Return to Caer Lon (29 page)

“Derek…”

She fought to push on his chest, when her fingers trembled to bring him closer.

“Derek… Derek
,
stop...”

This time he seemed to hear her plea and backed abruptly. She missed his body against hers instantly, her hips instinctively coming forward for more caresses. Her head fall against the wall, her cheeks burning, her rag
g
ed breathing matching his.

In the semi-darkness, Derek’s dilated eyes burn
ed
with barely controlled emotions, his
gaze
fixed on her mouth, or maybe she was the one staring. Sacha forced her
eyes
away, embarrassed to feel so alive.

After a moment, the young man backed down another step and bent to grab his abandoned sword on the ground. Trouble perked under the mask of determination he was wearing again. He refused to look at her in the eye, so she took his arm.

“Derek I will not refuse you…”

She meant it. He was irritating and brave and bossy and honorable. She could not imagine a better man for her.

“You just did.”

The impatient retort brought up a smile, instead of flaring her temper. She yearned to brush her lips on the small frown between his brows to smooth it, nearly did so.

“Because you have the worst timing ever.”

Frustration bounced dangerously in the blue eyes now drilling into hers.

“You kissed me first.”

Sacha laughed, determined not to let him have the last word.

“That you are better not to forget;
m
y
l
ord.”

Derek shrugged and turned away, moving up the stairs again.

Chapter 30

The
torch’s flame flickered, bouncing on the gold lace sew
n
on Fillin’s skirt. Elwyn crept away from the fence with his back to the wall, his gaze on his nemesis.

The noise of old paper being creased under bored fingers disturbed the silence of the dungeon. The blonde was seated on a stool in a corner, and fortunately didn’t pay any attention to him. As far he
was concerned
, she could forget his very existence, and he would live perfectly happ
ily
for as long as her monster of a father w
ould
allow him to.

Elwyn pulled his knees to his chest, biting back a whimper when the position added pressure on his broken ribs. He preferred to keep his mouth shut. Whatever she did, it couldn’t be a good thing for him, and it was better to make his presence as unnoticeable as possible.

The pain brought dozen of dark dots in front of his eyes; or were they fireflies dancing? He rubbed his eyes to chase the annoying glittering snow from them. The fireflies sparkled happily, brown and dark red. Each time he blinked, it seemed to be more of them. Elwyn pressed his fingers to his lids, hard. He didn’t remember hitting his head in falling this time. Surely he had. In no way could insects fly to form square and diamond shapes. The small points in the air shone in straight lines, brighter at the nods, the same way cords linked together to form … a net.

Elwyn closed his eyes for good. Hallucinating nets of fireflies was a bit spooky, even for him. Sacha would tease him to no end
.
S
he always said he had too much imagination for his own good. Sacha…

oOo

The stone changed into the land surrounding the castle; in spring, it
was
covered with delicate patches of white and lilac she liked so much. She spent hours walking the land to bring back armful
s
of heather grass
, which
she used to freshen her chambers and his.

Sure enough
,
she was whirling near the edge with her arms widely open to the wind, close to the abyss, so close... He called her name.

oOo

His hand tensed around the hilt
of his sword
helped him to think, Derek realized. Even if he could hear Sacha’s light pants, and feel more than see her presence one step ahead of him, the cold contact eased the tingle urging him to grab her for more kisses. He surprised himself
by
running his tongue on his lower lip, teeth nipping at the flesh as if to bring her taste back in
to
his mouth.

Surely he should say something. Not an apology, certainly not that; he didn’t regret for a second kissing her back
. S
he could not be so naive
as
to touch a man, embrace
him
,
as
she had and expect he would behave. Yet
,
he should really say something now.

He bit back a smile. Sacha and he kissed like they quarrelled: her passion against his willpower, until she allowed him to disc
over
the tender, loving woman she also was. He wanted both. Derek tightened his grip on his weapon and heaved out a breath, half-rasp, half-jeer. Emotions had spiralled in her wonderful eyes
;
he wondered if
her feelings
mirrored his own. They would explore them happily later. For now, he had to focus on the
ir mission
.

“It’s becoming darker the more we go up.”

“Yes, I noticed.”

Derek tempered his snap with a brush on her arm.

“Do you wish we use a candle?”

Her hair cascaded
down
her back as she shook her head, silk brushing his chest, distracting him.

“No, it’s al
l
right. At least the steps are smaller here.”

Derek chastised himself internally. She noticed things
to which
he should have been pa
ying
attention. The steps were smaller, barely three inches high, if he had to guess. His boot bumped into the next.

“Sacha, the stairs are turning, I will take the lead, just step asid-“

She didn’t give him enough time to finish the sentence before she disappeared in the spiral the staircase now formed. Derek rushed forward, taking the steps four at a time.

“Sacha!”

He caught a glimpse of her shadow when she entered another corridor. Derek lunged and grabbed her wrist before she escaped him again.

“Don’t be foolish, we don’t know what’s ahead!”

“It’s Elwyn, Derek
.
I hear him…”

She tried to free herself from the iron grip but Derek held tight.

“We’ll find him, I promise.”

The smile that blossomed on her lips was so adorable he couldn’t do anything but answer it, releasing her forearm to link their fingers. Sacha used his distraction to untangle herself from his grasp and dashed off. Derek sprinted after her, cursing under his breath.

The corridor ended on another spiral staircase, except this one seemed made of cut stones bonded with mortar. In his haste, he put away the spider webs without wondering why the darkness had suddenly lifted so
that
he could actually see them. The screech of old metal in front of him made him move ever faster. It ate
at
him not to call after her at the top of his lungs. Was it another one of her visions? How could she outrun him after the exhausting climb? Idiot
ic,
empty-headed little… the list of epithets unwound in his head.

