She collected her sodden jeans, dragging them on, then donned her shirt. "When you die this time, Chase, I don't want you to come back."
"What?" He shot to his feet, stabbing his legs into his own pants. "What are you talkin' about? Look at me! Why won't you look at me? Christ, Regin, you're actin' like I'm dead already."
She swiped her forearm over her face. "Because you're as good as."
Declan had never seen her like this. Her eyes were fully silver, but there was no spark in them. She wouldn't look at him. As if she couldn't.
Just moments before, he'd felt more centered and at peace with himself than ever before; now she was steeped in misery.
"We need to get to the boat," Regin said distantly. "We're running out of time."
"You don't want me to come back because I'm no' the Aidan you knew?" She'd expected her man to return, to supplant Declan. She'd longed for Aidan for two centuries.
How could she not be devastated? "I don't know why I'm still here. Maybe I did something wrong, fucked up the cycle." Because he was definitely still ... Declan. "I have Aidan's memories, but they're distant, like the dreams I had." Somehow, it feels like I came first.
"Exactly, Chase." In a deadened tone, she said, "I don't want you to come back because you're a scarred, fucked-up Celt."
His lips parted. Never had a shot with her, not as myself. He ran a palm over his ruined skin, whipped with defeat, wanting to howl his frustration. What to say to her? I don't want to look like this. Don't want to be like this--
"And I never wanted Aidan," she whispered, "like I want you."
He'd misheard her. "I don't understand, lass." She couldn't have chosen him over the perfect Viking.
"I can't lose you again. For a thousand years, it's been all about your struggle, your return! But each time, you leave me as collateral damage. The centuries of waiting, the loneliness, and then that ridiculous flare of hope when I find you again. Though I know how it's going to end--with me shattered." Rain began to pour. "You're going to die, Chase. Soon. There's nothing I can do to prevent it. I know because I've tried over and over. And if you care about me at all, you won't do this to me again. Don't come back."
"Regin, just wait."
"I had it wrong all along. I'm not your doom, Chase. You're mine--"
A jet screamed overhead.
They met gazes. "Move your arse, woman!" Declan snatched her hand, yanking her along toward the cove.
As they sprinted closer to the shore, they heard Thad yell, "Regin, is that you?"
"We're coming," she cried.
"Uh, don't!"
"What?"
They charged out from under the trees. Natalya, Brandr, and Thad stood before the boat house. But beneath it, the berth was ... empty.
Natalya's face was pinched. "Somebody gacked our vessel."
Declan shoved his fingers through his hair. "Damn Lothaire! He took it!"
"I'm right here, Blademan." The vampire stood off to one side in the shade of the forest, casually leaning his shoulder against a tree trunk.
"Then who took my fuckin' boat?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. They swooped in while we fought the Pravus."
"No one knew about this place!"
More jets shot past overhead, followed by a distinctive whistling sound. Payload deployed.
"Take cover!" Declan tackled Regin back under the trees, shielding her with his body. Everyone hit the ground, except for Lothaire, who yawned.
Beneath Declan, Regin snapped, "You're covering me? You're the mortal--"
Explosions rocked the quiet morning, deafening waves of sound close by. But there was no shaking earth, no trees felled. Instead, ash and grit began to fall, blanketing the beach with the steady downpour. The jets--and their bombs--had blown up in the sky.
Declan lurched to his feet, helping Regin up.
"Chase, what just happened?"
As he and Regin gazed up in bewilderment, he mumbled, "I do no' know--"
A force slammed into his back; unimaginable pain seared through him.
The bite of metal.
He bellowed in agony, shoving Regin from harm's way. ...
FIFTY-FIVE
Chase's shove sent Regin sprawling to the ground. As she whirled around, her mind struggled to process the wet sound of steel through flesh. She scrambled to her feet, gaping in disbelief.
A blade speared Chase's torso, the tip protruding from his chest. With each beat of his heart, blood streamed out around the jutting tip.
"Nooo!"
Chase's hands clenched the sword point, his body futilely twisting around it. Behind him stood ... Malkom Slaine.
Regin sprang for the demon, claws bared. "I'll kill you, Slaine!"
Brandr was right behind her. But two pulses of energy sent them both flying. Carrow's energy?
