Chapter Twenty-Eight
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Val
C linging to Theo’s wings, I drag the designer sweater Shadowvale conjured me this morning over my mouth and nose. Purple flames lick hungrily at the walls, devouring the plush carpets woven by house elves and the ornate high-stakes poker tables twisted and grown by dryads. Pixie spells ping out of control, their fireworks adding hearts and rainbow sparkles to the deadly blaze. The air hangs thickly, making each gasp feel like swallowing fire.
My throat burns with every breath of Brimstone smoke. Theo had been so worried about the poisons in my lab, and here, he torches his own castle with it.
I have to stop him. Pushing through the panic that has my lungs on lockdown, I force my way around him—no easy feat when he’s rigid as though frozen in the fire magic. Flames writhe near us, and scorching winds tear at me from the exploding enchanted games.
Monty pushes at my back, helping propel me along. Thank goodness for little flying friends.
“Theo?” Calling his name the first two times did nothing. So much for the third time being a charm in this realm of actual magic. Cards around us transform into small paper birds to flutter past us, their thin wings tinted with a faint, ethereal glow. “Shadowvale!” I yell over the sudden swarm. “A little help?”
A glittering foam pours through the floor in places and the ceiling in others, moving like a living mass. Its heavy mist clouds the air, and I blink to clear my vision, but it’s impossible between the spray and the smoke. Yet the foam slowly devours flames in its path.
Score one for the enchanted castle.
Dice pop and sputter into life nearby, their spells sending ice magic crackling across charmed craps tables to extinguish the fire there.
“Thanks, Shadowvale,” I whisper. The castle deserves some serious TLC after this disaster and the power expenditure it must cost for it to conjure a supernatural sprinkler system.
I can’t see Nic through the haze, but the spot where Theo’s mother started this whole mess stands empty. She must have taken off. Useless instigator . I manage not to mumble the thought out loud. First things first. I need to get my guy to stop spiraling.
“Come on, Theo.” The plea comes out muffled between the cloth over my mouth and my coughing. His muscles vibrate with tension, and his face is locked in an expression of agony and horror. My heart twists. Sure, I spin out of control, but Theo doesn’t. He prides himself on keeping everything together. Such a massive, frenzied outburst must be killing him.
Well, I won’t let it kill me. Or anyone else in Shadowvale.
This ends now.
Brimstone flames lick around me. Thank goodness the mating magic gave me an immunity to the burn of his fire, if not to the rest of its deadly effects.
I drop the sweater away from my nose. Smoke instantly fills my lungs, choking me. My chest burns, and dizziness threatens to pull me under. Yet I go onto my toes and yank on Theo’s horns, pulling his head down to press my mouth against his.
Kisses work in storybooks . Here’s hoping one will bring my demon back.
His mouth remains unyielding, and I crush tighter against him, begging him with my body to wake the fuck up.
“Val?” Nic’s shout comes from close by. “Come away from his and Montejanus’s flames. I can’t reach you in there.”
“I won’t leave Theo. He wouldn’t leave me.” I think. I hope.
“We have to get you out of here. You’ll die if you stay.”
I don’t move away from him. Tangling my fingers in his hair, I let the Brimstone fire wrap around the two of us as the whirlwind of emotions and flames threatens to sweep us both under. I nip at his mouth, risking the bite of his fangs.
My lungs beg for oxygen. My head spins, and the world tilts. Still, I hang on to Theo. Monty pushes against my back, beating his dragon wings to help me stay upright.
Please, Theo .
The smoke and poison overtake me. My knees buckle, my balance goes, and not even Monty can hold me up.
I’m falling.
The thought stretches impossibly long before strong arms wrap around me, hauling me up. Theo’s lips move against mine, and he kisses me back with a greed and strength that has me believing we can overcome fire, fate, poison, forced magic, even Theo’s evil queen of a mom.
The smoke and flames disappear into oblivion along with my sanity. I whimper when he nips at my lip, pushing venom into me.
I risk my life saving him, and the asshole bites me. If I could stand on my own, I would bite him back. Instead, I remain limp in his hold, reveling in how he kisses me. He drinks from me as though he’ll rip the poison from me with his fangs.
He pulls away, his intense gaze raking over me before carrying me from the casino. “Come, Montejanus. She’ll need you in the suite.”
Monty flies to our side, my toy unicorn clutched in his claws. The sight is so cute, so charming, I can’t help but giggle.
