The Fires of Tartarus Page 20

I stepped towards the door but he was standing there blocking it.

  “You bitch, you promised,” he snarled.

  I let go of the power of the key and forced him to his knees. I knew it hurt, knew the power was burning through him like the sun, but I moved forward and tipped his head back so he had to look at me. “No. I did not,” I said, my voice icy with disdain. “And I shall do as I please with you. Treat you as I want.” I watched as he looked in horror at the dead staring back at him through my eyes. “Until such a time as you please me.”

  I heard him gasp as I moved away but didn't look back as I shut the door on him and left him alone once more.

  Chapter 25

  I pushed the door open to Inés’ cottage, swearing and kicking at the door as it grated on the thick stone floor.

  “Putain!” Inés exclaimed, appearing from her herb room and frowning at me as I flung myself inside. She took one look at my face and crossed the room, silently pulling me into a hug. I didn't cry. I was too drained, too numb, shivering with misery.

  “Come, Nina, come and tell me all about it.”

  I allowed her to fuss over me, sitting me in a chair at the kitchen table while she made coffee and laid anything that she thought had enough sugar in within easy reach for me. Inés' answer to most problems was cake. I found it surprising how often it actually helped.

  I watched as she stirred a ridiculous amount of sugar into my coffee and then handed it to me. It tasted a bit like syrup, but I drank it anyway.

  I told her everything, watching her expression as I explained everything that had happened, right up to the part when I let Lucas feed from me in front of Corvus. She looked away from me, but I could see she was frowning.

  “It's alright, you can't make me feel any more slutty than I already do.”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “You think I'm concerned you're a slut?” I took a moment to think about that and the words, pot, kettle and black drifted to mind. I cleared my throat and shrugged.

  “Maybe not.” I looked back at her. “What then?”

  She looked torn, like she wanted to tell me something but couldn't. “Just ... be careful with Lucas.”

  I felt a cold shiver run over me. “What do you mean? Are you saying I can't trust him?”

  She shook her head, surprisingly vehement. “Non,” she said and then hesitated. “You can trust him, Nina. I'm sure of that just ... Just take care. This situation with Corvus is bad enough. Don't play them off against each other if you can help it.”

  I nodded, knowing she was right. “And if there isn't any other way?” I asked, remembering the blaze of anger and jealousy from Corvus when Lucas had touched me.

  She shrugged. “We all do what we must, chérie.”

  I sipped at the coffee, allowing the familiarity of my surroundings to soothe me a little. I'd been through some bad times in my life, and I'd always made it through before. Maybe it was more luck than judgement, but I always survived, and I'd always found my way back to Corvus ... eventually. Even if it had taken the best part of two thousand years. I just prayed I didn't have to wait that long this time.

  “Do you want to stay, Nina?” Inés asked. “The bed's made up for you.”

  I smiled and nodded. I didn't want to go back to the Château right now. It was too full of memories of everything I'd lost. Besides, sometimes what you really need is to go home to your family.

  I got up and gave her a hug in thanks and headed into her bedroom to grab a few things. The bed was a mess, and I wrinkled my nose as the overwhelming smell of sex and magic hit me full force. Ugh. Vampire senses really sucked sometimes. I did not want to know what had happened in this room recently. There was something else though, another scent, fresh and green and familiar ... It reminded me of spring. My head began to ache as I tried to place it, and I gave up, grabbing the things I needed and heading up to bed.

  ***

  I woke in the early hours of the morning, aware of Lucas lying on the bed beside me. I yawned and blinked, looking at him through bleary eyes.

  “You found me then.”

  He laughed, the sound low and intimate in the darkness. “Of course. I'll always find you.”

  “Was that supposed to be reassuring or scary?”

  I felt him shrug. “Which ever pleases you the most.”

  “Lucas,” I said, my voice soft. “I shouldn't have let you do that earlier.”

  He looked away from me.

  “I know why you did and ... And I'm so grateful for everything you do for me, but I can't use you like that. It was cruel of me. Cruel to you and Corvus and ... I don't want to be that person, Lucas.”

