From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) (45 page)

“Why would I do that?” Rapava’s light blue
eyes narrowed. “She is my trial run for this experiment. If this
goes how I think it will, the ape will respond to her with just a
thought. He will do her bidding, and she will do mine.” He stared
at me contemptuously, like my stupidity was an insult. “I have the
upper hand, Ms. Daniels. I always do. She stays and so do you and
the thing sitting on your shoulder.”

“Thing?” Sprig spit back with outrage. “I’ll
show you—”

“Really,
Boris
?” I cut Sprig off and
leaned my head to the side, a knowing smirk curling the side of my
cheek. “Are you sure you hold all the cards?”

He stirred, his lids constricting
farther.

“Because I think I might have something you
want.” I let a ridiculing smile unfold. “More than you want her,
me, or Sprig.”

“What?” Rapava’s gaze sparked with
interest.

“I have what you most desire.” I grabbed the
barrel of the gun and pushed it down, away from my head. “Why you
made me torture Ryker.”

I felt Sprig stiffen. “
Bhean?
” he
whispered, his voice unsure, slicing with fear.

Ignoring him, I kept my attention locked on
the doctor. “What do you most yearn for,
sir
?”

“The stone.” Rapava licked his lips. “Do you
have it? The Stone of Destiny?”

“You let her free. It is yours.”

“
Bhean
, what are you doing?”

I took another step toward Rapava, sliding my
hand into my pocket.
You ready?
I pushed the thought toward
the object.

You are mine after, like you promised?
the stone’s voice spoke into my head.

You kill him, you can have me the moment I
take you back.

Say it. Say yes
, the stone sang in my
head, energy vibrated off it, bouncing off my hip.

I took a deep breath and wrapped my fingers
around the stone.

Yes.

Magic slammed into my system, and I stumbled
to the side, grabbing a table.

“
Bhean!
” Sprig’s voice sounded
distant, like he was whispering to me from down a long corridor. I
gritted my teeth, pushing back the power pumping into me.

Push through, Zoey. Keep going
, I
instructed myself.

Rapava’s head snapped down to my hand, my
body shaking violently as I tugged the item from my pants. Power
sizzled up my arm into my chest. Muscles flinched and twitched
under the intense magic. I took little sips of air, energy so
extreme it was blissfully painful.

“
Bhean
, have you seriously gone
insane?” Sprig squeaked, bobbing up and down nervously. “What are
you doing?”

“Ending this.” I swallowed. My legs wobbled
under me, dropping me to my knees with a groan. The stone didn’t
knock me out this time. It tried to hold back the influx of magic
pounding into my system, but I still wanted to vomit all over the
floor as I curled over.

“That’s it?” Rapava pinched his fingers
together greedily, moving closer to me, staring at the small
mundane-looking rock in my palm.

“Get Annabeth out of there,” I demanded,
grabbing the table again to keep myself sitting up.

Rapava looked behind me, then back at the
stone, his eyes wide and full of life. His tongue ran over his
bottom lip, like he was actually salivating. The stone didn’t look
like much, but anyone with a pulse could feel the energy radiating
off it, soaking the air, making you desire more. More power, more
money, more supremacy. It made you feel alive, filled you with the
urge to follow or do whatever it wanted if it only could give you
another hit, while it took from you. Your soul, your essence, your
choices.

My head swirled with the idea to use it, to
take all I ever wanted.
Do it, Zoey, don’t fight anymore
, a
voice in my brain said, unnerving me, because I could not decipher
if it was me or the stone talking.

The longer I held it, the more I couldn’t
find the line between us. I still tried to fight, to not let it
control me. Another asshole stealing away my soul. But my struggle
was waning, on the edge of toppling over.

Rapava reached for it and my hand
instinctively wrapped around it, shifting it out of his reach. A
snarl filled my mouth.

“
Bhean
, don’t do this.” Nothing Sprig
said mattered in that moment.

Let me have you now, Zoey. We can end him
together.

I felt metal tap against the space between my
brows. My gaze lifted to a dark hole stretching down the length of
the weapon.

“Give it to me now.” Rapava’s voice was high
and scratchy as he stood over me.

“No.” The words fell from my mouth without
thought. “It’s
mine
.”

Yes, Zoey, and you are mine
.

“Give it to me!” Rapava slammed the pistol
harder against my skin.

“No.” The word came out again. The stone
thumped in my hand. My fight gone. It was taking over, but I didn’t
care. I wanted it. I craved the bliss of its power and the euphoric
dream of losing myself in the magic: dissolving, falling, seeping,
spinning…

My back slammed onto the floor, snapping my
brain out of the coma-like state. A squeal pinged my eardrum as
Sprig went flying across the floor, tumbling over, before hitting a
table. Rapava pounced on me, his expression wild and vacant.

“It’s mine,” he screamed, clawing at my hand
and arm like a wild animal. The gun banged into my temple.

The point of this was to let Rapava have it,
but my hand wouldn’t open. The need to hold on to it dominated me,
took away all rational thought.

“Ahhh!” Rapava bellowed, his movement growing
more frantic. He then stopped, sat back, and clutched the gun. His
lips arched up in a snarl. He shoved the end of weapon in my
bruised eye socket. “I no longer need you.” His finger tugged back
on the trigger, and I heard the sound of the metal coil pushing at
the bullet.

A cry broke from my lips, my hand flew up to
his face, my fist slammed deep into his parted mouth, the stone
breaking off his front teeth like crystalized sugar candy. He fell
to the side, landing on his back. The moment my fingers left the
stone, air bolted into my lungs, logic returned, and I scrambled
away from the doctor.

He tugged the stone out of his mouth,
ignoring the chunks of teeth crumbling down like falling rock. A
smile turned up his face, showing off his jagged, bloody mouth.

