by Sam Cheever
He stood just inside the door, his long, pale hands crossed in front of him and his shoulders slightly sloped, as if he were trying to appear less menacing. He favored me with a sad, beautiful smile as he nodded in acknowledgment of me.
“Princess Astra. We meet at last. I fear it is all but too late now to save either of us. But despite that,” he said, offering me the sad, soft smile, “I am happy to make your acquaintance.”
I gulped and tried to speak but my throat closed around the words like a vise. I cleared my throat and swallowed hard, trying to force spit past the clench in my vocal chords. Finally I managed to croak out his name…though it seemed an inadequate response under the circumstances. “Prince Nille…”
Before I could croak any more than that out, Nerul sauntered into the room behind Nille. I fought the urge to shiver. It occurred to me that Nerul brought cold, crypt-like air with him wherever he went. Like a cologne. Eau de death.
I scrambled to my feet and Prince Nille moved between his father and me. To my extreme surprise the beautiful prince appeared to be trying to shield me from Nerul. Then the three of us shared a serious soap opera moment.
You know what I’m talking about. You’ve seen the holographic special about ancient human daytime television. You know, those shows where the television actors all stopped just before the commercial break and looked around the room at each other meaningfully…nobody saying anything with their lips but everyone contorting their expressions comically to speak volumes about what they were thinking and feeling. Once grimace is worth a thousand words…that kind of thing.
Well that’s what the three of us did in that room. We all just stood there, glancing meaningfully back and forth, building the drama of the moment beautifully if somebody had wanted to grab a holographic camera and put it on record. Unfortunately, the dramatic moment didn’t do a damn thing about getting me out of the predicament I found myself in. And the commercial never came to release us from the silly moment. But events did conspire to move the show along.
So suddenly that my eyes almost couldn’t register it, Nerul moved a hand and Prince Nille burst into flame before my very eyes. Nille’s expressions after that would have thrilled fans of the ancient soap opera. Unfortunately they were precipitated by genuine and extreme pain.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Stop, Drop and Let’s roll
The maiden watched the princely form, consumed by Hades fire,
Although she doused him with her tears, much more did he require.
I screamed and jumped back as the flames danced outward and seared the pale hairs on my arms. Ridiculously, the words stop, drop and roll scrolled across my brain, a warning I’d heard about a thousand times in school days.
As I watched the tender young Prince writhe in agony in his coat of fire, I found myself unwilling or unable to move toward him. My cowardly feet refused to move. It was almost as if I were being held there by some outside force. But then my eyes were pulled to his and what I saw there terrified me.
His face was contorted in silent agony. The air around his head popped and throbbed to about the level of his chin, but somehow the fire didn’t touch his face, it danced around his torso with heat and flame, melting his delicate white skin as if it was made of tissue paper. Above the horror that was his flaming body, his gaze reached out to me, like a physical force and drew me toward him. From somewhere in the depths of the pale blue orbs, a light began to glow and throb, even as the fire consumed his body.
I didn’t want to move into the fire. Every fiber in my body railed against it. But despite that, my hand began to reach toward him. As I moved to touch him, he gathered together what must have been a monumental effort of will and lifted his flame-encased arm in my direction. Our fingertips touched. For just the barest flicker of time, the flame shot down his arm and ran up mine. Before I could even scream or flinch away it was gone and a cool, healing wind ran across the reddened flesh, taking away the sting and leaving the flesh numb behind it. My smoking sleeve was the only remaining evidence of the flash fire that had touched my arm.
That was when I heard Dialle. His words came to me broken and uneven, as if they were being subjected to outside interference. I could feel his presence though, like a warm blanket that wrapped me in its protective layers and held me away from the Hell that awaited me within a fingertip’s touch. I could smell him. Emotionally, I reached out to him before I even realized what I was doing. Then I reined myself in and pushed him away.
The teardrop on my neck started to throb and my power flared. Without my conscious direction, power surged into my arm and flowed toward Prince Nille. It entered him through the channel formed by our touching fingers. Our eyes never drifted as my power entered his smoldering flesh. With a slight jerk and a widening of his blue gaze that showed his surprise he accepted the power and I felt it mingle with his own.
