“Luther would have loved spending time with you,” the burglar mentions as they make a sharp turn. She frowns at the fiery hallway, but relaxes when her guide nods his head at some vines that lead to a camouflaged hole in the wall. “Okay, so you want to help me. Tell me about what’s going on with Clyde. All I know is that he’s being put under a curse and Jewelz will be able to control him. Is there any way to break it?”
Squeezing through the tight gap, the butler slides on his back to avoid an acidic mist that is contained by a magical barrier. “Stay low to avoid puncturing the spell. This won’t kill you, but it takes days to heal from the burns. To answer your question, all curses can be broken, but this is one Jewelz created with her powers. It’s unique and is fueled by Clyde’s physical activity and rage. By now, all of his bones and organs have been coated in the crystals, which is how she will control him.”
“Chastity could never have made it through here,” Mab mutters to herself. Coming out onto a slide, she goes down a few feet before Dean catches her ankle and pulls her through an illusionary tapestry. “You said that this curse only coats his bones and organs, right? That means the real stuff is right below the surface. Maybe I can work with that. I’m guessing she’s going to have him attack me in the hopes I kill him and fall into unbearable grief and rage.”
“You know the Vampire Queen quiet well,” the butler chuckles. Coming to another split in the path, he stops and counts to five before going back the way they had come. “It is a shame I met her instead of you. While you would not have given me my ultimate dream, I feel that my wisdom would not be wasted on your ears. Funny how I am seeing that I chose the wrong path while leading you through a maze.”
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence, Sir Pendrac,” the Dawn Fang claims, her mind already wandering to what is waiting for her.
*****
Stepping out of a glowing portal, Mab and Dean find themselves on the balcony of Jewelz’s bedroom. The doors are open to show the well-furnished chamber, which has been cleared of the usual piles of gemstones. In their place are heaps of smoking rubble that were once the courtyard statues. Picking up a cracked face, the burglar recognizes the features as her own, but with a monstrous twist. Turning the piece over, she scowls at the faint shimmer of crushed emeralds that can never be reclaimed. Casually tossing it over the railing, Mab heads for the bed where she can see a form on the other side of the translucent curtain. A gust of wind reveals Clyde, who is asleep and still damp from being bathed. The smell of the Vampire Queen’s perfume hits the burglar’s nose, which twitches as she fights the urge to give in to her rage. A faint rumble in the distance causes her to stop and quickly scan the room for signs of Jewelz, but there is nothing suspicious. The hair on the back of her neck stands up as Mab walks around the bed and runs a claw along the curtains to cut them in half. Getting a better look at Clyde, she can see that his eyes are closed and there is a crystalline sheen to his skin. Turning to Dean with a question, the burglar is suddenly hit by gore when the old-world vampire explodes and his remains are sent flying across the room.
“I was hoping he wouldn’t make me do that,” Jewelz says as she steps out of a mirror. She rolls up her dress’s sleeve and plucks a round ruby out of her butler’s remains, the gem still crackling with fire. “Was he complaining about never getting his kingdom of knowledge? I became bored with that idea within moments of hearing it. You can memorize every fact in the world, but you still need power and wealth to put them to use. He would have been killed long ago if I didn’t have a need for his council and wisdom. I love that shade of pink on you, Winthrop. Too bad I didn’t get your precious jacket.”
“You’re going to get to the point, right?” Mab asks with a yawn. Using part of the curtain to wipe her face clean, she throws the bloody rag at her enemy’s chest. “I didn’t travel all this way to trade insults. All I want to do is take Clyde home and leave you a rotting corpse in the sun. Is something wrong with your island?”
