If she had any magic left she would use it to end his miserable existence. “You will not take her life,” Gwyn pronounced.
Bianca’s anger built higher, swirling with the rage already causing a red haze to cloud her vision. She turned and met his gaze so he couldn’t mistake her words. “You have no choice in this. It is my life, and you mean nothing to me.”
For a moment, she thought she caught guilt in his eyes, but he brushed past her as if what she said meant nothing and approached Hel before sinking to his knees. “I have fulfilled my end of the deal. It’s your turn.”
Hel smiled down at him and glanced back at Bianca. She reveled in the pain they wrought.
“Very well, my lovely little King, I will give you what you desire.”
Another man stumbled from behind a curtain, led on a chain at Hel’s feet. Bianca gasped at the sight of him.
Gwyn’s brother, the man with the white hair, was his twin.
Chapter Twenty-One
VICTOR SURVEYED THE SCENE as pain from his shoulder coursed through him. Mostly he stared at Bianca because she came for him to this hell ravaged world. He’d have preferred she stay safe in Anwyn where Hel couldn’t touch her. He prayed Gwyn would send him to his hound form so he could heal some of the damage. But he couldn’t heal around the dagger, as it had some sort of magical ability. Victor worried the only reason he remained alive was because of his connection to Gwyn.
Gwyn embraced the man with the white hair. Nuada. The name floated back to him from when he first visited Anwyn and met Gwyn. This man was Gwyn’s brother, and Hel, that terrifying beast of a woman, was keeping him prisoner here.
All the pieces began to fit together, and Victor started to see a pattern that wouldn’t end well for him.
Gwyn met his gaze and Victor could see it there. His eyes said trust me, but in Victor’s mind, from getting to know Gwyn for a time, it also meant you’re not going to like this.
The pain coursed through him, and he sank to his knees on the hard stone. He couldn’t regret the decisions he’d made. He couldn’t regret Bianca and everything she’d meant to him. He might regret allowing himself to be tangled up with Gwyn though.
Gwyn patted Nuada on the back and turned to Hel. “Remove his chains. This deal has been completed.”
Hel batted her lashed and pouted her lip. “Why don’t you get rid of your wife for me, and then we can go about other business.”
Victor recoiled from the sound of her voice, swaying. Her attempt at coquettishness disturbed him deeply.
“My lady,” Gwyn bowed gracefully. Victor witnessed Gwyn’s devotion to Bianca on numerous occasions. This time he acted, badly. A little hysterically he wished he had popcorn to throw at him for the terrible act.
Gwyn continued, “Fairy has strict rules. I can’t gallivant with any young maiden, even after I’ve become widower. If we went about the dirty process of ending her life, it wouldn’t matter. I still could not be with you or anyone, no matter their beauty for a year. That’s how long Fairy requires me to mourn.”
He must have shown enough genuflection because she smiled at him and snapped her fingers, the chains on the man’s neck disappearing.
Victor snorted and all gazes strayed to him. He should care, but he assumed shock began to set in, so he doubled over and began to laugh. Hel growled and began to defend her throne, but Gwyn approached to him first. “Allow me, my lady,” he said.
Gwyn removed the dagger from his shoulder with a forcible yank, and a hot spurt of blood trickled down his chest. The pain seemed to have subsided, but he met Gwyn’s gaze and saw something there. Regret, sadness. He wasn’t sure as a fog began to swirl in his mind and he had no way of getting out of it.
“Sleep brother,” Gwyn whispered.
And, in the last moment, the soft press of Gwyn’s lips against his forehead became a counterpoint to the cold steel driving through his belly.
______
Gwyn pulled the dagger from Victor’s stomach, his life already fading, but that spark, the hound in him calling out to its master, is what did him in. Victor’s blood coated his hands and he turned his face so Hel couldn’t see the tears pooling in his eyes. Victor would never have loved him the way he did Bianca, but Gwyn had fallen for Victor’s soft smiles and gentle air. His hands trembled as he gently laid Victor on the cold stone. Gwyn could call the Wild Hunt right then, bring him to life and destroy Hel. But to do so would kill Bianca and Nuada too, and he couldn’t risk it after giving up too much for them. His mind worked fast, and he ran to Nuada, shoving him toward the portal. “Go.”
