Breathless Magic (5 page)

Kiran led us out to the hallway and we descended the tower
stairs on our way to the innermost parts of the Castle that would lead us to
the tunnel. I cast a glance back at Liv and her sister just to make sure they
were staying close and not panicking.

“Is there a contingency plan?” Syl asked nervously.

“No,” Kiran answered assuming she was talking about the
entire Citadel and not just our small group. “Maybe… I’m not sure. The Citadel
is supposed to be impenetrable.”

That was true. We were supposed to be immune from outside
attack. The Citadel fell with Lucan because we all happened to already be
inside of it.

We reached the main floor and Talbott asked, “Do you want to
go by the courtroom or take the dungeons?”

The foyer and corridors down here were eerily silent. I
glanced around, expecting some kind of conflict or confrontation but nothing
appeared in front of me.

“Where is everybody?” I whispered, suddenly getting a flash
of foreboding through my blood.

“Waiting for you,” the slick, oiled voice floated down the
hallway and landed on my skin like a disease.

Dmitri Terletov.

This man had once shot me in the head and kidnapped me. He’d
held me prisoner and then demanded I fight for him.

We’d fought all those years ago and I’d stripped him of his Magic.

I didn’t think he’d ever gotten over that.

Somehow he’d survived all these years and replaced his
missing Magic with someone else’s. Now , he terrorized my Kingdom and hurt my
people, hurt my friends.

He killed people that meant the world to me.

People I loved.

I couldn’t let this go on any longer, so it was almost a
relief that I would be forced to face him. Kiran had been right when he wanted
us to get everyone out of here first and then come back for Terletov. But the
bloodthirsty energy zinging through my veins with purpose and an excited
promise for vengeance built with every second that led toward a confrontation
with Terletov. I practically floated over the ground with anticipation for the
moment between now and the moment I would strip his Magic from him again.

“No, thank you,” Olivia called back to him snottily.

God, I loved her spunk. I couldn’t wait to get to know her
better.

Terletov’s eyes narrowed on her behind me and he said “Well,
you don’t all have to join me. I would just like you, my Olivia. Oh, and that
darling Queen of yours.” His crocodile smile widened across his thin, mustached
face and I had the most desperate urge to kick out all of his teeth. Still, I
didn’t want to appear too eager, and so I stayed rooted in place next to Kiran.
Sensing our hesitation, he discretely gestured to one of his men inside the Throne
Room and the henchmen stepped out with my sister-in-law draped in his arms and
a gun held to her pretty head. He continued with his threats, threats that
would ultimately aid in his demise, “Oh, what the hell, why don’t you all just
join me. I’m sure I can find something to do with a couple Kings and their
servants.”

That was the last straw.

We didn’t have servants anymore. We had
employees.
 
 

Didn’t he have any clue what our rebellion was about?
Geesh
, the
idiot
.

“Fine,” I groaned. “Thank you for the invitation.” And then
without waiting for Kiran, I took off for the Throne Room and the promise of a
very exciting evening.

I heard my husband laughing at me as I stomped away. At
least he found this hilarious.

In an overdramatic whisper I heard him explain to Olivia,
“Don’t worry. It never works out for them when they piss Eden off.”

Now that was true; I started to beam with pride and
affection for my husband.

“So, she’ll get us out of this?” Liv asked hopefully.

“More likely she’ll blow us all up,” my husband answered
with what sounded like a smug grin plastered across his face.

Gosh, he was so lucky I loved him. Otherwise, I would
demolish him, too.

But, I had to admit there was some truth to his words… I
guess it was up to Terletov to discover just how much truth.

Because I would most definitely be blowing him up
very soon
.

Chapter Five

“Stop!” I screamed when I couldn’t take it any longer. “Stop
hurting her!”

Eden
. Avalon
warned inside my head. Kiran’s Magic was like a warm rush of comfort against
mine. He was trying to hold me back, too. But we’d been locked in this room for
hours and I hadn’t been able to make any progress with Terletov.

Instead, he’d satisfied his twisted entertainment by
torturing Olivia in front of us. He was proving a point; proving to us that he
had made Olivia into a super soldier, completely indestructible against any
kind of attack.

Her Magic was fortified in her blood, impenetrable and
nontransferable.

It was kind of fascinating.

It was also really, terribly sick.

If she wanted to be human again, this confirmed there was no
way that would happen for her. And I hoped she would learn to adjust and cope
with her new, never-ending future.

