Beloved Forever (24 page)

A sharp pain shot through her stomach, causing her to gasp and bend over at the waist. It reminded her of why she hadn’t gone with him. The pains had bothered her off and on for the last two days, and she knew their daughter was eager to make her appearance. Tears streamed down her cheeks at the thought. It was no solace to know her baby would have life again in the future. She longed to hold her daughter in this life, even though her visions told her that wasn’t to be.

As she lit two of the candles, she heard footsteps on the stairs, and then someone shouting. A cry of pain and the sound of someone tumbling down the stone steps followed the shouting. It sounded like the butler, Eves. If her vision proved correct—as they always did—he would survive the night’s events.

Before she knew it, someone was pounding on her bedchamber door. Erin backed into the shadows of the room and waited for a man she had never met to enter her room to kill her.

She recognized him instantly. He was the third to enter, following Nina, the perfidious bitch, a blond-haired man in his forties and a dark-haired man who kept his face in shadows. The scar on his face was the same she had seen repeatedly in her dreams during the last eighteen years. She didn’t doubt he was Koss.

Erin tensed as he scanned the room, knowing he saw her when his eyes moved in her direction. She struggled not to move, hoping she was wrong, but still twitched when she saw him turn in her direction. Erin pressed the dagger against her leg, hiding it in the voluminous folds of the linen shift. Every vision she’d had showed her attempts to defend against Koss were futile, but she wouldn’t give in without a fight. Not only did she have a child to protect, but she also wanted to be there when Nicholas returned. She had too much to lose to yield easily to her fate.

Koss chuckled. “You think you can fight me, Erin?”

She swallowed heavily, but didn’t answer.

“Do you think you can hide from me in the corner?” His eyes bored into hers. “I see you.” He crooked his finger in her direction. “Come to me.”

Her feet moved forward against her will. Erin tried to stop walking forward, but couldn’t control her own body. Her hand on the knife loosened, and she bit down hard on her bottom lip. The flash of pain helped collect her thoughts, allowing her to tighten her grip.

He met her halfway. As they stopped before each other, Nina lit the last candle on the bedside table, providing more illumination. The scar on his cheek caught her eyes, and she shuddered.

He nodded, touching it as if by reflex. “It is hideous, is it not?”

She didn’t answer.

Koss’s mouth twisted. “How I came to get it is a long story. Has your husband revealed it?”

She shook her head. In the early days of their marriage, Nicholas rarely spoke of Koss, and hadn’t at all for some years. He seemed to think the other man had finally decided to leave him alone. Erin had never corrected his assumption. If she had told him about her visions of Koss, it would have meant admitting to him that she could see the future. She had kept her secret all these years, fearing he would pressure her for glimpses of the future, and she hadn’t wanted to tell him what she saw. He would have tried to change it, and in doing so, he would have died too. She was certain of that.

Koss spoke again. “That is just as well. He doesn’t know all of the facts.” He laughed as his eyes swung in Nina’s direction, but it was a cold sound, lacking any humor. “It is not a pleasant tale, and better reserved for another time.” A cruel smile slashed his lips. “Then again, your time is limited, is it not, Erin?”

A frisson of fear darted up Erin’s backbone. He committed violence without a second thought. She knew he wouldn’t have mercy for her or the child she carried.

Koss shook his head. “Enough of the past. It is the present I am interested in, m’lady.” His respectful tone was mocking. “Where is your husband?”

She kept her silence. He was toying with her. His goal was to cause Nicholas pain, and Koss had deliberately waited until he was away. She had no doubt he knew exactly where Nicholas was and when he was due to return to Vallsade Manor.

“He will be heartbroken, will he not?” Koss touched her shoulder. “I do hope you understand this is not personal. You could be anyone.”

She found her voice as he drew her nearer. “And my child? Does her life mean nothing?”

“No,” Nina snarled, her face contorted with rage. “Destroy them both, Koss.”

Koss hesitated for a brief second before shaking his head. “I’ll admit the child makes me second-guess myself. Something…” He shrugged. “I do not tolerate indecision in anyone, especially myself. I can find no pity for your child, whatever my instincts might tell me.” His eyes fastened on her stomach. “Nicholas must be punished.”

She brought up the dagger in one smooth motion and plunged it deep into his heart. Erin let out a hoarse cry of triumph when his eyes widened as he clasped his chest. Blood poured from the wound, soaking his hands.

He coughed as he fell to his knees, and a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. He grunted with effort as he ripped the dagger from his chest and flung it away.

Erin’s mouth fell open when he struggled to his feet. He grinned at her, and a sob broke free from her throat. The dagger had been ineffective, despite the magical charm placed on it by the witch she had consulted with.

