Prophecy (Residue Series #4) (7 page)

“So you’re Kalisha?”

Her eyes widened, slightly, but she didn’t shift from her rigid pose. “If you know who I am, then you know what I was?”

“Yes, I’m aware you were a Vire.”

Stalwart and the two men behind him darted their eyes in her direction.

“Then you’ll be leaving me here,” she said as if this were a foregone conclusion.

“No, Kalisha,” I replied, and summed up the offensiveness of her assumption by adding, “We aren’t The Sevens.” I took a step back to assess the cells further. “But you’re right about one thing…we don’t have five years to chisel you out. We’ll need to think of something else.”

Eran followed my footsteps, doing his own review of the cells. “Damn stone,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “If they had left just one piece metal….”

One of Stalwart’s men snickered. “And that would have made it any easier?”

“Yes,” replied Eran, flatly, irritated at having to answer.

Maggie, in support of her boyfriend, mentioned, “Eran has a way with metal.”

Expressions of curiosity rose around the room, but we didn’t address the oddity of her statement. There was a more important issue at hand. Unfortunately, with my back to the door, I didn’t see it coming.

“You can stop your pondering,” Lacinda suggested, her tone thick with sarcasm. “You’ll find no way in.”

My immediate reaction was to groan in annoyance.

Turning, I found her entering the room with an air of authority, dressed in some kind of gown, the usual kind…flimsy, and nearly translucent. She had on earrings that dangled to her shoulders, blue to match her dress. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that she had put some thought into her appearance tonight.

Her eyes scanned the room, narrowing slightly at Jocelyn, before landing on me. “Nobilisss…,” she said with her traditional hiss at the end. “You’ve come to save your woman in a daring escape? How very…noble…of you.”

I wondered if she knew how ridiculous she sounded.

“You two know each other?” Eran interrupted, casually.

Lacinda’s head snapped in his direction, her face stiffening as she barked. “Silence him.”

The command initially made no sense. She had entered the room alone. And there was no one but her interested in shutting Eran up. Then the feeling that we were entering a trap returned full force, as Stalwart’s men moved to seize Eran’s arms.

Stalwart did his part also, by bringing a blade to Eran’s throat.

“NO!” Maggie screamed and launched herself at them only to be stopped by her cage.

Disturbingly, the bars remained steady. Maggie’s frame was small, but her lurch didn’t result in even a slight quiver through the bars.

Eran, to his credit, didn’t seem concerned about the knife at his neck. He kept his gaze on Lacinda, and I sensed it was because he believed, as I did, that she was the key to opening the cage doors.

Regardless, the distance between Stalwart and me was too far. He’d slit Eran’s throat before I made it two steps in his direction.

“Traitor,” I muttered, although my depiction of him had no effect. Stalwart kept his attention on Lacinda.

She noted our interaction and drew in a sharp breath before giggling. “Oh, you mean, you thought he would assist you? Oh, Nobilisss…. Now that
must
be upsetting.”

She leisurely strolled to me and placed one of her hands on my chest. Her head tilted upward, attempting to meet my eyes, which were positioned on the wall behind her.

“Such rampant testosterone in this room,” she whispered. “Each of you men expels it with such vigor.” She leaned in to purr a sigh, even as I turned my head away. “Mmmmmmmm, I can almost feel it coming from you.”

Something touched my throat below my chin and I jerked back, taking a step to add distance. Only after I searched for what it was, and saw the fury in Jocelyn’s expression, did I know Lacinda had placed her lips on me.

And I understood the purpose of it instantly. We were in her den, this was her game, and she was going to use it to her advantage.

She clucked her tongue at me. “Nobilisss, so sensitive…. Such a virile man can’t have issues when a woman gives him a kissssss.”

“He can when you are the woman,” I claimed, which sent her confident expression plummeting.

“You honestly don’t see how good we can be for each other, do you? No vision of how the two of us can reign over our world, together, the Surveyor and the Nobilisss.”

“The Sevens reign over our world, Lacinda, or has the weight of your earrings somehow blocked the blood flow to your brain?”

Her fingers rose to toy with them, their sparkle catching in the reflected light from the flickering torch above Jocelyn’s cell. “You like them? They’re made of my family stone.” Before I could deny her a compliment, she continued. “I saw you coming…tried to veer you away, make you second guess your conclusions on where Jocelyn might be hidden. But you had to find her, didn’t you, Nobilisss? Because you are
that
good. Oh, give in to me…,” she pleaded, tilting her lips at me. “We are so strong together. Give in to me….”

I groaned in disgust, my upper lip lifting before I had any control over it.

Those were the very words I had once used to convince Jocelyn of my love for her. It sickened me to hear this woman apply them to the two of us.

“Jocelyn and I were meant to be together.”

“Oh,” she said and exhaled loudly in apparent disgust. “Who says? Some ridiculous, old piece of parchment paper? You know better than to believe in a destiny that isn’t driven by your desires.”

I swiveled my head to lock eyes with Jocelyn. “
She
is what drives my destiny, Lacinda, because
she
is all I desire.”

The tension in the room rose several degrees, entirely caused by Lacinda. Her fingers came to my cheek, only to be blocked by my hand. She used what leverage remained, her fingertips being the only part able to move, and pressed my head back in her direction.

“Lacinda,” I said carefully. “You believe in the records as much as I do. I’m tired of playing your game. You’ll need to open the cells now.”

“No,” she sighed, wistfully. “That’s not going to happen. I’ll tell you what will. You’ll release me, we’ll go upstairs, and we’ll plan our rise to power.”

“You are delusional.”

Disregarding me, she continued, her tone darkening with each word. “Your friend here, the one with the blade to his neck, will find it slit across his throat, and Stalwart will return with his men to the Ministry where he will inform Sartorius that your precious Jocelyn has died in the midst of the conflict to apprehend him.”

