Wyvern's Lair (Desert Cursed Series Book 5)

by Shannon Mayer

  His thick shock of white hair was pulled back from his face, and once more, he wore the light khaki-colored loose pants and top of the desert, a scarf around his neck ready to be pulled over his face in the case of a dust storm or extreme heat.

  His eyes were not full of anger or hatred this time, and I realized then what I was dealing with—a split personality. “You’re the good gramps today, huh?” I sat carefully, adjusting my butt on the flat rock. It felt as though there were a pivot point in the middle, and if I moved in any one direction quickly, I would send the whole thing toppling into the clouds. But if I just sat there, acting scared, he’d have the upper hand.

  That was not acceptable.

  “Perhaps.” He smiled.

  Yeah, this was not the same Emperor I’d dealt with before. But like dealing with Marsum, I didn’t know how far to push him, how far to take the questions before I got the ugly Emperor back. This was going to be interesting.

  He folded his arms and watched me. “You are fighting for your brother, correct? To bring him back from the dead. Why? Why him and not, say, your father? Or your mother? Why is his life so much more valuable to you than theirs?”

  His words were as sharp as if he’d stuck me with a knife and I struggled to answer calmly. How did I explain that I knew it was possible with Bryce? That something in me said that he was not really gone? I didn’t.

  “Because.”

  There, that was as good an answer as any, and I refrained from sticking my tongue out at him, which was something as far as I was concerned. Not to mention that I didn’t want to think about bringing my parents back from the dead. Maybe I hadn’t because I’d lost them so many years ago, or maybe because their deaths were timely in some ways even though they were painful. Maybe because Bryce deserved another chance at life.

  He laughed at me, teeth flashing. “Such a thoughtful and well-considered answer deserves a reward. I can give you your brother. For a price, of course, but I can give him to you.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Right, like my ass on a platter?”

  He shook his head, still smiling. “The flail. It’s just a weapon. Give it to me, and I will free your brother.”

  I frowned. “What?” He’d said free my brother, not bring him back to life.

  He snapped his fingers and my brother was just there, as surely as if he’d been alive and breathing. Bryce looked tired, his face drawn and his golden hair a mess, but he was there on his knees. A cage around him, the bars glowing with a pale white pulse of magic, he stared at me. His mouth was covered with a similar colored cloth, glowing with the same magic. His eyes, though, spoke volumes, and he turned his head side to side ever so carefully in increments and slow enough that if you weren’t watching for it, you would never see it.

  Don’t help me.

  “Bryce!” I lunged forward and the rock I was on tipped, going nearly vertical. I scrambled backward, my claws digging hard into the stone. Perks of having shifted with the flail on my back. The connection to the weapon made my teeth and claws stronger than they would have naturally been and I used it to my advantage.

  I worked to balance the rock once more until I was standing in the middle, shaking this time. Bryce was so close, there at the Emperor’s feet on that platform. I could leap the distance, I was sure of it. Pull him with me as we woke. But that would put me into striking distance of the Emperor’s hands—or better yet, the Emperor would move his platform and let me fall. Either way, I would end up in a not so good place.

  My brother didn’t want me to make the trade. Not that I was surprised. He wouldn’t want me to risk my life for his.

  “I don’t need your help to bring my brother back. To free him,” I said. “So you are offering me nothing for something. Not a good deal, especially not in the desert, which you should know.”

  “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. I can offer you more, if you will bring me the flail. I will give you your brother, and the form you were meant to have.” The Emperor’s smile didn’t slip. “If you do not, I believe the ophidian queen will be happy to kill you and bring me the flail, and then you will have nothing for nothing. At least, I offer you something in exchange. Let us call it a family discount.”

  “So, she’s one of yours?”

  “They are all mine.” His eyes narrowed. “All of them.”

  I didn’t know what to make of that. All of them? Who was he referring to? The ophidians? Somehow, I didn’t think so.

  A shiver ran through me and I answered before I could think better of it. “No. No deal. I’ll kill your snakes and fry them up for breakfast before I ever give you what you want.” Even if it cost me my brother, even if it cost me my full form.

