I pointed my gun at him and growled, “I will shoot you. I will kill you if I have to.”
His lips twisted into a cruel smile. “You’ll kill me? Maybe I want you to.”
Sebastian took a step towards him with raised hands. “You don’t have to work for him. We can help you. We can… fix you.”
The man shook his head, still sadistically amused. “You can’t fix me. I don’t want to be fixed.”
“He’s lied to you,” Sebastian went on. “Whatever he’s promised you, he can’t deliver. This Kingdom belongs to one family and if it’s not in their hands, those who seek to control it die. It happened with the Kendrick line and it will happen with Terletov’s as. And all those that stand with him. That’s the way our Magic works.”
He cocked his head to the side and looked closely at Sebastian. I held my breath and pressed my finger more firmly on the trigger. I wouldn’t shoot unless I absolutely had to, but if I did, I hoped I was the fastest gun.
“But what if you could change the Magic?” the man asked slowly. “And what if the Magic changed its loyalty?” His expression evolved from scary and cold to purpose-driven. His focus shifted too. He had been staring at Sebastian, watching him closely. When his attention moved to the orb, I had a split second to realize his intentions before he carried them through.
“What are you talking-”
“No!” I gasped as the man dropped his gun and jumped straight into the orb of Magic. It exploded with that sickly green energy. Sebastian and I dove out of the way, but not before I felt the searing burns of that super-heated light lick up the back of my legs and torso.
I screamed out in agony. I couldn’t think beyond the pain of that Magical touch, even as the orb tried to pull me back into it.
Sebastian caught my arms and pulled with all his might. He braced his legs on either side of the corridor entrance and refused to let go of me. I was sure that my arms were close to ripping out of my body, and I knew Sebastian would let them before he let me go.
The Magic continued to expand as it consumed the final body. My own Magic raced to heal my burning skin and the two forces warred with each other for control over my fate.
Finally, the Magical orb seemed pacified with the four sacrifices it had already claimed. My body released suddenly and Sebastian’s pull sprang me forward. I knocked him over and landed directly on top of his torso.
And there I stayed.
I couldn’t make myself leave the comfort of his chest. His arms wrapped around me immediately as if he were just as reluctant to let me go. My Magic worked quickly and wherever there had been burns before became new, freshly healed skin.
I breathed shuddering breaths and trembled against Sebastian. I had never been more afraid in my life. I could have sworn those were my final moments. I could have sworn the Magic had been seconds from claiming another victim.
Sebastian pushed up suddenly and our gazes clashed together. I could only imagine what I looked like, filthy, terrified and so relieved that tears filled my eyes.
He looked painfully handsome as he stared back at me with aching care. His face had been smudged with dirt and his hair deliciously disheveled. His body was a hard, but hot surface that pressed into mine in heart-warming familiarity.
As I stared into his eyes, my breathing leveled out and my shaking subsided. He centered me in a way that I hated to admit. I didn’t want to believe I still had any kind of feelings left for him, but our bond from the past was too strong. He still had the ability to soothe me, to comfort me in the most persuasive ways.
“Are you alright?” he breathed and I closed my eyes at the anguish in his tone.
There were parts of him that still cared for me too. He might hate me in the day-to-day but at least he didn’t want me to die.
“I’m fine,” I told him.
He shifted so that I was cradled in his arms. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
“I thought I was going to lose you too.”
Our words were forbidden whispers in a place where nobody would hear us and we could choose not to remember. This was our barest honesty, our most truthful pieces ripped from our souls. We shared more emotions in those few moments than we had in maybe our entire relationship.
Sebastian’s head dipped and I thought he might kiss me. His eyes had that half-lidded look that used to do all kinds of crazy things to my willpower. His tongue swept across his lower lip as if in preparation.
My stomach flipped suddenly and my entire body tuned into his motions.
And then… I panicked. I couldn’t let him kiss me!
Was I completely out of my mind?
Obviously. Obviously I was out of mind.
One heroic gesture and a full minute without sarcasm and I’d completely forgotten that I hated him.
And I did hate him.
Really, I did.
I mean… right? No. Yes. I definitely hated him.
I felt stripped naked in front of him with my heart on display. If he kissed me know I would give him everything, every last bit of me and I would be lost to him forever.
And he would leave me.
Maybe not immediately… but eventually. And this time when he left… I would die.
I wouldn’t be able to take it.
I turned my head away from his lips and felt his entire body stiffen. It was like a wave of cold, hardened energy passed over him. One second his body molded to mine, pliable and giving. The next, he stiffened into granite and completely shut down.
I knew I’d rejected him, so I shouldn’t feel as miserable as I did. But the coldness in his touch and the hardness in his eyes cut to the bone.
“We need to go,” he said as he disentangled his body from mine. He jumped to his feet and held out a hand to help me up too.
“Right.”
He looked back at the dead, Magic-less bodies and shook his head. “I don’t think we stopped them from accomplishing their goal. I think they came here to die.”
“Which would solve the Where-in-the-world-is-Terletov question,” I mumbled.
Sebastian did a double take. “Is that a Carmen Sandiego reference?”