“Which would be false. And you, being the Surveyor, are fully aware of the consequences you’ll face for lying to The Sevens.”

She paid no attention to my warning, instead uttering her own threat in response. “No, Jameson. That part of the message, the one about Jocelyn’s life, will be entirely true.”

Impulsively, my hand flew to Lacinda’s neck, squeezing, making indentations deep enough that she was forced to lift her chin. My fingers tightened, and I felt something shift beneath her skin.

Bones.

Yanking her toward me in a motion that sent her hair flying forward, my demand came out as a snarl, “Release her or you die.”

Stalwart made a move toward me, but I stopped him.

“Any closer and Lacinda’s neck gets crushed. And I doubt Jocelyn will be much in the mood for healing the one who imprisoned her.”

The truth in my words being starkly evident, he remained in place.

“Now your men will step away from Eran, and you will follow them to the wall, where you will turn and face it.”

Stalwart motioned for his men to listen to my order and each of them retreated to the door.

“That’s far enough.”

As this took place, Lacinda became increasingly agitated. I thought, at first, it was because she was losing her grip on the situation. Her prisoners were about to be freed. It was her attempt to scream at me that cleared up that belief.

Her voice emerged hoarsely; fighting its way past the pressure of my fingers. “She’s going to kill you! That is her destiny! Let me end her and prevent it from happening!” she pleaded. “Let me take her life to save yours!”

I responded with a roar, which left my hand around her neck precariously shaking her head. It wasn’t intentional, but it did shut her up. I then laid out the reality of her situation clearly so there could be no confusion left. “Listen closely, Lacinda, because
your
life depends on it. If Jocelyn is harmed by you or by your orders, I will stalk you, biding my time until you least expect it. When your guard is down and no one is around to protect you, I will take you away from all that you know to be safe and true, and I will, with slow, agonizing precision, take your life. The methods I will use won’t be pretty. I won’t spare you, not for a second, no matter the length or depth of your screams. Are you hearing me, Lacinda? Do you understand the warning I am giving you? Because if you don’t I will use on you the skills I learned at the hands of Theleo Alesius.” I suspended my threat long enough for her to recognize the name of our world’s most notorious Vire. “I love Jocelyn. She is the air I breathe, the force that causes my heart to beat, the incentive for the blood to flow through my veins. She is the reason I exist at all. Regardless of your political aspirations, disturbed sense of lust, or for whatever reason you have used to convince yourself that you and I were meant for each other, you will abide me, or you will find yourself dead.”

The silence blanketing the room was deafening. I could actually hear Lacinda’s pulse quickening as my warning sunk in.

Sensing the truth in what I was telling her, she nodded, her wide eyes never leaving mine until they closed and she began to concentrate.

“Lapis terrae vis hominum aperit portam, ita ut iusserit.”

My years of Latin instantly translated her words into what she meant: Stone of earth, power of men, open this gate, as I so command.

Instantly, one side of each cell slowly swung open, and Lacinda’s prisoners slipped through the opening before the bars had time to stop.

Jocelyn rushed to my side but stopped short of touching me. Instead, she stared, waiting for my next move. It came swiftly, completely unanticipated by me…or the recipient of it.

The rage in me surfaced like a tidal wave, suffocating all logic, blinding me. My reaction was impulsive, driven by a maddening desire to inflict insufferable pain on Lacinda for hurting the one I love. And so I flung her in the opposite direction of the cells, sending her as far from Jocelyn as possible, where she ended up with a slap against the wall, and collapsed at Stalwart’s feet.

Lacinda released a whimper but didn’t move.

Instantly, my hands were on Jocelyn’s cheeks, evaluating her, inspecting her for any sign of injury or retaliation she might have incurred since the few minutes we had on the stage, anything that might overpower her ability to heal herself.

“I’m not hurt. Not physically,” she confirmed.

Only then did I release the breath pent up in me. It came in a rush as I shook my head in amazement. “I was so sure…”

She knew what I was thinking, what had consumed me since we’d been separated, not only weeks ago but also tonight. “You were sure Lacinda would hurt me in retaliation? For being the one you love?” She smiled tenderly at me, a move that made me want to pull her close. The only reason that kept me from doing it was Stalwart and his men. We weren’t safe yet. “I think,” Jocelyn went on, “that she believed she could win you over.”

Jocelyn’s eyes shifted to the topic of our conversation, beyond my shoulder.

“She clearly had no idea what she was up against,” I said, a grin surfacing freely for the first time in weeks. “She has nothing on you.”

The smile that brightened her eyes sharpened my need to hold her, but I didn’t get the chance. A rustling sound told me that someone was moving, and that the noise was coming from the direction of doorway.

By the time I spun around, I caught only a glimpse of Stalwart carrying Lacinda in his arms, her feet dangling loosely, his arms cradling her as they disappeared into the dark hallway. Stalwart’s men swiftly stepped in to block the door. Eran, reached them first, demanding, “Step aside.”

The men stood firm.

“MOVE!”

They didn’t.

I stopped next to Eran, and warned, “Move or you will be hurt.”

When they didn’t budge, and with all of us knowing Stalwart and Lacinda were probably on the first level by now, I took the guard in front of me as Eran took on the other. Our fists landed at nearly the same time, sending Stalwart’s men backwards against the doorjamb in near unison.

What struck me was that they didn’t put up a fight; they made no effort to defend themselves, taking the full brunt of our force without any detectable cringe. I think even Eran tuned in to it because he paused uncomfortably before stepping over their bodies and taking off down the hall.

By the time we reached the first floor there was no sign of Stalwart or Lacinda, but there were footsteps behind us. I turned, ready to tell Jocelyn she needed to stay back when Maggie appeared in the concealed doorway.