by Linsey Hall
How should I play this?
As an equal, I decided. I nodded. “Dark Necromancer. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”
I stopped in front of her table, Tarron at my side. It took everything I had to keep my eyes on the Dark Necromancer instead of the carnage on her work platform.
Her eyes went to Tarron. “And who is this?”
“I am Tarron, King of the Seelie Fae.”
The Dark Necromancer nodded, then sniffed the air. “And you are both partially dead.”
“Not any longer.” I raised my arms. “I have my body.”
“But the afterworld still has its hooks in you.” The Dark Necromancer cackled. “I can see them even now.”
“That is what we’d like to change,” I said.
“Well, I can’t bring you properly back to life.” She gestured to herself. “You’d never be like you once were.”
Obviously she’d been fighting to get back to that state for a long time.
“But I can make you like me.” She grinned, showing blackened teeth.
I barely resisted shouting no.
I was vain enough that I didn’t want to rot from the inside out, that was for damned sure.
“We have been promised a resurrection stone,” I said.
Her scraggly brows rose. “Just one?”
I nodded. “Just one.”
She clucked. “That’s not good. You need two.”
“I know.” And I didn’t quite have a plan for that. I’d hoped to think of one, but the king and queen had kept us so busy, jerking us back and forth between challenges, that I hadn’t had a chance. “But we need an Aranthian Crystal to trade for the resurrection stone. Perhaps you have two?”
Tarron shot me a glance, then nodded. It was a good idea. Two crystals for two stones…maybe it would work.
“Indeed I do have two to spare.” She gestured toward the hearth where the three crystals sat. “But they are priceless. What could you possibly give me for them?”
My gaze flicked over her. “A potion to slow your decay?”
“I’ve already tried those.”
“But never one made by me.”
She frowned, but seemed interested. “How long would it take to make?”
Shit. That was a problem. “I have less than thirty minutes left on earth before the Court of Death calls me back. If I don’t have the Aranthian Crystal by then, I’m stuck in the Court of Death forever. But I could make it for you once I am alive again.”
She laughed. “I don’t take payment later for services rendered now.”
Of course not.
Tarron stepped forward. “I can give you all the wealth you might ever want.”
It was a pretty good offer, and as the king of the Seelie Fae, he was probably loaded.
She frowned and shrugged. “I have a good business here. The only thing I truly want is life.”
Which I’d already tried to promise her.
The crowd roared again, sounding like a football stadium was tucked in the closet.
Her eyes brightened and flicked toward the noise. “But I do have an idea, perhaps.”
A sense of foreboding fell over me. I wasn’t going to like this.
“I deal in death, as you may have noticed. Old death, new death. Complicated death.”
Yeah, I wasn’t going to like this.
“Is that a fight ring you have on the other side of the wall?” Tarron asked.
She grinned widely, showing off her blackened teeth. “You’re a very clever one, aren’t you?”
“You want us to fight some horrible monster, don’t you?” Hell, I’d do that. I was almost bored by the request.
“No.” Her cloudy eyes glinted with malevolence. “I want you to fight each other. To the death.”
I swallowed hard and blinked at her. “What?”
“You heard me. To the death.”
“We’re already partially dead,” Tarron said.
“True. But you’ve got bodies that can die. And I can snuff out your soul after that, no problem.”
She said it like that would be a favor. My heart began to thunder loud enough to deafen me.
“No,” I snapped. “That’s a terrible trade.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “You are only meant to get one resurrection stone when you return to the Court of Death. Therefore, only one of you needs to return.”
“We’ll fight a monster,” Tarron said. “The biggest you have.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t think so. Both of you have magic that is off the charts. You’re really only suited to fighting each other.”
I gaped at her, horrified.
I had not seen this coming.
We didn’t have time for this!
“An endless supply of potion to make you lively and young again,” I said. “I’ll dedicate my life to it. You’ll feel like a new woman in no time.”
I sounded like a makeup saleswoman, for fate’s sake. But I was freaking out. I could not fight Tarron.
She cackled. “Oh no. I think I’ve found what I want.”
I shared a panicked glance with Tarron. How the hell were we going to get out of this? And within the time limit? Kerina’s potion would suck us right back to the Court of Death when our time was up.
We need that damn Aranthian Crystal.
Tarron’s gaze flicked from me toward the Dark Necromancer, and somehow I guessed at what he was trying to say. As he lunged for the Aranthian Crystals on the hearth, I went for the bitch.
She snapped her fingers, and both of us froze solid, mid lunge.
Shit.
“As if I don’t have protection charms in place.” She tsked. “Now come. It’s time for you to fight. And whoever survives gets the crystal.”
I struggled against the invisible bonds, but they were impossible to break. Tarron turned red in the face as he fought, but even he couldn’t break free.
The Dark Necromancer walked toward a door on the far side of the room, and we floated along behind her. She looked over her shoulder. “Didn’t you know? Since you are partially dead, I can control your movements.”
