AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Inside the tunnel, the stench is dank with a choking mixture of dirt, sewage, and the stink of rotting flesh. The thought of Olivia here and suffering twists my guts. I, who felt virtually nothing for centuries, am consumed with fury and concern. In order to triumph this night, I must harness this energy and decimate my enemy.
Bram, Ice, Caden, and Duke have my back both figuratively and literally. They linger behind me, concealed outside the tunnel.
“Stop there, immortal,” commands a deep voice in the darkness.
Mathias.
As I halt, an invisible presence barges into my brain, strong and destructive. Evil. Though the intruder tries scanning my thoughts, I blank my mind and give him a hard mental shove.
He laughs, the sound dripping with icy amusement. “I could push my way past your barriers if I wished.”
I care not what games he plays. “You want the book more. Show me my mate.”
To my right, a berobed Anarki ambles from the darkness, clutching Olivia.
“Marrok!” she cries out.
“Love…” I drink her in as relief pours through me. She looks pale and disheveled. Her dilated violet eyes tell me she is frightened. But she is alive and well. For now, I take solace in that.
“Tsk, Marrok of Cadbury. Of course she is alive. I don’t make a habit of killing women. Well, not right away. They serve far better purposes when they aren’t cadavers, particularly this one.”
So Mathias can read my thoughts now. I tuck all away except the ones I am willing to share. For Olivia’s sake, I must gather my control and channel my fear. And if the hell-born codpiece touches her, I will hunt him to the ends of the earth and destroy him.
“Your desire to avenge your mate is touching. How ironic that you fell for a woman from the very bloodline who cursed you.”
“Olivia is not Morgana.”
“If it pleases you to believe one Le Fay isn’t like the next…” Mathias mocks. “Let’s get on with business. Hand me the book.”
“Give me my mate.”
“A classic impasse.”
Suddenly, the disembodied voice steps into the light, and Mathias appears. He looks younger than I expected. Darkness and power roll off him, a calling card that would flatten a lesser warrior. I tower a good six inches above him and outweigh him in muscle by more than three stone.
But this man is magical down to his marrow. Energy vibrates from his very skin, reverberating through the tunnel. I fend off a shudder of foreboding.
Immortality works in my favor, but this enemy holds my Achilles’ heel—Olivia—in his depraved grip.
“I am outnumbered,” I point out. “Nor am I magical. My mate and I will have to leave here on foot. While you could zap away the moment I surrendered the diary.”
“True. Are you alone?”
Before I can answer, I feel a stealthy tiptoe into my mind. Slick. Barely detectable. I purposely picture Bram in his office and Ice and Duke squaring off on the training field, foils in sweat-drenched hands.
“Of course,” I lie.
“I don’t believe you.”
I shrug. “Bram saved me when the Anarki called upon my house uninvited. I repaid the favor by teaching his men to fight. We are not friends, but now we are even.”
Mathias appears to mull that over, then glances over his shoulder. “Is that true?”
A second figure saunters from the shadows, into the dim buzz of light beaming down. Black hair brushes his shoulders, leather all around, and dark sunglasses conceal his eyes.
“Shock,” I growl.
He dismisses me. “He and Bram are not friends. He’s not lying about that.”
