Chapter 42
Forty-Two
Come after me, Adham. Come after me.
Had Mina hoped he would be jarred into seeing reason, declare his undying devotion, and come running?
Maybe.
Having seen her uncles Trehan and Lothaire evolve in miraculous ways once each had discovered love, she’d believed Adham could as well. She must have counted on too much too soon. Or too much period. She’d forced his hand—as hers had been forced—and he’d balked.
Damn him, he’d made all of this bearable. The team of them had made even hell bearable.
As the miles grew between her and Adham, she tried to draw on her logic, but conflicting emotions tolled inside her. Her throat felt tight, and more blood tears threatened. She couldn’t afford to lose any blood now that she was in a fight for her survival.
Alone.
No heartfelt yells sounded from behind her. No hectic footfalls as he raced to catch up with her before she faced those revenants on her own. If any of those creatures landed a single hit, a young immortal like her would be done.
Yet Adham had decided to stay within that castle, immersed in what must be his true dreams. She glanced back, could barely discern from afar a last flicker of light. Was he smoking even now? In such a state, would he succumb to all of the castle’s other temptations? If so, then Mina would simply have been one female in his endless lifetime of them.
How could she have been so wrong about him? Her chest squeezed, and she stumbled. Focus, Mina.
As she neared the edge of the revenants’ stony rise, rain began to fall, then pour. Hoping to meet her foes on flat ground, she drew her sword and called, “Hello, there! Does anyone want to come out of their grave and play?”
Rocks shifted, slowly at first, then faster, just like her shifting emotions. Self-pity morphed into outrage. She’d been good to Adham! She’d forgiven his faults and granted him every chance to do better by her. If he didn’t have the sense to follow her, then good riddance.
Monsters boiled up from their lair. When the first roar reached her, she squared her shoulders and spat rain. In her current mood . . . I’m going to lay waste to every last one of them.
Dozens of them shucked off stones and lumbered down to attack. As they reached her preferred terrain, she sped into the throng. Her sword flashed out like some possessed talisman to sever heads from thick necks.
When a large one launched an anvil fist at her, she ducked under the displaced air and yelled, “I expected Adham to leave”— slash —“with me.” Its head tumbled as she pivoted to another foe. “We were supposed to do this”— slice —“together.” Another down. “He promised me”— strike— “a future together!”
She surrendered to the riot of her emotions, leaning hard into fury. Slash. Slice. Strike.
Too soon, only one monster remained to hear her venting. She waved it closer. “Come then, and I’ll tell you a secret you can’t take back to your grave.” It careened forward, tongue lolling. “That sorcerer is a . . . a fucker !” Her sword arced and took yet another neck. The force of the blow sent the creature’s head sailing through the rain. “I said what I said!”
There she stood in a field of twitching bodies, disbelief billowing through her. She sheathed her sword and told the nearest head, “That fucker really isn’t coming.”
With leaden feet, she trudged past the carnage. She almost stopped herself from glancing back at the castle before it passed from sight. Almost.
Forcing herself onward, she reached the foothills leading toward the hive. Setting upon a stony path, she ascended between rock faces as she searched for an entrance into the mountain, toward what would likely be her final battle.
Would Mirceo ever know that his little sister had bravely met her fate? Maybe Balery could see it all in a roll of her bones. Would Adham regret his choice if he sensed Mina had died?
And still he hadn’t come running.
Her brows drew together, and she slowed. Logic finally spoke loud enough for her to hear over her anger. You didn’t imagine the bond between you and the sorcerer.
Yes, Mina was good at observation, and every signal indicated that he cared about her, maybe even as much as she did for him. He should have followed her. If he remained behind—in a sorceress’s magical castle —instead of pursuing Mina, some other power must be at work.
But logic also said, Unless the enchanter truly played you and is now right at home.
She couldn’t believe that. Her heart still clamored for him alone—because he was hers. Her . . . mate . Would that be the lonely one-way street Enti had described?
Possibly. But Mina wasn’t ready to give up all hope on Adham.
Turning back toward the castle, she increased her pace until she was sprinting through the pounding rain. What could she say this time to convince him to join her? She couldn’t force him to go.
Wait. Yes, she could. She was a Dacian. I’ll take him by swordpoint. If Mina believed the realm was dying, then she couldn’t leave him behind. She ran faster, raindrops pattering her face, blurring her vision.
“Kosmina!” A booming voice carried. “Where are you? MINA!”
“Adham?” He’d come for her! He’d proved himself, risking everything. Or else he’s come to escape the quakes as well.
She mentally waved that away and quickened her steps even more. Down the stony path, she caught sight of him.
