Destiny Unchained (19 page)

Goddamn it, Cristian! You’ve undone me.
She’d damned
him over and over again the last four weeks. Sleep was next to
impossible. When she tried to eat, she could only think of
Cristian’s blood. Anything else made her want to gag. Her body was
wasting away. Her mind was following in its footsteps.
Face it, Natalia, you’re a hot
mess.

She rolled to her side, resting her head on her arm.
She was the Huntress. Hunting rogue werewolves was more than just
her job. It was her purpose. It was everything.

It didn’t feel like everything anymore.

It took three weeks of dragging her ass all over the
western United States before she admitted she missed Cristian. A
week later, bleeding in the snow, starving to death – maybe it was
time to admit she couldn’t live without him.

But he’d made it inexplicably clear he wouldn’t take
her back.
“If, a
few months down the road, it finally gets through that stubborn
head of yours that I’m the best thing for you, don’t bother to try
to find me.”

Yep, crystal clear. And she wouldn’t beg.

Tears slid down her cheeks. Worse than feeling hollow
and empty, she was full of despair. Humility wasn’t her strong
suit, but maybe she
would
beg. Anything was better than this. After a
hundred and fifty years of being alone, she finally felt
lonely.

All she needed was one more chance. She would show
Cristian she was ready this time.

Two days later, Natalia stood in the lowest point of
a deep ravine smack dab in the middle of the Colorado Rockies. The
only reason she could stand at all was because she’d forced blood
down her throat, and despite gagging a few times, she kept it down.
The hazy shape of a doorway flitted in and out of sight as she
worked up the nerve to walk through it. The door to the
Underworld.

She gulped.
What’s the matter, Natalia? Scared of a few werewolves in a
new realm?
It wasn’t just the packs of werewolves that lived
here willingly – where they could be themselves without human
involvement – it was all the other…
things
that lived there as well. The
Underworld acted as a sort of prison system for supernaturals who’d
caused a scene Topside. Unseelie fae who practiced dark magic.
Demons that could control people’s minds. Even some particularly
violent vampires had been banished to the Underworld. So, no, it
wasn’t just the werewolves that made her nervous.

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists.
Come on, you have
to do this. It’s about time you made things right.
Just a
few steps and she would make her peace with Marcelo, and be that
much closer to redemption. He deserved it. This was about closure,
confronting the sins of her past. And Cristian deserved a woman who
was whole, someone without eight hundred years of dark stains on
her soul.

She watched the door, suddenly unable to make her
feet move toward it. Last she’d heard, Marcelo was in league with
the Dark King – a sorcerer turned vampire who ruled the Underworld
with an iron fist. Rumors of war spread across the supernatural
world, aimed at ridding the Underworld of this king, as well as
vampires and werewolves. She couldn’t imagine her doting husband
having anything to do with a king supposedly gone mad with power.
Still, this was her only lead. So with a deep breath, she stepped
forward.

A thick black mist swooped in, swirling around her
body. Her hair stood on end and she spun around, trying to make
sense of it. The mist gathered in front of her, taking shape, and
in only a few seconds, a man stood between her and the door. With
short blonde hair and brown eyes, he was clothed in an Indian style
tunic and matching cotton pants. He didn’t look very
impressive.

Then it hit her. Raw, unbridled magic. She almost
choked on it.

He smiled. She grasped her knife.

“Are you the Huntress?” the strange man asked, still
grinning.

“Yes.” Maybe her reputation preceded her and he’d
step aside.

His eyes flared, possessive desire bursting in them.
They flickered a golden yellow then back to a dull brown.

Dragon. Oh, joy.

A sharp pain exploded in her belly and she looked
down. He’d stuck her with a throwing knife. “Hell of a greeting.”
With a grunt she yanked it out.

Dragons were the most powerful supernaturals on earth
and most of them were as old as the dirt she stood on. With all
that time on their hands, they either went mad from boredom or they
played power games, using humans like pawns on a chessboard. Either
way, they were not to be trifled with.

“So it’s true,” he said, eyeing the wound in her
stomach. “You are immune to silver.”