Koss wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his black greatcoat. “I commend your useless efforts, m’lady.” He bowed mockingly. When he stood again, he seemed as strong as he had before she stabbed him. “All for naught, I fear.” He gestured to those who had accompanied him. As silently as they had been since arriving in her room, one man and Nina moved forward to flank her. The shorter man remained hidden in the corners of the room.

Erin watched them warily, waiting for one or all to lunge at her. She wondered why neither had appeared in her visions. Would she have been prepared for them if they had? Why hadn’t she realized Nina would have such a prominent role in her execution? She could have told Brannon…

The man moved first, with careless haste. He made a roaring sound as he rushed her, with his hands extended. His nails were sharp, and they gouged into her upper arm as he grabbed her with his left hand.

She waited until he was close before thrusting up her knee as high as the bulk of her stomach would allow and connecting with his genitals. He howled as he backed away from her, swaying.

Before she could turn to face Nina, she was in her arms. Erin struggled to throw off the brunette’s tenacious grip, but didn’t have the leverage or strength to dislodge her. In desperation, she tried levitating to free herself, but couldn’t summon the required energy to lift her own body, let alone break free of the other woman’s hold.

“You are as weak as Brannon,” Nina taunted as she tightened her grip.

Koss stepped around the man cradling his testicles and walked to Erin. He looked over her shoulder and nodded at the woman. “Well done, Nina. Hold her.”

Erin screamed as Koss flipped open his coat and withdrew a sword. She recognized it as the one from the dreams that had haunted her. It had the same carvings on the slender silver handle, and the same slight curve to the sharp blade. She renewed her efforts to twist away from Nina’s hold while he brought back his arm.

“I would say death is painless, but that is a lie.” He smiled, but his eyes remained without expression. “I will ensure it is permanent by severing your spinal cord, so you will not suffer overly much.”

“Please do not do this.” She knew begging was useless, but had to try. The baby kicked vigorously, and a pain rippled through her stomach. Had her daughter registered her fear?

He didn’t acknowledge her plea by so much as a flicker of his eyes as he swung the sword.

Erin closed her eyes and prayed that just once, one of her visions would be wrong, and this man would have nothing to do with her daughter’s future when she was reborn. As the blade slashed through her neck, leaving a fiery trail of pain, she called out Nicholas’s name without sound. Her eyes snapped open as pain flooded her, and her last sight was of Koss standing before her with a smile of dark joy on his face as he licked her blood from the blade of his sword before offering it to Nina to cleanse.

Chapter Thirteen

Emily awoke to find her hands bound behind her back. She was on her knees, and her upper body had slumped forward. Her forehead rested against something hard. Nausea churned in her stomach, caused by fear and heightened by the lingering emotions from the memories. She shuddered.

“Emily?”

She turned her head at the sound of her name whispered close to her ear. Her eyes widened when she saw Michael beside her, bound in the same fashion. “Where are we? What’s happened?”

Michael scowled. “They burst into the rectory this evening and overpowered me. I didn’t stand a chance.” He shook his head. “I fear for Nicholas.”

As he spoke, Emily lifted her head and realized she had been propped against the chancel railing. The kneeler pads cushioned her knees, and she frowned at the thought of Koss making she and Michael comfortable. It seemed ominous. “Are we at your church?”

“Yes, St. Peter’s.” He closed his eyes. “It’s no longer a sanctuary, I fear.”

She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat. “What will they do to us?”

He shrugged awkwardly. “I haven’t had the courage to contemplate the thought.”

His fear fed her own, and she closed her eyes, struggling to regain a modicum of control. She was less than successful, because she couldn’t hold back a yelp of alarm when someone approached her right side and knelt beside her.

“Open your eyes and look at me.” His voice was firm, with a hint of steel that dared her to refuse his command.

With a whimper, Emily turned her head to meet Koss’s disturbing gaze. She licked her lips. “Why are you doing this?”
He has no pity for anyone
, she reminded herself, remembering what he had done to her as Erin when she was pregnant. “What do you want with us?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You know the answer to that.”

“You want to hu-hurt Nicholas,” she forced herself to say, having the irrational fear that voicing the words would give them power.

“Yes.” His stark answer lacked emotion. “Tonight, we play.”

She leaned her head against the chancel railing again, breaking eye contact. “Why do you hate him so?”

He laughed, but the sound held no amusement. “I don’t hate him. I love Nicholas.”

She stiffened when Koss’s hands stroked her hair. She struggled to turn away when he cupped her chin in one of his large hands. “Please.”

