Immortalibus Bella

by SL Figuhr

  A quick flash of irritation had crossed Eron’s face before it hardened into one of disgust. “Her Grace is more capable than the advisor.”

  The marquis clenched a fist as he swung wildly. We were attracting quite a group of watchers. Their shouts let us know they were enjoying the antics of the nobility as the inebriated marquis lost his footing and crashed backwards into a group of dancers.

  I was all for letting him get pummeled; he was soused enough he might not remember who attacked him. Eron tried to defuse the situation as Jenabram spewed insults at everyone. The other men who had been pushed were not as drunk. They realized by our rich velvets, silks, and brocades we held a higher station. I could sense it would not be to our favor, not in the middle of peasants.

  “I’m sorry, gentlemen; if you will permit me to apologize for the insults made to you on behalf of his lordship.” I was graciousness itself. “I would not want to ruin anyone’s pleasure over easily rectified slights.”

  Behind me, the marquis clapped hands on my shoulders trying to shove me out of the way. “Don’ need no damn woman apologizing for me, ’specially to these peasants.”

  The drunk before me didn’t want to let the matter go easily. “You damn . . . damn nobles,” he slurred. “Think . . . think you can just push us around and treat us no better’n slaves.”

  The drunk opened his mouth to say more, and stood there in an attitude of befuddlement while he tried to make sense out of my words. Jenabram made a rude noise behind me which I ignored.

  The men hesitated. I spoke in a low tone just for them, “Please don’t insist any further. What you would get in immediate satisfaction would quickly pale before future indignities upon your group.”

  I watched comprehension come over the men and women. Muttering, they pulled their companions back into the throng of dancers. Jenabram had remained oddly silent during the last exchange. I glanced toward the marquis to see why. His head drooped downwards. Eron, in a tightly controlled fury, might have gotten involved in a brawl when the earl and Saizar suddenly appeared.

  “Sheriff, you can help us. The marquis has indulged a fair amount and needs a quiet place to recover in while his carriage is brought round.”

  Jenabram mumbled something incomprehensible. Saizar took the man’s left arm and slung it around his shoulders, preparing to walk the man inside the palace.

  “If I may impose a moment more on you, Duchess?” Sydney said with a bow, “I had a thought of some import on a topic you mentioned earlier. May I walk with you around the garden and discuss it? I fear it cannot wait until the morrow.”

  We left, unobtrusively making our way inside the palace. He had enough control to pull us down a side hall before he kissed me. His mouth moved with a ferocity and intent letting me know how unstable his emotions were. It took some effort on my part to keep his tongue from scraping against my fangs. His mouth trailed the side of my jaw, to my neck, and toward my breasts as he pressed us close.

  The hallway was not as dark as it could be, and we were very close to the main hall. He was desperate indeed. “Lira, Lira, I couldn’t stand it. Watching him assault you and touch you. I wanted to tear him off you and smash in his smirking face.”

  A drunken, raucous voice interrupted us. “You whore! Nob . . . nobility be damned! Where’s my daughter, the whore! I know she’s here. She’s comin’ back home to her family.”

  Tom’s henchmen concentrated on Sydney while the tavern owner swung at my jaw. I caught his fist easily in one hand and squeezed, crushing his bones. The man screamed in pain, dropping to his knees. Blood dripped from between my hand, still holding onto what was left of his.

  I felt the air swirl behind me and let go of Tom, turning to block a henchman who was preparing to bring a club down onto my head. In that second, I saw behind him the earl on the ground being kicked and stomped by the other two men. I smiled, showing fang, watching the man’s face register the fact he was not the hunter anymore. He never had a chance to scream. I wrenched his club out of his hands. Moving in a blur, I stepped behind him and bashed the back of his head in while he was still trying to overcome his fear. The other two men were so intent on the earl they didn’t notice their friend had fallen.