His brother didn’t even look back as he stumbled out. Gwyn turned in time for Bianca’s fist to connect with his face. As he fell, to his knees he wondered if he’d made the right choice. Her hands closed around his neck and she squeezed.
“You killed him,” she yelled, but it came from a great distance, and he realized he was passing out. He laughed, the noise bouncing off the stone walls. Maybe in death he could truly be at peace.
Chapter Twenty-Two
BIANCA RELEASED GWYN’S NECK as he sank to the floor, unconscious. He wasn’t dead. She could hate him, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill him. At least not until she’d taken her revenge from the bitch who started it all. She faced Hel, who stood by her throne eyeing Bianca like a puppet in a box. Or like a curiosity in a travelling fair.
Bianca launched herself at Hel, taking her down beside the slumped form of Victor. She couldn’t even look at him right then. She’d failed him in every way she promised to protect him. She yanked Hel up to punch her, but the woman unleashed a wave of power, sending Bianca flying across the room.
She smacked her head against the stone and stars swam before her eyes. Hel was the goddess of the Underworld, so she had the ability to call the dead, but Bianca wasn’t quite certain she knew what her other abilities were. Maybe she should have gotten more information from that visiting hellhound.
Bianca stumbled to her knees, her vision going in and out of focus as blood began to trickle down the back of her neck. “You know what, bitch? You made one fatal mistake.” The words crawled from her throat and she felt herself losing control. There would be no coming back from this. She didn’t even have a desire to.
Hel shook the rubble from her dress and smoothed the gossamer down her lumpy thighs. When she shoved Bianca away with her power, it would seem she flew the opposite direction, breaking a nearby column into rocky gravel.
“And what, my dear, is that? From where I’m sitting, I think I’ve won. I’ve taken everything from you. And soon the horsemen will bow to my will, thanks to you.”
Bianca laughed. She threw her head back and howled, enjoying the maniacal sound as it bounced off the stone from one end of the chamber to the other. When she finished, tears streamed down her cheeks mixing with the blood on her neck. Bianca clutched her ribs that were beginning to ache from her rough landing and smiled, a wild unhinged grin. “I have nothing left to lose.”
Hel’s smile drooped at the corners, and Bianca took a deep breath and folded into herself before pulling every ounce of power she possessed. “I call the four winds, the wings, claws, and talons of the Earth. I call the huntsman and his dogs. As the Queen of the Fairy, I call the Wild Hunt.”
Silence descended in the chamber, and Hel took a step back, uncertainty written across her features. “They have no power here.” She took another retreating step and repeated as if to herself. “You have no power here.”
Bianca smiled, certain it was filled with madness, as power ripped through her from head to toe. She let it flow from every fiber, and she knew the hunt would come. Just as she stood there. “Are you certain, Hel? Because right now the sound of wings ringsin my ears. Do you hear it? Do you hear the call of the dogs?”
Hel glanced around, looking for her hounds but none were present. Not a single hound filled the cages. Gwyn was also gone from the prostrate position she left him in.
“You may play Mistress here,
Hel, but the hounds belong to Wild Hunt, and they are coming for you. How have you been treating them? Will they rejoice as they tear your flesh from your bones?”
Hel turned to the throne and pulled a mighty sword from beside it with a silver hilt. The blade itself shone like black glass. “It’s black diamond, forged in Tartarus, and I am its master. I will slay the Wild Hunt, and then I will plunge its blade into your whore belly.”
Bianca studied her, blankly, as she stalked toward Hel. “Perhaps I won’t wait. I’ll kill you now and save myself the trouble afterward.” The previous tussle with Hel only proved she was losing her grip on reality.
Hel approached, but before she could reach her, a wall of wind surrounded Bianca. Her hair whipped up from the messy ponytail, and her T-shirt flapped against her belly. She held it down and smiled, doing her best Poltergeist impression, “they’re here.”
