Vampires, she had come to learn, loved their potions.
You will pay. She reached inside his chest with a mental hand and squeezed. Squeezed so tightly the previously unused powers inside her recoiled. Still she held firm.
He gurgled out a pained breath, rubbed frantically at his chest, his skin growing paler by the second. He gazed at her, unsure about what was happening. He wanted to speak, but she hadn't released his tongue from her wish for quiet.
What's going on, love?
Devyn's voice hit her in a rush, laced with panic and frustration.
Everything's fine, don't you worry. I love you, she told him, never releasing her hold on the king. I love you, too, but how are we reading each other's minds?
Surprise, your wife is one of the most powerful people in the world. I'm going to handle everything, and then we're going home.
Will you be in danger? he asked. No. I freaking rock right now.
Well, let me have a little of the glory, at least, he projected dryly. No way. I want to tease you about this for years to come.
Manus was gasping now, and people were starting to notice. Two vampires even approached the throne. "My king?" one asked.
So what exactly are you planning? Devyn asked. You'll see.
—make her stop. The king's thought intruded into her mind. The closer he came to death, the louder his projections. So important. Can't die. Can't fail Terreck.
He'd loved his brother. Loved him more than his own life, and when his brother had been taken from him, he'd wanted to die himself. Then Fiona had come to him, taunted him. He'd wanted her head. Still wanted it, and would do anything to get it. Even lie. He didn't want to kill McKell and Devyn, wouldn't kill them. But he would keep them here, use them, to gain what he wanted.
With the realization, Bride released her grip on his heart.
He was panting, sweating.
So was she. Determined to finally end this, to leave and return above with Devyn, she rose. "Stand," she told him.
It was a command, and not something he could ignore. As before, there was power in her voice. Utter compulsion. It was not something he would be immune to later. No, this voice would continue to control everyone who heard it, no matter how many times they heard it.
The king stood, hate bleeding into his eyes. Nefreti bitch. "Yes. I am."
Anything you speak will happen. Will become fate. Anything.
Yes, she realized, the ability to sift truth from lie making itself known. His thoughts were true.
You'll destroy the world, you know that, yes? You'll destroy your lover.
He was ... right. She knew it, the future suddenly playing through her mind. She would return to the surface with Devyn. One day they would fight, as couples always did. She would say something she didn't mean. He would be hurt irrevocably.
Horror flooded her. She couldn't allow that to happen. Which meant, she couldn't go with him. Oh, God. She couldn't go with him.
Guards pounded toward her, their thoughts converging on her. Must save the king. Kill her before it's too late. How could this have happened?
She held out her hand, only that, but every single one of them went flying backward, slamming into walls and other people. There were gasps, muttered curses, then everyone stopped what they were doing and eyed her with the same horror she felt.
She could sense her ability to camouflage taking over, changing the color and texture of her skin and hair. Could feel her muscles trembling, wanting to break apart, mist and fly. To escape it all.
Not yet. Just a little longer.
Get the whips, someone thought. Perhaps all of them were thinking it. Have to get the whips. Only way to stop her.
"No one move," she shouted, and even Devyn and McKell ceased moving. Soon Devyn's skin paled, turned blue. She frowned, not understanding what was happening. Devyn?
Can't... breathe...
"Breathe!" she rushed out. "Everyone breathe." Oh, yes, she was a menace who would inevitably hurt him. When his color returned, she faced the king, tears forming and streaming freely down her
cheeks. "Devyn and McKell are going to leave, and you are going to let them. You are not to chase them. Ever. You are to leave them alone. If you even think of hurting them, you will suffer a pain like none you've ever known." I'm not sure I like this.
The thought hit her, louder than any before it, and so clear it was as if the woman was standing beside her.
Bride cast her gaze through the crowd, searching ... one of her new abilities allowed her to search faces with the precision of a computer, honing in. There, in the far corner, was a shadowy figure. She couldn't see the woman's face, it was cloaked, but she recognized her for what she was. A nefreti. Her powers matched Bride's in strength, in beauty, the aura around her as bright as the sun.
You are Fiona, Bride said. The one the king searches for.
Yes.
She was also someone who could stop Bride and hurt Devyn. You don't like what I'm doing, fine. Tell me what to do. I'm open to anything as long as the two men in the cage are free and unharmed.
Rather than tell her what to do, Fiona showed her scenes from the past, a dark, turbulent past between two people who wanted to hate each other but couldn't stop the lust. Fiona's abduction of the prince, then the king. Fiona's treatment of both. The first she had indeed tortured, but the king she had seduced.
"She's still out there," Bride told the king without turning away, "still watching you. You can feel her, but you can't read her and you can't stop her. But I can read her, and she can read me. She's been an outcast her entire life because of what she is. Everyone thought she was dead, killed as a child as ordered. But they couldn't do it, and sent her away. Throughout the years, she remained in contact with her sister, her twin. She loved the girl more than anything. Until your brother killed her. She retaliated. And somehow in the process, she became connected to you instead. Now she needs you to survive and has asked me not to kill you."
His eyes rounded, though the hate in them didn't fade.
"I will spare you this day. But I say again, if my husband's life is threatened in any way, I will destroy you without any hesitation."
He will not, Fiona told her. I will make sure of it. Thank you.
The cloaked figure disappeared from view.
"You two." Bride pointed to the guards closest to the ropes that held the cage suspended in the air. "Gently lower the men."
Their eyes glazed as they rushed to obey, and soon the cage was settled on the ground. "Open it." Only I have the key, the king projected.
"Then give them the key." It was another command he couldn't resist.
He removed a necklace from around his neck and tossed it at the guards. Weak as his throw was, the key thumped to the ground several feet from them. One guard strode forward, swiped up the key, and returned to the cage. Metal scraped against metal, then the door was flung wide.