The Vampire Queen’s lips twitch when she hears another chunk of her home collapse in the distance. “Some of your friends killed my demon who happened to be the one keeping Apelios together. Too bad Dark One died never remembering its name. I don’t even know it. Just mesmerized the thing into forgetting and claimed I would share the information for a few centuries of loyal service. It worked so well that I was going to use the trick on you. Then I realized I would have to look at your face for centuries and I lost my appetite. Speaking of ugliness, I can’t believe I had to curse Clyde to win him from you when you look so horrible and nightmarish. What have you done to yourself? The hair is an unkempt mess, your skin looks rough from here, and I think I see the start of a little belly. Did someone fall in love with pastries when she became a Dawn Fang?”
“I didn’t know vampires could get wrinkles.”
“Rancid wench.”
“Talentless thief.”
“Foul-smelling scrap of sludge.”
“Idiot”
“Bitch.”
Mab grins as she hisses, “Runner up.”
Cheeks turning red and fists clenched, the Vampire Queen nearly loses her temper, but stops when she sees Clyde roll over. With a gentle wave of her hand, she gets him to stand and open his eyes, which are coated in a thin crystal. She tries to have him walk to her side, but instead the groggy vampire stretches until a crunching pop echoes from his shoulders. Trying to make it seem like that was what she planned, Jewelz playfully beckons for him to come closer. Giving Mab a sideways glance, Clyde obeys the command and lets the other woman put his arm around her waist. She runs a finger up his bare chest and kisses his neck in an attempt to get the burglar to attack. All the Vampire Queen receives from her enemy is a tapping foot and an impatient gesture for her to get on with whatever she is planning. Determined to get a better reaction, she grabs her captive by the cheeks and pulls him into a passionate kiss. She gains enough control of his body to make him pull her in as close as possible, his monstrous strength almost enough to snap her spine in half.
“Now you’re just embarrassing yourself,” Mab states with a snort. Putting her hands in her pockets, she leans against one of the bedposts and waits for the kiss to end. “There’s no reason for me to be angry, idiot. He’s not doing that of his own freewill. It’s all you, so there’s nothing for me to get jealous or angry about. Without the curse, this wouldn’t be happening regardless of the amount of makeup and cleavage you use. Although, I really should ask how you got that kind of bust. Not that I want one, but it’d be funny to walk into Chastity’s place with that and . . . Never mind because I can see that going wrong. Now, are you ready to toss the bait aside and have a real fight?”
“Clyde is more than bait,” Jewelz says while stepping in front of him. Running her hands up his sides, she stares into his eyes and strengthens her enchantment. “With my island crumbling, I need to find a new home for my people. At least those who survive. I will leave you with your partner trying to kill you. The only options you have are to take his head or let yourself get torn apart. I do apologize after all of the fun I put you through, but this place no longer feels right for our final battle. Please return to me with her head, my pet.”
“I should have known you’d run away!” the burglar shouts as her enemy vanishes into a cloud of diamond dust. She is about to give chase when Clyde steps in her way and throws a punch that misses her by an inch. “She’s gone, so you don’t have to pretend to be her slave anymore. Don’t think I won’t hack your limbs off and throw all your parts onto the ship. I might not be able to reach it from here, but Lost can bring you the rest of the way. Stop trying to hit me, you bastard!”
Clyde spins around and delivers a kick that he turns into a tap at the last second. “That won’t fix the problem. She changed the curse, so that I’ll explode like Dean if I leave this room. I think I can survive that if I’m enraged, but I don’t feel like getting angry. Same thing goes for ridding myself of the crystals. I think I can do it with a
punch to my own body and then I simply have to spit up the powder. I’d rather not take the risk. Hey, do you mind dodging a little faster? I’m trying to make this believable.”
“I’m busy, so shut up and keep faking it,” Mab snaps while leaning away from a punch. The wind from the blow is strong enough to knock her across the room, but she flips to land on her feet. “Out of curiosity, how far did you go with her? You don’t have to give me details. We talking shaking hands, kissing, sex, stuff that even Jinx the Pleasure Goddess would frown upon?”
“I got her mad a bunch of times, so it’s like we were married,” the thief answers with a smirk. He is about to grab his partner by the throat when his fingers twitch and momentarily deflate. “That was weird. The curse might be realizing that I’m pretending to fight you. If you’re going to do something then do it now.”
