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Raum traced before her. "Promise me youll keep your blood from him. "
She craned her head up. "I promise! Believe me. " Bettina had suffered enough excruciating pain to last an eternal lifetime.
To Morgana, he said, "You intend to send her off without a chaperone, to spend the night with a very cunning player whos practiced in seduction?"
"You did not just say the word chaperone to me. "
"I wont have it, sorceress. We will come to blows!"
"Oh, lets!" Morgana leapt to her feet, her eyes beginning to spark in warning, like a vipers rattle.
"Damn you, what if the vampire sullies her?"
That was the absolute wrong thing to say to the sorceress. Morgana looked as furious as Bettina had ever seen her, braids flying. "What if she sullies him? Why is it always the female who gets sullied? Archaic demon! You think like the primordial!"
Raum yelled the vilest of Demonish curses, basically telling Morgana to suck on his horns until they were raw. Bettina gasped. In turn, Morgana blew him a kiss, essentially telling him shed poison him at the earliest opportunity.
"You Sorceri harlot!"
"You demonic fossil!"
Cas joined in, and the three started up once more.
Bettina stood unsteadily, putting her hands over her ears. Did none of them understand how close she was to losing it? Inside, she was at once blistered and numb, torn between alternating urges.
Cry.
Scream.
The latter won out. "Shut up, all of you!"
They were shocked into silence. Shed never raised her voice to any of them.
Turning to Raum, Bettina said, "If Mathar couldnt find the Vrekeners and you knew a tracker like Cas never would, then you never truly expected to uphold your end of our bargain!"
Pulling at the collar of his breastplate, Raum said, "I had inside information from a very reliable source. "
Morgana sneered, "How. Convenient. "
"And what about you?" Bettina turned on her godmother. "Vow to the Lore that you have my power! Now, Morgana. "
"Freakling, I dispatch the orders. " Rattle rattle RATTLE. "I do not receive them. "
Bettina sank down on the divan once more. "So you dont. Both of you tricked me. "
"I, too, have inside information," Morgana said so smoothly.
"Bullshite, harlot!"
Ill never get my power back. But she would still be queen in two nights.
Seeing Raum and Morgana and even Cas like this made her realize she had depended on them far too much. They were fallible, just as she was.
Even without her power, Bettina had better start thinking like a queen. Before they could start up again, she said, "What will happen now? Will the Vrekeners retaliate?"
"Well be lucky if they dont descend upon us for this," Raum said. "Id ordered my demons to do this quietly. If they were ever to reach Skye Hall, they were supposed to make the four disappear-not spill Vrekener heads in front of all and sundry of the Lore!"
"The vampire acted alone," Morgana pointed out, sitting once more. "No one can prove otherwise. "
"Let them descend upon us!" Cas snapped. "Then maybe Ill get the chance to actually bloody my sword with one of their ilk. Were Deathly Ones, and weve been too long without war. We are fierce, and we can trace. They should fear us. "
Raum gazed away. "Theyre like locusts, Caspion, a plague from the heavens. If word of this gets back to them . . . It was badly done, is all Im saying. "
"It was perfectly done," Morgana said. "How better to signal to the Vrekeners that we know how to reach their lair? They are not invulnerable. Perhaps now theyll think twice about ravaging an Abaddonae royal! Or hunting my subjects like dogs!" Inhaling through her nose, she said, "This conversation is finished, Raum. Your girl is about to be queen. There will be no chaperone. Nothing more need be said. Now, go get ready, freakling. "
Raum turned to Bettina, his expression weightier than shed ever seen it. "Understand me, Tina, the blood contract of the tournament will compel me to give you and your medallion to the winner. If the vampire seduces you, Gourlav will kill you-and there wont be anything I can do to stop him. "
"So certain I wont win the tournament, Raum?" Cas shook his head in disgust. "You each know where I stand with all this. I leave now. "
"Cas, wait!" Bettina caught him before he traced. "Walk me back to my spire?"
