Love Me to Death (Underveil) (36 page)

He inserted the key in the lock of one of Tatiana’s shackles. “Ladies first,” he said.

While Borya and Uzana duked it out, blasting each other and yelling insults, the cat shifters kept guard on the platform, the Slayers stood completely still, Ricardo climbed off the platform, and Fee approached Elena.

Her movements were fluid and graceful. Elena took a deep breath through her nose. The floral scent was intoxicating. “I brought you something,” she said.

“You’re next Elena.” Vlad was unlocking the only remaining shackle on Queen Tatiana’s ankle.

Still, no one made a move to either attack or defend. It was a stand off for something nobody really wanted—a cause no one believed in. This was Borya’s and Fydor’s war. Not a war of the Underveil.

Fee held up a vial of green liquid. “This will react to my blood in your body. It will make the elf ore useless against your powers.”

“You mean the plug they put in my arm?”

She uncapped the bottle and held it to Elena’s lips. “Yes. And the chains as well.” She poured the liquid in Elena’s mouth. “Swallow.”

It was bitter. She shuddered as Fee took a step back. Concentrating on the spot next to her, Elena attempted to teleport out of the shackles. “It didn’t work.”

While Stefan escorted Queen Tatiana off the platform, Vlad unlocked the first cuff.

“Unfortunately, there is a delay,” Fee explained.

“How long?”

The second cuff fell away, and she rubbed her wrists while he worked on her ankles.

“I don’t know. It’s new.” She smiled. “I made it special for this event.”

The screams and shouts from below grew louder.

Vlad handed her the key. “You free Nikolai. I need to join Ricardo below.” And with that, he pulled a dagger from the sheath on his hip and climbed down the platform stairs.

A sizzling sound filled the air as Uzana’s and Borya’s lightning bolts met each other and twisted and tangled.

“Give up, brother,” Uza said. “Your odds of beating me are about as good as a one-legged man in a butt kickin’ contest!”

“The revolutionary vampires, bear shifters, and wood elves did not join the resistance,” Fee explained. “They are attacking from the back of the fortress, while the resistance enters from the front. My father is in charge of the resistance forces and will defeat the opposition as they enter the great hall.”

The smile Nik gave as Elena unlocked his chains brought back memories of the last time she freed him and what followed. Her face got hot at the notion that sex would even cross her mind right now. Clearly, it was crossing his mind, too.

“Aren’t you glad you saved your energy and didn’t waste it fighting the guards?” she asked.

He pulled her against him with his free arm, and her body heated. “Yes, when this is over, I’m going to need lots of energy. So are you.”

When the last of the chains fell away, he kissed her fiercely, then looked around. “I have to find Fydor. And I have a feeling I know exactly where he is.” He splayed his fingers over her belly. “Please stay safe.”

Placing her hands over his, she pulled back slightly to meet his eyes. “You can’t kill him.”

“Fuck that. He’s a dead man.”

She tightened her grip. “Listen to me. This is really important.” When she was sure she had his focus, she continued. “His blood cannot be on your hands if you plan to lead effectively.”

“I’m a Slayer. We are charged with meting out justice.”

“I’m the Uniter. My charge is burned into your very skin!” She waited until she was sure he’d completely processed her words through his Slayer instinct for revenge. “Skin I want to spend the rest of my life touching and kissing.”

His expression softened, and his gaze dropped to where their hands were joined over their unborn child. “What is the best course of action, then?”

“I am going to stay here until the sorcerers have concluded their duel, and then I’ll join you.”

A quick glance confirmed Aunt Uza was still going strong, pausing for an occasional victory fanny shake when she had delivered a particularly strong jolt. Borya’s energy bolt was dim, and it was clear he was losing.

“I think this is close to over. Find Fydor and keep him secure. Beat the shit out of him if it’ll make you feel better, but do not kill him. Wait until the royal family and leaders of other factions are present and a consensus can be made. Prove you are a rational leader who favors peace over violence.”

“I am.”

She rose on tiptoe and kissed him. “I know.”

She watched him until he disappeared inside the building.
Please stay safe, Nik.

First things first. She needed to get a grip on what was happening around her.

Borya and Uzana, electric bolts still tangling, were duking it out with no interference from anyone else. Good call. Getting in the middle of that wouldn’t end well.

Fee was still at her side, and the cat shifters were defending the platform against…no one. A glance behind her let her know that the Slayers had formed a defensive ring around the queen, who was conferring with…Aleksi!

Right now, this was the place to be. The safest for sure.

“Stop before I make you a crispy critter,” Aunt Uza said. “I’m stronger than you and always will be.”

Borya grunted in response, long, black hair matted to his sweaty face.

