by S. K Munt
‘Well, this is highly entertaining. And I think I might keep ‘ol Link here alive, just to enjoy that look on his face-the one I’ve been wearing for nine months.’ There was a pause. ‘But Ivyanne, darling, surely you know that there’s no way I’m going to let you live long enough to bring a Loveridge in the world, right, and break my sister’s heart any more than you already have?’
‘I told you to kill me twenty minutes ago.’ Ivyanne said softly. ‘So just do it.’
‘What? Right now? After I’ve gone to all of this trouble?’ There was a smacking sound. ‘No I’m going to have a little fun with you first.’
Lincoln heard Ivyanne begin to cry. He looked over to see Ardhi’s mouth press against Ivyanne’s lower stomach. The skin on her upper thigh was flushed with a scarlet handprint from where Ardhi had smacked her. Hatred made his blood boil.
‘How can you do it?’ he choked in disbelief.
‘Because she has been begging me to do it for ten damn years Lincoln. You of all people should understand. She’s not some innocent princess-she’s a sea witch who does nothing but break hearts and ruin lives-from a line of mermaids created to do exactly that. Men aren’t supposed to cower at a woman’s feet like you and I have.’ He turned to smile at Lincoln devilishly. ‘In fact, she kind of owes you one too. Maybe I’ll even convince you to have one last go at her once I’ve had my turn.’ He turned back to Ivyanne. ‘Would you like that my queen? Two for the price of one? It’ll ease your guilt and serve as penance for the pain your ancestors have caused, and the evil doings that has led to.’
Lincoln began to shake as Ivyanne’s sniffles and gasps became sobs. He twitched his wrist, and began to saw again, biting his lip so hard he drew blood. He’d cut off his own hand before touching Ivyanne with it under duress.
‘What pain?’ He asked, trying to keep Ardhi occupied. ‘I’d love to here your twisted reasoning behind this disgusting plan of yours!’
‘Actually, you would benefit from hearing it.’ Ardhi said, grinning. ‘It’s a long story though, so are you feeling attentive?’
‘I’ve got time,’ Lincoln muttered. ‘And I could use the distraction.’
‘So could I.’ Ardhi responded, gently lapping at one of Ivyanne’s fallen tears. ‘I’d hate for the queen’s beauty to overwhelm me before I’ve made her good and sore.’
Ivyanne’s sob caused Lincoln’s own tears to overwhelm him.
*
Tristan couldn’t believe it when Ivyanne’s bathroom window slid easily open. It had looked locked when he’d first reached it-but now he saw that she hadn’t quite closed it all the way. He opened it further, grinning. Had this been an oversight on her part? Had her frostiness downstairs been a show for Garridan?
Tristan grinned as he lightly pushed up onto the sill and swung his legs through, being careful not to make too much noise. The bathroom light was on but the door to her room was wide open, and the main light spilled through from the suite.
‘….. Once upon a time….’ a low male voice said. ‘There was a handsome young prince. And a dazzling mermaid princess had her sights set on him, though not in the way one might assume...’
Tristan froze on the tiles, feeling his heart hit the floor. Lincoln was in there telling Ivyanne a bedtime story? To his horror, tears pricked at his eyes.
‘I’ve heard this story,’ Ivyanne’s voice was soft, strained. ‘Let me guess, I turn to sea foam in the end?’
‘That’s a very different story.’ There was a chuckle. ‘If you’re a good, cooperative girl, you might be too delirious with pleasure when your ending comes to even notice.’ There was a moan. ‘This underwear is splendid, my Ivyanne. But let’s get it out of the way, hmm?’
Tristan’s hand went to his mouth, and he was immediately overcome with absolute humiliation and heartbreak. The fighter inside him told him to storm in there and fling Lincoln across the room, but the romantic knew he’d been beaten. He slowly began to retreat, desperate to get out of there before he heard even one word more.
‘I’ll take your silence as a yes. Anyway, back to the story. You see, this princess’s mother knew of the prince. She’d been watching him for years… sound familiar? Only her motivations were a little more sinister than your own mother’s were.’ There was a pause. ‘You paying attention Link? Because this is where it gets good.’
Tristan’s knees gave out from underneath him when the speaker addressed the man he’d assumed was speaking. He spun on his heel and crossed the bathroom, but when he was a foot from the door, he spotted Ivyanne’s dressing table mirror, and the reflection in it made his body break out in pins and needles and halt at the threshold.
