After Nikolai had found her gone from Blachmount, he"d traced to her eerie home, but found it had just gotten eerier. Ghostly, howling creatures in ragged red cloth circled the manor like a tornado. He"d shrugged and traced to her room, but the things caught him. They had a grip he couldn"t have imagined, and when he"d finally landed, his lesson had been learned. He rotated his arm, pleased he"d finally been able to force it back into its socket.
Those beings circled the house to protect it, and did so without cease and without fail, as he could well attest to. But the sentinel that protected Myst from threats like Ivo kept Nikolai from her as well. She"d stayed behind them for night upon night, yet now he"d finally found her outside of their protection, no doubt waiting for her sisters to return so they could attack. their protection, no doubt waiting for her sisters to return so they could attack.
But dawn was coming soon and he needed to- She leapt from the roof, drawing her sword from her back sheath as she dropped into the middle of the group of ghouls. There were at least fifty of them.
"What the f.u.c.k are you doing?" he bellowed, tracing to her side, unsheathing his own sword.
"This isn"t happening," she said to herself. "You"re not going to ruin my personal life and and my fast-track career, Wroth." my fast-track career, Wroth."
"But in the middle?"
"I"m enraged enough to do this. You have no idea"-she struck out, slicing a ghoul from crotch to neck-"how much I need this."
"I do have an idea." A perfect one. He"d felt her rage and her need to fight from inside him. And yet he"d told her that as his wife she would never again fight.
"You had better leave, because once I finish with them, I won"t stop there."
"I deserve your anger. I"ve wronged you and seek to make amends." He wasn"t optimistic about his chances for that. She couldn"t be all things to him already and then forgiving on top of that.
"You think?" When one ghoul"s claw came close to his neck, he leapt back and she snapped, "Don"t let them scratch you!"
"Concerned for me, Myst?" He didn"t dare hope.
"Of course I don"t want you to get scratched." She eyed him. "Vampires are easier to kill."
"If I help you will you speak with me?"
"Don"t need your help." And she didn"t. She was merrily felling them one after another with a skill that awed him, her sword flying so fast it was barely visible.
"Then you"ll have to listen here," he grated, digging into the fight with her. "I"d had five years of torment. I"d had a h.e.l.l of wanting you and feared you would leave me at the first opportunity. Then I had dreams of your memories."
These ghouls were irritating him, especially when they got between him and Myst while he was trying to convince her about something so critical. He began killing them more quickly. "In each one you were evil ... a seductress."
"Still am, Wroth." She kicked a ghoul in the belly, freeing her sword from his chest.
"No, you"re not-"
"Duck!" Her sword whistled over his head to decapitate a ghoul behind him. "Yeah, well, as I recall, every sunset I asked you about your dreams and you brushed away my concerns."
He slew two with one sword thrust. "I know. I should have asked you, because all those excruciating scenes of you ... doing things were all out of context." When the largest ghoul out there howled and attacked him, Nikolai stabbed the thing in the face, dropping it. She raised her eyebrows as if impressed, then scowled, remembering herself.
"Myst, even then I was still falling for you."
That at least got her to pause. She blew a curl out of her eyes and just when he tensed to trace behind her, she took two hands and plunged her sword back along her side to kill the ghoul at her back. two hands and plunged her sword back along her side to kill the ghoul at her back.
Now he raised his eyebrows, but continued, "I was angry when I saw your plan to trick me, but I finally understand that you rightly wanted your freedom back. I know what and who you are now. I saw all the memories, clearly at last. Not out of context." G.o.dd.a.m.n it, more ghouls? "Myst, can we not just speak about this? Away from here? Dawn nears and all I ask is for a chance to-"
"I gave you a chance. Freely. And you threw it away. You were about to brainwash me."
With one hand, he carved at a ghoul. "I couldn"t have lived with myself for that. I was wrong in many ways. I took your freedom when you needed it, and I hurt you just when you"d given yourself to me." Never had he regretted his actions so much.
He could have won won her. her. A heart for a heart. A heart for a heart.
"I wanted you so badly I resorted to anything I could and treated you ill when you didn"t deserve it." He looked around. He"d been so intent on her, he"d scarcely noticed they"d cut such a swath that the others had run. "If you give me a chance, I will make it up to you."
"Oh, you got it, Wroth. Just let me go gift wrap my chain for you."
Wroth"s eyes flickered black and his voice went low. "I"d destroy the thing if I saw it."