  A few steps brought me closer; using my speed and strength I brought the club down on their heads. Bone crunched, flying along with blood and brain. The dress was a total loss. The earl was groaning, semiconscious on the floor, as I dropped the club and turned back to Tom. He was trying to stand and run.

  My attack had only taken seconds. I moved swiftly, grabbing him about the neck and lifting him several inches off the floor. “Tom, Tom, Tom. I warned you not to be greedy,” I purred.

  He kept trying to pry my hand off his throat with the one remaining to him. He used the arm of his injured member to slam down on my outstretched arm while kicking me as I throttled him. His move would have worked on a mortal, but as I wasn’t, I merely found it an irritant. He was trying to speak, but only grunts came out. I let him drop as I moved faster than he could comprehend, coming up behind him. I used one arm to pin him to me, the other to clamp tight over his mouth. I had found my drink after all.

  The earl shuddered in pain. “Duchess, what? Are you? I’m sorry I . . .” He swayed, looking in horror at my ruined gown. “We must tell His Majesty about this. The effrontery and brazenness of those lowlifes. You shouldn’t have had to fight them all on your own . . .” He gestured to the gore covering my front and side. I am disgraced; how can she love a man who cannot even protect her?

  Chadrick put a hand out, bracing against the wall. “Yes, I will be.” He forced himself to take steps forward while I walked beside him to lend support when needed. We had just turned into the central passageway. Personal guards in an all-too-familiar uniform stood before a door. Lord Nicky stepped out of the room and spotted us.

  It would have been comical to say who was more startled, the earl or the advisor. They both froze as I continued on as if nothing were the matter even, as Nicky’s eyes flared brighter in rage. The earl started shambling again. I could see the advisor’s hands clench in fists by his side. He noticed my gore-encrusted gown and the state of the earl. The anger turned to shocked puzzlement. Behind him, someone tried to exit the room.

  The young woman stopped short at the sight of us, letting out a squeak as she tried ducking back inside. The guards looked to the advisor for orders as I arched a brow, trying and failing to contain my mirth. “Lord Nicky.”

  “Yes, what is it?” I couldn’t help myself as I noticed the girl tugging her dress in place, her face coloring red in a mixture of embarrassment and defiance.

  “I can do whatever I want!” Sally shrilled out to her parent. “I’m not married.” She yelled at her father and I. “Why are you bleeding and bruised? Why is she all covered in . . . ewwww!”

  The advisor’s gray eyes became colder. “You will keep your distance from me and not presume to give me orders, do you hear me? Or I’ll have you tossed in the dungeon where you’ll soon wish you had never crossed me. Do I make myself clear?”

  I could see Sydney pale; for a moment I expected him to crumble. I stepped closer to the young man saying in a low voice, “There is no need to threaten a man we know is perhaps the only noble with no ulterior motives.”

  “I am pointing out what a mistake it would be to punish him for no reason. We all know what an honorable man the earl is.” I let my gaze go past him and to the girl. “Why let this get any uglier than it already is?”

  Sally screamed and stamped her foot at her father. “Why should she be able to talk and keep company alone with a man? Why should she have all the males courting her and fighting over her? I’m noble! I’m a virgin! I’m not promised to anyone!”

  Only two out of the three were true, I thought as this farce unfolded. “He loves me! He said he did! I even proved to him what a good wife I would be! He said I would be his wife!” She turned on Nicky who was regarding her with a mixture of disgust and contempt.
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  “Tell them! We’re to be married!” She clutched at his arm. “You nasty old woman! Why would he want you when he has me! I don’t oppose him the way you do!”

  “Sally! Apologize at once! We will discuss your behavior when we get home,” the earl gritted out to his daughter, trying not to sag against the wall.

  Lord Nicky’s slap resounded down the hall. “You stupid slut! I told you to go away! Why would I want a little girl who can’t even follow orders?”

  She stumbled away several paces, clutching her face as tears welled up, gaping at him in open-mouthed stupidity as his words sunk in. With a roar of rage, the earl charged the advisor.

