Ruby Fever EPB, page 14
Patricia’s face was a professional mask. “An SUV rammed into them on Sam Houston Tollway at ninety miles per hour. The vehicle rolled. The first responders had to use the jaws of life to get them out. Katrina is fine, except for the concussion. Mohan has a broken leg, but Lex is in the ICU in critical condition.”
Lex, tall, funny guy with an easy smile and a sprinkling of freckles on his broad face. He had gotten married six months ago. His wife was pregnant.
Nausea came, sudden and overwhelming. I felt so ill.
My sister had to kill nine people today. My mother had a hole in her leg. Cornelius had needed eighteen stitches and I was bandaged like a mummy. I had no idea how injured Leon was. Lex was in the ICU clinging to life. Both the Office of Records and the Harris County DA were involved in this mess, not to mention the FBI, which “was not happy.” I knew exactly whom to blame for all of it. Anger wrapped around my head like a vise and squeezed.
“Where is he?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“In the armory.”
I turned and marched back the way we’d come, heading to the wall, and left, to the squat building that served as our armory. Patricia tried to keep up with me. Her legs were longer, but I was younger and a lot madder.
“Prime Sagredo was extremely specific that no harm can come to the Prince.”
“I won’t kill him. He’ll just wish he was dead.”
“Catalina . . .”
I pushed the armory door open and barreled inside. The armory was a bunker, a rectangular concrete box of a building bathed in harsh electric light. Metal cages lined the walls in neat rows. Most held weapons. One held Konstantin. There were no guards. Patricia had locked him in and watched him remotely.
He looked the way he’d looked when I first met him in Linus’ house: blond, blue-eyed, breathtaking. A picture of urbane elegance with sunlit charm.
I stormed toward the cage. My magic whipped inside me, bucking and straining to break free.
Konstantin gazed at me from inside the cage, a small smile on his lips. “I tried to warn you.”
My anger was threatening what little restraints I had left. He was a threat. People I loved were hurt because of him. I had to kill him now, so nobody else would get hurt.
“I never wanted any of this to happen.”
“Bullshit. This is exactly what you wanted to happen. You set us up. You made Arkan think that his best friend betrayed him and asked us for asylum. You knew Arkan would retaliate. You ensured that he and the Office of the Warden would collide.”
My voice was rising. Magic vibrated in it. I hadn’t aimed it at Konstantin, not yet, but I was so angry. Somewhere deep inside a voice warned me that this wasn’t me, but the flood of magic inside me drowned it.
“You started a war, which my House will have to fight. You made us bleed.”
“You left me no choice.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’ll remember that phrase for when your family comes looking for you.”
Patricia stepped forward. “Catalina . . .”
Black wings tore out of my back, the tips of my feathers bright red. I hissed at her. Patricia stumbled back and jerked the phone to her ear. “We need you in the armory! Right now!”
I turned toward Konstantin. He stared at me, open-mouthed. Alarm flickered in his eyes.
“Now, your Royal Highness . . .” My voice wasn’t the beguiling song of a siren. This was the voice of a monster, harsh and suffused with power and menace. “Tell me again how it was all my fault.”
Alessandro sprinted into the armory, picked me up, and carried me toward the door.
“Put me down!” I snarled into his face.
“No. Not until you’re yourself again.”
How dare he? I hissed at him.
“My point exactly.” He carried me outside and called over his shoulder. “That door stays shut. Nobody goes in unless I’m with them.”
“Put me down!” Struggling against him was like trying to stop a train.
He kept carrying me up the driveway past the Bus. We caught up with Arabella.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
I hissed at her.
“Your sister is a bit upset,” Alessandro told her.
I beat my wings, but my feathers had no substance.
He kept going, through the main house, past the kitchen, the living room, out the back door. The pool glinted in front of us, reflecting the moonlight. He took another step and jumped. Water washed over us and closed over my head.
I sank like a stone into the cool depths.
He let go and I clawed blindly, kicking and flailing, until my brain finally realized my feet touched the bottom of the pool. I straightened and realized I was standing in four feet of water.
The water drained from my hair, hot, almost boiling. The rage drained down with it.
I took a long shuddering breath.
The sky above me was studded with stars, their light cold and soothing. I let myself fall on my back. The water picked me up and cradled me, soft and gentle. I floated as the last traces of heat and anger washed away, dissolving. The wounds on my legs burned.
“How did you know?” I whispered.
“Linus told me. He said that if you ever get out of control when your wings turn black, salt water would help.”
“I hate him.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“He didn’t even have the guts to tell me in person. He left a recording on a USB.”
I pulled the USB out of my pocket and showed it to him.
“That probably shouldn’t be in the water.” He plucked it from my fingers and placed it on the coping.
“He’s my grandfather and I hate him. You knew he was my grandfather and I hate you too.”
“You don’t mean that either.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t my place to tell.”
The stars winked at us.
“You can’t kill Konstantin, Catalina. You would bring the entire weight of the Russian Imperium down on our House.”
“My mother almost died.”