“Just remember that you asked for it to be fast instead of gentle.”
“Like I expected it any other way?”
Blowing Clyde a kiss, Mab kicks him in the groin with all of her strength, which sends him to the floor. He gets up after a few seconds, but he moves slower and flinches whenever she swings her leg in his direction. As if they are dancing, the pair move around the room with one gracefully dodging and the other fighting the lessening urge to tear her apart. A sudden pain in his chest forces Clyde to fall to his knees and he coughs up crystalline blood before he can stand again. Rushing forward, he throws a punch at Mab’s head from such a close range that she has no chance of getting out of the way. Instead, the burglar leans back to put her upper body into a shadow on the wall and watches his fist pass very close to her nose. Leaning on the edge of the void, she flips her lower half out of the way of a kick and swings her legs back down to brace herself against the wall. While Clyde is off-balance, Mab leaps over his head and somersaults to slam her heel into the top of his spine. The instant she lands, the burglar jumps away from a blow that leaves a gaping hole in the floor.
“Once you’re free, I want you to head for the ship and get it into the water,” Mab says while cartwheeling towards the balcony. Hopping onto the railing, she spins around to kick her partner in the face and takes a deep breath. “The Vampire Queen is a coward who ran away from the biggest fight of her life! Doubt anyone heard that or believes me, but it’s worth a shot. Anyway, you can see the ship in the arena, so toss it into the ocean and get away from Apelios. I’ll meet up with you after I’m done here. By the way, I’m really sorry about how much this last part is going to hurt.”
“Go for it,” Clyde mutters under his breath. He braces himself for the shot of agony that feels like his skull is being ripped out through his nostrils. “I probably should have asked what you were going to do. What are you doing since you aren’t touching me?”
“I haven’t met a shiny bauble that I couldn’t steal,” the burglar declares as she pulls a crystal copy of Clyde’s skull out of the shadow of her pocket. Putting the thin replica back into the darkness of her jacket, she wiggles her fingers in front of her partner. “Claws plus shadows in the body makes for an easy heist. I might have taken a few pieces of various organs when I was dodging, but you’ll heal in a few minutes. The fake bones are now in a sack in my room on the ship, so we can put it back together and remember this fond moment.”
“You’re enjoying this far too much.”
“How often can I come to your rescue?”
“I’ll make sure to get kidnapped more often.”
“Don’t overdo it or I’ll need to find a man who can protect himself.”
“What was that?”
Realizing what she has said, Mab clears her throat and awkwardly pats Clyde on the chest as she walks by. “Good to have you back, partner. I’m just going to take care of my unfinished business and we’ll head home. So . . . Nice to have you back.”
The burglar steps into a shadow and drops out of sight, but not before she catches sight of Clyde laughing. She lingers on the other side of the darkness to watch him tear off some of his skin to check his bones. He frowns at the notches in his arm, which are healing slower than Mab expected. She is tempted to take him to the ship, but the fear of losing track of Jewelz makes her stay where she is. It is not until her partner leaps off the balcony and disappears from view that Mab feels comfortable searching for her enemy. Pinpointing all of the dots of light that are connected to Apelios, she bites her lower lip and tries to think of where she should start. She is about to check the various shadows around the island when a disembodied voice whispers detailed directions into her ears.
“Thanks again, Sir Pendrac,” the burglar says before hurtling through the void.
*****
With her people panicking throughout the island, the Vampire Queen materializes on a hidden dock and runs towards the ocean. The air ripples as a cloaking ward disappears to grant the Dawn Fang access to her private ship. The crystalline vessel bobs in the choppy water and a wave of her hand activates the gemstone golems that are onboard. Jewelz is halfway to the gangplank when she is tackled from the side and knocked into a stack of crates that are filled with dresses. The top container falls and is knocked away by Mab, the distraction allowing the Vampire Queen to deliver a kick to her rival’s stomach. The burglar crashes into a pile of neatly cut lumber, which falls on top of her. Hoping her enemy is trapped, the black-haired Dawn Fang sprints for the ship while signaling the faceless golems to forget the supplies and begin leaving the pier. Before she can leap onto the deck, the vessel violently shudders and lists to one side. A loud crack echoes from inside the hull before the mast falls through the deck and a plume of water explodes from the hole. Within a minute, the sparkling ship has sunk to the bottom of the ocean, its mindless crew still working to set sail.
