Page 147 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
Tears dripped from my face, and the entire space we were in turned grey from the pain that echoed through me. "But I do love you." On my knees, I tried to plead with him. "The only reason I had those keys was because I stored the Book of Light in his condo. I don't love Logan, Rick. I love you. I know you saw us kissing. I know it was painful for you. But I'd been drugged by Naill, and Logan initiated it. I didn't want him to kiss me. I wanted you. I only want you."
"You think of me as your dog," he spat. "You don't want me as an equal, you want me as a tool."
"No," I choked. I lowered my forehead toward his, sobs racking my chest. "Please, Rick, I want you. Only you. Don't do this. Can't you see I'm yours? I've always been yours."
He reached up and tangled his fingers in my hair. "It is too late, Grateful. Already, my power fades. My only regret is I thought it would take longer. I thought I could save you first. But the moment I lit the wick, it began. And now it's too late. The candle burns inside my cottage, and in a few more hours, I will be completely human. And then I will die." He lifted his hand from a particularly nasty wound in his chest.
Grateful. He called me Grateful, not mi cielo. Not his sky. He'd already let me go. He'd resigned himself to his humanity. I sobbed until my shoulders shook violently.
He stroked my hair back from my face. "I suspect this emotion has more to do with your survival than your true feelings. Don't you see that what is inside of you is more powerful than anything inside of me? All you have to do is access it. An entire universe of magic and power is at your fingertips. Call the power to you. I can't help you anymore. Not this time."
As if I'd bungee jumped into his brain, the cord of our connection snapped me back into my body abruptly and with enough pain to make me scream. Or was the scream from the torture happening behind my breastbone? Rick had left me. My own caretaker had given up on me.
"She wakes," Naill said, walking his stubby legs over to my side. "Relax. Queen Bathory is preparing for the ceremony."
"What does she want with me? She already has the book."
He ran a thick finger down the length of my arm and flashed a smile wide enough to show all his gold teeth. "I'm so glad you asked. Legend has it that there is a spell in the Book of Flesh and Bone that will render a vampire truly immortal. Impervious to daylight, strong without the need for blood. After sunset, the queen will open the book and know the exact preparation for the spell, but one ingredient is a certainty, passed down to her from generations of vampires."
"My heart."
"Any supernatural heart will do. We'd planned to use one of the lesser vamps. We thought you'd be dead by now, after all. As it turned out, you and the book are a convenient two for one deal. Frankly, I was surprised you survived the army of nekomata who attacked you, but then we hadn't counted on lover boy joining the fray." Naill glanced toward the cage.
"Rick?"
"He killed most of the clan outside your house before we took him down. Lucky for us about the candle. And to think we had nothing to do with that. He did it to himself." His wicked laugh drilled into me like machine gun fire.
But he came. The thought gripped me, sending a bolt of electricity down my spine. Rick had already made the decision to become human when he joined the fight. He was willing to die for me, a real, eternal death. That must mean something.
I leaned my head back against the stone as Naill wandered off toward the fire.
"Soleil?"
"Yes."
"Any chance you could grant me that favor you promised?"
"Unfortunately, the mud has rendered that impossible. I am sorry."
The sky was darkening. Sunset. Soon, Bathory would come for my heart. But she couldn't have it. My heart wasn't mine to give; it already belonged to someone else. And whether he liked it or not, I was going to get us out of this and end that candle before it was too late. Because at that moment I realized Rick still loved me. He had to. Not only was he offering to give up his immortality for me, he'd risked his humanity too.
He loved me, and I loved him. I knew it in my bones-whether or not Rick chose to admit it. Bathory was about to find out just how powerful those feelings could be.
Sunset
As the sun set and darkness swallowed the clearing where I was held prisoner, Vampiress Anna Bathory emerged from the night as if she were part of it, cut from the shadows and stitched into a blood thirsty seductress with more body than dress. She cradled the Book of Flesh and Bone in her arms, closing her eyes and inhaling the scent of the tome as she approached me. I winced at the thought of the smell of dried flesh, bone, and blood. Sicko.
She rested the massive book on a tall stump that Naill provided for her and unhinged the jaw clasp, flipping the pages. "Ah, here it is. True immortality." She looked at me and smiled her piranha smile with no attempt to hide any portion of her massive teeth. "The spell calls for your heart and lots and lots of blood. Shall I use yours? Or your caretaker's?"
I tried to fix my expression. I didn't want to give her the benefit of knowing she'd got under my skin. But I felt my eyes widen slightly when she mentioned Rick, and I could tell she noticed.
"Yes. I think we will use his blood. Much more entertaining. Plus, a more powerful combination I think. Two deaths are better than one."
Damn, I hated this chick. "Why not two hundred deaths like Monk?" I said. "Worked out well for him. Oh wait, no it didn't. The Book drives a hard bargain Bathory. It will take you down with it, just like Monk."
She stroked her hand down her shiny black tresses, nudging the ends back over her shoulder. "I don't think so. The problem with Monk was he didn't know how to wield the Book. In his heart, he had good intentions. Only true evil can control evil. The price is you, your blood. I will be immortal."
"Have you forgotten our deal?" Kai's deep rumble of a voice came from outside my field of vision, somewhere near my feet. He sounded pissed and I had every intention to use that to my advantage.
