But Kaderin had always trusted her instinct.
She could now accept that instinct had commanded her right from the start not to hurt him, all the way back to that first morning. 'I can't not know him, Riora.'
'What are you saying?' he asked, seeming not to breathe.
'I don't want to have to choose.'
He dragged her against his chest with his good arm, resting his chin on her head again. 'For my part, if I could know for a day that I'd won you, it would be worth it.'
'But you wouldn't remember winning me,' she said against him.
'Wait.' He set her away to give her that half-grin. 'Katja, my arm is broken.'
'I know!' Kaderin cried, her voice breaking. 'Why do you sound so bloody delighted about that?'
'It should have been healed,' Sebastian said. 'I was never struck with a boulder until the serpent woke. Your crossing the cable woke it, and when you didn't cross... '
She sucked in a breath, and her eyes widened.
'Very good, vampire,' Riora said. 'Kaderin told you time travel would work. And you told her you can't go to the past to change the future. You were both right.'
'I don't understand how this is possible,' Kaderin said. 'He changed the past. The present should be different. And you said he had to choose—'
'Ah, I... told a little lie. I wanted to see if it was possible for a vampire to surrender his fated Bride.' She inclined her head at them. 'And thank you both for your cooperation. Now. Truthfully. You can't go back and then change the future.'
Sebastian's expression grew dark. 'Riora, that's exactly on our agenda right now.'
'Scribe! Ribbon! Shears!' In the blink of an eye, a scarlet ribbon was rolled out over the altar, stark against the marble. Scribe laid scissors into her outstretched palm. 'This ribbon is time, from past to present.'
She leaned down to the end of the ribbon representing the past and cut a sliver a few inches up. 'I've gone back and extracted something from time, but the rest of the ribbon remains wholly unchanged. Vampire, you were absolutely right—to a point. You unquestionably cannot go back in time to change the future. That way lies madness.' She frowned at Kaderin. 'Really, Valkyrie, you should give him more credit. He is a scholar.' She shrugged and continued, 'But magic allows us to go back and nab a few things now and again. A mystical parlor trick.'
'I won't forget him?' Kaderin couldn't stop shaking.
'No, not at all. But when you use the key, do not attempt to get clever with it. Time is living and fluid but refuses to allow the past to be. Thrane's genius was that he discovered doors to the past could be opened, but time would shut them immediately to prevent instability and chaos. So he created a key that would open millions of doors at the same time. Keeps a body busy closing all of them. The hope is that your door is the last to get shut down, because if you get locked out, you will fade.'
Riora tilted her head at Kaderin, then turned that sharp, cutting stare on Sebastian. 'Look at Kaderin's relief, vampire. For some reason, your pull on her was stronger than a blessing bestowed by a goddess'—she stretched her fingers out, examining her nails—'of no mean power.'
'Blessing?' Sebastian asked. 'The blessing?'
'You?' Kaderin whispered. 'It was you?'
'Yes.' Riora studied her. 'That's why I was perplexed that your attraction to a vampire could neutralize it.'
'Why?' Kaderin demanded. 'Why did you do it?'
'You blamed yourself for your sisters' deaths, and yet you were too strong to die. Your sorrow was debilitating the Valkyrie covens.'
'Why numb everything? I haven't felt joy, humor, love.'
Riora delicately coughed, clearing her throat. 'That was a bit unintentional.' She turned to Sebastian. 'You, and you alone, have freed her to feel. And it is time she should.'
'This explains much,' Sebastian said, then rocked on his feet.
'We've got to get you bandaged up.' Kaderin leaned into him to help him stand, alarmed at how pale his face had grown. How much blood had he lost?
'Kaderin, he's bleeding all over my temple,' Riora said. 'And by the way, Valkyrie, you owe me for a skylight.' Riora turned from her. 'Scribe? Where are you? Scribe!' And then they were gone.
'Are you going to be able to trace us?' Kaderin asked.
'Of course,' he grated, but he was barely able to get them back to her flat.
Stubborn vampire. He's been hiding how weak he is.
In the bedroom, his legs gave out. When she helped him to the bed, he fell back but clenched her wrist. 'You're not going without me.'
'Your sword arm is injured. You won't be able to defend yourself in a battle.'
Sebastian said, 'You've waited a thousand years, you can wait two more days.'
She shook her head. 'I'd be taking you into a war where you are the enemy.'
'I'll take that chance, Katja. Do not do anything until I heal.'
She hesitated, then said, 'I won't go until you're healed.'
He nodded, then passed out immediately.
She meant what she'd said. There was no way he could accompany her. A vampire on a battlefield with an army of Valkyrie? Not going to happen. Her own sisters would likely try to kill him.
But she was not leaving him when he needed her. For the last two nights, when not chaining her up, he'd been a hero to her. He'd salvaged the competition for her, given her the finals, and then won the key. Not to mention that he'd saved her life.
And then, when faced with the choice of her happiness over his own, he'd chosen hers.
At every turn, he made her feel protected, cherished. And she would respond in kind.
Her relief when she'd found out she wouldn't forget him was staggering. What did that say? What did it mean that she was as delighted about that fact as she was to be going back for her sisters?
Before she used the key, Kaderin would contact the coven and let them know she was okay, though she was sure they'd already felt her return. She would see Sebastian mended, giving him as much blood as he could drink.
She'd waited a thousand years. Two or three days wouldn't matter in the great scheme of things, would it?
Sebastian woke feeling incredible.
A warm, sleeping Valkyrie was draped over his chest, and he clutched her to him, amazed by all that had occurred. Memories trickled in from that hellish haze after he'd lost her, but he pushed them away.
Because he'd gotten her back.
All that mattered was that he had Kaderin safe with him.
He'd gotten her back.
When she didn't wake, he slipped from the bed to go shower and to examine his arm. He stood, waiting for the black dots to cloud his vision but saw none. The bones in his upper arm and elbow felt as though they had already started to knit, and he could tell the shredded skin and muscles were connected, at least. He might not even need the sling she'd fashioned for his arm.
When he returned, showered and dressed, she was awake.
'I'm going to be healed by tomorrow,' he told her. 'We can go for them at sunset.'
'Sebastian, once we get close enough to my sisters, they could kill you themselves.' She looked away. 'They would not hesitate as I did.'
'I'm going with you. There's no question of it. What if you don't make the door? Then I definitely will lose you.'
'Even if we wait for you to heal, you can't defend yourself without risking one of my kind.'
He drew his head back. 'I would never hurt them.'
'I know that,' she said quickly, 'but they'll want you dead.'
'I'm going, Katja. It must be so.'
She studied his face for a long moment, then exhaled with a subtle nod. She turned her back to him, drawing
