The sickly looking man stopped midstride when we came into view; a slow, malicious smile spread across his disgusting face and I could almost feel his excitement at being the one to catch us as it bounced around in his tainted energy. He raised both of his hands, one holding a gun that would knock us unconscious if the bullet found our skin and the other hand holding a small spray bottle that released the noxious gas that incapacitated our Guard.
Kiran didn’t even glance at me, he just pushed our Magic forward and I followed his lead.
The poor bad guy didn’t even stand a chance.
I lashed out with my Magic like a whip, sending it concentrated and focused on the man’s right hand. At the same time, Kiran went after his left. He dropped both weapons at the first contact and screamed out in pain.
In the next moment, we took a step forward and began to pull at his weak energy. Terletov had altered his men in some way. While they were stronger than any other Immortal should be, their Magic had a weak bond with their body and the men could be easily killed if you knew how to strike them down.
Which we did.
He put up a small fight as we brought him to his knees, stealing his Magic the entire time. Within a minute, we possessed his life’s blood and he lay in a crumpled, defeated heap in the middle of the darkened corridor.
I expelled the blue smoke immediately to heal our bodies from the sickening remains of that putrid Magic.
The blue smoke could heal almost anything that could ail an Immortal. I had learned this time and time again over the years. It was most effective on Magical-blade wounds and the King’s Curse- which was completely eradicated after years of working to make that happen.
However, my blue smoke could not heal the after-effects of Terletov’s experiments. I suspected this was because Terletov didn’t use Magic to change people or Immortals. Or he didn’t only use Magic. He used a deadly combination of science and technology to alter their molecular structure. The blue smoke seemed impervious to this technique and I had lost many people as I stood helplessly next to them, watching them die.
The one thing the blue smoke could combat however, was the effect stolen Magic could have on Kiran and me. We had to take their Magic in order to incapacitate them, but the energy was so sick and repulsive that we were the only people, besides Amelia and Avalon, that could absorb what Terletov created and survive.
The blue smoke kept us alive and healthy, so we used it liberally.
I believed that was its mystical intention.
We met a few more henchmen on our way back to Talbott, but we disarmed them easily.
Terletov had no idea what he was up against. Kiran and I were unstoppable and Amelia and Avalon were just as lethal.
The stretch and exercise of a well-fought-battle felt incredible in my atrophied muscles and my body felt alive and energized in a way I hadn’t experienced in years. I didn’t want to admit to being addicted to the thrill of the fight, or an adrenaline junkie or anything like that… but this felt freaking amazing.
And Kiran wasn’t even trying to lock me away in our room, or convince me to stay utterly frozen, so I wouldn’t hurt the babies.
They were fine.
I laid a protective hand on my belly and let their little baby Magics hum and vibrate beneath my fingertips. The flipped and fluttered underneath my touch, but their electrical currents were strong enough that I knew they were okay.
They were safe.
We stepped into the hallway were Lilly’s room was located and almost ran into Syl and the two humans. I grinned when I saw them, happy my aunt had followed protocol- which was to find me wherever I was.
Although, in this particular case, I had to believe I was lucky I had been with Lilly. Knowing Syl, she would have tracked down her patient first no matter what the rules required of her.
Overcome by how dangerous this day had turned out to be, I hugged my aunt tightly. “Thank God, Syl!” I exclaimed into her hair. “Have you checked on Lilly?” I glanced at the two humans just to make sure they weren’t on the verge of hysteria. I trusted Olivia to be fine. She was such a strong little thing, with her cute blonde bob and curvy figure. She’d been with Jericho on several missions already and I knew from the debriefs that had come in, she was almost born to live this wild, aggressive lifestyle.
Her sister was a different story though. And although she was just as petite as Liv, she seemed infinitely more fragile. Her wavy blonde hair was longer, just past her shoulders and her wide blue eyes were glossy with fear, unlike Liv’s that were sharp with focused intent.
