Sweet Ruin (44 page)

FIFTY-SIX

J
o watched Rune as he prepped his arrows for their upcoming battle. Black, gray, red, and white.

With no weapons to prep, she’d been ready for a while, had dressed in frayed jeans, a funk-band T-shirt, and boots. Her version of war wear.

Night would soon fall on New Orleans, and he had on his game-day face, looking deep in thought.

Ever since Jo had awakened, he’d seemed like he needed to talk to her about something. But they’d gotten distracted by dozens of bouts of sex. Wild, immortal sex.

They’d showered together, breaking the tiles. Handy magicks had already repaired them!

Her guy was
strong
. To keep up with him, she’d fed throughout the day to speed up her healing—of rug-burned knees, sore muscles, and more love bites.

She suspected he wanted to talk about their future, solidifying things.
Broken seal
equaled
commitment
. Fate said so.

Did dark fey marry? Would he get her a ring? Shit, they were probably poor after she’d destroyed his expensive stuff and all. She’d have to go out and roll tourists—or Fort Knox. Since he’d be quitting his gig as
secrets master
, she could be the main breadstealer of the Darklight family.

Today between kisses, he’d told her they would find a new place to live. Somewhere for them to start fresh. A place where Thad could—at the very least—visit. In other words, no orgy observatory.

“You’d really do that?” she’d asked.

“You’re my mate—which means he’s my brother by fate.”

Now she sighed as he strapped his quiver to his leg. Her long, lean, dark fey assassin.

He glanced over at her, caught her grinning stupidly at him. Yet he didn’t return her smile.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Rune told her. “I need to take care of something.”

She frowned. “Okay.”

With a last glance at his mark on Josephine’s neck, he traced to the observatory.

Over the day, he’d had time to think about his plan to retrieve Thaddeus, and doubts were creeping in. Last night, Rune had been high from victory, but now he wondered if he could remove the wraiths.

Should his arrows—and Josephine’s telekinesis—fail, would he have to resort to Meliai, the nymph from Dalli’s covey? She’d promised him a key. He suspected it was a lock of Valkyrie hair.

When he’d rebuffed her, she’d made her own vow: “I’ll never give you my possession until you bed me, and bed me well.”

Sleeping with another female for this mission had always been a possibility.

Sleeping with another female for the Møriør was a certainty.

Now that he produced seed, he’d have to use that contraception spell routinely. Not that he would ever take release with another female, but he feared even his pre-cum could kill.

He rolled up his left sleeve and gazed at his unmarked forearm. Though Josephine would be hurt, she needed to get used to this reality of their lives.

This is bigger than just me, than what I want. I’m the eyes and ears.
Hadn’t Rune sworn his resolve would never falter?

Of all the beings in the worlds, Orion had chosen him—for some reason considering him a worthy ally.

I’ve striven every day since then to be one.

Rune began to ink the runes for that spell once more.

FIFTY-SEVEN

W
hen he joined her ten minutes later, Rune was still as serious as before.

“Everything all right?” she asked with a forced smile. “Was I too rough with you today?”

He raised his glowing wrist. “Nïx has gone to ground.” Ah, he was now in ultra-game-face mode. “Are you ready?”

“You bet. Let’s put the
breaking
back in B&E.”

With a nod, he looped an arm around her shoulders and traced to Val Hall.

Into chaos.

Jo clapped her hands over her ears against the deafening sounds. Constant thunder boomed so loud she could feel the percussion in her belly. With piercing shrieks, the wraiths swirled like a furious red tornado. Their skeletal faces looked enraged, their jaws hanging low around their screams.

Nïx had invited Jo and Rune; the Valkyries’ guards were prepared for an attack.

Eyes watchful, Rune yelled to Jo, “Is he here?”

She barely heard him. She had to yell back, “Here!” She’d already caught Thad’s scent coming from the manor.

Rune waved at her.
Ladies first
, he mouthed.
Let’s see what you’ve got.

She nodded, starting to ghost. “Get ready to trace inside!” As she fixed her gaze on her target, her body levitated, her feet floating above the ground.

All she had to do was nudge the wraiths away for a split second. She raised her hands. Power leapt from her mind to her palms like Tesla coils.

The force kept building until it was
too
strong, about to blow up in her face. She needed an emergency brake! Her eyes darted. She was losing it, couldn’t contain that power any longer!

With a scream, she hurled it at the wraiths.

Contact!

