Hot Blooded (31 page)

My head snapped to her voice and I slid to a stop.

She must have dropped her glamour at the same time she dropped her hold on Rourke, but I hadn’t even noticed. There was a small alcove running along the cavern directly across from where Rourke hung. She was just outside it, swinging on something.
Is that some kind of trapeze?
My wolf didn’t answer. She refused to tear her mind away from Rourke.

The thing Selene sat on was attached to the rocky cavern ceiling by thick chains and she swung idly, like she was bored, dressed in her ridiculous biker-chick outfit: all black leather, corsets, and spikes. Her long, red tresses flowed out behind her, her porcelain skin glowing in the candlelight. I focused my eyes harder. What she was on was too bulky and too thick to be a regular swing.

My stomach gave a wild lurch.

The only distinguishing human feature of the thing wrapped up in dark netting was the chestnut hair flowing through the holes. The body was drenched in blood and unrecognizable. But I knew who it was.
I’m coming for you, Naomi. We will avenge her together.

Selene caught my eye, making sure I took in every ounce of her dramatic unveiling, and then tossed her head back. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to have my revenge on this hateful traitor? More than three hundred years. I gave this bitch
everything
and she threw it all in my face the first chance she got.” She smiled, her pouty lips straightening in to a grim line. “It was so deliciously wonderful that you led her right to my doorstep. You did something her brother failed to do for three centuries! I should reward you, but honestly it will be more fun to kill you. But, because of your generous gift, I’ll save you for last.”

Eamon had failed to bring her here? That means he’s been working as Selene’s spy the entire time. He never left her service.
Things fell into place quickly. My wolf was still inconsolable, pushing me toward Rourke with all her might. Before I could get her full attention, there was a small noise behind me.

“Seize her!” Selene yelled, laughing. She was enjoying this way too much.

It was time to change things up.

I spun without looking. With incredible speed I collided with Eamon, shoving my foot into his rib cage, smashing him back into the nearest rock wall. The side of the cavern blew apart on impact. Eamon sprang out of the broken pieces immediately, seemingly unharmed, except for a line of blood lingering at the left corner of his mouth. His lips curled at the sides as his chin started to slid down, his cheekbones twisting ghoulishly.

His mouth opened to reveal long, sharp canines dripping with blood. “Finally,” he hissed. “I get to witness your end. I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I laid eyes on you standing in front of my Queen, cocky and insolent, showing no respect to anyone. You deserve to die! You can bring nothing but madness to the supernatural race.”

“You bastard,” I raged. “You set your sister up. You knew you were bringing her to her death. Admit it! You broke a sacred blood-bond, and you’re going to rot for it. I’m going to make sure you do.” I lunged before he could give me one of his pissy retorts. I grabbed him around the neck before he knew I’d moved a muscle, infusing power into my arms as I went, my body reacting in pure fury. My hands pulsed, my nails sharpening to long razors, power flowing out of the points that bit deeply into his neck. Blood poured out of the wounds. My wolf gnashed her teeth at him, fully engaged with me now.

Eamon gurgled, scraping his hands against my forearms in an effort to loosen my hold. “You… will not… win…” He coughed.

“Oh, yeah,” I snarled right next to his ear. “Do you know how many times I’ve heard that in the last few weeks? You picked the wrong side, asshole. And I hate traitors.” I hauled him up like he weighed nothing, shook him hard, and brought my arms back, tossing him into the rock wall again. He smashed into it like a bullet, collapsing in another flurry of rocks.

Selene’s voice grated into the air, her composure slipping by the minute. “Eamon is a fool, has always been a fool. As well as a weakling. I will enjoy watching him die.” She tossed her head back with delight. “Then I will kill you.”

Eamon stopped in his tracks at his mistress’s words, looking confused. “I have faithfully served you for over four hundred years.” He gaped. “I have gone behind my Queen’s back repeatedly and have betrayed my sister willingly. You said we’d finally be together forever, as we should be.”

Eamon had fallen for his keeper. Naomi had said they had forged no bonds, but it seemed Eamon had indeed forged a big one. Selene had manipulated him for centuries, dangling her reward of eternal love. Only she never meant to make good on
her deal, because she was a horrid masochist who could only ever love herself.

“Eamon,” I said, “I hate to break it to you, but your Goddess has never loved you. Not even a little bit. I don’t think she’s ever even
liked
you. You’ve been her messenger and slave for all these centuries for absolutely nothing. It’s time to break the cycle. You can make amends to your sister if you help me defeat Selene now. It’s your only chance for salvation.”

Eamon’s face went full vamp. His cheeks slid as his canines sprang from behind his thin lips. A vicious snarl hissed out of his elongated throat. “This is your fault,” he accused. “If you die, things will go back to the way they once were.”

I sidestepped him with ease, his confusion and emotions making him erratic. Even though Eamon was old, it was almost like he was a child, having never had the chance to grow up and be a man.

Selene cackled again, enjoying the show.

Time to mix things up.

Eamon turned and wheeled at me again. My body bent down in a crouch, concentrating on his movements. When he was within my grasp, I snatched him up around the middle, my body pivoting in a full circle, my feet anchoring me steadily. Once I gathered the momentum I needed, I tossed him as hard as I could. He flew through the air.

The moment he hit his target it was game on.

Selene’s shriek was satisfying, but hearing her hit the ground with an
ooof
was priceless. I wasted no time. I headed straight for Rourke, my wolf pushing us forward fast. Selene hadn’t expected Eamon to land in her lap, but I’d thrown him with more speed than even I knew I had. It would occupy her for a few precious seconds while I tried to free my mate.

“Get off of me,” she snarled, tossing Eamon off her in one fierce kick. He smashed against a far wall.