  The taste of my full form, a jungle cat that was a force to be reckoned with, was still with me and I couldn’t deny the desire to be what I was meant to be. But I said no, even if it was hard. Even if a part of me wanted to say yes.

  “You will never break that curse without me,” the Emperor all but cooed to me. “You will always be the weak and useless cat you are now without me. Or dead. Dead is fine too. Either way, I’m going to win this. You will not stop me from freeing myself. Slowing me down puts you in a nasty place. A place that will cost you dearly.”

  I pulled myself together with some difficulty, locking eyes with my brother, not letting him out of my sight. I nodded to him, not the Emperor. “I’ll find a way to free Bryce myself, and I’ll find a way to keep my other form. Just. Fucking. Watch. Me.”

  “No, you won’t,” he said. “That is the sadness of all this. You will fail on both counts. But I could give them to you now. For the weapon. A mere weapon. And you would keep your life. Is that so much to ask? I do not think so.”

  I shook my head as his words burrowed into my skull, driving home the point he was trying to make. No one had been brought back from the dead before. Why did I think I could bring back Bryce? Because I loved him? Was love enough? Was love enough to save Maks? No. Bryce wasn’t dead. The Emperor had said he’d free my brother. Freeing him meant he was alive but captured.

  Part of me knew that it was the Emperor getting inside my head, feeding me doubts, making me believe he was the only path. Even knowing that I couldn’t escape it, or him.

  I had to do something fast or I would agree to his demands, the words were there on the tip of my tongue to say yes.

  “I will . . .” I shook my head again and again. “I will . . .”

  “Say it. Say you will give me the flail.” His voice hammered into my skull. He was trying to force me to agree. That couldn’t happen. I shook my head again and took a step back, the rock beneath me tipping.

  “I’ll fucking die before I give you the flail,” I snapped.

  I did the only thing I could do. I let gravity take hold of me even knowing that whatever happened to me here happened to me in the real world. A fall like this could kill me. But agreeing to give the Emperor what he wanted was worse. And I was banking on someone to save me.

  He shouted something, I’m not sure what, but his magic slid around to stop me, and I fought its hold, pushing it away.

  I went limp, letting the wind take me, whistling around my fur and clearing my mind of the Emperor’s magic. I twisted, thinking about hitting the ground feet first at least. The ground seemed to shoot toward me. I needed someone to wake me up. Someone who was bonded tightly to me.

  “Maks!” I screamed his name, praying he’d hear me. It didn’t occur to me to yell for Maggi or even Lila. Just him. Either he’d save me, or I’d die smashed on the rocks below. Maybe that was better, too. Maybe it would be the telling point of my story. I drew one last breath and screamed for all I was worth.

  “MAKS!”

  13

  Dying in the dreamscape was not how I wanted to go out. In my head, I’d always thought it would be fighting a gorc, or some epic save-the-world shit, but not falling to my death while I was asleep.

  But if someone on the other side of the dreamscape didn’t wake me,
that was exactly what was going to happen. A weird sense of peace flowed over me as I fell and fell. There was nothing I could do, whatever happened was out of my hands.

  A soft breath escaped me, and I closed my eyes as the ground flew toward me . . . and a rush of wet cold splashed over me.

  But I didn’t wake.

  I closed my eyes and my mouth warmed, lips against mine, softening and demanding at the same time. Arms around my neck pulled me back from the ground rushing toward me and I sat up, tangled with Marsum as he kissed me awake. I pulled back, staring up into his face. “Thanks.”

  Reality hit me hard a moment later. I’d left Bryce behind, again.

  Water spilled down my cheeks, masking the sudden onslaught of tears, masking the pain rocketing through me from leaving my brother behind. I rolled, twisting to my hands and knees as I fought to breathe normally. So much for being in a state of calm and peace as I died.

  “Fuck it all.” I gasped the words, my mind catching up with what had just about happened to my body.

