Death Bringer

Chapter Eleven

Ella had no idea what time it was, only that since she was last outside, it had started raining and it was dark. As soon as she magically punched her way through the walls of her dungeon, she’d been returned to the square where she’d arrived. She loitered in the trees near the exit, concealed in the green shadows. Water continued to gush out of the fountain in a soothing refrain, but there was no sign of the queen or any of her guards.

That was weird.

Why wasn’t anyone following her?

She checked around the square, using both Vadim’s magic and her empath abilities. It was odd...the more she accessed his power, the stronger it seemed to be and the easier it rose to her amateurish commands. No wonder Vadim had been feared so greatly. She was only using a fraction of it, and it scared the pants off her. It was like being given the keys to a racing car after driving a tractor.

A shadow moved at her left. For a moment she wished she had her familiar weapon with her, but she had so much more in the tips of her fingers. Magic that was far more suited to Otherworld, as well. She needed to find Adam before the queen mother or the king found her. She attempted to clear her mind, but found it impossible as a clear sense of danger clouded her judgment.

“Dammit!” She walked toward the shadows, but instead of dispersing, they seemed to thicken. “What do you want?”

A guttural laugh answered her.

“What do you think, Soul Sucker?”

The advancing troll looked somewhat familiar. His heavily furred body was naked and his black eyes shone with hate. Behind him was a sniggering group of young Garden Fae.

“Do I know you?”

“You destroyed my nest and forced me back here.” He raised his club. “Now you’re going to pay.”

He rushed her. Ella just had time to point her finger and shove magic at him before he cannoned into her and she fell to the ground. There was a kaboom and the acrid smell of burning fur. His screaming blocked out every other sound until an explosion of black blood made her gag, but at least stilled the screeching.

When she finally disentangled herself from the troll’s soggy remains, she shuddered at the carnage.

“Too much power, Ella. Bring it down, girl.”

She wiped at her face, which was sticky, and spat uselessly to rid herself of the unwanted taste of deep-fried troll. If any of the others had wanted to take a pop at her, her awesome display of power had sent them scurrying away. She headed back for the fountain so she could at least rinse herself off. How the hell did Vadim control himself?

She dipped her fingers into the flowing water and shivered. It was freezing. She suddenly remembered the spell he’d taught her and freshened herself up. The magic even repaired the holes in her pink jeans. Damn, it was useful. If only it worked on her face...

“Soul Sucker?”

She turned to see a woman standing quietly behind her. Even in the darkness, she registered the richness of the woman’s dress and the sparkle of diamonds in her long dark hair.

“Let me guess. You’re Morosov’s mother.”

“Indeed I am.” The Fae inclined her head. “And you are my son’s mate. I am so pleased to meet you.”

“You are?”

“Of course. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because everyone else in this batshit-crazy place, including me, wants to kill him.”

“He is my son. How could I wish for his death?”

Ella scowled down at her boots. The apparent sincerity of the queen’s answer made her feel like a loser who had given up on her mate way too fast. But the Fae were tricky like that. She shouldered her backpack.

“Is there something I can help you with? Otherwise I’d quite like to get on.”

“Where are you going?”

“To find my face.”

The queen drew closer. “You have been bespelled? I did wonder.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you? Normally I’m blond and blue-eyed. An idiot called Adam stole my face as his third trophy.”

“But that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

She paused to study the queen’s delicate features. The female looked about the same age as Ella was, and that couldn’t be possible. It was also the second time someone had suggested Vadim had tried to protect her from Adam. “What was supposed to happen?”

“Nothing.” The queen shivered. “Cygnet insisted that we stop Adam from taking your face.”

“Well, it didn’t work.”

“But why?”

“Perhaps you’d better ask your husband and mother about that.”

“We all agreed to it, as did the sect.”

“Then someone didn’t follow through, did they? You all wanted Morosov back here for your different reasons anyway. It’s hardly surprising that my face wasn’t enough to stop someone from getting what they wanted.”

“Soul Sucker—”

Ella had to look away from the ethereal beauty of the queen, whose blue eyes were now swimming in tears.

“I understand that you are angry with us, but please consider what you intend to do.”

She stared hard at the fountain and realized the figure of the woman was modeled on the queen behind her. Awkward. “I have to go. I intend to find Adam and get my face back.”

“And what if he still has cygnet?”

“‘Cygnet’ is supposed to be the most powerful being in Otherworld. How could anyone ‘have’ him?” She glanced down at her hands. “I feel some of his power in me. I know how strong he really is.”

“But what if his power is constrained?”

“By what?” Ella shook her head. “I’m so tired of everyone speaking around every subject. If he’s so easily contained, why are you all so scared of him?”

The queen drew herself up. “His apparent weakness might not be our doing.”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault?”

“You are mated to him.”