I shimmied up the cavern wall in a blur, using my claws and speed. Once Selene was done with Eamon, she would track me, but I hoped I made myself a hard target. I neared the alcove at the top and ducked into it, running along the top. If I could lower him down and take the pins out, he could regenerate enough to heal those wounds. He had to. I eyed the chains as I ran. They were silver. It was going to burn like hell, but it didn’t matter.

I launched myself in the air, leaping the distance onto the chains.

Rocks above my head exploded with incredible force. “Get away from him,” Selene shouted. “You cannot save him! He’s under my spell and the chains are enchanted. He will never wake for you.” I kept moving. “
Stop!
” There was a delicious hint of desperation in her voice.

The moment the silver touched my fingertips the skin on my hand sizzled. I transferred my grip to the inside of my arm, blocked by my shirt, and slid down the length, leaving a trail of blood in my wake. My wolf channeled energy to me as I went. I barely felt the pain. “You never intended to kill him,” I said to Selene with confidence as I landed on the bottom of his boots. “Why would you kill him when you can keep him all to yourself once I’m gone?”

Her scream told me everything. “You know nothing, mongrel! I will kill you both! Just watch me.” She fired a spell, but it went wild, hitting the rocks five feet to my left.

The moment my body had touched his, it responded on its own.

Mine.

Vibrations of need rang through me. My wolf had been so right. I’d kept this emotion from myself, trying to protect something inside so it didn’t break. They’d been locked away in a private place in my mind, because emotions this intense were dangerous. Even now I tried to block them, or they would overwhelm me completely.

She hadn’t lied. The chains were heavily spelled. Her power lashed at my body.
We have to break the spell. Can you get a read on it?
My wolf snarled. The red of the spell had begun to enter my skin.
We have to hurry.

“You will both die.” Instead of firing a new spell, Selene flew at us in a rage, her porcelain features taking on an edge, making her look like a devil doll. I worked overtime to hack at the spell in the chains, but it wasn’t going to break that quickly. I grasped the chains with my hands to steady myself, my fingers bleeding, and kicked toward her as she came at us. But she spun upward, avoiding my strike.

She was behind me before I could register the direction change.

The only warning I had was a single scream just as a spell crashed into my back. I was on the ground before I knew I had fallen, breath completely gone from my body. My wolf was frantic, yipping and snapping at the red lines as they entered my mind, urging me to move and get back to Rourke.
I’m trying. Get the spell first.

Selene’s voice rang from above, and I cracked open an eye.

“Well, that was easy. I told you—you are no match for me.” She stood on Rourke’s boots, where I had just been. Fury surged through me.
Get away from him.

She’d hit us with the same death spell, but she didn’t know I’d already defeated it. My vision was momentarily red, but no lines etched across my mind. Golden light quickly formed a halo in my mind and all the red that had struck me was pushed outward before it could take hold.

“Are you dead yet, wench, or do you need more?” There was curiosity in her voice, likely because I hadn’t started convulsing.

I lay still, my eyes cracked slightly open, trying to play opossum and figure out my next move. Rourke needed me now. There was movement up to the right. Eamon. He had quietly freed his sister from the netting, likely regretting his betrayal by now, especially in light of his lover wanting him dead. Selene
was too focused on me and I needed to keep it that way. But before I could start pretending to convulse, another spell hit me fully in the chest.

“Why aren’t you dead yet?” she snarled. “There is no way you can survive that spell.”

I didn’t have to fake anything. My body jumped, ringing with energy anew as red washed over me again, pushing and prodding into my shield, enough to make me quiver and moan.
It might be too much this time
, I gasped. My wolf chuffed at me, as my body vibrated and rocked with her spell. Once again, there was a haze of red, but no lines.

“Die, mongrel,” Selene called as I moaned again. “Once you die your mate will grow to love me once more.”

“
Never.
” His voice hadn’t been above a whisper.

My body stilled.

My heart began to race like a greyhound. My mate’s voice boiled through me, triggering more responses.
Mine.
My anger blasted a new stream of power into my golden shields and Selene’s lingering red disintegrated around me like ash. My hands healed in an instant. My wolf snarled and spat, urging me to rise and rip the witch apart.

Instead of moving at her urging, I stayed motionless.

“You are mine!” Selene shook the chains holding Rourke. “Your mate is dying. Do you hear me? Once she is gone there will be no other standing in our way.”

“Not… yours,” Rourke ground out. “
Never
yours.”

I tried to send Rourke a mental missive. I had no idea if mates were connected internally.
Rourke, please, you have to listen to me and play along. I’m not dead. I’m right here. Selene’s spells don’t work on me. Tell her you love her, for chrissake! Anything to make her cut you down.
My wolf sprang in my mind at that idea. I ignored her.

“You’ve always been delusional,” he whispered to Selene. “Just kill me now. I won’t live without her.”

Stubborn man.
We move now
, I told my wolf.
Selene is focused on Rourke; it’s time to act.

But before I could spring, there was a breeze as Selene’s black thigh-high boots landed on the ground beside me. “Can you see this, Cat?” She pulled the foot of her pointy boot back and kicked me high in the side. I bit my tongue, but acted like I was still in the throes of her spell. “See that? She’s almost dead.” Pain raced through my side. The bitch had broken my ribs. “There’s nothing that can stop my death spell, not even your whore. She’s never coming back—”

I lunged upward. “Wrong, Selene,” I said as I grabbed hold of her legs and pulled. She went down. I rolled on top. “I’m not dead yet,” I snarled. She struggled to wriggle out from under me, muttering a spell under her breath. My physical size was much bigger than hers. No wonder she always chose to vanish. “No more spells.” I whipped my fist back and smashed it into her face. She screamed. I had effectively stopped her spell midsentence.