I couldn’t look at him. It was more than a little embarrassing that I knew what that computer game was and loved playing it as a child. So I gave a careless shrug instead. “Ever since we started the Terletov missions, it’s felt very much like that game. We’re running all over the world and can’t seem to catch him.”
“It’s just funny,” he said. “I thought that last winter.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was so used to Sebastian’s sarcasm that I didn’t know if he was sincere or not. Part of me was waiting for him to come in with his punch line. But he simply moved on, leaving me to wonder what other computer games he’d played as a kid. Somehow we managed to avoid conversations like this during our relationship.
Weird.
“Are you okay with leaving this place like… this?” I gestured at the bodies.
“What choice do we have? I’ll call Kiran on the way and see if I can’t get some Titans stationed here until we figure out what to do. I doubt killing four of his men was Terletov’s entire purpose.”
“No kidding,” I snorted.
“Ready for more of this?” He raised his eyebrows at me and jerked his chin toward the way back to the surface.
“You mean Geneva?”
“I mean all of this. It feels like we’re finally getting close, Sera. I’m ready to end this.”
I agreed completely. “Me, too.”
“So, yes. Geneva then.”
I let Sebastian lead the way to the surface. My mind spun in all kinds of different directions. I felt the same way Sebastian did. The Terletov conflict was headed for climax. One way or another everything was about to change.
I felt that truth as clearly as I felt that we were supposed to be here, to see and witness whatever that was. I knew something big loomed on the horizon.
I just didn’t know what yet.
And that scared me in every possible way. I didn’t know if I was prepared.
I didn’t know if I was ready.
Sebastian glanced at me over his shoulder in the dark corridor and shot me a reassuring smile.
I held my breath until he looked away.
I suddenly felt unprepared for a lot of things in life.
Terletov was just one of them.
Chapter Five
Sebastian
We arrived in Geneva near dawn the next day. The streets were still warmly lit with plenty of artistic, outdoor sconces and streetlamps. The city seemed to glow under the soft yellow light.
I liked Geneva.
It was one of my favorite cities in Europe. It held a charming class that I felt comfortable enjoying without feeling snobbish or needlessly pretentious.
The hotel that Kiran always chose to stay at felt very well like home. I’d spent a large portion of my childhood there. It being an old Kendrick palace, my parents felt like they still owned the place.
I woke Seraphina just as I handed the rental off to the valet. She blinked up at me with sleepy eyes and a small pout. Without her defenses raised and rearing, she looked lovely. Breathtaking even. I shook that thought away quickly and led her inside. We stopped by the front desk to pick up our room keys and then walked side-by-side up the endless flight of stairs to Kiran’s suite.
I texted him once we arrived in the city so that he knew to expect us. I had called ahead to book my room and a room for Seraphina on the way. I doubted she was pleased with my handling of her accommodations, but I decided not to worry about that. She needed my help whether she wanted it or not.
She’d fallen asleep almost as soon as we’d left Vienna. Her body needed some major healing. The fight at St. Stephens had been brutal and especially rough on her. I hadn’t disturbed her until we arrived. She slept the entire ten-hour drive.
While I spent the long car ride trying to process what it had felt like to nearly lose her.
We’d been in plenty of dangerous situations before, but she’d always managed to keep her neck out of danger. This time had been different.
I couldn’t explain the feelings of almost losing her, not even to myself. I felt nothing but a deep, possessive need to take care of her now. I wanted to hold her, wrap my arms around her and never let her go.
I couldn’t make sense of that.
Because at the same time, I wanted to shove her out of my life and never hear from her again. The woman was positively infuriating. And she just didn’t see it.
Nearly kissing her had also been a mistake. We had been so close, physically that is. And her body had felt alarmingly right in my arms. I had wanted to roll her over and cover her with my body while I ravished her mouth with mine.
Of course, she’d seen right through me and done the wise thing by turning away.
Still, the anger I’d felt at being denied what my body wanted most on this earth was a nearly painful thing. Followed shortly by the irritation that she’d rejected me.
Again.
Bitterness and hatred settled inside me, only unseated when I would remember the look on her face as she nearly toppled backward into that horrible Magic. Or the swelling pride in my chest when I remembered how courageously she’d fought. My emotions were on a constant cycle, flipping through all of these different thoughts and feelings until I thought I would go mad.
Or at the very least, spontaneously turn into a woman.
We’d been quiet on our walk to Kiran’s suite and I couldn’t help but wonder what went on in that frustrating head of hers. I was also curious to see how she would spin the entire debacle into my fault.
I knew it was coming. I was somehow to blame for… for whatever we’d seen and been through, at least in her eyes.
Kiran had opened the door before we had a chance to knock. He spoke through a yawn when he explained, “Eden felt you coming.” He walked back into the suite, leaving me to catch the closing door.
I held it open for Seraphina and then followed behind into the massive penthouse. The central room had only one lamp turned on and left the rest of the rooms in complete darkness. Eden was nowhere to be seen, so I had to assume Kiran planned to run this one solo and let his very pregnant wife get her rest.
He gestured to a couch and then waved at us, in his very kingly way, to proceed.