The witch rushed up beside Slaine. "What is this, Valkyrie? We saved you from the magister!" She motioned for the vemon to withdraw his blade.
Slaine looked deeply troubled. "I've done wrong, ara?" As he began pulling his sword out, blood poured from Chase's mouth.
"No, Malkom, of course not!" To Regin, she said, "You told me to kill the magister after you got vivisected. You ordered me to."
When Chase collapsed to his back, Regin dropped to her knees beside him. A sword through his chest, just like before. "Not again," she screamed, "not again!" Tears gathered and spilled as she sobbed, "No, not again." Lightning forked out overhead, continuous flashes across the sky.
Chase raised a bloody hand to her face, cupping her cheek. "Sorry 'bout this, lass."
Brandr punched a tree, roaring with grief.
"Don't talk, Chase! We're going to get you fixed."
"You were right ... I'm not returnin', Regin."
"No! I-I didn't mean what I said."
"Will no' do this to you again."
"What? Shut up! You have to come back. You fucking have to."
"I love you ... too much. Find an immortal male to be with you." He gritted his teeth.
She knew how hard it'd been for him to say that. "I want you!" She probably should caress his face lovingly; instead, she clasped his chin and gave his head a rude shake. "I love you, dumbass!"
His brows drew together. "You... do. Christ, you do."
"I'm so sorry, Valkyrie," Carrow said. "I didn't know you'd fallen for him! We heard you yelling, and we've been fighting all morning."
Regin faced her. "You're from the healer caste. Heal him!"
"I can't! I used the last of my juice to blow up fighter jets and their huge bombs. And you know healing spells take mondo power."
"Then take him to Andoain, and get another witch to."
"Regin, that man probably killed Ruby's mother--my cousin. And he tortured Slaine--my future husband." Slaine dropped his big hand across Carrow's nape, and his shoulders straightened. "No one in the House of Witches will help Chase."
Carrow and Slaine? Can't process that now. "Chase didn't kill your cousin. Please, you're my friend. Help me!"
Carrow surveyed him. "The man's too far gone. The only one who could heal him would be Mariketa, and this operation has tapped her out even more than me. She found this island, a feat in itself, and even devised this." Carrow held up a glowing thumb. "It's a skeleton print key for the torque." She crossed to Regin--with Slaine following protectively--and pressed it to her torque.
The collar that had caused Regin so much frustration dropped to the ground; her panicked mind scarcely registered her freedom. Regin's eyes darted before landing on Malkom Slaine's looming form. "Then I-I need your guy's blood!"
Chase bit out, "Have you ... lost your goddamned mind?"
Carrow shook her head. "Malkom's an anomaly. We don't know what his blood would do."
Lothaire cleared his throat. "Couldn't help but overhear that you're canvassing for immortal blood."
Regin swung her head around. "Come on, vampire. Let's do this."
"No!" Chase grated. "Don't turn me int
o one like him."
"It's the only way you'll live," Regin cried. "Can't you see past your hate?"
"Can you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Between blood-tinged breaths, he choked out, "Know about your mother, about all the things vampires ... have done to you. If I become a vampire ... I lose you anyway, Regin."
"You'd rather die than lose me?"
"O' course!"
"You tool, nobody's losing anybody! You're taking the blood. I don't care what you are--as long as you're with me." Regin faced Lothaire again. "Please, I need you to do this now!"
The vampire examined his black claws. "Must warn you though. I've already drunk from him. If he consumes my blood in turn, there will be unbreakable ties between us. Even more than if I merely became his sire."
"I don't care--do it!"
"For a price."
The leech's three favorite words.
"No!" Declan roared, blood spilling over his lips. "The vampire orchestrated this ... always knew it'd come to this. Tried to get us together ... though he knew I'd die. You'll make no vow to him!"
Regin faced Lothaire. "Lemme hip you to some facts. You're not getting off this island without our help. You do this, and I vow to get my witch friend to remove your torque."
Carrow gasped. "I'm supposed to release one of the most evil vampires in existence--"
"The most evil," Lothaire corrected, "if you please, flower."
"--to save one of the most evil mortals?"
"If you don't, Carrow, then your soon-to-be husband will have killed mine."
The witch held up her thumb again. "And we'll be removing Lothaire's torque!"
