I tried to make it seem as though I thought we had something special and I wanted to pursue our connection. But really, if I were completely honest, I couldn’t face Sebastian alone.
If I didn’t love Lilly so much, I would have blown off the wedding completely.
“Seraphina, where are you?” He sounded practically angry with me.
As if it were my fault Sebastian kidnapped me!
“I’m fine,” I tried to placate him. “In the chaos of the explosion a friend of mine thought I was in trouble. He helped me get to somewhere safe.”
Andrei huffed in his thick Russian accent. “It must be nice to have friends concerned about your safety.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Are you mad I didn’t help save you?”
Sebastian snorted a surprised laugh and I instantly regretted my question. I should have kept my mouth shut. I should usually keep my mouth shut.
It was always getting me into trouble.
Andrei grumbled something in Russian that I didn’t catch before saying, “I can obviously take care of myself. But it would have been nice for you to have thought of me at the moment.”
I cleared my throat delicately. What I really wanted to do was hang up the phone and move on with my life. I had no time for men who needed women to save them. Call me old fashioned, but I wanted the kind of guy that would swoop in on a white horse, pick me up with one arm and plant my ass in the saddle as we rode off into the sunset.
I didn’t even know if those men existed anymore. Really, Paula Cole, where had all the cowboys gone?
My eyes drifted unwilling to Sebastian. Had he acted white-knightish back at the vineyard?
Did it matter?
Nope.
I sighed noisily and then laid it out on my wedding date, “Listen, Andrei, I’m sorry I didn’t stick around to make sure you survived. I didn’t mean to leave you in my dust. It just happened. It sounds like you got out just fine though. So yay for being alive still! Looks like we have another thing in common.”
“Seraphina, I didn’t mean-”
“Save it, Kid. I’ll call you later.” I clicked off and rolled my shoulders. I had originally felt guilty for leaving him behind. He could have easily died or been a target for one of Terletov’s disgusting experiments. But the fact that he survived and blamed me for leaving him rankled me in all kinds of ways.
I avoided Sebastian’s white-hot gaze as I dialed another number. Two calls down and I had yet to find someone that cared I was still alive.
Poor me.
I rolled my eyes and stamped the inner-bitch down. I had been raised with all the privilege in the world and spoon fed from solid silver since the day I was born. Spoiled and bratty were my default settings. Sometimes I wondered if I knew how to behave any differently.
During my relationship with Sebastian, I had fought diligently to be somebody else… to be the girl he could fall in love with and live his life with. But my entitled beast of a personality always hovered just beneath my shiny surface. There were times I let her slip out. There were times I thought I would lose my mind if I didn’t scream at the top of my lungs!
I had struggled for the last four or five years to let go of all those snobbish mindsets and release my prejudices back to the hell they’d crawled out of. It wasn’t easy. Honestly, hating and bitching were so much more comfortable for me. But I wanted to be better. I wanted to be genuine and authentic.
I just didn’t always succeed.
When I was with Sebastian, I lived with this constant fear that he would see those ugly parts of me. I was terrified the real me would slip through my polished, pretty façade and he would be horrified by the picture of truth he managed to glimpse.
I sometimes wondered if that was why he could never commit to me in the end. Maybe it was me that sabotaged our relationship and led him on for three years. I hated myself for the person I couldn’t be. And even more for ruining something that should have been beautiful.
But then I would hate Sebastian even more for being unable to love the girl that I was instead of the girl we both wanted me to be.
“Hello?”
“Eden,” I breathed out in relief. “Thank God.”
“Sera? Where are you? Gosh, I was so worried! Are you okay? Are you hurt? I saw Andrei on the way out, but he didn’t have any idea where you went. I thought you… I thought Terletov might have-”
“I’m fine,” I rushed to assure her. My spirit instantly lightened at my friend’s concern. It was people like Eden that made me want to be better and understood when I wasn’t. She handled our friendship with love and respect, no matter how snobby I could be. I felt freer with her than with anybody else.
Sure, I could still be cruel and unthinking, but because she would love me no matter how I behaved, it took the unwanted pressure off my behavior. It was easy to be good and loving and kind around Eden because she was all of those things and especially to me. “Sebastian kidnapped me and stashed me away in some roach motel. But we’re both alive.”
She didn’t say anything for a long time.
“Stop it,” I growled at her. “I can feel you gloating from here.”
“I’m not gloating!” She was totally gloating. “I’m just surprised Sebastian thought about saving someone other than himself. That’s all.”
I snickered. “Believe me; nobody’s more surprised than me.”
“What’s the plan then? You guys want in on some of the impending action? Or are you running off to Paris to elope?”
“E, give it up. Not everyone in the world is destined to be as happy in wedded bliss as you.”
“Not true,” she argued.
“We want in on the action.” I needed to cut her off before she started waxing philosophical on all the benefits of a happy marriage. There was only so much till-death-do-us-part I could take in one day. “We’re ready and willing. Tell us when and where and we’ll be there.”
“Meet us in Geneva,” she said. “We’ll reconvene and go from there.”
“See you in twenty-four hours.”
