Deep Kiss of Winter (26 page)

“Kristoff must know they'll wage an attack,” Sebastian said. “As soon as they find out what happened, they'll likely plot to take this castle and execute him.”

When a chill night breeze sieved through the barred window, Murdoch crossed to it. He sucked in air, feeling hot, claustrophobic.

“Murdoch?” Nikolai said. “Are you even listening to us . . . ?”

How could I have bitten Daniela?
When he loved her. And what was fifty years? He could wait an eternity. But he couldn't get to her to tell her this. Frustration strangled him like a noose.

In Murdoch's absence, would Lord Jádian continue kissing her? His fists clenched.
Kissing my Daniela.
When he punched the wall, he broke every bone in his hand, the protected stone mocking even his immortal strength.

Murdoch turned in time to see Nikolai and Sebastian share a glance. They had to know that he'd been blooded—even Conrad had heard Murdoch's heart beating—but they'd said nothing over the last several months. Probably because of all the secrets they'd been keeping, as well.

“What the hell is going on with you?” Sebastian said.

Murdoch knew he must be shocking them. For so long he'd been carefree. “Don't want to be here,” he muttered. The need to talk to his brothers pressed on him, but he volunteered nothing, keeping at least one vow to Daniela.

Only now did he understand why she'd been so secretive about them.
I wouldn't have bet on a future with me either. Definitely wouldn't have advertised it.

When dawn came, his brothers slept, but Murdoch dreaded dreaming about her, stealing more of her memories. Hour after hour, he paced, feeling a madness creeping over him. The bars were keeping him from her. Silently, he strained against them.
Want to be with her.
He couldn't budge them.

Eventually, exhaustion ruled and he passed out, unwillingly slipping into dreams. This time, he saw the reflection of a young girl—he knew it was Daniela—gazing back at him from a mirror.
A striking woman with the same unusual coloring as Daniela was behind her, fitting a crown atop her head. Her mother? They spoke to each other in a language that sounded similar to Icelandic, but he understood it . . . .

“You already know the way,”
the mother said.
“You just haven't remembered it yet.”

Then came a more recent memory: Daniela staring at her ice carvings, wondering,
Are these clues how to get to Icergard . . . ?

Murdoch woke in a rush, shooting up from his cot in the middle of the day. “It's so bloody hot in here!” He yanked off his jacket in irritation.

When Nikolai rose to stoke the fire, Murdoch grated, “No, no fire! Put it out.” He imagined frost. Blood served cold. For once, he craved being back amid the ice at the lodge.

Sebastian was awake as well and frowned at him. “It's actually cool.”

“How can you say that?” he snapped, unable to contain his aggravation. Then he stilled. Were his breaths . . . smoking? He traced to the suite's bathroom, gazing in the mirror. His breaths didn't fog the glass. As Daniela's didn't. Blue tinged his lips and under his eyes.

My God.
The reason he'd felt so hot—her blood was running through his veins.

Nikolai had told him that Myst's blood made him even stronger. Sebastian had said the same about drinking Kaderin's.

Why couldn't Daniela's make Murdoch more
like her? He gave a shout of laughter.
I've found a way to touch her!

Then his heart sank.
Just when I've lost her.
He was trapped by his own king, by his loyalty to his brother . . . .

Another day dragged by, then two. As their imprisonment wore on, Murdoch began returning to his normal temperature, which maddened him even more. He couldn't lose this coldness—otherwise he'd have to hurt her again.

If he was ever freed from this bloody cell. And if she'd ever let him drink her.

•   •   •

“Nikolai! Where are you?”

Murdoch shot awake, his gaze darting. He could have sworn he'd heard Conrad—in Oblak—yelling for Nikolai. But all was quiet, his brothers still sleeping. He must've dreamed it. Strange, he usually dreamed of nothing but Daniela.

With a weary exhalation, he rose.
More than two weeks gone.
The brothers and their king were locked in a stalemate. Would they stay here indefinitely?