  He shook his head, turning back to look at me with affection. “You could never be that person, Jéhenne. You're not cruel. You don't have it in you.”

  I sucked in a breath, half laughter, half surprise that he could be so naive. I remembered the dream ... No not a dream, a memory of my laughter as I transformed a man into a wolf; that vicious, mocking laughter. “Oh, I could, believe me ... so easily.” It would be more than easy to allow myself to use the powers I had more than I did, to be seduced into getting what I wanted by devious means. The idea that I was a goddess, that there was more to come, was both something I longed for and lived in terror of. I would be able to defeat Dis Pater and keep those I loved safe ... But what if I became the danger? Hekatê didn't seem the best advert for a stable, well-balanced woman. A bi-polar, megalomaniac yes, stable ... No.

  “You liked it.” The words were a warm breath against my skin as his hand trailed up my arm. His touch felt good, very good. It seemed an eternity since I'd been kissed, been loved, and I looked up at him. His eyes were a warm brown, full of desire. He was in fact very handsome, with a strong jawline and a dimple in his chin, which was, frankly, adorable. He was also built like he should be lounging, half-dressed in some women's saucy calender. Mr July perhaps? It would be the simplest thing to turn to him, to find solace in his arms and forget everything else for a while. But I loved Corvus, no matter what he'd become, and I couldn't use Lucas like that.

  He read the decision in my eyes, and I saw his face shutter up, his emotions shut away from me.

  “Lucas ...”

  “I should get back.”

  He was on his feet, and my heart sank at the idea he was mad at me. Somehow he'd gone from enemy to friend. He'd crept into my confidence and turned into someone I trusted and relied on, someone I didn't want to be without. I couldn't lose his support. I couldn't bear it. I reached out my hand and caught his sleeve.

  “Please don't be angry with me.”

  I looked up and saw the faintest trace of a smile at his lips. He touched his fingers to my hand, a soft trail on my skin. “I'm not angry, Jéhenne,” he said, his voice as soft as his touch. And then he was gone.

  I lay back against the pillows with a groan, my hands massaging my temples, which were suddenly throbbing.

  “You should have just fucked him.”

  I screamed and fire blazed at my wrists, illuminating Hekatê, who sat at the end of my bed.

  “How long have you been there?” I demanded and she shrugged.

  “Long enough to see you play the martyr,” she said with a sniff of disapproval.

  I huffed and sat up, turning on the bedside lamp. “Can you please knock or something?”

  “So Corvus still doesn't remember you?”

  I glared at her, but she just held my gaze. She seemed curious, but I didn't really think she cared one way or the other. I was a lab rat as far as she was concerned. It was just entertaining to see what tunnel I ran down and my reaction when I got an electric shock for choosing the wrong one.

  She laughed and shook her head and my temper flared.

  “What the hell is so funny?”

  She pursed her lips and held out her wrist, watching as a tiny iridescent snake coiled around her arm and down her wrist. “You're a witch, Jéhenne. Why don't you just bespell him?”

  I frowned at her, wonde
ring if she was really so stupid. “I want him to love me because it's the truth, not because I made him.”

  She tutted with impatience, and I shuddered as the snake coiled in and out of her fingers. “But it is the truth,” she said. “He just doesn't remember it.”

  “I ...” I looked at her, wishing I could make her understand why that would feel like a lie. “No. Just no.”

  She shrugged.

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded, wondering how the hell I was going to get any sleep tonight.

  She was quiet for a moment. “How long before you are ready to confront Dis Pater?”

  I frowned, uneasy at the turn of the conversation. “I don't know. Soon I hope, but there are a lot of things to arrange. I can't afford to rush into it - and there are still no signs of any of my supposed new powers,” I added, not bothering to disguise my impatience.

  “You can't afford to wait, Circe.”

  I ignored the shock that thrilled through me at hearing that name and sat forward, hearing something else more important, something unspoken in her voice. “What is it? What's happened?”

