“We only wanted to kill off the demon you and I created.” I jogged to keep up with him. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Lucus’s pained face.
Lucus tried to speak, but the Duke cut him off with a press of the blade.
“Keep fighting, fae. I welcome it.”
We ended up at the door of the casting chamber, and Hekla and Kaippa appeared at the end of the corridor. Kaippa hissed, fangs glistening in the light of the sconces, and Hekla started toward us. The Duke turned to show them the blood dripping from Lucus’s neck and down his bare torso.
Hekla stopped. “It’s not nightfall.”
“So someone is paying attention to the curse’s demands and the new moon. You see, I believe I have time to reap pain from this waste of life before the curse that is now the demon comes for what is left of his soul.”
On shaking legs, I trailed the Duke into the casting chamber. The candelabras flamed to life at the Duke’s presence, and the runes on the floor flashed with power. He was truly the lord of this manor. And I didn’t love how that put our odds against him or his dragon. Hekla clasped my hand, coming up beside me, Kaippa just behind.
“Where is your Bow?” Kaippa whispered.
“He snapped it in two.” I couldn’t quite keep my despair from weighing down my tone.
The Mage Duke eyed me. “Take the spell book and place it in the cabinet.”
I followed his orders, the snakes twisting under my touch before I tucked the book beside the sage and shut the wooden doors.
Sitting on the spell book’s table like it was a throne, the Duke held Lucus on the ground at his feet, both of them facing us. The knife ate into Lucus’s neck, and he sucked a slow breath. His skin had gone gray from the wound all the way down to his chest.
“You see the poison traveling toward his heart, don’t you?” the Duke asked. “The iron will slow his heart soon, and he’ll be much easier for me to handle then. I could use a rest after all. I’ve lived far longer than any mage…” He flicked the dagger’s edge with what looked like a practiced hand, and the wound widened. Blood poured from the gash in a river of ruby red.
My legs gave out, and Kaippa caught me. “Stay strong, Yew Queen,” he whispered as Hekla looked up at him, obviously confused at his encouragement.
The Mage Duke grinned. A jagged line of lightning arced from his hand into Lucus’s shoulder. Lucus shook hard, and his eyes closed. The emerald light he’d had at his fingertips faded, and his lure dissipated completely.
“What can we do?” I pushed away from Kaippa and stood on my own. My blood shushed through my veins, fast then slow then fast again. The room tilted, but I held myself upright. “How can we get you to keep him alive?”
“That is an impossibility. But if you’d like me to end him before the demon steals his soul and damns him to eternal suffering, I might be talked into that. Only if you can prove yourselves worthy.”
As if we could believe anything the Duke said. He’d just said he wanted Lucus to suffer for eternity. But I wanted him talking anyway because it gave me time to think and would possibly enlighten us. “The demon is only after Lucus’s soul?” I asked.
“I’d wager the beast is hungry for as many souls as he can harvest,” the Duke said, “but it will most likely search for those who twisted the curse.”
“So I’m doomed too,” I said.
“In your place, I would bid my farewells.”
A chill lanced through me, but I kept my gaze firmly on the Duke.
Hekla coughed, then gulped like she was about to be sick. “How do we prove ourselves worthy?”
We were about to bargain just to have the chance to kill Lucus in a less horrible way. My stomach turned, and I fought the urge to be sick.
“Wait.” Kaippa stepped past Hekla and crossed his arms. “Why would we do anything for you?”
“I could be persuaded to spare the rest of you from the demon’s wrath,” the Duke said.
Kaippa snorted. “We don’t even know if you can control that demon dragon out there. Prove that to us first, then we’ll talk about what we can do for you.”
The Mage Duke’s mouth twitched, and his fingers moved on Lucus’s shoulder. Kaippa swore and tugged at his finger. He was trying to take the insignia ring off because the thing had gone bright red like the gold had been held over fire. The foul stench of burning skin rose as he cursed the Mage Duke and writhed against the wall, still pulling at his ring.
“Stop!” Hekla ran at the Duke, but I grabbed her arm and kept her back.
She ripped away from my grasp, and my nails cut into her skin. Ignoring the blood welling on her arm, she grabbed Kaippa’s knife from his belt and held the vampire’s wrist to the wall. He seemed too shocked to move. Glancing at him, Hekla slammed the big blade down, and Kaippa’s finger—and his ring—fell to the floor.
The Mage Duke was laughing his horrible ass off. He sniffed the air. “If I’m not mistaken, the girl is a shifter, and she is now bleeding as well.”
Kaippa had gone very still. He was either processing pain in a very weird way, or he was trying really hard not to eat Hekla. She backed away and dropped his knife.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to stop him from controlling or hurting you.”
“Thank you,” Kaippa whispered, his eyes half-lidded. “I wasn’t prepared to scent your blood, but it’ll be fine. Just go back to Coren, all right?”
Hekla returned to my side, and I gripped the shit out of her cold hand. I had zero clue what to do now, but I knew I needed my friend.
“You okay?” I asked, staring at the Mage Duke. Thoroughly