“You and I both know you’ve lost this round. Because you’re blood, I can’t deep-six you, bro, but one of these hotties can, so skedaddle. Go lick your wounds and plan your next futile attempt at world domination.” The bolts crackled. “Somewhere else.” She growled, and her bolt got brighter as his flickered, then disappeared completely, allowing her bolt to nail him in the chest. He disappeared instantly.

“Woo, Ellie Baby! Did you see that? It’ll take him a century to heal from that!” Aunt Uza hollered from across the balcony. “Hated to let him go, but we’re gonna need him down the road.”

Need him?

Aunt Uza pointed at her head. “I see stuff, remember?” Then she burst out in laughter. “Yippee! New Year’s fireworks right in his chest. Yeah! I’m hotter than asphalt in August.” She danced in a circle singing “The Macarena,” and Elena laughed—something she didn’t think she’d ever get the chance to do again.

There was a gentle touch on her shoulder. “What about him?” Fee gestured to the wood elf still bound to the post.

He kept his eyes down, certainly expecting to be abandoned there. She searched through her memories of their first meeting in the dungeon, hoping her new ability to see the past objectively would help.
Fear.
Incapacitating fear and something else colored his view of the scene. Confusion. Hatred—but not of the others in the cells. It was self-loathing. This pitiful creature hated himself.

The air smelled of wet ash and rain. From the floor below, shouts and the sounds of metal clashing and scraping rang out. With any luck, this was the end of the old regime of hatred. Her job was to unite. What better place than right here to begin change?

She inserted the key into the wood elf’s shackles.

Chapter Thirty-Five

N
ikolai knew exactly where he’d find Fydor. Hopefully, the fucker hadn’t teleported out already. Forging a direct path through the battling warriors, which consisted of wood elves, bear shifters, and some rogue vamps against everyone else, he paused to snag a crappy sword from a dying wood elf. The resistance was crushing the poor fools fighting on behalf of his uncle, so he didn’t even bother helping out as he shoved and pushed his way to the door of the “rec room.”

Fydor was standing perfectly still in the middle of the large, round space, his brother’s sword clasped point down in his hands and the crown on his head. The chains and shackles hung limp and empty from the wall where Nikolai had been bound and beaten by this monster of a man he’d once trusted.

“I knew you’d come,” Fydor said, broad back to him.

“I assumed you’d teleport out and flee.”

He turned. “I tried. We are locked down, evidently.” Fydor pulled a vial out of his pocket, popped the lid, and downed it. “Aren’t you going to try to kill me, Nikolai, like I killed Ivan Itzov and Gregor Arcos?”

There it was. The admission he thought he’d never hear. “Deathbed confession time, Uncle?”

“Just figured you should know the truth before I kill you.” He raised the sword in a ready stance.

Nik held out his inadequate “borrowed” weapon. “Hardly a fair fight, Uncle.”

“Didn’t your father ever teach you that life’s not fair?” He swung a wide arc with the sword, missing Nik by only inches.

“He taught me to level the playing field in the interest of fairness.” In one burst, he leapt and slammed his uncle’s hands with a roundhouse kick that sent the sword careening into the wall, then clanging to the floor along with the crown. He threw his own sword to the opposite wall. “Now it’s fair.”

Fists raised, the men approached each other.

Nikolai wanted to kill the bastard, but kicking the shit out of him would just have to do for now.

“O
oo, honey, c’mon over here and let me check ya for ticks!” Uza shouted at a tall light elf pulling a sword out of a bear shifter’s torso. “Dang, those elves are hella fine, aren’t they, Ellie?”

“Yeah, fine,” she answered, ducking to avoid being whacked in the head by a wood elf’s club. Stefan reached out and gave the elf a zap to the head.

“Timber,” he called as it fell over.

“Ha! Good one, hottie,” Uza said, clearly enjoying herself as they pushed through the waning battle in the great hall. Only a few of the revolution fighters were standing.

“I hope Fydor didn’t teleport out,” Elena said, tripping a wood elf that was trying to sneak up on a vampire. She would have electrocuted him, except she still didn’t have any powers.

“No way, Ellie. I put a roach motel spell on this place.”

“I’m sure I’ll regret this, but what is a roach motel?” Stefan asked, stepping over the body of a bear shifter.

“Mercy,” Uza said, pushing some hair back in place. “Haven’t you seen the ad on TV? ‘The roach motel! Roaches check in, but they don’t check out!’” She did a little shimmy and giggled. “My spell allowed folks in, but not out. Get it?”

“Got it.” Stefan retrieved a dagger from the floor.

“You asked,” Elena said as they stopped outside the round room where she rescued Nik. Sounds of struggle came from within. Grunts and smacks of fists on flesh.