  I realised as I studied her that she looked strained.There was tension around her beautiful eyes.

  “He came to me today, threatened me ...” There was clearly a tremor in her words now, and she turned to meet my eyes. She didn't need to say any more. I knew who she was talking about and what he wanted. Dis Pater wanted me. “He wants me to take you to him. He knows I've been here and ...” She paused, and I saw the moment she took to compose herself, to hide her fear. “I'm not as strong without the key. I can't fight him. I've ... delayed him a little, but he won't wait forever. You need to act or ...”

  “Or you'll hand me over,” I finished in disgust.

  She reached over and grasped my arm. “Not willingly, I swear it. But I can't fight him alone.”

  “Then tell me how the fuck to access whatever it is I should be able to do!” I yelled at her, snatching my arm from her grasp as fury made my temper flare. “How do you do it? What does it feel like? What can I do?”

  She opened her mouth to speak and then shrugged, and I swore with annoyance. I sat back with my head in my hands and had a sudden vivid memory of lying on the forest floor, Corin's hand touching mine as he taught me how to use my powers for something other than destruction. Pain began to throb at my temples as I remembered the frost sparkling between our fingertips, the snow flakes glittering in his hair, on his eyelashes. I clutched at my head as the pain increased, but I was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to see him, to have him help me through this and the thought was so shocking that I gasped aloud. How could I feel that way after everything he'd done? I remembered the pain of his attack, the feel of his hands holding me down, forcing himself onto me … The flare of pain in my head made me cry out as I tried to make sense of the jumbled images. It was always the same. Whenever I tried to remember what had happened, the headache was instant and overwhelming.

  “What is it?”

  I looked up at Hekatê, squinting as the pain lanced behind my eyes.

  “Nothing. Just a headache.”

  She got up and walked away. “I have to go. Remember what I said though, child. Time is running out. If you want to have your revenge, you have to act soon.”

  She disappeared, and I restrained myself from flinging things in her direction. It would be me who had to clean up the mess after all. As usual.

  ***

  I woke far later than I'd meant to with the headache still throbbing behind my eyes. I cursed as I ran downstairs to realise that Inés had already left ages ago without waking me. I'd arranged for her and Cain, Heloïse, Aradia and the old warlock Remé to meet at the Château this morning to discuss and prepare the wards and spells that we'd need to take on Dis Pater. I didn't like having to ask Remé, who wasn't family and didn't have a personal vendetta as far as I knew, but we needed all the help we could get. I wouldn't ask him to help with the attack, but his help preparing would be invaluable. The idea of the five of them in the same room together was worrying the hell out of me, though, and I'd intended to be there to try and make sure nobody died.

  I pulled my clothes on, promising myself a shower once I was sure everyone was in one piece and fled back to the Château.

  I hurried through the front door, freaking out as the sound of raised voices drifted from an open window when my phone rang. I looked at it in surprise as, firstly, I rarely remembered to have it with me any more and, secondly, it was usually on silent as I never had time to answer it. I glanced at the screen and felt a wave of guilt wash over me as I saw Claudette's name.

  Claudette was really my one and only human friend. She was a lovely, genuine person, and I felt like I spent my entire life lying through my teeth to her as she knew nothing about the fact I was a witch or that vampires and the like were real and living amongst us. I hadn't spoken to her in ages, and my finger hovered over the reject button as the shouting got louder. In the end, guilt won out, and I picked up.

  “Bonjour, Jéhenne,” My guilt increased as I heard the surprise in her voice. She hadn't thought I'd answer. It got worse as I realised how pleased she was.

  She chatted as Rodney appeared in front of me, gesturing furiously to the study and the source of the raised voices. I mouthed “What?” at him, and he hissed back.

  “World war bloody three!” Rodney said.

  Something crashed to the floor and Rodney blanched, hurrying back into the study. I was about to make my excuses to Claudette when she said Corin's name. Suddenly she had my full attention.

  “Woah! What? What did you say? Who came around?” I demanded.