“It’s mine,” he slurred, staring at the stone
in his hand with a fevered longing. “All fae will die at my hand,
from an object they created.” Fear pushed me back into a table,
hiding from his crazed laughter, like a mad doctor.

What if the stone had double-crossed me? What
if I just handed the most powerful weapon on any planet to the most
insane man?

Rapava climbed to his feet, swinging around
to me, his arm outstretched, holding the stone. “Finally, the power
to end their race is mine. I will be the most feared and respected
man in the world. It is all mine,” he spat through his missing
teeth, sounding like a drunk chipmunk.

I saw him shudder, and I climbed back onto my
feet.

“No.” I shook my head. “It is all the
stone’s. You still have no power without the fae.”

Now,
I shouted in my head, hoping the
stone could hear me.

His form went rigid, then a scream tore from
his mouth, a shrill, horrible wailing as though he was being gutted
alive.

“That’s for all of those you tortured,
tested, and killed,” I seethed.

His eyes went wide, his body dropping to the
floor, convulsing like a dying fish.

I walked over and looked down on him. “Know
this, you will not be remembered, or feared, or worshipped. You did
not save the race or lead us in any way. The government will bury
you and what happened here so deep in the archives, it will be like
you never existed. I will make certain nothing here will survive.
You did nothing but fail. Even with me. I only stand before you
because of a fae. His power saved me. Not you. You are nothing but
a pathetic hack.”

His gaze met mine for a moment, clarity and
fear boring deep, before his eyes went glassy. A muffled moan
rolled from his chest. His skin started to sink and shrivel against
his bones, as if a vacuum sucked out his insides. He flopped and
wiggled as noises and blood erupted out of his throat. His tall
frame seemed to shrink before my eyes. In his right hand he still
clung to the stone. I knew it would not let him go until it took
every bit of life from him.

Rapava lifted his skeleton-like arm, skin
hanging loosely, flapping around. He reached for me and screeched,
sending chills down the back of my neck. I jumped back, his fingers
clawing at my boots.

The stone sucked him dry, bleeding him of
energy and essence. A shrill moan came from him as he tried to drag
his body to me.

“I’m only doing what you did, doctor. Killing
one to save the masses.”

Then a burst of heat shot from his mouth, his
eyeballs melting into gooey puddles on the floor, leaving his
sockets bare. The stench of burned flesh and hair filled my nose,
making me heave. A strangled cry ruptured from my throat as his
head fell forward and landed on my shoe. I kicked away from him;
the spot my boot hit crumbled into a lump.

He was dead. Really dead.

Only the shell of the man remained, burned
and shriveled beyond recognition like a thousand-year-old mummy,
with the bones of his right hand still clasping the stone.

“Oh. My. God.” One hand went to my mouth, the
other to my stomach. This was what the stone was truly capable of.
What it would have done eventually to me.

“Wow. He looks like charred troll nuts,”
Sprig exclaimed. I looked over at Sprig. He stood on the table,
staring at Rapava, his face scrunched up in disgust. “Or barbequed
bat.”

“I thought sprites were vegetarian?”

“We don’t talk about that winter.” He shook
his head. “Did you know pretty much anything tastes good with
honey?”

I turned my head back to Rapava. “Not
everything.”

“Dicks and assholes only work with honey
when—”

“Sprig,” I cut him off, clutching my stomach
harder. Where he was going with that I didn’t want to know, but it
wasn’t what made me feel ill.

The stone summoned me over. My feet moved
back to the crispy body.

I did what you asked of me, Zoey. Now it
is your turn to fulfill your promise
. The stone’s words curled
around, pulling me to it.
Take me. The moment I am with you we
can show this world what you are capable of. All those who hurt
you…all those who thought you’d amount to nothing
.

I squatted next to Rapava’s clutched hand, my
attention locked on the gray object.

Zoey…

My hand quaked as I reached for it.
No,
Zoey, it will destroy you!
But I didn’t stop.

A tiny body came into my view and slapped my
hand.

“
Bhean
, stop!”

Ignore the sub-fae. He is nothing. You and
I will create greatness. Go beyond anything you ever imagined. It
will be all yours. The money, the recognition, the power
.

My fingers reached out again.

“
Bhean
,” Sprig’s voice pleaded. He
crawled up on my outreached hand, getting into my eyeline. “Don’t
listen to it. You are stronger than a piece of rock. Don’t let it
take you away from me. Don’t leave me,
Bhean
…please.” His
huge, wide eyes, full of desperation and love, were like a rope
around my heart.

“Sprig,” I whispered. “I can’t fight it.”

“Yes, you can! Do it for the Viking,
Leanbh
, the new fair lady
Bebinn
, me, even the
dumb-ass pirate.”

You promised! You are fae now. You cannot
back out on an oath
. The stone sizzled, pressure slid into my
head, and pulsed angrily against my temples.

I never prom—said any oath
, I
replied.

Yes, you did! You said you’d be mine. If I
killed this human, it would be us. You said yes
.

I said yes, that you can have me the
moment I take you back.
I tried to roll my hand into a fist,
but my muscles ignored me.
If I don’t touch you, there is
nothing you can do.

Silence followed my statement, but I could
feel anger rippling off the stone’s surface like heat. Then a slam
of power shot inside me and I gasped.
Stop fighting me, Zoey.
You and I are meant to be.

“Noooo,” I hissed, struggling the
overwhelming need to touch the stone, to hold it in my hand, to
cradle it.

“
Bhean
, fight it!” Sprig jumped down,
moving in front of Rapava’s hand.

I shut my lids, my teeth sawing into my lip
as nausea rolled from my stomach up my esophagus. My will was
strong, but the stone pushed against me. Once again, I felt myself
slipping. I was going to lose.