His reaction surprised her. "You"ll certainly never get within arm"s reach of it."
"Myst, I felt your feelings for me, felt you struggling against them. I know you care for me." Long moments pa.s.sed as they stared into each other"s eyes.
She was weak, undeserving of her family, especially when her heart had leapt at the sight of him. But she shook her head. "I can"t. It"s just too late. I have a lot to lose from this. I won"t hurt my family by accepting you."
"Kristoff seeks peace. He would fight the Horde with you. There would be no conflict with them. And I would ... make an effort with your sisters, Myst. I know how important they are to you now. Believe me, I know."
She tapped her chin. "So you can see why the idea of being forced to forget them made me cranky? Huh? And what if you saw more out of context? This would just happen again and again."
"I would not drink from you."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, just like I"m going to finally beat my Xbox addiction."
"I"m pleased you feel the same about that option. I"ve already vowed never to use the information to harm the Valkyrie in any way. And I would have to tell you everything I was thinking as if you could read my mind as well. We are wed. We should should know each other"s secrets. Myst, we are kindred." know each other"s secrets. Myst, we are kindred."
That made her hesitate. She"d felt that way too. Kindred.
Wait. What the h.e.l.l was she thinking? He"d been about to mind-erase her. Making her voice firm, she said, "Wroth, I"m sorry, but I could never trust you-"
Her words were cut off by a ma.s.sive arm, squeezing the breath from her throat. Not a ghoul. from her throat. Not a ghoul. A demon? A demon? she thought wildly. she thought wildly. A turned demon? A turned demon?
Wroth raised his sword, a savage, killing look in his eyes, but the arm tightened and he froze.
"I wouldn"t do that if I were you," Ivo said as he sauntered to the front of his gang. "He"ll snap her head right from her neck."
She struggled against the demon until she could breathe, but he was unbelievably powerful. He was a turned demon, supposed to be a true myth. Apparently, the Horde had just upped their game. She"d known he"d been up to something...
Ivo"s red gaze flickered over her. "Now Myst, I thought I told you to wait in my dungeon." To the demon, he said, "She"s not the one."
Then he narrowed his eyes at Wroth. "So you"re the turned human who took my castle from me. Grenades? Guns? I"ll kill you just for b.a.s.t.a.r.dizing our war." He glanced from Wroth to Myst, then back again, smiling to see Wroth"s body seeming to vibrate with tension. "I believe I have something he wants very badly indeed. I"ll take his life in exchange."
Wroth could trace away in a heartbeat-but he didn"t move.
"You walk into the sun," Ivo said, "and I"ll vow to the Lore that I"ll free her. I"ll hunt her again, but for this dawn I vow that she"ll live. If you trace instead, I"ll take her back to Helvita and dine on her perfect flesh every night for eternity."
"Fight me, coward," Wroth bit out, his eyes black with rage, his muscles tense and knotted with it.
"Why would I do that?" Ivo sounded confused. "Fight you for the cards I already hold?"
Wroth was so powerful, and yet that strength was useless to him now because they wouldn"t fight. She could feel frustration rolling from him in waves.
"You know we"ve got the power here," Ivo said. "And you know my vow will compel me to release her."
Wroth"s eyes were a.s.sessing, his sharp mind studying the situation. She knew the exact moment that he determined his options. A calm seemed to wash over him.
"Her life or yours, Wroth."
One tight nod. "Done." No hesitation. "It is done."
"Catch and release?" Myst sneered to Ivo as he and his gang traced with her back into the shade to ready for the dawn. Birdsong had begun. "Are you kidding me?" To Wroth, she said, "Are you eager to be ash?"
The sunlight hit the tops of the trees, descending inch by torturing inch. He stood sure and so brave, as if he was proud to give his life for hers.
The morning breeze blew his hair from his face. His eyes were riveted to hers.
The sunlight was inches away from him, almost reaching the moss of the great oaks that buckled the feet of the mausoleums. Now she she felt frustration as she"d never known. "Wroth, don"t be stupid." felt frustration as she"d never known. "Wroth, don"t be stupid."
In a low, steady tone, he said, "I love you, Myst."
Feeling erupted in her chest to answer his words. Yes, he"d wronged her, and yes, he was a vampire, but ...
The light hit him. He did not close his eyes to the extreme brightness that would have hurt even her eyes. brightness that would have hurt even her eyes.