Before my amazed eyes the flame began to die and the room grew cool again. Nille reached out and pulled me into his body, his riveting, blue gaze never leaving my own and sighed as our bodies molded together. I could feel his flesh humming against me as it regenerated. I kept my eyes on his because I was terrified of what I would see if I looked away. The smell of old fire filled my nostrils but surprisingly I couldn’t smell burned flesh.
Expectancy lay on the room like a sour odor. Of what I didn’t know. After a long, uncomfortably silent moment, I tried to pull away and found I couldn’t. But, though Nille didn’t hold me, something was. Like an invisible cord, our shared magic had bound us, both physically and emotionally. My initial inclination was to fight it, but the feeling was peaceful and pleasant. Not at all sexual as it had been with Dialle.
Prince Nille placed his hands on my shoulders and rested his head on top of mine. My power waned as he held me and I had a sudden, irrational fear that it would give way before Nille was done with it. But as my magic leaked away, another power surged up to take its place and I sensed Dialle’s presence again. Nille tensed as Dialle’s power joined us. He raised his head and looked down at me, his eyes searching my face questioningly.
That was when it finally hit me. I knew what had been bothering me about Prince Nille. It was something I’d read in those books I’d gotten from the Angel Council. It had seemed an unimportant thing at the time. And not entirely real. But now I realized that it was extremely important and I suddenly knew what everything meant. It all made sense.
I tore my gaze away from Prince Nille’s and met his father’s cold, midnight eyes. I was only a little startled to find the Evil Rayanne smashed tightly against him, her arms and one leg twined possessively around him. I didn’t care that she was there. Somehow it seemed fitting.
“He’s the long-awaited devil. That’s what this is all about isn’t it?”
Nerul smiled and turned to Rayanne. “I told you she’s smarter than she looks, my love.”
Rayanne’s smile was a tortured twisting of lips that were compressed with distaste. “She’d have to be, my King, or she couldn’t manage even the most mundane tasks.”
Nerul threw his dark head back and laughed. The sound was rich and sexy and made me want to smash in his gorgeous face.
I took a step toward the malevolent duo but Nille stopped me with a fully-regenerated hand, on my arm. “Do not force their hand, Astra. Though you suit their purposes, they will not hesitate to kill you.”
“You speak wisely my son, as always.” Nerul gave Prince Nille a tight smile and a nearly imperceptible bow. “Now we will leave you both to your preparations. Tonight’s ceremonies will not be delayed. I feel the need for urgency in this.”
Rayanne pushed her arm through Nerul’s and they left, taking a good portion of the room’s chill with them. Before the door closed behind them, I saw two guards step into place in front of it.
I looked at Nille and he smiled softly. “I am sorry you have been dragged into this. I much preferred it when I was mourning only my fate.”
I turned to him and frowned. “What
exactly do they have in mind for tonight?”
He looked me straight in the eye and gave me the bad news. “You will be sacrificed in a ceremony to transfer my power to my father.”
“Shit.”
One, dark eyebrow peaked. “Indeed. Unfortunately, I share your fate. In order for the ceremony to work, we’ll both have to be killed as we consummate our betrothal.”
It was my turn to look surprised. “Wait a minute. What if I’m already betrothed to Dialle?”
Nille chuckled. “That was a brilliant stroke on Dialle’s part. And such a sacrifice too.” His blue eyes sparkled at me and I couldn’t help smiling as my face turned crimson.
“Well…anyway…what does that do to their plans?”
Nille moved toward me and reached a long, tapered finger to touch the mark on my neck. At his touch the mark gave off sparks. I gasped and jumped away. Nille just frowned slightly and dropped his hand back to his side. “This mark cannot be broken. It is true and fixed.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I felt guilty anger bubbling up. Somehow I didn’t like the sound of that.
Nille dragged his eyes away from my little tattoo and smiled. “It means you are well and truly betrothed to Prince Dialle, lovely Astra. And he is a very lucky devil.”
