Touching Fire (Touch Saga) (46 page)

He seemed unfazed by my bark. “And I will, once we have talked.”

I threw up my hands. “What is there to talk about? What do you want?”

He made no response as he stalked casually back to the table and regained his seat. He watched me with those eerie eyes until I growled deep in my throat and stalked to my own chair. I flopped gracelessly into it and winced when the metal slats making up the corset in the dress cut into my ribs.

“Talk!” I snapped and
regretted my tone immediately when the quiet calm around him dissolved, twisting into something fierce and dangerous.

Black tendrils swirled across the milky white of his eyes, consuming them until they were pits of hell glowering back at me. Lips that had been firm and pink turned black and curled back over sharp, jagged teeth.

“Do not dare to tell me when to speak, Half-breed!”

In the blink of an eye, the room tore apart. Everything vanished, including the chair I was sitting on. I hit the ground. Pain cascaded up my backside and splintered in all the places the corset gouged into my skin. I cried out. The sound was eaten by creaks and groans as the room rebuilt itself to compliment the menacing figure looming over me.

Gone were the white walls, the city of Paris and the handsome man with the charming smile. In their place was a man cloaked in shiny black leather from the imposing boots on his giant feet to the body molding suit that hugged every rigid muscle like a second skin. Ivory horns protruded from the tops of broad shoulders to curl in an arc over a round, cleanly shaven head. Eyes as black as thunderclouds bore down on me from a face reserved for nightmares. Steam billowed from nostrils shaped like that of a bull. The silver hoop adorning the skin between each nostril glinted in the harsh light cast from the blazing torches surrounding the chamber.

It fit.
He
fit. The rooms he’d shown me before, the faces he’d worn … the skins, those never fit him, but this … the dark room with blood spattered walls and the sea of blood crashing outside the terrace doors … this fit. This was the real Khrane. And I wanted to pee myself.

The row of buckles running up the sides of his knee high boots jingled as he spun on his heel and stomped to the heap of twisted iron and leather sitting atop a two-step platform. He swung back around to face me before lowering himself down. I winced as I thought of all the jagged barbs protruding from the thing. Then I realized, it was a chair. No. Not a chair. It was a freaking throne.

“Perhaps now that you have seen me for what I really am, we can forego the pleasantries and get right to business.”

Even his voice was different. It no longer held the soft lilt of amusement. Instead it rumbled with eons of power. Outside the terrace doors, lightning sliced across the red heavens. The sea below it bubbled. Above my head, chains clattered and I looked up. Hooks, some stained with flecks of faded brown, swung with the chilling breeze that swept through the room.
I shuddered.

“Are you frightened, Princess?” Black lips quirked in one corner and where it had once been carefree, it now held contempt. “I seldom take lightly to being commanded
and never by a mere girl. Your father owes me quite an explanation, which I am hoping you will help me with before I summon him here and kill him before your eyes.”

I forced myself up and stumbled once when my foot caught on my skirt. I tore the stupid thing away and rose to face the devil himself.

“Ashton hasn’t done anything.”

“And yet you stand before me. You can see where I would be hesitant to believe you.”

I moistened my lips. “What do you want?”

“I want to know where you came from. I want to know how you were created. I want to know where you’ve been a
ll these years, but most of all.” He leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “I want to know where you got all that power.”

He couldn’t have started off somewhere easy, I mused
, and felt my palms grow damp.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you. You and your father thought you could keep this little secret and then use it against the Guild. Was that it?”

I frowned. “
Of course not.”

“Don’t play stupid with me!” His roar shook the ground beneath my feet. The chains went wild above my head, clanging with deafening force that rang in my ears long after they had stilled once more. “Your false ignorance will not help you, Princess. It will not save you from the gruesome and horrific things I will do to you and your father. I will not stand being made a mockery of.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Rather than the anger I expected, his features became contemplating. His round head cocked to the side and he squinted at me thoughtfully. “
And would you tell me if you did, Princess?”