They didn’t see the hounds at first. Claws scratched against stone in the shadows, creatures slipping their way to their prey came first, and Hel backed away as far as she could get from the door. Bianca almost admired her for not running toward the portal for escape. Bianca thought about taking it, and leaving. But discarded the notion. She would stand and watch as the Wild Hunt ripped her apart.
A mass of seething energy folded around her, and Bianca couldn’t watch. She saw nothing as the wind continued its onslaught and the magic coursed across her skin. A horn blaring drew her attention, and she caught the curve of Gwyn’s back as he rode past on a great, black, winged beast.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Even as she hated him for all the pain he brought her, she couldn’t stop seeking him out. He betrayed her, killed a man she loved, and she now suspected he took her friends from her as well. He might be the only one to come out of this alive. In the end, he’d have to deal with everything he did to her and Victor. In the end, he’d be alone. He loved her, she knew just as she knew the sky was blue.
The pressure of the magic built around her, folding in, as feathers, wings, beaks, and claws grazed her skin as they passed. A scream came from Hel’s direction, and Bianca closed her eyes to revel in her pain. Hel ruined everything, and she would know that pain if it was the last act Bianca accomplished.
But soon the darkness sparked pain through her; the magic, the ancient magic she barely understood, began to take the life from her. Her seal was broken, the love of her life gone, and she had nothing left to live for.
She sat down on the cold stone, now frozen over with a sheen of ice, and huddled into herself. The black void claimed her consciousness soon after, and she smiled knowing she’d feel no more pain.
______
Gwyn dismounted the chimera and watched the hounds peel the flesh from Hel’s bones. He didn’t think she’d be bothering them again. He had never been so proud of his queen than in that moment. He spotted her standing in the middle of Hel’s court, staring down the end of the Black Diamond and laughing. And when the woman called him, and his hunt, he knew he could never give her up. The beasts grew restless and the kelpies pawed the stone floors seeking new prey.
He plowed through the seething mass of the hunt. A call from within. The sheen of fur caught his eye and he pushed through to stare down at the bloody mess of her. The hounds backed away until only one approached the bloody and writhing goddess.
Gwyn’s voice caught in his throat. “Victor?”
Of course the hound did not answer. His only response was to rip into the tender flesh of Hel’s throat and pull. Gwyn forced himself to witness the carnage, and when it was done he took up the Black Diamond. This was a sword fit for a queen, not an imposter. The urge to hunt began to recede as the creatures folded back into themselves, back toward Bianca.
He parted them easily and found her laying on the floor, unconscious. He reached down and picked her up. She murmured and he leaned to hear what she said. Bianca broke his heart all over again.
“Victor,” she whispered.
Chapter Twenty-Three
BIANCA WOKE TO THE sun beating down on her face. She shielded her eyes and sat up, the effects of magic still coursing through her making her a little queasy. She listed to the side before a hand reached out and pulled her upright. She looked down to find a naked Victor laying amongst a field of poppies. She smiled, obviously even though she refused to end the world for them, she had a place in the golden throne. Heaven couldn’t be sweeter with Victor beside her.
“Has heaven taken up opium processing too?”
Victor chuckled and trailed his hand down her upper arm. She glanced down to find herself in a little pink sundress. The wounds from the battle were healed. Dying had its perks. She looked around and decided heaven looked an awful lot like Anwyn.
She sighed but couldn’t really bring herself to be upset by her death with Victor’s hands on her. She’d missed him in the incredibly short time they’d been apart. Laying down on the flowers, she turned on her side to snuggle close to him, entwining their legs.
“Don’t you two look cozy.”
Bianca jerked at the voice and glanced up Gwyn’s tall form “Did you die too? I didn’t think you could.”
Gwyn pursed his lips together and gave her his impatient look. “I hate to break it to you, love, but you’re not dead.”
She swallowed and roved her hands across the man wrapped around her. “But Victor.”
“Came back to life to join the Wild Hunt.”