“So what? It obviously means nothing to him. He walked out on me.”

“There are many ways a male can show his love for his female, Soul Sucker.”

“By buggering off to Otherworld to play at who’s the biggest idiot? That’s supposed to show that he loves me? I don’t think so.”

“Perhaps this time it is you who speak in riddles.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

The queen held her gaze. “He is your mate.”

“So he’s done all this for me, right.”

“All I am saying, Soul Sucker, is that when you kill Adam, be very careful what you obliterate along with him. You alone have the power to destroy my son in many different ways, remember that.” She inclined her head a regal inch. In the distance, the sound of voices rose. “I wish you well on your journey, and I urge you to leave right now. I will take care of the pursuit at this end.”

“Well, thanks.”

“Goodbye, Ella Walsh.”

Ella had no time to reply as she focused on Adam and sent herself hurtling through Otherworld, landing with a bump outside a heavily fortified wall complete with security cameras and troll guards. Why were cameras even necessary in magic-centric Otherworld? She rubbed an elbow that had contacted hard against the wall.

“Ouch.”

There was no cover around the perimeter of the wall, so she backed off until she reached the surrounding forest and sat down with her back against a tree. Her whole body was shaking. Experience told her that there was no way she could move forward until she’d conquered her hunger and fatigue. She took off her backpack and opened it up. Inside were her emergency supplies. Two juice boxes, one of chocolate milk, three energy bars and two Pop-Tarts. A meal fit for the gods, as Feehan had always joked.

She paused for a moment to imagine what was going on back at the SBLE office. Would she ever see her colleagues again? Feehan had promised backup, but what could he do against the combined might of the sect and Vadim’s family?

Not a lot. She was basically on her own.

She opened the first energy bar and a cranberry-apple juice box and alternately chewed and sipped her way through them. As she ate, she watched the wall to see if anyone was coming in or out of the one main gate, but all was quiet. Was Vadim in there with Adam? Did the sect know that she was there? She assumed they did.

The Fae queen had a point. If Vadim could kill anything in Otherworld, why wasn’t Adam dead already? What was stopping him? Was he really trying to protect her? But why? He hardly knew her. She started on the second bar.

That wasn’t true. He knew her better than anyone else in the world.

But then, he’d also told her he was hers for all eternity.

The rat.

She stopped chewing. Would she kill to get him back? It was something she had to consider before she charged in to get Adam. Everyone needed a plan. Did retrieving her face mean more to her than Vadim’s life? She had more power in her than she’d ever imagined existed, and it was a huge responsibility. How did he deal with that on a daily basis? How had it felt to be the executioner of the Fae?

She stared out into the darkness, her appetite diminishing with every breath. Exhaustion threaded through her. In her present state, getting into the sect stronghold was beyond her. She’d be unable to control her power and would kill everyone in sight, or she’d implode and be dead in a second. The thought of another fried troll made her want to puke. Better to sleep for a while and then plan how to take down Adam and retrieve her face.

She closed her eyes and resolutely refused to think about Vadim. One problem at a time. That was all she could cope with right now.

She woke up feeling cold and automatically grabbed for the covers. Which weren’t there. Opening one eye, she remembered that she was in the middle of Otherworld, her head pillowed on her backpack and her clothes her only covering. Thank God she’d been wearing jeans, even if they did have a few new holes in them, despite her magical repairs. The smell of coffee floated past her nose and she abruptly sat up.

“I thought you might need this.” Rossa handed her a jumbo-size cup. “I got it in your world.”

Ella made an inarticulate sound of extreme gratitude and gulped at the scalding brew. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and regarded her companion.

“Don’t you ever get cold?”

He glanced down at his superb physique and literally fluffed his feathers. “Not really. Why didn’t you magic yourself up some blankets last night?”

“Because I keep forgetting that I can!” Ella glared at him. “I’m also terrified that I’ll ask for a sleeping bag and conjure up a tree house complete with elevator and servants to plump my pillows.”

“Magical power can be a very scary thing if you don’t learn how to control it.” Rossa settled himself comfortably across from her. “The main thing is, always treat it with respect.”

“That’s such a cliché. Did you bring food?”

He grinned at her. “What is your wish, fair lady?”

“A toasted egg-and-bacon muffin would be awesome.”

“Then do it yourself. Just try and focus down, or it will be raining buns or something.” She glowered at him and he shrugged. “It’s good practice before you go in there with all guns blazing.”

She thought lovingly about her egg-and-bacon muffin, pictured it in her mind and sent the smallest lick of power through the image. Her greasy, fatty treat appeared in her hands, wrapped in paper, and she actually squealed.

“I did it!” She devoured it in less than a minute. “Now I just have to work out how to harness the power of the muffin to the enormity of the task ahead.” She nodded at the exterior wall. “Have you ever been inside this place?”

