Demon From the Dark (31 page)

           
"There are two murders he must atone for and--"

           
"
Two
murders?" she said, interrupting him.

           
Ronath was all too happy to tell her, "He killed our prince. And before that, he murdered his own mother."

           
Carrow raised her brows at Malkom, but he could deny neither. So long ago, when he'd taken command of Kallen's rebellion, he'd journeyed back to the slums to his mother's hovel. He'd wanted her to see what he'd made of himself.
I wanted her to regret.
Instead, she'd tried to poison him.

           
How would Carrow react?
"Channa,"
he rasped.

           
She tilted her head, as if trying to make a decision about him.

           
Ronath said, "And there are many more crimes."

           
Just as he took a deep breath to list them all, Carrow raised her gaze--
a decision made
?--and stared Ronath down. "You waste my time. Release him now."

           
"Release him?" Ronath thought this comical. "Why do you not reveal your name, or join him?"

           
"I'm Carrow Graie of the Wiccan mercenaries." The crowd grew restless with a witch in their midst. And I want Malkom Slaine freed. If he killed anyone, I'm sure he had good reason."

           
Now Malkom's jaw slackened. With her slim shoulders back, she was standing up before all. For him. Aside from Kallen, no one had ever taken his side, ever stood up for him.

           
"Unchain him. At--once," she ordered imperiously. As Ronath tried to calm the crowd, she turned, catching Malkom's gaze to give him a furtive
wink
of reassurance.

           
He jolted in the chains, stunned anew. Though his body was a mass of injuries, he began straining against his bonds. Now that she was beside him...

           
'Tis not the end
.
Not until we say it is.

           
Ronath demanded, "What business have you with him?"

           
"He is my male."

           
Hers? Declared before all! Murmurs sounded in the crowd. They were all shocked that such a female as this had claimed him in public.
I am shocked as well.
If Malkom also claimed her here today...

           
More struggling. The chains began to loosen.

           
Ronath squinted at Malkom. "Your heart beats." He turned to Carrow. "So you are the whore who brought him back to life?"

           
With her palms beginning to glow, her expression turned lethal. In a chilling voice, she said, "And you
dare
seek to end it?" A white beam shot from her hand, aimed at his neck.

           
A hail of blazing light struck Ronath, hurtling his body into the crowd.

           
Realizing that Ronath would never release him and that she and Malkom wouldn't merely walk away from this place, Carrow let diplomacy fall by the wayside.

           
And launched a kill shot.

           
They were running out of time anyway. Malkom was weakening with every moment in the sun, with each drop of his blood spilled.

           
The throng began surging up to the stage, yelling for her head and demanding Malkom's sacrifice in the fire.

           
With one hand, she used magic to propel those demons back; with the other, she directed more energy, beginning to work on Malkom's intricate bonds.

           
"Carrow, free me," he grated.

           
"I'm working on it."
Blindly.

           
"I will protect you."

           
"Little busy, love," she muttered as she kept a bloodthirsty demonic crowd at bay while simultaneously picking a mystical lock.

           
Normally, she would have fallen back to regroup, but she could never leave Malkom without protection from this mob. They looked like they wanted to rip him limb from limb.

           
"What did you
do
to these people?"

           
"Kept them without water," Malkom bit out. "They're dying of thirst."

           
"Ohhh. Good one."

           
As she was finishing up with the chains, she realized that she couldn't fight off all these raving demons. Neither could Malkom.

           
Time to freak them out. She began chanting a spell ... to turn day into night.

           
Once darkness fell, they stilled. Cries rang out. "Release him!" "We'll all die!" "Let him go!"

           
Malkom yelled, "
Ara,
behind you!"

           
Wild-eyed guards stalked her from the back. She blasted them with searing beams of magic, punching holes into their chests, felling them one after the other.

           
Still she worked to free Malkom. "I've almost got--"

           
"Carrow, to your left!"

           
Too late, she pivoted.
Impact.
The air rushed from her lungs and her body slammed back into one of the stone idols. She peered down in disbelief. A spear jutted from her side.

           
Ronath's spear.

           
He'd traced to the stage, his armor still smoking from her attack. The metal around his neck had saved him from a kill strike. "You belong with him, witch! Burned in the same fire."

           
Pain radiated out from her wound. Shock yielded to fury. "You son of a bitch!"

           
Malkom went ballistic, roaring with rage. His fangs were bared, elongated for a kill. He thrashed with all his strength, nearly getting loose.

           
"Malkom, I'll be all right."

           
"Then free me, Carrow! I
need
this."

           
Only one bolt remained, securing all his chains together. As she tore free the spear, she gritted, "Make him
scream,
love." With a wave of her hand, she removed the final bolt.

           
Malkom shed his chains, then charged Ronath, claws and fangs bared. "
You will die for harming her!"

