Rather than tell her what to do, Fiona showed her scenes from the past, a dark, turbulent past between two people who wanted to hate each other but couldn't stop the lust. Fiona's abduction of the prince, then the king. Fiona's treatment of both. The first she had indeed tortured, but the king she had seduced.
"She's still out there," Bride told the king without turning away, "still watching you. You can feel her, but you can't read her and you can't stop her. But I can read her, and she can read me. She's been an outcast her entire life because of what she is. Everyone thought she was dead, killed as a child as ordered. But they couldn't do it, and sent her away. Throughout the years, she remained in contact with her sister, her twin. She loved the girl more than anything. Until your brother killed her. She retaliated. And somehow in the process, she became connected to you instead. Now she needs you to survive and has asked me not to kill you."
His eyes rounded, though the hate in them didn't fade.
"I will spare you this day. But I say again, if my husband's life is threatened in any way, I will destroy you without any hesitation."
He will not, Fiona told her. I will make sure of it. Thank you.
The cloaked figure disappeared from view.
"You two." Bride pointed to the guards closest to the ropes that held the cage suspended in the air. "Gently lower the men."
Their eyes glazed as they rushed to obey, and soon the cage was settled on the ground. "Open it." Only I have the key, the king projected.
"Then give them the key." It was another command he couldn't resist.
He removed a necklace from around his neck and tossed it at the guards. Weak as his throw was, the key thumped to the ground several feet from them. One guard strode forward, swiped up the key, and returned to the cage. Metal scraped against metal, then the door was flung wide.
So close to victory. Just a few minutes more. "Devyn, McKell," she said.
Come on, love, Devyn said inside her mind. He still couldn't move. She hadn't freed him from her "no one move" command. Let's get out of here and go home. I'm so proud of you. I'll even let you tease me about being a damsel in distress.
I... can't. God, even thinking it was torture. I have to ... stay. What are you talking about? Of course you—
She blocked his voice—charmer that he was, he could convince her to do anything, even leave with him, and she would never be able to forgive herself when she destroyed him—and closed her eyes, sending her mind through the entire underground. Because of the thoughts of the vampires around her, still gazing at her with that horror, she knew it as intimately as she knew the surface. Knew where guards lurked. Knew where traps lay Any and every threat, she eliminated.
And then she faced Devyn, determined, soul-sick. "You may speak. Go," she said, heart breaking inside her chest. "McKell will lead you to the surface, and neither of you will return here. Ever. You will not send anyone after me." She could have erased herself from his mind, but in this heartbreaking moment, she couldn't force herself to do so.
Both of their bodies obeyed, heading toward the entrance to the hallway that would take them to the opening to the surface. Devyn peered at her over his shoulder, clearly trying to force himself to stop.
"Come with me," he called.
She shook her head, her chin trembling too much to reply. "Bride," he growled.
"I can't," she shouted, finding her voice. "Look at me. Look at what I can do."
And of course, he and everyone else in the room was helpless to do anything else, the compulsion in her voice forcing them to obey.
That caused a sob to gush from her.
"McKell," he shouted, panicked, desperate. "There has to be a way to contain her powers again. Tell her there's a way."
The warrior had never appeared so sad. "Her father was most likely able to do it because Bride trusted him inside her mind and allowed it. I know Bride trusts you and would allow you to do it, but you wouldn't know how. You could cause more harm than good, lock up too much."
"No." Devyn violently shook his head. "We'll find a way, Bride. I swear it. Kyrin once told me the Arcadians are like cousins to the vampires. He has powers of the mind. Strong powers. Let him try."
Hope bloomed. Let him try ... it was a lifeline she desperately wanted to clutch. Then she shook her
head. You're doing it. Letting him convince you. What if Kyrin failed? How many people would she hurt? Would she destroy Devyn's friends? Make Devyn himself do a million things he didn't want to do? He would grow to hate her. That precious love would wither and die.
