No Rest for the Wicked

35

Sebastian jerked awake, then immediately collapsed back, wincing at the pain thundering through his head.

He cracked open his eyes to a starry nighttime sky. A warm breeze brushed over him as he lay unmoving on a stony riverbed. He eased up once more, struggling to determine where he was, squinting as memories from the jungle bombarded him.

That fucking wolf had tossed him into a raging river. Each time Sebastian had been dragged under was salvation from the sun, even as he sucked water into his lungs. After what seemed like days, the water had finally calmed. With his skin burning in the light, and his blood from a head injury gushing into his eye, he'd been sure he would die.

But he'd hauled himself to the shore—because he hungered for his future, with Kaderin in it. Before he'd passed out, he'd made it into the brush until only his legs were exposed. For the rest of the day, he'd burned, too weak even to move to avoid the pain.

How long had he been out? The entire day? He was thirsty, exhausted—

MacRieve threatened Kaderin. He bolted to his feet, tracing to her. When the dizziness hit from standing and he rocked on his feet, he was already on a tropical beach somewhere just at sunset.

Which meant he was now on the other side of the world. Again.

Dozens of competitors from the Lore gazed breathlessly out at the sea. Sebastian followed their attention, and spied a churning in a darker ring of water. Shark fins sliced through the water, then slipped back down.

Something was dying out there, and no one bothered to lend a—

A hand shot through the surface.

His stomach clenched. Kaderin.

An instant trace. Under the murky water with her. Impossible to see. Blood—hers—and tissue, pieces of shark thick in the water. He struck out, fighting past the coil of sharks to reach for her shoulders.

Missed her. One had her leg, twisting her from Sebastian's grasp, yanking down in a frenzy.

Sebastian fought with all the strength he had. He hit and connected, slicing his hands on teeth, ignoring his own wounds, clearing a way to her.

His hand closed in a fist over her upper arm...

Fucking got her.

He traced back to the beach, tumbling to the ground, twisting her atop him so he didn't crush her.

She wasn't breathing. He jerked up, flipping her to her side. She coughed, choking up water. He rubbed her back as she spit into the sand. When she'd caught her breath, he took her in his arms, rocking with her.

What if I didn't wake when I did?

She'd be... dead. He shuddered. They couldn't be parted again.

Even if he had to lock her away.

When he gently held her by the shoulders so he could see her eyes, she muttered, "You look white as a ghost."

"You were seconds away from being eaten alive!" he roared, his gut-wrenching fear for her turning to fury in an instant. "Or drowning."

"I did drown." She frowned dazedly. "Twice, I think."

"This displeases me. What if I hadn't gotten here in time? What if I hadn't been around to save your life?"

"Don't you get it?" she snapped. "For more than a millennium, I have won this contest handily. Then you come along, forcing me to alter my strategy." She sucked in a breath to continue. "And to take risks that I wouldn't have had to before. I wouldn't have been moved to this desperate an act if I hadn't given up the box."

"I didn't want you to give it up."

She eyed him. "Yes, Sebastian. You did."

"Not if this was the alternative." His voice was hoarse. "Do you know what it was like seeing you in the middle of that? To watch you going down before I could even react? I was watching you... die." He smoothed back wet, sandy hair from her cheek. "What will make you desist from this?"

"Nothing," she said, her expression obstinate. "Nothing on this earth will prevent me from winning the prize."

"Maybe your death would."

"It's been a long time coming."

In a seething voice, he said, "Bride, you have a bit of shark on your chin."

She wiped it off with the back of her arm, her mien defiant.

"You bit them?"

"They bit me first! And I didn't have much of a choice."

"You saw there were sharks, and you didn't think to wait for me?"

"When you haven't called? Wanna know the third major turnoff? Men who don't call after hitting it."

Hitting it?

Her ire was clearly building. "I wasn't going to wait for you when you've been a no-show for two days. Last time we really talked, I recall you informing me that you were going to forsake me. The first vampire to renounce his Bride. Blah, bluh, blah."

"You must have known that I would come for you—Wait, you said two days?"

"Like I care, Sebastian, if you lost track of time—"

"I was in a jungle, slowly burning to death. Or I'd have been here."

"Wh-what did you say?"

"I traced there to help you that morning. But the Scot slammed a shovel across my face, then tossed me in the river." He narrowed his eyes. "Did he hurt you?"

