CHAPTER 13
Cole paced his bedroom as furious and impotent as a caged lion. He had searched everywhere for Riley using both physical and magical methods. He remembered the cold fear washing over him that night in the clearing when she had turned up missing. Fury and guilt had now joined fear, the triad of emotions roiling in his gut. If any harm came to her, it would be on his head. He had brought her here ruled by ambition and a lust for power. Rubbing his throbbing head, he crashed to the floor as something slammed into him. Swearing, flat on his stomach, he appeared to be pinned by a solid object. He could feel its warmth seeping into him, the sensation not all unpleasant. Puzzled, he reached a cautious hand back, and yelped as his fingers encountered soft flesh. Grunting, he shoved the object off him, pushed to his feet and whirled to face it. A hoarse cry ripped from his throat as he recognized Riley lying motionless on the floor, not breathing. He dropped to his knees, pressed his face against hers, and heard the soft sibilant intake of breath. Joy dancing in his heart, he picked her up and strode over to his bed. Tucking her in with a tender caress, he kissed her brow and went in search of the medic.
Icy water surged over her head, struggling for breath, desperate for oxygen, she swam to the surface but just before she reached it, something grabbed her leg, pulling her under. Thrashing, she opened her mouth to scream and the filthy water rushed in. A piercing scream rent the air and yanked Riley out of the nightmare. Sunlight, like molten gold, poured through the open window along with a soft breeze fragrant with jasmine. Lying on a four poster king sized bed, red silk sheets cool against her fevered skin, she was in a large room ringed with windows all boasting a view of the azure ocean, shimmering in the sun. Thunder filled the room as Cole appeared in a flash of blinding light, face pale and anxious, amber eyes lashed with fear.
Perching on the bed, he took her hands into his trembling ones. “What’s wrong? Heard you scream. Are you okay?” Words tumbled out in a rush of anxiety.
“Sorry. I was dreaming.” Riley croaked, gasping as a burning pain encircled her throat.
Cole poured a glass of water from the glass pitcher resting on the nightstand, held it to her lips as she drank. Although it was difficult to swallow, the water helped douse the ring of fire in her throat.
Anger flooded his eyes as he glanced at the blue-black finger shaped marks marring her neck. “How are you feeling? You have been asleep for three days. I was worried.”
Riley drew back in surprise. He was worried about her. She felt light-headed not sure if it was caused by her recent ordeal or because his warm hand clasping hers, fingers moving across her palm in an unconscious caress, causing a delicious tingle to run up her spine.
“Do you know the bastard who did this?” He gently touched her neck with one finger.
Fighting to control the physical sensations his touch evoked, she hesitated. She remembered everything, but would Cole believe that his fiancée had tried to kill her? Fear flickered over her as she realized that Paisley would be motivated to silence her before she could tell the truth. If she had been unconscious for three days, how come Paisley had not yet gotten to her? She just had to look into the fierce amber eyes of the man in front of her to know the answer. Cole had installed himself as her protector; no one would harm her while he was around acting like a mother bear. Riley stifled her laughter at the ridiculous image that flashed into her head. Taking a deep breath, she plunged into the story, beginning with someone trying to strangle her in the clearing and ending with Paisley poised to throw the fireball.
Cole listened without interrupting, his face impassive but when she got to part of the story featuring the cylindrical room, he jumped to his feet and started to pace. After she finished, a gossamer web of silence hung in the air, neither occupant willing to break it, as if they sensed that once the conversation resumed, something fragile, precious and newborn would shatter.
Sighing, Cole turned away from the window. “How did you get here, to my bedroom?”
Riley frowned. “I’m not sure, it’s all jumbled together. I was in a panic, and must have thought of you while trying to teleport at the same time.”
“Paisley said that she teleported you. A rebel group of Dark Mages were chasing you and she got you to safety before dealing with them.”
A snort of derisive laughter escaped her lips. “So it comes down to her word against mine. Of course, you will believe your fiancée.”
“Paisley is not my fiancée. My destiny is linked with another.” His amber eyes glowed with intensity as he looked at her.
Flushing at the unexpected warmth of his gaze, a wave of relief overwhelmed her. “Why don’t you believe me? I have no reason to lie.”
Cole pushed a stray lock of honey blond hair out of his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t believe you. By your own admission you were cold, tired and scared that you were going to die. Perhaps you misinterpreted the situation. You saw Paisley with the fireball and assumed that she was aiming at you instead of the rebels.”
Irritated at how easily he had swallowed Paisley’s story, she asked, “How would you explain the conversation I overhead between Paisley and the tall grey-eyed man?”
