Blade Heart

  “It’s no use. I’ll never remember.”

  “Everything comes in good time.”

  Words of wisdom wouldn’t save her, especially when they sounded so lame and worn out. Here, in this dingy prison, she couldn’t help but feel hacked off with Caius. Okay, he hadn’t written the prophecy himself, but he really meant to dump her into the faceless prince’s bed and she resented his claim. For a split second, she wondered what Morgan would have to say about that.

  A jingle of keys broke her indignation. Advancing more quickly than during his previous visit, the guard reached her cell.

  “Be careful!” Caius whispered.

  She nodded while throwing him a ‘good luck’ glance. As if she’d commit mayhem in the fortress, a pack of four soldiers surrounded her once she stepped outside the cell. Their mannerisms reminded her of watchdogs as they led her upstairs. When they reached the entrance hall, Cara drew in blissful gulps of fresh air to dispel the stench of the dungeons. Then she steeled her nerves.

  The king’s door stood open. Pressed by the guards, she entered the royal chambers while they stayed outside. Alone with Devlyn, cut off from the civilised world, she let her gaze fly to the fireplace mantelpiece—nothing. The glowing sphere was gone. Damn, what was she supposed to do now?

  “You really can’t live without me.”

  His voice came from the right corner of the room and he was closing the wardrobe door. Could he have stashed the orb inside?

  “It looks that way.”

  Cursing herself for her harsh tone, she dropped her gaze down. If she wanted to pull this off she’d need to treat him with respect. Hating the idea of playing the meek woman, she waited for him to speak.

  “So, where’s Morgan?”

  “I believed we had a deal.”

  Cocking an eyebrow, he approached her and traced the line of her jaw with his forefinger. “I don’t recall any mention of a deal.”

  Fully aware he had it in him to strike her senseless, she forced a small smile despite her desire to strangle him.

  “I do. You said you’d do me the honour of sharing your bed if I revealed Morgan’s whereabouts.”

  His eyes widened in astonishment. “One moment you try to kill me and the next you want to sleep with me. You’re a very strange girl, Lana. For what it’s worth, I think I’m beginning to like you.”

  Not that surprising, given the dopey ass he had picked as his queen. Caution foremost in her mind, Cara passed a slow tongue over her lips.

  “Does it mean we have an agreement?”

  He watched her moist mouth. His nostrils flared while he lowered a hand to her breast. She kept still and focused on his slightest facial expressions. She had learned at her expense that he was unpredictable. And smart.

  “Tempting proposition, very tempting. But I wonder, why this sudden change of heart? You wouldn’t try to dupe me, would you?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  He released her breast as his eyes flew to her face. She sensed him on the verge of rising to the bait, but would he fall for it?

  “Speak your mind, Lana.”

  “I want more.”

  A smirk appeared on his lips as he gloated in his own self-satisfaction, and his eyes glinted with mirth.

  “I can assure you I’m much more than you can handle.”

  The man really had the highest opinion of himself. Okay, she hadn’t counted on his stupefying complacency, but no matter, it played in her favour.

  “I didn’t express myself clearly. I want more than being one of your mistresses. I want a title, lands and influence.”

  She knew he’d relate to this kind of language. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had been swimming in the seas of wealth, privileges and greed for power all his life. Love, kindness or friendship meant nothing to him, but he understood the need for domination and riches. As he took a step back to observe her features she felt pretty sure he had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

  “Do you, now?”

  “You’re the mightiest king there ever was. You rule over the Four Kingdoms, so who else will give me everything I desire?”

  The words scraped her throat. Yet she had to spell them out even as it proved one of the most difficult things she had had to do so far. He drew in a long breath while the iciness in his eyes seemed to ease a little.

  “I am the mightiest monarch these lands have ever known. Indeed I have the power to grant your wish or…” He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her painfully to him. “Or I can simply rape you.”

  Her heart threatening to fly into saturated cadence Cara managed not to wince and used a throaty voice, “I know.”

  Without giving him a chance to hurt her more, she gripped his ass and pressed his crotch against her. He uttered a harsh sigh when their bodies collided. His eyes sparkled with savage lust and a demonic hunger dethroned his natural coldness. The predator was out. Mouth open, he panted in her face.

  “I believe we will reach an agreement.”

  “Good.”

  Fingers stabbed into his buttocks, she slowly shifted her pelvis from left to right. In spite of their layers of clothing, his hard-on seemed to grow by the second—nothing flaccid there. Feeling his rigid erection, she thought he might not have lied after all about his organ being more than a handful. And the goosy queen steered it? His wife was clearly far away from his mind. Devlyn insisted, “But let’s talk about Morgan first. Where is he?”

  “In the Valley of the Slain Dragons.”

  “What is he doing over there?”

  “He’s gone to retrieve a hidden parchment. It looked very important to him, but I swear I don’t know what’s written in it.”

  “I do.”

  She ground her hips against his groin. The hard lump grated against her pants as the king suffered another bout of lack of air. He clenched his jaws when she squeezed his ass hard and leaned close to his ear.

  “Then you should send your troops there. He’s been gone a while, I’m sure he won’t tarry much longer.”