As he did every night, Murdoch tried and failed to drink enough to sustain his weight. Then he prowled from one wall to the next, deciphering more scenes from Daniela's life that he'd witnessed in sleep.

Her memories were becoming clearer to him. When he dreamed, he felt how lonely she'd been, how she'd tried not to nurse hope over Murdoch.
Once a rogue, always a rogue.

He'd done so little to set her mind at ease, had
done nothing to make sure she understood her loneliness was over.
I never told her I'm in love with her.
Instead, he'd voiced his doubts.

During one miserable day, he'd seen her memory of that night with Jádian and had learned her thoughts as she'd kissed the Iceren.

She'd been thinking about Murdoch. Danii had chosen
him
over a male who could touch her, a nobleman of her own kind who could kiss her. She hadn't been thinking about bailing on Murdoch at all. At least not before he'd hurt her,
attacked
her.

This situation was intolerable. To be kept from Daniela now? Murdoch wanted her so much, he'd once actually considered betraying his brother—

“Nikolai!”
The word boomed down the castle corridor, echoing.

Nikolai and Sebastian shot awake.

Dear God.
“Was that . . . ?”

“Conrad,” Nikolai said. “He's
here
.”

•   •   •

Maybe I'm not home.

Danii sat upon her throne, among her own kind in a paradise of ice, and she was . . . bored.

Days ago, she'd been crowned with much fanfare. The Icere had prepared banquets, carved sculptures in her honor, and played music. Plus, they'd declared a snow day at the castle—literally, it had fallen from the ceilings.

And since the festivities?

Jádian was a constant bodyguard, always nearby, always solemn. Most of the fey she'd met could be
described as “serious.” She'd figured this was an aftereffect of having an evil dictator ruling them for so long—but had learned this was just their nature.

Here, there were no practical jokes, no sisters bent on thieving her clothing. No gorgeous vampires to tackle into the snow.

Time seemed to be moving as slowly as the glaciers surrounding them. She wondered if it was possible to expire from boredom.
The study begins . . . now.

To make matters worse, she missed Murdoch like an ache. Every day, she dwelled on what she could have done differently.
Perhaps I shouldn't have kissed another man? Just a thought.

But that indiscretion hadn't mattered. She and Murdoch had already been finished. Danii had thought they would be together forever, but he hadn't agreed, hadn't believed that they were worth the fight—

With a sudden flush of guilt, she recognized that maybe she hadn't
truly
committed either. Hadn't she herself given them a one-in-fifty shot? She'd been betting against them from the beginning, might as well have gone and signed Loa's book . . . .

Across the throne room, Jádian turned to her with his brows raised. Since she'd arrived, she hadn't seen him smile once. There'd been no more flirting from him. She'd concluded that he
was
devoted to his people, had probably only kissed her to sway her to come to Icergard.

His name of Jádian the Cold was well earned. Thinking back over his fight with Murdoch, she recalled that Jádian's pulse had never gotten elevated.
He'd been indignant, ready to die for his queen. But he hadn't been ready to lose his temper for her.

Aside from being unemotional, he had a reputation for cold-blooded ruthlessness. Her ladies-in-waiting had told her how he'd blamed the death of his wife on Sigmund, conspiring relentlessly for years, only waiting for Daniela to be located before striking.

They'd also spoken of sordid rumors that Jádian had once kept a seductive fire demoness as his prisoner hidden in the dungeon. . . .

He crossed to Danii then. “You are unhappy here.” It wasn't a question, but he did sound disbelieving.

“I . . . it's been a big change.”

“You'll grow accustomed.” He was no-nonsense and logical to the point that most Valkyrie would deem him a buzz kill. But he was beloved by the orderly people here.

“Jádian, I was recalling our kiss.”

He stiffened, as if he thought she'd want to resume some dalliance with him. “What of it?”

“You weren't thinking about me.”

“And you were imagining that I was a vampire,” he said with the tiniest hint of irritation, adding, “my queen.”

Busted. It was too true. Though Jádian was as sigh-worthy a male as she had ever seen, she still longed to run her fingers through dark hair. She yearned to gaze up at gray eyes that turned black with lust. “Was it just a play to get me to return with you?”