He grinned. “Easy. You were cold, tired and scared that you were going to die.”
Stony faced, she thumped her fist against the bed. “God! You are the most infuriating man. You’ve swallowed that woman’s entire cock and bull story. What about these bruises?” She thrust her neck in his direction. “Did I imagine these too?”
He clamped down on his rising anger, reminded himself that she had recently escaped a harrowing situation. “You could not see who was choking you. How could you be sure that it was Paisley?” Hearing her strangled gasp, he continued, “Enough. We will talk more tomorrow. Get some rest.” He vanished without the fanfare that had accompanied his earlier arrival leaving Riley gritting her teeth in frustration.
Loud whispers drifted through the open window, pulling Riley out of a fitful sleep. Curious she edged towards the window. Moonlight danced on the ocean, the sky burst with stars, she let the intoxicating beauty of the night wash over her until the rustling whispers once again captured her attention. Peering down, she spied two figures under the window, spotlighted in the moonlight, dressed in hooded dark robes, standing close, practically touching. She strained to hear the conversation.
“Did he believe you?” The first voice was low but unmistakably male.
“Yes. I can be very convincing when I need to be.” The second voice belonged to a woman.
The man chuckled. “Yes, I am aware. Cole is a lucky man.”
“So what is our next move? The danger of exposure has been contained for now but the Princess of Light knows that I want to kill her. She will be wary of me,” the woman said.
How very astute of you, Paisley, Riley thought.
“We have to bide our time for now. Lay low and do nothing. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to make her death appear as a tragic accident.”
At the man’s words, Riley fisted her hands as anger hummed through her veins.
“Agreed. In the meantime, I will be the picture of charm and friendliness. Maybe she will come to doubt her recollections.”
Fat chance, Riley mouthed the words.
“It couldn’t hurt. I am grateful that she did not see me. Cole must not know that I played a part in this.”
Riley smiled. So the tall, grey-eyed man did not know that she had seen him. She must find a way to use that knowledge to her advantage.
Paisley pressed her body against the man’s. “All this intrigue turns me on.”
His hood fell off as he stepped back, moonlight turning his black beard to grey. “We shouldn’t. We must exercise self-control until the time is right. If Cole suspects, both our lives…..” His words came to an abrupt halt as Paisley opened her robe and let it fall to the ground. Wearing nothing but a smile, her volu
ptuous, naked body shining in the moonlight, she held her arms out to him. Growling, he sprang at her, slamming her against the wall of the building, a savage expression twisting his face, he ground his mouth into hers. Paisley moaning in pleasure, wrapped her arms around his neck obviously relishing his rough treatment. A bright flash momentarily blinded Riley and when she was able to see again, they had vanished.
Climbing back into bed, Riley had to admit that she was a little surprised that Paisley and the tall man were lovers. Paisley had been so possessive of Cole that Riley had assumed that she loved him. Perhaps she only coveted the power that would come with being his consort. If that was the case, then she suspected that Paisley would use any available means, including her body, to fulfill her ambition. It made sense then that the tall man must be integral to Paisley’s plan otherwise she would not be seducing him. Riley vowed to find out exactly what Paisley was up to. Maybe she could somehow use that knowledge to help her escape from the Dark Mages and Cole. And if she could somehow find a way to thwart Paisley’s plan then that would be a sweet bonus.
Riley swatted at the fly but missed. It landed on her nose, brushed her cheek, and lingered on her lips. Opening her eyes in annoyance, she looked straight into Cole’s laughing amber eyes, his lean finger still whispering across her bottom lip. Heart cartwheeling in her chest, her eyes fastened on his mouth, a lazy smile played across his well-shaped lips. Her own lips parted as a wave of desire washed over her, her tongue darted out and licked his tormenting finger. The teasing light in his eyes morphed into a shouldering fire. He bent his head, brushed his lips against hers, the kiss gentle and featherlike. Hungry for more, Riley crushed her mouth against his, her tongue flicking his. Groaning, he deepened the kiss, probing her mouth, feasting on her sweetness. Lost in a haze of passion, yearning for more than kisses, she pulled him on top of her. His muscled body hard and heavy against hers, she heard him groan as he rolled off her. Dazed, senses still scrambled by desire, she looked into veiled amber eyes as he rose from the bed and looked down on her. His face a stone mask, mouth unsmiling, he ran a hand through his hair.
“Sorry. I did not intend for that to happen.” His voice was cool and dry. He regarded her in silence, desperately tamping down his red hot desire. The way she kissed him, how could any red blooded male be blamed for not taking all that she offered so willingly? But he could not give in to lust while his future and the fate of the Dark Mages hung in the balance. He had to convince her to join forces with him, to do that he had to capture her mind not her body. That would come later. He turned away to hide his smile.