  “Get them out of my sight!” Lord Nicky snarled with clenched fists. “Or I’ll have you both tossed in the dungeon! You, for attempting to attack the king’s advisor, and you, for being so stupid!”

  Nicky sneered, “You should be thankful I even consented to honor the cow with my attentions. Take him to the king and let him spout his tale. You, go down the hall and see what there is.” The advisor dismissed Sydney as he stalked closer to me. “As for you Duchess . . .”

  I could see Chadrick struggling with the guards as they forced him along toward the doors. Sally was crying and screaming at her father as a figure hesitated at the entrance, moving aside to let the guards with their burdens pass.

  “You will not presume to tell me what to do, not when your own position is so perilous.” He flicked a glance at the gory front of my gown. “Clearly you have been involved in something which has a body somewhere. Murder is punishable by death.”

  I was tired of dealing with three assholes in one night, and my temper slipped. “Perilous how? Self-defense is not a crime. His Majesty knows I am a loyal subject. Am I not in charge of rebuilding the town?”

  He was so angry he couldn’t speak, trembling with the force of holding his temper back. “You will obey me and my orders the same as if they came from the king!”

  A shudder passed over the advisor, as with a wordless scream of rage, he punched the wall. It was stone. I heard bones break from the force he used. He turned back to me, cradling his injured hand and breathing heavily.

  “I am the most powerful man in this kingdom! I can have you stripped of wealth and title and tossed in the dungeon to rot! I can order you tortured should I wish it, and no one will help you. Yet you stand there telling me lies?”

  I had the weirdest sensation it wasn’t a young man of nineteen or twenty who stood before me, but a wounded child of about eleven or twelve. I chose my words with care. “Why should I lie about something easily found out?”

  His face crumpled up in a mixture of hurt and anger, wincing at what had to be a stab of pain from his injured hand. “I won’t be made a mockery!”

  He was set to reply when footsteps sounded behind us. Eron approached after he shut the door to the garden behind the young man’s guards. The advisor’s face was scary with rage as he spotted the man.

  Nicky scrutinized him more closely before sneering and dismissing the man. He addressed me again. “Come, we will get back where we belong, with the king.” A smirk writhed across his face. “And we will finish our discussion there.”

  He saw where my glance landed; an evil leer crossed his face. “I told you before, it would be a mistake to make an enemy of me, Duchess. There is much that goes on in this kingdom which you have no notion of. It would be better to beg my forgiveness, and ask for my friendship. Don’t be stupid enough to reject me.”

  He didn’t care if I knew something wasn’t right with him. I didn’t know how to kill him, or even what he really was. Eron and his former employers still didn’t realize the kid they looked for and the young man before me were somehow one and the same. I didn’t know how to convince them of it without awkward questions arising. I was wondering why the other man stood still; this was the perfect opportunity to overpower and kidnap the young man. I noticed my steward was distracted by something behind me.

  One of the men was covered head to toe in an enveloping cloak and hood with a mask, only leaving his pale, watery blue eyes free. He carried an intricately carved staff with a chunk of crystal on the end as he approached us. Behind him lurked another person similarly cloaked and hooded.

  “You’re a little late for the costume party; it was several days ago. Is this Revenge of the Nerds? Spend a little too much time playing Dungeons and Dragons?” I inquired, catching the hateful look from the man holding the staff.

  I would not have known one of the men was Nicky’s slave as he began to laugh and laugh, a guttural sound. The other man looked at me, raising the staff in both hands starting to chant what sounded like nonsense. I got a sudden, urgent sense of danger just as Eron grabbed me from behind and tried moving me back toward the garden door.

  Nicky was screaming at the men, “You dare to betray me! I’ll see you both dead!” He ripped a hidden dagger from his sleeve, lunging toward the chanting man.