I gave Ophelia- or as her family called her O- a break though. She’d been awake for all of twelve hours and we were throwing her straight into the heart of the conflict. Her last memories had no doubt been of being tortured and experimented on at Terletov’s hands, and she had awakened just in time to watch Terletov invade her refuge and threaten her safety yet again.
Poor thing.
I had to get her to safety.
Sylvia answered my question, saying, “We were just about to.”
Not waiting a second longer, Kiran shouldered open the door and we all burst in.
Talbott was exactly as we had left him, with Lilly’s head resting on one leg and his sword on the other.
We didn’t have to say a word of explanation before Talbott bit out with absolute conviction, “I will not let him take her again.”
I agreed with him.
And so did my husband.
“We’re not going to let him take anyone, Mate,” Kiran vowed.
“We’re leaving,” I explained. “Now. We need to get to the tunnel. It’s still dry, isn’t it?”
Kiran grinned at me, barely containing his out-of-place laughter. “Do you honestly think I would let them fill it in after all your hard work?”
“Shut up,” I growled at him.
The secret entrance to the Citadel- or exit, depending on our particular need- had been destroyed in my attempt to save my brother years ago. I had drained a riverbed dry and crumbled a huge stone tunnel.
It had seemed necessary at the time.
But now I never heard the end of the jokes that surrounded my “theatrics,” as Kiran called them.
“Avalon and Mimi?” Syl asked while she collected the few things she’d left with Lilly before.
I paused, trying to get an update on Avalon and where they were on their progress, but I met only silence. I swore… if they were using this time to try to give my children cousins, I would purposefully leave them behind.
I tried again, but still nothing.
That was strange.
I can’t get him through our connection.” I was frustrated with this. He shouldn’t be blocking me. This was not the time to be obnoxious. “Radio silence or something. They were on their way to find Angelica when we parted ways.” And by that, I meant mentally.
Kiran led us out to the hallway and we descended the tower stairs on our way to the innermost parts of the Castle that would lead us to the tunnel. I cast a glance back at Liv and her sister just to make sure they were staying close and not panicking.
“Is there a contingency plan?” Syl asked nervously.
“No,” Kiran answered assuming she was talking about the entire Citadel and not just our small group. “Maybe… I’m not sure. The Citadel is supposed to be impenetrable.”
That was true. We were supposed to be immune from outside attack. The Citadel fell with Lucan because we all happened to already be inside of it.
We reached the main floor and Talbott asked, “Do you want to go by the courtroom or take the dungeons?”
The foyer and corridors down here were eerily silent. I glanced around, expecting some kind of conflict or confrontation but nothing appeared in front of me.
“Where is everybody?” I whispered, suddenly getting a flash of foreboding through my blood.
“Waiting for you,” the slick, oiled voice floated down the hallway and landed on my skin like a disease.
&nb
sp; Dmitri Terletov.
This man had once shot me in the head and kidnapped me. He’d held me prisoner and then demanded I fight for him.
We’d fought all those years ago and I’d stripped him of his Magic.
I didn’t think he’d ever gotten over that.
Somehow he’d survived all these years and replaced his missing Magic with someone else’s. Now , he terrorized my Kingdom and hurt my people, hurt my friends.
He killed people that meant the world to me.
People I loved.
I couldn’t let this go on any longer, so it was almost a relief that I would be forced to face him. Kiran had been right when he wanted us to get everyone out of here first and then come back for Terletov. But the bloodthirsty energy zinging through my veins with purpose and an excited promise for vengeance built with every second that led toward a confrontation with Terletov. I practically floated over the ground with anticipation for the moment between now and the moment I would strip his Magic from him again.
“No, thank you,” Olivia called back to him snottily.
God, I loved her spunk. I couldn’t wait to get to know her better.
Terletov’s eyes narrowed on her behind me and he said “Well, you don’t all have to join me. I would just like you, my Olivia. Oh, and that darling Queen of yours.” His crocodile smile widened across his thin, mustached face and I had the most desperate urge to kick out all of his teeth. Still, I didn’t want to appear too eager, and so I stayed rooted in place next to Kiran. Sensing our hesitation, he discretely gestured to one of his men inside the Throne Room and the henchmen stepped out with my sister-in-law draped in his arms and a gun held to her pretty head. He continued with his threats, threats that would ultimately aid in his demise, “Oh, what the hell, why don’t you all just join me. I’m sure I can find something to do with a couple Kings and their servants.”