I tried to thrash, to break free, but it did no good. She carried us through the door and down a narrow dark hallway carved out of the stone. It grew colder and louder as we went, and panic threatened to drown me. Twenty yards later, we entered a large underground chamber.
An enormous crowd surrounded a fight ring positioned in the middle of the room. A ten-foot chain-link wall surrounded it, and two demons battled in the middle, blood flying.
“This really is perfect,” the Dark Necromancer said over her shoulder. “You are both so powerful that the gamblers will go wild. We’ll rake it in tonight.”
Gross.
The Dark Necromancer waved her hand, and a blast of electric current shot from her fingers, flying toward the fighters in the middle. The electricity zapped right into them, and they howled, stiffening and falling over.
“They’re just filler,” she said. “No big bets lost on them.”
The crowd booed, but she ignored them as she climbed into the fight ring. Tarron and I floated along behind her. Panic lit me up like a firework, and I struggled madly, muscles aching and head pounding.
This can’t be happening.
We’d just confessed our love and now we had to fight to the death?
Bad fucking luck.
The Dark Necromancer turned to the crowd and touched her fingertips to her throat. Her voice boomed out. “Ladies and gentlemonsters, we have quite the fight for you today!”
The crowd settled down, their interest piqued.
I shared a glance with Tarron, who was still red in the face from struggling to escape his bonds.
“What do we do?” I hissed.
“Fake it.”
“To the death?” It wasn’t even possible.
The Dark Necromancer’s voice boomed, cutting off our conversation. “Mordaca, Blood Sorceress Extraordinaire.” She ges
tured to me, and the crowd cheered and booed. She turned and waved toward Tarron. “Against Tarron, King of the Seelie Fae.” She grinned widely. “And if I am not mistaken, they are Fated Mates! Even more exciting!”
Miserable bitch. I had no idea how she’d sensed it, and I hated the invasion of privacy.
“A fight to the death,” the Dark Necromancer shouted. “So get your bets going! You could win big on this one. And I definitely will!”
Shit shit shit.
She grinned at us. “You had better hurry. By my calculations, you have less than twenty minutes left.”
“Bitch,” I hissed.
She cackled and disappeared, then reappeared at the top of the stands right in front of us. She stood on an ornately decorated platform—no doubt her private viewing booth.
Her invisible chains broke, and I spun in a circle, taking in the tall metal fence that surrounded us. Dozens of faces jeered at me from the other side, and my skin chilled.
There were so many.
How would we ever fight our way out?
Winged demons flew up to the top of the metal fence, a half dozen of them armed with swords pointed right at us.
“We’re not flying out of here,” Tarron said.
“Nope.”
I stepped toward him, but the Dark Necromancer screeched, “Fight!”
My heart thundered. Holy fates, what were we going to do?
“Kill me,” Tarron said.
“No,” I snapped.
All around, the crowd howled. My stomach pitched.
The Dark Necromancer shot a bolt of lightning right at Tarron’s feet. He jumped back, narrowly avoiding it. She shot another bolt, and Tarron leapt back even farther.
“No talking!” she shouted, sending a small blast of lightning at each of us, nearly hitting us dead-on.
A threat—fight or I’ll electrocute you.
My jaw tightened.
Bitch.
I called upon my magic, reaching for one of the skills that I rarely used. It swelled inside me, more powerful than ever, and I was grateful for the recent challenges that had forced me to grow.
No one else could see what I was doing as I appeared inside Tarron’s mind. I needed to send him a message.
Once the connection was established, I spoke quickly. “I am not killing you. I don’t care if you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for me. I’m not going to accept it. Let’s buy some time. Hit me with some elemental magic. Make it look good, but I’ll transport out of the way before it hits.”
He scowled, his eyes blazing, then nodded sharply.
The crowd roared as his magic swelled on the air. I watched his eyes, noting where he looked. He stared hard just over my right shoulder, then he hurled a fire bomb right at me. It soared through the air, heading toward my right. I called upon my transport magic and flashed out of the way, appearing five feet to the left.
Tarron threw another blast of fire, and I darted right, using my transport power.
The Dark Necromancer shrieked, enraged. “Fight!”
This wasn’t working.
She wanted to see injuries.
Tarron threw a blast of wind at me. The air sparkled as it hurtled toward me.
I can take it.
I took it full-on, not bracing myself so that it wouldn’t reflect back at him. The force slammed me back into the wire fence. My bones shook and my head rang from the hit, and it took all I had to stay on my feet.
Shit, that hurt.
Tarron looked pissed that I’d done it. I drew in an unsteady breath. We had to make this look real until we could find a way out.
I drew a sword from the ether and charged Tarron. He drew his own blade and ran for me. Our steel clashed in midair, and my mind raced.
How to get out of this?
“Just kill me,” Tarron growled. “Or wound me. Something. Anything to get her to give you the crystal.”
“No,” I hissed, letting my blade clash with his again. “I’ll only watch you die once.”
“Only one of us is going to make it out of the Court of Death. There’s only one stone.”
“We can get two crystals.”
“That doesn’t mean there will be two resurrection stones.”