“No one has.”

“That’s stupid. Adam obviously has. I sensed him in there, and he’s not alone.”

“That’s because cygnet’s there, too.”

“Are you sure?”

“I heard Adam brought him in yesterday.”

Ella cautiously raised her shields. “I can’t feel him.” The emptiness was chilling. Even her anger wasn’t big enough to conceal the loss of her awareness of her mate.

“That’s probably because he’s being held somewhere that’s magically warded.”

“But can’t he get out of anything?”

Rossa looked critically at the walls. “It depends what they did to him. If he’s totally encased in lead, Han Solo style, even he might find it hard to get out of that.”

Despite the heat of the coffee, she shivered. “Surely, I’d know if he was dead...” She raised her head. “Can he die?”

“All Fae can die, given the right circumstances, you know that.”

“But Morosov’s different, isn’t he?”

“He certainly is.” Rossa sipped at his own coffee, his expression uncharacteristically somber. “But now that he has you, it’s certainly possible he could die.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “I told you he threatened to dismember his own family if they allowed Adam to take your face?”

“Yeah.”

“What I didn’t tell you was that he also said he’d take them all down with him if it meant that you survived.”

She forced a laugh. “He’s such a drama king.”

“That wasn’t his intent. He meant what he was saying, so technically, he could choose to sacrifice his immortality to save you.” He winked at her. “Ah, the power of love.”

“Don’t say that.” She hunched a shoulder at him and finished her coffee. “If I’m the source of his death, I want to be the one to hand out the sentence and execute it.”

“That’s funny, Soul Sucker.”

She bared her teeth at him until he stopped laughing. “It wasn’t a joke. Now how are we going to get into this place?”

He recoiled. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“You’re not coming?”

Rossa stood up. “Of course I’m not! What do you think I am, suicidal?” He bowed elaborately. “You have all the power you need to get into this stronghold and save your prince.”

“Thanks for the support.” Ella finished her coffee and handed him the empty cup. “Can I ask you one more thing before you desert me?”

“Certainly my lady.”

“Now that we’re both in Otherworld, when Morosov and I are communicating, can anyone else hear us?”

“In your thoughts, or did you mean something else entirely?” He winked lasciviously.

“I meant in our thoughts, you perv.” She frowned at him. “Sometimes I can catch other people’s internal conversations here.”

“Like the way I can communicate with you?”

“Exactly.”

“There’s definitely a familial link, but I’ve always been told that the bond between a mated couple makes those conversations impenetrable for anyone else. A family member might know that you are speaking to each other, but not what you are saying.”

“That’s a relief.

“You’re welcome. Good luck!”

He disappeared, grinning broadly, and she was alone once more. She hadn’t really expected him to join her, but it had been fun watching him charm his way out of it. She returned her attention to the task in hand. There had to be a way to get through the walls without going through the main gate. Surely there had to be a service entrance somewhere.

With that in mind, Ella walked around the perimeter of the wall, stopping every so often to scan the stone face and identify any other entrances, magical or not. Once or twice, when she detected a change in the surface, she attempted to magic herself through it, but nothing seemed to work. It was a tedious business, not helped by her awareness that she was being watched and that time was running out. Whenever she used Vadim’s magic, she was certain she was sending out a big fat “come and get me!” signal. She’d gathered so many enemies in Otherworld already, she was surprised she wasn’t being hunted down by a mob. But perhaps because she was Vadim’s mate, they were scared of her as well? It might answer the question as to why she hadn’t been killed on arrival.

She halted opposite the main gate again and studied the movement of the four guards from the shade of the trees. Would it be easier to simply walk up to the gate, ask for Adam and go right in? By the time the alarm was raised, she reckoned she could take most of the opposition out. She didn’t even need to see him. All she had to do was find where he kept his grisly trophies and take her face back.

How she was going to reattach it was another matter...

Well, it was pointless hanging about. She had to do something.

“Rossa? Come back here immediately!”

“What?” He reappeared, his expression grumpy. “I was just about to take a swim in a lake full of nubile young Water Fae.”

“They can wait. I need you.”

His smile widened and he placed his hand over his heart. “I’ve dreamed of you saying that to me. Have you decided to let fate take its course and follow your true destiny to have endless sex with me?”

“Not quite. I need you to help me create a diversion outside the main gate while I figure out a way to get in.”

He took a step back. “No way.”

She batted her eyelashes at him. “Oh, come on, Rossa. If you help me, I’ll tell Morosov not to kill you when he executes all his other relatives.”

“But if I don’t help you, he’ll die in there anyway.”

“Do you really believe that? I don’t think Adam has a clue what he’s taken on, do you?”

Rossa stared pensively at the gates. “All right, I’ll help as long as I don’t get caught...”