  She repeated what I'd thought she said, that Corin had turned up on her doorstep this morning and asked her out.

  “The fucking bastard ... I'll bloody kill him. You wait till I get my hands on ...” I ranted on a few minutes. “Claudette! Are you listening to me?”

  There was a soft and rather perplexed sound which I took for a yes until she added, “I'm listening, but I don't see the problem. He was only here for a moment.”

  “There is no way he'll leave it at that,” I said to Claudette as Rodney looked back at me wide-eyed and made a frantic gesture towards the study. I waved at the phone in my hand, equally frantic and tried to concentrate. “You'll have bruised his damn ego now. He's going to want you grovelling at his feet for that.”

  I heard her huff of annoyance. “Should I have said yes then?” she demanded, more bewildered than ever.

  “No!” I screamed and then took a breath, realising I must sound like a mad woman even by my standards. I had to make her understand that she must stay away from him before she found herself under his control and on her way to the Fae Lands. At which point I really would have to send the family after him to kill the bastard. “Listen to me, Claudette, this is deadly serious. I know Corin - far better than I wish I did, and I'm telling you that you have to stay away from him, that he's trouble. Big trouble. Do you understand?”

  There was a pause before she replied. “Trouble how?”

  “I ... I can’t tell you, not exactly.” I cursed inwardly, wishing I could just tell her the truth, that he was a terrifyingly powerful Fae prince on the hunt for a human wife to bear him children. “Just ... Oh, Claudette, please, I’m begging you for the love of God, promise me you’ll stay away from him. He’s dangerous ... more than you can imagine.”

  She was quiet for a moment and I wondered what the hell she was going through her head. “You really think so?” she asked, sounding a little sceptical but definitely anxious, and I sighed with relief.

  “I know so, Claudette. He’s bad news, take my word for it. Oh and the most important thing, now pay attention ...” I knew this was going to trash every ounce of my credibility but I had to warn her. “You must never, ever, accept anything from him.”

  I could practically hear her frowning. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I mean anything,” I said, determined to g
et the point across even if I sounded like a lunatic. “No presents, no gifts of any kind. It could be something lavish or even something insignificant, like ... Like a box of biscuits. Don’t ever accept a gift from his hands, do you understand?”

  I jumped out of my skin as the sound of an explosion rocked the study and blew the door open. Claudette was asking what the hell I was on about as I rushed to look inside and check everyone was still in one piece. Rodney and Remé were looking a little shell-shocked but everyone appeared to have all limbs intact so I returned my attention to Claudette.

  “Are you OK, Jéhenne?” Claudette asked as I headed for the door, and I could hear the concern in her voice. For just a moment I considered the idea of telling her the truth and then sighed as the impossibility of it presented itself.

  “Oh ... Yeah,” I said with a wry smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I have to go. Just stay away from Corin ... please, and if you do see him again tell him I know he’s here and if he messes with you he’ll have me to deal with. Tell him ...” I tried to find a way to tell him what exactly I'd do to him without Claudette realising what I really meant. “Tell him if I catch up with him, I’ll turn him into French toast! OK?”

  “OK,” she replied, slow and drawn out, like she was speaking with someone on the edge. Sadly only too true. “OK, I’ll tell him.”

  Rodney hurried after Remé. “Jéhenne!” he yelled.

  “Yes. Yes ... I’m coming!” I said, walking after him as he disappeared out the front door. “Claudette, I’ve got to go now. Please, remember what I said. Be careful, OK? Bye.”

  Claudette said goodbye and put the phone down, and I felt a tremor of unease that I hadn't got the point across. I should really try and find the time to go and see her, but between dealing with Corvus, defeating Dis Pater and the upcoming Senate visit, my time table was looking a little over-booked. I just had to hope I'd frightened her off. I rushed out of the front door to see Rodney standing in front of Remé's car, blocking his exit so that he couldn't leave.

  I gave a sigh of irritation and shoved my phone back in my pocket. “Rodney, what the bloody hell is going on?”