Terletov pushed the tip of his blade into Olivia’s side and
it took everything I had not to lash out at this man. But there were too many
people in here that he could hurt. Collectively, Avalon, Kiran and I had chosen
to wait this out and find an opportunity to get everyone out safely. Sylvia and
Ophelia were especially vulnerable and nobody wanted to risk Angelica or
Lilly’s lives.

So we would wait.

I would pray for Olivia’s forgiveness later, and let her
suffer for the safety of everyone else.

I hated that it had to be this way, but there was not an
alternative and Terletov wouldn’t use me. I’d tried to goad him into that, but
he was far too smart. He wanted to break me by forcing me to watch someone
innocent suffer.

Bastard.

“Do you see now?” he taunted me.

Liv, with her characteristic badass attitude threw back at
him, “What a gigantic douche you are? Yes, we all see.”

He kicked her in her wounded side and my Magic left my body
in a rush of blue smoke before I could reel it back in. I didn’t think Terletov
noticed, but I had to keep my emotions in check or I would give our plan away.

With raging eyes and a trembling voice, Terletov called out
to me, “Do you see now what I will do if you do not comply? Give me my Magic
back so that I can stop this.”

“No!” Olivia screamed. And I admired her even more.

I stared at Terletov, stunned that he hadn’t understood this
process yet. Lucan’s death was no secret. While I hadn’t come out with an
internet tutorial on extracting and retracting Magic, I had assumed that after
we communally went after Lucan, and since the entire Kingdom had a part in his
death, that people understood this procedure.

Apparently, the finer details on returning Magic was never
discussed and this was still a rather special secret of mine.

Not really intending to spill my mysteries, but wanting to
taunt him a little bit, I shouted, “I can’t give you your Magic back! That’s
not how it works!”

“Eden,” Kiran growled. He wasn’t a fan of my teasing.
“Enough.”

Terletov walked over to me with purposeful steps and a
malicious air around him. He stepped right up to me and wrapped his damp,
clammy hand around my throat. Up close, I could see how bloodshot his eyes were
and how sallow and
peakish
his skin had become.

The Gypsy Queen was right. This was a very sick man.

But how much damage could he accomplish in his last days? Or
would he figure out how to retract his Magic and truly become an unstoppable
threat against my Kingdom?

I didn’t react to his hand around my throat- honestly, I had
expected it much sooner.

“How does it work, then?” he demanded in a guttural voice
that scraped across my skin.

Cementing my resolve, I tilted my chin against his hold and
told him, “Let them go, and I will give it to you.”

“I’m not letting them go,” he laughed at me. “Do you see
what I’ve done? Do you see how easily I’ve taken your precious Citadel?” He
looked around, mocking everything in this room with his contemptuous glare. “Do
you know that we’ve needed a permanent place for a while? Your hunting parties
seem very adept at finding us just minutes too late. We had to stop risking
that, being found while we were in the middle of our… experiments. We need a
stable place to set up our research facilities. And this will do quite nicely.
So, no, your people will not be going anywhere. In fifteen minutes, in fact,
you will prepare a statement to your Kingdom and advise them of the change in
leadership.”

Kiran’s Magic was wrapped so firmly around my body that I
felt mummified by his solid, electrified current. He wouldn’t let anything
happen to me, not even a little bit of bruising. I could feel his just-barely
contained rage as Terletov held me like this. Kiran was not alright with
another man’s hands on me. Especially not Terletov’s.

But when Kiran spoke, he somehow managed that haughty, bored
tone that used to drive me out of my mind with frustration. I didn’t imagine
Terletov having more patience than me. “It’s the middle of the night,” he told
Terletov. “I doubt anyone will be paying attention.”

Terletov all but exploded with anger. He let go of my neck, only
to shove me into the wall behind me. My head snapped back and connected with
the hard stone before I could still my body. My blue smoke was already moving
through my blood and bones in order to heal me before I felt an ounce of pain,
but I had tripped in the falling-back process and I slid to the ground where I
landed in a rough heap. Instinctually, my hands rested on my stomach where I
waited patiently until I felt twin currents of Magic buzzing vibrantly beneath
my fingertips.

Kiran’s calm stores of resolve snapped in that exact moment
and he attacked Terletov with his bare hands. Kiran tackled the smaller man to
the ground where he pummeled Terletov’s ugly, rat-like face, with his fists,
over and over again. Terletov’s nose shattered with a satisfying crunch that
echoed through the room. He tried to fight back but my husband was a primal
beast beneath his aristocratic façade. And Terletov was just a weak politician
that hid behind scientific devices and fancy weapons. He even stabbed Kiran in
the side, but Kiran never stopped his attack.