Morgana called from the divan, "Have fun tonight, freakling. Try not to sully the vampire too hard. "
Once Bettina and Cas were alone, he said, "I still cant believe Daciano found them! I spent sixty godsdamned nights combing plane after plane. "
She frowned at his surly tone. And youre so young. Just like me. Seeing Cas like this made her abundantly aware of her own young age.
Maybe she had confused having someone in her heart with giving her heart to another. "Arent you happy that theyre dead? That I wont have to fear at least those four?"
Caspion held up his hand to stop her. "Just dont. "
When they neared her door, she said, "Please dont be angry with me. "
He stopped, turning to her with a frown. "Did Daciano get your blood that first night? Or were you with him again? When you knew it wasnt me?"
She whispered, "I was with him again. "
"I promised to be faithful!" He cast her a wild-eyed look. "But you didnt return that promise, did you? Do you know how difficult it is for a male demon to go without sex? Have you never wondered why there are eleven restaurants in Rune and twenty-three brothels?"
"Im sorry! I never intended to do anything with him. I got caught up, and the next thing I knew, we were kissing. "
"Just like Morgana said, its called seduction. Im well versed in it. " His fists clenched, his forearms bulging. "Did he come to your rooms again?"
"I-I went to his tent. "
"Why in the hell would you do that?"
"Cas, please . . . "
He laid his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me!" His horns had straightened ominously.
Shed never seen him so angry. She grasped for a lie, but shed always wanted to be truthful with him. "The vampire told me . . . he would spare you in the melee. "
"So thats why he aided me? My gods, Bettina, he forced you to do things by threatening my life? You whored yourself for my safety?"
"No! Yes? When you say it like that, it sounds so much worse than it was. "
Cas wasnt listening. "Hes earned a slow death. " He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the vampires tent, his grip on her tightening. "Ill make it last-for days. "
Would he go attack Daciano this second? Neither could kill the other outside the ring.
"Cas, it wasnt quite that way. "
He turned back. "Then what way was it?"
She remembered Dacianos damp skin in the firelight, the sultry warmth of that tent. His eyes like onyx. She took a breath and admitted, "I didnt do anything I didnt want to do at the time. "
Cas released her at once, backing up with his hands in front of him. "Do you want him now? Is that it? I cant stop this tournament, Bettina. I cant come back from this. "
"I-I dont know. Im just so confused by everything-"
"Look at you!" Cas exclaimed. "You crave that vampire even now!"
"I do not!" Do I? Now that her entire existence had been upended yet again, she couldnt stop replaying how it had felt to be enveloped in the vampires mist. Tethered to him.
Chapter 33
Connected.
After shed lost her power, that feeling of emptiness had tolled inside her. But the connection shed shared with Daciano had made that ache ebb, even if just a little.
As if her growing bond with him didnt leave any room for emptiness.
"Then, by all means, have fun on your tour. " Cas pointed his finger at her face. "If the vampire beds you tonight, you better pray I can defeat Gourlav. "
"Please dont be mad at me!" She reached out to touch his shoulder, bu
t he recoiled, tracing away.
She stared after him for long moments. Theyd never fought before, had always gotten along with such ease. Yet just now hed looked as if he couldnt stand the sight of her.
Turning toward her rooms, she passed the guards posted at her door, ducking her head so they couldnt see her watering eyes.
Their mewling, halfling soon-to-be queen. Who had no idea what she was doing.
Dont cry, dont cry. . . .
As soon as the door closed behind her, she removed her mask and swiped her forearm over her face. How could she not cry?
Shed fought with all her loved ones, and the guilt was heavy. They were all that she had in the world. Unless she counted the vampire. You are mine . . . we are fated.
On top of tonights developments, she was still trapped in this process-helpless to do anything but watch as Daciano and Cas likely went to their deaths.
Tears dont help anything. What to do? Go outside and take in the night. But her feet wouldnt quite shuffle her outside.
Alone on the balcony, up so high-in the dark? With an "imperfect" barrier spell?
Did it even matter that those Vrekeners were dead? Would more come? She suspected shed always be crippled by fear. She couldnt just turn it off. . . .