  Eron was tugging me back toward the closed door, turning to open it. The first man yelled a last guttural sound, slamming the staff down on the ground. The crystal on top flared bright as the sun. I staggered back, bringing my free hand up to shield my closing eyes as I turned my head downward. I was temporarily blinded.

  I heard Nicky babbling as something went fzzzoooommmm! Heat rocketed past my face as I stumbled backwards and crashed into Eron. It felt like the air pressure lowered drastically and swiftly, until even I had a hard time moving, but I knew it was just an illusion. The man yelled another guttural sound.

  The boom echoed, rumbled in the small space before I was deafened as well. I felt Eron, and I lifted up from the power of whatever the man had set free. My body felt like it was floating and dissolving. I had lost all control of my limbs along with the feel of my body. All I saw was a field of white.

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  Please continue reading for a sneak peek at Book 2. Sneak Peek Book 2: The Reaping

  The bar was dimly lit; Eron sat at a small table, toying with a glass of whiskey, listening to the jazz band currently playing. He was contemplating getting good and drunk, though with his fast metabolism it was nearly impossible. The waitress stopped by, asked if he wanted another, which he declined. He could see his friend onstage squinting at him and shaking his head.

  After a few more songs, the band took a break, and his friend came over, chatting people up, shaking hands. Well, not really his friend—he was more of a friend of Mica’s, though the man was good company. The waitress appeared again and Steve ordered water, with a bottle of beer.

  singleSteve took a sip of his water, then the beer. “Well it sure looks like it! I mean, what do you really know about her? Hell, she doesn’t seem to always be on the up and up, if you know what I mean.”

  “Mica tell you that?” Eron asked.

  “Look, for someone so old who’s supposed to be all wise an’ shit, you certainly can pick ’em can’t you?” Steve asked in disgust. “Donnie’s just a street kid what don’t always know better. He gets sucked in too much by shiny, pretty things, easy money.”

  He missed the look of disgust tossed his way before his friend took another gulp of beer and acknowledged a patron. “If he makes it that far. I don’t like that woman, and you know why? ’Cause she’s fake; there’s something not right about her. My guys? They can’t find any real mention of her. It’s like she never existed.”

  “Speaking from experience?” his friend razzed him as he finished the last of his beer. “Look, all I’m saying is, Missy is interested; what would it hurt to ask her out on one date? You might find you have more in co
mmon than you think.”

  Steve left his empty on the table, and taking the water with him, joined his bandmates back onstage as they started into the last half of their set. Eron continued scowling at his drink. Movement nearby had him looking up. Missy was picking the empty up; she leaned over a bit to look him in the face.

  “You still okay? Ready for another?”

  “I’m fine, thanks” It came out a little sharper than he’d intended.

  “She likes you.” The silky voice near his ear startled him so he jerked and spilled what was left of his drink on the table top. He caught a whiff of some expensive, seductive perfume.

  Eron looked to his side, but the speaker had already moved around and sat across from him. He looked over at her, taking in a sharp breath and smoothing his face out so nothing showed, while inside he felt happier. “Not you, too.” He mopped up the liquid with the useless paper coaster and his coat sleeve.

  He watched as she settled back into the chair, her black camelhair coat falling open to reveal a cream cashmere sweater, tasteful gold link jewelry and belt chain snug around her slim waist. He could just see the top of her skirt, a red and black tartan. She wasn’t dressed much different from the other patrons, but the cut and material always made her seem better turned out.

  “You do not look happy, ma chérie, is it really so bad? You are alive, no one is trying to kill you, and a pretty woman is interested in you. What more do you want?” She laid her hand over the back of his.

  Eron could only stare stupidly at it. She must have fed at some point, for it was warm and not her normal icy cold. The silken feel of her skin against his sent frissons of pleasure through him. As if she cares; if I were to tell her, I would only be giving her power over me. He abruptly yanked his hand out from under hers and clutched his glass with both hands.

  “I don’t. I find it snooze-inducing.”

  Eron spread his hands, “So, again, what are you doing here?” “Waiting.”