“I love him as much as he surely loves you, sweet Emily.” As he spoke, his hand twisted her head toward him with unrelenting pressure. His gaze was dark with desire. “I can hardly fault his taste, can I?”

She twisted her head, crying out with pain as he tightened his grip enough to force her tongue against her fangs and cause her mouth to flood with her own blood. “What do you want from me?” His grip made it difficult to speak at all and distorted her words.

“Very little.” He loosened his hold and stroked his finger down her cheek. “I only want to use you to cause him pain.”

“Why?” It didn’t make sense. From everything she had learned about Koss, she had thought he burned with hatred for Nicholas. Yet, he claimed to love him. Why did he insist on torturing Nicholas?

“It is my right.”

She shook her head as he read her thoughts, wondering how she could block him out.

He laughed. “You can’t.”

I can try.
She winced as his fingers reflexively tightened. “Can’t you just leave him alone?”

Koss blinked, and his eyes clouded. He hesitated, but finally shook his head. “No. Of all who belong to me, none have been so well loved as Nicholas.” His brow furrowed, and a hint of anger crept into his eyes. “None has betrayed me as he did. He has to be punished.”

“Hasn’t it been long enough?” Michael interjected angrily. “You’ve tortured him for nearly eight hundred years.”

Koss shrugged as he looked at the priest. “It can never be enough. It won’t cease until he returns to me.” His eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted back to Emily. “I could even share him with you, if he would come home where he belongs.” He leaned closer, pressing his lips to her ear. “He could share you too.”

The puckered flesh of his scar touched her cheek, causing her to squirm away. Emily stiffened as Koss nipped her earlobe. “Don’t touch me.”

“Just think of it. One big, happy family, my dear.” His chuckle was a low, oily sound that slithered down her spine. “You’re beautiful. Erin had a fey, childlike quality about her, but not you.” Koss’s other hand cupped her breast, and he pinched forcefully. “Your beauty is ageless.” He sniggered. “Of course, it will never mature now, will it?”

She closed her eyes and tried to endure his assault on her body and senses, knowing he wouldn’t stop until he had finished. She was determined to ignore him, though bile burned a path up her throat as her mind insisted on plying her with disturbing images of the three of them in various passionate embraces, surely transmitted from Koss’s mind to hers.

She cried out when Koss jerked her to her feet as he stood up. Despite her vow to block him out, she asked, “What are you doing?” There was a sharp edge of panic to her voice.

He lifted and carried her to the communion table, where the woman was splashing holy water on the candles burning there. Once she extinguished them, she swept her arm across the altar and knocked everything to the floor.

Emily knew there was more to the woman’s actions than a hatred of religious symbols. She screamed and kicked out with her feet as Koss dropped her onto the wet slab.

“It’s time to consecrate the altar, dear Emily.” Koss licked his lips. “It’s overdue for a virgin sacrifice.”

“No,” she screamed as loudly as she could, praying someone on the street would hear her and burst into the church to investigate.

The woman laughed. “Make all the noise you want. Koss has shielded this place. Your precious Nicholas will be lucky to break through the barrier in time to save your life, let alone your innocence.”

“Nina,” he snapped. “You speak too freely.”

She bowed her head and backed away. Her posture suggested she was chastened, but her eyes glowed with excitement. She watched avidly as Koss tore open Emily’s shirt.

“How cozy, wearing your lover’s shirt.” Koss quirked a brow. “But then, he isn’t your lover yet, is he? How does he find the willpower to resist your nubile young body?” He chuckled.

If she had thought it would do any good, Emily would have pleaded for him not to touch her, but knew he had no pity. The best she could do was stoically endure whatever he did to her, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

It was easier to think than do when he ripped off her bra, causing the elastic to bite into her skin before it broke. She took a deep breath and tried to pretend his hands didn’t cup her breasts and twist her nipples viciously.
It won’t be so bad
, she repeated repeatedly to herself. Nicholas would arrive in time to save her.

If he didn’t?

She refused to let her thoughts go down the road. She would survive whatever he did to her.

An image of Koss licking the blood from the sword he used to murder Erin insisted on invading her mind, and she whimpered quietly.

She took a deep breath, trying to console herself with the thought of Nicholas not resting until he found her again. Dying now would only mean a temporary separation. That thought didn’t bring her much comfort as Koss bent his head to lick her nipple.

“Don’t be a robot. Cry for me, Emily.” His fang penetrated the sensitive peak. “Let Nicholas hear your pain.”

Emily gritted her teeth and shook her head. She closed her eyes and focused on the pain of lying on her bound arms, enabling her to block out the agony of what he did to her breasts. She struggled to recall happy memories of her marriage to Nicholas when she was Erin. She must have slipped away, because when she opened her eyes again, her pants were off, though she still wore her underwear. She didn’t know what had brought her back to awareness until she heard the steady hum of Michael repeating a prayer. Shame burned in her when she realized the holy man would bear witness to her defilement.