“I know. You still can’t kill him. If you do, everything that happened today will be a pleasant memory compared to what follows. The Imperium trained Arkan. They taught him everything he knows before they turned him loose. They have others like him.”
Alessandro . . . The source of my fear and worry. Now he was trying to keep me from killing the man who hurt us. I had to nip this in the bud. I let my legs sink, swung myself upright, and turned to him.
He was in the water up to his chest. His skin glistened. His wet brown hair clung to his head in short locks, and his eyes were molten honey.
Oh . . .
Oh wow.
Mine.
We looked at each other across the water. I smiled at him. He blinked, his eyes stunned.
I sank a little. My hair swirled around me. I tilted my head and turned slowly. He reached for me, but I kicked away, floating just out of his grasp.
Come away from the wall, Alessandro. Swim through the water to me. We can stay here together forever, just us, the water, and the stars. You will be mine, all mine. Only mine.
He shook his head. “Now I know why so many sailors drowned.”
I laughed softly.
Alessandro studied my face. His gaze slid over my eyes, my mouth . . . I had to lure him in.
I submerged, letting the water float my hair, brushed it back, and resurfaced. He reached for me again, but I slid away. Little amber lights swirled in his eyes.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Still full of homicidal rage?”
“I’m going to kill Konstantin,” I told him. “And then I will kill Arkan. You will help me kill Konstantin, won’t you?”
“No.”
“Alessandro . . . You know you want to.”
“No. We are not killing Konstantin.”
“Why do you have to be so unreasonable?”
“I’m the only reasonable person in this pool. This isn’t you. Not the real you.”
I leaned back and looked at the moon. “You keep saying that. ‘It’s not like you, Catalina. You don’t mean that, Catalina. This isn’t you, Catalina.’ This is me. The real me. The one who loves you. I would do anything for you, Alessandro. Stay here with me.”
He lunged across the water. His warm hand locked on my right wrist, and he pulled me to him and spun me around, trapping me between the pool wall and his body.
He’d caught me. I looked up at him and smiled.
“There are stars in your eyes,” he whispered.
“We don’t have to leave,” I told him. “We can just stay here forever.”
He grabbed me and kissed me. It wasn’t just a kiss, it was almost an assault, a mad crazy claiming, born from lust, need, worry, and most of all love. I wrapped my legs around him and sank my hands into his wet hair. He was hard like a rock, and he was gripping me to him with those strong arms. My whole body sang.
He kissed me again, his tongue thrusting into my mouth. Delicious shivers ran through me. I closed my eyes. I wanted him so much . . .
We were moving. Water was draining from me, and my magic drained down with it.
He was carrying me out of the pool.
“Traitor!” I hissed.
His voice was almost a growl. “We can’t stay in the pool. I’m only human.”
We were halfway up the pool stairs.
My magic thrust a fantasy in front of me: the dark pool, the moon above, the silver light reflecting on the placid surface, and Alessandro’s body floating next to me, his final expression frozen on his face. I was smiling. He was all mine. He would never leave.
No! I ripped the vision apart in my mind. I would never hurt him.
Unstoppable forces clashed inside me like two opposing waves, and everything went black.
Chapter 9
I woke up in my own bed.
The bedroom was shrouded in a comfortable gloom. The newly installed roller shades blocked most of the light, but the morning sun slipped in around their edges, setting them aglow. I checked the clock. 6:34 a.m. Barely past sunrise.
I raised my head. Shadow padded over the covers and licked my hand. I hugged her to me and sat up.
The covers next to me were rumpled, but Alessandro wasn’t there.
The memory of me smiling in my vision popped in my head like a soap bubble. I petted Shadow’s furry head. What if I hadn’t really blacked out? What if . . .
The door swung open, and Alessandro walked in.
“Hey,” he said.
“Did I do anything to you last night? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
He crossed the room, leaned one knee on the bed, dipped his head, and kissed me. A few months ago, I had tasted artisanal mead at a medieval fair. It was sweet with notes of berries and honey without a trace of alcohol taste in it. I kept sipping it, and after I drank half a flagon, I tried to pick up my fork and missed. My body wasn’t my own anymore. That kiss was just like that, deceptively light, but intoxicating. He had hijacked me.
I opened my eyes and gently pushed away from him. “Did I hurt you?”
He sighed. “No. To my greatest regret, you didn’t do anything at all to me last night. You did pass out and scare the hell out of me, but the doc said you were fine.”
I landed back on my pillow. He sat on the bed, feet over the edge.
“What’s happening with everything?” I asked him.
“We are in complete lockdown. Linus hasn’t woken up, the prince is safe in his cage, and I’m keeping track of Arkan’s movements. He is funneling his operatives into Houston but so far, he hasn’t moved. Your USB is with Bern. He thinks it will still work once it dries out.”
“Mom . . .”
“Is recovering well and she asked me to pass on a message. She would like you to stop worrying about it and drive on.”
I rolled my eyes. Driving on. Right.