Their circle shifted. She and Rune traced at once—

The next thing she saw was a cloudless sky above a silent field. They’d caught her and thrown her?

Across the field, Rune shot to his feet, shook his head hard, then traced to her. “Are you all right?”

She took his offered hand, standing. “How’d they touch me? I was ghosting.”

Rune inspected his bow. “They’re dead warriors. You’re half spirit.”

“Well, I crapped out. It’s up to you,” she said, puzzled by how disappointed he appeared. Surely he hadn’t been laying odds on her success. “Batter up, Rune.”

Back at Val Hall, the wraiths’ shrieks were even louder. The red funnel bulged outward, like an inflamed wound.

Rune nocked
seven
arrows, all black. One-and-done. He drew the string to his strong chin, and his archer’s gaze grew lethally focused. This male was her mate. He’d overcome so much—to become a hero.

My God, he’s magnificent.

He exhaled. Body frozen like a statue, he released the string.

The arrows were a detonation.
IMPACT
. Shockwaves fanned out. Smoke billowed.

She was about to trace for the manor, but he grabbed her arm, shaking his head.

The shockwaves faded, revealing an inner ring of wraiths. The scattered beings in the outer ring congealed again, their low moans joining the other shrieks. Had those freaks arranged for cannon fodder?

She thought Rune muttered,
“Failure.”

The wraiths were immovable. Thad remained trapped. She rocked on her feet when she caught her brother’s scent again. He smelled of . . . fear.

Rune clasped her shoulder. “Josephine, your heart’s racing.”

“Thad’s
afraid
.” She was desperate to reach him, to protect him. “I’m ready to hear about your plan B now.”

Without another word, Rune teleported her to a location amid a rustling stand of woods. The air was cooler here, the winds even more blustery. It took her a few moments to register what towered before her.

The largest tree she’d ever seen.

Boisterous laughter and music sounded from within the hollowed trunk. Floors were carved into the wood, lit with lanterns. Rooms occupied the gigantic limbs. Between enormous roots was an arched entryway. “Where are we?”

He released her and slung his bow over his chest. “The Dryads’ covey.”

“As in tree nymphs? Naturally the solution to our problem involves the nymphs.” Jo wrapped her arms around herself, wondering why he was being so standoffish. “Not even surprised anymore.”

“There’s one here named Meliai. She’s supposed to know of a way inside Val Hall. I suspect she owns a lock of Valkyrie hair.”

“The key! Let’s go talk to her.”

He gazed to Jo’s right as he said, “She won’t talk for free.”

“Okay. Then we’ll pay her. I’ve got cash and can get more like nobody’s business.” Fort Knox, anyone?

Finally he met her eyes. “This one has no interest in money.”

FIFTY-EIGHT

J
osephine asked slowly, “Then what is she interested in?”

In their time together, Rune had never seen her afraid for herself. Fear for Thad had made her breaths shallow, her lovely face gone even paler.

Rune had failed his mate the day after he’d claimed her.
I got used to winning.
But the game wasn’t over yet. She wanted her brother back. Rune could turn his failure into triumph. Storm Nïx’s lair in the process? All the better.

With one measly lay. “Meliai won’t talk unless I fuck her. And well.”

Josephine’s vivid eyes dimmed. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“It’s a status thing,” he said. “I’ve been with everyone who lives here, everyone but Meliai.”

“How many?”

He exhaled. “I don’t think you want to know.”

“Because of my jealousy issues, you mean?” She started toward the tree. “I can get that bitch to talk.”

He grabbed her arm. “Ah-ah. You do
not
threaten a nymph. If you commit violence on a covey’s grounds, you’ll be shunned by every single one of their species.”

“So?”

“They are everywhere, and they are necessary. They can make life very easy, or nightmarishly difficult.”

“When you offered me your ‘open relationship’—to stray but then meet up after—you were talking about nights like this?”

“It was going to happen eventually, Josephine. I told you I broker in information, and I use sex to get it. This is part of my job. I can’t retire from it right at the Accession.” He curled his finger under her chin. “Better to get this out of the way, so you know what to expect.”
So you don’t get your hopes up.

“You would choose your job over your mate?”

He dropped his hand. “I am choosing to
remain myself
. My mate should try to understand why that matters to me!”

“This is your plan B? The one you had in place
before
you screwed me last night?”

“Yes, I’ve known I might need to transact with Meliai,” he said, his ire at the ready.

Josephine’s was just as much so. “I made it clear if you had sex with me, it was as good as saying we were exclusive. Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you did the deed!”