We clicked off and I finally met Sebastian’s stoic gaze. He stood with feet apart and arms crossed over his broad chest. I tried to remember if he’d moved since we walked in this dingy room. He was like a statue over there, cold, unmoving and made out of stone.
“What did we just agree to?” he clipped out with all of those perfect British syllables.
“We’re meeting our beloved King and Queen in Geneva. Should I not have agreed to go? I figured when the Monarchs ask you to be somewhere, you’re always the first in line.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “It’s fine. I planned to call Kiran anyway and find out where they needed us.”
“You,” I clarified. “Where they needed you. You don’t get to take orders for me or include me in yours. We’re not partners anymore.”
“I’m not sure we ever were.”
His words hurt me more than he meant to. At least I thought it was unintentional. I could have been wrong. Maybe he wanted to rip me apart with every cruel comeback. Maybe he saved my life so he could be the one to torture and kill me.
If that were true, only a few more eviscerating remarks like that and I would be weeping at his mercy.
“Are you ready?” I asked him neutrally.
“Do you need a few hours of rest? You’ve been awake for a while.”
I ignored the softer tone in his voice. I didn’t want to believe he could be capable of any kind of kindness.
But he was right.
I had taken an overnight flight to get to Italy from the States and hadn’t been able to sleep the entire flight thanks to my ricocheting nerves about seeing Sebastian for the first time in months. Then, I’d spent all of yesterday helping get the venue and the bride ready. We’d driven through the night and now I faced more travel.
I needed to be in top form if I were accepting missions.
And some new clothes.
“I probably should sleep for a bit,” I relented throu
gh a yawn.
“I’ll wake you in a few hours then.”
“Give me an extra thirty minutes to take a shower?” I scooted back on the bed and flopped down on the pillow. This might be a grungy place to stay the night, but it was perfect for a morning nap.
My eyes fluttered closed and I felt my breath deepen immediately. A little embarrassed about my exhaustion, I fought sleep and tried to give Sebastian a steady smile. Through the haze of sleep I saw him still standing in that same spot, arms still crossed, feet still spread.
His expression was different this time though. He seemed to be lost as he stared at me… completely confused. I didn’t even bother to analyze him though, or what he was thinking.
I was much too tired and so I let sleep carry me away. I didn’t have a good feeling about this mission. Or about spending anymore alone time with Sebastian.
Call it Psychic intuition, but I knew without a doubt this would be some of the last moments of peace I would have for a long time.
Chapter Three
Sebastian
I woke Seraphina up four hours later. I had been careful not to touch her while I called her from her deep sleep.
She had always been impossible to wake, and I’d usually had to physically shake her to get her attention. Today was no different, but I didn’t relish the idea of moving her body with my hands.
She had scraped me raw by just a few hours in her presence. I didn’t know how she did this to me every time we found ourselves together.
She brought the absolute worst out of me. I was never proud of myself when we were near.
And this morning had been no different.
While I still believed I did the right thing by helping her escape, I had acted deploringly ever since. She was right to hate me. And most of the time I knew that I was right to hate her.
But I didn’t have to be such a bloody bastard about it.
I’d watched her fall asleep with more conflicting feelings warring inside of me than I knew what to do with. The familiar, habitual side of me had wanted to crawl into bed with her and press my chest to her back. I’d wanted nothing more than my arms wrapped around her tiny waist and my hands free to wander. But the rational, thinking side of my brain and body had known better.
Aside from the fact she would have probably attacked me or called the police, it was only the memory of our combined Magic that lulled me into that fantasy.
We weren’t those people anymore.
I needed to always remember that.
After I’d stared at her for an inappropriate amount of time, feeling like an obsessive stalker, I went out into the village in search of different clothes for her.
I had plenty of choices stashed away in my suitcases, but her luggage had been left behind.
I had no doubt that Seraphina could wage any war in the skyscraper-length heels she wore and the too-short skirt, but I wanted her to be more comfortable.
And less distracting.
Besides, I felt guilty for all of my cruel remarks. This was my way of making some of it up to her.
I’d found a decent little shop and went to work selecting jeans, workout pants, and comfortable shirts that I knew would pass her fashion standards.
Nothing had a designer label on it or cost more than an average amount of Euros, but everything was in her size and would fit her.
She seemed pleased with the selection I presented her with and even stooped so low as to thank me before taking off for the shower. I had already used the bathroom and done the necessary straightening of my appearance.
She got ready as quickly as she could and then we gathered what little of our things had made it to the hotel room and carried them with us to the rental car.
As soon as we sat down I could feel the shift in her demeanor. She had been uncharacteristically quiet since she woke up, but now something seemed to bother her. No, not bother, that was too light of a word… this thing, whatever it was, had afflicted her as if with plague.
“What’s wrong,” I asked as I pulled onto the main road.
She glanced at me for a moment before flinching and pressing three fingers to her temple. “I don’t know. I dreamt… I dreamt something. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember exactly what it was, but now it’s coming back in bits and pieces.”
“A vision?” I asked in a low voice.