"No." So badly did she want to reach for him, her hands were burning. And if she reached for him, she knew she would summon him to her, propelling him to her side with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs. "I'll stay here. I'll make sure no one comes for you."
"Bride!" There was true fear in his voice. "I don't care about that. They can chase me the rest of my life, and I'll be okay with that. It'll be fun. A game. But I can't live without you. Please!"
Her heart shattered like glass against a hammer. She didn't want to live without him, either, but to keep him safe, she would do it. "Go!" she screamed. "Just go!"
McKell obeyed.
Devyn compressed his lips into a mulish line and managed to hold his ground. She felt him push mental fingers inside her mind, knew those fingers were trying to latch on to her energy and control her, but she easily swatted them away.
That swat sent him to his knees with a pained groan. His head lifted, his eyes narrowing. A vessel had burst in his forehead, and a bruise was already spreading from temple to temple, even down his nose.
"I'm not leaving," he gritted out. "We'll battle this out if we have to, but love, you're stuck with me."
Suddenly the doorway burst open—even though McKell hadn't reached it yet. Over forty AIR agents rushed inside, pyre-guns raised. They didn't stop to see who their targets were, they just started firing. Blue beams, stun.
Bride could have stopped them with a word. She could have danced through the crowd, faster than they would have been able to see her, plucking their guns from them. But she didn't. She heard their thoughts, a jumble at first and hard to sort through, but she managed it. They didn't plan to kill the people here, or even take them all above. They planned to leave them, to let them live as quietly as they wished, form some sort of truce with them, and get Devyn the hell out.
She pivoted on her heel. She would leave them to it. She needed to find someplace to hide, someplace she would not endanger anyone but could monitor things. Perhaps Fiona would help her, after all.
"Dallas, shoot Bride," Devyn called, "and fucking keep shooting her!"
A second later, beams slammed into her, one after another, freezing her in place. She could still feel her power, but it was unusable at the moment, held captive as her body continually absorbed stun ray after stun ray.
Damn that Devyn.
The battle continued to rage behind her, blue beams constant, feet scampering, people shouting. She saw it through her mind, through the thoughts of others. Panic, so much panic. Fear, so much fear. Who are these people? the vampires wondered. What do they want, what are they going to do? They smell so good, their blood rushing through their veins swiftly, sweetly. Hmm, the hunger is too much. Why can't I move? I need to feed.
Soon the AIR agents had each of the vampires locked by stun. The battle had been easier than they'd anticipated. Because I already did the work, she wanted to shout. And this was how they repaid her?
Footsteps echoed behind her, then beside her, louder, and then Devyn was standing in front of her. He was grinning smugly.
"You commanded me to follow McKell, just not when I had to do it. Still, that's what I'm gonna do, but I'm taking you with me. I told you I'd find a way."
Devyn paced the confines of his bedroom. It was a mess. Wrinkled clothes littered the floor, and there were food wrappers on the dresser. Bride perched at the edge of the bed. He and Dallas had rigged a pyre-gun to the wall across from her, and it fired a continual beam directly into her chest.
It had been like this for over forty-eight hours.
He could see the rage in her expression every time he glanced at her, but he could also see the hope. Everyday Kyrin came over and dug inside her mind, trying to bury the worst of her powers. So far, no luck. But if this worked ... He sighed. Please let this work.
"I can't free you yet, you know that." He was babbling as he paced, but he couldn't stop himself. "Your powers are too great; even you can't control them. Plus, you'll leave me. To protect me from yourself," he added with a shake of his head. Who would have guessed his love life would come to something like this? Holding a female captive? "And that's just ridiculous, love. There's nothing you could do to me that I wouldn't like. You've met me, right?"
A knock sounded at the door.
"Enter," he called, already knowing who it was.
Sure enough, Kyrin stepped inside. Tall and leanly muscled, white hair in disarray around his shoulders as if he'd just come from Mia's bed.