“Open it,” Uza urged. “This is exciting, like getting a present. Open it!”

Stefan turned the handle and pushed the door open. Both men were bloody, Fydor more so than Nik, mainly on their fists and faces. Elena’s chest felt tight. He’d followed her request rather than his instinct. They were both alive.

Nik grinned and gave Fydor a hard shove into the wall. “Took you long enough.”

Dazed, blood running from his nose, Fydor slid down the wall to a crouch.

“Sorry, we had to check out the scenery on the way in,” Uza said. “Nothing like a little elf tushie to improve your circulation.”

“My dear uncle has been clearing up many things for me.” Nik wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing more than wiping away blood. The smell of it made Elena’s jaws ache. As soon as this was over, she had plans for King Nikolai.

Aleksi and Tatiana entered, along with Fee.

“Well, Uncle, now that we are all here, why don’t you share with them what you told me?”

It was just a flick of his eyes to the sword, nothing more, but Elena knew what Fydor planned. “Ni—”

Before she could even get his name out, Fydor lunged, picked up the sword, and shoved it through Nik’s thigh. When he doubled over in pain, Fydor put the blade at his throat and pulled up, causing Nik to stand upright to keep from being decapitated—which would end his immortal life.

Stefan and Aleksi had weapons drawn, but had not gotten there in time.

“Don’t do anything stupid, or he’s dead,” Fydor said. “Close the door, drop your weapons, and move back against the wall.”

Elena’s heart tried to leap out of her chest as she pushed the door closed and weapons clattered on the stone floor.

“This is your fault.” His eyes twitched as he glared at Elena. “All your fault.”

“Calm down, my love,” Nik’s mother said in a soothing tone. “You need a dose of your medicine so you can focus.”

“Yes. Medicine. It’s in my pocket.”

Tatiana’s eyes flitted to Aleksi as she walked toward him. She knew! Aleksi must have told her on the balcony. She reached into his front pocket while he kept the sword at Nik’s throat and removed two identical vials of purple liquid. Again, she looked at Aleksi, who shrugged. “How about taking two this time?”

“No. I need to focus. Only one. Now. I’m in pain.”

“Of course you are,” she said, brow furrowed as she studied the vials.

“Now.”

Eyes closed and body relaxed, Nik grunted as Fydor jerked the sword against his throat.

Tatiana pulled the stopper out of one of the bottles and poured it into Fydor’s mouth. Elena held her breath, hoping he’d keel over right then and there. Nothing. It must be the remaining vial.

“I killed him, you know,” he said, still shaking. “I killed them both. I had to.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. “And then the markings started appearing.” His eyes flew open, and his now-steady gaze landed right on Elena. “The markings saying you were coming for me, on the bodies of every Slayer under the Veil. So, of course, you had to die.”

A bit of blood trickled down Nik’s neck where the blade scored the skin as Fydor tightened his hold.

They needed to stall, possibly through enough time for him to drink that other vial of liquid. She had to keep him occupied. Damn, she hoped the elixir Fee gave her really rendered the ore in her arm inert. She focused on sending charge to her hands and felt a tiny buzz. Hardly anything, but maybe she’d charge up fast once it took effect.

“I have a deal for you, Fydor,” she said.

“No deals.”

“You’ll like this one.” She moved to stand right next to him. “It’s me you want. An even trade. Let Nik go and take me.”

“No!” Nik’s voice was strained and harsh. Desperate.

“Why would you do that?”

Yes! She had him now. “I love him. Would rather die than watch him die. Plus, you might be able to get my aunt to open the sunroof here so you can teleport if you use me as a bargaining chip.”

“Smart girl. Lie down on your back right next to my foot, hands behind your head. If any of you move, I’ll run her through. That’s all it takes to kill a Dhampir.”

“Truly, it’s okay,” she said, hoping the others would realize she had a plan. “Everyone do as he asks.” She lay on her back on the floor.

Fydor, in a smooth maneuver, stepped back, lowered his sword, and shoved Nik with his foot on the backside. He then stood over Elena, foot on either side of her thighs, sword tip at her throat. Nik, with his injured leg, lost his balance and fell forward.

Man, oh, man, she hoped that elixir to restore her powers was working or this was a really bad plan. A look of pain crossed Fydor’s face. He shook his head and held the sword steady. “Kill the spell, Uzana, or I kill her.”

“Nope. Sorry. No can do, dude,” Aunt Uza said from near the door. “Roaches check in, but they don’t check out.”

“Let him go! He’s not worth it,” Nik said, struggling to his feet, blood coating his thigh.

“Sorry, hottie. Gotta think of the greater good and all.”