Would I throw Ashton under the bus, even to save my own skin? The answer was simple. No. I only had the one parent and even if I didn’t, I wasn’t a snitch.

A slow, creeping smile coiled across his mouth. It was warped and scary. I felt all the spit in my mouth turn to ashes. Cold dread formed a tight fist in my gut and I was sure I would soil myself right there.

“If you weren’t an abomination, I might almost admire your loyalty
, and your beauty.” His grin broadened when I blinked in surprise. “Yes, Princess, you are exceptionally beautiful, not a surprise considering your legacy. Rem women are breathtaking, flawless and seductive. The perfect lure for any man, be they mortal or not. Everything about you drives a man to want to sin. It was, after all, a Rem woman who caused the fall of Troy. Could I not smell the filthy stench of human in your veins, I would have kept you for myself. Made you mine.” Dark hunger glinted off the black surface of his eyes. They moved over me and I felt his gaze as though I were naked. The phantom caress of it made my teeth clench and my skin crawl. I wanted to scrub with a steel brush to wash it away. But then he rose from his chair and stood over me, a daunting eight feet of radiating power and hatred, and I was once more terrified. “Let’s see just how deep that loyalty of yours runs, shall we, Princess?”

Chapter
25

I was taken to my room and left there to rot. Well, maybe not rot exactly, but definitely die of boredom. There were no books, or radio to occupy my time. There wasn’t even a TV. There was something almost comical about the fact that the underworld didn’t get cable.

Several times, or at least for as long as it took to feel as though my brain was going to explode, I tried
telepathically linking with Isaiah. I called his name over and over again, sometimes out loud, but not a single response was returned. I had begun to suspect, unlike Luxuria, Khrane’s world didn’t have that nifty option, or he was deliberately trying to keep me from communicating from anyone. I wasn’t sure how he was doing it, but then how was he able to change skins the way most changed underwear?

I tried to determine the passing days, but the world outside my windows remained bleak, a perpetual
gloom of dark clouds over an even darker landscape. Weeks could have passed for all I knew, or only mere hours. I wasn’t even given a clock.

No one came to see me, except Isama, who brought me trays of food I didn’t eat, mostly consisting of fruits, sandwiches, cheese or soup. Things that could have been eaten at any point in the day as though
Khrane was deliberately trying to keep me from knowing just how long I’d been his captive. Isama must have been given instructions not to speak to me, because she always left the trays on the vanity and scurried from the room as though she were afraid I might set her on fire. So I spent a great deal of time pacing, sleeping or sitting in front of the fire waiting for something to happen.

At one point, I started keeping track of minutes by making ticks with a nail on the wall. But twenty minutes in, I began to feel crazy, like one of those people in the asylum, huddled in the corner counting to themselves. The thought was so
chilling that I instantly stopped and lost count.

A few times, I tried opening my door, but it was locked from the outside, which made me think I was being held hostage in a celebrity prison. Very clever of
Khrane really. As royalty, tossing me in the dungeon would probably cause some kind of war, I was assuming. What better way to keep peace and get information then locking the princess in a tower?

Bravo, jerk
wad.

It was during one of my many active moments,
as I lay sprawled across the bed, starfish-style, studying the creepy little cherubs smirking back at me—bastards—that Isama swept into the room, void of a tray. I shot upright, interest and curiosity piqued. Her bulging lizard eyes shuttered like a camera lens before focusing on me.

“Master wishes to see you,” she said in her child-like voice.

Well you can tell Master I’m busy and would rather rot in this room than see his face,
I thought. No way was I going to voice that thought out loud, especially when there was a chance I would be faced with demon Khrane again.

S
he toddled her way over to the wardrobe and threw open the doors. My eyes narrowed as I watched her disappear waist deep into the rows of silk dresses. I flicked a glance in the direction of the door she’d left completely open and my heart began to race. Could I? More importantly, could I in a dress and heels?

Not waiting for my moment to vanish, I bolted off the bed and made a mad dash for the door. Without missing a beat, I grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door shut behind me and snapped the key, locking Isama inside. Tearing the key out, I tossed it aside before whipping around on my heels and dashing through the narrow corridor.