I dodged a particularly slow blow of his, then kicked out, catching his ankles with my foot and taking him to the ground. I lunged for him with my blade, trying to indicate with my eyes where my sword would land.
He rolled to the left as my blade plunged down to the right.
We weren’t doing such a bad job of faking this, but the Dark Necromancer was going to catch on eventually.
All around, the crowd jeered. As Tarron and I fought, my heart thundered and my skin chilled.
A quick glance at the Dark Necromancer showed that she was frowning.
She was onto us.
I couldn’t kill Tarron. I wouldn’t.
Not again.
Not ever.
The idea tore me apart inside.
Tarron and I danced around each other in a circle, our blades raised. But the energy in the air changed. Malevolence prickled against my skin, and as I looked up at the Dark Necromancer, I spotted a silver bolt of lightning flying right at me.
It was too close.
I dived right, taking a hit to the leg that made my entire body shudder. My stomach heaved, and I almost vomited.
Tarron turned toward her and roared, his wings flaring behind his back as he launched himself into the sky.
No!
He wanted to protect me, but I needed to be the one who got hit.
The demons who guarded the air above the fence flew toward him, and they clashed in midair.
As long as the Dark Necromancer was conscious, she could take us out with her lightning. She could possibly even control us with a snap of her fingers, binding us tight.
I dragged myself to my feet and met her gaze high above.
She was pissed.
I waved my arms. “Come at me, you bitch!”
12
She raised a hand that sparkled with lightning, and I grinned.
A howl of rage escaped her as she shot it right at me. I braced myself for impact. A massive bolt of electricity slammed into me, and I reflected it back to her. The electric current slammed into her, throwing her back against the wall. She slumped to the ground.
Hell yeah.
She was so delicate from walking around in a rotting body that she might even be actually dead.
I’d toast her death with a double Manhattan when I was back on earth. And if she wasn’t dead, I’d be coming back here to finish the job.
I spun in a circle, looking for the best way out. Above, Tarron fought off the six winged guards. He’d taken out two with his blade, but there were still four more.
I called upon my wings and launched myself into the air, flying toward the closest demons.
Two of them turned to me, their eyes bright red and their leathery black wings flapping hard. They were huge, with bulging muscles and long black claws.
Given all that bulk, they were probably pretty slow. I darted upward, narrowly avoiding their swords, then plunged downward to behead the closest one. His skull thunked to the ground below. The other turned to look up at me, roaring his rage.
Tarron hit him from the side with a fireball that lit him up like a bonfire. The other two guards were already alight.
“Come on!” Tarron roared.
The crowd went wild as we flew overhead, throwing daggers and beers at us. They were pissed we weren’t fighting anymore.
“Bloodthirsty assholes!” I shouted down at them as I dodged the blades.
Tarron hit them with blasts of flame, and they screamed, scrambling to get out of the way.
I looked up toward the Dark Necromancer, praying that she was still out cold. As soon as she gained consciousness, she could bind us with her magic.
Thankfully, she was still a collapsed lump against the wall.
She deserved it.
We hurtled toward the exit. The crowd cleared out, racing to get away from Tarron’s flame. If they weren’t careful, he’d fill this place with rock and crush them all, just like he’d done at my childhood home.
Finally, we reached the door and landed at a run. Tarron yanked it open, and we raced through the darkened corridor.
“How much time do we have left?” I shouted.
“Five minutes,” he called back over his shoulder. “No more. Maybe less.”
Crap.
As we raced toward the end of the hall, the door opened. A half-dozen guards spilled into the narrow corridor, and my skin chilled.
No time.
Burn appeared a half second later, right ahead of us, growling like he was possessed. He charged the guards, his thorny hide shooting spikes at them as he ran.
They peppered the guards, making them howl. Two disappeared back through the room, and Burn slammed into the other four. He tore into them with his fangs and gouged with his claws.
They howled and struck out with their blades, but the attack just ignited the Thorn Wolf’s magic, making him bigger and stronger.
Within seconds, three of the guards lay dead on the ground. The other scrambled to get away and disappeared back down the hall.
We reached Burn and the fallen guards.
“Thanks, pal.” I raced past him and leapt over the bodies of the guards, sprinting into the Dark Necromancer’s office, Tarron at my side.
The three Aranthian Crystals sat right where we’d left them.
“Hurry!” Tarron ran for them.
I followed, and we each reached the hearth just as the ether began to pull on us.
Our time is up.
I grabbed one crystal and he grabbed another, then the ether sucked us in, pulling us through space.
Moments later, it spat us out in the middle of the throne room.
Panting, I staggered and nearly went to my knees. Tarron grabbed my arm and pulled me upright. I straightened, finding the king and queen standing in front of us, avarice on their faces as they eyed the glowing Aranthian Crystals.
“You got them,” the queen whispered reverently. “Two of them!”
“Give them here.” The king gestured.
I gripped mine tight. “We want two resurrection stones in exchange.”
“No.” The queen’s voice was sharp. “It’s not possible.”