  Lila was right there, touching my cheeks with her tiny claws. “What happened? We couldn’t wake you! You screamed Maks’s name and then Marsum threw a bucket of water on you and even that didn’t work so I told him to kiss you and he did and then you woke up!”

  I nodded and sucked in a shuddering breath. “Thanks. The Emperor dragged me under.” Sure, he’d said he hadn’t, but he also had proved himself to be a liar more than once.

  “You saw him?” Marsum pulled me to my knees so we were face to face again. He was pretty much holding me up at that point. “You saw the Emperor? Did he try to kill you?”

  “He’s like a split personality.” I shivered, colder than I should have been from the splash of water that had literally saved my life. “I got the not so bad version. The happy gramps version.”

  Marsum’s hands tensed on my arms. “What did he want?”

  “The flail.” I touched the weapon, making sure it was there. “He wants the flail.”

  Maggi stood to my one side and Marsum spoke, his words thoughtful. “The weapon absorbs magic. I created it that way on purpose. It could destroy the Emperor’s throne and the entire prison he is held in with no help from any of the stones.”

  I nodded. “Makes sense.”

  Marsum didn’t let go of me, and the heat from his hands sunk into my muscles. He looked to Maggi. “How do we keep her from the dreamscape? He could have killed her.” Which, of course, would mean he would die too. Self-preservation at its best.

  Maggi shrugged. “We don’t. There is no protection against it. You saw her, twitching and moving. That is the only indication and then she must be woken. Immediately.”

  They talked over my head like I was a child, and I let them because my mind raced through what little I’d learned from Ollianna.

  “We have to go the market before anything else,” Marsum said.

  “I don’t disagree, but with the Emperor finding her—”

  I interrupted them. “The ophidian queen, she’s guarding the crossroads and keeping Trick and Ollianna from protecting the site. That is our goal, that is where we need to be if we have any chance of taking the Emperor down. It’s supposed to be the power of the crossroads that will do that.” And bringing Bryce back.

  Maggi’s shoulders slumped. “Then the queen wants the power of the moons that will shine down. Many creatures will, but only one major event can be accomplished.”

  Lila groaned. “You mean whoever is first gets their spell done? The first gets the magic thingy they want and everyone else is screwed?”

  “Close,” Maggi said. “The magic fades with the waning of the moons. So the first spell is the one that will take the majority of the night’s power, and then less with each successive spell. Perhaps three or four spells at the most could be done. That is why holding the crossroads is so important.” Her face tightened. “How well do you know this Ollianna and Trick you sent to guard it?”

  “I trust them more than I trust you,” I said.

  “You should never trust a witch,” Maggi smiled. “Not even me.”

  Marsum’s hands tightened further and he dragged me up and away from Maggi. As if she were a danger. Lila flew around our heads.

  “Maggi put us into the dreamscape once. Could she have done it here?” Her question stopped us in our tracks.

  The Ice Witch, once formidable and dangerous, the sister of Ishtar, watched us with obvious amusement. She folded her arms across her chest and laughed. “When you are done being foolish, we can discuss what should be the next step. You have seen, and you know I have no magic left in me. Unless you wish to give me the cuffs back.”

  “Yes,” Marsum said at the same time I said no.

  The next step. As if Maggi were in charge.

  I turned my head so my mouth was close to Marsum’s ear. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Maggi was up to something. I was suddenly sure of it. But what? Was she trying to get Davin to come forward, or was she going for something bigger?

  Like the sapphire or emerald stone I carried in my pouch.

  “Me too. I say we make a run for it,” Marsum said under his breath, his eyes locked on Maggi.

  “The camel can keep up,” Lila reminded us quietly. “It’ll run longer and faster than the horses.”

  “Then we need to find out what she’s really about. Have you got any liquor we can use?” he asked, his breath soft against my cheek. Warning bells went off in my head.

  Too close, I was too close to him.