My heart drummed in time to the pounding of my feet. I took every turn by memory until I reached the stairs. I tumbled down them, literally half running and half stumbling until I hit the bottom landing. Fear and anticipation lathered the back of my throat with the taste of sour milk. I swallowed it down and surveyed my surroundings. Left was the direction Isama had taken me the first day. That was where Khrane’s throne room was.

I turned right and bolted through an arched opening and down a curving hallway. I saw nothing as I pushed my legs to pump harder, faster. I tossed a glance back once to see if anyone was behind me, but the corridor remained eerily empty. A tiny voice in my head questioned why somewhere so enormous would be so void of life when it was evident
Khrane was an egomaniac who thrived on people bowing at his awesomeness. Shouldn’t the place have been crawling with servants and … I dunno, other crazies? Where was everyone?

Pushing aside my paranoia, I took the next turn at the same unfaltering pace and pushed through to the other side, straight into a parlor room.

My confused mind had no time to question why a corridor would end so abruptly in a room made for tea when a voice rang out from my right.

“Just in time.”

I whipped around, fear, annoyance and surprise crashing through me as Khrane nimbly rose out of the high backed chair facing the roaring hearth. He nimbly set the teacup down on a tiny saucer and set both on the coffee table before turning to me.

Adrenaline still singing through my veins, I twisted around and shot into the corridor, only to find myself stumbling straight back into the parlor room. Bemused, I tried again with the same results.

“It’s not going to change, Princess,” Khrane muttered dryly, watching me with a bored expression.

“How…?” I stared at the opening, seeing the hallway I’d come down.

Khrane motioned for me to take a seat on the cream colored loveseat on his left. “Tea?”

“No, thank you
!” I snapped, breathing hard. “I would like to go home.”

“If you wish.”

I stilled, disbelieving my ears. “What? Really?”

Without waiting for me to join him, he regained his seat and lifted the teapot. He poured tea into his teacup, added a sugar cub
e and stirred with all the calm and grace of a southern gentleman.

“
Yes. Really. I have learned all I need to know about you, Princess.” He clinked the teaspoon on the lip of his cup and rested it in the saucer.

I dared myself three uncertain steps closer. “
So, you’re going to let me go?”

He took a sip of his drink, set it down. “Yes, but only if you answer
one thing for me.”

Suspicion burrowed into me and I eyed him through slitted eyes. “What?”

He gestured to the loveseat again. I gritted my teeth, but shuffled over and sat.

“Tell me about Garrison.”

I stiffened. “Who?”

“Please don’t insult my intelligence, Princess.”
Nimbly, he set his teacup down and eyed me. “What is he to you?”

A nightmare.

“Nobody,” I said instead.

Khrane
’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me. This is your freedom I’m offering you. Answer my one simple question and I will personally deliver you, unharmed, to your father.”

It was so easy. All I had to do was tell him and I could go home, back to Isaiah.

“He’s nobody,” I repeated.

My companion sighed and sat back.
“See, I don’t believe you. Why would someone of no importance consume so much of your bloodlust?” His gaze became intense. “I’m interested.”

“I don’t think there’s anything I can tell
you about him,” I replied calmly. “And I don’t have bloodlust.”

“Oh I don’t believe that.” He folded one leg over the other. “You forget that your fears, your hopes and dreams are an open book to me
, Princess. I know what’s inside your head. So I have to ask myself, why would a mere mortal cause you such terror? And why would Acheron let him live? He could have had this Garrison killed without even raising a finger.” He sucked in a breath before expelling it loudly. “I have to wonder what it is about this single human that has a Sire like Acheron Reaghan cowering.”

Anger
crackled inside me. “My father doesn’t cower.”

“Then why hasn’t he killed him?”

“He’s not a murderer. That isn’t a crime.”