"Husband?" Chase murmured. But then he shook his head. "I'll fight the turnin'." His lids grew heavy, his face paling.
"Fight all you want, boyo. I'm determined." He'd lost so much blood; it seeped out beneath him, an ever-growing ring in the sand.
Brandr dropped down beside Regin. "Do this, friend. You don't have much longer."
Regin ran her cheek against Chase's hand. "If you love me, you'll make this sacrifice for me. Nothing comes between us, remember?"
"You turned my words ... against me?" His eyes closed. "Think about what you're doin'. ..."
When his head lolled, panic set in. She put her ear to his bloody chest, listening for his heart. Still alive. Just unconscious. Over her shoulder, she snapped, "Lothaire!"
The vampire took a knee on Chase's other side, then bit his own wrist. "Hold his mouth open." Brandr pried his jaws wide so Lothaire could drip a generous stream inside. Then the berserker shoved Chase's mouth shut until he swallowed.
"Now what?" she asked.
The vampire stood, dusting off his hands. "Now you wait. The magister will wake within three days, or he dies--" Lothaire tensed. "Nix," he hissed.
Regin jerked her head around. Through the rain, she spotted the soothsayer strolling along the beach toward them. Nix? She was the one Regin had sensed?
The soothsayer had white sunblock on her nose, high-heeled flops, a wide-brimmed hat--and Bertil perched on her shoulder. Her T-shirt read: I Lost My Heart on Immortal Island.
"Nix!" she cried. "Is Chase going to live?"
"Dearling, it's up to fate now."
"Back in New Orleans, you asked me what I would do to break the curse. I said just about anything then. Now I'm saying anything! Tell me what to do, Nix!"
"All that could be done has been. Now as soon as everyone gets here, Malkom will be a dear and trace us off the island." She turned to Carrow. "Until then, good witch, a round of freedom for Regin's friends! And for ... him." She pointed to Lothaire.
He intoned, "Valkyrie."
"Vampire," she said in greeting. The bat unfurled its wings aggressively.
Regin gathered Chase's head into her lap, frantically smoothing the hair from his cool forehead. When Brandr's hand covered her shoulder, her tears fell, splatting against Chase's cheek. "Wh-what are you doing here, Nix?"
"You know how it goes, had some miles about to expire. And it's just like you said. A little vacay was all I needed!"
Her voice thick, Regin asked, "Is Lucia safe? Did she face Cruach without me?"
"Cruach is no more! She and Garreth MacRieve took him out forever."
Cruach's dead. Regin's mind could hardly wrap around the idea.
"The two lovebirds are here on the island," Nix continued, "hoofing it to get to you."
Lothaire stalked toward Carrow. "Free me, and be quick about it."
"That's right," Nix said. "You'll want to be at full power before the wolf arrives. Since you broke his female's neck down in the Amazon. Directly after you woke La Dorada."
Regin gaped. "He did what?"
"Witch, now," he grated.
"Don't get pissy with me, leech." With a glare, Carrow pressed her print to his torque. "Even tapped out, I can still do a love spell to make you fall in love--with the sun."
When the collar dropped to the ground, Lothaire rolled his head on his neck. But instead of disappearing immediately, he traced to stand mere feet from Nix.
A towering vampire with skin like marble and chillingly flawless features was staring down a petite Valkyrie with crazed eyes and a cryptic smile.
The tension between the two was palpable. Even on the verge of flipping the fuck out, Regin couldn't look away.
"The Accession grinds on, does it not?" Lothaire said.
"Just like old times." Nix winked. "Alas, Dorada will come for you once she rises again."
"I'll be ready." He narrowed his red eyes. "You've likely foreseen this moment. Tell me, are we to fight now? As in the past?"
"You defy foresight, Lothaire."
"That's only fair, Phenix, since you've long defied insight." Phenix?
Nix canted her head. "What does your Endgame tell you?"
"That white queen will never take black king." He gave her a formal bow. "Until our next match."
"There won't be a next match, vampire."
His brow creased into a frown, the Enemy of Old disappeared.
With a lackadaisical air--as if she just hadn't been toe-to-toe with the Lore's most-feared fiend--Nix strolled over to Regin. "Tsk, tsk." She gazed down at Chase. "He was such a cute boy. He gave me a hug good-bye that day at the fair, even though he thought I was a fortune-teller crone."