She arched a brow. “You could have just asked
me.”

“Yes. I could have.”

She waited for more. He just stared at her, grinning.
So she was dealing with one of the insane ones. Lovely. “I’m
guessing you want something from me.”

“I’m the guardian of the door to the Underworld. I’d
be doing a piss poor job of it if I wasn’t careful who I let
in.”

She sighed. Dragons were also notorious for their
wealth, which they acquired in spades, though they always craved
more. “What do you want? I don’t have much money but I’ll give you
all of it.”

“I don’t want your money. I want a favor.”

Owe a dragon a favor? How novel. “What kind of
favor?”

“I’ll tell you when the time comes. For now, I want
your vow that you will aid me when I ask it.”

She watched him, feeling more unsettled with each
second that passed in his presence. “That’s a little vague,
dragon.”

“Gethin.”

“Whatever. Can you be a little more specific?”

He clasped his hands behind his back. “It won’t cause
you harm. And it will take no longer than five minutes.”

Suspicion flared but she wasn’t exactly in a position
to be stubborn. “Okay. You have my vow. I will help you with one
favor that won’t cause me harm and will take shorter than five
minutes. Can I go through now?”

Gethin bowed slightly. “Of course.”

She stepped forward.

“Marcelo isn’t there.”

She froze then turned slowly to face him. “What?”

“You’re looking for Marcelo, the vampire second to
the king, right? He’s not in the Underworld.”

He couldn’t have mentioned that before she’d given
her vow? She closed her eyes and muttered, “Fucking dragons.” This
was a bad joke, wasn’t it? Some god was pointing and laughing at
her from the heavens right now.

His eyes narrowed with calculating intelligence. “But
since you’re such a kind-hearted vampire, I’ll tell you where he
is. He’s in Las Vegas, paying my good friend Nyx a visit.”

“Nyx? The goddess of night?”

“The same.”

“I heard she stole a dragon’s treasure.” She pieced
things together in her head. “Was that you?”

Gethin’s eyes glowed yellow, and his black pupils
narrowed into slits like a cat. “Yes. But not to worry. Very soon
Nyx will become the cautionary tale about why it’s unwise to steal
from dragons.”

A goddess, even one kicked out of the heavens, was
also a force to be reckoned with. Goddess versus dragon. Now that
would be a fight she’d pay to see. “Vegas. Got it.” She turned to
walk away but Gethin cleared his throat and she swung back around.
“Something else?”

“I’m ready to call in my favor.”

She sighed. “Of course.”

He stepped forward and pulled a round object from his
pocket. “Nyx built a casino. It’s called The Dragon’s Lair.”

Natalia exhaled a bark of laughter. Nyx was asking
for it.

Gethin raised a brow. “The irony is not lost on me.
And she’ll get what’s coming to her. Her vault is under the casino,
containing
my
wealth. You manipulate metal as well?”

She nodded.

“Good. Take this.” He handed her a vault combination
dial. “Replace it with the one that’s there.”

So he planned to get his money back. Natalia took the
dial and studied it. “Won’t the vault be guarded?”

He smiled. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were the
Huntress. As in the lethal assassin with a hundred-thousand-dollar
bond on her head, who makes werewolves tremble –”

“All right. I get it.” She rolled her eyes.

He flashed another beaming grin then began dissolving
into black mist. His voice carried over as his body fell away.
“Remember who you’re dealing with, vampire. It will not bode well
for you to idle.”

She looked down at the dial and mumbled, “Yeah, yeah,
don’t piss off the powerful dragon with the creepy grin.” She
shoved the dial in her pocket and glanced at the Underworld door. A
shudder rocked her body and she was almost grateful the dragon
prevented her from going through it. If only she didn’t have to
piss off a goddess instead.

The
things I do for love.

Nyx was in a shitload of trouble. Midnight in Las
Vegas and the city spun like a never ending amusement park ride.
The Dragon’s Lair was as taunting as it sounded. Shaped like a
dragon’s head, covered in iridescent blue and purple tiles, the
entryway was as flashy and gaudy as the rest of the city. The vault
wasn’t hard to find and the guards were easy to incapacitate. But
the trouble came after she’d switched the combination lock.