He sprinted toward her, looking huge and frenzied. “Mina.” His burnished eyes were wild, his lips parted around breaths. He ran full speed until they were upon each other. When she skidded to a stop before him, his hands shot out to grip her shoulders. “You’re safe.”
“You came!”
He clenched his jaw, as if to hold back the words she could all but see burning in his expression. He finally managed: “We do not part. I never want to separate from you again.”
Better! “But what changed?”
“This: I realized I’d rather die beside you—than survive without you.”
She made some breathless sound that couldn’t decide between oh? and ah!
“I would have come sooner, but Enti struck. She’s the Queen of Vice. She feeds on it and can force others to surrender to it.”
Mina had sensed Enti’s deception, but she hadn’t thought the sorceress would lie about her very identity! Not daring to breathe, Mina asked, “Did you surrender?”
“No. I fought like hell. They tried to keep me from you. Nothing could.” He looped an arm around her lower back and dragged her against him. Leaning down, he took her lips.
She gasped, her hands flying to his damp chest. His heart pounded furiously beneath her palms, awakening her bloodlust, her sexual lust. When her fangs sharpened, she jerked back before she nicked him. “Be careful. You see my eyes— I am a danger to you.”
“You must drink me. You asked me to trust you and leave that place. Eventually I did. I need you to trust me in this. At the very least, let my body make you stronger for the trials ahead.”
Was she convinced that this move would cure her? No. But his unwavering certainty kindled a small hope. Yet then she shook her head. “I can’t weaken you. You’ll need your blood just as much.”
He wiped rain from his face. “Pearl sang to me.”
Mina’s eyes widened. “The siren tried to ensnare you?”
Nod. “When I shed Enti’s sorcery, she got Pearl to remove her voice-box modulator. Her notes should have captured me, but I’m immune.”
“A Sorceri power?”
“No. Your hold on me is greater than theirs. When they couldn’t control me, they let me go with their blessing. Enti even gave me a sword.” He waved at the scabbard next to his pouch of sand.
“I don’t understand. A siren can enslave any unmated male.”
His golden eyes were fierce in the rain.
She whispered, “Sorceri don’t have mates.”
“Do we not, then? I dreamed about your drinking me because on some level, I already knew what you are. Mine. So I want you to take my blood, whatever strength I can provide, and my memories—because they are already yours .”
An avalanche of emotion fueled her desire. “We’re mates. Found.”
He looked so proud as he said, “Delivered to each other by fate.”
“Adham, you’re him .”
“Him.” He swallowed thickly. “Always.”
The rain ended with a gasp, so suddenly it felt like a nod from the gods—like permission that they didn’t need. The abrupt silence magnified their shallow breaths, the rustle of their clothes as they shifted even closer to one another.
Voice a rasp, he said, “In the beginning, I viewed you as a desert rose that didn’t know the sands were about to destroy it. Yet a part of me wondered, what if the desert gentled its touch? What if it learned to protect instead of destroy?” Light emerged from his palms, and the sand in his pouch rose to float beside them, resembling a silken scarf caught on a breeze.
Her lips parted when it flowed to caress her cheek, the warm embrace of his sorcery made physical. Then he raised his flattened palm, and the sand collected above it. Before their eyes, grains coalesced into a shape. . . .
“It’s a rosebud!” A desert rose. “Your power is so beautiful.”
He made the twirling bud blossom, as if illustrating what had happened with their feelings. I love him. And that love was bound up in the heat that already pulsated between them. The divine had never been closer.
Sorcery reflected off the sparkling quartz in pinpoints across their faces. Eyes rapt on her, he murmured, “I was born to protect you, Kosmina. I will tonight and for all my days after.” He returned the sand to his pouch. “You must feed.”
“Then I want you inside me at the same time.”
He surveyed their surroundings. “We can’t do this here. I need to be on guard and get you to safety?—”
“You’re talking as if this isn’t already written in stone. It is.”
He wavered but shook his head. “You were right before; we have to escape this dying place. And for your first time, you need a soft bed, time, and a gentle touch. Inside, I’m all chaos. I can’t give you what you’ve dreamed of.”
“You told me to follow my instincts. They’re screaming at me to mate until I can’t think. And if I can’t think, I can’t fight. If your instincts are half as loud as mine, how will we concentrate on our incursion?”
He hesitated. Then he exhaled a pent-up breath. “Your point is sound.”
Nothing could stop this now. “You’re ready to give me what I want?” Love.
Grave nod. Intent eyes.
She gripped his hard shaft, making him shudder with pleasure. “Then why isn’t this inside me?”