Regin swung her head up. "You saw him?"
"Saw who?"
"Nix!"
"Regin!"
Inhale. Exhale. Pet Chase's forehead. Don't go crazy like her.
Lucia arrived then, hand in hand with Garreth MacRieve. "Regin, thank gods, you're al-- who are you holding?"
Out of the corner of her lips, Carrow said, "That's the guy I was telling you about."
Lucia's eyes went wide. "This isn't the man who ... tortured you?"
"It's complicated, Luce. J-just help me get him back to Val Hall."
"Help him?" Garreth growled. "After he tortured my cousin Uilleam? Who, incidentally, is seconds behind us and bent on mauling this mortal."
Freed of his collar, Brandr stepped up. "He'll have to go through me." His eyes glowed, his muscles burgeoning.
Natalya flared her poisonous claws. "And me."
Thad bowed up his chest. "Me, too."
Garreth looked ready to tangle. Lucia plucked her bowstring, her loyalties torn. A howl sounded in the near distance, footfalls crashing closer. ...
It was Malkom who broke up the tension. "The magister tortured me, as well."
Great, another hater. "You got your revenge, demon! You want more?"
"I have Carrow because of him," Malkom said. "I want no revenge. I seek to repay."
Carrow gazed up at Malkom like a sap. "Let's start by tracing him the hell out of Dodge."
FIFTY-SIX
For two days, Chase lay in her bed at Val Hall, pale, still, his heartbeat so sporadic that at times she thought he'd ... died.
Brandr had paced a hole in the rug, while Regin struggled
to hold on to hope.
No one had any idea what would happen, not even Nix, who'd only absently said, "Such a sweet little boy."
Now, as another morning broke, Regin rechecked the curtains, ensuring that no light reached him. "Will you stay with him, Brandr? I need to go downstairs for a bit." To go on a fool's errand.
"Of course."
She leaned down and kissed Chase's damp forehead. Strapping on her borrowed sword, she marched from her bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door of Val Hall.
Thad and Natalya were on the porch swing, drinking coffee and holding vigil with Nix.
Regin's sisters had initially taken issue with a half vamp like Thad and a dark fey like Natalya gaining entry past the wraiths, but Regin had been adamant about their staying.
Thad asked her, "Is DC going to be okay?"
"He's totally gonna pull through," Regin said, but even she recognized that she sounded half-hysterical, her words tinged with that out-of-place confidence people had when staring down a gun barrel.
"Don't be long, Regin!" Nix called. "And if you see Bertil, tell that little scallywag that it's past his bedtime!"
Huh. Nix is literally batshit cray-cray.
Regin tossed her hair toll to the wraiths in order to cross their guard. With their forbidding presence and brute strength, those flying, spectral creatures kept anything out of--or in--the Valkyrie's manor.
But the yard was another matter. Regin cast a murderous look at the crowd gathered along Val Hall's drive. They were like vultures, waiting there either to celebrate Chase's death--or to kill him.
The only thing that kept them from advancing? The recently repaired driveway gate, imbued with Carrow's protection spell.
Regin flipped the crowd off with both hands, bobbling her birds up and down for good measure while mouthing, Suck it. Then she headed to the swamp on Val Hall's property.
Near the water's edge she stopped beside a monument, one that looked totally out of place in the bayou: a Norse rune stone, draped with swamp moss, on "indefinite loan" from a Scandinavian museum of natural history.
Taking a deep breath, she knelt in front of it. Clearing her throat, she muttered, "Are you there, Woden, it's me Regin." She gave a nervous laugh.
"I know you and Freya sleep, and that praying to you is probably just a big fat waste of time. But I have to try. Seems I'll try anything." Another steadying breath. "So, Woden, I need you to do me a solid and save the life of Declan Chase, a.k.a. Aidan the Fierce. ..."
She trailed off. This is stupid. She needed to be by Chase's side, not talking to inanimate objects. What if he ... dies while I'm gone? She swallowed. Then he'd still be gone. Attention back on the rock, she said, "Look, I know I'm not your favorite daughter, never have been. But I'm still your daughter! If you're punishing Aidan for his hubris, then know that you're punishing me too. No, you're destroying me."