Ivyanne was handcuffed to the bed in skimpy underwear with a black satin shirt pushed back on her shoulders-and Ardhi Kayu-Api was kneeling between her thighs, sliding his belt out of the loops with one hand, holding a gun to Ivyanne’s head with the other.
‘Now where was I? Oh yes, with the naughty queen….’ Ardhi chuckled. ‘History repeats huh Link? This one’s been an absolute troublemaker! I’m thinking that a lashing or two before I get started won’t go astray-though I should probably gag her first.’ His face was twisted in a gruesome smile. ‘Now just what could I shove down your throat to silence you, my darling friend...?’
Ivyanne raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ve seen you naked, and I know that nothing you’ve got is going to reach down the back of my throat Ardhi!’ She smiled radiantly. ‘And after having Tristan the other night, I might not even register you entering me anywhere so go ahead while I lie here and remember when the getting was good with real men.’
Tristan’s mouth fell open, bewildered by Ivyanne’s absolute candor and the vicious glint in her eyes. But before he could even dwell on the shout-out he gladly would have paid to hear cross her lips, Ardhi backhanded the queen.
‘Bitch!’ He hissed.
Tristan’s teeth grit together as absolute horror backwashed through his blood, but he pulled out his colt on reflex again. Ardhi was going to return to the ocean in pieces.
Ivyanne’s head turned to the side but even as fresh tears spilled down her face, she smiled. ‘I know, right?’
‘Ivyanne shut up before you make it worse!’ Lincoln sounded agonized.
Tristan stepped closer to the door and the image opened up-now he saw that a fully clothed and beaten looking Lincoln was hog tied on the floor in the corner, watching Ardhi with loathing.
What the…? Tristan was astounded. How had both Link and Ivyanne been overpowered? What had they been doing? Then he cringed-he did not want to know and in that moment, it didn’t matter.
‘You’re going to get a bullet for every nasty fucking thing you do to her the second you try to leave this house,’ Lincoln spat. ‘And it won’t be obvious shots either, you piece of shit!’
‘Agreed!’ Tristan announced, finding his voice and his nerve at once, bursting out of the bathroom and leveling his pistol with the back of Ardhi’s head in one swift movement. He cocked the hammer as he loped forward. ‘Put your fucking hands on your fucking head, or I start with your balls!’
An obvious tremor raced through Ardhi’s bare back before he stiffened. Ivyanne’s head snapped up, and the sheer rapture alighting her face when she looked up at him was clearly born of relief.
‘Tristan!’ Ivyanne practically sighed his name. ‘You came!’
Tristan smiled at her wolfishly. ‘Yeah. Clearly I can’t take a hint, huh?’ He glanced at Lincoln. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Do I fucking look okay?’ Lincoln’s complexion was mottled red with fury.
‘Sorry.’ Tristan advanced on Ardhi. ‘Drop the weapon Ardhi.’
‘No.’ Ardhi didn’t turn. ‘I’m not finished yet.’
Tristan’s finger longed to squeeze the trigger. ‘You should know there’s a gun pointed at your head.’
‘And your bride is just near my head, with my gun pointed at her. I don’t like your chances of pulling your trigger without killing her in the process-t
wice. Neither do you-and that’s why you haven’t fired yet.’
Tristan glared at the back of Ardhi’s skull. ‘Did you just say my bride?’
Ardhi chuckled. ‘So you didn’t know either, huh?’
Tristan’s eyes flitted from Ardhi’s head, to Lincoln’s scowl, and back again. ‘Know what?’
‘Congratulations…’ Lincoln’s voice dripped with disdain. ‘Wasn’t the classiest engagement announcement ever, but it sure was timely!’
Tristan wet his lips, trying not to let his pulse accelerate to the point of misdirecting his focus. ‘Ivyanne?’ he asked quietly.
‘I told them, at gunpoint, that it’s you I plan to marry.’ Ivyanne said in a feeble voice. ‘I’m sorry. If I’d known you’d end up in here...’
At gunpoint? Tristan glanced at Lincoln again, the wheels in his brain turning as he remembered the very reason why Ivyanne had called off her engagement to Lincoln in the first place-to keep Lincoln safe. And yet Ardhi had obviously busted in on the two of them, alone on the full moon, while Ivyanne was wearing incredibly sexy lingerie…. Tristan’s eyes swept over Ivyanne, and what he found what he was looking for-Lincoln’s ring on her finger-he gritted his teeth, trying not to let the disappointment throw him off any more than he’d allowed the hope to. No wonder she was baiting Ardhi with Tristan’s endowment-she was trying to throw him off the scent!