And she knew it was because he wanted to see her longer. Soon the intensity of the sun was too great; he fell to his knees, his hands curling in agonizing pain. He opened his eyes once more. Glowing, bare. A last look.
He"s going to die.
They always do. Just ... gone.
"No." Saying the word out loud was like blasting a mountain to free an avalanche. An immortal like him didn"t have to die. He could stay with her. "No, no, no." no."
"Milaya, don"t fight," he bit out. "It is done." don"t fight," he bit out. "It is done."
The demon holding her smelled of rotting flesh. The cowardly gang of vampires smirked at Wroth"s death when he was so much greater than they. How dare they?
She"d waited millennia to love-she"d waited for him him-and they dared take him from her. From Myst the Coveted. She screamed long and loud with the shriek her kind was known for. The one that preceded death. The demon cursed and fought to snap her neck, but her muscles had lain in perfect concert and alignment to prevent it.
Wroth struggled toward her, trying to get to her even as he burned as though from the inside. Battling to save her as he died. died.
He was hers.
She freed her arms and raised them up. Lightning leapt to enter her grasp and filled her body. That they would dare ... dare ...
The two holding her were blown from her, percussive thunder exploding them from within. Her hand shot down to collect one"s sword just as he was cast into the light. to collect one"s sword just as he was cast into the light.
She struck out, slashing and clawing at the others with the rare gift of direct lightning from the sleeping ones pouring strength into her. She cut through the number, barely flinching when her arm was broken and the b.u.t.t of a sword cracked her cheekbone. Don"t look through that eye, switch hands. Don"t look through that eye, switch hands. She cut a swath to Ivo, who alone remained. She cut a swath to Ivo, who alone remained.
"And here I thought you were merely the pretty one." With a mock bow, the coward traced.
Arm shattered, face beaten to a pulp, she flew to Wroth. She vainly tried to cover him, dragging him into the cool shade even as she bit her wrist open for him to drink. He was unconscious, his body twisting in pain, his skin looking like lava burned within him.
"Seems like we missed the party," Regin said as she and Cara strolled over to Myst. "Why does Myst get to kill all the vampires? No. Really. This was just supposed to be ghouls."
"Myst, what are you doing? We heard your scream and thought it was something important, important, " Cara said. She waved a dismissive hand at Wroth"s writhing form, clearly unable to comprehend why Myst was frantically dragging him with one arm while shoving her gashed wrist at his lips. "The being dies. Leave him." " Cara said. She waved a dismissive hand at Wroth"s writhing form, clearly unable to comprehend why Myst was frantically dragging him with one arm while shoving her gashed wrist at his lips. "The being dies. Leave him."
Regin added, "Oh, for f.u.c.k"s sake, Myst. He"s a vampire. Let him frica.s.see."
Myst shrieked and snapped her teeth at her sisters. Then she screamed two words she"d never uttered in her entire life- "Help me."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nikolai woke to wetness on his chest. He was in bed? With Myst"s silky, red hair tumbling over his arm?
When he opened his eyes, he realized she was crying over him. Impossible. "Myst?" he rasped.
Her head shot up and she gave him a watery smile that quickly faded. She slapped him, a hard, cracking blow. Then she leapt on him, nuzzling, squeezing, as if she couldn"t get close enough to him.
"Don"t you ever do anything so stupid again." She slapped at his chest, which he was surprised to find was healed.
He flexed and tensed his muscles throughout. He was bandaged in places, but he had all his limbs. This was good. Now if he could just get his wife to cease slapping him. "If you do not stop, milaya, milaya, we will have words." we will have words."
So she turned to kissing him again with whispers in his ear and tears dropping to his face, each one like a gift. "You"ve been out for five nights. And you wouldn"t wake the h.e.l.l up. wake the h.e.l.l up. " "
"Where are we?"
"In Val Hall."
He stiffened.
"No, you"re safe." She leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I would just let my sisters fall on you like a carca.s.s?"
He winced at the image. "Can"t wait to meet them all. How did you get away?"
"Ivo traced, but Cara and Regin are on his trail."
"I"m just glad I was there to save you," Nikolai said solemnly, making her grin. "Did you kill the turned demon?"
"The lightning and I did."
He remembered then. She"d been hit directly, hair whipping, eyes silver, the most awing sight he"d ever witnessed. "I saw saw you get struck." His voice went low. "You smiled." you get struck." His voice went low. "You smiled."