She was welcome to resist me, to resist us. But I would win her over in the end.
She really didn’t stand a chance.
Terletov’s look soured at my expression. I had to look half-deranged. My entire body bent at weird angles, my face bloodied and uncomfortably swollen. And yet I smiled.
That was the thing about love. It was strange.
It made all men half-mad.
“I’m going to kill you now,” Terletov promised.
“Do your worst,” I grinned at him.
He grinned back. “I plan to.”
And then he did.
The next few hours faded into ugliness. I lost consciousness more than once as pain overrode every sense and thought.
Terletov did his worst. He had not lied about that.
Unbearable misery became my reality. Terletov enjoyed hurting me, watching me suffer and writhe in agony. He laughed while he tortured me. Sometimes short, amused giggles. Sometimes long, psychotic cackles. His eyes practically twinkled as he used his evil skillset to destroy me.
Sometimes he would ask about Eden and Kiran. But for the most part I understood that this was sport for him, his hobby.
And his men didn’t need an excuse from him. By their immediate obedience and constant silence, I saw how afraid of him they truly were. They maybe believed in his cause, but the man himself frightened even them.
Even Alexi cowered from his brother, afraid to set Dmitri off and have his anger turned the wrong direction.
The only thing that kept me grounded were thoughts of her. If I hadn’t had Seraphina to focus on, to concentrate on, to remember and hope for, I would have given up and faded away.
Nobody should be able to withstand this amount of pain. Or be expected to come back from it a sane and rational Immortal.
But the entire time I kept our imagined future at the forefront of my wild thoughts. I pictured her by my side and in my bed. I envisioned our life together as we added children and a permanent place to live.
Maybe it would be in Seattle where she’d already chosen. Or maybe we’d spin a globe and see where our fingers landed.
I remembered her kisses from earlier this day and fantasized about kissing her again.
My body writhed in agony, but mind focused on what it would take to win her back.
A knock came at the door, but it took me a long time to process what it was. The torture eased some, but my mind swam with confusion. Blonde hair and blue eyes danced in front of me. I moved out of my body to catch the fragmented beauty dancing out of reach.
“This is unfortunate,” a voice bemoaned.
I didn’t listen. I couldn’t.
“We’ll have to pick this up later,” the voice went on. It moved away from me and said, “Throw him back with the girl. No one touches him but me. Is that clear?”
I didn’t hear another word until pain hit my back again. I came to and realized that I was in a different position. My muscles screamed and my bones threatened to turn to ash. I tried to move, but nothing in my body responded when I asked it to.
My thoughts started to drift again until I heard the sweetest sound in the world, “Sebastian.”
I told my eyes to open, but they refused to obey. Something touched me and I wanted to scream out from this new pain, but no sound came out of me. The pain moved over me until I was in another new position.
That felt better.
The pressure came back and touched my face. That felt worse, but somehow better at the same time.
Hands, I realized.
I was back in our room and Seraphina was cradling my face.
I felt her warmth as she leaned over me and then the gentleness of her kiss when she pressed it to my forehead.
“Don’t die, Bastian,” she whispered on a sob. “Please don’t die.”
I felt myself smile. Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside. She might not love me like I could now admit I loved her, but she didn’t want me to die. That was something.
At least a start.
I let myself relax in the cradle of her arms and the blackness came again.
The next time I came to, I was more coherent. Seraphina still held me in her lap. It was her whispered words that pulled me from the depths of the abyss.
I tried to move something belonging to my body and this time managed to shift my head.
She stilled immediately and gasped. “Sebastian? Are you awake?”
I groaned.
“I thought you were going to die,” she hiccupped. I felt something wet hit my face before I realized she must be crying.
I groaned again to reassure her. It didn’t seem to reassure her.
More wetness followed and she dropped down to lie next to me. Her warm, soft arms wrapped around me and she continued to whisper quickly. Too quickly for me to understand.
Purpose suffused my thoughts as I realized again where we were and what would happen to me if I didn’t get my arse in gear.
I formed my words carefully and tried to shift my body without much success. She felt my wiggling and stopped the incessant mumbling, I was sure hadn’t stopped since I left her here.
“Kiss me,” I rasped.
“What?”
“Kiss me.”
It was her turn to groan. “Sebastian, this is hardly the time or the place to be coming onto me. And you’re not really-”
“Magic. I need your Magic.”
“I don’t really think-”
I willed my fingers to move until they tugged on her shirt. She stilled again. “Fuse them together and I can heal.”
She didn’t argue with me this time; however she didn’t immediately attack my face either. She seemed to take in my solution and weigh it against every other possibility. If I would have been able to spar with her on equal footing, I would have reminded her that we had kissed fairly passionately not that long ago and this was a matter of life and death so she should probably get over her pompous pride and get to work making sure I didn’t die.
Unfortunately, at this time I could only commit to one or two words at a time.