I turned away from him and started to pace the room angrily. “This is no time for jokes, your Highness.”
“I’m not teasing you, Astra. Two hearts and two souls were merged with that mark. It is binding in nearly every way.”
I stopped pacing and glared at him. “Nearly?”
He waved a hand in dismissal. “Do not trouble yourself with thoughts of breaking it. It can’t be done.”
“But isn’t that exactly what your father has in mind?”
Nille smiled and, for once, he looked devilish as he did it. “Yes. It is.”
“But you’re telling me it can’t be done?”
“Yes.”
“Then why does Nerul think he can do it?”
“Because if the mark were given under certain circumstances, it would not be true and it could be broken.”
“Like if I were an unwilling participant?”
“That is one circumstance, yes.”
I thought about that for a while and paced some more. Then I flopped on the bed and looked up at him. He stood silently, watching me, as if he already knew what I was going to say. I’m sure he did. “I told him I was raped.”
Again the devilish smile. “I know.”
“Man is he gonna be pissed.”
“Yes, my lovely Astra. He is.”
“Okay,” I said to the beautiful, blue-eyed devil before me, “So what happens next? How are they going to attempt to break the mark?”
Nille pulled his gaze away from me and looked truly uncomfortable for the first time since he’d entered my luxurious prison. He cleared his throat and walked over to sit on the end of the bed. I did not like the way his eyes couldn’t meet mine.
“Nille? How awful could it be?”
Still staring everywhere but at me, his eyebrows peaked and he shrugged, looking somehow…guilty.
“Shit, Nille, you’re scaring me.”
He sighed and stood up, meeting my eyes again heroically. “I’m not sure really. They could try one of two things.”
I watched him expectantly. He seemed very reluctant to go on. “And they are?”
“Neither one will be pleasant for you, Astra.”
“Oh, I’m sure of that. I’ve hung around your family and friends long enough to know that very little having to do with them is pleasant.”
He nodded, not even taking offense at my words. That surprised me a little. I mean, if he really was the long-awaited good devil that was destined to join the Angel Council with the Devil Court and ensure peace between the dark and light worlds, you would think he would take exception to being lumped in with Nerul and his gang of nightmares on cloven hooves. Still, I guess the young Prince had more pressing matters on his mind than being thin-skinned about some stupid Tweener and her big fat mouth. Like his death perhaps. And mine.
“Okay, just tell me. I always feel better if I know what I’m facing, even if it really sucks.”
He cocked his elegant head at me. “Sucks?”
“Yeah.”
“As far as I know there will be no sucking, though it is possible there could be I guess.”
I could feel my face turn pale as the blood drained from it. I bent my knees and let my butt hit the edge of the bed. I really just wanted to sit down for a minute. I was tired. That was all, my knees hadn’t buckled or anything. I managed to nod at him. “Okay, so sucking is probably out but not definitely.” I thought about that for a minute. “Just for my clarification here, Nille. Are we talking about blood sucking?”
He frowned. “Of course.”
How stupid of me to ask. I gulped and fought the urge to clasp a hand protectively around my neck. “Okay. So…what? There are vampires in this court?”
“Among other things.”
“Of course.” Once again, how stupid of me to ask. “Lovely.”
He sighed again and was suddenly lying across the bottom of the bed. Stretched out full length onto his side, he crossed his long legs at the ankles and propped his head up on one hand. The other hand he placed on mine, the fingers of which were curled into tense claws in my lap.
“Here’s the worst of it, Astra. They can try to break the mark in one of two ways. One, they can kill Dialle, but I’m not sure they are strong enough to best him now that he shares your power…”
“What!”
He laughed at me. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know that your powers have been merged under the mark?”
I clamped my lips together and scowled at him. “It seems there is a whole shit ship full of stuff I don’t know, your Highness.”
Nille sat up and was suddenly seated next to me. He put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side. I felt immediate and immense calm as we touched. Despite my natural aversion to unnecessary touching, I leaned against him and put my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead. “I am truly sorry you’ve been dragged into this, sweet Astra. Now we must find a way out of it for you.”