What to do? Work! Yes, shed lose herself in creation.
She hurried into her workroom, inhaling deeply as she entered. The familiar scents helped to center her. When all the world seemed to be dismantling around her, creation was her one constant.
In the next half hour, she could finish fabricating the piece for Patroness. All she had left to do was attach the two moving parts of the weapon-the all-important spring mechanism and the blade. Then etching, then completion. So close.
And once shed finished with work? How to handle this eve with Daciano?
As she gathered the needed tools, she imagined what shed say to him. First shed rail at him for taking her blood.
Before, she hadnt known for certain whether hed harvested her memories. Now she did. She was sick of everyone walking all over her.
After she railed, she would demand answers! Did you take my memories on purpose? Why gift me with those heads in such a manner?
Are you . . . are you afraid of dying tomorrow?
Salem shimmered into the room. "Whats wrong wiv you, chit? You look like youre about to cry. And in your workroom, no less? This is the seat of nirvana for you. "
"Why are you even asking? I know you heard my conversation with Cas. "
"Thats fair. "
"I broke my promise to him. Hes denying his instinct, making sacrifices to be with me. But I betrayed him. "
"He wants credit for not diddlin a whore?" Salem occupied her earring. "Bully for him that he hasnt been dippin his wick in all the hookers in Rune-for a few chuffin days out of his immortal life. Really? He wants a biscuit for keepin it in his pants? Try not havin sex for eighteen years!"
Salems Cockney accent was so thick tonight; at any second, she expected him to say, "P-please, sir, I want some more. "
She shook her head. "You wont turn this around, sylph. I am at fault. "
He slithered around her neck to her other earring. "Does Cas compliment you? Does he hold your hand? Does he ask about your interests? Have you two had a chin-wag about what your futurell be like?"
When she opened her mouth to answer yes, Salem added: "In detail?"
She closed her mouth.
"After each bout, he hams it up for his adoring tarts and longs for his randy ways. Hes not tryin to fall for you. "
Bettina glared. "Cas never wanted any of this to begin with! He never wanted me. I dragged him into this. "
"And so far, youve saved his life! Though I do think Gourlavll wipe the floor wiv im. "
She flinched as if struck. But her voice was toneless when she pointed out: "Gourlav will only face Cas if he wins. You assume Daciano will lose?"
Silence. She knew she was getting a duh look. "And thats a shame," Salem said, "because the vampires in it to win it wiv you. "
"In it to win it?"
"Besides giving up his home, hes interested in your interests, and hes willing to compromise. I saw him chokin down wine for you. He thinks youre the mutts nuts. You couldve done worse. "
"Ive only known him for so little time. I cant just turn off my feelings for Cas like a spigot. And if I went from utter love of Cas to utter love of Daciano, what does that say about me? At best, that Im fickle. At worst, that Im as young and stupid as everyone seems to believe. "
"No one expects you to turn off your feelings-theyll always be there-just start seeing em for what they really are. "
Had she begun to? Whenever she imagined marriage, shed begun to think only of . . . Daciano. Whenever she thought of Cas, she kept replaying all the milestones of their friendship.
"The demons your best mate, as in friend. Some other female out there is his other kind of mate. She aint you. "
Bettina was starting to believe this. If she and Cas had been fated, then why was there so much strain between them-especially when they tried to act like a couple?
Oh, what did it matter how she felt? So long as Gourlav still lived, Bettinas two choices of men were about to become . . . none.
She snatched up her soldering torch and adjusted the flame. Work! The fire blazed in front of her watering eyes.
"You know those raves you used to attend?" Salem said in a cautious tone. "You look like youre havin a bad trip. Just slow your roll, chit. "
"Im fine. " Flame to metal. Spring mechanism. Seamless adhesion.
"Look behind you, Princess! The dummies are dancing. "
She heard them moving, but didnt glance up.
"Oi! Those soddin dummies are boffin. "
She set the flame aside, slammed her palm against her workbench. "Please, Salem!"
The dummies stilled as if affronted. "Fine, then. Should I go spy?"
"Yes. Absolutely. Go. "