Derek rushed through the fence he had heard shrieking open, the first of a long series of arches of stone and metal. Torches were suspended after metallic rings on the walls, lighting one after another the more they progressed up the passage. He didn’t take time to notice when the last archway opened into a different room in which iron fences had replaced the stones on the sides.

“Derek no, stop!”

Her cry came too late. His next stride took him across something cold and sticky. His foot stayed glued to the ground whilst he wanted to move forward, the motion sending him rolling against the wall. His left wrist hit the stone violently and he yelped in pain.

“Derek!”

A chuckle answered Sacha’s anguish, cold enough to freeze his blood.

“Oh, I would worry a bit more about yourself than him, if I were you.
P
antswa nekem maorenia
!”

A flash of silver whipped th
rough
space toward Sacha. She screamed, ducking her head instinctively with her face in her hands. Derek jerked to get free from the invisible net restraining him.

“Sacha!”

The holly wood comb in Sacha’s hair lit up
even before
the silver lightning touched her. The bolt aiming at the dark-haired beauty quirked down, pooling around her like a halo. Sacha’s eyes widened in terror, her mouth open in a mute cry. Derek pulled and tu
gg
ed, desperate to reach her. The silver light darkened
,
then paled
,
taking the fantastic colors of a rainbow all at once. The halo hardened into a shell
,
waving like a soap bubble.

Their assailant gawped, holding one hand up in preparation to repeat the spell. Derek yanked once again
,
his fury climbing higher by the second. Behind her shield, Sacha seemed to shrink and quailed, slipping away from his reach. He was about to yell again, but a roar Derek recognized as Elwyn’s
s
topped him.

“VANN JE HILSEN, SHER RELYOD
!
”

The silhouette in gold and blue hiccupped
in a wet noise
. Her malicious bronze eyes opened first in surprise and then into something Sacha would have sworn was fear, when the hand threatening her just a second before bumped into something solid.

The raven woman shivered uncontrollably as her own tears joined tips of water sprouting from the ground and the wall moss to surround her attacker. The woman’s shape started to waver, losing its density in a whirlpool of fog and wind. Her pale hair spurted around her face and in an instant the only thing that was left of her was a puddle on the floor.

The net vanished. Derek jumped toward the young woman before him.

“You!”

The flames on the torches hissed angrily, spreading to lick the ceiling. Still protected by the iridescent bubble around her, Sacha saw a giant arm strike down
.
Derek crashed against the wall, knocked out. Within the second, his sword flew across the fence, straight to Elwyn. Her brother lifted his arms to protect himself.

“Legi skjolD!”

The spell burst out of her mouth before she recognized the words. Droplets of metal rained on the floor with the noise of shattering glass when the sword exploded against a shield similar to hers. The large figure turned his golden stare on her instead of Elwyn.

“You won’t defy me for long, young seer…”

Wolfryth
snapped his teeth like the wild dog he looked like. The thin layer around her flinched and popped. Panicked, Sacha tried to move away but her back was already at the wall. Her throat squeezed painfully. She gasped for air, only
meeting with
agony. Darkness grew in front of her eyes. Her fingers clawed the space around her, unable to fight the shadows strangling her. Her head felt so light she dreamed about floating, exquisitely empty
. T
hen all thoughts disappeared.

oOo

The young woman woke up in alarm, her breath laboured and her heart throbbing. Air hissed through her lips as she tried to calm down. Her throat cloyed disagreeably, hurting with every difficult heave.

Sacha wanted to push on her feet, and she realized she was lying on the floor. Standing asked too much of her, and she fell back on her backside with a little cry.

Her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she started noticing her surroundings. She crawled on her knees and hands, still unable to straighten up, and reached the facing wall and the body crouched against it.

Dried blood and dirt had formed a crust in the stubble on his jaw under her fingers. His left wrist was clu
tched
to his chest at a bizarre angle. The bandage around it was ruined.

Sacha sat near the prisoner and touched his forehead gently. She felt pain, unable to tell if it was his or hers. Derek winced when she brushed the cut on his temple. His skin was cool under her fingers. Or maybe it was her who was too hot. She did not know. Sacha took her hand away, and nestled against him in the semi-darkness. Her head came to rest on his shoulder, as if it was too heavy for her alone to bear.

“I’m so sorry…”

Tears tingled in her eyes, too many to be contained, burning when they glided
down
her cheeks.

“You seem to say that a lot lately. Are you trying to make up for the last fifteen years?”

The quip was barely more than a
whisper
. Sacha straightened up and met serious blue eyes searching her face for any traces of injury. Finding none, Derek looked away and gave a pull to his b
o
nds. A rattle answered his effort, but the chain did not budge.

“Now would be the perfect time for a trick or two, Sacha.”

“I don’t know any ‘trick’. I…”

She bit her tongue before saying
"
I’m sorry
"
again. She slowly began to learn Derek used sarcasm like she used scowls and outburst of temper. He was baiting her so the despair of their situation did not crush down on her
,
or himself. Sacha leaned against his side again and he automatically brought his free arm around her. The contact comforted her.

“Where do you think Elwyn
is
?”

“Here!”

The voice came from the other side of the fence. Derek grunted when Sacha pushed on his shoulder to get up.

“Are you alright, Elwyn
?
H
ow…
?
”

“I’m fine, I think. What about you?”

“Derek is wounded…”

“Am not.”

She frowned at him and he glared back.

“I’m shackled to the wall, however, which is rather inconvenient.”

The retort was strained with his usual arrogance. Sacha snorted but Elwyn laughed.

“Tell me about it. My former bedroom was far more pleasant, save for the company. So, what’s the plan?”