. I can sacrifice all hope for one to save the other."
"You answered your kingdom so easily back then. I was amused."
"Whoa, whoa," Cadeon said. "What the hell are you two talking about?"
Rydstrom asked Nïx, "How do I get to Tornin tonight?"
"It's being, uh, taken care of."
"If you've seen all this, then tell me-will she live?"
Nïx gazed at the ceiling, then back. "I don't know about her. But you might want to have a talk with your successor here and let him know what's about to happen."
Rydstrom nodded, accepting death-or worse.
"Yeah, let me know what's going on!"
"I'm going to Omort for the antidote. The sorcerer will likely kill me this time," he said matter-of-factly. "Cadeon, you're my heir. Nïx said this was my last chance to claim my crown. She didn't say you had no chance."
"What-the-fuck?" Cadeon thundered. "No way! No goddamn way!"
"This will happen, brother," Rydstrom snapped. "I wasn't asking you-I was informing you."
"Okay, then, so we make this a trap," Cadeon said, plainly wrestling with his temper. "You can't go there without a battle plan."
"You told me Groot hit at your mental blocks like a sledgehammer. Omort will demand I open my thoughts to his probes. I have to be utterly free of conspiracy, else I risk her."
Cadeon ran his hand over his face. "If you do this, you'll be committing suicide."
"I understand. If I can save her from this pain . ." Then mine was a life well lived.
"Nïx! Tell Rydstrom this is a suicide mission."
She sighed. "If he wants to go all Asian the Lion on us, who are we to stop him ?"
"I won't let you do this!"
"It's done," Rydstrom said. "Nïx, tell me how to get to Tornin."
"The way to get to Tornin is already on her way to New Orleans. And she's pissed."
45
So how are things with Mike Rowe?" a woman's voice said.
Consciousness gradually returned to Sabine, and she found herself between waves of pain-in that harrowing lull between remembering agony and anticipating it.
"Mike Rowe? Who exactly are you talking about, Holly?" another female answered. Is that Nïx speaking? Yes. What is she doing in my dream? Or am I waking?
"The actor?" this Holly said slowly. "From Dirty jobs. Who took out a restraining order against you?"
A pause, then Nïx said, "Ah! Yes, well, Mikey and I broke up after I finally got him to fool around with me."
"In the week since I saw you last?"
"Yes, last night if I recall correctly," Nïx said. "He was quite adroit for a human, very tempting. But then I had to forget the phone number he pressed on me."
As if she couldn't help himself, Holly asked, "Why's that?"
"I remembered I'm a rake."
Sabine blinked against her hazy sight and spied Nïx in the sitting area of the bedroom. Sabine squinted at the Valkyrie's T-shirt. It read, born to blossom, bloom
TO PERISH-G.S.
The other female, this Holly, had glasses and a prim demeanor.
She looked to be folding clothes?
"Besides," Nïx said, "I needed to break it off with Mikey, since I'm leaving town."
"What do you mean you're leaving?" Holly-demanded, folding and refolding the same towel. "I still don't know my way around this world, and you're taking off-yet again?"
"Cadeon can show you about."
"Where do you have to go that's so important you can abandon me?"
"Auntie Nixies taking a TO. I'm heading to Budapest, to investigate this band of immortal warriors," she explained. "They're called the Lords of the Underworld. If that doesn't make you want to mate ..." She growled and clawed at the air. "Anyway, they're supposed to be excessively hawt."
"And by investigate, you actually mean do."
Nïx made a scoffing sound. "Holly, how else is one supposed to investigate a male? Really?"
Holly sputtered, but Nïx talked over her. "Just between us-if they can handle what the Nixanator's bringing, I might not ever leave. . . ." Her vacant gaze skittered over to the bed, and her eyes widened. "She's awake."
Nïx strolled over to the bed with Holly following. "Remember me? Nïx, the Ever-Knowing? And this is my niece, Holly." Nïx indicated the pretty blonde who gave her a weak wave. "She's Cadeon's wife."
Nïx put a glass of water to her lips, but Sabine turned away to gasp out the words, "Where's... Rydstrom?"
"We finally peeled him away from you. We'll be your sitters this eve. Rydstrom, Cadeon, and myriad demons are out searching for your sister, so they can poach her portal." She laughed abruptly. "I'm sorry, this is not a funny situation, but 'poach your sister's portal' really sounded raunchy."
Holly rolled her eyes.
"He's bringing Lanthe back here," Nïx finally continued. "And then he intends to take you to Omort and beg for the antidote."
Sabine's heart stuttered-this time from emotion. "He can't... go through with this!"
Nïx said, "He's decided to sacrifice himself for you."
"Omort will kill him this time . . . will read his mind ... discover any of his plans of attack-"
"There won't be any," Nïx said quietly. "Rydstrom's counting this as a one-way trip, sorceress."