I didn’t always understand what motivated the people around me. I didn’t even understand my own emotions half of the time, but I knew my magic. I knew how it worked and what it could do. Last night it betrayed me. How the hell was I supposed to drive on after that?
“Bug found surveillance footage from the parking lot,” Alessandro said. “I watched it. It’s . . . interesting. I particularly liked the black wings and the screeching.”
His tone was light, but his eyes told me he plotted murder. If he ever got his hands on Xavier, he’d tear him apart.
“Something is happening to me. I don’t understand it. I almost drowned you in the pool last night.”
“Not even close.”
“Alessandro, you don’t understand. A part of me wanted to keep you in that pool no matter what it took. I think I’m dangerous. I . . .”
“I wasn’t in any danger last night.”
I blinked at him.
“Your magic doesn’t work on me. Also, I’m big and strong, and an excellent swimmer.”
“You don’t get it,” I told him. “How were you not afraid?”
“Oh I was. I was mortally afraid of being caught by your entire family while having sex in the pool.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“After everything calms down, we should test your theory.”
“Alessandro . . .”
“We can pick up right where we left off. We’ll pick a night when everyone is away from the house. We’ll climb into the pool, and you can do your best to drown me. I promise, you can have me all to yourself. All of me.”
“You’re not going to take this seriously, are you?”
His voice lost all humor. “The woman I love was attacked last night. Her mother was injured, we have a Russian royal locked in the armory, and my father’s killer declared open war on us. I’m taking everything seriously.”
“Did you see Gunderson’s face after I screamed?”
He nodded.
“When Grandma Victoria cracks a human mind, there are pieces left. They glow in my mind’s vision. Very weakly but still there.”
“Gunderson’s mind didn’t glow?” he guessed.
“No. It was a black hole. It’s like I snuffed him out of existence.” I pulled my knees to my chest. “I’m scared.”
He wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into him.
“What did you feel just before you screamed?”
He wasn’t asking just to comfort me. His grandfather was a terrible person, but he’d made sure that Alessandro had a superb education when it came to magic theory. He was an expert in all aspects of mental magic.
“Mom was hurt and bleeding. I knew that the next hit would kill her and Cornelius. I just . . . I wanted to shove Xavier and Gunderson.”
“To shove?”
“Have you ever seen little kids fight? Eventually one of them loses it and just shoves the other to the ground to make them stop.”
“Were you angry?”
“Yes. Mostly I was scared that Mom and Cornelius would die.”
“And Konstantin? Did you want to shove him, too?”
“He forced this confrontation on us. Did you see all those bodies? Arabella had to kill nine people. We all take it for granted, but she is probably the most sensitive of all of us. Things bother her deeply. She thinks about them for days. I don’t even know how deeply this damaged her. She’s my little sister, and I was supposed to protect her from this crap, except that I can’t.”
“I think we’re safe,” he said.
I glanced at him.
“You’re worried you might hurt us, but you are still you even when your black wings are out. You didn’t hurt me in the pool. Your magic was pouring out like a flame, but you never targeted me. You just flirted and tried to seduce me, and then pouted.”
I pushed away from him. “Pouted?”
“Mhm.”
“I was hissing in your face. How is that pouting?”
“Your hissing was endearing.”
I put my hands over my face. He was impossible.
“The point is, you don’t blindly lash out, Catalina. You’re striking out at people you perceive as a threat to your loved ones. Whatever it is breaking through, let it. It needs to come out.”
“You really think so?”
He nodded. “I’m not saying this in my capacity as your devoted fiancé but as an antistasi Prime. You hold yourself on a very tight leash. It is atypical for a mental Prime to be that controlled constantly. The threat level has escalated, and so did your response to it. I don’t think you can effectively suppress it, but you do need to recalibrate.”
And the only way to recalibrate would be to practice this new power until I could learn to control it.
“So what, choose a target and hope for the best?”
“Yes.”
“What if it gets out of control?”
“I will help you. I promise.”
“Okay,” I said.
We sat together for a few moments.
“I suppose we have to sort out the mess with Konstantin,” I said.
Alessandro grimaced. “Unfortunately, we can’t keep him in a cage indefinitely. As much as I would enjoy it.”
I scooted off the bed. “Why does he call you Sasha?”
“He knows I don’t like it.”
“And how does he know that?”
“Because he is my fourth cousin,” Alessandro said. “He keeps reminding me, as if I will forget. Family. Can’t live with them, can’t strangle them. It’s terrible.”
Someone, probably Patricia, set up two chairs in front of Konstantin’s cage. I took one. Alessandro sat in the other, tossing one long leg over the other and looking every inch an Italian aristocrat.
We had briefly stopped at the office to write a contract. I had asked him about the cousin thing on the way, but he avoided it. He didn’t refuse to answer, he just changed the subject. That was okay. He would tell me eventually. I could recite his genealogy down to his great-great-grandparents. There were no Russians there anywhere. It was all Sagredo and British mental mages.
Konstantin studied us through the bars. He looked stunning. If the night in the cage affected him, he would never let us know.
“I’m glad we’re finally in control of ourselves,” the prince said.