“Better,” Theo says. “You’ll be well in no time. Nic, you’ll follow us?”
I’m still laughing as Theo teleports us into his bedroom. “Oh.” A sudden rush of hormones hits where only adrenaline rushed before.
“Geez, Theo.” Nic blinks into the doorway. “She’s high on venom. How much did you give her?”
“As much as I thought she could take,” he answers.
Why is he talking and not kissing me again?
“Too much,” Nic says. “Val, you okay with a sedative with your healing potion?”
“I feel fine.” It’s almost true. My head’s still spinning, and the world seems to move without me in it. But I want, I need Theo.
“You’re not,” Theo says. “You need the sedative, Vicious.”
He dares call me that when he… My memory dances out of reach, scattering in a thousand directions. I struggle to catch the shattered pieces. They flutter away like butterflies or pixie poker spells. When one zips by, I seize it. “You bit me.”
“Right after I poisoned you,” Theo says, and the guilt in his gaze? It guts me.
“You didn’t mean to.” I’m not sure of much, but I know that.
“If you weren’t near fireproof these days, I would’ve burned you alive. Thank the gods for the mating magic. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we hadn’t?—”
“Without our mating magic, your mommy dearest wouldn’t have provoked you.” Remembering connects another thought. “She put something in me—a magic I shouldn’t have.”
“Gilly’s magic,” Nic says.
“It’s Val’s now,” Theo insists, the fire in his voice having nothing to do with his Brimstone powers and everything to do with possession, protection, and pride.
Or I think it does. I giggle again. “Too serious. More fun. Right, Shadowvale?” A candy pop beat thumps through the walls, a magical soundtrack to the sudden shapes that pirouette and twirl across the floor. The air hangs thick and sparkling, champagne fizz popping on my tongue as I lick at Theo’s skin.
“She needs to sleep it off,” Nic says.
Rude . Talking about me like I’m not here.
“After kisses,” I argue.
Theo tips my chin his way, and I wiggle in delight, hoping for more kisses. Except he speaks instead. “Healing potion first. Then you must rest.”
“ You rest.” I poke him in the chest. Or at least I try. Only I somehow miss and end up jabbing the air between his shoulder and his wing. “Oops. This is how I felt after my siblings slipped me acid before a live show.” My words come out thick.
“Remind me to kill your family,” Theo says.
“If yours don’t kill you first.” My breath catches in my throat, my eyes burn, and sadness rushes over me. “Don’t let them.”
“I won’t. I swear it.”
I believe he believes it, but can a man who has spent his life serving the kingdom for his family actually kill one of the few people he cares for if it came down to it? Each of my heartbeats echoes with a hollow ache, and hopelessness drowns out my earlier euphoria. The high of Theo’s venom spirals and spins through me in waves, crashing against the poison until I worry I might break. “I’ll keep you safe,” I tell him.
“Okay, Vicious.” Theo makes my nickname sound sweet, cherished.
“Not to interrupt this fated mates bonding time,” Nic says, “but here’s the healing potion complete with a sedative to help your body rest so you can recover faster.”
I look to Theo. “But the mating magic?—”
“Won’t be enough to undo what I’ve done to you. Not alone, anyway.” Now, he sounds like the sad one, and I can’t stand it.
I reach toward Nic. “Gimme.” When the potion hits my palm, I tip it up and knock it back as if it’s the smoothest shot of whiskey instead of a nasty-tasting spell.
“Good girl,” Theo says, and I’m pretty sure I could heal fast enough to still do something about being horny off demon venom.
Monty lands in my lap, cuddling the toy unicorn. The sight of my little dragon and his pony gives off cozy vibes more potent than any sleep drug.
Oh, all right.
Maybe I could use a nap before I seduce my mate. Besides, his sister is outside the wards—alone. “You’re going after Gilly?”
He hesitates so long that his silence is an answer in itself.
My mate brought his sisters here to protect them. Hell, he let Dupree stay at Shadowvale, no matter how much he detests his cousin. My demon has a savior streak a hell dimension wide when it comes to his family.
“Go,” I tell him.
“I’ll be back before you wake,” he says.
“You better.” I stretch the words on a yawn. “’Cause I plan to have my wicked, dirty way with you. Or maybe just to make sure I don’t finish blowing up your castle. You pick your reason.”
“I’ve got my every reason right here.” He hugs me close. “Let me drag my sister back to Shadowvale, and we’ll give them more than enough to talk about for the next century.”
“Promise?”