‘Well excuse my poor reaction to such happy tidings- but it’s pretty hard to get excited over it when I see this weasel straddling you.’ Tristan bluffed, blinking back tears.
She chose him she chose him she chose him….If it came down to a fight to the death, he’d take Ardhi out with him. Living in a world without Ivyanne wasn’t an option, and the apology in her eyes was unmistakable.
‘Good,’ Ardhi said cheerfully. ‘If you want me off her, you’re going to have to ask really, really nicely…. and then throw that gun down while you’re at it.’
Tristan laughed bitterly. ‘Not a chance.’
Suddenly, there was a flurry of motion followed by a loud boom that made Tristan flinch violently. Plaster exploded from the ceiling and rained down on the bed, and through the powdery snow, Lincoln saw that the gun was in Ivyanne’s cuffed hand now.
‘What the?!’ Ardhi rasped, backing up the bed. ‘How did you..?’
‘I can pull a lot more to me than tidal waves and psychopaths!’ Ivyanne announced, recoiling one of her legs and letting her flexed foot fly into Ardhi’s chest. Then the gun fell from her hand and made a clanking noise as it connected with the bed rails and dropped behind them and harmlessly onto the floor.
Ardhi let out a grunt of pain as Ivyanne sent him flying-but she’d kicked too hard, and his body smashed into Tristan’s, knocking the gun out of his hand and onto the carpet. Tristan landed flat on his back, feeling the air whoosh out of him.
25.
‘Tristan I’m sorry!’ Ivyanne yelped as she thrashed against the bed head, rubbing the skin on her wrists raw.
‘It’s okay!’ he responded breathily, but Ivyanne couldn’t see anything but Tristan’s head of curls and Ardhi’s bare back as they wrestled on the floor. She then squinted up at the gaping hole in the ceiling, wondering how many had heard the shot and how far away they were. She’d jeopardized Tristan’s tidy rescue with her kick-but at least the shot would have rang through the echo chamber that was her house.
‘Ugh!’ Someone grunted.
Ivyanne looked up and saw that Tristan had managed to leverage himself slightly on top of Ardhi, and was pulling back his arm for a second punch. Ardhi’s hand was on his shoulder-bracing him away, and his hand was glowing violet.
Tristan’s resistant to that! Ivyanne reminded herself. And Ardhi’s weak from the storm! Ivyanne glanced to her side and saw that Lincoln had gotten up and was jerking his body, his face a purplish shade of red, his teeth bared. Suddenly, he looked like a sitting duck-and she was instantly reminded of how eerily similar this struggle between Ardhi and Tristan seemed.
‘Link!’ She whispered. ‘You have to get free! I don’t want Ardhi to drain you! And he’s going to need to soon!’
Lincoln looked up. ‘I’m almost through! This knot is tight!’
Ivyanne heard a cry and looked back over in time to see Tristan crawling across the floor, and reaching for the gun. He’d only just gotten his hand around it when Ardhi leapt to his feet, blood running down the side of his face from where Tristan’s fist had split the area near his eye-and bring his foot down-hard-on Tristan’s wrist. Tristan grunted, and the gun went off- and through the side of Ivyanne’s couch in the outer area. Ivyanne yelped and Ardhi’s foot came down again, on the back of Tristan’s head, smashing his face into the carpet. Tristan rolled onto his back, the gun abandoned, and caught Ardhi’s bare foot before he could bring it down again. He swung Ardhi’s legs sideways, like a baseball bat, and there was a crack followed by a scream as Ardhi’s head connected with the bottom leg of Ivyanne’s bed.
Ivyanne sucked in a breath, hoping that silence would follow that maneuver, but to her dismay, she saw Ardhi pull himself up on the end rail, looking beaten-but no less determined.
There was a sudden smashing on the door. ‘Ivyanne! What’s all that noise? Are those shot in there?!’
‘Yes!’ Ivyanne screamed. ‘Ardhi’s in here Garridan! You have to help!’
‘Garridan?!’ Ardhi demanded, lunging forward on the carpet and kicking out behind him, connecting with Tristan’s throat. Tristan’s eyes bugged and he staggered back, shocked. ‘Garridan Loveridge?! What’s that hermit doing here?!’