Bars slammed down from the ceiling, trapping her in
the vault room. She inhaled a breath. Silver-coated bars. Seemed
Nyx was prepared for anything. Two human guards came down the
stairs and stood grinning on the other side of the gate.

“She’s the sexiest thief I’ve ever seen,” a blonde
guard said to the other.

The second looked over her leather ensemble and
licked his lips. “Call Kristoff. He’ll know how to deal with Xena
Warrior Princess.”

She stepped toward the gate with a sultry smile.
“Walk back up the stairs and I’ll spare your lives.”

One snorted, the other laughed out loud.

“Last chance,” she warned.

The blonde guard turned away and dialed, she guessed,
Kristoff, on a cell phone. She shrugged and wrapped her hands
around the bars.

A tall figure appeared out of thin air, halting her
escape. The figure snapped the blonde guard’s neck then crushed his
cell phone as he fell to the ground. The second pulled out a taser,
but the figure moved in a blur and at his next breath, the guard
joined the other, unconscious on the floor.

The figure squared his shoulders and faced her. Tall
with dark skin and ragged black hair down to his chin, he stared
down at her with deep chocolate brown eyes. She inhaled his scent –
exotic and warm all at once – and a sense of comfort swept over
her. His broad shoulders and muscular build rivaled Cristian’s.

He took a step forward and bared his teeth. “Hello,
wife
.”

She smirked. “Marcelo. It’s been a long time.”

“Over eight hundred years.” His voice was calm but
his glare cut into her like a knife.

“Heard you were looking for me.” She motioned to the
bars caging her. “Are you going to let me out?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her
from under furrowed brows. “I think not. You have some questions to
answer.”

Her gaze dropped to the guards on the floor. “How did
you do that…teleporting?”

He shrugged those powerful shoulders. Shoulders she
remembered gripping in the throes of love. Biceps bulged under his
tight-fitting t-shirt. She used to love being embraced in his
muscular arms.

“When I was turned, I acquired an extra gift.” His
eyes narrowed. “When I turned
for you
. Why did you run?”

He deserved answers, and she would give them, but
first...she closed her eyes and focused her energy on the metal
bars. Slowly, the two in front of her bent away from each other,
creating an opening she slipped through with ease.

Marcelo arched a brow. “Seems I’m not the only one
with gifts.”

She looked at the bars then back to his face. “I have
an aversion to cages.”

“I see.” He stepped back and sighed. “I just want an
explanation, Nat –”

“Marcelo,” a soft, feminine voice called down from
the stairs. “Can I come down?”

Immediately, his expression softened. His body
twitched on high alert, ready to protect whoever this woman was.
But his frown turned to a smile and he gazed tenderly at the young
woman descending the stairs. “Yes,
mi amor
, it’s safe.”

Mi
amor? My love?
Natalia inhaled the woman’s sweet scent then
switched to their native ancient version of Spanish. “A fae?”

He answered in the same language. “Careful, Nata,
she’s my mate.”

She studied the tiny girl. Honey-colored hair hung
loose around her shoulders. Her face was angelic and pure. The fae
girl and Natalia were opposite in every way. If Natalia was the
dark night, the woman was a bright, sunny day.

Natalia shifted her gaze to Marcelo. He pulled the
fae into his body in a protective stance, an arm wrapped around her
slender shoulders.

“You look happy,” she said in Spanish again. “When
did you find your mate?”

“Not long ago.” He kissed the top of her head. “She
was the only thing to tear me from my hunt for you.”

A flood of guilt filled her heart and she swallowed
hard. She didn’t mean for him to suffer. How could she explain
that? She changed topics for now. “And this mad king they speak of?
Doesn’t sound like someone you’d align with.”

He stiffened. “I’ve made mistakes.” His eyes darkened
and she couldn’t stop a shudder. Like her, he’d changed in the last
eight centuries. Her warm, loving husband looked every part the
vampire he was. “But I made amends. The Dark King is dead. A Queen
rules the Underworld now. I helped put her in place.” He glanced at
his mate. “Her sister.”