After long, stubborn moments, I finally felt the soft press of her lips against mine. They were warm and soft and felt like heaven. Slowly, she worked up her courage to give me more. And as she kissed me, her Magic released into mine.
It wasn’t an easy connection. Mine felt nearly beyond repair. But slowly, with the help of her affectionate, attentive kisses, her Magic began to bring mine back to life.
My bones fused back together and my Magic was revived again. I felt energy enough to open my eyes and see this beauty in front of me.
At this moment, she saved me. But her salvation went beyond this near-death tragedy. So far beyond.
And she had no idea.
When my hands could grip her hips with some strength and I finally returned this life-saving kiss, she pulled back but left her Magic wrapped up with mine.
She stared into my eyes intently for stretched moments, her icy blue eyes dewy with emotion. “You’ll live?”
I felt my lips turn up. “Not if we don’t get out of here. He’ll kill me if he gets a chance.” A look of utter despair changed her relieved expression. “Don’t worry, Sera. I have a plan.”
She pulled back to survey my body. “Sebastian-”
I grinned at her. “When have I ever let you down before? Come on, this is the fun part.”
Chapter Eighteen
Seraphina
I watched Sebastian pull himself to his feet and wondered how in the world he planned to get us out of this one.
He staggered over to the door and leaned heavily against it. I felt much better after the long hours I’d had to recuperate and especially after our little experiment in Magical making-out. However, he still looked like death. I had no idea what he thought he could accomplish in this state.
“The door is locked.” I thought maybe he forgot.
He looked at me over his shoulder. “The door handle is locked with Magic.”
br />
“Right. That’s what I just told you.”
His drawn face lit with a cocky smile. “Do you know why Eden makes such a great Queen?”
Ten snarky comments sat on my tongue, but I swallowed them all except this one, “She’s the only one that’s been able to tolerate Kiran?”
He chuckled, but barely. “She constantly thinks like a human.”
“And usually that gets her into trouble.”
“But sometimes it gets her out of trouble.” He fiddled with the doorjamb until the hinge popped apart in his hand. Then he moved to the middle one and then the top. I expected them to be stuck tight after centuries of Immortal staff ignoring them, but the pins were surprisingly slick and well-oiled.
I helped him with the last one, admiring the very old hinge-system I had never paid attention to, despite all of the time I spent in the castle. The door angled precariously, so I righted it by sticking my fingers through the crack in the bottom and holding it in place. As soon as he’d pushed the pin through the hinge, the door swung open.
We were free.
“That was disgustingly easy,” I murmured.
Sebastian stuck his head into the hallway and looked from side-to-side. “That was disgustingly human, which is why they didn’t expect it.”
He reached for my hand and pulled me out into the hall. We crept along the cold, stone walls and moved slowly. I resisted the urge to push him. I knew we needed to hurry, any second they would discover we were gone, but I also knew he had to last longer than getting out of his castle. Sebastian had to save his energy or we were both dead.
The hallways were empty. I knew Terletov had an army, but it was still unclear exactly how many men he had at his disposal. Plus, I knew that we were not the only prisoners being held. Apparently, he kept enough men handy for terrorist attacks, but not enough to control his castle. Interesting.
“You can be clever when you want to be.”
He looked back at me over his shoulder and his hazel eyes lit with something dark and enigmatic. I sucked in a breath and tried to ignore whatever emotion danced in those familiar depths.
“You have no idea.”
I leaned forward and tried to lighten the mood. “I have some idea. I know you better than anyone.”
The corner of his mouth pulled up, “I’m going to enjoy this, Sera. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long.”
“What’s taken you this long?”
“Shh,” he ordered while seeming to switch gears. “You’re going to get us caught.”
Panic flared low in my belly and I ignored his warning. “What are you going to enjoy, Sebastian? What are you talking about?”
He pushed a finger to his lips and scowled at me, but his eyes brightened with amusement. I wanted to punch him. And I would have. Except I was afraid I would kill the poor guy.
There was something I didn’t like about his tone though or his smug expression. Or his mysterious words. Or the heated look in his eyes. Or… just everything about him in general.
My mind spun with possibilities and continued to land on our healing kiss. Had that been more to him than the desperate act of fixing his broken Magic? Did he misread my intent?
I tried to shake those thoughts away and save them for when my life wasn’t so dangerously on the line, but it wasn’t possible. Sebastian headlined every single one of my thoughts. The bastard.
He knew his way around the castle better than I did. And even though the halls were darkened and the layout a maze of sharp turns and long corridors, he knew exactly where he wanted to go.
A few times I tugged on his sleeve to pull him back. One of Terletov’s men would walk by seconds later and we would press ourselves against the wall and hope they didn’t see us.
It had to be my psychic skills. I had never been this in-tuned with them before, but now they almost assaulted my senses. Instinct mingled with Magic, premonitions blended seamlessly with the innate ability to sense what was to come.