  He slid his hands into her hair. She sucked his earlobe into her mouth before biting the sensitive skin.

  “Hurry, my lord, because I need your big dick now.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  His whole body shuddered as he pushed her away from him. Looking like the king of the world, he puffed out his chest.

  “I’ll give orders at once. Take your clothes off.”

  Obviously making an effort to wrench his gaze away from her curves, he breathed through gritted teeth. Feeling like the queen of the universe for deceiving him so easily, she watched him stride out of the chambers. Because of his obvious craving for the feel of her body, Devlyn didn’t realise he was giving her the few seconds she needed to find the sphere.

  With his back to her, he opened the door. Cara dashed to the wardrobe. She turned the large key in the lock, the beat of her pulse loud enough to resonate against her eardrums. He barked instructions out at the guards. Sitting atop a pile of white sheets, the reddish-orange orb glowed as she took it in her hand.

  The shimmering swirl of colours dazzled her and appeared strangely fascinating. Although aware of the real contents of the glassy sphere, the idea that she held Caius’ powers felt tough to imagine. But her amazement was short-lived as the chamber’s door banged shut.

  She saw the king look at the empty spot where she should have been standing before whirling round. His eyes narrowed when he discovered her next to the open wardrobe, a beautiful display of lights spiralling from the centre of her palm.

  “Put that back immediately.”

  He pointed an authoritative finger at her as she tightened her hand around the magical object and raised her arm. When she smiled, he finally figured out the true purpose of her presence in his room.

  “Don’t!” he shouted at her.

  Cara threw the sphere down with all her strength. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces. He stared at the shards as the lights dwindled out
of existence. When he looked up, her stomach lurched at the wrath in his eyes.

  “You played me.”

  “And you made it so easy.”

  He didn’t give her time to enjoy her victory. He lunged at her. As he went to grab her, she rammed the wardrobe door into his face and he groaned in pain. Although the hard blow had stunned him somewhat, he didn’t fall down.

  Before he could avert his face, she struck him again with the door. He staggered back, still on his feet but too dazed to attack just yet. God, he was a hard man to put down. Taking advantage of his momentary failing, she seized one of Morgan’s daggers, which had been stored right beside the orb. She had seen them instantly. As she turned towards Devlyn, he pounced. With blood streaming down his face and eyes enraged, he came for her.

  He was on her before she got the opportunity to aim. Striking blindly, Cara felt the blade penetrate his flesh. He hollered but locked his arms around her shoulders and drove her back to the wall.

  Her aches and throbs flared up as she slammed against the stony surface. She pursed her lips. Her arms were trapped between their bodies—she had no leverage, so did the only thing she could think of. Hand still gripped around the hilt, she twisted the dagger into the wounded tissue. His long bellow rang in her ears.

  His body slackened. Not his fury. Although in pain, he managed to keep her pinned to the wall and moved a hand towards her windpipe. His spilt blood fell on her cheek. If he got hold of her throat, she might not be able to fend him off this time. But someone pounded on the door, probably alerted by the king’s shouts.

  “My lord, are you all right?”

  Cara rotated the blade right and left to shut him up, yet he must have recognised that he wouldn’t prevail against. He screamed, “Guards!”

  They burst into his room. Two soldiers freed him from the dagger by pulling him back while a third one threatened her with the tip of his sword on her neck. Not unlike a wounded lion, the king thrashed in their arms and yelled at a fourth man while they drew him towards the bed.

  “Fetch my wizard. Now!”

  His complexion had whitened to the shade of winter snow, his nose was askew and blood spurted from a hole in his shoulder. He must have known he needed to be healed right away, yet he couldn’t stop glaring at her, eyes seething with rage and pain, mouth distorted by a wicked grimace.

  “You bitch! You’ll die for this.”

  For the first time since she had met the ruler of Agravar, he looked ugly. And Cara felt avenged. She might not have rid the world of him, but for the horrors he had put her through a sense of satisfaction liberated her. Returning his black stare, her move deliberate, she wiped some of his blood from her cheek and showed him her reddened fingers.

  “And you bleed like a common pig, majesty.”

  He leapt up from the bed. The tendons on the sides of his neck stretched to the limit of rupture, he lunged forward. Although he had to be on the point of passing out, the soldiers struggled to restrain him.

  “Take that bitch out of my sight. I want her chained up in the dungeons. Don’t let her escape if you value your life.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  The tip of the sword on her throat hadn’t yet moved, but the guard holding it had been distracted by the interesting exchange. As the others came for her she ducked under the blade and stabbed him in the belly with her dagger. Pupils dilating in surprise, he fell to his knees while she yanked the sword out of his hand to make it hers.

  Thunder erupted somewhere in the castle. It had to be Caius fireballing his way out of the prison. The soldiers wavered when they heard the booms but only for a second. The closest to her attacked. Although Cara deflected his first parry, she was no swordswoman and wouldn’t be able to hold him off. To her right, she heard Devlyn cough blood as he uttered a single word.

  “You!”

  Both guards in front of her collapsed, dead before they touched the floor. Startled, Cara raised her head. Holding a sword in each hand, green eyes sparkling with joy, Morgan winked at her before he leapt at the injured king.