I nodded and just let myself melt against him. I could have stayed in that spot forever. Such a peace I’d never felt and it had completely taken me over. It was truly intoxicating. Especially under the circumstances. It occurred to me that the creature I’d been sent to locate and save, was now trying to save me from the big nasties and was doing all in his power to calm my fears. Life is just full to burstin’ with irony isn’t it?
Finally I roused myself enough to ask. “What’s the second way?”
He kissed my forehead again and rubbed my arm. “Huh? Oh. They will mate you with a gargoyle.”
I didn’t even twitch. “Of course they will,” I said and sighed numbly.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Shit Deepens Thusly
Alas our maiden dodged the blaze, her safety to acquire,
Only to find that she’d been thrown, from the flame into the quagmire.
As with all good things, my period of tranquility didn’t last nearly long enough. Only a moment into my restful respite with Prince Nille, the door to my prison flew open and puked the two demon guards into the room.
Nille jumped up and stood in front of me protectively. I shook my head in an attempt to expel the last of my dazed pleasure and stood up too, moving to stand beside him in a united show of strength.
“Leave us,” said Nille in a quiet but powerful voice.
For a brief moment the guards seemed confused. They shared a soap opera look and almost seemed ready to turn around and leave. But then Nerul sauntered into the room behind them and they stiffened their spines visibly. “Nice try, my son, but your power cannot usurp my power here. Soon, in fact you’ll have no power at all.” Nerul chuckled darkly and turned his velvet black gaze to me. “Mx. Phelps, I see you haven’t yet dresse
d for our little ceremony.”
My eyes dropped to my tattered and charred nightie and I smiled sweetly at him. “I appreciate your offering of clothing, your Highness, but I prefer my clothing to cover my entire body, otherwise, what’s the point?”
He laughed. “Indeed, what is the point.” Before my eyes even registered movement, he was beside me. With one quick jerk he had ripped my poor nightgown right down the middle so that it hung off my shoulders like a dilapidated robe. I quickly pulled the two halves together and glared at him.
“Asshole.”
He nodded. “Yes. Thank you. You have two minutes to put that on,” he gestured to the little nothing that the evil Rayanne had tossed onto the bed, “or, if you’d prefer you could participate in the ceremony naked. I’m sure no one would mind.”
After a final glance at his son, which was filled with such distaste that it surprised even me, Nerul left the room, leaving the two surly demons behind.
The two guards licked their thick lips and stared at me until I wanted to climb into the bed and pull the covers over my head. Nille stepped between them and me and motioned toward the gown on the bed. “I’d put that on if I were you. It isn’t much but it’s better than nothing.”
I nodded, glancing at the slobbering pair at the door. Nille looked at them too and spoke in the language I couldn’t understand. Reluctantly they turned away so that they weren’t quite staring at me anymore, though their beady little eyes kept dancing in my direction when they thought Nille wasn’t looking.
I quickly pulled the remains of my tattered nightgown off my shoulders and turned my back on Nille. I could feel his pale gaze on my uncomfortably naked back as I reached for the shimmering gown on the bed and dropped it over my head. The fabric felt cool and curiously liquid against my skin. It clung to every swell and curve of my body, hiding nothing and revealing almost more than nakedness would have. The plunging neckline dropped nearly to the tops of my nipples and rose to slip across the tops of my shoulders before skimming tightly down my arms and flowing over the backs of my hands. As I tugged and pulled the gown away from my body, I began to feel surprisingly drowsy and weak. As strange as it seemed, the gown appeared to be gaining weight at an alarming rate. After a moment of trying to ignore the sensation, I felt as if a two-hundred-pound anchor had been strapped to my back. As soon as I realized what was happening to me, I started to tug on it, with the idea of pulling it off over my head. But my fingers felt thick and numb and the fabric was curiously elusive. It slipped through my clumsy fingers and stuck to my flesh so that I couldn’t even pinch it away from my skin let alone pull it off.