“Would you like a tour of the Dark tower? It is the home of the Dark Mages.”
Studying his impassive face, she wondered at the motive behind his offer. Shrugging, she agreed, figuring that the tour could give her a chance to plot her escape or to ferret out Paisley’s plan.
The tower, Cole explained, was many centuries old. Pure ivory, shaped like a rocket, it thrust majestically into the sky. The Dark Mages all trained in the school that occupied the lower floors. Only the most gifted were chosen for advanced study of the dark arts. Long, narrow corridors slithered through the tower, changing directions at a moment’s notice, so that the route to a particular room was always different.
Struggling to keep up with Cole who moved with the grace and agility of a lion, Riley asked, “Different? How come no one gets lost?”
He grinned. “Many do, wandering the corridors for days. It is part of the curriculum. Mastery of the maze of corridors is essential to becoming a master Dark Mage.”
“How is this mastery achieved?”
“Ah, I am not allowed to divulge the secrets of the maze; it reveals its secrets to those it deems worthy.”
“Worthy of what?”
“All who come here are talented but not all are worthy of learning all the secrets of the dark arts. Only the deserving are allowed to continue along the path.”
They turned a corner and entered a dimly lit circular room. A giant cauldron dominated the room encircled by a bevy of dark robed bodies who were busy throwing unidentifiable objects into it. Hissing, the cauldron bubbled and belched a bright purple cloud, with the unmistakable odor of rotten eggs. Covering her nose and mouth, trying not to breathe the putrid air, Riley glanced at Cole who was studying the purple cloud with an odd intensity. In complete silence, eyes blank and staring, each Dark Mage continued to feed the cauldron, hands moving in a strange rhythm. Gradually, the thick cloud dimmed into a pale purple with a faint wisp of blue in its midst. The tension in the room intensified as the wisp grew bigger turning the cloud from purple to blue. Sensing that something big was about to happen, she moved closer to the cauldron, stepping into the circle of Dark Mages. A high pitched shriek filled the room and the cauldron along with the almost blue flame vanished. A dozen angry eyes swung in Riley’s direction as the room began to vibrate with the buzz of furious whispers. She did not know what would have happened next if Cole had not grabbed her arm and thrust her out of the room in a single motion. Shaking, she leaned against the wall, listening to his whisky voice quell the buzzing.
Minutes later he emerged and stalked down the corridor without glancing at her. Hurrying in his wake, she tugged on his arm until he stopped. Whirling towards her, he shoved her into the wall, his face a mask of fury. “What were you playing at? Do you realize how close you came to being hurt or worse?”
Her own anger rising, she pushed him away. “I have no idea what happened back there. Care to explain or do you want to slam me into walls some more?”
Breathing hard, he stepped back. “I thought you had more sense than to interrupt any magical spells.”
“What would have happened if the spell had not been interrupted?” Riley asked, burning with curiosity.
He was silent for such a long time that she feared that he would not answer. “They were trying to conjure the Flame of Truth.” Seeing her puzzled frown, he continued, “When the entire flame turns blue, it becomes the Flame of Truth. Anyone holding it must tell the truth. It is very difficult to conjure, and almost impossible for one wizard to do it alone. The group back there,” he jerked his head in the direction of the circular room, “was closer than ever before. That is why they were so angry.” He did not tell her that the cauldron’s reaction was bizarre. He did not know if it reacted to Riley’s presence or to something in the spell itself.
Arriving at a fork in the maze, Cole turned left, closely followed by Riley. Only one room opened off the maze, shrouded in shadow, an eerie chanting issued from the open doorway. Wary, because of her earlier experience in the circular room, Riley peeked around Cole’s shoulder. At first, she was unable to see anything but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the outline of a figure sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, arms raised, facing the wall. As the chanting rose, the wall started to shimmer and a hole appeared in it, small at first but gradually growing larger. A green light danced within the hole, coalescing into a face with yellow eyes, horns and a hooked nose. Stifling a gasp, she stared in fascinated horror as the face opened its slash of a mouth, revealing a set of fangs.
“Why have you summoned us?” The face asked in a whispery, hissing voice.
“Our world is in grave danger. I need your help to get rid of the threat,” replied a low male voice.
The yellow eyes flicked towards the doorway, licking its lips with a forked tongue. “This threat that you speak of, is she as lovely as they say? Come closer, Princess, so that we can feast on your beauty.”