For the first time, a pebble of hope dropped into her chest. “So we all made it out alive?”
Gwyn licked his lips and sat down. He straightened his T-shirt and picked a red flower from the ground before shredding its petals. Bianca decided he wanted to avoid her gaze. “Just tell me, Gwyn.”
“Look, I’m sorry.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he started speaking, only to stop a moment later with the thought incomplete. “I only aided Hel because she had my brother. And even when it came down to it, I could never kill you.”
“But you surely did by killing Victor.” She sat up, the anger returning.
She gestured toward Victor who captured her hand. “Um…I’m alive, B. I’m fine.”
“That’s beside the point, and you know it. He betrayed us. I thought we were together.” Bianca faced Gwyn again. “That we were all together in this. I care for you both. I couldn’t stand to lose either of you.”
Gwyn pulled another flower and continued shredding. “Victor can never leave Fairy. If he does, he will die.”
Bianca could sense he held something else back. “And what else, Gwyn?”
He sighed and drew it out before answering. “Your abilities are gone. You are no longer Conquest, and every part of you tied to that power is also gone.”
“How is that possible. The four horsemen are the four horsemen. I can’t quit. The world can’t end with three horsemen.”
“No, that’s true. But your seal is broken and your power is gone. If the other seals were opened and you had to join the apocalypse, you would join it just as you are, but with the power you now hold.”
“And what power is that?”
“The Queen of Fairy, the mistress of the Wild Hunt. You would end the world crowned in thorns while covering the Earth with fang and claw.”
Bianca studied the pile of red petals grown before his crossed legs. “But the world won’t end. It can’t, so what’s the big deal? It won’t matter? Why do you still look so…ill?”
She gestured at him. He was leaner than when she last saw him, and his skin pale and wan.
“The magic takes from me too. I am healing from the hunt. But beside that, my brother did not return to Anwyn, and I fear I’ve lost you forever too.”
Bianca stared down at her hands and then at Victor, who lay content in the sunlight with his eyes closed.
“I can’t say I don’t hate you for what you did to us. I don’t know if I will be able to forgive you, but you will need to give me time to decide for myself.”
Gwyn didn’t say anything, so she contin
ued, “and what about you? Do you still want me even though I am no longer Conquest? What if I’ve lost the desire to make you kneel and beg for my affection?”
Gwyn met her gaze for the first time and smiled. “Love, you are Conquest to your soul. You will never be able to separate that part of you. That was all you, never your magic or your seal. Yes, your power physically forced people to obey, but you, Bianca, can make me do that without the magic.”
Bianca heard him, but didn’t believe him. The absence of her magic was a chasm deep and empty inside her. To be honest, she wouldn’t miss the visions. She wouldn’t miss having to hide the future from those she loved. The strange need to control, to conquer, was gone. It was no longer pressing into her, coaxing her to do things she wasn’t even sure she would enjoy. Was this conquering part of her really there? Would the men still want her if she couldn’t bend them to her will.
“What about you, Victor?”
She lay down in the grass and curled her head into the curve of his arm pit to cuddle against his chest. “If I didn’t whip you on a regular basis, would you still want me?”
He chuckled. “I would want you any way you would allow me to have you.”
She laughed, matching the rumble in his chest. She glanced up at Victor, a look of longing hung in his eyes. She held her hand out to him, and he scooted forward on the grass and lay down so his head rested on the curve of her upturned waist. As he slid his palm down her calf, she took a deep breath of summer air. She definitely still wanted him, despite it all. An electric current buzzed through her. This Fairy magic was a new thing. Something else she had to learn to control like she’d mastered the urge to conquer.
“Where are we, by the way?” she asked. The sheen of the sun on Gwyn’s hair became too much to ignore and she speared her fingers through it to muss the silky strands.
“Fairy, of course,” he said. “It welcomes its Queen home. It’s waking up. No one has called the Wild Hunt in centuries. The magic is coursing through the place and revitalizing it. Fairy is a lovely place, but it feasts on blood, and death, and rebirth. You gave it the gift of life, and it’s saying thank you.”
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