Fydor dragged the tip of the sword from her throat down between her breasts in a stinging trail of fire. “I can make her death slow and painful.”

“No!” Nik shouted, shuffling closer.

“Move and I kill her, nephew.” His gaze drifted down her body. She could feel the cool air over her belly button. Her shirt must have ridden up. He lifted the bottom edge with the tip of the sword and nudged the leather up. “What’s this?” He blinked hard and made another grimace. “What the fuck is it!” he shouted. “Answer me, Uzana, or I’m slicing her open.”

“Go right ahead.”

Elena couldn’t believe her reaction. What was she about?

“Folder. You can read this shit. What does it say?”

Stefan didn’t answer.

“I know Time Folders can’t lie. Tell me or I’ll choke her with her own intestines.”

“It’s another prophecy.”

Clutching his stomach, he winced. Elena’s breath caught. Maybe he had drunk the poison, and this would work after all. She bit her lip and tested her power. Still, only a vague buzzing.
Shit. Relax. Will your power to increase.

He straightened and held the sword hilt above his head, point down, just as her death angel had done in the convenience store, only this time, she didn’t welcome death. Not at all. She had way too much to live for.

“Tell me what it says, Time Folder.”

“It says she’s carrying a baby that will be the bridge between worlds.”

“Not a chance in hell will I let that happen.”

Just as it had when she battled the shifters in Uza’s yard, things seemed to move in slow motion. It started with a guttural yell from Fydor, followed by a battle cry from Nik who lunged right as Fydor plunged the sword toward her abdomen. Before the tip came within range, Elena envisioned herself standing behind Fydor. She’d picked a close distance, hoping she had enough juice. Right as she felt the blade touch her skin, her body buzzed and reconfigured exactly where she’d envisioned it, just in time to see Nik take Fydor to the ground.

It had worked!

Nik wrestled the sword out of Fydor’s hand, both men gasping in pain. Nik struggled to his feet and swung the sword up in position to decapitate his uncle.

“No!” Elena shouted. He froze. “Please.” After long moments, in which she knew he fought a vigorous internal battle with his Slayer nature, he lowered the sword.

She looked around the room at the horrified faces. Well, all except for one. Uza was grinning ear to ear, stroking her purring mu-mu.

Fydor groaned again and convulsed.

Fee’s shoulders lowered, and she took a deep breath, relief clear on her face. Aleksi, too, relaxed a bit, brow arched as she watched in fascination.

Gasping, Fydor rolled to his side in a ball. “Tatiana, help me,” he groaned.

“I’ll help you like you helped my husband.” She crossed her arms over her chest, face expressionless, and stood still.

It didn’t take long after that for him to die. Elena had a suspicion it happened far too fast for Aleksi and Tatiana, who had suffered at his hands for years. Once he stopped convulsing, no one moved for a while.

Nik took a step back and slid his father’s sword into the sheath on his back, and then his eyes met hers. Her heart soared as they stared at each other, and everything else seemed to fade away. He held out his arms, and she ran to him, loving the feel of being folded against him. “It’s over,” she said. He pulled her even tighter and kissed the top of her head.

“Not quite.” Tatiana calmly felt for Fydor’s pulse. Then she picked up the crown, strode to the door, opened it, and entered the great hall.

Nik wasn’t bleeding anymore, but he had a slight limp still. His leg would heal. So would the cut on her chest. Unwilling to let each other go, they held hands as they followed his mother.

“Fydor Itzov is dead,” she shouted. The room fell silent, and all turned to look at the queen. From the looks of it, the battle had all but ended.

“All hail King Nikolai,” she said, holding the crown high over her head.

“All hail King Nikolai,” an exuberant chorus of voices responded from all around the room as Tatiana placed the crown on her son’s head.

“Eternal life to the Uniter. Bringer of peace. Protector of the bridge,” Vlad shouted from the back of the room, bloody dagger held high.

“Eternal life!” the crowd repeated.

“Well, my work here is done,” Uza said from behind them. “Getting you two together was slower than molasses in January. Don’t screw it up.” She disappeared with a pop.

“And now your work really begins, sweet girl,” Stefan whispered in her ear. “Good luck keeping him in line.”

Ricardo’s red eyes met hers from several yards away. “I wish you good choices, Elena Arcos.”

She grinned up at Nik, whose bruised, bloody face was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “Loving you was the best choice I ever made.”

He put his lips against her ear. “That was not a choice. That was inevitable. I’m irresistible.”

He was. And as soon as they were alone, she’d show him just how irresistible she found him. Every part of him.

He placed his palm over her belly. “I love you, Elena Arcos.”

“Love is a myth, remember? Slayers don’t love.”

“This one does.”