“Koss!”

Her eyes widened at the sound of Nicholas’s voice thundering from the nave and realized his presence was what had brought her back to the present. She made a low sound of relief in her throat, earning a cuffing from Koss for her optimism.

He pressed his face against hers, and his expression was one of rage. “Do you think he can save you? He can only do what I allow him to.”

“You’re wrong.” Emily forced herself to meet his gaze without flinching. She expected to see evidence of insanity, but he appeared collected and rational. She didn’t give voice to her terror, but it was more frightening to realize he acted of his own volition, and no demons of his mind controlled him.

He didn’t bother to refute her as he stood up, withdrawing from her. He appeared jovial when he turned to Nicholas. “Welcome to our gathering, dear Nicholas.” He swept out his arms to encompass those assembled around him. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Emily?” Nicholas’s voice shook with anger, but there seemed to be a thread of fear underlying it. “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Michael?”

“I’m fine, boy.”

Nicholas nodded, and he walked toward them. He moved with his innate grace, but there was a predatory gleam in his eyes, and he seemed to have the pent-up tension of a pacing tiger trapped in a cage. He stopped a few feet from Koss, facing him with his head held high. His dark eyes burned with rage. “This ends tonight, Koss.”

Koss shook his head. “No. It never ends. Not until you return to me. Tonight is just a game.” He licked his lip, and he glanced briefly at Emily. “You’ve interrupted the pre-game show, but the main event awaits.”

Nicholas stiffened. “What is it you want from me?”

“You know the answer to that. Accept your place.”

He tossed his head, causing his ponytail to swing freely. “I belong to no one, and I won’t be your slave.”

“Then be my equal.” There was almost a hint of pleading in his voice.

Emily frowned as she eased into a sitting position. She froze when she felt the sharp tip of a blade against her throat. Her eyes widened as she locked eyes with Nina.

Nicholas crossed him arms. “Release them. This is between us.”

Koss seemed to hesitate. “Will you come back to me?”

“No. Never.”

His shoulders sagged, and he shook his head. “If you won’t give me what I want, I can’t relent. They remain in my possession.”

Nicholas’s eyes narrowed as they rested briefly on his father before moving to Emily.

She gasped at the pain she saw reflected there, sensing he was close to giving in to whatever Koss wanted of him. “No,” she mouthed, wincing when Nina jabbed her with the point of the dagger. Blood trickled down her neck, and the wound burned like fire.

“You don’t own any of us, Koss. Michael is free, as is Emily.” His words held special significance when he met her eyes and said, “She has no master.”

Koss threw back his head and laughed. “How naïve you are, Nicholas. It was one of your most endearing qualities.” His voice hardened. “I have only to utter one word, and they both die.” With a flick of his wrist, the dark-haired man walked to Michael, pressing a sword against the base of his brain where it met the spinal column. “Shall I paralyze the man you hold in such esteem? Just a flick of Juarez’s wrist would be enough to mangle the cord. The injury might be permanent for as long as he remained alive…however long that might be,” he added silkily.

Nicholas held his silence, but his eyes were wide with apprehension.

Koss sighed. “Very well. I had forgotten how little joy you take in games, unless of your own devising,” he said with evident bitterness, before shrugging. “We shall dispense with the pleasantries. Here are the terms of the game.”

Emily saw Nicholas stiffen, as did Michael. She was aware of her own sharply indrawn breath and the fear that swept through her.

“You will choose one who may leave with you tonight.” Koss glanced at the priest, and then met Emily’s eyes. He smiled unpleasantly. “The other will be my possession, to use as I see fit.” He turned back to Nicholas. “I will toy with them until their cries of agony cease to amuse me. Then I will kill whomever you leave behind.”

Nicholas shook his head. “I won’t choose.”

Koss shrugged. “In that case, they’ll both die now. Nina, Juarez, kill them.”

Emily cried out as Nina nicked her again with the dagger. She heard Michael’s stifled cry, but was unable to turn to look at him.

“Wait,” Nicholas demanded. “Fine, I’ll choose.”

Koss chuckled. “I thought you would see it my way. Who shall be my plaything? Shall I torture the priest until he renounces his god?” He paused, turning once more to eye Emily. “Or shall I defile your love in a thousand different ways? I’ll have her begging for me by the time I’m finished.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “She’ll die from the pleasure and the pain.”

Nicholas looked ill, and there was the sheen of sweat on his forehead. “I pick myself.”

Koss frowned. “What?”