I needed confidence and experience though. I found it hard to trust myself. I wanted more control over my thoughts and feelings. This ability felt very much out of my control. It happened to me and I was forced to react and most of the time, I had to react quickly.
Whether this new intensity of ability was driven by circumstance or necessity, I wished I could have had some more time to figure it out before it was thrust upon me.
Although, it clearly kept saving our lives, so I couldn’t complain too much.
Just as I had that thought, something sharp and blinding seared through my head. The pain came so quickly that I bent over at my waist and grabbed my knees. I thought for sure I would puke, and I was in too much pain to care or worry about it.
The pain in my head pulsed through the rest of my body. Blinding white light filled my vision behind closed eyelids. I heard myself whimper and then cringe at the added pain agony voice brought.
But then I saw it. My Magic was at work again and this time in a very important way.
When the pain passed and the nausea receded, I slowly pulled myself into standing again and registered Sebastian’s firm grip on my shoulders. He moved to stand in front of me and brought my body to within an inch of his.
His hands rubbed a soothing path over my shoulders, up my neck and across my jaw until he cradled my face with his two big hands. “Sera?”
His words were a whisper, but I felt his deep concern all the way to my toes. “A vision,” I whispered. “Analisa’s not dead. She’s here. Terletov’s keeping her here.”
His expression turned from worry to rage in a half-second. He dropped his hands and shot a furious glare in every direction. I reminded myself that she wasn’t just Kiran’s mother, but his aunt as well. She was family to Sebastian, and after what we’d just been through at Terletov’s hands, I could understand his fury.
“Where?” he growled. “Where is she?”
“Not far.”
“Then let’s get her and get the hell out of here.”
“Great idea.”
I took the lead and moved as fast as I could. I gave in a little more to my stronger instincts with each passing moment. My Magic seemed to step up with the level of danger we were in.
Or maybe it had something to do with Sebastian’s Magic still wrapped up with mine.
We hadn’t been this free with our energies in over a year. We went from constantly a part of each other to nothing. When I pulled my Magic out of Sebastian’s for good, I thought I would ache forever from the separation.
I thought not being with him would leave my Magic a diluted version of itself and I would never recover.
But my heart had felt that way too. Now that we were working together again and I had the unlimited resources of combined Magic, I wondered if my Magic had been waiting for this moment ever since we broke up.
Once I fought through the heartache and disappointment of losing the man I thought I would love forever, I assumed that my Magic had fought to restore itself too. Sure, I’d never felt absolutely perfect again or even vaguely like myself. But I had been a kid before Sebastian and I started anything. I was just eighteen and had gone through a different kind of heartbreak when I lost Kiran.
How was I supposed to know better?
How was I supposed to know I was supposed to feel better?
It was as we ran through the silent halls of the castle, toward the elderly Queen, that I realized I would have to go through that all over again. My heart might be more protected this time. And by that, I meant calloused and scarred, so it would be easier to recover. But my Magic would suffer just like before.
Only this time I would know the difference.
That thought alone was almost enough to make me separate from Sebastian. I could make the clean break now and save myself some pain later.
Except I couldn’t.
If I wanted to get out of this alive and bring Sebastian and Analisa out of this intact too, I would have to suck it up and keep us connected. We did so much
better together. We had energy. We had resources.
We had a chance in hell.
And that was all I could ask for right now.
I jumped back when our corridor came to a T. We could go right or left although instinct told me to go right. It also told me that the door hiding Analisa was heavily guarded.
“Down that way,” I whispered as quietly as I could.
Sebastian’s face flickered in the soft lighting that came from lit torches that lined the wall. The Citadel was equipped with electricity and every contemporary convenience, but it was a complicated system since everything modern had been added longer after the structure was built.
Magic could easily run any of the lights, fixtures or amenities, but I got the feeling that these people didn’t have a lot of Magic to waste. So Terletov had reverted back to the old ways of torches and candles. Most of the windows had been draped with heavy, black curtains.
I hated the Citadel like this.
Of course, I would hate it no matter how Terletov kept it. But the bad lighting and constant scent of smoke and tinder made the atmosphere revert to the Dark Ages. This felt archaic even for Terletov.
Sebastian pulled me out of my lighting debate when he put two hands on my shoulders and backed me against the wall. Cold stone pressed into the thin fabric of my silk shirt and pants. His fingers dug into my shoulder blades and his palms rested over my collarbone. His thumb traced the hollow of my throat. I struggled to swallow and then struggled again when his thumb reached up and drew a delicate line over the movement.
“I need you to be quiet,” he whispered just loud enough for me to make out.
He left me pressed against the wall as if I could do anything else but what he said. He seriously needed to tone down the charm or I wasn’t going to make it through this little adventure of ours alive.
Next time he touched me like that or looked at me like that or spoke to me with such absolute command, I seriously worried that I might spontaneously combust.
Right there on the spot.
Damn him.
He leaned over me to see around the corner. When he pulled back and met my confused gaze, his expression was bleak.