The Chronicles of Amber

“Don't move,” I told her. I scanned the covers, looking for anything dangerous—snakes, spiders, some Chaos-born monster—but saw nothing unusual or out of place.

Rhalla, head pillowed on her arm, blinked and looked up at me. She was even more beautiful by day—not that you could tell from the lack of windows.

Aber drew my sword and turned toward the bed, a grim expression on his face.

“Hey!” I told him. “What are you doing?”

“Get out of the way, Oberon.”

“What is it?” I demanded. “What do you see?”

“A succubus!”

In one swift motion, he leaped toward my lover.

Chapter 17

“Wait!” I cried, leaping in front of him. “What do you think you're doing?”

Rhalla screamed. I knew Aber meant to kill her, and I couldn't allow that. What had she done to provoke him? Why this half crazed, half desperate response?

He skidded to a stop. Rhalla gave another ear-piercing shriek and threw herself behind the bed, trying to hide in the bedclothes.

“Stand aside!” Aber said. He tried to dance around me.

I blocked his way. With a feint, then a quick punch to his stomach, I took the air and the fight out of him. He doubled over, and I took the opportunity to pry my sword from his fingers.

“Have you gone you insane?” I demanded. Crossing to the desk, I returned my blade to its scabbard.

“She's“ he gasped.

“She's mine,” I said fiercely.

“She's—a—succubus!”

“A what?” I demanded.

“A female demon.” He glared at her. “They feed on the blood of their lovers. Look at yourself, Oberon!” His finger stabbed at my chest. “You're marked! She's been feeding on you!”

Involuntarily, my hand rose to touch my chest. The welt I'd discovered yesterday was still there, though smaller. But now I felt a second one next to it.

A chill swept through me. Rhalla had been drinking my blood? No wonder I had twice awakened to find her in my bed. No wonder she wanted to be with me. I could not believe what a fool I had been.

“Rhalla,” I said, voice very calm. I wouldn't let her see how unnerved I had become. “I don't believe you've met my brother. This is Aber.”

“No, Oberon,” she said, peeking out at us. “I have not had that pleasure.”

“Come here,” I told her.

Silently she rose and came around, covering herself with the sheet. I put my arm around her shoulders in a protective gesture.

“How can you keep that thing in your bed?” Aber demanded, staring from me to Rhalla and back again. “Kill it! Kill it and be done, before it kills you!”

“Rhalla is a good woman. I enjoy her company.” I turned and gazed down at her, allowing myself a wistful smile. That much at least was true. And she was startlingly beautiful, which didn't hurt.

“Not as much as she enjoys yours.” He jerked his chin toward my chest. “You are nothing to her but food!”

“No!” Rhalla cried. “Those are love bites! I would not hurt him—”

“Shh,” I told her. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “You don't need to explain yourself to him. Or to me. If you need blood, you may take as much of mine as you need to live, but no more.”

Aber howled, “Oberon! You don't know what you're saying! You don't know what you're offering! She'll drink you dry!”

“Never!” Rhalla vowed fiercely. “I will take only what I need, no more!”

“I believe her,” I said.

“Her kind has a barbed tongue,” Aber went on, glaring up at us. “They drink the blood of men who take them to bed. She will feed on you every night until you are too weak to resist, then she will reveal her true form.”

“True form?” I asked.

“You would not like it,” she said, and for once she refused to meet my gaze. “I much prefer this one. It is… elegant.”

Aber climbed to his feet. “I never thought a succubus would dare to feed on a Lord of Chaos—you must kill her, for that insult alone!”

I looked at Rhalla again, and this time she turned her eyes toward mine. In those depths I thought I saw a warmth, a spark of love for me. I believed she really did care for me. Just as I had begun to care for her…

She said, “Oberon… you must believe me… I mean you no harm.”

“Why not?” Aber demanded, voice shrill. “You're an assassin! You were sent to kill him! Admit it!”

“Go on,” I told her softly. I took her hand and pressed it to my lips. “Tell me the truth. It doesn't matter if you came to kill me. My feelings for you won't change. But I must know.”

“If I wanted him dead, he would be dead already!” she snapped at Aber. “I had plenty of time to kill him… but I did not.”

“Your mark is on him!” he said.

“I mark all who take me to bed. It is a sign of love!”

“Love? Hah! Your kind cannot love!”

She spat at him. “We love more fiercely than you will ever know. You are unworthy of such love!”

Aber's face grew flushed, and his hands knotted into fists. “How dare you—” he began. I had never seen him so lost for words. “How dare you—”

“Don't spit on the carpets,” I murmured to Rhalla. “They're expensive.” Then, turning to Aber, I said, “And you're exaggerating the problem.”

Aber shook his head. “You're mad,” he said in a hurt voice. “She has you bewitched. When Dad finds out —”

“I know what I'm doing,” I said. “I'm not a child in the first flush of love.”

“You're acting that way!”

“Trust me.”

He shook his head, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Let me kill her, if you can't do it. She's a spy and an assassin. She's dangerous. She will kill you in your sleep. It is her nature.”

“We all have to die sometime,” I said, “and I can think of many worse ways than in bed with a beautiful woman.”

“This isn't a game, Oberon.”

“No,” I said firmly, “it is a game—a very dangerous game. But it's necessary if we're going to find out what's really going on.” I put my arm around Rhalla's shoulders. “She told you she will not kill me. I believe her. That's the end of it.”

“Thank you,” Rhalla said.

Aber stared from one of us to the other. “You are mad. Both of you. This cannot be permitted—”

I kissed Rhalla. “Go into the next room. Let me speak to my brother alone.”

“Yes, Oberon,” she said demurely. With a triumphant glance in his direction, she turned and hurried through the little door at the back of the room.

Aber stared at me like I'd just grown a second head. “Don't do this, Oberon. She's toying with you. She