“I’d suggest swimming, but that really wouldn’t help you,” Mab says as she emerges from her enemy’s shadow. Her slash only catches the Vampire Queen’s skirt as the other woman flips over her head. “To think you wanted to rule the world. You’re abandoning all of your people to a watery grave. Now, I haven’t thought much of you for a long time, but this is selfish even for you.”
“As if vampires can drown,” Jewelz retorts, her dress transforming into a more comfortable bodysuit. Moving in the blink of an eye, she misses her agile rival with a kick that leaves a hole in the brittle ground. “If you must know, I was going to put them to sleep and revive them once I found a new home. All of my followers have a gem in their bodies that gives me full control of them whenever I want. I love them so much that I wanted to make sure they were safe. My power has protected them for years.”
“You sound like every warlord and crime boss that I’ve killed in my lifetime,” the burglar points out. Evading another blow, she lands on a piece of earth that is about to crumble and has to jump further away from her enemy. “What exactly was the purpose of this place? I can’t figure out why you would have a demon as a foundation, a ridiculously elaborate path to get here, and enslaved followers. Those are the makings of a kingdom, but you’ve thrown it away in order to face me. I’d be flattered if it wasn’t so stupid.”
Pulling out a handful of gems, the Vampire Queen turns them into explosives that she throws at the other Dawn Fang. “Because I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed up. Every time I had happiness, you were there to take it from me. I was Rellan’s only apprentice until you arrived. I was going to inherited Apelios and be with him forever until you beat me during our final test. Every heist that we did together saw you getting the treasure first. I always came in second to you and it pushed me into the shadows. While you enjoyed being among our kind and thriving, I had to stay hidden.”
“I would have left you alone even if I knew you were alive.”
“Then, why are you here?”
“Because you tried to take Clyde away from me!”
“Only to make you feel my pain.”
“I wasn’t the one who killed Rellan.”
“You forced my hand.”
“What
definition of logic are you using here?”
An explosive goes off in front of Mab and forces her to jump back into a solid punch to her side. She can feel her ribs crack as she spins away and avoids a kick to the head. Creating diamond gauntlets and boots on her extremities, Jewelz continues her assault while the burglar focuses on healing and dodging. The instant she sees an opening, Mab drops to all fours and darts forward with her clawed hand heading for her enemy’s chest. At the last moment, the Vampire Queen’s body shimmers and she is replaced by a confused maid. The attack kills the woman instantly and the burglar is left staring at the corpse. Her senses snap back to the battle in time for her to block a kick, which breaks her forearm. Taking a swipe at Jewelz’s neck, Mab ends up beheading a guard and getting punched between the shoulder blades. The blow nearly goes through her body, but she rolls as soon as she feels contact and takes off her jacket. Staring at the damaged hydra scales, she tosses her precious garment onto a crate and cracks her knuckles. Emerald daggers fly at her head, but she takes one step to the side and drops into a shadow. She leaps out behind the Vampire Queen and slices the woman up the middle only to find that she has killed someone else again. Jumping straight up to avoid the expected counterattack, Mab ends up colliding with a kick from above that sends her into the ground. The impact is enough to shake the small dock and it partially snaps off from the rest of the crumbling island. Climbing out of the broken earth, the burglar rolls away from a stomp and severs the leg that comes at her throat. Seeing that it is still Jewelz, she jams a clawed hand into her enemy’s side and curses at the sight of a young man sliding off her arm.
Rivalry (War of Nytefall Book 3) Page 27