Seraphina was a Psychic and a pretty damn good one. While arguably, my family and Eden’s were more powerfully clairvoyant than hers, she held her own easily. I had never truly had a vision. My powers favored the Witch side of my Immortality. But Sera was purebred Medium and often felt twinges of something that would take her a while to decipher.
That might not sound like much, but in the version of watered-down Magic my people lived with during the Kendrick reign, it was a hell of a lot more than most.
She gave me another sideways glance. “Go through Vienna.”
I adjusted my direction and followed her orders without questioning. If she felt something, I didn’t want to argue with her. Although, it was a bit risky following Seraphina’s whims. She could be leading us straight to Terletov or to a major sale in the middle of Vienna’s shopping district.
Still, until she knew better herself, I wouldn’t dissuade her from following her vision.
“It’s not Terletov,” she said after a long silence. “I’ve had a feeler out for him for a long time now. I would know if it was him.”
“But it’s something, right?” I asked gently.
“It is something.”
“Then we follow it,” I told her. “Even if we have to drive twelve hours out of the way.”
She made a wincing sound but didn’t argue. I pulled out my phone and plugged it into the car charger. After a quick text to Kiran, I set out for the six-hour drive to Vienna.
We were mostly quiet on the way. Seraphina fiddled with radio stations and stared out of the window a lot. I tried to think of something to talk about that wouldn’t get us into a fight.
I thought about bringing up that cretin she brought to the wedding but decided against it. She hadn’t seemed thrilled with her conversation with him and I couldn’t blame her. What kind of idiot goes on a date with a goddess like Seraphina and then worries about his own safety? I didn’t even like her and knew better than to let her save herself during the attack.
I wanted to strangle this guy! I hoped he was well on his way back to Moscow by now or there would be an altercation between us.
I almost relished the idea. I would love to hurt something that deserved it.
I checked my simmering rage and navigated the outskirts of the beautiful Austrian city Seraphina had led us to.
“Where to now?”
“St. Stephens,” she replied simply.
I frowned but obeyed her command. The famous cathedral? This should be interesting.
I parked the rental in a paid parking garage and we hit the old-world streets of Vienna with purpose. Seraphina seemed to know the way without needing a map, so I let her lead.
“We don’t have any weapons,” she suddenly noted.
“Are we going to need them?”
She shot me a glance over her shoulder that promised we would. A nervous feeling settled in my gut and unnerved me. Not for the first time did I wish I had the Titan power of feeling out other’s Magic. Without it, we were walking into this blind.
We weaved through the crowded city on high alert. The early evening light spilled over the weathered stucco siding and cobbled streets. The air was hot and stifling this late in the summer, but it felt good after blasting the air conditioning in the car for the past six and a half hours.
Seraphina was a master of moving through crowds undetected. I had always admired her stealth and sly quickness. She shot me a taunting smile when I clumsily bumped into an elderly gentleman who veered right in front of me.
I made my apologies and then hurried to catch up to her. She hadn’t bothered to wait around for me and I shouldn’t have been su
rprised.
She led us straight to the other side of the street from St. Stephens. I peered up at the massive stone structure and swore I could feel the Magic bubbling around the place.
There was a legend in our Kingdom that one of the old Kings had hidden a well of Magic here. Much like India, Peru and Morocco, this place held a secret only Immortals knew. Except this place was quite a bit more cryptic than the others and held firmly in the human realm.
I tried to remember what exactly lay beneath the church, but couldn’t remember. The place had been abandoned when humanity had firmly taken over and made it a hub of their activity.
The rest of our Magic strongholds were maintained in rather mysterious locations. And at least two of them had been completely abolished since Eden’s arrival.
Ahem, India and the well beneath the Romanian prisons.
“You’re sure, Sera?”
She met my gaze and her blue eyes flashed with purpose. “I’m positive.”
“What’s the plan? Storm the church? Burn the building to the ground? Crawl through the catacombs?”
She made a face at me. “Have you never heard of subtlety?”
“I can’t seem to remember what that word means.”
“I didn’t expect you to.”
She took a step closer to me and slipped her arm through mine. I felt the hot press of her body and my Magic flared to life at her simple touch. I narrowed my eyes and dared her to say something.
She didn’t call me out on my embarrassing overreaction and I silently thanked her for that. Her Magic had just as hard of a time as mine did staying under control. Old habits die hard and all that.
“We’re pretending to be tourists,” she whispered. “Two lovers admiring the pretty church.”
I nuzzled my nose along the shell of her ear. I inhaled the hotel shampoo and the intoxicating scent of her skin. “Mmm,” I murmured. “How far are we going to take this ruse?”
She slapped my chest. “Straight into a lover’s quarrel.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as she pulled me across the street. It was too fun to mess with her. I sobered quickly once we were through the massive arched doors.
I had seen many beautiful things in my life, but this cathedral could very well have been the grandest. Ornate pews sat over glistening tiles in diamond patterns. Every structure seemed to be carved straight from stone and appear in every style, from functional to delicately detailed statues and figurines. The gilded ceilings reflected the many golden accents shining throughout. Tourists took on a quiet reverence once entering the church, demanded from them by the breathtaking house of worship.