  “Țuică,” both Lila and I said together. His hands tightened farther, then softened and slid down my arms to my elbows, cupping them. He tugged me so that my back pressed against his chest, the feel of him solid, safe. I leaned into him, breathing the moment in—

  “You two knock that shit off,” Lila hissed. “We don’t have time for it.”

  I blinked and realized that Marsum’s mouth was only a sliver away from my own. He didn’t pull back, but instead closed the distance and kissed me. Not hard, not aggressive, just a pressing of his lips to mine, a soft touch that reminded me of Maks. I pulled back, my heart hurting and hammering all at once. “Lila’s right.”

  “Oh, the dragon is very wrong. But you’ll see.” He let me go. “Where’s the booze?”

  And just like that, the moment was gone. I blew out a breath, unable to keep my eyes off his butt, as he walked back to Maggi who quickly wiped a glare off her face. Damn it. “Thanks.”

  “He’s bad mojo right now. You’ve got to remember that.” Lila tapped me on the head with the points of her claws, like tiny pins.

  “Yeah, I know. I know.” I did know, but damn it, I was struggling with not wanting to bite that very fine piece of ass. Or let him do the same to me, bad mojo or not.

  Marsum dug into the saddlebags and pulled out a bottle of țuică. “This the stuff?”

  “What is this about?” Maggi asked.

  “Celebrating.” Marsum yanked the cork out with his teeth and spat it to the side. He lifted the bottle and chugged a few mouthfuls down, then handed it to Maggi. “We’re alive for tonight. That’s worth celebrating. I’m doubtful of our chances tomorrow, so let’s drink.”

  To say that’s where things got interesting would be an understatement.

  The liquor was strong and agreed with me just fine on the way down my throat, sweet and hot as it trailed a burn line straight to my belly. We passed it around, and with each shot, the laughter increased until we were all rolling with it.

  But one thing I was beginning to wonder about was just how many bottles of țuică were out there, and how they kept ending up in my saddlebags.

  “Oh, that’s me,” Lila snickered, wobbling across the ground. She climbed up onto the back of the saddle and tapped on the bags. “When I do my flybys early in the morning and late at night and check out places, I also search for the booze. I like it way too much.” She hiccupped and I laughed, and even Maggi laughed.

  “A dragon with a drinking p
roblem?” Maggi shook her head, her words only slightly slurred. “Now I’ve seen it all.”

  Marsum sat on the ground next to me, the bottle in one hand. “No, not a problem with drinking,” he pointed one finger off the bottle he gripped. “She has a problem with stealing. She’s a damn klepto.”

  Lila and I both burst out laughing. “Fitting, seeing as she’s with me.” I snagged the bottle from him and raised it in a toast to the sky. “Queen of the jewel thieves.”

  Marsum’s leg leaned against mine as he bowed at the waist howling. I fell against him and Lila sprawled out in front of us, flat on her back, claws over her mouth as if that would stop the giggle fits.

  I had a flash of a moment of understanding that this was not something I ever would have done with Ford. As much as I liked him, I never would get sauced with him around. There was too much vulnerability to these moments.

  My sobering thoughts did as much to my plum-liquored brain and I sat up, handing the bottle to Maggi. She took another swig and closed her eyes as she swallowed. “Lila has good taste in her drinks, at least.”

  “Are you here to get your man back?” The words burst out of me, untampered by any cognizant thoughts. Wasn’t there one of the Jinn masters she was sleeping with? Or was my brain that far addled by the sweet nectar already? Wait, that wasn’t the question I needed to ask her.

  Maggi smiled. “Well, much as I do like the body that Davin is currently in, I think I’d have to fight you for him, and I believe I’d lose that fight. So no. I don’t think that’s going to happen.” She eyed the bottle and then shot a look at me. I barely noticed that Marsum slid his arms around me and pulled me into his lap. I was too intent on Maggi.

  “Why are you really helping?” That was the question I was supposed to ask. “Maybe you’re the witch we can’t trust.”

  “I saved your life and you want to know my motivations?” She smiled instead of frowned, which I thought would be the case if someone was accusing me of not being trustworthy.