He shrugged. “You needed to be here.”

So their kiss hadn't even been real. Now her curiosity redoubled. What would a
real
one be like—

“And you need to accept that this is where you belong,” he said.

Yes, no longer was she living in the sweltering heat of Louisiana, surrounded by people she couldn't touch. No longer was she in a relationship that was doomed by her very nature.

Here, the broken doll was all fixed.
And I'm miserable.

“N
ikolai!”

Stoic Nikolai looked flabbergasted. Then he shot to his feet, tracing to the cell door. “Conrad?” he called back.

“He's come
here
?” Sebastian bit out. “How did he get free from those manacles?”

Murdoch cursed under his breath. “Kristoff will take his head.”

“If his guards don't,” Nikolai said.

Conrad appeared outside their cell. Through the bars, they stared in bewilderment. Conrad had blood and mud splattered across his beaten face and matted in his hair. His red eyes glowed with menace. Gaping wounds covered him.

“What in the hell are you doing here?” Nikolai demanded. “And whose blood is that?”

Conrad studied the cell bars. “I don't have time for questions.”

“You have to leave!” Murdoch said. “They'll execute you if they capture you.”

He gave a rough laugh, clamping hold of the bars. “Defy them to do either.” Gritting his teeth, he strained against them.

“Those are as protected as your chains were,” Sebastian said. “The wood, the metal, and the stone surrounding them are all reinforced. You can't possibly—”

Conrad wrenched them wide, breaking the metal.

“My God,” Nikolai murmured.

Conrad had gotten
stronger
?

“Need your help to find my Bride!” In a frenzy, Conrad yanked the wreckage free. “I'm not mad . . . but I need you to trace me to every cemetery in New Orleans. Do you know where they are?”

Nikolai gaped. “Your . . . Bride?”

“His heart beats,” Murdoch said.

“Do you know where they are or not?” Conrad bellowed.

Nikolai nodded slowly. “I know all the cemeteries. Myst and I hunt ghouls there.”

“Will you do this?”

“Conrad, just calm—”

“Fuck calm, Nikolai!”

“So this is Conrad Wroth,” Kristoff said from behind him, surrounded by his personal guards.

Without turning, Conrad sneered, “The bloody
Russian
. What do you want?”

Kristoff seemed amused by this. “I'd known the Wroths were genetically incapable of fawning to a king, but a modicum of respect . . .” His demeanor was self-satisfied, almost like he'd planned this all along.

Conrad faced the natural-born vampire.

“You've taken out my entire castle guard,” Kristoff said in a casual tone. “Something a Horde battalion couldn't do. My informants didn't tell me you were
this
strong.” His pale eyes were expressionless, yet Murdoch knew he was calculating. “But then, you've been blooded.”

“I don't have time for this!” Conrad snapped. “I'll kill you just to keep you from speaking.”

The guards tensed, hands at their sword hilts.

“Kill me? You wouldn't know your Bride if not for me, if not for your brothers. You'd have been dead three hundred years ago.”

“I've put that together!”

To Nikolai, Kristoff said, “He took out the guards without killing a single one—almost as if he was making a point. You were right. Conrad isn't lost.” He cast Conrad a quizzical glance. “He's . . . quite a few things, but he's not irredeemable. And I can concede when I have made a mistake. Though you should have come to me instead of willfully breaking our laws.”

Nikolai exhaled. “I couldn't take the risk that you would say no. He's my brother,” he said simply.

Kristoff turned back to Conrad. “Swear fealty to me, and all of you leave today as allies. Otherwise we fight.”

Conrad gritted his teeth, eyes darting, but eventually he grated, “I'll vow . . . that I'll never engage you or your army.”

After an appraising look, Kristoff said, “It will do. For now.” To the other three brothers, he added, “Take a week off. And do get your Brides to cease plotting my downfall.”

When the king and his men disappeared, Nikolai said, “Conrad, you must tell me what's happened for me to help you. Who is your Bride?”