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The door burst open. I jerked and had to catch myself from taking a step back. Rhyzkahl stood with his left hand on the door, beautiful face hard, radiating intensity like heat from desert stones. His white-blond hair stirred in an unseen wind, and his crystal-blue eyes seemed to bore deep into my essence. He was barefoot, wearing black pants and an unbuttoned black shirt that revealed a well-muscled torso and rock-hard abs.
A smear of blood from his palm marred the pale wood of the door. He lifted his other hand in an upward spinning motion, and an instant later a cylinder of bluish potency sprang into existence around me within the circle of sigils. He moved fully into the room, gaze never wavering from me. The door closed soundly without him touching it.
“Rhyzkahl? What’s going on?” I asked, voice shaking. “I escaped Mzatal and came right here—”
“Silence!” he ordered through clenched teeth. Slowly, he circled around, eyes traveling methodically over me. I’d reached one hundred percent freakout at this point, but I did my best to stay as still as possible, though I couldn’t keep my knees from shaking.
Rhyzkahl finally completed the circle, keen and inscrutable eyes on my face. He lifted a hand, and the binding on my wrists dissipated. Before I could twitch, he reached through the shield and removed the collar, blue glow coating his arm like a glove. He flicked the collar aside to skitter to the wall, then seized my left wrist and dragged my arm toward him, exposing the mark. He dropped his gaze to it, grip hard.
“Mzatal…he tried to get it off,” I told him, breath coming raggedly. “I stopped him—”
“I said silence!” He bared his teeth in a feral manner and raised his eyes to mine. I shrank under his hard gaze, a shiver of dread going through me. He was so not fucking around. His grip tightened painfully. I clenched my teeth together to stay quiet. He laid his bloody left hand over the mark, and I bit back a whimper as pain seared up my arm, the blood actually sizzling as it touched the tracings. Coming here had been a horrible mistake. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I blinked furiously to hold them back.
Rhyzkahl locked his gaze on the mark for nearly a full minute, still and silent. He finally looked back up to my face, lip curling. “Tell me what he did.”>The grove shifted around us. We were in the remote location now, wherever that was. Mzatal took my arm again as he greeted the mehnta, but I stayed where I was. Silently, I touched the grove.
“Kara, come,” Mzatal said. “There is little time.” He began to move but I pulled back against his grip.
“Wait, please.” My heart pounded while I hoped to hell and back that the collar would shield my thoughts enough to keep him from realizing what I was about to do.
His grip tightened on my arm, eyes narrowing. “Kara…what—” He stopped as the grove began to activate, then cursed, face going intense as he literally dragged me toward the tree tunnel.
I dug my heels in. “No!” Now, I silently begged the grove. Take me now! Take me to Rhyzkahl!
He stopped as the power rose around us and pivoted to face me. “You will regret this,” he said through clenched teeth. “I will come for you.”
I opened my mouth to say something brilliant like, “Bite me, you lame-ass fuckbrain.”
But he was gone before I could even form the words.
Chapter 11
It took me a couple of seconds to realize that Mzatal hadn’t simply disappeared. “Holy fuckballs,” I breathed, then let out a shaky laugh. I did it. I used the grove. I escaped!
The distant bellow of a reyza came to me through the tree tunnel. Rhyzkahl’s demons knew I was here, or rather, they knew someone was here. Nighttime, I noted instantly. And damn near frigid. The trees of the grove gave off a soft bluish glow, and sigils that reminded me of stick-in-the-ground solar yard lights marked the path of the tree tunnel. Full of triumph and still pumped with adrenaline, I headed for the tunnel and the freedom of Rhyzkahl’s realm.
The grove thrummed with a tingle of activation as I reached the arch of trees. I glanced back, and my gut clenched at the sight of Mzatal appearing in the center of the clearing. His face contorted into a snarl of determination as his eyes met mine. My already thudding heart went into hyperdrive. Shit! I’d hoped he wouldn’t be able to follow so quickly. I broke into a run, heading for the night blackness at the far opening of the tree tunnel. Surely Mzatal wouldn’t dare pursue once I was out of the grove and on Rhyzkahl’s turf. Or would he? I had no real idea how the dynamics of the lords worked.
I cleared the arched trees, and an instant later a lasso of potency snaked around my right ankle. I yelped and went sprawling, clawing at the ground to try to pull away from him as I kicked and struggled against the damn lasso. So close…so close! I could see the lights of a palace ahead, and more reyza bellows filled the air.
I risked a glance back at Mzatal, heart dropping at the black anger on his face. He advanced quickly, keeping the potency rope taut. I continued to struggle, but I knew it was only a matter of seconds before he had me again. And I’ll never have another chance to escape after this.
Before Mzatal could reach me, a reyza landed beside me with a whoosh of air. He bellowed at Mzatal, and I breathed in relief when the lord stopped, though I would’ve been even more relieved if the reyza had made some sort of effort to disengage the lasso from my foot. The demon’s gaze dropped to me. A throbbing growl came from his throat.
I thrust my forearm up at him. “I’m Kara Gillian, sworn summoner of Rhyzkahl,” I gasped. “Help me, please!”
The demon took less than a second to assess the mark, then his eyes lifted to Mzatal. He bared his teeth and moved to stand over me protectively.
“Rhyzkahl’s marked one in Rhyzkahl’s domain,” the reyza snarled and pointed at the lasso. “She will not go with you, Mzatal.”
My pulse slammed as Mzatal continued to hold the lasso taut. The muscles of his jaw twitched, and the menace of his stare made me wonder if he would actually stop even now.
An eternity later he recalled the lasso with a sharp jerk of his hand. I finally remembered to breathe again
“I will retrieve you, Kara,” he told me, voice immersing me in threat and promise.
I scrabbled back, hardly daring to believe I was truly free from him. Mzatal didn’t move except to lift a hand, gaze locked on me. A cramp-like twinge wavered in my chest, then faded before I even had a chance to fully realize it was there.
Mzatal’s expression grew even darker. He clenched his raised hand so hard his knuckles went white. Taking a step back, he slowly lowered his fist, eyes on mine. “I will retrieve you,” he repeated.