Khrane
laughed like I’d said something adorable. “In our world, Princess, it is. There is a reason we are feared by mortals and despised by angels. We are toxic poison. It is in our nature to destroy those who oppose us, threaten us or try to take that which is ours. Your father’s leniency is curious and insulting.” He picked up his tea, took a sip and then stared into the dark liquid as he spoke. “When word got to me that Acheron Reaghan had a human daughter, well, I had to see it for myself. Our kind can’t have children with humans. The mere notion is repulsive, if not completely unnatural. Children forged by such a union are filthy, repugnant creatures that not even we look kindly upon. Mindless half-breeds…” He curled his lips in disgust. “They’re killed on sight.” His colorless eyes rested on me. “Then there is you. A princess born of mortal and immortal blood and more beautiful than any pureblood. Can you fault my curiosity?”

I frowned at him, ignoring the blush warming my cheeks. “You couldn’t just drop in for tea like a normal person?”

He averted his eyes. “The living plane doesn’t agree with me. All those mortals just wandering aimlessly about…” He gave a shudder. “I prefer the comfort of my own home.”

“How long have I been here?” I demanded.

Khrane waved a dismissive hand. “We do not concern ourselves with such mortal obsessions. Time doesn’t apply to us as we have eons.”

Fantastic.

“Well, I like my mortal obsessions, so can I leave now?”

He bent his head to the side. “You have yet to answer my question.”

“I told you, I don’t know anything about Garrison.” Which wasn’t entirely a lie, but I wasn’t about to tell a human-hating maniac about the other human-hating maniac topside. The last thing the world needed was those two psychopaths bonding over world domination.

“All right.”
Khrane rose to his feet. “If that is what you claim, then so be it.”

I hurriedly got up as well. “I can go?”

He swept an arm in the direction of the door.

I wasted no time. I practically ran, only to be brought
up short when he called me back.

“Not so fast, Princess.”

I skidded to a halt and turned.

Khrane
clasped his hands behind his back and ventured casually towards me. “You won’t get very far through the nexus without assistance. Each door leads to a specific location. One false turn and you may wind up in Siberia, or the realm of fire breathers.”

I watched him warily as he came to a stop no more than three feet away from me. “
Is there a map?”

He shook his head. “
If you will allow me the honors, I will escort you myself.”

I shook my head. “Seriously. It’s fine.
If you call Ashton—”

“
Then you will have to wait until he arrives, whilst we can leave at this very moment.”

I should have said no.
I should have just waited, but I was so done being there. I was done seeing this guy’s face. I wanted to leave.

I nodded. “Okay.
Thank you.”

Khrane
beamed widely, but his eyes remained chillingly sharp. “I’ll fetch my coat.”

He never moved though.
Isama scurried into the room, a wool coat slung over her scaly arm. She never glanced my way as she helped him sling the material on. He said something to Isama in a language I didn’t understand before marching past both of us and starting for the door. I followed quickly.

The parlor door opened to a different corridor, this one wider and
opening into a grand foyer. The lavish stairway coiling upwards wasn’t the one I’d seen before and nothing looked familiar. I shuddered as I thought of
Stephen King’s Rose Red
series, the house that continuously kept changing so it could confuse the inhabitants before killing them in gruesome methods.

“Where is everyone?” I asked
as we reached a set of black doors.

Khrane glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Everyone?”

I waved at all the emptiness around us. “There’s no one here. Doesn’t it get lonely?”

He paused a moment mid stride and really looked at me. “You don’t see them?”

I should have seen that coming. “The hallows?”

His eyes narrowed. “So you know about them, but you don’t see them. Interesting.”

Then he was walking again without even letting me speak.

“Are there hallows here?” I asked, running to catch up.

“There are hallows everywhere,” he answered simply. “Even in the mortal world. Souls are the only beings that can travel the planes without the nexus.”

As always, at the mention of invisible forces watching my every move, I grimaced.

“Why can’t I see them?” I asked.

“
Perhaps because you are still partially human and thus possess your human soul,” he decided with a very definitive tone. “We can see them because we are not of the living plane, thus technically not alive, whereas you are.” He gave me no chance to respond. “Shall we?” Khrane turned to me, one gloved hand resting on the gold knob.