Kiran was a savage warrior in his rage. He attacked Terletov
with a brutality I had never seen in him before. I couldn’t say that I was
surprised by his reaction, but it was still a sight to see.

And oddly sexy.

“You don’t touch my wife,” Kiran shouted into Terletov’s
face with a soul full of murderous conviction.

Terletov’s men pulled Kiran back, but the only reason Kiran
stood up was because he wanted to. There was no amount of man-power in the
world that would have ended Kiran’s punishment for touching me roughly, unless
Kiran wanted it to be finished.

Terletov stood up and brushed the dirt and blood from his
hands in careless, bored movements. He looked at Kiran in disgust and I almost
feared the next few words that would come out of his ugly mouth.

Almost. But not quite.

With true disgust in his now-nasally voice, Terletov
addressed Kiran with probably the worst words he could ever say to my husband,
“Your father would be so disappointed in you. Look at you. Look at you defend
her. You’re nothing but a lapdog to traitors of the Crown.” Avalon took an
aggressive step forward, but Amelia pulled him back. I could feel the tension in
Kiran’s already angered body skyrocket into the unknown universe above. He was
beyond pissed, beyond annoyed. Kiran was at his absolute limit with this guy.
To his own demise, Terletov continued, “Do you know that he and I worked
together to capture her?” That was the wrong thing to say to Kiran. His blood
began to boil and our united Magic took a decidedly more aggressive turn. “Did
you know that he invited me to that dinner specifically to take her out of
here? He wanted her gone, away from you. He saw how she was destroying the Kingdom
he fought for, fought to keep, fought to strengthen. And he wanted her to
disappear.”

Terletov was talking about the night he kidnapped me from
the Citadel. My stomach churned with renewed hatred for Lucan and for this
villain in front of me. Kiran was strung tight with impatient retribution and I
felt his own avowed hatred for a tyrant we’d killed years ago.

But I knew details that either Terletov was choosing not to
remember, or didn’t know at all. “He didn’t approve of you either. And you
didn’t approve of him. I remember that you were disappointed with his
weakness.”

He laughed at me, mocking our dangerous situation with his offhand
attitude. “Yes, that is true. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all
that.”

I grunted because I could see how that would be true between
Lucan and Terletov- such was their blind hatred for me.

“Is that why he let you go?” Kiran laughed without humor.
“We’ve thought you escaped this whole time.”

“Of course, he let me go,” Terletov matched Kiran’s
bitterness. “Why would he keep me? I carried out his plan.”

“Almost,” I reminded him spitefully. “You almost carried out
his plan.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Terletov snarled. “I’ve done something
he couldn’t. The kingdom is now mine, the Citadel is now mine and soon my own Magic
will be mine. There will be no end then. We will eradicate the Shifter problem
for good and by doing so we will create as many of these super Immortals as I
want to.”

“Immortal humans,” Olivia wheezed as she tried to stand up.

And then they launched into a discussion on what Liv’s new
breed of Immortal should be called. The whole time I waited with Avalon for our
plan to finally fall into effect.

Finally, there was a knock at the door and one of Terletov’s
beefy, but chronically sick, men walked in with a grim expression.

Our plan was finally “a go.”

“We’re ready,” Kiran whispered to me. “Titus has Alexi
hanging from one of the buildings in the square. We just have to get these
people to the tunnel.”

“Alright, then let’s do this. Let’s get out of here,” I
agreed.

I took the time to explain the plan in a variation with
smaller but precise details to everyone in the room. I made them understand by
using small hand gestures and words that were mouthed. This had technically
been Avalon’s plan but he was waiting for my cue before we could start.

Once everyone was poised and as ready as they could be, I
counted with hidden fingers and released a powerful spray of blue smoke into
the room. My healing powers doused everything with hazy blindness and in that
exact moment, our small remnants of a Rebellion turned Monarchy attacked.

The room pulsated with Magic, hatred and pure desperation
and our battle grew fierce and deadly very quickly. All I could feel was the
energy though, the panicked and determined Magic that flowed into a cauldron of
power and strength; it churned around us in a vortex of warring convictions and
two factions hell bent on destroying the other.

But it was energy in the air; electricity I had access to.
So, I took it.

And I would continue to take it.
Take it all
. I would leave these men,
these traitors
, with nothing.

Their blood would be my trophy and their Magic my victory
flag.

Terletov had no idea what storm of pain and retribution I would
bring down on him today.