  “On your feet, Devlyn.”

  In spite of the fact that he found himself alone and injured in his chambers with his worst enemies, the king’s gaze reflected only rage and intense frustration. Blood kept flowing from his shoulder and he obviously wouldn’t last long without immediate care. Still, he ignored Morgan’s injunction and bragged, “You and that slut of yours will never get out of here alive. So you know what, Morgan? Fuck you!”

  Thunderbolts shook the castle. Screams broke out below and the smell of smoke reached her nose. Was Caius attempting to flee or burn the place down? Whatever he was doing, they had to jump on the opportunity to escape. Trying to steady the erratic beat of her heart at the sight of her vengeful warrior, Cara dropped the sword in favour of picking up the second, more useful dagger from the wardrobe. She moved to the door.

  “Let’s go, Morgan!”

  Also letting go of one of his swords, he hauled the king up. He dragged him to where Cara stood and she handed him a dagger. Blade pressed on Devlyn’s neck, although his head began to loll, they stepped out of the room together.

  The hall downstairs had turned into a chaos of soldiers running, shouting and writhing in pain. A thick haze of smoke obscured the place so much that Cara had to squint to assess the situation. Coming from opposite directions, deafening roars and blasts covered the guards’ screams. As she tried to make sense of this total confusion, two fireballs clashed in the middle of the hall and the world rattled.

  Caius might have made a break for it, but somewhere along the line Morgoth had caught up with him. As the wizards’ battle raged on, many soldiers became trapped in the crossfire. Sprawled over the floor, some crawled towards the exit while others lay motionless, hurt, burnt or just plain dead.

  The king sank down. Morgan’s blade scraped skin as the unconscious body fell out of his grasp. No good as a hostage, but so easy to kill now. She watched Morgan raise his dagger. Poised to strike a fatal blow, he hesitated and she blew a relieved breath when he stepped aside. Slaying in combat had been his life for years, not murdering fallen men. As much as the king deserved to die, she understood Morgan’s decision.

  “Come, Cara.”

  She followed him down the large flight of stairs. At the bottom, they crouched to stay below the wizards’ line of fire. To their right, she spotted Caius half concealed behind a low wall. Hair in disarray, he motioned for them to join him while he discharged a blue sizzle of lightning across the hall.

  The air crackled and acrid smoke filled her lungs. Cara started to cough as Morgan pulled her forward. Although they had ducked below the protective wall, she realised the thick fumes would kill them before anything else did.

  Already she had trouble keeping her eyes open and her throat felt like she had rubbed gravel down its length. A new blast jarred her bones when something powerful battered the low structure shielding them. As she glanced up, Caius threw another fiery ball but gave them instructions.

  “We have to get out. See the door over there? It leads to the kitchens and there’s an exit at the back. I healed Haedron’s arrow injury so he’s just outside the city. You two go, I’ll be with you shortly.”

  They crawled to the door. Cara heard muffled cries when they entered the vast kitchens. Huddled behind wooden counters, tables and stoves, dozens of people looked at them with fear in their eyes. By the way they were dressed, she figured they were cooks, maids and manservants. A group of five children, no older than ten, were hunched up against a woman wearing an apron.

  Cara hadn’t given any thought to the castle’s staff. Seeing their frightened faces without any way to alleviate their panic upset her. These people weren’t soldiers and had probably never asked to work for the king in the first place. Although they had taken refuge in here, they had no idea what the next minutes might bring.

  Still, she couldn’t help them. As Morgan nudged her side to urge her out of the kitchens, she smiled at the
children. They watched her hurry past them without moving, but a little girl grinned back. Somehow her gesture lifted Cara’s heart.

  Once outside, they ran past huge stables packed with disinterested horses. They had almost reached the back door when two guards blocked their way. Morgan dispatched them with two sweeps of his swords and out of the blue, Cara mulled over the fact that the nameless soldiers hadn’t lived long enough to tell their friends about the day they had faced the leader of the resistance.

  Past the stables, they dashed through the city streets without being challenged. With the castle under attack, most soldiers must have been called to defend the fortress. Apparently citizens had chosen to stay safe in their houses until the end of the assault.

  Two more guards tried to bar their way down at the gate towers, but they were soon lying on the ground. Eyes glittering from the heat and intensity of the battle, Morgan spurred her on.

  When they passed through the gates he indicated the large plain ahead. At once, Cara saw the bulky mass of the dragon waiting for them and felt silly for having been so scared of him the first time he had landed at her feet. When they were concealed behind the tower, Morgan sheathed both daggers in the weapon belt around her waist.

  “Run to Haedron. I’ll cover Caius’ back.”

  “What if he doesn’t make it? Or if you both get caught? Are you also going to tell me to leave without you?”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll make it. But before you go…”

  He crushed his lips against hers. The background vanished. She laced her arms around his neck and hung on to him, hooked on the breathtaking touch of his mouth. God, she had missed him so much! His hot tongue dissolved all her pains and the hurt she had suffered. She knew her aches would be back later, but for an instant she let herself drown in the delight of his ravenous kiss. When he let her go, a deep craving obscured his gaze.