That was the last straw.
We didn’t have servants anymore. We had employees.
Didn’t he have any clue what our rebellion was about? Geesh, the idiot.
“Fine,” I groaned. “Thank you for the invitation.” And then without waiting for Kiran, I took off for the Throne Room and the promise of a very exciting evening.
I heard my husband laughing at me as I stomped away. At least he found this hilarious.
In an overdramatic whisper I heard him explain to Olivia, “Don’t worry. It never works out for them when they piss Eden off.”
Now that was true; I started to beam with pride and affection for my husband.
“So, she’ll get us out of this?” Liv asked hopefully.
“More likely she’ll blow us all up,” my husband answered with what sounded like a smug grin plastered across his face.
Gosh, he was so lucky I loved him. Otherwise, I would demolish him, too.
But, I had to admit there was some truth to his words… I guess it was up to Terletov to discover just how much truth.
Because I would most definitely be blowing him up very soon.
Chapter Five
“Stop!” I screamed when I couldn’t take it any longer. “Stop hurting her!”
Eden. Avalon warned inside my head. Kiran’s Magic was like a warm rush of comfort against mine. He was trying to hold me back, too. But we’d been locked in this room for hours and I hadn’t been able to make any progress with Terletov.
Instead, he’d satisfied his twisted entertainment by torturing Olivia in front of us. He was proving a point; proving to us that he had made Olivia into a super soldier, completely indestructible against any kind of attack.
Her Magic was fortified in her blood, impenetrable and nontransferable.
It was kind of fascinating.
It was also really, terribly sick.
If she wanted to be human again, this confirmed there was no way that would happen for her. And I hoped she would learn to adjust and cope with her new, never-ending future.
Terletov pushed the tip of his blade into Olivia’s side and it took everything I had not to lash out at this man. But there were too many people in here that he could hurt. Collectively, Avalon, Kiran and I had chosen to wait this out and find an opportunity to get everyone out safely. Sylvia and Ophelia were especially vulnerable and nobody wanted to risk Angelica or Lilly’s lives.
So we would wait.
I would pray for Olivia’s forgiveness later, and let her suffer for the safety of everyone else.
I hated that it had to be this way, but there was not an alternative and Terletov wouldn’t use me. I’d tried to goad him into that, but he was far too smart. He wanted to break me by forcing me to watch someone innocent suffer.
Bastard.
“Do you see now?” he taunted me.
Liv, with her characteristic badass attitude threw back at him, “What a gigantic douche you are? Yes, we all see.”
He kicked her in her wounded side and my Magic left my body in a rush of blue smoke before I could reel it back in. I didn’t think Terletov noticed, but I had to keep my emotions in check or I would give our plan away.
With raging eyes and a trembling voice, Terletov called out to me, “Do you see now what I will do if you do not comply? Give me my Magic back so that I can stop this.”
“No!” Olivia screamed. And I admired her even more.
I stared at Terletov, stunned that he hadn’t understood this process yet. Lucan’s death was no secret. While I hadn’t come out with an internet tutorial on extracting and retracting Magic, I had assumed that after we communally went after Lucan, and since the entire Kingdom had a part in his death, that people understood this procedure.
Apparently, the finer details on returning Magic was never discussed and this was still a rather special secret of mine.
Not really intending to spill my mysteries, but wanting to taunt him a little bit, I shouted, “I can’t give you your Magic back! That’s not how it works!”
“Eden,” Kiran growled. He wasn’t a fan of my teasing. “Enough.”
Terletov walked over to me with purposeful steps and a malicious air around him. He stepped right up to me and wrapped his damp, clammy hand around my throat. Up close, I could see how bloodshot his eyes were and how sallow and peakish his skin had become.
The Gypsy Queen was right. This was a very sick man.