The man in the middle of the room made a quick motion with his hands causing the face to vanish, the wall to regain its solidity and the room to fill with light. As he leapt to his feet, Riley recognized the hatchet faced man that she had seen with Paisley on two memorable occasions.
Cole grabbed the man’s shoulders. “What is this threat you speak of? Surel
y you are not referring to the Princess of Light?”
“No!” The man stammered. “It misunderstood. I was trying to identify the person who kidnapped the Princess of Light from the clearing.”
Cole only stared at him, knuckles whitening as his grip tightened.
“Brother, you must believe me.’ The man continued with a nervous laugh.
Cole pulled the man into a bear hug, slapping him on the back. Facing Riley, he said, “Allow me to introduce Baltrac, he is like a brother to me.”
Bowing, Baltrac, instead of shaking the hand she held out, kissed it. “Pleased to meet you, Princess.”
Suppressing a shudder at the touch of his oily lips on her skin, knowing that he was unaware that she had seen him before, she concealed any hint of recognition from her eyes. “Nice to meet you. I only saw one demon, why did it refer to itself as ‘we’?”
“Haven’t you ever heard of the royal ‘we’? Demons are considered royalty in their world.” He took a step back, his eyes roving her body and whistled. “Word of your beauty has not done you justice, Princess, you are even more beautiful than I expected.”
She shrugged of his simpering flattery. “Can the demons tell you who kidnapped me?”
“Sometimes they know things. But the price they command is high.”
“Yet you were willing to pay it to find out the identity of my kidnapper. That is mighty noble of you.”
Baltrac forced a laugh. “It is important to identify and expose the perpetrator of that atrocity. Your safety is my only concern.”
“No need to sell your soul to the demons, I know who kidnapped me. Trust me those responsible will be exposed.”
A hint of fear appeared in Baltrac’s grey eyes. “Are you saying that more than one person was involved?”
Riley’s gaze never left his face. “Perhaps. It just seems highly unlikely that one person could have acted alone.”
Mopping his brow, he turned to Cole. “What do you think? Do you agree with her?”
Veiled amber eyes locked with Riley’s bi-coloured ones. “It is all speculation at this point. Do not worry, I intend to get to the bottom of this kidnapping plot myself.”
Paisley sashayed into the room. “I will help you. Nothing is more important than the Princess’s safety.” She bowed in Riley’s direction.
Returning the bow, mimicking Paisley’s false charm, Riley looked at the bandage on Paisley’s arm, stretching from her wrist to her elbow. “Did you hurt yourself?”
A faint blush stained her ivory complexion. “It is nothing.”
“Nothing!” Baltrac exclaimed. “She got hurt defending you from the rebels, Princess.”
Riley stifled her gasp of disbelief. She knew that Paisley was faking the injury to add credence to her lies. “How noble of you.” She fought to keep her expression as guileless as possible but from the knowing look in Paisley’s sherry brown eyes, she knew that she had not succeeded. She opened her mouth, intending to challenge her directly, but Cole interrupted.
“Excuse us, we have somewhere to be.” Grabbing, Riley’s hand he dragged her out of the room.
She did not struggle but let him propel her along the corridor in silence. Eventually they came to a balcony. They were about 20 stories high, the shimmering ocean shimmering below. Leaning against the iron railing, the wind in her hair, the sun on her face, she took a deep breath of the salty sea air. Cole’s eyes followed Riley’s to the pair of bald eagles soaring in the cloudless sky, moving with grace and power. Almost hypnotized by their smooth almost effortless flight, she jumped when Cole’s voice sliced through the bubble of peace that had wrapped itself around her as soon as she had stepped on to the balcony.
“You almost accused Paisley of kidnapping you. I thought we had resolved the matter.”
Still gazing at the eagles pirouetting above, she kept her voice as calm as possible. “Paisley kidnapped me and tried to kill me. That’s the truth whether you choose to believe it or not.”
He grabbed her arm and spun her towards him, amber eyes swimming with anger. “Stop this nonsense. Paisley is a close friend, she would never thwart my plans.”
She smiled, her bi-coloured eyes filling with cold fury. “Remember Paisley’s cohort, the tall grey-eyed man? I just met him and he is such a close friend that you consider him a brother. Is loyalty not a quality you look for when choosing your friends?” She started in surprise when he threw back his head and roared with laughter.
“Now I am certain that you were mistaken. Baltrac would never betray me.”
“Dammit, why won’t you listen? Baltrac and Paisley are not your friends. Wake up before it is too late.” She whirled and ran down the corridor.
No longer laughing, face expressionless, Cole watched as she disappeared into the shadows.