“I had a vision,” Seraphina explained through her own yawn. “Well, of sorts. Anyway, it took us to Vienna as you know.”
“Yes, Sebastian explained this earlier,” Kiran said. He sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Seraphina hadn’t had many visions until the last part of our relationship.
Some people believed that with the Magic restored thanks to Eden and Avalon, the entirety of the Kingdom’s powers would be enhanced. Immortality had never been a real thing before, but in the three years the twins had taken the throne, not one Immortal had died from natural causes. And the King’s Curse had been completely eradicated.
Seraphina’s increase in psychic visions could very well be a manifestation of this theory.
“We followed my instinct to the catacombs of St. Stephens,” she continued. “Well, beyond the catacombs, really.” She put a comforting hand on my kneecap. I almost smiled. I had been rather afraid of going down there. She went on to explain the altercation with the Terletov’s men and how they all came to die.
“We think they had always planned to die,” I finished for her. “Some kind of suicide mission, perhaps.”
“But why?” Kiran’s expression darkened with fury. He was as anxious to get rid of Terletov as anyone. He wanted his home back, his Kingdom safe again and his wife and children out of danger. He wanted his mother safe again. I knew losing her weighed heavily on his shoulders.
“The orb…” I used my hands to give an example of the massive size of it. “It started out blue. Almost the same color as Eden and Avalon’s Magic, if not exactly that same blue. By the time the fourth man had thrown his body into the light, the color had shifted to a dull, sickly green. It started to match the men’s Magic. It had also grown substantially in size.”
Kiran threw his back against the couch and let out a weary sigh. “They’re trying to corrupt the Magic,” he decided. “They’re trying to destroy it.”
“But why the old kind? We haven’t been drawn to Vienna in a thousand years. Why would Terletov want to destroy it now?”
We sat silently for several minutes before Seraphina perked up and slid forward. “What if he’s not trying to corrupt it or destroy it? What if he’s trying to control it?”
My exhausted brain snapped back to life with her theory. Kiran seemed to come alive too. He sat forward and gave her a concentrated look. “Explain.”
“So, we’ve always known that Eden has had this weird connection with the Magical hotspots. In India, she basically shut down the entire operation. And in Romania, she destroyed the holding power of that particular Magic, the dungeons. And tell me if this is a coincidence. Her Magic manifests as blue, or it used to before you and her, er, consummated your relationship. But before you, she always had that bright blue Magic. Then that weird smoke she has is also blue. Okay? It cannot be chance that the Magic beneath St. Stephens was blue. Maybe it’s… maybe it’s like the natural color of Magic. Maybe that’s the Magic in its purest form. Eden and Avalon were born with that Magic after thousands of years of the Magic diluting through segregation and whatnot. So, we’ve always known their Magic is stronger and more powerful. But, they’ve also been able to control these Source-spots too. It’s like those original Magics respond to them, bend to their will because they hold the same kind.”
Kiran and I nodded along, waiting for her to get to the point. “So?” I pressed when she took a break to suck in a breath. “What does that have to do with Terletov’s corruption?”
“What if he’s not corrupting it?” She pushed my shoulder with the proudest look on her face. “What if he’s changing the Magic to respond to
him? What if he’s infusing his tainted Magic into the original Magic so that he has unlimited access to it? He sent his guys primarily to infect the orb with what was in them and now it’s green and huge and seemingly stronger than ever. And Terletov controls that now. He’s bonded to it.”
Kiran shook his head, wanting to discredit that theory. “But controlling the Magic doesn’t do anything unless the Magic is willing to cooperate. In India, Eden basically absorbed the Magic and yes, she can now use it, but the Romanian Magic didn’t turn out the same. She had to fight to control it. It did not go willingly. She almost died. And she had plenty of experience absorbing Magics. Terletov has been without any kind of real power for a very long time now. I saw him in Romania. There is no he is strong enough to control something as powerful as a Source Magic. It would kill him.”
I grunted a bitter laugh. “I don’t think we’re going to get that lucky.”
“I agree with Sebastian,” Seraphina chimed in immediately. Well, that was a first. “I’m not saying it would be an easy process for him. Or that it’s even possible. But my gut is telling me that’s his plan. He’s turning the wells of Magic against us and he hopes to control them.”
Kiran’s eyebrows drew together and he ran a hand through his hair, his tell that he was wrestling with something important. “What do you think, Cousin?”
Without hesitating, I said, “I think Seraphina is on to something. I think it makes sense. And you should have seen these goons, Mate. You should have seen how willing they were to throw themselves into that thing. And that was no pleasant death. They watched each other suffer and die one at a time. I mean, it was gruesome. And still, especially that last guy, it was like he was taunting us, like he knew he got one over on us.”
“Then why fight you?” Kiran pressed. “Why not just throw themselves into it as soon as you showed up?”
“Who knows? Maybe they had to do it one at a time? Or, maybe they thought they could take us with them.”
Seraphina sat up straighter, “Or maybe they knew we would do our best to keep them away from there. We hadn’t gone in with the intention of killing them all. In fact, if we had our way, we would have brought them back here for questioning. Maybe they had to make sure they got in that orb, even if it meant killing us first.”