           
Ronath traced to the side; Malkom anticipated it. When Ronath materialized, he tackled him.

           
The armorer struggled to defend himself. But even when injured, Malkom was too quick. Too
enraged.
He pinned Ronath, bashing the male's head against the stone. "And for Kallen you will die in agony! He was a brother to me!"

           
More guards appeared to save their leader. With the last of her strength, Carrow held them back.

           
When Ronath tried to speak, whispering up to him, Malkom slowed his attack. Yet whatever the armorer said made Malkom roar, "Never!" as he punched his fist through Ronath's chest plate.

           
The demon screamed in pain; blood spewed upward like a fountain. Malkom twisted his arm and plucked out his still-beating heart--which he displayed to Ronath, squeezing it into a pulp right before his horrified eyes.

           
Carrow's legs weakened, and she collapsed to her knees. No power left to heal herself. Though she loved to see a good vengeance killing as much as the next witch, they had to hurry. "Malkom, please ..."

           
Without another thought, he wrenched Ronath's head from his neck. As Malkom lunged to her, he absently cast it into the dumbfounded crowd.
He cares more about me than even that trophy.

           
"Carrow, tell me what to do to help you."

           
"I'll heal. But we're running out of time." She was losing blood, growing dizzy and cold. Only hours left. On the heels of these trials, could he possibly get them both across that desert? And in time? "The portal ... we must be there before midnight. Or it will close forever."

           
With a nod, he lifted her in his arms.

           
But before they left this place in the dust, Malkom stood before the crowd of freaked-out demons and announced, "She is my female.
Mine
." His voice was surprisingly strong, and the demons quieted. "I claim her before all."

           
More rumblings and shocked gasps.

           
Exasperated, Carrow asked, "Was that completely necessary?" Her words sounded weak, reedy.

           
"Completely." He gazed down at her. "Wife."

           
She frowned. Had he just called her
wife
? Though dizziness was about to overtake her, she experienced that overwhelming sense of future about him. A shared future. "Malkom, p-please take me home." He drew her tight to his chest. Against his neck, she murmured, "Can you get us there?"

           
Just as her lids slid shut, he rasped,
"Right now, I can do anything."

Chapter 26

           
His witch had come to Ash to save his life, and she'd believed in him, even in the face of those accusations. Now she was trusting him to get her back across the desert to the portal before it closed.

           
But how long would her conjured night last? When the sun returned, he could be trapped in the middle of the scorching dunes.

           
He gazed back at that city, knowing he'd never look upon it again. His female didn't belong in this foul place. And since he belonged with her, then neither did he. He didn't care what he had to do, he'd find a way to get her home.

           
I will take her troubles away
....

           
With that thought in mind, he braced himself against the pain of his injuries and plowed into the desert.

           
The sands proved hellish in his condition, and more than once he'd gone to his knees. The creatures inhabiting the dunes had spurred him to his feet. When one attacked, Malkom had secured Carrow over his shoulder then slashed out with his claws, roaring to intimidate the beast. 'Twas enough to keep them at bay.

           
And by the time Carrow's false night had transformed into true darkness, he had the five stones in sight.

           
Between breaths, he said, "Carrow, we near. Wake."

           
She did, gazing around in confusion. She said something, but the words were Anglish. Her spell had worn off, and he didn't quite take her meaning.

           
He regretted the loss. To hear her voice in his mother tongue...

           
And he'd savored communicating freely with her, even under those circumstances. But her language was coming to him, building faster and faster on itself.

           
Once he reached the circle, he lifted her bloody shirt to check her side, finding her healing--

           
The portal began to open, exactly as she'd said.

           
This time was momentous for him. Ronath was dead, and now a new life with his mate lay within reach. The armorer's last words whispered through his mind: "You will always lose, even if you kill me today. Soon enough, you will lose
her
."

           
Never.
Malkom stifled his doubts. She was taking him to her world.
I do not always lose, Ronath.
Finally,
finally,
Malkom would win.

           
He was smiling for the first time.

           
"It opens," Malkom said, his tone excited. "We go together."

           
Just before them, a threshold was growing, a swirling black vortex.

           
"Oh, Malkom, you did it." This steadfast demon, who she'd just trusted with her life, had somehow gotten them here on time. Eyes watering, she raised her hand to lay it against his cheek. "And you're smiling."

           
Though he still sported bruises, he'd never looked more beautiful to her. The winds streamed his golden plaits around his masculine face. His lips curled as his blue eyes flickered over her.

           
Even as her heart was breaking, she sensed joy filling his. But she could draw no power from him. Already her magic had been doused, her torque reactivated as promised.

           
If they double-crossed her, Carrow would retaliate with the wrath of a thousand Furies.