Ivyanne narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Head of security!’ She snapped. ‘And now that he knows you’re in here-you’re done.’
‘Ivyanne the door’s locked! Can you let me in?!’
‘No I’m tied up! Can’t you just bust it down?’
‘No! That’s the reason I installed it!’
Oh god. Ivyanne thought. It’s probably bulletproof too! I should have just let him shoot Link through the door, catch the ricochet and alerted everyone an hour ago!
There was a loud thump against the door, but Ivyanne couldn’t even see it quake. ‘Look we’ll get in! Just-hold the crazy bastard off!’
‘On it!’ Tristan stepped forward and took hold of Ardhi’s shoulders, bringing his knee up between his legs then shoving him to the ground. Ardhi moaned balefully into the carpet, his hips rising.
‘Don’t worry, you’re going to die a virgin,’ Tristan said, aiming a teeth baring smile down to his nemesis, ‘so you won’t need those anyway.’
Ivyanne almost giggled in hysterical relief, but then Ardhi’s hand shot out towards the gun that Tristan had dropped-which was now within reach, and a scream ripped out of her instead.
‘Sorry mate,’ Ardhi said. ‘But Sherri’s expecting me back, and she’s the only person in this world I haven’t failed. We need each other. You two didn’t have to be together to be happy, but we do.’ He smiled. ‘And now you won’t.’
*
Lincoln yanked his wrists apart with such force that he smashed his left one into the side of Ivyanne’s bed. He cursed in pain, but Ivyanne screamed at that exact moment, drowning his agony out. Lincoln bit down on his tongue and resisted to the urge to nurse his own arm, pushing himself back up and reaching for the bindings around his feet instead. He had to get Ivyanne out of harm’s way.
Lincoln ripped the last of the ropes free of his welted ankles and cried out in joy, picking up the knife and shoving it into his back pocket before struggling to his shaky legs. He lunged towards Ivyanne on the bed. ‘Are you hurt?!’
Ivyanne looked up, eyes wide, mouth open. ‘You need to help Tristan! Ardhi’s got the gun!’
Lincoln looked and saw Ardhi attempting to stagger to his feet at the exact second that Tristan noticed the weapon and stepped back, eyes widening. Lincoln turned back to Ivyanne.
‘Tristan can handle himself!’ he whispered, reaching over her and fumbling for the clasp on her handcuffs. To h
is relief, they weren’t the official kind, which required keys, merely the garden variety sex toy ones. If Ivyanne’s hands had been closer together, she could have unlatched them herself. In fact, if she’d strained hard enough, she could have snapped the chain. He hoped she never found out. ‘I’ve got to move you before that thing starts going off again!’
‘No!’ Ivyanne cried, too loudly. ‘I’ll be fine! Link there’s a gun behind me-on the floor! Don’t worry about me-just help-’
‘I’m your guard.’ Lincoln said. ‘So is Tristan. So just shut up, and let us do our jobs for once.’ Lincoln freed one of Ivyanne’s wrists and moved on to the other one, grimacing when he saw the welts on her skin. When they were off, they slipped off the rail as well, clattering against the wrought iron as they fell into the gap behind the bed. He scooped her up in his arms, and looked around for somewhere to stash her out of Ardhi’s reach-but her bedroom was too open, too spacious for her to hide anywhere. He had half a mind to open the balcony doors and lock her out.
Ivyanne bucked. ‘Put me down! Lincoln I’m telling you that I don’t need-’
There was another crack of a gun shot. Ivyanne yelped and Lincoln’s heart leapt into his throat and he spun around, practically ramming her into the wall and shielding her body with his own as he waited to feel the searing pain of a bullet. But nothing came. He glanced down at her and saw her gaping up at him, wide-eyed. Never before had she looked more overwhelmingly lovely or vulnerable. His heart ached like the bullet had gone through there. He deposited her on the floor and shoved her into a slight depression between the wall and a tall chest of drawers. ‘Stay there!’ he hissed. ‘I can’t help him if I’m trying to watch you too!’
But Ivyanne was staring over his shoulder at her bed, her mouth wide open. ‘Lincoln... look.’
Lincoln turned, opening his arms behind him to keep her in place and followed her nod to the bed-seeing that the air above it was dotted with white feathers. Then he dropped his eyes to the hole in the pillow, where she had been ten seconds beforehand, and his knees went weak.
