Shadow's Claim (Immortals After Dark #13)(83)

“Your medallion will never make it from Raum’s hand to Goürlav’s.”

“How can you say that?” she cried.

“I’ve instructed my cousins to do whatever it takes to save you should I fall. Three Dacians have vowed to protect you eternally. And, Bride, there’s little three Dacians can’t do if they actually unite in a cause.”

His precautions stunned her, but her flare of hope quickly died. She didn’t see how they could circumvent the blood contract of the tournament. “Raum will be compelled to hand over my medallion.”

“And he will—in a bank of mist where anything can get lost. Should my kinsmen fail to seize your freedom, they’ll trace Goürlav to a hell plane and slaughter him. They’d do it now if he wasn’t protected.”

Not to be wed to a monster? Could she actually remove one worry from the mountain of them?

Great. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to save her childhood love—as well as this vampire who’d invaded her thoughts, her very life.

Who’d given her this gift.

She must’ve looked stunned, because he grated, “When I said I’d protect you, female, I meant it. I’ll do it from the godsdamned grave if I have to.”

Such . . . devotion. Yet she couldn’t understand how he could feel so strongly for her in such a short period of time. “You’ve only known me for a week.”

“Time enough to know we’re connected.”

“Because I’m your fated, mystical Bride.”

“Yes, you brought me back to life,” he said wryly, “an event that shouldn’t be discounted so easily. But we’re connected by more than that. I felt you, long before I first saw you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“At the very time you were attacked, I was roused from sleep. My chest ached with the need to protect . . . something.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “It was an unformed, chaotic urge, but, gods, it was strong. I thought I’d go mad from it. Had I been out in the world, I could have sensed you better, could have found you sooner. It was my fault you were vulnerable to those four. That’s why I was so determined to discover who they were—to right the wrong I did to you.”

“It wasn’t your fault—it was solely mine,” she insisted. “I went to the mortal plane without guards. I told myself if I didn’t use sorcery, I’d be hidden from their kind. But I used it unconsciously. They tracked me by it.”

“I should have been there to watch your back!” he insisted. “After a millennium awaiting you in Dacia, I should have known my Bride would be out in the world. Zeii mea, I felt something that day.”

“Do Dacians have a sense like that?”

“We’ve abilities unknown to most. But I believe that you called for your male, your protector. That night, you called for me.”

My male. Why did that sound so totally right to her? Had she somehow reached out to this vampire? If Daciano was in fact hers. . . .

Then she remembered their present circumstances. “Even if we do share some bond, it won’t matter!” The vampire’s in it to win it. But that was just it: he couldn’t win. No matter what, they could never be together. “Tomorrow, you’re probably going to . . . die.”

“How would that make you feel, Bettina?”

Another tear slid down her face.

He pulled her into his arms. “You would mourn me?”

“Yes!” she said in exasperation. “But just because I don’t want you to die doesn’t mean I’m not confused about everything. Tonight was a shock, and I don’t know how to react.”

“I see. You need a break from all this, a night to recharge.” I wish! “Here. I have a surprise for you.”

“I don’t like surprises.” She raised her chin. “Such as when heads tumble out in front of me.”

In a gruff tone, he admitted, “I thought I’d have time to prepare you for the sight. I didn’t want to frighten you.”

“I happen to frighten very easily.”

“Forgive me. For now, I’ve little else to give you.”

She softly said, “Because you abandoned your kingdom for me.”

“A worthwhile sacrifice. Now, can you trust me that this will be a pleasant surprise?”

“I don’t . . . oh, very well.”

“Close your eyes.” When she reluctantly did, he traced her . . .

To her favorite place in all of Abaddon—her folly in the great rain forest.

She was about to ask how he knew about it, but remembered that he probably knew everything about her now.

And he still wants me.

She sighed, gazing around. Located near the marsh’s edge, the structure consisted of a marble base with ten columns, each carved to look like a different type of basilisk.

Above, over a net of gold filament, a dome of vines grew in a tightly knit riot of green. More vines stretched between the columns to fashion walls. Oversize blossoms fanned out intermittently, bold circles of vivid yellow.

My folly. Compared to Rune, the rain forest was ablaze with color. How she’d missed this place!

The vampire had slain her enemies, had taken pains to protect her from Goürlav, and now had given her this.