I want to leave a woman's bed. My woman's bed. "Why isn't it working yet?" he snarled.
Ever-patient, Kyrin stopped and leaned against the dresser. He pushed his hands into his pockets. "Her powers are layered, and those layers are protected by some sort of barbed wire. Getting through it is painful."
"Teach me to do it, then." Devyn didn't care about pain. Not when it came to Bride. "That would take years."
"Never mind." He scrubbed a hand down his face. "Just take the pain like a man, you pussy, and get this done."
"I will. But when was the last time you slept?" There was no anger in Kyrin's tone.
"I haven't. Not since returning." He'd only eaten the snack cakes Dallas had brought him. And he'd only showered each day because Macy had come to sit with Bride and talk to her, to remind her of how much everyone loved and missed her.
"You must take care of yourself," Kyrin said. "Bride will be angry when she is freed. Believe me, I've been inside her mind, and I know of what I speak. An angry Bride will not make for a happy Devyn."
Another knock sounded at the door, saving Devyn from a reply.
A second later, Macy soared inside. She spotted Kyrin and stopped. "How is she today?"
"The same," Devyn said, the words choking from him. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was a king, for God's sake. All of his desires should be granted immediately.
"Damn," Macy said, tossing her purse on the floor beside the door. "I was hoping for better news." Kyrin squared his shoulders, straightened. "I'll push through today. No matter what, all right?”
“Yes, yes." Devyn nodded to punctuate his words. "Thank you."
As Kyrin pulled a chair toward the bed, careful to remain out of range of the stun, he said, "Remind me of what powers you want her to keep."
"She likes to mist. She likes to camouflage herself." And he had fantasies of chasing her around town and catching her. "She likes speaking inside my mind." At least he hoped she'd liked that. He'd liked it because he'd felt closer to her, had even felt her love for him.
Kyrin sat and cupped her chin, forcing her head toward him. At that point, he lapsed into silence. He always did.
The two sat like that for hours, still as statues. And with every hour that passed, Devyn became more agitated. Desperate. Macy paced right alongside him the entire time, as nervous as he was.
Bride had become the center of his world. He was nothing without her. If he had to obey her every word for the rest of his life, he would. If he had to let her control his body, he would do that too. Anything was better than being without her. That, he'd learned inside his underground cell. He could endure anything as long as she was with him.
He stopped at the far wall and banged his head against the stone. "Hey, man." Dallas slapped his shoulder, startling him.
Damn. He needed to be a little more aware of his surroundings. He hadn't heard his friend enter. What kind of guard was he for Bride? "Hey."
"Hey, Dallas," Macy said.
"Mia's downstairs," Dallas told them. AIR was in the middle of peace talks with the vampires. They'd handed over the two vampires purchased at the auction and now wanted more of Bride's blood. Mia hoped to use it to cure the Schön queen, if ever they captured her, as well as any people the queen infected.
"Tell her to leave." No way would they take a drop of Bride's blood without her permission. "Sure, sure. Any progress?" his friend asked.
"Not that I can see," he grumbled, motioning to the two at the bed with a tilt of his chin. "Shit."
"Yeah. I know."
Dallas was just as agitated as he was, but for different reasons. More and more the agent was dreaming of that queen, Devyn knew. Craving her even. So far, though, she hadn't visited the agent.
At least Dallas was gaining control over his powers, something Kyrin was helping him do. Why couldn't the Arcadian help Bride faster, damn it?
"So, anyway," Dallas said. "I came bearing news about Bride."
Devyn grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "What do you mean?" Had Dallas seen Bride's departure from his life? A tortured moan escaped him, and he almost fell to his knees. If she left, he would follow her. It was as simple as that.
"Calm down. Jeez." A huge grin split his friend's face. "First vision I ever had that didn't make me want to puke my guts out, and it was of Bride biting your neck. She's going to be okay, man. Gonna wake up soon. Rushed right over to tell you, soon as I saw it."