But how much damage could he accomplish in his last days? Or would he figure out how to retract his Magic and truly become an unstoppable threat against my Kingdom?
I didn’t react to his hand around my throat- honestly, I had expected it much sooner.
“How does it work, then?” he demanded in a guttural voice that scraped across my skin.
Cementing my resolve, I tilted my chin against his hold and told him, “Let them go, and I will give it to you.”
“I’m not letting them go,” he laughed at me. “Do you see what I’ve done? Do you see how easily I’ve taken your precious Citadel?” He looked around, mocking everything in this room with his contemptuous glare. “Do you know that we’ve needed a permanent place for a while? Your hunting parties seem very adept at finding us just minutes too late. We had to stop risking that, being found while we were in the middle of our… experiments. We need a stable place to set up our research facilities. And this will do quite nicely. So, no, your people will not be going anywhere. In fifteen minutes, in fact, you will prepare a statement to your Kingdom and advise them of the change in leadership.”
Kiran’s Magic was wrapped so firmly around my body that I felt mummified by his solid, electrified current. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me, not even a little bit of bruising. I could feel his just-barely contained rage as Terletov held me like this. Kiran was not alright with another man’s hands on me. Especially not Terletov’s.
But when Kiran spoke, he somehow managed that haughty, bored tone that used to drive me out of my mind with frustration. I didn’t imagine Terletov having more patience than me. “It’s the middle of the night,” he told Terletov. “I doubt anyone wi
ll be paying attention.”
Terletov all but exploded with anger. He let go of my neck, only to shove me into the wall behind me. My head snapped back and connected with the hard stone before I could still my body. My blue smoke was already moving through my blood and bones in order to heal me before I felt an ounce of pain, but I had tripped in the falling-back process and I slid to the ground where I landed in a rough heap. Instinctually, my hands rested on my stomach where I waited patiently until I felt twin currents of Magic buzzing vibrantly beneath my fingertips.
Kiran’s calm stores of resolve snapped in that exact moment and he attacked Terletov with his bare hands. Kiran tackled the smaller man to the ground where he pummeled Terletov’s ugly, rat-like face, with his fists, over and over again. Terletov’s nose shattered with a satisfying crunch that echoed through the room. He tried to fight back but my husband was a primal beast beneath his aristocratic façade. And Terletov was just a weak politician that hid behind scientific devices and fancy weapons. He even stabbed Kiran in the side, but Kiran never stopped his attack.
Kiran was a savage warrior in his rage. He attacked Terletov with a brutality I had never seen in him before. I couldn’t say that I was surprised by his reaction, but it was still a sight to see.
And oddly sexy.
“You don’t touch my wife,” Kiran shouted into Terletov’s face with a soul full of murderous conviction.
Terletov’s men pulled Kiran back, but the only reason Kiran stood up was because he wanted to. There was no amount of man-power in the world that would have ended Kiran’s punishment for touching me roughly, unless Kiran wanted it to be finished.
Terletov stood up and brushed the dirt and blood from his hands in careless, bored movements. He looked at Kiran in disgust and I almost feared the next few words that would come out of his ugly mouth.
Almost. But not quite.
With true disgust in his now-nasally voice, Terletov addressed Kiran with probably the worst words he could ever say to my husband, “Your father would be so disappointed in you. Look at you. Look at you defend her. You’re nothing but a lapdog to traitors of the Crown.” Avalon took an aggressive step forward, but Amelia pulled him back. I could feel the tension in Kiran’s already angered body skyrocket into the unknown universe above. He was beyond pissed, beyond annoyed. Kiran was at his absolute limit with this guy. To his own demise, Terletov continued, “Do you know that he and I worked together to capture her?” That was the wrong thing to say to Kiran. His blood began to boil and our united Magic took a decidedly more aggressive turn. “Did you know that he invited me to that dinner specifically to take her out of here? He wanted her gone, away from you. He saw how she was destroying the Kingdom he fought for, fought to keep, fought to strengthen. And he wanted her to disappear.”