"No. But he did seem to make a decision about me."

"I thought I'd only been out for a day. You've been out here for two days without me?" He squeezed her hands.

"Ow!"

He peered down in horror to see he'd hurt her hands worse. They met eyes before they both lowered their gazes to her legs. Her pants were sliced through, her skin bitten and bloodied. She was injured worse than he'd ever seen. The sand around her was dark. It was blood... everywhere.

"My God, why didn't you say something?" he roared, furious again.

"Oh, pardon me for bleeding," she muttered when she saw his eyes glued to her legs. "Don't want to whet your appetite."

"You can be so coarse sometimes, wife."

"Not your sodding wife."

"Yet." Against her weak struggles, he scooped her up against his chest and pulled her tightly to him. In a gentler tone, he said, "I'll bring you home, and we'll bandage you."

The other Lore beings stopped in mid-stride to stare at the Valkyrie being held by a vampire. Cindey gaped at them in astonishment.

Kaderin didn't seem to care. She glanced at him and back at the horizon, biting her bottom lip, brows drawn. "The prize... "

Even after what she'd been through, her mind had seized again on the prize. He curled his finger under her chin, turning her to face him. Her eyes were luminous in her elfin face as she stared up at him. He wanted to give her anything she desired.

And he couldn't.

"Katja, I cannot retrieve it for you. I would. But I cannot see the destination."

"You figured out how to find me."

"If you can help me determine how to find a moving, living whirlpool and have it open for me, I will risk the sharks."

Her eyelids were getting heavy, and alarm rioted within him.

"I'm sorry, kena. I'll find another way." He traced her back to the flat, setting her on the bed. In a businesslike manner, he slipped her shirt off and set about cleaning and bandaging her hands and arms. But he was sweating, dreading hurting her any worse than she was.

When he ripped the remains of her pants from her, they both grew quiet at the damage. "Can you... you will not die from this?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"No, not at all," she said in a sleepy tone. "Which is why I need you to trace me back to the beach at once."

Her words were ridiculous in the face of her injuries. "What truly drives you to do this? Why won't you tell me?"

She studied his face, gazing up into his eyes, as if searching his soul.

"You can trust me," he said.

She looked like she wanted to trust him, but couldn't will herself to. "I've known you less than a month, but I've... I've learned harsh lessons over the last two thousand years."

"I know. I've seen them in my dreams." He could admit to himself that in her place, he'd have a hard time trusting a vampire, too. But Sebastian knew his word was good—he just needed to persuade her. "I vow I will never be like those red-eyed fiends. There's no reason not to tell me."

"There's also no reason to tell you," she countered.

"I could help you."

"Won't you anyway?" she asked.

He scowled. "Of course. But there's got to be something that would make you trust me."

"Yes, my absolute belief that you would never use my trust against me."

"You know I would never hurt you!"

"I didn't say hurt me. I said use it against me." Her eyelids were getting heavy. "You do so love your leverage, vampire."

When she was safe with him, bandaged and sleeping soundly, he showered, his worry and fury finally beginning to dim. But he also became filled with a new resolve. He knew she couldn't die. But she could fucking hurt. And he was done allowing her to get strangled and stabbed and beaten each night. He wouldn't have it anymore.

After dressing, he slipped away, returning to the beach to see if he could do anything to help her finish this infernal competition. After her two days of competing without Sebastian, she was thirteen points away from the finals.

The exact number of points she'd sacrificed for him.

He still couldn't believe she'd given up that box. He'd checked his pockets for it but he'd lost it. Which was understandable, considering his fall and then his crawl across the riverbank.

At the beach, he spied an opportunity, and acted on it. If he couldn't remove the prize from the competition, he could remove the competition from the prize. He returned to Kaderin within fifteen minutes, shaking snow out of his hair.

When he joined her in bed, she nestled into the pillow and murmured, "You smell nice."

He carefully tucked her against him, reminded that she fit him so perfectly.

Her breaths grew light and quick, but they always did when she slept. She twitched and gave a soft moan. He petted her hair, soothing her.

When he finally slept, he dreamed her memories again. It was expected now. Yet these weren't memories from antiquity. Kaderin was clutching the phone with both hands, eyes watering, as one of her half-sisters delivered a death sentence.